CHAPTER 25
But he really was a warm-hearted kid.
He picked flowers just for me and comforted me.
“The moon changes its shape all the time. But it’s still the moon.”
Recalling that pure, comforting remark, my heart ached all over again.
So this time, I had to take Ares’s side.
…Still, I tightly held Ares’s hand to stop him from swinging his fists.
‘If a bloody mess breaks out here, I won’t be able to fix it, Ares!’
Callion silently looked at my hand.
“Ares is my best friend!”
“……”
“And I like it better when he calls me Shion. Your Highness, please don’t tease him too much.”
“Hmph! Heard that?!”
Ares’s face immediately brightened when I sided with him, and he let out a snort.
‘Do you see this, Callion? I’m working this hard to protect your face, you know?’
Callion quietly stared at me and Ares.
Then he smiled sweetly at me again.
“Then, may I call you Miss Shion as well?”
“Huh?”
“I’d like to be friends with you too, Princess. Would you allow that?”
No… please don’t look at me with those sad puppy eyes.
The memory of our last meeting came flooding back, and my heart hurt.
And my foolishness for using Charon as a place to run away.
I felt sorry for my selfishness in not trying harder to return to the Holy Kingdom.
And now… for my disgusting desire to live among the demons.
‘This won’t do. I think I’m going to be too soft on this child.’
I glanced at Ares’s reaction and spoke hesitantly.
“W-Well, sure.”
“Then, Miss Shion, please call me Callion as well. And feel free to speak comfortably.”
“Shion! Why are you letting this guy call you that too?!”
“It’s okay… it’s just a shorter name.”
“That’s not the point! Why are you calling him your friend too?! I’ll never accept that!”
Callion chuckled at Ares and replied.
He could make such a sarcastic face?
“I don’t need your approval.”
“What did you say?”
“And don’t you ever say my name.”
“Why would I ever call you?! Don’t flatter yourself! Aren’t you leaving?!”
Ares burst into anger, and Callion turned his head away with a smug air.
I was already exhausted, so I grabbed the juice bottle.
‘Let me just sip some juice and breathe a bit. Please, just don’t start pulling each other’s hair…’
At that moment, Lette cleared her throat lightly.
“Ahem. But, Princess Alcyone.”
Minte and Lette had looked uncomfortable the whole time.
‘Well, of course. He’s a prince from the Holy Kingdom they hate.’
Still, Lette was maintaining her courtesy.
Callion also straightened up from his stare-down with Ares.
“Please speak, Lady Epikus.”
“Forgive me, Your Highness, but… where are your attendants?”
“Ah…”
“Won’t they come looking for you? Did you inform them before coming here?”
“I do have attendants… but they don’t really… pay much attention to me…”
“……”
Lette frowned, clearly displeased.
Callion, despite his age, looked embarrassed.
‘So even if they gave him a title, it’s just lip service.’
Just a pawn to send to the Demon Nation.
The Epikus sisters, as demons, had seen through the fact that no one truly looked after Callion.
Lette sighed deeply.
“I beg your pardon, Your Highness. Then… what about the other high priests?”
“To be honest, they all seemed a bit preoccupied.”
“Are you saying there’s something more important than a prince of their own country?”
“Well…”
Callion looked even more troubled.
I quietly put down my juice bottle at Lette’s question.
‘Everything she’s saying is true. Even if it’s just for appearances, what could be more important than a prince of the Holy Kingdom?’
Unless they had another plan in mind…!
Callion glanced at Lette as he responded.
“To be honest… they all looked rather busy. Even on the way here, they were deep in discussion.”
“Then… where is the 14th Great Saintess now?”
“She’s in the banquet hall. Talos—the high priest—advised her to stay there.”
Minte and Lette exchanged puzzled looks.
Before Lette could speak, I quietly asked first.
“Then, is that priest with her?”
“Ah, no, Miss Shion.”
Callion looked even more flustered at my question.
