Chapter 50
“Thank you for giving me Ophensia tea, Your Highness the Princess.”
As Gremory bowed her head, Ivelia smiled gently.
“The tea I gave you isn’t free. I’ve heard rumors that you are a talented person in many ways. Someday, won’t you help me with your strength?”
“Of course. Call on me anytime.”
“Hehe, you shouldn’t answer so easily without thinking. You don’t know what I might ask.”
Ivelia smiled meaningfully. Feeling uneasy, Gremory tried to read the darkness behind Ivelia but failed. It was because of the royal blood flowing through Ivelia and the relic necklace she wore.
“…If it’s a difficult task, I won’t do it.”
“Hmm. Then I may have to make you owe me even more. Because there’s a chance I will ask something quite difficult.”
“What is it?”
“That’s a secret.”
Gremory’s expression honestly twisted with disappointment. Ivelia chuckled softly and sipped her tea.
“Severian might try something to you again, so leave the palace soon. There was quite an unfortunate incident at the banquet yesterday, so even if you leave early, Severian won’t be able to complain.”
“Understood, Your Highness the Princess.”
With that, Gremory left the secret tea time.
Left alone, Ivelia gulped down her tea and sighed heavily.
“I believe you will fix things. The twisted future caused by the mistakes humans have made… Your broken destiny.”
Back to his usual foolish self, Severian trembled in front of Ophensia.
“D-Do you think she won’t die?”
“Why? You fed it to her. Are you scared now? You’re trembling like a weakling.”
Ophensia restored Severian’s original emotions every night. She enjoyed watching his trembling.
Severian suffered every time his emotions returned. The memory of countless barbarians he had slain on the battlefield frightened him, and the warm sensation of the blood he was drenched in sent chills down his spine. Adding to that was the fact that today he had tried to kill someone—he even shed tears.
Sitting cross-legged on the sofa, Ophensia smiled wickedly at him.
“You look like you can’t handle it. Should I take your night emotions away too?”
“No, please don’t. I’d really become a monster. But why didn’t she react after drinking Rilkana tea?”
“Because Gremory isn’t an ordinary witch.”
“So Gremory was the name of that witch. If she’s not ordinary, is she a high-level witch?”
“Yes. The strongest witch in the demon realm.”
“Then you must be weaker than Gremory?”
“Exactly. Damn, what if she tries to kill me? If I had known that the witch next to Duke Edel was Gremory, I wouldn’t have done the crazy thing of making her drink Rilkana tea. She’s disguised as a human, so I couldn’t detect her properly. My sensing ability isn’t very good.”
Ophensia finished her words brazenly, then looked at her nails as if she didn’t care what would happen next. Severian was dumbfounded.
“What? You didn’t know who you were dealing with? Then we might be in danger! What do we do now?”
“Make a wish to become stronger than Gremory. Make a stronger wish and dedicate more emotions to me. How about that? To defeat Gremory and Cheshion Edel, you need to do that much.”
For a moment, Ophensia’s eyes shone ominously. Severian stepped back, sensing something bad.
Cheshion’s new subordinate, Chris, brought strange news.
“Duke, there have been frequent disappearances lately. It seems to be happening not just in the Duke’s domain but throughout the Empire.”
“Disappearing everywhere, and yet the Empire is so quiet about it?”
“That’s probably because the missing are mostly vagrants or unregistered people, so public attention is low, and it’s hard to grasp the full scale. At least five people have disappeared in the Duke’s domain alone.”
“The real number must be much higher.”
Gremory had a rough idea of the cause: Ophensia. She was taking prey to replenish her power.
‘But how do I tell Cheshion?’
No matter how she thought about it, there was no good way to inform him. She didn’t want to involve him in dealing with a high-level witch. Someone would surely get hurt.
So she decided to act alone. Taking care of a single high-level witch with stealth as her specialty was tricky but manageable.
As she turned to leave, recalling Cheshion’s words to rely on her, her steps faltered.
‘It won’t work. Even you wouldn’t be safe getting involved in a witches’ fight.’
She hoped no one would get hurt and headed toward the back of the mansion where no one was around. After confirming she was alone, she transformed into a crow and flew into the sky.
Gremory perched on a tree, watching Severian.
Severian radiated a much darker aura than before. He was practically a different person—silent, dressed entirely in black without even a small ornament.
At the meeting, Severian, who would have been treated like a child and pushed around by nobles, instead beheaded Count Nilton, who had looked down on him.
News reached the Emperor. When summoned, Severian gave a plausible explanation.
“Though it embarrasses me, I endured humiliation by Count Nilton for some time. I lacked courage and prestige to punish him properly before, but now the situation has changed, so I executed him summarily.”
The Emperor considered it a decent matter. A tyrant Crown Prince was better than a weak one.
“I understand your intentions. Do you wish to become a respected ruler?”
“Yes.”
“Then go to the western Teren forest to hunt monsters. You know that area, yes?”
“Yes. It’s the werewolf territory. Cheshion Edel has been reducing their population annually by hunting.”
“I will entrust that duty to you now.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Severian’s face showed no emotion as he bowed and stood.
Behind him, Ophensia, concealed, whispered curses continuously.
Gremory approached Ophensia slowly.
‘She still hasn’t sensed me. Her detection ability isn’t so great.’
Just as Gremory thought she could surprise and kill Ophensia, their eyes met.
Ophensia stared at Gremory for about three seconds, then motioned for her to follow.
After locking Severian in the tea room, Ophensia came out to meet Gremory in a corner of the garden. She bowed deeply.
“I apologize for making you drink Rilkana tea before. Let’s keep to our territories from now on. I won’t use the Crown Prince to toy with the human world anymore.”
“What do you mean by territories? Aren’t you a witch who came to the human world to chase me?”
“I came to repay a personal grudge against a certain human. I’m not related to the witches chasing you, and I only wanted to use the Crown Prince for my own revenge. A noble who claimed to love me cheated on me. I must have my revenge.”
Ophensia gritted her teeth angrily. Through the darkness rising from her, Gremory could tell she was telling the truth.
“There have been many disappearances of vagrants and unregistered people lately. Is that your doing?”
“I have the Crown Prince in my hands. Why would I bother with vagrants and unregistered people? Go look elsewhere, and don’t bother innocent witches.”
Ophensia waved her hand and turned to leave.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“I don’t care what you do for revenge, but if you even touch the Edel domain, I won’t forgive you.”
“Hah. So you want to protect that place? You’ve become quite merciful since I last saw you, Gremory. Don’t tell me you trust humans? A species that betrays even their own kind?”
Ophensia laughed coldly.
“Ah, you don’t love Cheshion Edel, do you?”
