#112
However, it was only for a moment, and the Archduke returned to his gentle expression.
I found myself unable to easily look away from him, caught by something, and at his gesture to continue, I had no choice but to let out a “Hmm” and continue speaking.
“Well, it does seem right that she’s inhabiting Lady Marsien’s body. Among the things she scribbled down, there were words I’d never seen before.”
“That being sacrifice constitution?”
“Yeah.”
There were too many things I didn’t know, so in my current state, if I tried to handle things on my own, I’d probably just make more mistakes.
Of course, it was also because I wasn’t certain whether it was okay to go to the Archduke’s estate.
I knew they were much smarter people than me.
“So, Archduke. I think it would be better to reconsider me going to your estate.”
“What? What do you mean by this?”
Sercil’s eyes widened. And Marcus hyung looked at the Archduke with a subtly crumpled expression.
Hyung seemed to immediately catch on to how the conversation had flowed that way.
“……Your Highness. You never had any intention of protecting your succession rights, did you?”
Seeing you prepare to leave like that.
Sercil seemed to understand the omitted words too.
For a moment, Sercil’s face seemed to crumple frighteningly, but in the blink of an eye, he had a dejected expression.
“Your Highness. May I ask for your reason?”
“If the Archduke is curious.”
But just as I was about to say something to Sercil, the Archduke spoke to me, so I had no choice but to answer him first.
“If sacrifice constitution is what hyung said—referring to me—I’m worried Eris might do something as soon as I leave.”
“What do you expect her to do?”
“This time, through me…… seeing how she spied on you and Theodore hyung, it’ll probably be something related to you with high probability. From what I saw, the half-demons don’t seem to know mother has been resurrected, so wouldn’t it be better to use this situation?”
I slowly raised the corners of my mouth.
As if I were some mastermind plotting schemes.
“……What would you like to do?”
“Well. Actually, I think the current situation isn’t bad……”
Though there were more unknowns, it was certainly true if I only thought about lifting their curses.
“The ways to lift curses are nullification, overwhelming divine power, or killing the one who cast the curse, right? It’s like having two paths now?”
“It’s certainly good for us, but……”
“You don’t mind, Your Highness? Dealing with that ‘mother’ means killing her.”
I looked at Marcus hyung with innocent eyes at the question I’d been waiting for.
“Should there be…… a problem?”
After making an expression of barely holding back laughter, I curved my eyes.
“Hyung. You don’t need to think about my feelings too, do you? Let’s just think of it positively. It’s good for you all.”
“It seems you didn’t just see the words ‘sacrifice constitution’ in your dream.”
The Archduke said gently with a strange look in his eyes.
I didn’t answer and just smiled mysteriously.
Sercil let out a cute sigh.
“So how would you like to use this situation?”
The contract we made was that in exchange for lifting their curses, they would help with my affairs as much as possible.
I hadn’t thought a situation would come where I’d benefit from that contract.
But now it seemed safer to go with cooperating with them.
‘Somehow they’re not telling me any of their thoughts at all.’
I guess this is the limit for now.
I answered.
“First, let’s lift the three people’s curses gradually and simultaneously. It doesn’t matter if I push myself a bit. This feels like an opportunity…… Haha, to think such a day would come in my life……?”
Muttering in a strange tone, I briefly revealed that I harbored more hostility toward Eris than anyone else.
“I’ll completely free all of you within 2 weeks. I promise.”
At that moment, I was imagining my pre-regression self was right in front of me.
I wanted to kill him.
Ah, right. My pre-regression self was the human I most wanted to kill.
I willingly let myself be swept up in ominous excitement and continued speaking smoothly, as if whispering or singing.
“However, I’ll decide the moment of complete liberation……”
It would have been more perfect if Theodore hyung had been here too, but I wasn’t yet certain that the highest-grade curse had been completely lifted just from hyung’s condition, so there wouldn’t be a problem.
The Archduke looked at me quietly for a moment.
Then he tilted his head with a strange expression.
“And?”
Oh. For some reason, it felt like he’d cooperate with me no matter what I said. Hiding the slight trembling in my chest area, I responded gently.
“And? At the moment of perfect liberation, I’ll die.”
“……What?”
“Ah, not actually die. I wouldn’t cause such an ominous thing in the imperial palace.”
Marcus hyung and Sercil’s expressions crumpled identically. It was a somewhat amusing sight.
“You mean you’ll pretend to die?”
“Mmm.”
“No, why do you have to do that?”
Are you testing me?
When you understand everything.
‘Maybe you’re checking if I have other ulterior motives.’
I grinned and nodded, then obediently told them.
