C178
I was listening to the servants' conversations, hoping they would catch the rumors that had spread in the past.
"What are you doing here?"
Belreck was behind me with a gloomy expression.
"Why are you here, brother?"
Oh, I was surprised.
"Why did you wake up so early? The sun will rise from the west."
"Brother, didn't you sleep well? You don't seem to have a good complexion."
"Isidor, how dare he make this body his assistant in a jewelry auction, can I have a good expression about that?"
"It's a plan that came out of my head. I think it went well."
"Ufff."
He let out a brief sigh while roughly sweeping his hair.
Several rumors have been circulating recently, and I secretly shared with my family the plan to lure witches onto the boat I received as a gift.
Belreck, who had a soft spot for me, was more reliable than anyone.
"Brother. Did you find it anyway? The birthday gift I asked for."
"Yes... I did."
He muttered, and then suddenly let out a smile as if it were ridiculous.
"I've never seen a person threatening to find a birthday present!"
"Anyway, the gift that would have occurred to my brother wouldn't have been great, right? Wasn't it better to find what I want? It didn't cost money because you searched for it, not bought it."
The sense that the direct descendants of Seymour had bad taste in choosing a gift could be demonstrated with the case of Enrique, who received the same three magical toys with a wand.
"You really can't talk! Isidor must be the only one who can handle your personality."
He suddenly grabbed my hand tightly.
"But what's this?"
"I found it as you said, so calling it a gift is too much. It's not as expensive as a lavender diamond, but it's worth a bit more."
Belreck turned around and disappeared, and I smiled as I looked at the jewelry box he threw at me.
"Is it okay?"
"What thing?"
"How you'll spend your birthday."
Isidor asked if I would mind using my birthday, which should be a happy time, as bait to lure witches, but it wasn't like that.
There are many people here who appreciate me, not use me, so I felt happy as if I had already received a great gift.
Then I startled.
Suddenly, I was really accepting that Deborah's birthday was mine, not Yoon Do-hee's.
Yes, this is no longer fiction for me.
It really is my world.
* * *
[I think it's a very good opportunity. If you give me an order, I'll convene a meeting in the basement of the third district's general store.]
One of the witches disguised as a wardrobe worker brought a catalog of dress designs to the 4th Queen, containing a note.
At first glance, the witch looked like an ordinary wardrobe worker, so the image didn't seem uncomfortable.
The 4th Queen opened the page with the red dress and drummed her fingers on it.
She folded the ring finger, raised the index and middle fingers, and tapped it four times at regular intervals, indicating the intention to wait.
For a long time, witches have communicated secretly from the outside through consensual hand signals.
Pointing to the red dress, I suppose they should remain silent until the door opens as planned.
The witch, who had guessed her intentions, silently withdrew, and Jamila huddled up and bit her lip, lost in thought.
"... It's a boat party."
Yesterday afternoon, high-quality information arrived that a fireworks artifact developed for the Spring Flower Festival had been sold.
Moreover, there were people saying they had seen pianos being transported to the boat as if an orchestra was going to play.
"Using fireworks means a proposal during the night."
Also, the size of the boat is about 4 times the size of a yacht. It's not small, but it's not a place where many people can fit.
After filling the boat with the orchestra, the number of people who can be invited to the onboard party is inevitably reduced.
"Duke Visconti and Deborah, it's very likely that they'll be alone."
Only the two of them on a boat. As his servant said, it was an excellent opportunity to get rid of the princess.
"But...."
She had a bad feeling.
"It sounds like a plausible trap."
It felt quite appealing, which made her even more reluctant.
Once she started to doubt, the more she thought about it, the more she considered it an incentive to go out.
"How can such a cunning and sarcastic squirrel be a saint?"
Using the once-in-a-lifetime event called a proposal as bait to catch witches?
In the past, she would have never believed that the arrogant, full-of-herself princess would have devised such a strategy.
But in the meantime, Princess Deborah had wonderfully hidden the fact that she was a saint.
Moreover, she finds herself in a complex situation where her plan has already failed before. Judging by the fact that she came up with bait that shook her heart immediately as if she had expected it, she also seemed to be good at psychological warfare.
"..… Obviously, I'm not feeling well at the moment."
If it's not now, it might be difficult to deal with the princess forever.
