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Colorful lights fall under the stained glass. There was a huge plaster statue in the main prayer room that was enough to overwhelm the viewer. It was the shape of an angel with a benevolent smile looking down on the ground.
‘Every time I see it, it’s just a dirty big size.’
Percyville stared silently at the sacred glittering white plaster figure. Few people could keep him waiting for five minutes who hated waiting for the most. No, it was safe to say that it didn’t exist.
Soon a clear voice came from behind the plaster.
“Our proud Knight of the Lily! You have returned with a more beautiful face. The Vatican  welcomes you back.”
Soon the man appeared, wearing a yellow outfit. Cardinal Bellacoups is one of the Pope’s most trusted figures.
Percyville asked in a deep voice of boredom.
“What about His Majesty the Emperor?”
“The Holy Emperor is coming very quickly, very quickly.”
“I guess the Countess came in late at night, didn’t she? Old people and still full of energy.”
The Pope was a young, handsome and tall man. Although he was twice as old as Percyville and Cardinal Bellacoups combined, his skin was strong and energetic as a young knight. The women who followed such a pope were endless on this land.
The Pope was a man full of love in a good way and promiscuous in a bad way. In another way, the group was embarrassed to respect such superiors. (t/n: I’m not really sure for the last part;;)
Cardinal Bellacoups shook his head and laughed at his ridicule.
“Of course, that often happens—. But don’t you know, Sir? Even if any beautiful woman tried to seduce him, you are the one who the Emperor most cherishes; the fact that it’s Sir Benedicto.”
Percyville pressed his hand on the pit of his chest.
“I think the earthenware just came up here.”
“Yeah, it looks like that.”
“I don’t need that elderly love. What I know is that if he doesn’t show up within five minutes, I’ll be back.”
Percyville ran straight from Beaton Blue to the Vatican. He spent a few days on the train alone, so he wanted to rest as soon as possible.
‘
Beaton Blue.’
He still remembers the Iterana Empire’s most blue vacation spot. Percyville felt the “sensation” he had never felt before on the day of the big full moon coming up.
It was not a sense of consciousness that the strong recognized the strong. It was an intense feeling as if it were drowning in a swamp, attracting all cognitive senses just by existing.
And at the end of the swamp was the woman.
Anne Orléans.
‘
No, I should say Catherine Phanya.’
Percyville had a hunch. Catherine, like him, was a contracted being with the Great Devil.
‘But how?’
Catherine’s shoulders were small and fragile enough to be trapped in his arms in his now hazy memory. It was no different now.
The woman engraved in Percyville’s mind was dangerous, like a wildflower that barely bloomed before spring even started.
It was like a damn illusion that vanished when touched, so he couldn’t easily touch her.
‘But not anymore.’
Catherine Panya now had an abyss power that Percyville alone, perhaps even the Pope, could not dare to touch.
Despite being a contractor for the same Great Devil, Percyville had to feel a great deal of pressure from her for no reason. This means that there is a level among the Great Devils.
Is there a more powerful Great Devil than the one he summoned at the cost of 10,000 lives?
‘If I crush that devil, will Catherine Phanya become obedient?’
Percyville felt the blood in his veins boiling for the first time in a very long time.
“Haha! Please bear with that. Sir Benedicto is now the future and most holy sword of our Vatican. Of course, it’s always been the same.”
With a gracious smile, Cardinal Bellacoups asked secretly.
“How do you get along with him?”
Percyville laughed in vain at the shameless face.
“Him? Are you referring to [Behemoth]?”
Whoosh.
When he mentioned the true name of the Great Devil, the earth and the sky trembled as if they were horrified. Cardinal Bellacoups stopped Percyville’s fearlessness.
“Please refrain from mentioning the true name. In fact, the Vatican almost issued an intrusion warning.”
The Vatican automatically issues an intrusion alarm when devils or monsters invade. Percyville replied as if he didn’t care.
“It’s a shame; we could have seen something fun.”
Then slowly rising from his chair, he approached Cardinal Bellacoups.
“Pope Marpacus will have to do his best to talk about why I should be like this.”
There was a clear warning in the bright smile.
“Otherwise, I will grind this Vatican to dust.”
“Of course, Sir Benedicto.”
Cardinal Bellacoups bowed to Percyville as if he were grateful.
“You don’t have to worry. Our great work will surely benefit Eden and humans.”
*****
The sky is high, and the wind blowing in from the window is cool. Catherine closed her eyes for a moment and savored the cool early autumn atmosphere. And she soon read the letter she was holding in her hand.
「I heard you leave home, Catherine. This grandmother is very upset. It’s useless to raise a daughter and a son, but now even you, the granddaughter, are you treating your grandmother like nothing?  Come to Panya before it gets cold. Let me see your face. -Grandmother.」
Catherine folded the letter, which felt like a short cooking recipe. Her communication with her grandmother, Marquis Phanya, was always like this. A letter with only the purpose of saying hello and her business.
It was a letter just like the Marquis of Phanya.
