CH 45

(Lucia’s POV)

“…Ugh.”

“-Devil?”

“Ugh, stop…”

“Devil!”

Lucia’s eyes immediately opened and she frowned at the sudden brightness.

She felt like she was suddenly pulled back to reality after she dreamt of sinking into black water and she couldn’t bring back her senses due to her sudden dizziness, but she heard a soft voice right next to her.

“My lord, are you okay?”

“…Shud?”

Shud was sitting on the floor right next to her with his knees bent, while looking at her with a worried face.

“Where am I?”

“You’re at your office right now. It’s kind of late, but the lights were on and I could hear a noise inside, that’s why I came in…”

Shud wiped his forehead with a handkerchief since he was dripping with cold sweat as he tried to drag out his words.

It was then that she slowly became aware of the situation. Her body which had been lying limply on the sofa and thick books were scattered all around her.

‘Oh, that’s right. I tried to meditate.’

Lucia got up and sat down.

She then wet her dry throat with the water that Shud brought her. Then, Shud asked worriedly.

“Did you have a bad dream?”

“Yeah, something like that…”

‘But, that wasn’t exactly a dream.’

‘I was just too lazy to explain it in depth, so I skimmed over it. I didn’t think that he’d understand if I tried to explain it in detail.’

However, Shud began to pry even more.

“Do you usually sleep well? Or do you often wake up in the middle of the night, or do you often have a stomach ache…”

“Shud, I’m used to this kind of thing, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“You’re used to it?”

“Ahh. Yeah it happens often.”

“Often…”

‘So don’t worry about me.’

Lucia was trying to say that she was okay. But somehow it seemed to have the opposite effect. His expression changed from concern to seriousness.

“Next time, I will serve tea and food that is good for a good night’s sleep.”

“No. There’s no need to do that… More than that, are you really a prince? Why are you so used to treating someone like this?”

‘Now that I see him, it wasn’t just cooking that he was good at. He was generally homely.’

It was the same for Tina as well as for me. He even hand-washed Tina’s school uniform, who was returning back to the academy, and he also took care of her belongings.

Even now, naturally, he was cleaning the books that were lying around him by himself.

He stopped picking up a book at my question and said slowly.

“… Well, it’s because I have a lot of older sisters…”

“Ah…”

Lucia already understood his situation.

‘Besides, Shud has the impression of wanting to play with everyone… I’m sorry to say this, but if I were his older sister, I would definitely ask a lot from him. Of course, it’s the same as it is now.’

She stretched out and held out an empty glass of water to him.

“Can I have another glass of water?”

“Give it to me.”

Shud reached out towards the empty cup in her hand. but suddenly instead of the cup…

He grabbed Lucia’s hand, and not the cup.

“What? What’s the matter?”

“…”

Shud focused on her hand without answering. To be precise, his eyes were nailed to the palm of her hand.

“This…”

Shud, who had been staring intently at her hand for a long time, opened his mouth with a trembling voice. The pattern of slaughter was engraved on the palm that he was looking at.

“…When did this start?”

Shud tapped the hand he was holding and backed away. Fear and strong vigilance were oozing out of his eyes.

“Do you know anything about my hand pattern?”

A little while ago, he was talking cheerfully.

There must be a reason why the person who she was just talking to so casually suddenly changed to such a degree.

He murmured in a voice full of betrayal.

“I thought that you were a good person, but you must have been deceiving Tina and me.”

“I didn’t create this. I don’t know how to do it or how to cancel it.”

“And you want me to believe that?”

“You must believe it. If you know something about this pattern, let me know as well. Only then will your peaceful future be guaranteed.”

He took a deep breath. His suspicious eyes remained the same.

To be honest, it felt bittersweet because the person who had been so gentle until now suddenly changed. But it wasn’t that she didn’t understand his feelings.

“…Ha. It’s a pattern I’ve seen from the Scripture.”

Perhaps he had come a little too far away from her persuasion, Shud quietly opened his mouth.

“The Scripture?”

Lucia tilted her head at the name that she hadn’t heard for a long time.

In Lucia’s memory, the Scripture was a ‘sacred book’ that was regarded as a holy treasure in the temple.

The book, which contained stories from the beginning of time, was composed of hundreds of stories and divided into individual volumes for each temple, so a priest or even a high priest would not be able to know all of its contents.

‘I, too, had investigated the Scripture several times as part of a quest in my previous life, and what I saw at that time was mostly praise related to God, and I had never seen anything mentioned about this pattern.’

“I can’t remember exactly where I saw it or how many copies there were. But on the day that the pattern was completely black, I saw clearly that great despair would come.”

“What kind of despair specifically?”

“All humans will die…”

As he spoke, he looked up at me with hopeful eyes.

Shud showed a face full of questions.

But Lucia couldn’t help but be more convinced of what Shud had seen.

“Is it really accurate? The Scripture.”

“Are you really going to kill all of us? Why?!”

“I told you, that wasn’t my plan.”

She let out a long sigh.

Thinking about it made her feel sad.

‘I haven’t done anything, but since I’m the Devil, I couldn’t stop them from thinking like this.’

The demons who are supposed to protect the Devil said she was a fake, that’s the reason why they left her.

This was a situation where she had to deal with all the karma that the owner of this body had set.

If she hadn’t met Tina at the beginning, or if there was no sign of things getting better, she might have given up early and jumped off.

‘My poor mentality.’

As if being struck by a thorn, she received a gaze full of betrayal from the person she thought that she had become close to.

Her head felt dizzy at the thought of having to search through the contents of all those volumes one by one in all the temples.

‘Oh, I don’t know. For now, I should go in and rest…’

As she was about to get up, her head started spinning. It was a common vertigo that often occurs after waking up after indulging in deep meditation.

