episode_0199

The Fourth Prince, MacHart Paris Valtoria.

He was the only one among Serafin’s bloodline who had ties with the demons, making him a figure in the demon army equivalent to a spy.

Originally, he was a guy who would have his first battle around Part 4 of the story, or in other words, someone strong enough to only show his true strength towards the end of the story.

…And although I didn’t want to bring this up before the battle even started, the maid Lillis wasn’t someone who could be defeated alone.

It wasn’t that he was unbeatable at this moment, but MacHart needed stats equivalent to a hero in Part 4 to be able to defeat his opponent.

For Lillis to reach that level, she would need to be at the end of Part 5. In terms of levels, it was almost equivalent to level 60-70, which meant that in reality, compared to my current level, she was only about a quarter of my strength.

‘Focusing too much on Agnes and Prince Antonio and neglecting the beehive I stirred up…’

I was so focused on the changing relationship between the two characters, different from the original story, that I hadn’t prepared for the crisis that was about to hit me.

If I had known he would approach me like this, I would have at least asked Ethan to take me to the magic department building for a while, even if it meant feeling a bit embarrassed until MacHart lost interest in me.

MacHart’s unique ability, the ‘Inner Darkness,’ was a mental prison that could only trap one person at a time. It was essentially a specialized assassination ability.

‘Perhaps he used this ability to kill Princess Agnes and the first prince.’

Not only was the ability specialized in assassination, but for MacHart, who could freely roam the royal palace, killing a member of the royal family was an easy task.

If MacHart’s mood changed and he decided to let me go unharmed, it was possible, but as I mentioned earlier, he was involved in the deaths of my adoptive mother and a different brother, so a brat who viewed the life of a lower noble like me as insignificant as a fly wouldn’t show me any mercy.

Other than that, using master-level swordsmanship or magic to cut or break the space itself was also a means of escape. Of course, I didn’t possess either of those, so it meant that escaping on my own was impossible.

…If I couldn’t do anything about it, I might as well just kill the caster who cast this mental magic.

“Hmm, interesting. Usually, the girls who come in here for the first time are either trembling in fear or screaming.”

“…What do you want, you bastard.”

“You’re not scared or whining like those girls, huh?”

I mentally replayed the scenario of pulling out the dagger from my pocket and thrusting it into his neck several times.

Pulling out the dagger from under my skirt would allow me to reduce the speed of the action, but to kill him with a sword, I would have to wield it as fast as a hero or Natalie. Or make him completely off guard by exposing his vulnerable spot.

Using magic to respond was out of the question due to the lack of killing power, and attempting to use a large-scale magic like Mana Blast would undoubtedly be blocked before I could even try.

On top of that, it was an extremely inconvenient situation to acquire a skill that could resolve the situation with the remaining skill points.

In this tense standoff, as I couldn’t hide my nervousness while keeping an eye on him, MacHart’s smiling eyes quietly stared at me, and in that moment, his unsettling gaze sent shivers down my spine, causing profanities to escape my lips involuntarily.

“What are you looking at, you damn bastard.”

“I’ve always thought this, but are you not a very polite lady? Did your etiquette teacher not teach you?”

“Your mother must be a brainless whore, do you also go around tearing up and eating poor women like wrapping paper?”

“Ugh, ugh….”

“What are you muttering, you f*cker. Your face is even more disgusting.”

“Hehehe…! That’s right! It’s been a while since I got this kind of reaction. It’s really refreshing and nice, hahaha….”

…Look at him pretending to be cool by acting nonchalant as if he’s not a loser.

Well, it must be funny to hear that you’re ugly from your own position. After all, the reason this guy was involved in killing the first empress and crown prince was to hide his ugly face.

Knowing the original ugly appearance instead of the fake one, I also know why he struts around like that.

He was always a guy with low self-esteem about his appearance, so he learned the ‘becoming handsome magic’ overnight and started using it as he pleased. It was more like a magic that made his appearance look handsome rather than actually becoming handsome.

Whether his pride was hurt by my comment about being ugly or not, the guy leaned his face a little closer to mine.

“Want to say it again? How is my face….”

“F*ck! Can’t you get rid of that f*cking ugly face?!”

“…….”

“Did your mother eat seaweed soup even after giving birth to a bastard like you? The third empress must have had a good stomach.”

“…I’m not sure what seaweed soup is, but I think you understand that you’re insulting me and my mother.”

“Even a goblin would understand that much with a brain. Or is your mother a goblin that she’s proud of such intelligence? Bragging about ridiculous things and sitting down.”

“…….”

MacHeart, who deliberately touches on appearance, sends slightly hostile glances towards me little by little.

In the slightly changed atmosphere, I could also clearly see that the current situation was not good.

