The Empress, seemingly oblivious to it, took a sip of her tea.
After some trivial conversation, Yermondi was finally able to leave the Empress’s chamber.
The constant pressure regarding marriage was suffocating her.
She had to secure the Duke of Denaves by any means necessary.
A man as solid and unyielding as a fortress.
Someone who wouldn’t falter under any circumstances and wouldn’t be broken by anyone.
Yes, she needed someone like that. A companion who would not be a sin to give affection to, someone who wouldn’t crumble under the Empress’s hand.
On the other hand, Ariadeline was far too weak. So, she could easily be removed.
Yermondi passed through the corridor, eager to get away from the Empress’s palace as quickly as possible.
When she finally reached the princess’s palace safely, one of her maids whispered quietly to her.
“Your Highness, what should we do?”
“Let’s keep quiet for a while.”
The princess’s voice was gentle upon arriving in her room, but it was laced with unmistakable fury. The maids bowed quietly and exited the room.
At that moment, the princess picked up a nearby vase and hurled it against the wall.
Crash—!
A loud noise echoed, but no one peered into her room. Unable to contain her anger, she began throwing everything she could grab against the wall.
Bang! Clang!
Breathing heavily, Yermondi realized that no matter how much she broke, it wouldn’t ease her heart.
What she truly wanted to destroy was something else. Ariadeline. Yes, Ariadeline.
Her eyes glinted with a fierce light. She had to get rid of that woman. Only then would her heart be at ease.
“Yes, there are many ways.”
The princess recalled her upcoming birthday. Yes, then. Let’s get rid of everything then. Let’s sweep it all away.
Her anger blazed, threatening to consume everything. Unable to suppress the impulse, Yermondi left her room.
And where she arrived was none other than the basement of her palace. A place no one could enter. A place where she had hidden something away.
Yermondi opened the door without hesitation.
Thud, thud.
As she walked down the stairs into the basement, a musty smell began to rise. The sound of cold water echoed. And from somewhere, the voice of an old man could be heard.
“Why did you come to me this time?”
The old black magician asked her in a voice that sounded as if it had been torn apart. Yermondi opened her eyes wide and said to the black magician.
“I need to make a pact with a demon.”
“……”
The black magician was left speechless. Black magic was about borrowing the power of demons. However, simply borrowing the power of demons did not necessarily mean making a contract with them.
Just as divine power is merely borrowing the strength of a god rather than making a contract with one.
Similarly, black magic was about borrowing a bit of the naturally seeping demonic power, not directly making a contract with a demon.
Yet she spoke of making a direct contract with a demon.
“Making a contract with a demon is actually easy. But there’s a reason no one attempts it.”
Yermondi stepped closer to the black magician, her eyes narrowed.
“I’m not interested in such things.”
She clenched her teeth.
“I must destroy it with my own hands. This isn’t enough.”
Her eyes sparkled with madness. The black magician chuckled at her gaze.
He knew people like her well—those who would make their own lives hell.
And he didn’t dislike such individuals because he was one of them.
The black magician led Princess Yermondi deeper into the underground. He took a worn, short dagger and cut into his own wrist.
“Now, let’s begin.”
“You accept rather easily considering you were trying to scare me.”
The black magician replied, “There’s still plenty of room in hell.”
Yermondi scoffed at his words. But,
“I won’t be falling into that hell alone, so it’s fine.”
Black magic is cruel because those who die from it also fall into hell, suffering eternal torment. And Princess Yermondi had no intention of falling into hell alone.
‘Ariadeline.’
She would drag that woman down to hell with her. Her obsession swarmed like insects, filling the ground beneath her.
As the black magician bled, he began to draw something on the cold stone floor.
Princess Yermondi watched the magic circle being etched into the floor, illuminated by the dim light of the underground chamber.
The magic circle, drawn in blood, sent chills through anyone who beheld it, but Yermondi felt none of that. The old black magician whispered beside her.
“I’ve never attempted this method before, Your Highness.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know what we will encounter.”
The old black magician whispered softly to her. Yermondi lifted her lips into a smile, one that was closer to a sneer.
“To shy away from a way to gain great power simply because of such fears is foolish.”
“That is not foolishness, Your Highness.”
Yermondi silently stared at the old black magician.
“It is an emotion that every human inevitably possesses—fear.”
“What a dull story.”
Yermondi strode boldly into the blood-drawn magic circle, spreading her arms wide.
“Activate the magic instead of wasting time with such nonsense.”
The old black magician watched the ominous air swirling around. Black magic fundamentally relies on borrowing the power of demons.
But most black magicians, including himself, simply borrowed the demonic energy to cast magic, not daring to directly contract with a demon.
Because no one knew what might happen. Their lives, souls, and everything they possessed could fall into the demon’s grasp, enduring eternal suffering.
But here, in this moment, stood a woman of the highest nobility, one who possessed more than anyone else, seeking to contract with a demon.
“I must eliminate Ariadeline with my own hands now.”
Just to get rid of a mere annoying sinner.
“Arahain Teirotsoman.”
As the black magician recited the incantation, light began to rise from the enormous magic circle.
Violet smoke writhed like serpents with life, coiling upward into the air. Princess Yermondi merely gazed at the swirling void.
“Oi Unnishe Noheumnen Naen Nasak.”
The language they spoke was completely unintelligible. It was still unknown from which realm it originated.
Yermondi took a deep breath amidst the rising violet smoke. She slowly closed her eyes. Darkness filled the space. When the darkness enveloped her completely, she heard a whisper in her ear.
[Humans never change.]
Yermondi froze in place. Because…
[Someone will inevitably call me out again.]
That sinister presence.
It was speaking in her own voice, in her own tone. Yermondi opened her eyes wide.
