Chapter 738 – Day 84 – The Princess Has No Intention of Getting Her Hands Dirty and Has No Intention of Defeating the Demons Herself.
“Of course, if we proceed as Your Highness says, there is a chance that things will turn out as you wish…”
Annette’s expression as she sees the knights in the carriage is complex.
Although she was loved by the princess, she was ultimately the daughter of the ‘Carcassonne’ family.
“I know very well that His Highness Venus loves the humble commoners very much and values their lives.”
“In the end, are you planning to ask why you do such a dangerous thing for the commoners and slaves whose names you don’t even know?”
“I’m sorry if you offend, but Annette Carcassonne is that kind of woman.”
Her reaction wasn’t particularly strange. It is highly likely that Arisa, her dear friend, also seriously told her to focus on Minos.
“I never want to be like Abama.”
“However, you may miss the opportunity to save Minos.”
The princess nods her head.
“In other words, depending on how I decide, I can turn over 100 lives that could have been saved into ashes.”
“In the end, you are a commoner. It is an insignificant life that cannot even be compared to that of the royal family.”
“I don’t want to sacrifice even one life.”
The princess, bound by her bright red chains, looks at her wrists.
“If I were an ordinary person, I might have thought like you.”
“Your Majesty Venus.”
“But don’t you know well? I am the princess of an empire where the sun never sets.”
Omniscience and omnipotence are guaranteed
The being with the power that countless people envied was Venus Holympia.
“If a being who has the power to save people neglects to save people, he is not worthy of having that power.”
After finishing her words, the princess lets out her breath.
She does not think of herself as particularly noble or just. She just does what she can.
When she picked up an object that had fallen on the ground, she wanted to find its owner. Just as she was a princess with powers many times greater than that of an ordinary human, she did not want to run away from what she could.
“Ceres, can I trust you?”
“There is a possibility that the rumor that I betrayed her mother may have spread among the demons, but I will make sure she takes that into consideration before acting.”
The princess smiled at her trustworthy words and winked at Annette.
‘As expected, Her Majesty Venus has different thoughts from the royal family I have heard of and seen so far.’
That’s probably why she gave herself, who was destined to be imprisoned in the fortress city, a chance.
Annette was moved and admired, swallowed her saliva, and then pulled on the chain hanging around the princess’s neck.
─Clap!
Annette opens the carriage door with a clanging sound and puts her foot down gracefully. As people finally began to get off the carriage that had been stopped for a long time, the gazes of the people around them were very intense.
The princess and Annette head to the huge carriage in front of them as planned. The saying that it came from the eastern margrave of the empire was probably a lie, as the carriage had an exotic pattern that could not be seen anywhere near Holympia.
‘As His Highness Venus said, first, we must show the princess to this being who could be a demon.’
Holding a pipe in her right hand, Annette gets off the carriage and approaches the being who is looking around.
“You seem to be a guest from a distant margrave. Unfortunately, this is not the fortress city of Carcassonne.”
The being with an exotic appearance looks directly at the princess and looks at Annette.
“It looks like I may have been rude, so I apologize.”
The person who answered in a heavier voice than expected was a man. After hearing that she was a demon, the princess was a little embarrassed, thinking that she must be a woman.
He was even wearing a mask covering his mouth.
“Oh, there’s no need to apologize. This place was abandoned a long time ago. A castle was recently built there for some reason.”
Annette pretends to look around.
“You seem to have been mistaken because of the magic stones scattered everywhere. If you come to Carcassonne, we will guide you properly. Until then, could you talk to my subordinate for a moment?”
The exotic-looking man briefly looks at Annette, then looks at the transformed Ceres standing behind him, then nods his head.
“I understand. But what’s the deal with the chained woman standing behind her?”
“Oh, it looks like you don’t recognize him. Hehe, well, if you live in the far, far-off Margrave to the east of the empire, you might never have seen the portrait.”
Annette nods her head, glances at the demon, and approaches the princess. And, a little differently than planned, he grabbed the princess’s dress and lifted it up, clearly showing her bulging drawstrings.
The princess screamed inwardly, but she had no choice but to believe in Annette’s intelligence.
“She is the Imperial Princess. Ah, she became the Crown Princess last night, so she should be called Her Highness the Crown Princess now.”
“… Ho-oh, I heard you told me about the Crown Princess of Holympia, but why?”
“A person who is supposed to be in the imperial palace has come out, and we have no choice but to arrest him like this. Oh, I’m planning to hand him over to the Zodiac commander who will be in this castle.”
Annette deliberately showed all her cards.
In reality, it wasn’t, but it made the other person think that was the case.
‘As expected, I’m here, and I heard that the Zodiac commander is also here, so I can’t think of taking action easily.’
The princess smiles.
This was an act of warning that if you act recklessly, you could be killed cleanly without even recovering the magic stone or anything else.