“Aaack!”
“S, save me!”
Catherine turned to the window, drinking steaming coffee. Screams of terror come from all over the place. A big baby gargoyle, who turned three this year, was running around outside the main gate.
「Kkk. It smells like a human—! Tonight, oh, no, I’ll go hunting this afternoon!」
“R, run!”
People who have been gathering in a line since dawn begin to run away. All were journalists waiting to gather news material about her.
‘I can’t believe I’m getting a lot of calls in just one day.’
Catherine opened the newspapers published this morning.
「Grand Duke Cesare, a burning scandal with a woman from a noble family on the outskirts. If it’s for love, you’re willing to give up your territory?」
The headlines in the local newspapers were more flashy.
「We love you! A woman who melted the ice handsome man who was colder than the ice cap appeared? Grand Duke Cesare scandal with a woman 100 years younger.」
It’s just a 100-year difference.
「It turns out that she is the granddaughter of the Marquis of Phanya.」
“
You found out about this too?”
「Ma’s testimony: It looked like they would break up after enjoying each other in moderation. The opponent is the opponent, but my Unnie is not the type to be hung up on one man. Oops, mistake! Pretend you didn’t hear the last sentence.」
She was wondering how they found out. But the woman who mentioned Catherine was Maggie.
Rose, who had prepared refreshments, sat opposite Catherine.
“Can we leave Meow like that, Lady?”
Catherine replied after glancing at the still raging Meow.
“I told Meow not to swallow people.”
“Really? Oh, that’s a relief. I was worried that it might get sick after eating something weird—”
Since it was truly a voice for a pet cat, she couldn’t ask if that ‘strange thing’ meant a person.
“But I haven’t seen Madam Pompadour since this morning. I wonder if she goes out?”
Oh, right. Catherine looked up at the message she left last night.
“Maybe we won’t be able to see her for a while.”
Madam Pompadour left for the capital to find a contractor. She seemed to need a visit to the Imperial Magic Faculty and a contract with a lower-level wizard.
‘Because it was said that all wizards covet the excellent Nephilim.’
Madame Pompadour was such a great Nephilim that Giovanne, the commander-in-chief of the famous Busperfield, even wanted her. She wondered what kind of wizard she would contract with and return.
“Well, you said Madam is a famous wizard, right? Even if she’s busy, she must be very busy. I hope she eats well! It’s because she’s so skinny that she only has bones.”
With a worried sigh, Rose ran to the front of the oven. Catherine stared blankly as the scones fresh from the oven piled up on the plate.
Rose— is all good, but this girl feeds her too much.
“Come on; my Lady should eat a lot! Because what you eat is leftovers!”
It was time to watch Meow run and put the fifth scone in her mouth.
“Lady! Is this article true? Huh?”
Damian came running from the front door, shouting in a loud voice. In his hand was one of the local newspapers Rose had bought.
Catherine replied bluntly.
“The probability is, 50 is true, 50 is false.”
“I’m the most serious this year. Don’t joke around and answer the truth.”
A page of the gray newspaper unfolded before Catherine’s eyes. Damian’s finger pointed at the title of the article in one corner.
「What is the purpose of Grand Duke Cesare? A new point of contact with Northern reaper, Marquis of Phanya.」
The title was no different from the articles she had seen all morning.
“Why?”
“Here, here! Northern—reaper!”
On one side of the article hung a picture of Cesare and the Marquis of Phanya, Catherine’s maternal grandmother.
So what does he want?
“Is the article true that Lady is the granddaughter of this Northern reaper? Yes?”
The Northern reaper was one of the old nicknames of her maternal grandmother, Marquis of Phanya. It was given the nickname because she mercilessly kills the northern monsters threatening the border.
Damian opened his mouth wide with a shocked face.
“T, that, Lady—!”
“Say it.”
“If you could get me the N, Northern Reaper’s autograph—!”
Throwing away the newspaper, Damian clasped Catherine’s hands with a more desperate look than ever.
“If you do, I’ll take care of the garden like a dog!”
“That’s something you should do without getting an autograph.”
“I won’t sleep until the garden is restored to its original state!”
“Honestly, I don’t expect to see it restored to its original state.”
Damian made a sad face. At this rate, he’ll go back to being a slacker once he goes. Even more so since Madam Pompadour, who was beating him, was away.
Looking at him like that, Catherine made a new suggestion.
“Would you like to go to Phanya with me, Damian?”
Damian let go of her hand with a puzzled face.
“Do you mean Phanya? It’s a big welcome for me, but it’s a very long distance. It’ll take 10 full days even if you take a transcontinental train.”
“If you accompany me, I’ll let my grandmother sign autographs and take a commemorative photo with you. It’s the best service that I’ve never listened to when other knights asked me to do it.”
“When should I pack up? Just say it.”
If she answered “now,” he was about to run into the room right away.
“But there’s a condition.”
It’s not really a condition. Damian sat down cautiously in the chair with anxious eyes.