Jun could already hear his father's bragging voice at the other end of the hallway. He slicked his hair back, took a deep breath and entered the room.

"Ah, there he is."

He was in for quite a surprise when his father stepped to the side revealing the guest and introducing them to each other.

"This is my son Jun. And this is baron Juto Lovelace."

"Greetings!"

The demon grinned and raised his hand towards Jun for a firm shake. The latter took his hand slowly, staring with wide open eyes at him.

"J-... Juto...?"

"Odd name, I know."

"Now, don't be rude and greet the man properly."

The father gave him a stern glance. His son cleared the throat and squeezed the demon's hand.

"Um... greetings... sir. Pleased to meet you... (again.)"

Jun whispered the last word through his teeth. Juto just gave him the most innocent smile ever, unaffected.

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine."

"I didn't see my friend since forever! Did you know that he comes from a faraway land? I meet him by chance today at the city."

Jun's father started to explain after they all sat in the armchairs around a coffee table. Jun took the seat across his demon servant and gave him a piercing look.

"Fascinating."

The young man commented shortly and his parent continued to ramble about things that couldn't possibly be true. 'You sly bastard', he thought. He had so many questions right now. Juto just sat there comfortably, pretending to be interested in the conversation as if it was only natural to be there.

They were finishing their cup of tea when a butler came in and asked the old master to attend a matter regarding the evening's party. Jun's father got up and followed the butler, not without leaving a snarky remark for Jun to behave. Once he was gone, the heir bolted out of his seat and rushed over to the demon, slamming his hands against the armchair's sides and leaning in so close to his face, that their noses almost touched.

"What the hell is going on here? You just exposed yourself to father! Old friends, my ass! I ain't buying it!"

He wanted to shout, but he had to keep his voice low, so what he said came off more like a stifled rant. Juto just smirked slyly, not budging in his seat.

"Let's say I altered his memories a bit."

"But you said-...!" Jun raised his voice and quickly lowered it again. "But you said that as a Bone Baron you CAN'T manipulate minds!"

Jun recalled a fact that was stated earlier in their relationship. Juto mentioned that he was one of the four most powerful demon lords in his world, each of which could alter and control one vital part of a living being - bones, blood, flesh and soul. Hailed as the "Bone Baron" Juto could do whatever he wanted with the body's hardest structure - break bones, mend them back, crush them to dust or even make people dance like puppets on strings. However he couldn't influence a person's mind, because that was the specialty of a different lord.

The demon in question just shrugged nonchalantly.

"That's why I have people to do that for me. Lesson number one in the demon world - if there's something you can't do, befriend someone who can. For mutual benefits."