episode_0467

When the three people of interest left Gestier, my heart also became relieved.

I have no need to be polite to anyone but the royal family.

Bok-soo did not attempt to assassinate anyone.

Now that they knew my identity, they obviously couldn’t hastily send an assassin.

And so the last day of the coming-of-age ceremony arrived.

“Pour me some wine.”

“···Yes?”

“Don’t you know how to follow?”

Isabelle laughs mischievously.

Anne is sitting on the chair opposite and looking up expectantly.

‘I don’t know how to pour alcohol.’

I popped the cork and held it with both hands as if offering a drink to an adult.

“Do not hold it with both hands. Place one hand on the following arm. You have to set the right angle so that the wine doesn’t get sticky.”

Squeak───

like this?

“From a higher place, weakly so as not to splash.”

Squeak…

What kind of drink are you pouring and drinking that makes you look like this?

“When you finish pouring out, use your wrist to retrieve the wine by rotating it as if you were hugging it.”

I poured wine into Anne’s glass as well.

“As expected, Lee looks better in a suit than in armor.”

“So. Wouldn’t it be nice to just wear that every day?”

Isabel can control the wind.

Thanks to this, unlike me, it didn’t seem like he was talking to himself to those around him.

“I didn’t become a knight to pour alcohol.”

“Look at the noble ladies. Can you see that everyone is jealous?”

I thought Isabel was a person who was not interested in these things.

But looking at this, it doesn’t seem like that is necessarily the case.

I can’t read his emotions, but it felt like he was showing me off to others.

Should I say that I am enjoying the envious looks that are showered upon me?

‘Even men are jealous.’

It’s amazing that I can be the object of envy.

This kind of subtle boasting felt childish.

“Now, let me pour you a drink──”

[The Grand Duke of Sia di Weitburg has arrived!]

“Grand Duke?!”

Isabel stood up with wide eyes at the echoing voice.

Even though the royal family was higher than the Archduke, Isabelle was tense.

Anne was dumbfounded and looked up at Isabelle.

“I have to go!”

I walked quickly behind Isabel toward the entrance of the ballroom.

Perhaps because she had obtained blood from the market, the younger Grand Duke Widow was wearing a Victorian-style re-creation of Hanfu by herself.

After all, mixed race is mysterious and beautiful.

It seems the same applies to clothes.

However, it bothers me that the clothes she wears are as flashy as Isabel’s dress.

Is it Chinese pride, or is it just that they look down on Isabel?

She was leisurely walking towards this place, receiving greetings from a shower of people.

“Long time no see, princess. You have become even more beautiful since I haven’t seen you before.”

“It’s been a really long time. I’m so glad you came to my coming-of-age ceremony!”

It seemed like they were exchanging cliche greetings, but in my eyes, it was a pretty fun meeting.

‘The person who created my ideals and the person who imitated my ideals.’

The Grand Duke Widow lightly hugs Isabelle and glances at me standing behind him.

The eyes did not contain such beautiful emotions.

‘Are you seriously burned because of the Avengers?’

Well, that was something they brought upon themselves.

[If there wasn’t an avenger, you wouldn’t have been able to save Isabelle.]

A strange voice echoed through my mind like ripples.

As if speaking to your head.

‘···Can you read my mind?’

[A person who has not even learned the basics is Dantalian’s representative. What on earth is he thinking…]

It looks like it can be read.

The senses are expanded. Now I feel like I know how to handle that power.

[Are you that angry about having to pay the price for violating human dignity?]

[It was Yunaira who violated his dignity. If I had seen the disaster at the Great Wall, I would never have said such a thing.]

[I am not on Yunaira’s side.]

[I am also not doing this for Habstenburg.]

Isabelle looked visibly happy.

Are you close friends with the Grand Duke Widow? It became awkward.

“I never imagined that the Grand Duke would come to my coming-of-age ceremony.”

“I have never missed a party this big.”

[I advise you. It would be best to give up the idea of assassinating Harold.]

[What is your relationship with Harold?]

[I placed Harold on the throne.]

[Is that so? This time, I plan to put Isabella on the throne.]

···A thousand questions swirl through my head.

What I’m most curious about is the word ‘seated’ on the throne.

[Why did you put a man like Harold on the throne?]

[Because I saw ambition.]

[He was ruined by ambition.]