“Urgh…”

“Devil!”

Shud quickly grabbed Lucia’s staggering body.

After she felt better from her dizziness, she saw Shud’s face that displayed half worry and half confusion. Needless to say, at least she knew that he still tried to help her.

She smiled softly and looked at him.

“Thank you.”

“… This, this, I mean.”

He stammered to find words as she patted his arm as if telling that she understood.

“Don’t worry. It’s not going to happen, what you think it is.”

“…”

“So help me at least for Tina, will you?”

‘I didn’t know much about the temple or the Scripture. On the other hand, Shud seemed to be quite knowledgeable.’

“Will you help me?”

“…Huh? ”

Shud quickly turned his head at Lucia’s question. For a while, he covered his mouth with the back of his hand and didn’t say anything, but after a while he spoke out in a trembling voice.

“All right.”

***

Haron rejected Princess Shiana’s proposal with a single blow, but the Emperor was still really persistent.

After that, the Emperor called him over and over again, and he even arranged a deliberate place just for him. Apparently, it was to compliment him, but there was a clear purpose to it.

Naturally, Princess Shiana didn’t give up either.

In the presence of the Emperor, she always maintained a noble posture and tried to create a good atmosphere, and when there were only the two of them, she grabbed hold of his neck and threatened him to marry her immediately.

‘Why? Why? Why won’t you do it? You don’t like me? Well, I don’t like you either, so just go with the flow! You’re not getting married for the sake of love, are you? Why don’t you do something that’s going to be good for you and also for me!’

As he was walking down the hallway of Duke Blake’s residence, Haron felt like he could hear tinnitus in his ear, so he stopped walking and pressed his hand on his temple.

It was not unusual to hear tinnitus since he was always here almost every day, for him to hear that sound. When Haron suddenly stopped walking, Kozen, who was following from behind, asked.

“Are you okay, Master?”

“Wow, you call him Master? That’s a bit awkward, can’t we just call him the Warrior as we used to call him?”

“Sir Hermila, didn’t I tell you to fix your sloppy steps? You appear as if you’re not a knight, but rather like some kind of back alley bastard!”

“Hey, really. It’s because my legs are all sore because I’ve been training with you. Anyway, he’s not being funny, he’s straightforward.”

“… Both of you… Please be quiet. It’s noisy.”

Even though Haron’s head was ringing, he could still hear them arguing.

Both of them became quiet at Haron’s cold voice.

As he clicked his tongue lightly, he started walking again. He knew that the two knights were still fighting with each other behind him but he just let them go.

Haron decided to ask Icus to increase the amount of training for those two, so that they wouldn’t have the strength to fight. That’s what he thought.

“So, Warrior… There is something that I picked up. Is it true?”

Hermila, who quickly regained his energy, came to him with a sinister expression on his face, and whispered.

“Are you really going to get married? With the Princess?”

“Hermil…!”

“I’m not.”

After Kozen stopped nagging, Haron responded with a short reply. At those words, the two who were about to fight again opened their eyes wide and looked at him.

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Because we won’t get along.”

Haron shook his head.

“Can’t you just get married? Like a dog… No, I mean to get out of this dirty place!”

“Your Majesty seems to need you. I think it’s better to follow his will than to be here.”

In an instant, the two of them finally acted like they were getting along. The maids of the mansion who were passing by in a very lively atmosphere looked at them for a moment, and then found Haron.

He quickly turned away, pretending not to know. The knights who were sensitive to others’ presence could not be unaware of this fact.

“Look at what they’re doing there. It doesn’t matter if we are ignored, but you are the Warrior, no, our master, so should we just ignore it?”

“I feel the same way and it’s only been a day or two.”

“…”

Haron looked silently at the two angry knights.

‘It’s much better than before.’

Kozen and Hermila joined the Duke of Blake when Haron had already grown up and had left the Duke’s.

To see how indignant they were because of the atmosphere of ignoring them just like this, it was surprising to Haron.

“Anyway, Warrior, if it’s not too bad, just think that you’ve lined up well and just go with the Princess…”

Hermilla’s mouth, which was babbling, had bitten his own lips and the corners of his eyes turned slightly sharp.

It was because he noticed the opponent coming from the other side. Haron and Kozen also turned their heads at the sound of the talking people.

“Sir, how have you been?”

“… How are you, Duke?”

Duke Blake looked at them with a smile.

“Yes, there’s something I want to talk about.”

The Duke looked at Kozen and Hermila who were behind Haron with a smile.

“I have a very long message, so could you let your two knights go ahead first?”

Hermila behind him made a muffled sound, saying,

“Huh.”

It’s very unusual for the Duke to say something like that, as well as the aide who was standing next to the Duke.

He didn’t seem to have any intention of going back. When Haron remained silent without saying a word, the Duke said again.

“Would you let me talk with you?”

“… All right. Kozen, Hermila. Take ten steps back.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, yes, we will.”

With dissatisfied faces, the two moved away from them.

“What do you want to say?”

“I heard that his Majesty called you over.”

As soon as the two of them moved away, the Duke’s expression changed as if he had turned over a mask.

He said as if urging, casting a shadow over his face.

“What did you say?”

“…”

“Have you been ordered to do anything else? Or did you ask for something? Don’t tell me you’re really going to marry the Princess?”

“If you’re that curious, go and ask his Majesty yourself.”

“You…!”

Haron responded casually to the sound of his voice, which had quickly changed to a harsh one.

“Is there any reason why I have to explain every detail to the Duke?”

It was a very gentle voice. If it wasn’t for the content, everyone would think that he’s a kind and good listener.

However, the content was the exact opposite from the past.

“If you ask me nicely, I might be able to tell you a little bit.”