Chapter 874 – Day 99 – The Land Where a Woman Crazy in Love Lives, the Duchy of Altema
“I was expecting it, but as expected, it was terrible.”
The princess frowned at the scenery outside the window.
No matter how positive you thought about the scenery of the Dukedom of Altema in front of you, it was definitely not a situation suitable for war or battle.
First, the road was so damaged that the princess’s carriage moved slower than walking. It wasn’t that someone had damaged the road itself with a shovel and hammer, but there were too many corpses lying on the road or people camping.
“It’s past harvest time… But are you still farming in the first place?”
“That’s right, I don’t know much about farming, but it seems like where there should be a field, it’s just full of weeds. Now, it’s full of tents that nobles have roughly erected.”
The duchy was full of nobles who wanted to somehow get their precious daughter back who had been sent to the duchy of Altema.
Their desperation was so obvious.
“It wasn’t my job to be involved, and I didn’t know the story, so I put it aside for a later date…”
These were the words of Hedone, who was looking at the nobles who had turned out to be so hideous as to be ugly, with eyes full of worry.
“… Weren’t there any nobles who knew what would happen to her if she became the emperor’s concubine?”
Hedone purely thought that she did not know about the ‘Emperor’s Concubine’ because she did not study it.
“That’s not right.”
Elaine said with a sour expression and crossed her legs.
“The only people who use the emperor’s concubines like prey are Jupiter and the Royal Mistress. Common sense tells us that being the emperor’s concubine is an honor for the family and brings prosperity.”
“… Then you sent it without knowing the context?”
“Some nobles will do that, and some won’t. It’s an open secret, but isn’t Abamama’s reign only lasting a day or two?”
“It’s just as Venus said. Concubine hunting, something called that happened 10 years ago.”
Arisa took a sip of the coffee she was holding in her hand. There was even a sense of relaxation thanks to the carriage moving at a crawling speed rather than shaking.
“It was really amazing back then. I don’t know what the Royal Mistress was thinking, but she gathered a lot of girls from all over the empire to be her concubines.”
“Is there a reason it’s called hunting?”
“Of course. All the ladies who gathered at that time became concubines.”
Hedone was momentarily speechless at Arisa’s words.
“Everyone became a concubine…?”
“That’s literally true. They all became concubines. And no one knows whether those concubines are currently in the imperial palace or waiting for a call in the Dukedom of Altema.”
“Then the nobles here have been trying to take their children away for 10 years…”
The princess nods her head at Hedone’s words.
“Not everyone is like that… But there are some who have given up on even managing the territory and just sit here.”
“Isn’t it absurd? If something like this had happened 10 years ago! Someone would have told the Imperial Council that it was wrong!”
Arisa made a bitter expression at Hedone’s words.
“Hedonedo thought for a moment. Didn’t she ‘know’ that she sent her daughters away with the idea that if they became the emperor’s concubines, she would enjoy wealth and fame?”
“Well, that’s true. But…”
“That’s why other nobles don’t respond well. If you sit here as a dead person and your family falls apart, you can take the territory into your own hands.”
Hedone lowered her head and pursed her lips.
“I think it’s too cruel to say the least.”
“That’s what nobility is. There are people who are honorable and make sacrifices for the people of their territory… But when it comes to money and fame, there are also cases where you can’t use your own blood.”
“No matter how much… It’s so much someone’s misfortune…”
Hedone looked gloomy.
“That’s why I said I didn’t want to get involved. Royal Mistress… The things that happened around that damn bitch are complicated and annoying. Her personality itself is kind of shit.”
After speaking with her legs crossed, Elaine looks out her window and opens her mouth again.
“But what are you going to do, Venus? At this rate, it’ll take a long time to get to the castle where the temptress is locked up, right?”
“Leda, Ceres. Did you get any information about what I asked about earlier?”
In response to the princess’ cautious question, Leda sadly shook her head from side to side.
“I’m sorry, princess. The Duchy of Altema is a land that has long rejected the emperor’s shadow…”
“Don’t feel guilty. I won’t force you to do the impossible.”
“The Royal Mistress says she is not sending any troops or knights from the castle.”
The princess crossed her arms and sighed.
“Are you saying nothing came out of the castle?”
“Yes, it is said that for a very long time, the nobles did not interfere even if they lived in the duchy as long as they did not approach the castle.”
“You knew that I had rebelled against Abamama and that there was a huge army behind this carriage?”
“Yes, the Royal Mistress will know exactly what the princess has done.”
Although Ceres did not explain it in detail, it also meant that her informants and employees were regularly coming and going from the Royal Mistress’s castle.