However, there is something that Princess Deborah doesn't know.
The fact that the red moon will soon rise.
The moment the power leading to the demon realm becomes stronger, it can cause chaos surpassing the incense celebration.… There will be a last chance.
"I must not waste it like it happened in the incense celebration."
At that moment, even if she has to completely surrender her soul, she is thinking of getting rid of all obstacles.
"… Yes, not now."
She closed her eyes as if she had patience.
* * *
"Today, I will make a pact with the devil by sacrificing the blood of the Saint."
In the face of the statement from the 3rd prince Javier, the witches who had been taking care of him in the north for a long time cleared their throats as if swallowing saliva.
When the witches learned that the saint revealed by the demon was Princess Deborah, they quickly lost patience.
There was nothing more threatening and sinister than a saint for the apostles who hoped for the demon god to come to earth.
On the contrary, there was no wealth more coveted than the blood, flesh, and bones of a Saint.
They couldn't even imagine how high the demon that would come by shedding the blood of the Saint, based on the principle of equivalent exchange, would be, so they wanted to kill Princess Deborah.
"As you all know, the blood of the Histach imperial family and the blood of a strong witch flow in my body at the same time."
The 3rd prince stood in front of the witches and spoke with a solemn expression.
"If I even offer the blood of a Saint here, can you guess what kind of demon will come to me?"
He spoke with confidence.
"If I have strong power in my hand, I won't move as passively as my mother. If you follow this body, you may be compensated for all the time of humiliation you have endured. I will put the world under these feet with the power of the demon."
When he declared what he had been waiting for, it felt like it had come true.
He should have done this immediately, but he couldn't understand why he had been dragging it out as his mother told him.
"Indeed, the Prince must truly be chosen by the Demon God."
"Prince. If the plan succeeds, please share the blood of the Saint with me."
In response to the sincere request from the witches, Javier laughed and chuckled.
"I don't intend to kill that arrogant woman right away. I will keep her in a pigsty and draw blood from her for a long time."
The agitation of the 3rd prince worked well.
The main enemy to eliminate is right in front of them, especially since more and more people have come to oppose the will of Jamila, who only orders them to wait.
Moreover, due to Albert's death, the 4th Queen was gradually losing control.
When Albert, who was the expert leader of the group of witches, disappeared, voices became louder, and internal divisions occurred.
Furthermore, the 3rd Prince had the noble blood of the Histach imperial family.
The 4th Queen is the contractor of the First demon, but she only causes discord and receives occasional revelations.
Expectations increased that a demon could really descend on this world if the summoning ceremony is performed with the blood of the imperial family and the blood of the Saint as a guarantee.
"So let's start right away."
"Yes. Prince."
They had a meeting in the lower districts downstream of the Renee River, and when it became dark all around, they dispersed to carry out the operation.
One by one, the witches, who had brought the ferries they had brought from here and there, hid them under a huge black cloth and looked toward the river from the slope of a quiet forest surrounded by dense oaks.
Deep stillness and tension flowed from all directions.
After a while, fireworks were heard nearby, and from where they were, the lights of the boat and the silhouettes of people on board were vividly visible.
"You're making a proposal in a very noisy way."
Today will be the last day that that beautiful face will be able to laugh.
The 3rd Prince, imagining the proud face of Princess Deborah contracted in pain, suppressed a laugh.
After a while.
As the boat moved in the direction of the water flow, the boat gradually approached the place where the 3rd prince was.
The advance team, which quickly descended from the hill, boarded a boat and quickly began rowing toward the vessel.
As the boat approached, the lyrical piano became louder and louder.
Dozens of witches hung from the opening on the sides as planned, and the witches hiding in the forest prepared a ceremony to summon a sea monster using five corpses.
After they killed the Saint, they would overturn the boat so that they would think a demon that came out of a rift did it.
As they advanced from the rear of the deck, the group suddenly felt something strange and stopped.
"A doll...?"
What they thought were human silhouettes were elaborate dolls that rattled and moved.
And the music was not coming from an orchestra but from artifacts.
At that moment.
The wizards who teleported appeared one by one around the forest, and magical arrows began to fall towards the top of the boat.
The complexion of the 3rd prince turned pale as the witch who was near him was pierced by a mana arrow and died instantly.