[You are the one who destroyed Harold.]

It sounded fun. Of course I destroyed it.

However, retaliation following an attack is more than a natural consequence.

[Do you think what he did can be forgiven?]

[The culprit is the Romaria Empire, which manipulated the supplies sent to Habstenburg, which protects the Great Wall. Habstenburg was on the verge of collapse following the Black Death.]

[So?]

[If you had not had that free will, Habstenburg would have regained its former glory through the blood of Amor, who never met you.]

This is unexpected.

It is said that even Amor faced death because he met me.

Am I a reaper?

[Why are we turning the predetermined future into such a mess?]

[If I had followed free will, Amor and Venus would not have been saved as a result.]

[Amor was a wicked man. He was a worse villain than you.]

“Dwin?”

ah.

Isabelle is staring at me.

“Yes.”

“Sit down. Don’t stand there because your legs hurt.”

Isabel sat down a beat later.

“When receiving wine, you can show courtesy by placing your hand under the glass. Next time, I will tell you about decanters separately.”

“Thank you.”

[Amor, who became the devil, looked at people’s lives as if it were a wheel. If he was alive, I would definitely kill him.]

[It is this world that has driven us that way.]

[I put myself in a corner because I couldn’t handle it. He should have been punished for messing up the world in a sarcophagus.]

[No one is perfect in the world.]

[···Let’s stop arguing here. If you don’t want to fight with me, you’d better not lay a hand on Harold.]

‘For the revival of Habstenburg’ was written on the lid of the coffin where Schir was imprisoned. The phrase comes to mind.

What was he thinking when he locked Shir in the coffin?

I thought I was a scum of the earth that could not be saved.

He said he wanted Shir’s blood for his own ambitions.

That’s what I decided.

Immortal to defeat the demon king Amor.

Harold to save the devastated kingdom.

I remember.

The story is that tariffs on food were raised due to a prank played in Lomaria.

There is even talk that Romira is putting pressure on Habstenburg, who has grown in size.

I’m sure there was a misunderstanding on my part.

However, I couldn’t make a calm judgment at that time.

But that doesn’t change the fact that he harmed Shir.

I still wish deep in my heart that he would die painfully.

[Kill yourself and watch the game. Or at least look back! The poor people you trampled on!]

[I just break down everything that stands in my way and move on.]

[You have become the great general of the world. It’s a really great stroke.]

[Like the Grand Duke, I do not kill myself and watch the world play. I just protect the people around me. Just like you do for Harold.]

Black eyes come towards my face.

[······Herald must not die.]

I don’t know why I shouldn’t die.

However, if that is what the Grand Duke Widow, one of the ‘heads’, wants, there is nothing we can do.

[I know there was a misunderstanding on my part. I won’t kill you. But you will have to step down from the throne.]

[thanks. I will make you step down from the throne within a year. Maybe in the meantime───]

Clap───!

Someone bursts into the party hall and looks around.

‘······messenger?’

The eyes of all those enjoying the party turn to the messenger at his spectacular appearance.

Does the messenger… have any business here? To be exact, it was heading towards Isabelle.

Anne and Isabelle, who were eating refreshments, looked up at the messenger in front of them with blank faces.

“I came here because I had to inform Princess Isabella of something urgent.”

“What’s going on?”

The messenger’s face is dark.

“···The late king passed away.”

“Yes, yes─?!”

Hahahahahaha!

A bloody energy exploded from afar.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t be surprised by his death. The Widow Grand Duke’s power goes wild in response to his emotions.

The Grand Duke Widow was glaring at me in a purple haze.

Fortunately, the haze seemed to be visible only to me.

[Did you do this?]

[I don’t know. Even the curse was lifted because it was discovered that it was alive in the first place.]

[lie!]

[He almost certainly can’t die. Since they were given enough blood to revive even if a knife was inserted into their heart, the report must be incorrect.]

The purple haze emitted by the Grand Duke of Widow did not subside at all.

But that energy wasn’t directed at me.

The Grand Duke Widow was Dantalian’s representative before I was designated as his representative.

He had a strength that was incomparable to that of a half-pepper like me, so I didn’t want to turn him into an enemy.

“Where is your father?!”

“It is better not to look at the body. It would be a good idea to watch it after the admissions and admissions are over.”

