Chapter 737 – Day 84 – The Princess Uses a Trick and Heads to the Castle Where Minos Is Imprisoned.
“Your Highness Venus. Can you tell me what I can do for you?”
The expression of Annette Carcassonne, who was instantly in good shape thanks to Ceres’ help, was overflowing with spirit.
I didn’t get into this state simply because I had pleasant sex with the princess.
Annette Carcassonne.
She is the owner of a fortress city located in the Holympus Mountains. She was a nice horse to hear, but she was no different from a nobleman from a border region who could only reach Holympia by riding a horse for several months.
“I would like you to do something that only a girl who is the owner of the fortress city and under orders from the Zodiac Commander can do.”
“Your Majesty Venus, what kind of action is that?”
“Listen carefully. Abama has entrusted this fortress city to you, the Carcassonne family. I have ordered you to guard this place.”
Annette nods her head without getting angry or disliking her story, which is nothing short of common sense.
“Don’t the Zodiac Commander’s orders and dispatches ultimately mean to protect this area? By the way, do you know why Abamama ordered you to protect this area?”
Annette Carcassonne raises the corners of her mouth in response to her princess’s question.
It’s a story about a hideous family, but it’s not so bad that I can’t answer.
“This is because it is known that unimaginable magic stones are buried in the Holympus Mountains.”
“Tell me more.”
“A long time ago, after the wizards of the empire discovered how to utilize magic stones, magic stones became an item that made money.”
Carcassonne spreads her back and says.
“After that, everyone from the unheard of nobles to those with high exiles began to cling to the Holympus Mountains like flies to a corpse, hoping to obtain a lump of magic stone.”
Having heard the answer she was hoping for, the princess smiles and nods her head.
“The craze soon turned into madness. In order to secure even a little bit of magic stones, the civil war between the nobles along the mountain ranges to secure the land where all they had was the magic stones, and the bloody smell continued so viciously that it was so disgusting.”
“I learned that quite dangerous civil wars often broke out.”
“Yes, there were many who thought that magic stones were power, and that was not wrong. In the end, until His Majesty the Emperor appeared and made it a law that magic stones could only be mined in designated territories, that stupid fight lasted for several years. And it continued for decades.”
“Then do you know why His Majesty the Emperor made such a law?”
Annette thought for a moment and then nodded.
“Because magic stones attract demons… Is that right?”
“That’s right. Even at that time, demons were hiding in various parts of the empire’s society. They used us to somehow secure a little more magic stones under the pretext of a civil war. His Majesty the Emperor saw through this and made a law to ban it. .”
After hearing everything the princess said, Annette coughed for a moment.
“I-I’m sorry, Princess… So, this is a task that His Majesty the Emperor has entrusted to our family…?”
“Wouldn’t it mean to block those who cling to the Holympus Mountains and try to fool around?”
“Ah, in the end, I got a shield… Ugh, I’m sorry.”
Looking at Annette’s disappointed expression, the princess pats her on the back.
“Don’t say that. In other words, you have the right to deal with anything suspicious that happens here.”
The princess looks at her Ceres with her smile.
“Ceres, can you transform into me?”
“Yes, it’s not difficult if you put your mind to it.”
“Yes…?”
Annette looks at Ceres in surprise. Ceres cleared his throat once, brought out his jet-black tail, and swung it from side to side, destroying it.
“Be, be, Your Majesty Venus?”
“Annette, I am showing you all this because I trust you now.”
Gulp, Annette’s face got hot at the fact that she had been trusted, but she still had no idea what the princess was trying to do.
“Demons can also turn into princesses. Is it okay to think that Ceres is not the only one who can do this?”
“Yes, they can use the princess’s hair, blood, or even a strange transformation if they have seen it from afar.”
“Now in the imperial palace, Venus Holympia has become the Crown Princess, and isn’t there a party being held to celebrate that?”
Annette blinks at him for a moment and covers her mouth with her hand.
“No way, Your Highness Venus. It’s not that the demons in the imperial palace are fake, but the person in front of me is a fake… Are you trying to deceive the Zodiac commander?”
“That’s it! Think about it carefully! Did you in the fortress city know that I was coming here?”
“I was sucking my fingers because of the rumor that Her Majesty Venus’ grand party might be held for two days, or even a week.”
The princess burst into laughter briefly.
“Yes, that means the Zodiac Commander is no different. In fact, as a guy, it means that I have no reason to doubt the one who brought me here, whether real or fake. Do you understand?”
“Then the princess can enter that castle where Lord Minos is without shedding a single drop of blood.”
“That’s how it is. Even if you can tell that I’m real, I’ve already arrived at the castle. Wouldn’t it be easy to just knock out the commander?”
Annette Carcassonne nods her head.
“Obviously, behind this, the knights of Carcassonne, who have received orders from the Zodiac commander, are guarding the alleys of the mountain path. If you explain to them that you are catching a suspicious person disguised as a princess and handing him over to the Zodiac commander…”
There will be no doubt whatsoever. It would be possible to deceive eyes and ears everywhere.
“But, princess? What if the Zodiac Commander is stronger than you think?”
“Well, actually, I have no intention of fighting from the beginning. Once I get inside the castle, I plan to rescue Minos and run away without shedding a single drop of blood.”
“I know that the princess runs fast, but…”
At Annette’s worried words, the princess laughs and slaps Ceres’ buttocks.
“Isn’t it over here?”
“Hmm… I’m embarrassed, but I am what Annette expects me to be…”
Annette’s eyes widen at Ceres’ words.
