Chapter : 05
The Ennument territory was quiet.
The residents were all skeletal, their eyes dead, and they dragged their half-frozen bodies just to exhale faint, white breaths.
And then, there…
“Hello.”
The Queen of Indulgence, who had never bothered to glance at the barren, harsh duchy, lightly greeted the territory’s people, dressed in a dazzling gown that seemed out of place in the northern lands.
Terestia stepped into the territory, recalling the stern instructions Argo had given her.
In her hand was still the sword she had taken from the bandits, dripping with blood at its tip.
Fortunately, it wasn’t the blood of the simple coachman who had brought her here—it was from a monster that had come down from the border…
“Why such ugly expressions?”
Surprised by their frozen, open-mouthed stares, she tilted her head. She hadn’t done anything that should warrant being called a “demon” yet.
Terestia looked around and noticed the gatekeeper, who had been insolent, failing to recognize her.
At first, the gatekeeper had told her to leave, but when he noticed the purple eyes—born only in the royal family of the Pavellon Empire—he reluctantly let her pass, unable to believe it.
At that moment, Argo had said he would stay outside and instructed her to kill the gatekeeper as soon as she entered.
When she asked why, he had summarized: “He failed to recognize his master and tried to accept bribes. That’s embezzlement.”
So… what exactly is embezzlement…?
Hmm, according to Terestia’s memory… it’s natural and obvious if she does it, but if her subordinates do it, it’s insolent and must be punished…
“Ah-ha!”
Realizing something, Terestia raised her sword and brought it down on the gatekeeper’s neck.
Of course, the gatekeeper was a corrupt official who had embezzled in Ennument territory, but the people screamed in shock at the sudden death.
“Eek!”
“Ah, a demon!”
Again! They called me a demon again!
‘Why on earth?’
Because Argo told me to kill him, because he was a bad official, because embezzlers deserve death!
That’s why I killed him! So why am I being called a demon again?
Terestia lowered her sword, bewildered. But her curiosity was quickly satisfied.
“You demon…! There’s no way you’re the princess! How dare you impersonate Princess Terestia, the heir to the Ennument duchy!”
A man with a face flushed with anger appeared, shouting loudly.
Terestia blinked out of pure curiosity and asked,
“Why?”
“Well… if you were really the princess, we would have been informed in advance! We should have been told to prepare thoroughly to welcome Your Highness to this cold, unremarkable territory…”
“Is that so?”
Thanks for the answer.
With that, Terestia also cut down the man. Because…
‘If anyone gets angry at Your Highness for killing the gatekeeper, kill them too.’
That’s what Argo had said.
Anyway, loud voices are unbearable, so this time, she wouldn’t question Argo’s orders.
Thinking this, Terestia slowly turned her head toward her next target.
Those who remained, locking eyes with her instead of fleeing, paled and began to confess their wrongdoings.
“I-I… the ledgers… I recorded everything correctly, it was… a mistake!”
“Oh! I, I failed to recognize Your Highness! The taxes collected last month… oh, they just haven’t been registered in the documents yet. I will deliver them properly to Your Highness! Please spare me!”
Watching them confess everything out of fear, Terestia narrowed her eyes.
‘What are they saying?’
Whatever the case, they’re hiding something, right?
Argo said even those who confess obediently will betray again, so don’t spare them!
Terestia reached a simple conclusion and kindly took their lives as well.
Then she recalled the man who had shouted “demon” at her.
‘So that’s why humans keep calling me a demon…’
In short, it’s because I don’t act like the rumored “Princess.”
Then, Terestia tried to remember… what expression and behavior does a princess show in such a situation?
Mulling it over, she slightly raised the corners of her mouth and lifted her chin.
Before the word “demon” spread, she began cutting down the loud, fawning “targets” Argo had pointed out.
The haughty posture, the ruthless gaze, the confident speech.
Terestia, recalling from memory, felt confident she was perfectly imitating “Princess Terestia.”
“Damn, worse than the rumors! She’s definitely going to squeeze us dry now!”
“Should we run away even now?”
“But where would we go? And if we run, she’ll surely kill us like those who died before…”
“Oh, God… please save us from the demon…”
Why again! I wasn’t planning to kill skinny humans like you!
Argo had specifically said to kill only the fat and rosy-cheeked ones!
Terestia had just been following Argo’s orders, but somehow, everyone seemed to have guessed her identity, and it frustrated her.
Glancing at the trembling residents, she decided to immediately confront Argo and spun around.
Her destination was, of course, Argo outside the territory.
However, when Argo saw the determined Terestia, he smiled and, as if waiting for her, led her toward the border…
“Eeeek!”
“It’s okay, that’s not my blood.”
A few days later, Terestia returned dragging the corpse of a monster.
Far from the image of the glamorous rumored princess, she calmly reassured the people, covered in blood.
She didn’t realize that this approach was completely different from what people expected.
She simply placed the massive monster carcass in front of the residents’ houses and cheerfully said,
“Eat.”
Because these monsters were edible, after all!
“I followed your instructions, but they still think I’m a demon!”
“Oh. I forgot one thing. If you give them food, they’ll like you.”
Terestia, realizing her mistake, had just returned from hunting monsters.
Now humans wouldn’t go hungry, and they’d like me, right? They wouldn’t call me a demon either?
But the residents still looked at her with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.
They were amazed that her actions after the brutal purge had led to hunting monsters, but they also feared she might be a demon, as she seemed bloodthirsty.
Eventually, Terestia, feeling dejected, left the pile of monster corpses behind and entered the duke’s castle, not showing herself for a while.
Several days passed.
Apart from a job posting on the castle walls seeking workers, nothing significant happened.
The residents whispered among themselves upon seeing the notice.
Rumors spread quietly that those working in the castle were dying.
“If we go to the duke’s castle, we’ll surely die horribly…”
Terrified, the residents avoided the area around the castle.
But some thought differently:
“Whether we starve to death or are killed by the demon duke… it’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
Beth, a young woman unable to marry due to extreme poverty, barely surviving, had already lost her parents and was waiting for death alone, having gone three days without food.
After much hesitation, Beth finally made up her mind, took a deep breath, tore down the job posting from the wall, and headed toward the duke’s castle.
From that day forward, Ennument territory began to feel an unprecedented wind of change that no one could have anticipated.
End Of Chapter : 05