“Let’s turn the carriage back. I guess I’ll have to meet the Royal Mistress in person.”
No separate troops were sent to repel the princess’s army.
It could not be said that there was no possibility of dialogue.
* * *
“Ugh…”
The princess got off the carriage and arrived at the castle where the Royal Mistress lived.
She was fine up to that point, but as soon as she saw the terrible scene unfolding in front of her gate, she became nauseous.
“Ugh… What is this…”
“Ugh… Tsk, tsk…”
Not only Hedone, but even Ceres could not keep her expressionless and covered her mouth with both hands.
Arisa, Elaine, and Leda were not here because they were in the process of clearing out the nobles living in the Dukedom of Altema.
“I understand why the Princess says she hates the Royal Mistress. This is not at the level of bad taste…”
Hedone even thought that her prenatal education was bad and closed her eyes tightly.
There was a swamp of corpses in front of the gate.
It wasn’t even a mountain. A mountain of corpses is because someone has to pile them up.
The bodies of those who had been brutally murdered by the Royal Mistress’ magic were just lying on the ground.
From the corpse that was split in half an hour or two ago to the corpse that has become white bones.
As if they didn’t even feel the need to ‘clean’ them, there was a swamp of mismatched corpses in front of the pure white gate.
“… Wow.”
“Ceres?!”
Ceres, who had a bad expression, actually vomited while covering her mouth.
“Mr. Ceres?!”
Ceres, who maintained a blank expression as if the stench of Helheim was nothing, vomited.
The princess and Hedone were surprised and patted her on the back.
“Ugh… Collock, I’m sorry. Ugh… It was so hard to bear it…”
“I thought Ceres was strong against corpses…”
“Yes, I don’t mind this tragedy, but…”
Ceres took out her handkerchief and wiped her mouth.
“The reverberations… Traces… Of the magic power remaining here… Are so disgusting… It’s difficult to even breathe.”
“… Didn’t Arisa definitely say that?”
“Oh, that’s right. You said you would vomit if you met the Royal Mistress, so you would rather meet other nobles and negotiate.”
The princess, who didn’t know much about her magic, sighed.
“If you can’t bear it…”
“No, I’m used to it now.”
“Well, if that’s you, I understand, but be careful as you are in front of the Royal Mistress.”
The princess spoke under her breath and then took a step forward.
“Huh…?”
As she approached the huge castle gate, the princess frowned.
“How embarrassing is this…”
Hedone, who was standing behind, also looked around with a puzzled expression.
“This… No… What is this… Ugh.”
The scent that Ceres, who was sensitive to magic, could now sense as well as the princess and Hedone.
‘This smell… Oh, no! I can’t say that exactly! No matter how hard you try to think of other smells, you can’t do this?!’
Although embarrassed, the princess carefully approached the pure white door.
“Hmm… Ceres, this is what it is… Is this what the Royal Mistress’s magic smells like?”
“Yes, you can think of it as transformed into something like this.”
“This… This… No, the blatant smell of pussy is the smell of magic?!”
The princess couldn’t hold back and screamed. Normally, Hedone would have pinched her butt to make her speak nicer and Ceres would have denied it, but not like this.
“Yes. You don’t feel wrong.”
The princess was at a loss for words and was unable to say anything before turning around to knock on her castle door.
The smell was embarrassing because it was embarrassing, and I had to work.
“Royal Misty… Huh?”
As the princess was about to knock on her castle door, the gate opened arbitrarily.
With the sound of a chain being pulled, the huge gates opened to the left and right, and a masked girl appeared inside along with women in beautiful clothes.
“… We didn’t even knock on the door, did you know we were coming?”
The princess spoke her words calmly.
The young lady in her mask looked not at the princess, but at Hedone, and she moved her body towards him.
“Uh, huh?”
The princess looks at Ceres in surprise at what she is experiencing for the first time in her life.
Hedone was not the princess either. She was surprised to see the masked girl walking towards her and stepped behind her.
“The Royal Mistress would like to welcome Lady Hedone as her guest. Please come inside.”
“… You’re not talking to the princess, you’re talking to me?”
“To the Royal Mistress, Hedone is the only precious guest.”
This situation of openly welcoming Hedone was strange to anyone.
Hedoné, swallowing her saliva, looked at her princess. Although it was not clear exactly how the situation would unfold, the fact that she refused everything and gave the seductress who created a swamp with corpses a chance to enter the castle did not change.
“I understand. However, I will go in with Master Ceres and the princess. A precious guest cannot enter with bare hands, right?”
The masked girl lowered her head at Hedone’s sharp words.
“I knew you would say that. Please come inside, honored guest of the Royal Mistress.”