“At least it doesn’t seem like you were swearing to get my attention. At first, I thought you were rushing towards me with a new approach.”

“What the hell. Do you just swallow the thought of an axe hitting your head?”

“If you’re a lady who uses vulgar language like a low-class trick to attract my attention, I was going to end it like this, but… I changed my mind.”

“What does it matter that you changed your mind with me….”

-Crack!

“…Be my woman.”

“You f*ck…!”

A faint light illuminating MacHeart’s surroundings, and a black hand emerging from the darkness beyond, grabbed one of my wrists, while two hands that sprang from the ground pinned my legs to the floor.

Completely tied in place so I couldn’t escape, MacHeart leaned his face towards me again.

“I won’t let go of this, you f*cking bastard!”

“Come to think of it, I might have misunderstood a bit.”

“…What?”

“I’ll change my words. Be my wife.”

“….”

“You think being a princess is an easy position to get? Do you think the opportunity to become a prince’s wife comes to anyone? Especially when competition is fierce for the handsome prince like me.”

“What a load of crap.”

“But since I like you, I’ll make you my first wife. Whether there will be a second or not, anyway, it’s not a bad story for you….”

-Smack!

“F*ck off, you f*cking bastard.”

What a jerk to a woman with no say.

Well, come to think of it, she’s not exactly a woman with no say, but anyway, even if the whole human race dies out, that guy was the only one who would be left.

From the start, the idea of marrying a man makes me want to vomit, and to make matters worse, it’s with that bastard tied to the demons?

Just being tied up and walking around together at this time makes me feel like we’ll end up in ruin together, unable to even sleep.

*Sigh.*

“Ha! Haha! Ahahaha!! Ahahaha!!!”

Despite my saliva dripping down between my eyebrows, MacHart starts cutting away like a madman without a care in the world.

With both legs and my right arm bound, I used my somewhat free left hand to sneakily move a dagger hidden inside my skirt into my grasp.

“It’s not such a bad deal. If you promise to marry me and show some proof of that, then I’ll let you go and forget about all the rudeness you’ve shown so far.”

“…Your rudeness is what’s truly rude, you bastard.”

“Anyway, with your skills, you can’t escape from here on your own. I did some research after your arrogant remarks, and you’re not even at the expert level, let alone master level, right?”

“…”

“All you have to do is make a promise. Promise to marry me and become my first wife, and as proof, leave a kiss on my lips. Simple, right?”

“…Is it a trend in the royal palace to eat through the asshole? You’re talking shit with your mouth and getting ahead of yourself.”

“…Well, the shy lady doesn’t seem to dislike it much either.”

“Fuck! Can’t you turn your face the other way?! Shit!!”

With those words, MacHart, who had tied up both legs and one arm, wordlessly pressed his lips against mine.

As his lips approached my face, I waited patiently for him to come closer, trying to make him think of me as a helpless maid until the last moment.

His lips were about to reach my nose when I struck without hesitation, swinging the dagger in my left hand towards his neck, feeling the blade pierce something.

The feeling of the blade cutting through flesh and muscle.

*Thud!*

…One disappointing thing was that the blade struck somewhere other than his neck.

*Thud, thud…*

“Haha, this is…!”

“This fucking bastard…!”

“…Not only is she a shy one, but she’s also dangerous and rough.”

MacHart, who blocked the trajectory of my dagger with his right arm just before the blade reached his neck, ended up with a cut on his forearm where my dagger landed.

“I thought I might as well try swinging the sword until the very end, just in case, but I didn’t expect you to keep fighting even in this situation.”

“Crazy, truly crazy…”

“They say poisonous mushrooms are the most colorful, so it’s a good thing I was careful before eating.”

It wasn’t a joke; it was an attack made with the intention of killing.

Since I couldn’t escape on my own without killing him, I thought it would be better to kill him and escape rather than not. Additionally, killing him would make it easier to progress with the main story, and his death as a minion of the Demon King could disrupt the demons’ plans.

Of course, I would probably be executed for the crime of regicide, but if I was going to die anyway, I thought it would be better to die as a murderer of this bastard.

It was a moment when my futile attempt was abruptly thwarted, and as feelings of sorrow and anger began to rise, suddenly the darkness surrounding me and MacHart dissipated, and the scenery of the academy started to come back into view.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll stop here for today. I wanted to play longer if possible, but I’ve shed too much blood.”

“…What?”

“Well then, see you next time, shy little poisonous mushroom lady.”

-Clang, thud….

“….”

After roughly pulling out the dagger stuck in my forearm and throwing it to the ground, MacHart casually walked towards the church as if nothing had happened.

Unable to muster any energy to chase after his shameless back, I just sat there on the ground, feeling completely drained.

-Thud.

“Ha, hahaha, ha….”

…I should probably stick with Edan and Agnes for a while.