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Chapter 28
Translated by Tam
Edited by Tam
It was a tone that could not contain joy. The magic circle that was shining red flickered rapidly. It was a change that had no choice but to think that the mood of the magic circle was offended by the atmosphere.
「Lord! There are two strange things! Help!」
“W, wait a minute. Calm down for now.”
She already called him twice, and if she calls him one more time in this way, he will be dumbfounded. However, the magic circle did not stop glowing.
Kiiik.
“—Miss Phanya. Aren’t you tired?”
Soon after, a tired voice called Catherine. The Grand Duke, who reunited after half a day, was dressed as light as yesterday. The eyes behind the silver frames, on the other hand, were hazy, as if they had been up all night.
“What kind of bizarre thing to call me? I can only think of it now as something that will bother me.”
Then his eyes twisted toward Meow. There was a wide narrowing of the forehead. Meow lowered its back and showed its teeth as if it were rebellious against him.
Grrrr.
It was such a threatening sound that she couldn’t even imagine coming from such a small body.
“Ha. I gave you time to think about it— and you were taming this monster?”
What does he mean by taming? Catherine, who only fed Meow a few meals, could have had a more puzzled look.
“What do you mean tamed? I just gave him a few meals after moving here. He’s a little unique, but he’s such a nice kid. Right?”
She had a bad feeling even before she asked Meow. Surprisingly, the cat’s remarks, which looked to be waiting, met that expectation.
「No! Catherine Phanya has tamed me!」
“When did I do that?”
「Giving food is the same as taming it. Of course! A great and cruel monster like me can’t be easily tamed! I’m getting a little tamed!」
Even in the world of monsters, there is such a thing as discipline. To say that, is it natural?
Cesare’s eyes, which were still stiff from fatigue, twisted nervously. He had a face with an eerie look on his face.
‘Did I make a mistake—?’
He was always relaxed and calm. But Cesare is now, to say the least— his complexion was pale as if he had witnessed his spouse’s adultery.
“I think you learned from devilology. Devils are quite sensitive to personal realm and possessions. Have you forgotten already?”
“I didn’t forget.”
“But still, do you tame this monster?”
Catherine, who looked genuinely offended, also shook her hand in confusion. She knew that the devil was possessive. Cesare, on the other hand, felt quite different from typical devils, so she didn’t bother.
“Calm down. I told you that the cat wasn’t completely tamed like its own mouth, didn’t I? In the first place, I didn’t know I’d feed him enough to tame him.”
“How many days has it been since you signed a contract?”
They can’t communicate.
Catherine shut her mouth. Yes, no matter how humanly devil Cesare was, the thought of a devil and a human could be sufficiently different. The two legs that he means in the devil world and the two legs she knows may have different meanings.
‘He’s really upset.’
She doesn’t know what’s wrong, but it seemed right to apologize first. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings about this.
“I’m sorry, this is my fault. I didn’t know you’d hate it so much.”
Cesare took a long breath.
“Your soul is now mine. The exchange of souls is proof of that.”
“Didn’t Cesare also make a contract with other devils?”
“I didn’t sign a contract, I won it. Every demon in the world that exists below me has no choice but to obey my orders.”
She thinks she learned similar theories from books.
“So you’d better be a little more careful with your appearance. And I’ll do the same.”
She had nothing to say about it either.
“What should we do now? Don’t allow him to go inside the mansion as much as possible?”
「No! I don’t want to!」
“You don’t have to do that. Gargoyle is also endangered—. What I want is, at least mention it before you put it in.”
Cesare picked up the cat’s back with two fingers. What’s so good about this cat? He was busy waving his tail softly and softening the fur that had stood close to his vigilance. Now that she sees it, even if the body is a cat, what it does is a mixture of dogs and cats itself.
“Hmm. There is no way monsters would eat cat food. What did you give to him?”
「Rice! It was delicious! I grew up eating the food that Catherine Phanya gave me. I was at risk of dying from an unfortunate encounter with the cardinals, but Catherine Phanya took care of me. Catherine Phanya is so good!」
When they first met, the cat was in a bad condition.
“Did you even hunt humans and bring them back? If you had been attacked by the cardinals, it would have been difficult to recover.”
「The food was as savory as human meat!」
Cesare gave a sullen expression.
“Surprisingly. I didn’t know that your hobby was murder—. It doesn’t matter to me, but you better be careful. Sir Mel, who is in charge of this area, was once a knight who went to subjugation with me, so it’s easy to get caught.”
「The owners of hounds are sharp for an old man. Ha, I almost got caught on a couple of times!」
Aside from Sir Mel being from the area, Catherine jumped to her feet and became furious as she was about to turn a healthy person into a slaughter.
