Chapter 40

***

“What if all of this is based on the qualification test?”

“…Are you trying to tell me that the temple built something?”

It wasn’t that surprising.

Because Devan knew it, too. He was ten years old when the test was announced.

“So? What good is all that going to do? You’re the heir and I’m cursed. If there’s a problem, it’s not for you to say. I don’t want to bet and lose. It’s already over.” (Devan)

“It’s not over. I’m going to start now.” (Astrilla)

“Say what you want to say. Don’t go around in circles.” (Devan)

Astrilla moistened her lips.

She lowered her eyes and lazily stroked the surface of her wine glass as she said.

“I’m going to be emperor.”

Devan did not answer. It wasn’t anything new.

“And…………………..”

She gripped her wine glass with strength. The glass shattered with a snap.

That was the second one. There’s nothing left of the Imperial Palace.

Devan thought senselessly.

“I’ll kill the Emperor. With the High Priest.”

With a crunch, the wine glass in Devan’s hand also broke easily.

There was a trickle of blood on his palm, but Devan didn’t even look at it. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Astrilla as if to pierce her.

Kill the Emperor, along with the High Priest.

It was what he had wanted all his life, and it was something he had never expected to come out of Astrilla’s mouth.

***

After wandering around the imperial palace, I finally arrived in front of the parlor.

I saw a large door that reached all the way to the ceiling. Devan and Astrilla must be in there.

There weren’t many guards. It was a perfect opportunity.

I rushed straight through the door. The servant who was guarding the front door looked at me and opened his eyes wide.

Before he could get a hold of me, I opened the door with a bang.

“Young lady!”

I heard the servant’s panicked voice as he followed me.

I put my hands on my hips and caught my breath. Inside the room, Devan and the Crown Princess were sitting facing each other.

The situation didn’t look as dangerous as I thought it would.

Despite the fact that I had appeared with so much commotion, neither of their gazes met mine.

What on earth could they be talking about?

I couldn’t even hear them talking. They were just facing each other.

“Miss! You can’t do this!”

The servant paced around me fidgeting.

“Oh.”

Finally, Astrilla’s gaze turned to me.

She tapped her palm, and there was blood smeared on it. Blood?” Then I finally saw a broken piece of glass on the carpet.

I hastily looked at Devan. He didn’t look like he was in a dangerous situation.

She didn’t even look at her palm, but she did take a quick look at my appearance.

“Hmm. I like it. It looks really good on you.”

I can’t believe this looks good on me. Are you serious?

“Devan, what the hell is going on?”

Devan finally looked up and frowned as he looked at me.

“What are you wearing?”

“That’s important right now?”

I could see the blood on his palm as well.

I quickly took his large hand and lightly released my power.

In an instant, his wound healed and the glass that had been stuck in it popped out.

“Oh!”

Astrilla gave me an exaggeratedly interesting look.

I’m sure she’s seen the healing with divine power many times at the Imperial Palace.

The intention to overtly make a match was transparent.

“Your Highness..……… If you don’t mind, I’ll treat you too.”

“Hahaha, that sounds good.”

She held out her hand.

It was a hand that was rougher than I expected and full of calluses.

I carefully exerted my power and the wound healed instantly.

“I heard you used that power to fix the curse?”

“Ah …………… yes.”

I looked at Devan’s face, expecting him to be annoyed or in a bad mood, but he was pondering something without paying attention to this side.

“By the way, it’s unexpected I’ve never ordered you to come in like this. Where did the maids go?”

“That’s…”

I turned my eyes and avoided her gaze.

hahaha! She laughed wildly.

“I can see that. It must have been frustrating.”

Clap!

She clapped her hands loudly and got up from her seat.

“You must be done with what you want to say. Now let’s have a good time together.”

“What about this dress?”

“I told you, it’s a gift. Or you can say it’s a bribe.”

Astrilla tapped me on the shoulder and left the parlor.

I blinked in confusion.

As I had expected, the reason she sent me away was to have Devan alone….

What the hell did she say that caused Devan’s condition to be like this?

“Devan, what did Her Highness talk about?”

He jumped up from his seat without replying.

Then he looked at my clothes again and shook his head.