Isabel’s eyes turn to me.

When I shook my head, Isabel jumped up from her seat.

“It doesn’t matter. Please guide me.”

* * * * * *

It was unique.

Isabelle was surprised, and the widow Grand Duke defended Harold.

I don’t understand why that killer is respected.

How far has it gone?

The Royal Knights are inspecting the scene and people are running around everywhere to collect evidence.

As there were more knights around, Isabelle’s steps became faster.

As she entered the safe house, a knight intercepted Isabel.

“Get out of the way!”

“···It’s better not to see it.”

“I don’t care, so get out of the way!”

The Widow Grand Duke is already standing in front of us, completely oblivious.

The knight eventually retreats due to Isabelle’s shouting.

I was tentatively allowed to enter, and I followed Isabelle’s steps and looked around.

“Hee profit…!”

“──────?!”

Anne was scared and took a step back.

Isabelle’s eyes were wide open and her face was pale.

Harold was torn to pieces.

The neck was strangled so hard that the shield cartilage was twisted and crushed.

The esophagus was twisted from behind, a hand was inserted into the solar plexus, and the heart was pulled out.

It must have been torn off and regenerated several times, so even though it had all its legs, six of them were left behind.

There are countless parts of the body that have been cut off, such as hands and feet.

The horror was enough to drive witnesses into panic.

But to me, it was just a strange scene.

‘Is it torture?’

First, we looked at blood traces that could indicate defense marks.

But the bloody hands are not visible. There was no big mess in the furniture or objects.

It doesn’t look like the kill was moved.

I could tell by the smell. All of these dozen limbs belonged to Harold.

‘Is there a need to torture this persistently?’

does not exist.

Maybe it’s not torture.

‘why?’

What you are doing is not practical compared to your skills.

Who in the royal palace would have the audacity to sneak into the king’s safe house and cut him into pieces?

Harold’s head was smashed.

The direct cause of death was a skull fracture.

‘I didn’t hit him with a blunt object.’

The battle hammer has a narrow impact point, so one side is deeply broken, but in this case, the head skeleton itself has collapsed.

It may be the fist of a meat-eating person, or it may be struck with a shield or a sword.

‘There is no way an assassin would carry a shield.’

The assassin smashed Harold’s head and put his hand inside his head, scrambling his brain.

I arrived at the conclusion that it was the work of a terup other than the Hosot or Miao people.

No other demi-human can have this level of strength.

‘Or immortal.’

Isabel… was speechless and could not take her eyes off Harold’s body.

“Princess, are you okay?”

“Oh, my father…”

···Isabel sheds tears.

why? I said I was the one who cleared up the misunderstanding, but wasn’t Harold a tyrant worth shedding tears for Isabel?

[···Do you have any idea who the culprit is?]

A dark power that makes my bones tingle just by feeling it is pressing on me like goo.

Contrary to such energy, a bitter bitterness can be seen in the Grand Duke Widow’s eyes.

I guessed that it wasn’t a normal relationship, but it seemed like they were close friends.

[Not sure.]

[Bring him here.]

[I am a guardian knight. I can’t leave Isabella’s side.]

No matter whose hand Harold died by, he did not die by my hand.

‘Who on earth could this be?’

Who could sneak into the safe house where the king lives and cut him into pieces like this?

The corpse of an immortal is imbued with the power of a servant, and even the corpse is full of life.

In other words, forensic science does not apply.

“Are you sure you were alive last night?”

“Yes! Absolutely!”

Thanks to this, the drivers were experiencing difficulties in their investigation.

It would not be possible to even determine the time of death using normal methods.

[One thing is certain: the opponent is a highly skilled person.]

[Judging by the clean blood stains, Harold died instantly. These limbs were regenerated by the servant’s power while the body was being abandoned.]

There is so little blood splatter that it is impossible to predict the weapon used.

No traces or wounds of defense. There is none of that.

In other words, the assassination took place in an instant.

‘It is correct to say that the power of Venus remaining in the body was manifested.’

This is all I can tell the Grand Duke Widow.

Tears flow down the widow’s archduke’s cheeks.

She couldn’t even make a sound because she wasn’t invited, so she just gritted her teeth and sobbed quietly.

····I don’t know who killed him, but he will never die comfortably.

Because he stabbed the former Dantalian agent in the face.