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I’ve heard and knew of the myth that if you borrow too much of the demonic powers, your soul would wear down – that was also the reason why I doubted Dietrich when he came back from the battlefield – but as far as I knew, he had remained unchanged.
An indifferent but kind child. He’s insensitive to his own wounds, but he hated it when I get hurt.
Such a delicate and warm affection could not belong to the demon.
And so, I let my guard down.
Even though I knew that Veronica and Yuric’s demons belonged to Dietrich and that the contractor was only one person, thus he had to pay the price alone.
‘Why did I think that Dietrich would be fine?’
The reason was simple – because it wasn’t in the original. Just dealing with the crisis that was just around the corner was too much for me that I didn’t think about it too deeply.
In the end, there was no need to blame Baal for not giving me a warning in advance. I sat down, letting go of his collar which I had gripped with all my might.
“.....Princess?”
The demon called me with a worried voice.
Was he pretending to care for me now? I was dumbfounded that I raised my eyes that were welling up with tears.
“I heard that there was a demon who had terminated the contract?”
“How did you find out about that, too?”
“Is there no way for you to cancel the contract with Dietrich?”
“.....I don’t know the way.”
When I narrowed my eyes and doubted the authenticity of his words, the demon made a face as if he was wrongfully accused and made a mouth to pout.
“I’m not lying on the honor of my deceased and gone god.”
“You don’t even like Asmodeus!”
One would never know when a dog who bit its previous owner’s foot would bite theirs as well. I grumbled, completely forgetting that I had received Baal’s help to defeat Asmodeus.
“I know who the demon was, but I don’t know the human.”
As if disappointed by my attitude, a depressed Baal started drawing on the floor with his finger.
“Who is it?”
“Why should I tell the Princess when you’re treating me so cruelly like this–”
“Dipacio!”
“Aaak! Ack! It’s Vassago!”
Baal immediately spewed out the truth when I recited the purification spell again without any hesitation. I raised one corner of my lips as I watched the demon foam at the mouth.
“Hmph. You should have told me earlier.”
“Heuk, ugh! The saying that you shouldn’t collect and raise a pink-haired beast was right….!”
I released Baal who was muttering the same words Yuric had said before while shedding black tears.
‘Why does everyone think they raised me?’
It was Marilyn and myself who raised me. If I was hungry, I took care of it myself, and I even studied on my own!
“I should wake up Vassago. Thanks for letting me know.”
Baal glared at me, who snorted and left him behind, as he kept saying ‘oh god, oh god’ and hit the ground with his hands, but I largely ignored him.
────── 〔✿〕──────
The cracked brooch looked like a shoddy item based on its outward appearance, but it was an item where Vassago was actually sealed.
It was good to be able to take out Vassago from the vault in the study, but the problem was that it had been years since Vassago showed his face.
‘Should I threaten him as I did before?’
I immediately ran to the forest with purification trees and pressed the brooch as if I would break it, but it didn’t budge.
“Why can’t I feel any aura coming from it?”
Did he disappear from inside the brooch?
I started walking with the brooch in my hand, feeling terrified.
Like the curses left by Asmodeus, objects that have been touched by a demon were bound to have a sharp aura like a scar.
However, the bright red brooch didn’t radiate any insidious energy, but only shone beautifully as it originally intended.
I hurried to my room, picking up the stationery, wondering if Damon or Josef would know anything.
[To Marquis Deus
Please come as soon as you receive this letter.
P.S. Can you bring Grandfather Josef along the way?
-Anissa]
“Lancel, send this letter to Marquis Deus.”
“Understood, Princess.”
I took a deep sigh and scrubbed my face with my hands after I left the letter to Lancel who kept on following me around instead of the Grand Duke Dietrich because he was thinking I was the real power behind Lagrange.
I did everything I could, but I couldn’t stand the anxiousness that I started biting my nails.
Feeling my throat burning up, I took out all the books about the demons and started to rummage through them.
After a few days of skipping meals and digging through books, the maid announced Damon’s arrival apparently because the letter have finally reached him.
“My lady, Marquis Deus has arrived.”