“Let’s go to the annex.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be in the Imperial Palace?”

“Yes.”

“Why did Her Highness call us here, then? As soon as we arrived in the capital, it was as if she had calculated it.”

I grabbed the hem of his dress and followed him as he strode toward the exit.

“Probably because she doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

“By whom?”

I thought of all the people who would interfere with the two of them and who would have reason to interfere.

The emperor, the empress, the priests?

“The temple.” (Devan)

“Oh, the temple…..the temple?” (Evelyn)

The unexpected word stopped me in my tracks, but Devan didn’t stop, he was still walking briskly.

I followed him again.

“What the hell did you talk about?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“Oh, d*mn it.”

Devan swept his face with one hand. He looked really confused. As we walked out of the room and down the hallway, the soldiers opened the door of the Imperial Palace. Devan tried to get to his feet but twitched and turned around.

“…Why?”

He stared at me and then turned away again, still saying the same incomprehensible things.

“There’s nothing left.”

“What?”

“It’s the Imperial Palace…….”

As we hurried down the stairs, Insaw a carriage with a large imperial crest on it ready for us.

There was no doubt that Astrilla had it standing by beforehand. She did not intend to let us stay in the Imperial Palace from the beginning.

I followed Devan into the carriage.

The door closed and he finally spoke.

“The Imperial Palace…..there will be a bloodstorm.”

He clenched his fist as he stared at his palm, intact without any wounds.

****

“Pelos is in the Imperial Palace?”

Devan gave me an absurd look.

It was after we arrived at the annex and I took off my awful dress.

After washing and changing clothes, we gathered in the hall for dinner.

“I was surprised to see him dressed in armor and pretending to be a knight.” (Evelyn)

“How long has it been since he went to the Temple? Why on earth?”

I shrugged, putting the soup into my mouth.

I was just about hungry enough to make a racket.

It was also because Devan knew that I was not the type to pay much attention to manners and pretense.

“He said he wasn’t here to see me or Devan.”

“He’s a totally unpredictable guy.”

Before I knew it, I had no qualms about calling Devan by his first name.

We looked like ordinary lovers in public. I don’t think he was uncomfortable with it either.

Lovers. It was a word that didn’t match us at all.

How could he be a lover? It was not a word that suited us at all.

“Oh, and where are the knights and Eunice?”

“I ordered them to come to the annex as soon as they arrived, but it seems they haven’t come yet.”

I bit my lip tightly. I had a bad feeling.

I was worried that the temple might have already done something.

“There was a white magic stone on the demon’s leg. If we can secure it, we can use it as evidence.”

“That is, if the temple didn’t get it already while we were down.”

Recovery. It was true that the temple had recovered the magic stone from the demons they had met in Ellywoon. That black smoke that they said was like black magic was probably to deal with the evidence left on the corpse.

“Maybe the temple will be contacted in some way when the demons die.”

“Then I’ll have to say it is too late. And the knights, too.”

Devan said casually. I felt bad that I had brought Eunice to the capital for no reason and got her involved in something weird.

I hope we can find their whereabouts soon. The purpose of coming to the capital before the wedding was to investigate the temple in the first place.

However, since the group had disappeared, we didn’t have the limbs tight now.

We didn’t have enough information, and now we were suddenly under attack….

If we were to be attacked again in the temple….

At that moment, a thought crossed my mind.

“What about Sir Karen?”

“What’s wrong with Karen?”

“Wouldn’t he be surprised if he came back from Ellywoon and found the Grand Duchy empty?”

“He might bring information about Ellywon or something else. It could be important information.”

“Contact him.”

“If he’s late, we need to know sooner to come up with something else.”

“Have you forgotten the existence of magic tools?”

Devan did not seem pleased with Karen.

Devon, Pelos, and Karen were childhood friends. Pelos told me when we rode the carriage together to the capital.

There was a reason why Karen was subtly brazen in his treatment of Devan.

I bit my lips in frustration. In such a situation, if the demons appeared again, Karen would be able to help.

“But wouldn’t it be better if we met in person?”

After chewing the meat a few times, Devan frowned.

Then he suddenly changed his mind.

“…..yeah, I guess I’ll have to bring Karen.”

It was a sudden whim.