“So, are you able to do things like teleportation at will?”
“Yes, it’s not completely free, but if the princess has something with my runes engraved on it, then appearing by her side is easier than preparing breakfast.”
Annette, who fully understood the situation, smiled. Now that she had figured out the whole situation, there was only one thing she could say.
“Your Majesty Venus, I, Annette Carcassonne, will lend you whatever power you need to make your plan a reality.”
* * * * *
‘Annette gave me more strength than I expected.’
The princess, whose entire body was bound by chains painted red, was able to smile comfortably.
“Are you feeling okay?”
The princess nods her head once without saying a word and looks out of her carriage. The two were riding in the carriage that Annette usually rode, not the small carriage that the princess came in.
Outside, there were knights escorting the carriage at a very slow speed.
‘If we had forced a breakthrough, something very serious would have happened. To the extent that Carcassonne was worried about its defenses, they brought out all the knights and even gathered soldiers to completely block the road.’
It was clearly visible how much pressure the Zodiac commander had put on Annette.
“Hmm, the princess is not going to the fortress city of Carcassonne, but to the Zodiac commander who is waiting in that castle…”
Annette, who was planning to deceive the ears and eyes of everyone by saying the obvious things she promised, hastily raises her hand.
“Wait a minute, coachman, stop.”
Arriving at the huge castle, Annette planned to pass through the castle gate with a lot of leisure.
After giving her princess a brief glance, she hurriedly peeked her eyes out of the carriage.
“It’s a carriage I’ve never seen around here…”
“Annette. We are from the easternmost part of the empire, the Margrave.”
“A margrave of your own people? Ah…”
Annette rubbed his face with his hand.
The princess wanted to ask a question, but she couldn’t pretend to be friendly with Annette.
“What’s going on?”
Instead, Ceres, who was transforming into a knight, asked Annette a question.
“Sometimes, nobles in the east send people to buy magic stones in large quantities, which are difficult to obtain there. We’re in trouble.”
There was an enormous distance between the eastern end of the empire and the Holympus Mountains.
“Did they come up here after mistaking this castle for Carcassonne… Sigh, I think the knights just sent them up after hearing that he was a margrave…”
“I don’t think so.”
Ceres, who was in transformation, spoke so clearly that the princess and Annette’s eyes widened.
“What does that mean?”
Annette says, crossing her legs. This meant that they should immediately follow the carriage of the Margrave of the East, which was entering the castle where Minos would be.
“How likely is it that this place would be mistaken for Carcassonne? Those who came to buy expensive magic stones in large quantities at even a low price would have found one or two people who know this place well.”
“It is unprecedented, but it is not impossible.”
Annette spoke bluntly, but she was anxious. The woman’s senses were screaming.
“… There was a small matter that I didn’t tell the princess about.”
The carriage with the princess and Annette riding along with the Margrave’s carriage enters the huge castle.
Unlike the last time I came, the castle had become surprisingly large, but it was very different from the last time, when it felt empty.
As she listened to Annette’s words, the princess looked outside her carriage and for a moment, her eyes widened.
“Well, last time…”
“It looks like you’ve been here before, princess.”
Annette sighed and rubbed his face.
“I’m sorry, Princess. At the same time that the Zodiac Commander sent out knights and soldiers, he naturally requested people who worked here. Quite a few people came from Carcassonne as well.”
“He thought it was natural since the knights who suddenly came here couldn’t do odd jobs.”
Ceres did not see it with his own eyes, but he listened because he knew better than anyone else what the lives of nobles were like.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Isn’t this a chore?”
The castle with one or two empty buildings where the Knights of the Zodiac stayed is now a thing of the past.
This castle, with its bustling crowd of people moving around, resembles a small mining town. Even if we roughly calculated the number of workers the princess could see, it seemed like it would easily exceed 100.
‘When on earth did I build such a huge mine…’
With a dazed look on her face, the princess confirmed that the entrance to the mine was located in the Holympus Mountains, and that the cart that people were pulling out from inside was full of sparkling magic stones.
The large tent was filled with people sleeping from exhaustion, and from afar, robed wizards could be seen shouting loudly and making efforts to refine pure magic stones from large blocks of stone.
“A noble from a faraway place, who had mistaken the starting line, came to a place full of magic stones…”
At Ceres’ muttering, the princess swallowed her saliva.
“… Isn’t he a demon with nothing to see?”
The princess couldn’t even burst into laughter because her suspicious smell was so obvious.
“Princess, please go inside and save Minos first.”
Annette whispers in a very low voice.
“Because it has not yet been confirmed that that noble is a demon. I will hand over the princess to the Zodiac commander or the knights over there, and naturally I will have tea time to kill time.”
Annette made a very reliable offer, but the princess knew it well.
‘If it were really a demon, wouldn’t it be obvious that he would kill Annette as soon as he found out she was wasting time?’
If he openly reveals that the princess is the princess, he will definitely arrest her. As the right-hand man who faithfully carries out the emperor’s orders, it was clear that as soon as the demons were finished, he would not be able to meet Minos and would be thrown into the castle’s dungeon.
‘What should I do with this…’
In the worst case, if the demons start a rampage, everyone here will die. Ceres is unique, but in the eyes of demons, humans are nothing more than bugs crawling on the ground.
It is clear that Minos will not die immediately, but will become a terrible vessel. The option of negotiating with the Zodiac commander is unrealizable.
In a situation where a painful future was clearly visible no matter what choice she made, the princess eventually closed her eyes tightly.
“… How can you choose between the two? Let’s take everything.”
The princess could not give up anything.