“Yeah, bring him here.”
The maid bowed politely at my words and retreated.
Since the drawbridge has been raised after the war started, everyone entering the castle was being controlled.
‘I think it’s going to take a while for him to come here from the gate?’
I did some rough calculations in my head and organized the stories related to the contract with the demons.
Though most of them were stories that came down like legends and scary fairy tales made for children.
‘Still, there might be some truth mixed into them even if it’s like a needle in a haystack.’
“Princess.”
“Kyaa!”
Kneeling under the bookshelf, I sprang up in a panic at the low voice I heard right next to me.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Damon apologized to me with an awkward face. I gritted my teeth, glaring at him fiercely who was scratching his chin.
“I told you not to use magic to come in!”
“It’s too frustrating to wait for the maid. At least let down the bridge a little.”
“No. It means that no traders are allowed to enter.”
Why on earth do people with abilities walk around without using the proper door?
It seemed like they all had decided to make a person’s heart drop to the floor. I narrowed my eyebrows as I thought of Dietrich who loved to use the windows instead of the doors.
“You’re a bit late. It’s been over a week since I sent you the letter.”
“I’m not an idle person as you think I am, Princess.”
Damon chuckled at my complaint.
I had never thought he was free. Just managing a marquisate would have taken more than a day, and he was also the owner of a magic tower as well as planning treason.
“Even so, you’ve committed an offense against me, haven’t you?”
Damon shrugged his shoulder and shook his head.
“I had already apologized for letting Hermann run into you.”
“You didn’t tell me in advance that Euclid is colluding with the imperial family of Valliere.”
“I also didn’t know that. Hermann didn’t know as well. It was an agreement between the former Duke and the Emperor.”
My eyes sharpened at Damon’s excuse and I stood up from my place.
“Don’t you think Euclid is too much at an advantage? I’m sure that would be against your purpose.”
“We also did not expect for the North to possess these many relics. Didn’t the holy sword fall into the hands of the Grand Duke?”
At any rate, he meant that he would somehow balance the South and North for his own benefit.
All sorts of feelings of betrayal surged in me for a moment, but I gritted my teeth and held it in because I was thinking there was something to gain.
‘From the start, I knew that he wasn’t on Lagrange’s side.’
“The words Hermann said, do you remember them?”
“Is your question about the Grand Duke? I don’t know. It’s my first time hearing about a human breaking the contract with a demon.”
I clenched my fist at Damon’s calm answer and squeezed out my voice.
“....What about Josef? Did you find Josef?”
As soon as the ceasefire between Euclid and Lagrange took place, I tried to find Josef but the alchemist who went to Romendov forest disappeared as if by magic.
“I see you didn’t find him.”
‘Although I had asked Damon to bring him because I thought he would be able to find him since he has a lot of connections.’
“Princess, I’m not your errand boy.”
Damon replied with a stiff face. I didn’t hide my disappointment that expressed what he came here for when he was of no help.
“Then why did you come here? Did you come here to warn me you’re not an errand boy?”
“At any rate, I thought I should apologize to you face to face so I came here.”
I extended my hand, dumbfounded since he didn’t particularly look like he was sorry.
Had he not heard that a true apology came from a money purse?
“......The Emperor handed over all the relics that the imperial family kept to Hermann in exchange for the marriage between Euclid’s Princess and the Crown Princess. Isn’t information more valuable than money?”
They didn’t even have a princess so how would they proceed with a marriage? I gave him a sidelong glance in irritation.
“Then, are there no more relics left?”
It was a natural cause and effect since I had wasted one year after I acquired the holy sword.
“Yes. However, since the most important relic is the holy sword which is in the hands of the Grand Duke, it doesn’t mean there is no chance of winning.”
“In other words, Lagrange is still at a disadvantage!”
“The imperial family and Euclid are very anxious. Even I myself did not expect that you would succeed in darkening Hera’s sword, Princess.”
I stomped on my feet, wanting to kick Damon’s knees at his words that weren’t the least bit comforting.
“Phew. You don’t have anything good to say!”
“Don’t be too angry. Instead, I brought you a person you’ve been missing.”