I Became the Master of the Devil

At that time, it was in the annex of the Grand Duchy.

 

“Your Majesty, how can you escort the princess with your precious hands?”

 

“I said I would do it.” The emperor shrugged. “I need to look good for the princess.”

 

“Pardon…?”

 

Grand Duke Benio wondered what on earth the emperor was doing today. On the other hand, Duke Felicite seemed to have some idea.

 

“Hmm, but Your Majesty, are you really going to entrust the royal princess’s education to Princess Felicite?” asked the grand duke with a slightly impatient look.

 

The royal princess was the only imperial grandchild of the current Rixon family. If Siani Felicite were to take charge of the royal princess’s education…

 

Things are going wrong. Grand Duke Benio bit his lips.

 

It would be natural for the presence of Siani, or rather, Duke Felicite family, to reach even within the imperial family. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have annulled his son’s engagement with Princess Felicite a few years ago.

 

“I want to do that. However, Royal Princess Moriana is…” The emperor suddenly stopped talking.

 

“Now we’ve reached the point where we can interpret the prophecies on our own.”

 

“Does that mean…”

 

“No, it’s not like that. In some cases, people might be sensitive to holy power, like His Holiness.”

 

“I hope so.”

 

“Unless the goddess is resurrected, the spirits cannot appear one after another. Hasn’t it been at least a few hundred years between appearances?”

 

The late royal princess, Izel, the emperor’s younger sister, was an elementalist. How secretive, special, and lonely Izel’s life was. The emperor prayed that such a fate wouldn’t fall to his young daughter.

 

“It’s because she’s such a tomboy.”

 

“Hahaha, Your Majesty. What are you saying? It is widely rumored that the royal princess is very clever.”

 

“Well, is there anything wrong?”  asked the emperor, turning his answer.

 

“There isn’t.”

 

“We don’t either.”

 

After a moment of silence, the duke and grand duke replied.

 

“Grand Duke, I heard your nephew gave birth to a child not long ago.”

 

“He’s an ordinary child. Even among us, the power of spirits has never been manifesting. That child is a descendant from a collateral line.”

 

This was a slang that was only used among the three noble families. In other words, the emperor asked if there were any signs of the spirits manifesting, and they answered that there were none.

 

“Your Majesty…”

 

“We’re not either.”

  

The emperor shook his head firmly.

 

“As everyone says together, the power of the spirit would have disappeared when the goddess sealed the devil and left.”

 

Then the grand duke laughed as if he knew that would happen.

 

“It has never manifested itself.”

 

“But we must always pay attention. There’s no such thing as absolutes,” said the duke, wiping his hands with a towel. Then he took the ointment out of his coat again.

 

“Forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty. I’ve been working hard to care for my hands these days.”

 

“What is that? It looks good.”

 

“Ah, my daughter made it for me.”

 

“Ho…?”

 

“She was worried that my hands were damaged from holding a sword on the battlefield all my life. As you can see, the moisturizing feeling is exceptional.”

 

“Oh, my princess also gave me some of her snacks not long ago. As expected, raising a daughter is rewarding.”

 

“From what I can see, my daughter…”

 

And so the two men started bragging about their daughter again. The grand duke, who was caught in the middle, remained silent.

 

This is frustrating. After all, who wouldn’t be envious when they have a daughter of their own?

 

* * *

“Your Royal Highness, what are you looking at so intently?”

 

“Oh my, why is Your Royal Highness so interested in magazines?”

 

When the royal princess was quiet for a while, her nannies came and asked.

 

“Who is dis?”

 

“Yes?”

 

A girl with her hair braided on both sides pointed to the page.

 

“Ah, she’s Princess Felicite. She has been in uproar since the Grand Prince’s welcoming party.”

 

“This lady’s photos and articles of hers were published in all kinds of popular magazines.”

 

“Pwetty. She’s shining.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

Royal Princess Moriana’s big eyes sparkled. They couldn’t believe she could look like this. Even when the emperor ruffled her hair, she looked sour.

 

“She’s definitely a great beauty. Our Royal Princess likes this pretty sister, right?”

 

The knights around her and even the emperor himself weren’t ordinary handsome men. But despite their actions, she was a royal princess who would sip milk with a straw and act recklessly no matter what they did.

 

“It’s not sister.”

 

At that time, her dainty cheeks twitched.

 

“Goddess!”

 

…What? Goddess?

