However, there was one thing that the witch could not help with. They searched the entire forest to find the prince and empress who had turned into frogs, but there was no result. In the end, Elliot even issued a wanted order to each nearby village.
[Frog Wanted
Catch them alive.
Reward box.
Lucas Blaine]
It was Luca’s job to find the frog that felt the magic energy.
“Your Highness, I have caught a frog as you said.”
“No.”
“Yes?”
This was before he even opened the basket containing the frog.
“It was a lot of hard work. Now, get your reward.”
Of course, the villagers did not understand why, after having worked so hard to catch a frog and take it back, the Grand Duke shook his head and released it back. While the empress and crown prince were unable to be found, the situation in the imperial palace was turning unfavorable to the grand duke family. It was as Elliot expected.
“Where on earth did it evaporate?”
The emperor slammed the armrest of his throne.
“What did you do instead of protecting those two?”
As the emperor’s shout rang out in the grand throne room, the captain of the guard, maids, and servants bowed their heads. It has already been more than twenty days since the empress and the crown prince, who had gone on a stealth trip on their way back from the Vatican, disappeared without a trace. They searched the area thoroughly, but only the two horses the two men had ridden were found in a village near the Black Forest. Let alone any eyewitness accounts, not even a body was found.
‘If you bring in a new queen, she will be gone, but the crown prince…’
Even if a new empress was brought in right away, only God knew whether she would be able to give birth to a son. Even if he saw his son, it won’t be easy. There was no guarantee that the new crown prince would sit on the throne until he was old enough to hold her throne alone.
‘Now that the crown prince is gone, Eliot, the first heir to the throne, may try to kill me.’
She will drag him down from where he sits now and kill him brutally. These days, he spent the night with his eyes open, trembling with fear. Then, when he finally fell asleep, he had a nightmare of being pulled from the throne and being decapitated by Elliot’s sword, and then woke up screaming. As the number of sleepless nights increased, madness flashed in the emperor’s red, bloodshot eyes.
‘Did those two run away?’
No. There was no way the two of them would have left him on their own. The empress and the crown prince were just as greedy. There was no way he would give up the world’s greatest wealth, status, and power.
‘Then kidnapping?’
However, he was never asked for ransom, so this also makes no sense. Then there was only one possibility left.
‘It must be assassination.’
At the moment when doubt began to lean towards certainty, the emperor’s eyes once again flashed a hideous display of madness.
‘No way Elliot…’
Coincidentally, the last place he was seen was in the imperial palace.
“Yes, assassination.”
The emperor concluded in a cold and slow voice. He had no physical evidence, but his mental evidence was enough. The criminal has a strong motive.
‘I killed my heir out of revenge for the assassination of my parents. Okay… That’s how it happened.’
After committing such an insidious act, she planned to pretend to be noble and just, and then naturally take this position. His hands were trembling as he tightly grasped the armrests of the throne.
‘Rather than being afraid because you don’t know when this guy will raise an army and attack…’
The emperor finally reached a decision.
‘I have no choice but to hit him first before he hits me.’
* * *
The witch looked disapprovingly at the three people sitting at the huge table and the workers surrounding them. The air was heavy. Even the sound of clinking dishes clinking together was an atmosphere that had to be killed.
‘What I want to kill is not sound!’
The witch’s hand holding her cutlery trembled. She’s sick of pretending to be a good witch. No, she held back from getting fed up from the beginning, but it would be fair to say that she’s reached her limit. There was one day when she couldn’t bear to look at her. Even so, it was only at a trivial level, making loud noises like clattering and slurping at the table. Still, she put up with the juicy meat and didn’t even bother the head of the Royal Guard. She was thinking about the future.
‘I’ve become really seasoned over the years.’
However, that trivial resistance lasted only once. It was because everyone’s eyes were on her. The Grand Duke glared at her like he was looking at a bug and even nagged her.
“Have you forgotten the etiquette training you received when you entered the Grand Duke’s residence?”
How could he talk about etiquette just because she made a little noise at a meal?
‘The guy is extremely rude.’