“I didn’t see Priest Talos at the lodging this morning.”
“……”
A chilly wind blew through the once-beautiful camellia garden.
Why would a priest leave the saintess alone in what was once enemy territory?
That’s when Minte suddenly shot to her feet.
“Lette! I’m going to report to Lord Erebus right now!”
“Ah, okay!”
“Your Highness, I’ll be back!”
“Uh-huh…!”
Minte rushed off in a hurry.
She must be going to report the suspicious actions of the Holy Kingdom’s people.
‘Then the one in the banquet hall right now is…!’
I also leapt up from the picnic mat.
Both boys looked startled by my sudden movement.
“Shion?!”
“Miss Shion?”
“Lette!”
I held out my arms to Lette, signaling for her to carry me.
“I—I want to go to the banquet hall!”
To where the fake saintess was—alone!
Meanwhile…
“The Demon King’s security is tighter than I expected.”
Talos clicked his tongue and tapped the air at the edge of the Hades Palace garden.
Where he tapped, black flames flickered.
It wasn’t a barrier made with divine power—but something else entirely.
‘They must’ve rigged this to keep us from leaving without permission.’
The delegation from the Holy Kingdom could only stay in Tartarus for a short time.
During that window, the high priests had to quickly pinpoint the location where the “13th’s soul” had been sensed.
‘If we can’t leave once we’re inside… then we simply don’t all need to come inside in the first place.’
Talos recalled the group from the 9th order of priests that had “separated” before crossing the border.
Then he pulled out a gemstone ring embedded with a voice-activated spell.
When Talos pressed the gem, a communication spell activated, audible only between the linked users.
“Sisyphus. Have you sensed anything yet?”
—Uh, we’re still in the middle of tracking down the traces…
“We must hurry before the Demon King suspects something. Now!”
Sisyphus of the 9th order, linked through the ring, was the most gifted in “sensing.”
A small, scrawny man with ashen-brown hair and rodent-like eyes.
Talos imagined Sisyphus’s face and snapped coldly.
“If you hadn’t deserted the 13th back then—”
—But! I truly didn’t expect the saintess to end up like that!
“Silence. You caused that disaster while I was on the battlefield.”
—……
“If you weren’t a temple priest from the capital, I’d have beheaded you myself.”
Back during the war—
Some priests in Charon had abandoned the saintess, claiming they couldn’t handle the flood of patients.
Sisyphus had been one of them.
So now, he couldn’t utter a word in protest.
—I’m sorry. We’re searching Kóre thoroughly with our other “sensors”…
“You’re certain the soul was sensed in the Demon capital?”
—Y-Yes. Judging by the direction, it’s definitely Kóre.
“Good… Let’s hope you find the traces.”
—We’ll do our best. But Lord Talos, once we locate the soul… how will you seal it and bring it back?
“Hmph…”
—Is there even a vessel capable of sealing her soul and divine power?
Sisyphus asked hesitantly, but Talos smiled confidently.
He had already found a clue during a past fight with the demons.
‘Not all demon knights could turn their magic into weapons.’
There was another method for those who couldn’t face the Holy Knights directly.
But Talos had no intention of telling this sneaky bastard that.
“There’s one method that only works within Tartarus. Once we confirm the location, I’ll retrieve the vessel myself.”
—Ah, yes!
Talos ended the voice spell and turned his gaze back to the Hades Palace.
‘We need that fake to draw more of the demons’ attention.’
The Great Saintess—hated and despised most by the demons.
Now that such a person sat right in the center of the banquet hall, every demon in the palace must be pointing fingers and seething.
Just then, an attendant from the Holy Kingdom came running, clearly in a panic.
Knowing he was one of the humans in charge of the bastard child, Talos frowned.
“What is it? Why are you here alone, leaving the prince unattended?”
“W-We have a problem, High Priest. Prince Deucalion… has suddenly gone missing.”