Thanks to this, Annette was able to take the princess’s hand with a smile and leisurely walk towards the castle where her military commander was waiting.
“Duke Annette, while you are at work for a moment, you may report any inconveniences to me.”
As Ceres, in the form of a lion, spoke naturally, the exotic-looking man moved his eyes up and down and sighed.
As the princess was seen heading towards her castle in the distance, Ceres pursed her lips.
“It looks like things didn’t go as planned.”
“… I guess she’s not of very high status, but how can she know the will of heaven?”
He explicitly told her not to talk to him, but Ceres already knew.
The scent of a demon was wafting through him. He was even a man.
She knew better than anyone else how demons use transformation magic, and she was able to know more than Annette and the princess could see.
“If you could get your hands on all the magic stones here, you would be able to fully receive his power, but it’s too bad.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Brother, Lucifer said we don’t have much time.”
Ceres, who blurts out the words, naturally settles down next to the exotic man.
He opens his eyes wide and touches his masked mouth once.
“What on earth do you mean by what you just said?”
“I heard that we are in a situation where even the positions of the Seven Sisters cannot be properly filled. I’m sure even Pandemonium is starting to talk about it.”
Just saying this, the man’s face turned serious. He did not openly tell Ceres that he was a demon, but the story ended when he recognized the name Lucifer.
“I can easily resolve the concerns of the person who will become the Demon King.”
“Hoo…”
Seeing the man’s eyes shining, Ceres threw out the bait once more without any hesitation.
“Inside the castle is the Crown Princess Venus Holympia. She is said to be the Emperor’s favorite, a powerful person called the Zodiac Commander.”
“Are you saying it’s not time to sit here and retrieve the magic stone?”
“There are circumstances for them too, you who will become the Demon King.”
Ceres speaks politely, and he nods his head.
“If you just wait a little while, you will become the Demon King and the rest of your power will come into your hands.”
So please, don’t do anything stupid and just stay calm.
Even though Ceres did not finish his sentence, the man and the demon who wanted to become the demon king touched the mask with a happy smile.
* * * *
The princess, bound with her bright red chains, was led by Annette into the huge castle.
‘As I expected, this fortress was built on the stairs that lead down to the facility where Hedone was born.”
The princess was very embarrassed because she clearly couldn’t see the huge lid she had seen last time.
Now, I feel at ease because I can vaguely see how this place has changed.
After walking down the huge hallway for a while, Annette and the princess arrived at a door guarded by knights wearing huge armor.
The knights, holding flashing swords and spears, block the door with their weapons without saying a word, as if to prevent Annette from entering.
“Get out of the way.”
“…”
“I understand that the Zodiac Commander is inside, but please tell him that you have caught Venus Holympia.”
Even if Annette says so, the knights do not open the door.
It was good to enter the fortress, but the situation wasn’t good because we couldn’t figure out where Minos was or where the stairs to go down to the basement were.
The princess looks at Annette. From the beginning of her plan, she had an action in mind in case the Zodiac commander was away.
─Grumbling
“Hoo…”
Surprisingly, the huge weapons fall into place before the princess can act. Although Annette was quite uncomfortable having to open the large door herself, she did not complain.
She was scared seeing the beings standing on her left and right without saying anything. Because she screamed that the things in front of her were not ordinary.
“… Annette Carcassonne.”
After opening the door and entering, the two could see the back of the Zodiac commander with pure white hair.
He with surprisingly long hair stands up, puts on a huge helmet, and turns his body to look at the princess.
“I was guarding the road as ordered, and a princess dressed in a very suspicious outfit appeared and brought me in.”
Whether he is listening to Annette’s words, the Zodiac commander with a huge body approaches the princess with a thud, thump sound.
“… This smell. That’s right.”
“Ugh…! Eup!”
The princess glares at her military commander with protesting eyes, meaning not to distinguish between people based on smell.
“… Underground.”
It was as planned. With those words from the Zodiac commander, the knights guarding the door came in and grabbed the princess by the shoulders.
In this state, the princess would be trapped in the dungeon, and it seemed unlikely that she would be able to meet Minos, but since she knew that the ‘underground’ clearly existed, the princess accomplished her goal.
─Cow!!!
At the loud sound coming from outside, the princess straightens her back and makes eye contact with the Zodiac chief.
“What did you do…”
“Zodiac commander, listen carefully. They say there are demons out there who came here to become demon kings.”
The princess, who has smashed the chains that were tied to her body like a toy, shakes off the piece of iron from her shoulder and says her words.
“Isn’t this a truly painful situation for you who have been ordered by Abama to protect this place?”
The princess must find Minos, and she wants to protect the people here.
As it happened, the Zodiac commander had a duty to protect this place.
“It seems to me that the would-be Demon Lord is itching to come into this castle?”
The Zodiac chief was unable to say anything as he looked at the princess, who clearly had her plan planned out perfectly.