How dared he treat a witch who has lived for hundreds of years like she was inferior to a young girl? The obstacle to marriage has been removed. She thought the Grand Duke would treat his lover more kindly, but that wasn’t the case at all. The Grand Princess said that his brother was naturally such a callous person.
‘It’s different from what the world knows.’
She was secretly glaring at the Grand Duke sitting on the other side of the long table, and as he was about to stand up after finishing his meal, their eyes met. The Grand Duke’s eyes narrowed.
“Do you have any complaints?”
There was, of course. And a lot of them.
“I’m not complaining. Is that possible? That’s not it. I have something I want to ask.”
She couldn’t show that she was dissatisfied, so she corrected her gaze and spoke. Actually, there was a question she had been waiting for an opportunity to ask the whole time.
“Your Highness, what happened to the snake’s legs?”
He said he plans to get married as long as he gets that. Why was there no news? For some reason, the Grand Duke came closer to them. The closer she got, the clearer she could see his expression, and the witch’s eyes widened.
‘Why are you angry?’
It’s not a question she shouldn’t ask. She couldn’t figure out the lord’s thoughts. The Grand Duke took her into the hallway outside the dining room and, after biting everyone around him, revealed the reason for his anger.
“Don’t you know that it’s a secret that I have holy powers?”
“…”
What did that have to do with the question, “When are you going to get the snake’s legs?”
“So don’t bring it up in front of other people.”
The Grand Duke seemed quite humiliated by having only mediocre defense power.
“I was just asking about the snake’s legs.”
“Then I warn you in advance that you might make a mistake. And I’ll take care of saving the snake’s legs, so you can focus on your work.”
There was no such thing as a tyrant.
“But since marriage is two people’s business, it is also my job.”
The witch, whom the Grand Duke did not trust, did not back down.
“Then I’ll go out and save it.”
Snakes with legs were a mutation that appeared once every hundred years or so, making them difficult for anyone to obtain. But she was a witch and she didn’t know if she could be saved. In a free city outside the empire, there was a black market where secret transactions took place. Of course, she had no intention of informing the Grand Duke about the illegal business.
“There’s a store that only wizards can go to.”
That means he couldn’t go. His guard captain either. No one! The witch had a purpose other than marriage in seeking to save the snake’s leg herself.
‘I want to get out of here.’
This was a gorgeous prison. She was sick and tired of the constant monitoring that continues all day long and the constant feeding of peppers mixed into her meals.
‘How did she last five years in this prison?’
It’s definitely thanks to being stupid. Weren’t fools always happy? She may have been happy and smiled brightly, saying she was interested in the Grand Duke’s crazy actions.
‘I’m different.’
The witch wasn’t that stupid.
‘Just wait and see. The moment you take the throne, you, the Grand Duke, will be the prisoner of this magnificent prison.’
Although it has minimal sexual power, it is not scary, nor is it ticklish. Either by feeding the author a potion or hypnotizing him, he will turn him into a puppet and pay for all that has been done to him. The witch did not hide her anticipation and showed it on her face. The author probably doesn’t know her true feelings anyway. She grinned like an idiot and urged her permission.
“So, I’ll leave for a moment and come back.”
“No. Never.”
“What? Why?”
“Are you saying this because you don’t know how critical this is?”
“So, I’m saying I’ll help too.”
The Grand Duke glanced at her, tilted her head and asked:
“Okay? What is important to you?”
“What?”
She had a strong feeling that she was involved in the wrong thing. It seemed like what the Grand Duke thought was important and what I thought were important were different. The Grand Duke noticed this and dug into it persistently.
“So, becoming an Grand Duchess is much more important to you than bringing my parents’ enemies to justice.”
That’s natural. But she couldn’t answer like that.
“…I am not like that.”
If it was discovered that she is obsessed with becoming a grand duchess, or even an empress, the marriage may never have happened. The witch made an appropriate excuse.
“I want to take some of the burden off your heavy shoulders…”
“If you want to do that, help me prepare for the trial.”
“…yes.”
A persistent human being. At this point the witch had no choice but to lower her tail.
“And you know that succession is not the only obstacle to marriage.”
“Yes?”
What did this mean?
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on March, 9.
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