Chapter 46
Gremory let out a small snort.
“What? Witches are as warm as humans here? Ridiculous. You should compare properly.”
“200 years ago, witches were truly kind. Especially the leaders. Back then, the strongest ones weren’t called ‘sacrifices,’ but ‘rulers,’ and they helped the living do whatever they wanted. They were grateful for the preordained sacrifice. But nowadays, the newer ones are selfish and only care about their own situations… Tsk, tsk. Honestly, I have a lot of complaints about the current system.”
“Really? I can’t imagine that.”
“Sigh… I don’t understand why demons want the strongest sacrifices… This is why we can’t help but fear becoming stronger.”
Alice continued to feed Gremory the meat soup.
Iris, standing a little further away, watched the scene, troubled. No matter how friendly Alice appeared in this mansion, after all, she was a real witch. Iris still couldn’t bring herself to fully trust her.
Especially her demeanor, as though she looked down on others, or the look in her eyes that seemed to hide something. All of these things unsettled Iris.
Had Alice noticed the discomfort? She turned around with a sly grin.
“Hey, black-haired ghost girl? What’s with that annoying expression?”
-
This is just how I look.
“Are you the Iris Seaira talked about? The one who willingly went to the stake for her dear older brother?”
After passing the soup bowl to Gremory, Alice walked over to Iris. Iris, glaring fiercely, stood her ground and faced Alice.
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Yes, I’m that sister. So I’m quite reluctant about you entering my brother’s household.
“Why? Gremory’s also a witch, so why am I any different?”
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Even though Gremory is a witch, she helped my brother without asking for anything in return. She’s proven herself to be someone who would never betray him… no, she’s a witch who has proven that over and over again.
Huh? When did I? Gremory, still munching on the soup, looked at Alice with confusion. But regardless, the confrontation between Alice and Iris continued.
“If I help your brother without expecting anything in return, does that prove that I’m a trustworthy witch?”
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How are you planning to help?
“They say beasts come down from the volcanoes here every April. I’ll deal with them. The ‘Northern Snowfield Clan warriors’ can easily handle that.”
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That’s unnecessary. You’re too unsettling. You may be able to fool innocent Mori, but you can’t fool my eyes.
“I’m just unsettling in appearance. Just like you look creepy. Don’t judge people by their looks.”
Alice laughed and twirled her curly black hair around her finger as she mocked Iris. Iris, standing much taller than Alice, pursed her lips and glared up at her.
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I have the ability to sense when someone is hiding something. You’re hiding a very ominous and unsettling feeling.
“Hah! What kind of ability does a human have? Are you a witch or something?”
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Even if I’m not a witch, royals have special abilities like that!
“Actually, I was going to kill Seaira and go to the demon realm to expose Gremory’s position to the witches. That’s my dark secret. Is that enough?”
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…….
At that moment, a spoon dropped to the floor. Gremory, who had stopped eating, stared at Alice with bloodshot eyes.
“Of course, after coming here, I’ve completely changed my mind. Anyway, I’ve revealed all my secrets, so there’s no more uncomfortable stuff, right?”
-
That’s…
Just then, there was a knock on the door. It was Seaira.
“Excuse me, can I come in?”
“Of course, my Seaira!”
Alice opened the door wide. Seaira looked like pure gold to Alice at this moment. Thanks to Seaira, Alice was able to settle into the Duke’s mansion.
Seaira, stepping in briskly, alternated between looking at the two witches before making a decisive fist with her hand.
“Actually, I know a secret about the royal family, and I think you both really need to know.”
Meanwhile,
Ivelia often brought food to Seaira in the tower. Especially on days when there was a royal banquet or a tea party, she would take food from the kitchen and bring it to Seaira.
A week before the royal banquet, after finishing the tea party, Ivelia brought some snacks and rushed to find Seaira. She saw Seaira hastily eating cake and couldn’t help but shed tears.
“Our Seaira, how pitiful…”
Seaira, seeing Ivelia’s tears for the first time, froze and stopped eating in surprise.
“Why am I pitiful?”
Ivelia remained silent. She then took Seaira out of the tower and went for a walk.
As they walked through the gallery with portraits of past royals hanging on the walls, Seaira, watching her sister’s expression, asked cautiously.
“Sister.”
“Yeah, Seaira.”
“If I’m so pitiful, could you send me to the Duke Edel’s mansion?”
“No, you can’t go there, soon…”
Ivelia trailed off.
Seaira immediately sensed it. Ivelia must have seen the grim future of the Duke Edel’s mansion. She was a prophet with the royal family’s special ability of foresight.
“Could you tell me what will happen? If you tell me, I’ll willingly give up.”
“I can’t. Prophets are forbidden from speaking of the future, or they will be punished by the heavens. What I can tell you is that even if you go to the Duke Edel’s mansion, your happiness will be short-lived.”
“If something serious is going to happen, shouldn’t you give my brother a heads-up? You can’t speak of the future, but you could at least give him some advice.”
“I can’t do that. Some destinies allow advice, others do not. And that judgment belongs to the heavens.”
Ivelia’s blue eyes, glistening with tears, stared directly at Seaira.
Tears fell down Seaira’s cheek. Though she was still too young to fully understand what her sister meant, she wasn’t so naïve as to not grasp something.
“Does this mean something big might happen to my brother?”
“……”
“So, will I be left alone in the tower waiting for you to come?”
“No. I will leave the palace a year from now to marry the prince of the Secron kingdom.”
“So, in a year, no one will be left by my side.”
Without saying another word, Ivelia continued to shed tears as she took Seaira back to the tower.
Later, Seaira, trembling with fear at the loneliness she would face, summoned Alice.
Seaira Reveals the Secret.
When Seaira finally revealed everything she knew, Gremory stood up, shaking off her seat and packing her things. Alice, noticing, asked.
“Sister, what are you doing?”
“Pack your things. If something happens here, it will be our fault, so we need to leave quickly.”
“What? I came here because you promised me a life in a noble mansion! Let’s not break our witch contracts!”
“Contracts? You followed me, so don’t talk about contracts.”
“Hah! Really! Seaira, let’s stay here and leave that sister of mine wherever she wants to go.”
As Gremory tied up her blanket, Alice took Seaira and led her out of Gremory’s room.
At that very moment, they bumped into Cheshion.
“Oh…hoho! Duke Edel, what brings you here at this late hour?”
“We have an emergency. Beastmen are coming down from the mountains, so prepare to take Seaira and evacuate.”
Gremory, who had been packing, stopped for a moment. The only mountains where beastmen could be were those near the volcano. The very same volcano where the great dragon had been caught recently. Could there be beastmen living beyond it?
“Turns out, the great dragon we dealt with earlier was worshiped as a god by the beastmen. Anyway, they declared war on us because we killed their god. By the way, Mori, why are you packing?”
“Oh… I was planning to sleep in evacuation.”
“Are you still feeling unwell?”
Gremory was confused. Was this the tragic future Ivelia had spoken about, or was it the disaster caused by the witches?
‘Wait. Ivelia didn’t even know witches existed. It makes sense that she wouldn’t know about the disaster caused by witches.’
It became clear to Gremory that the tragedy Ivelia spoke of was happening right now. Her mind cleared with certainty.
“It’s okay. Let’s go, we have to fight.”
Throwing her blanket aside, Gremory grabbed Cheshion’s hand and walked out of the room.
Crown Prince Severian was dying of jealousy.
“What? The beastmen who worshipped the dragon appeared in his domain, and after dealing with them, they found incredible spoils at their stronghold?”
