~Chapter 29~
After a while, the ceremony began.
Luv held Mary’s hand and slowly led her into the lake.
Mary, wearing a silver dress and a veil, looked just like a saint.
The veil over her neatly braided red hair sparkled in the sunlight.
Unlike his usual pope’s clothes, Luv wore a blue ceremonial robe.
He had a blue cape draped over his shoulders and a silver stole on top.
Wearing a mitre, he gave off an aura that nobody could approach.
Eliana also followed behind the two and entered the lake.
She was careful not to trip.
In Eliana’s hands was a silver tray holding a white handkerchief and a silver bowl filled with holy water.
Water splashed with every step she took.
Soon, when the water reached their knees, they stopped.
The ends of their dresses floated gently on the water.
The sound of water filled the area near the lake.
The nobles watched the ceremony, holding their breath.
Eliana secretly looked among them for Velkirei, but she couldn’t find him.
She was sure he would be nearby to steal Mary’s power, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Then she remembered how Velkirei looked earlier.
His eyes had been strange, different from usual.
‘Since when did he plan to make me the empress?’
Eliana worried that she would have to keep walking a tightrope in the palace forever.
At that moment, Luv recited a passage from the holy book.
It was a prayer of thanks to Eljer, the god of time and space.
Eliana shook off her thoughts and focused on the ceremony.
After a while, Luv held the silver bowl that Eliana was carrying with both hands.
Mary naturally knelt down.
Her dress fluttered on the water.
With her hands together and eyes closed, Mary stayed still as Luv gently poured holy water on her head.
Right after the ceremony, the manifestation ritual began.
Eliana stopped searching for Velkirei and focused on the ritual.
Luv carefully placed a handkerchief embroidered with the Owen royal family’s crest on the water.
The handkerchief melted naturally into the water, and the crest glowed.
It was a blue hawk spreading its wings.
The Owen crest shimmered on the water and wrapped around Mary in gold light.
If she gained magical power, blue feathers would fly. If she gained holy power, a clear birdsong would be heard.
Everyone waited, holding their breath, to see what power would appear.
At that moment, Eliana spotted Velkirei far away.
His eyes were bright red, not like usual.
Suddenly, she remembered the day snow fell at the side palace.
That day, she saw a clear mark in Velkirei’s right eye.
‘……!’
Eliana took a deep breath.
Now she understood why the symbol Luv showed her seemed familiar.
Velkirei had the Hanef’s mark.
Eliana couldn’t close her mouth, staring at him.
Velkirei met her eyes and gave a cold smile.
In that strange atmosphere, Eliana realized this was not the real Velkirei.
When she froze, Velkirei raised his arm toward Mary.
The ring on his finger glowed red.
Suddenly, the lake surged, and big waves appeared.
Callius quickly raised a wind barrier to protect Mary.
Eliana, unable to dodge, was about to be swept away by the waves, but Luv hugged her tightly.
Bang!
There was an explosion, and chaos broke out.
The waves rose high.
Not just the lake, but even where the nobles sat, something exploded.
Screams and noise filled the air. It was complete chaos.
Eliana gasped for breath in the mess.
The sudden explosion made her dizzy. Her ears rang loudly.
Beeeeep—
“Eliana!”
Luv shook Eliana’s shoulders and yelled, but the ringing was so loud she couldn’t hear him well.
Explosions kept happening everywhere.
The nobles decided the explosions wouldn’t stop and started screaming and running away.
Eliana frowned and looked to where Velkirei had been.
But that spot was empty.
‘He’s gone. Where did he go?’
Eliana leaned against Luv, panting.
She felt sick to her stomach.
The sounds around her felt distant.
She suddenly remembered a bus overturning.
Car horns echoed in her ears.
Eliana covered her ears and groaned.
Her whole body hurt as if it was breaking.
Barely moving her head, she looked over at Mary.
Mary was staring at the ceremony site in confusion, so Callius picked her up in his arms.
“…Riana, Eliana! Can you hear me?”
“…Ah…”
Eliana couldn’t take the pain anymore and let out a weak moan, then fainted.
Luv tried to hold up Eliana as she collapsed, but someone quickly snatched her away.
Black hair fell over Eliana’s face.
Velkirei’s eyes were still red, and he wore an odd, cold smile.
He looked at Luv with a chilling stare.
Luv looked back at Velkirei with a hard expression.
He was staring straight at Velkirei’s right eye.
When Eliana opened her eyes, it was all dark.
She couldn’t believe she’d fainted in all that chaos.
She tried to get up and figure out what was going on, but her body wouldn’t move.
Strangely, her hands were tied.
She could feel a soft mattress under her back, but the air was cold.
Eliana tried to use magic to untie herself, but stopped moving.
Someone was right next to her.
She slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the dark, and saw red eyes shining at her.
‘Velkirei… No, that’s not Velkirei.’
Eliana flinched at those eyes shining in the dark.
That gaze felt unfamiliar.
He looked down at her as if she were an interesting creature.
It seemed like he was deciding whether to kill her or not.
When Eliana realized the one inside Velkirei was not really him, she got chills.
‘A small snake coiled up, about to swallow a gold coin bigger than itself…’
Eliana looked again at the mark in his right eye and let out a weak laugh.
It made sense now why the mark was familiar—he had been so close all along.
All her struggles to survive felt pointless now.
The being Velkirei made a contract with was not a demon, but a Hanef.
Eliana kept letting out empty laughs, whether Velkirei’s face hardened or not.
‘People who make contracts with Hanefs never have a good ending.’
She remembered what Luv had said.
Things hadn’t gone well—they’d just gotten twisted.
She’d already won Velkirei’s favor, so there was no going back.
She realized she only knew a small part of the story.
Not knowing the ending of the novel was a huge danger.
‘Come to think of it, everywhere Velkirei went in the original, trouble followed.’
If all of that was because he had a contract with a Hanef, Eliana was already stepping into a cursed fate.
“Not scared?”
Hanef asked in a cold voice.
He seemed to expect her to be frightened.
His expression was different from Velkirei’s—more mischievous, like someone who only followed instinct and power.
Eliana looked straight at him.
“Where is Velkirei?”
She was surprised she cared about his safety in this situation.
“I’m Velkirei,” Hanef replied slyly, but it was just a joke.
If he was really Velkirei, he wouldn’t have tied her up and threatened her.
‘He must have lost control using demonic power and is being taken over.’
In the original, Velkirei sometimes lost control when using his power and was taken over by the demon.
The Velkirei in front of her was not the real one.
It was just like how Eliana was Eliana, but not really.
When Eliana showed she didn’t believe him at all, Hanef smiled slyly.
“You already knew something, didn’t you?”
Eliana just stared at him.
In the original, Velkirei never remembered what happened when the demon took over.
So she could act more freely around Hanef.
After thinking for a moment, Eliana sharply asked,
“Is it okay to take over your contractor’s body like this?”
Every time Hanef took over, he did troublesome things for Velkirei.
If this was the real Velkirei, he wouldn’t have tied her up or locked her in a room.
In the original, Velkirei could never really protest against Hanef, since he borrowed his power.
Hanef laughed at her question.
“You’re the last person who should talk about taking over someone’s body. You’re not the real owner of that body, are you?”
Hanef tilted his head with a sly smile.
Eliana’s eyes grew wide at his words.
He had uncovered her secret—something she had never said out loud since entering the novel.
His gaze pinned Eliana in place, as if he could see right through her.
Eliana was scared he would see everything inside her.
She shook her body hard, feeling a warning to escape.
Then Hanef suddenly grabbed her chin roughly.
