Until The Real One Shows Up​

It was before she went back in time.

“I have no intention of dethroning the Empress.”

Before returning, even with Wilhelm’s announcement, Avelin wasn’t too worried about it.

‘My father, too, has less support than I thought.’

Everyone had a gap.

Avelin stayed around Wilhelm’s side for a while, convinced that sooner or later she would find the gap and poke it.

Since she had already accumulated a lot of experience, Avelin was quite confident. She did but… 

“Suddenly it rained…! God, my clothes are all wet.”

On a dark cloudy day, Avelin wore a chiffon dress and waited for Wilhelm, who had gone to the Empress’ Palace, to return.

By the time Wilhelm finally appeared, she acted pathetic with her eyelashes lowered in the sudden pouring rain.

“Ah, it’s too far from here to Sienna Palace… Cough, cough!”

Soon after, she felt a gaze staring at herself getting wet. It was when Avelin smiled, thinking, “That’s right.”

“Colton.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Give Lady Hazel an umbrella.”

“Yes? But Your Majesty?”

“I’m fine, come on.”

“Your Majesty…”

Avelin looked at Wilhelm with emotion. However, at the words that came soon, her eyes shook like a spiny tree.

“I have an excuse to go back to the Empress’ Palace. Can Asha send me back drenched in the rain?”

“…”

Avelin looked at Wilhelm’s back, with her mouth wide open, as he hummed his way to the Empress’ Palace.

It was the first time in her life that she had seen someone who was so happy in the pouring rain.

‘Wow, what a crazy thing…’

As Avelin was stunned and frozen in place, Colton quietly opened his mouth next to her.

“I will take you to the Sienna Palace, lady.”

“… I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the Sienna Palace like this because I’m so wet. I want to rest at the Central Palace.”

“Unfortunately, there is a strict decree that outsiders cannot enter the Central Palace without the permission of His Majesty the Emperor.”

“… Am I an outsider?”

“Yes. You are not involved.”

Seeing Colton’s serious reply, Avelin was stunned by him.

Colton, who supported her by saying that it was right to follow a revised oracle, was needlessly principled even in this respect.

In the end she was forced to return to the Sienna Palace without any achievements.

The problem was that this happened again after that.

“Ah, I suddenly feel dizzy…!”

“Colton, call the palace doctor to Sienna Palace and bring Hazel on a stretcher.”

Even if she fell openly in front of him, he calmly gave orders as if he were watching a play.

“No one would ever want to marry me, who received an oracle … Oh, the thought of living alone for the rest of my life like this makes my eyes dark.”

One day she had a heartfelt rant to appeal to his sympathy.

Then Wilhelm looked at her serious face and opened his mouth.

“Lady Hazel, I’ve been thinking a bit…”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What is it like to be a priestess?”

“… Yes?”

“If the person chosen by the Goddess becomes a body that worships the Goddess herself, I don’t think the Goddess will be too angry with her.”

… This guy was ridiculous. 

‘I can’t see any gaps!’

In the end, Avelin groaned and went to Lyell’s office.

“Father, what’s a good way… Uh? Where is he?”

Avelin murmured as she narrowed her brow in the empty office.

“Hey, there’s no dog poop to use for medicine…”*

*TN: proverb for it being hard to get something common when it’s needed

Avelin, who was complaining, then sat down as if burying herself in the High Priest’s large chair.

And as she turned the chair around and looked around the room, she noticed something bothering her.

‘Weird? Is only that part dug out?’

The floor was strangely sloping from both ends, and it was slightly dug at one point.

But the depth was very weak. If she hadn’t looked closely at the High Priest’s seat, she wouldn’t have known.

‘What? I’m curious.’

Avelin quickly stood up. She started rolling out the thick carpet on the floor.

And finally, something appeared.

“… Oh my.”

It was a door that could be opened down. Avelin instinctively noticed that something important was hidden beneath it.

She opened the door without hesitation and found a staircase leading down. Avelin took the lamp and carefully went down the stairs.

It must have been so long ago that every time she stepped down the wooden stairs, a squeaking sound resounded.

‘What the hell are you hiding under here?’

Have you piled up gold bars like a mountain? Or rare gems?

But after descending for some time, Avelin was forced to frown at the disappointment.

“… What. Just a piece of paper?”

Avelin’s expression wrinkled at the sight of many old books piled up on the bookshelf.

But as she got closer to the bookshelf, Avelin’s eyes gleamed like those of a child who found a dangerous toy.

“It’s black magic…?”

Seeing that the titles on the books were all about black magic, this place seemed like a place where forbidden books were stored.

The titles were all written in the new language, but it was not a big limitation for Avelin.