 

“Oh my god. You can’t say things like that, Your Royal Highness.”

 

The surprised nanny shushed and put her finger to her lips.

 

“The only one who can be called a goddess is Theia. Um, how about calling her angel?”

 

“Umm, she’s not an angel.”

 

But Royal Princess Moriana shook her head.

 

“She’s a goddess.”

 

It was a big deal to call her like that for an empire that worshiped Theia, who led the founding of the nation, as its goddess.

 

“That’s how pwetty she is.”

 

“What does our Princess know?”

 

However, the nannies laughed it off, thinking it was the best compliment the young royal princess could express.

 

“Hihi. Pwetty.”

 

For a while, the royal princess looked at the picture of Siani and smiled.

 

* * *

Siani, Princess Felicite, Siani Felicite!

 

After the banquet, the entire empire was filled with excitement by the name Felicite.

 

“Damn it.”

 

Ash, who slammed the desk, swept his hair up.

 

“What kind of wrong medicine did the princess take…?”

 

What? What about my nose bridge?

 

Rixon Imperial Family, Grand Duke Benio, and Duke Felicite are meritorious nobles who originated from the power of the spirits. These three families were called Eunomia, the order of the empire. Except for the National Foundation Day, Eunomia rarely gathered in one place.

 

He never thought he would be openly humiliated in a place like that. Moreover, the welcoming party that he had prepared with great care all year was completely ruined.

 

“What shall I do? What to do?”

 

Then his eyes flinched.

 

“…Ah, right.”

 

It was because he remembered the conversation between brother and sister he heard at the end of the banquet.

 

“Luna! What’s wrong with you?”

 

That day, a guy named Irik dragged his sister out onto the balcony. The eyes looking at Siani were quite impure, so Ash remembered.

 

“Did you do that on purpose? Did you go and bump into Siani on purpose?”

 

“…”

 

“Luna!”

 

“That’s right. I did it on purpose.”

 

The man clenched his teeth.

 

“Do you know how ugly you looked just now?”

 

“Ugly? Ha. Brother bullied older sister so much, so why can’t I?”

 

“What’s wrong with you? I’m the only one who does bad things, but why are you doing that too?”

 

He appealed to his sister. Even if he mixed the orphanage’s director’s rice with sand and bullied Siani, she shouldn’t have done the same. Because he would be the one to play the villain role.

 

“Lie.”

 

But a lady named Luna burst out laughing.

 

“The person who had stopped at the banquet earlier wasn’t me, but older sister.”

 

“You… How could you.”

 

“The time Brother has to harass Siani Felicite is right now, not in the duchy!”

 

Luna screamed, holding onto her dirty dress tightly.

 

“Older sister has changed. She has become a completely different person.”

 

The man named Irik couldn’t say anything, as if it was his first time seeing her being like that.

 

“Not Siani Felicite, who was dying in her room! Everyone was looking at that woman.”

 

“…Luna.”

 

“Do you think I didn’t know?”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“You always wanted to be recognized more by older sister than by the duke.”

 

“What on earth are you talking about!”

 

“Am I wrong? Can you swear to mom that you don’t feel like that?”

 

 

They’re a crazy brother and sister. Ash thought as he watched the scene from behind the balcony. If they give you something, you should be grateful. He never thought that they would have an inferiority complex towards Siani without even knowing their subject.

 

“If not, show it to me.”

 

“…Luna.”

 

“…What I said in the carriage. Don’t forget. Brother must never be deprived of the underground castle.”

 

“Luna!”

 

The woman shook off his brother’s hand and walked out.

 

Right. Luna Lev. Why did he remember it now? She pretended to be kind, but she had a clever side. Moreover, her sense of inferiority came from her lowly blood. If he uses her well… She would be quite useful.

 

Ash, recalling his memory, smiled softly. However,

 

“Underground castle?”

 

What did she mean by saying that ‘underground castle’ shouldn’t be taken away?

 

Ash also knew roughly what the underground castle was. The underground castle where the duke was said to be growing murderous weapons for the Felicite family was where monsters from all kinds of trash cans were gathered. But other than that, it was a place where nothing was known.

 

Perhaps that is the reason why Siani has been acting as if she believes in something lately… Is it related to the underground castle?  That’s why she dared to criticize him on his face?

 

Ash, staring at the picture frame on his desk, gently bit his lower lip. It contained a painting of Siani that he had drawn himself. 

 

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