“How do you use the time you don’t have enough to pull weeds to catch people? Don’t say nonsense. Now I’m going to have a quick meal and go help Damian clean up the garden.”
“It can’t be, he’s still doing it?”
“The problem is that Demian is too relaxed. That doesn’t mean I have the money to hire a professional gardener.”
“There’s nothing you can’t have. Shouldn’t you use your wish to enjoy a huge fortune?”
She tried to respond by not saying anything, but she didn’t. This is because Catherine’s actual wish was also that.
Enormous wealth.
She tried to break her head to see if there was any better wish, but there was no more practical wish than this.
‘There’s nothing in the world that money can’t do these days. Honor follows money in this generation—’
Just in time, Cesare would be right in front of her, so Catherine decided to make her wish without wasting any more time.
“Okay. I’ll make my wish come true. Please make sure I don’t lack finances for the rest of my life. Only in something such as cash, jewelry, and land books.”
However, she was a little worried while saying it, and she wondered where the source of all that wealth would be.
Cesare raised the corners of his lips and smiled as if he liked her cool decision.
“You know that once you decide, you can’t change it.”
“No way. The money isn’t fake, is it?”
“Fake? Are you saying that the only property of the Shagweed II brothers is fake?”
Catherine, pondering the meaning of those words, had to ask in a slightly startled voice.
“No way, do you mean I will use Cesare’s property?”
“If it’s not mine, whose money are you going to use? I don’t think it’s meant to take money out of the Emperor’s Vault. There’s nothing I can’t listen to, but I don’t think there’s any reason to do it.”
It was a more human and rational process than she thought.
“Is my wealth not enough?”
“Uhm, no, I don’t think so.”
Catherine recalled the luxury from the ladies of the salon she belonged to.
They used to actively sponsor women they liked regardless of their status, and Catherine was one of them.
The amount the salon ladies gave Catherine alone amounted to hundreds to thousands of Rid. But Cesare is a man who casually gives out 1,000 Rid, so it was clear that he would not lack in luxury until she died.
“If it’s not enough, I’ll fill it up then. All right. Now—.”
Catherine swallowed her saliva. Requesting a wish is the last condition necessary for a contract with the devil to be established. Even this time, she was going to stay still if he touched her lips.
However, overshadowing her boundaries, Cesare only loosened his posture against the wall, and did not suddenly touch her face like last time.
“I am Cesare Jean Uld Christopher. As you may already know, I am the Duke of the Iterana Empire, a relative of Emperor Shagweed II, and the lord of 11 estates including the Duchy of Christopher. The full name is too long, so I will skip it.”
‘—All of sudden like this?’
It was a brief moment, but the accident stopped at the sudden self-introduction. Catherine, who had been standing idly, opened her mouth belatedly.
“My name is Catherine Phanya. Actually, Panya isn’t my real surname— I’m a daughter from a noble family, but since I came out of the house, it’s safe to say I’m a commoner.”
Cesare’s expression remained calm as if it was not an unexpected remark to say that she was from a noble family. The cat sitting next to Catherine swung its tail and more vigorously to cut in.
「My name is Meow! It’s a tacky name, but Catherine Phanya gave it to me, so I decided to just be satisfied with it.」
“—Meow, you say everything you want to say.”
「Eh, I feel good when you compliment me.」
It didn’t mean anything positive. Let’s leave him alone because he’s in a good mood.
“Originally, I would have to hold a grand contract ceremony to fit my reputation—but I think it would be better to skip it. The Vatican is very wary of Christopher.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like we’re getting married.”
“Ha. Miss Phanya. This—”
“Did you forget to call me by my first name? Don’t call me by my last name.”
Cesare gave a brief cough.
“Yeah, Catherine. —This is a covenant of such importance that it can’t be compared to a marriage. It can’t be compared to a wedding, because the names of souls are engraved on each other.”
For a contract of a lifetime, the process certainly felt a bit boring. At the very least, if the contract went back and forth, she would think that something really happened.
Cesare stared at Catherine quietly, with a face that was difficult to comprehend, then narrowed the distance.
“There is one thing you must know. A contract is only completed when you know the devil’s true name. But our names have power, so putting them on the tongue should be carefully considered.”
“What is your true name?”
His eyes shone with a brilliant purple like a jewel.
Cesare’s lips moved. It was a small and delicate voice that could be faintly heard, but only the moment it was pierced into the ear, it was sharp and stinging, like a piece of broken glass crushing the flesh.
[Leviathan]
Grrrr.
Leviathan.
Meow suddenly lowered its head deeply and revealed its teeth. Catherine read fear, awe, and instinctive boundaries in Meow’s narrowed golden pupils.