‘At that time, I grumbled a lot about why I had to learn such things…’

Avelin smiled as she remembered her now deceased old friend who taught her the new language.

“After all, the Goddess must be on my side.”

It wouldn’t be difficult to figure out how to control a man’s mind using black magic.

‘Now it’s only a matter of time before I have His Majesty in my hands.’

Avelin climbed up with a toothless expression on her face. And as soon as she went outside, she met Lyell’s astonished face.

“You, how did you…!”

“Father.”

Avelin looked at Lyell with a sly smile.

“Why did you hide something like this to yourself?”

~~~~

“Never until dirt gets in my eyes!”

At Avelin’s words that she would contract with the devil and get help, Lyell vehemently opposed it.

“You really… Aren’t you afraid of the wrath of the Goddess?”

Avelin couldn’t be more like Lyell, who spoke about divine blessings.

‘You’re High Priest.’

How could a man who bore children from another priest in the body of a priest speak?

“I do not know… Rather, if it is known that I am my father’s child, I would be more afraid to end your life in a disgraceful manner at the stake?”

“You… you dare…!”

“So, please calmly cooperate.”

Lyell had no choice but to laugh at the words that threatened him with a smile.

Already a few months ago, he had been degenerating into her puppet since Avelin came to threaten him that she was his daughter.

Eventually, with the help of the High Priest, Avelin summoned the demon.

On the day of the full moon, Avelin prepared blood from the head of a dead snake, the tail of a rat that died, and the rusty scythe on her left ring finger. She chanted a long spell to summon the demon.

“… Shtri, Prince of Hell, who rules over evil spirits, respond to my summons and reveal yourself.”

As soon as the spell was finished, black smoke began to rise from the snake’s blood-stained head and the rat’s tail.

Avelin waited for the demon to appear with an elated expression on her face.

However, Avelin frowned at the appearance of the existence that soon appeared with a roar.

“… What. What a deer?”

Obviously, it was written that Shtri would appear in the form of a lion with the wings of a griffon. But what appeared before her was a deer, not a lion.

“Did the summoning go wrong?”

[Yes, you fool.]

At the answer that came back immediately, not only Avelin but also Lyell looked embarrassed with his mouth open.

But the deer went on, not caring.

[You should’ve prepared a white snake’s head to summon him.]

“… What does this mean? Dad, you didn’t check it properly?”

“If you gave me time to prepare properly and didn’t rush me, I wouldn’t have made this mistake!”

“Then what the hell is this!”

[Stop.]

It was that moment. Black smoke covered the two bodies as if threatening them. Dreary voices followed.

[You can’t take it back once you’ve summoned this body Summoner, what do you want?]

Avelin belatedly came to her senses and looked at the deer in front of her.

‘Yeah, I don’t know what it is, but I think it’s a devil…’

Whatever the identity, it didn’t matter as long as it achieved its purpose. Avelin asked the devil with a desperate look.

“I tried to summon him because he could make any man love me. Can you do that for me, too?”

Avelin also explained in detail the situation she was in.

After hearing the story, the devil opened his mouth with a strange expression.

[Of course. If you want, I can sterilize the Empress right now. As long as you make a contract with me.]

“Really? Great!”

Avelin opened her mouth without thinking about anything else.

“I’ll sign a contract!”

[Won’t you regret it?]

“No.”

[Great. In return for granting your wish, your soul will be subject to Me until death.]

After those words, the demon in the shape of a deer disappeared with black smoke.

Avelin was taken aback by the sudden disappearance, and a bizarre voice resounded in her ear as if an awl collided with her head.

[No need to worry. The contract has been made, and I will always be by your side.]

Keh! Keh! The sound of laughter echoed in her ears.

It was a very unpleasant laugh. However, Avelin could not say much, only frowning for fear of offending the devil.

No, to be precise, she was happy enough to bear the discomfort. Avelin said to Lyell with a triumphant face.

“It’s all over, Dad. His Majesty is mine now.”

“…”

However, Lyell didn’t have a very bright expression to see if something was wrong.

‘A demon in the form of a deer with griffon wings… If what I know is correct, it must have been Purpur.’

If he had the ability to make a woman sterile, then Purpur was definitely right.

‘But the devil…’

It was a devil who spewed lies like breathing if the summoner did not recite a spell that made him tell only the truth.

Lyell pondered whether or not to tell Avelin about this, and decided to not bother.

‘She already signed a contract anyway.’

Once you made a contract with the devil, it could not be erased until death, in some cases even after death.

However, the existence of an illegitimate child who suddenly appeared and threatened him did not make him feel welcome to tell the truth.

‘Well, she’ll have a hard time.’

Lyell smiled and looked at Avelin.