Chapter : 61
Oh. That was certainly a point Terestia herself hadn’t even considered.
Of course, her sensitive demonic senses had been poking at her nonstop, telling her that Diger was hiding something, and that something was making her uneasy in a strange way.
But once she discovered a direct “danger factor,” her expression turned serious as well.
“Haha, so the rumors of your sharp mind weren’t exaggerated.”
“…Thank you for the compliment, but I’d appreciate an answer as well.”
“There’s nothing certain yet. I’ve only analyzed the components of the poison that affected Diaram. Finding an antidote will take quite some time. However…”
Diger smiled as he looked at Terestia, who was frowning at him.
Then, as if something about her convinced him, he nodded.
“If it’s Tia, whatever that research turns out to be, she’ll be fine.”
“…Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
“Right, Tia? You’re not afraid even of monsters much bigger than you are.”
“Huh? That’s true.”
“What about flying monsters?”
“They’re fun to shoot down with a gun.”
“Monsters that attack with terrifying poison?”
“You just dodge.”
“Then monsters can’t affect you at all, can they? Do you think mere monsters could threaten Tia?”
“Of course not!”
At her boldly shouted answer, Diger pointed at her as if to show Sidwill, then simply shrugged.
Sidwill, utterly unable to follow the flow of the conversation, pressed a hand to his throbbing head. Still, his aunt—whom he hadn’t seen in a long time—really did seem to regard monsters as nothing at all.
Come to think of it, how on earth did she live in the North, where monsters were said to appear in droves?
Could it be that she actually participated in monster hunts herself?
But she looked just as elegant as ever, without a single wound. How could she hunt monsters that even seasoned knights and hunters found dangerous?
And yet, his aunt seemed strangely lively and full of energy.
Yes—rather than always being drunk, suffering from hangovers, or staggering about with a pale face.
It was unfamiliar… but not unpleasant.
So Sidwill chose not to dig deeper, even as his doubts lingered.
If his aunt was happy, that was enough—or so he decided.
“Very well. Then we’ll conclude matters regarding the sultan like this, and I’ll pretend I know nothing. You’ll be returning to the North together when you leave, Aunt.”
“…Huh?”
Wait—this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
When she snapped back to her senses, the situation was already over, with Diger merely grinning and winking at her.
Of course, Diger hadn’t lied, and monsters were in no position to threaten Terestia anyway, so it shouldn’t matter…
Still feeling unsettled, she glanced at Argo, who shook his head with a distinctly displeased expression.
‘His Majesty has already been dealt with, and the situation is concluded.’
In other words, it all ended with that sly, fox-like sultan tagging along as her personal physician back to the North.
Her pupils wavered helplessly at the absurdity of it.
But her considerate nephew thought, Well, of course—Aunt must be tired.
“You must be exhausted. I’ll let you rest for today. Just let me know before you return to the North. If you leave without saying goodbye again, I think I’d be quite hurt.”
“Tia, when your beloved nephew asks so nicely, you should answer him.”
“…Who do you think you— ahem. Yes, of course.”
As if her partner for the day had never fled far away, Diger clung to her side, fluttering about.
That cheerful grin of his annoyed her for no reason, so she lightly pinched his side.
No—she tried to.
But there was no flesh to grab through the solid muscle beneath his clothes, and her hand slipped.
She ended up awkwardly stroking Diger’s waist instead, a sight that left only Sidwill deep in thought.
‘Hmm. I was hoping Sir Yenier would become my uncle by marriage… but if she likes the sultan that much…’
And in that small gap, Argo—his red eyes glowing faintly—swallowed hard.
Of course, the sight was irritating and displeasing, but more than that, it was because of the smell that had assaulted his nose the moment they entered the imperial palace.
Whatever they were doing here, bringing Terestia back to the North back then had been the right choice.
The scent was so stimulating that if he stayed here any longer, even he might start to feel “hungry.”
Especially when the Empress Dowager approached, the smell grew even stronger.
The other humans seemed completely unaware of it, but this one holy knight—with relatively sharp senses—briefly held his breath as the Empress Dowager drew near.
So this was…
A scent that stimulated demons.
Humans might think it resembled the stench of blood or decay, but it was something entirely different.
How should he describe it?
A burning smell… yes, closer to that.
And what was burning was—
Souls.
“Tia, you’ve got goosebumps on your arms. I told you it’d be cold.”
“Shut up. My plans went wrong the moment I brought you back with me.”
How did things end up like this?
Grumbling as she climbed into the carriage, Terestia kicked off her shoes to relieve her throbbing feet.
Both of them—decisively.
Isolick hesitated in embarrassment before neatly picking them up and setting them aside, but Terestia’s aide went even further.
Sitting across from her, he boldly took her foot in his hands and began kneading it.
Was that really acceptable? To touch the Grand Duke’s bare foot like that?
But… the Grand Duke herself had taken off her shoes first.
And not only that—she looked perfectly at ease, even refreshed, and went so far as to say, “A bit lower there.”
At that, the aide wore an almost satisfied expression as he began pressing and massaging the small, pale foot.
As Isolick stood there, flustered and unsure where to look, Terestia spoke up first.
“You worked hard today, Sir. But tell me—if you had obtained material that could excommunicate the Pope, how were you planning to use it?”
“As I mentioned earlier, I have my own weakness, so…”
“Come on. Even so, you wouldn’t just throw it away. Ah—were you thinking of using it to threaten someone instead?”
“I considered that as well, but I think it would eventually have been taken from me. So…”
Moonlight spilled down over his thoughtful expression.
Though it was only a small beam slipping through the carriage window, when it touched Isolick, it became beautiful illumination.
“To be honest, I planned to give it to Your Highness.”
“…Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why give it to me? How could you trust me?”
Wasn’t that native? What if she simply took it, shut her mouth, and pretended nothing happened?
But Isolick shook his head firmly.
“Your Highness would have been pleased—and you would have used it without fail.”
“Why? What do you trust about me? I’ve barely even seen the Pope… well, almost never.”
The Pope she remembered was an old man with a benevolent smile, asking for donations.
Yes—a money-loving old man. That was about it.
“You rejected me simply because I was a ‘holy knight,’ didn’t you?”
“T-That’s true.”
“Therefore, I believe Your Highness harbors resistance toward the Papal State, the Pope, and even the Holy Knight Order to which I belong.”
Exactly. Of course I do—I’m a demon!
Struck right at her weak point, Terestia froze stiff.
But Isolick stopped there and didn’t analyze her any further.
Some things shouldn’t be spoken aloud—and don’t need to be.
Over the past few days, Isolick had watched, experienced, and carefully observed Terestia himself.
There were still doubts that hadn’t been fully resolved, but if he were to draw a conclusion—
“It seems the matter I must resolve will soon be finished. And then…”
“Hm?”
“If I come to the North again to seek you out, I believe Your Highness will accept me then.”
“…You mean you’ll ask again to become my knight?”
At her flustered question, Isolick slowly nodded.
“Yes. Because by then, the reason you rejected me will no longer exist.”
End Of Chapter : 61