“To be precise, I’ll mimic the phenomenon that occurs when half-demons die in a public setting and disappear. If I disappear before the succession rights stripping ceremony ends, hmm, would the stripping itself be postponed? Anyway.”
“……What? Wait.”
“This way, only Eris will know I’m alive. The half-demons will firmly believe I’m dead.”
Half-demons don’t just die like humans when they die.
They bleed from all orifices, then disappear as a handful of black liquid. Fortunately, I had a means to mimic that.
‘Though it’s not my ability.’
Theodore hyung’s unique magic, disguise.
Now that his liberation was complete, that ability had probably awakened too.
‘I’m glad I freed him first.’
If hyung couldn’t come by that day, there would be a way to ask the Archduke for illusion magic, bleeding and only during the moment of death.
I smiled slightly at the pleasant thought that the situation seemed to be helping.
And strangely, since the Archduke wasn’t saying anything, I looked at him.
He was looking at me silently. The smile at the corners of his mouth seemed to have faded a bit…… but I couldn’t tell if his feelings were hurt.
As I stared at him intently, the Archduke responded lightly.
“You want to create a rift between the half-demons and Eris?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think that will be enough?”
“Of course.”
Actually, my exchange with the moderate half-demons wasn’t for this. I just needed my own faction when I infiltrated the half-demons.
Other than that, I was only planning to give and receive minor help.
‘Since they’re not directly related to these four people’s future.’
The ones I would deal with using the gray treasure were the hardline half-demons. But looking at it now, it seemed I’d need their help a bit more.
Those marginalized from the mainstream, those with miscellaneous unique magic who couldn’t kill others, or lower-class people with only special constitutions who were scheduled to be consumed like Ersen.
They would rather show aversion to Eris’s survival.
And they would willingly cooperate with me.
“They’ll cause internal discord.”
“Ah……”
The Archduke closed his mouth again and fell into thought.
Whether by coincidence, his fingertips were touching the back of my hand. I’d actually been very conscious of that since earlier, but if I moved it away, he might notice, so I was leaving it alone.
I was starting to think about mentioning it since it felt like I was indulging selfish desires…….
But when I glanced at it once, his fingertips naturally fell away from my hand. The timing was amazing.
I felt regretful without realizing it, then was startled and shut my mouth tight.
‘……Sorry.’
After offering an apology in my heart that wouldn’t reach him, I turned my head away from the Archduke.
And I ended up making direct eye contact with Sercil, who was looking at me without even blinking.
“……Plus, it’s not just disguise—if I completely lift the four people’s curses at the moment I die…… the half-demons will be convinced of my death, and, uh, Sercil?”
“……Yes……”
Sercil responded in a voice that sounded very, really, extremely dejected.
“What’s wrong~?”
When I asked playfully as if coaxing a child, Sercil made a small whining sound and answered glumly.
“You’re saying you’ll join hands with me and then immediately join hands with those two as well. So……”
I tilted my head.
Because I didn’t understand why that would be something to be dejected about. In the end, unable to answer and just blinking, when I tilted my head, Sercil fell silent then spoke with a dejected face.
“……Never mind.”
“Huh?”
“I was just throwing a tantrum.”
Then he pressed his forehead against my shoulder like a young animal would.
As if embarrassed.
I blinked slowly for a moment, staying dazed. Then I stared at Sercil like that and bit my lips tightly.
‘Cute.’
When he was only good-natured, I’d only seen him always hurting. Seeing him like this, he was just lovely.
Whether my feelings showed without me realizing it, Marcus hyung spoke in a strange voice.
“He’s an adult, you know, Your Highness?”
“Hyung too. Do you think I don’t know that?”
“……Did you have fantasies about fairies?”
“Not that.”
After looking at Sercil, who was smiling bashfully, as if he were cute, I looked at Marcus hyung.
“So, I think doing it roughly like this would work. What do you think?”
“So you’re saying that at the same time you pretend to die, you’ll completely lift our curses, then infiltrate the half-demon territory while there’s a rift between the half-demons and Eris?”
“Yeah!”
“Where will Your Highness be when you pretend to die?”
“……? I have to be there to pretend to die.”
“So you will shed blood?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
With Theodore hyung’s magic, even the level of coughing up blood would be enough for disguise. But if it’s illusion magic, to add realism, there should at least be a performance of actually spurting blood from all orifices.
“And before that, you’ll absorb all our curses?”
“Mmm. If you’re worried,”
“Your Highness, just keep your mouth shut for a moment.”
After Marcus hyung said that, he turned his gaze away from me and looked at the Archduke, speaking dryly.
“Kyle. Can’t Theo just come back now?”
“You know he can’t.”
“But still, to confine a prince, you need to be at least a crown prince……”
“……?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
