Chapter 59
The castle was filled with scorch marks, and screams echoed throughout. The high-ranking witches dragged into the Demon Lord’s domain did everything they could to appease her wrath.
“D-Demon Lord, please! I promise I’ll bring Gremory back, just give me a little more time… please, have mercy…! Aaargh!”
“You’ve already had enough time.”
“Alice is thoroughly searching the human realm! We’ll have news soon, just a little more time… Aaargh!”
Sitting on the black throne, the Demon Lord stretched out her hand. With a flick of her fingers, like pressing a keyboard, the witch who had been pleading was twisted and contorted.
“You thought I’d be satisfied with Gremory’s mother? You should have known better.”
A chilling scream echoed out. The high-ranking witches trembled, prostrated on the floor.
The Demon Lord, sitting lazily in the throne, rested her chin on her hand. Her grey skin and lifeless blue eyes were terrifying.
“Shall I burn you slowly, piece by piece?”
The twisted witch, tears streaming from her eyes, asked the Demon Lord with a trembling voice.
“Why… why are you doing this to us, your own kind…?”
“Because of you, my life is ruined.”
“…What?”
“If you want to blame someone, blame your past. You fools.”
The witch, twisted and broken, slowly died.
The others, waiting for their turn, either fainted in fear or tried to flee, only to be caught and meet the same fate.
The Demon Lord then gave orders to the two high-ranking witches, who were bowing their heads in submission.
“Hey, you two. Your names are Lace and Etna, right?”
“Yes… that’s right…!”
Instead of the nearly fainting Lace, Etna answered alone.
“Go to the human realm and bring back Gremory. For every day you delay, I’ll devour thirty witches.”
“W-We can’t let the witches of this kingdom be wiped out that quickly…!”
“Exactly, so go get Gremory before I wipe you all out.”
“But our witches can only go to the human realm with a summoning…!”
“I’ll grant you the power to enter the human realm without needing a summoning. So stop complaining and move.”
“R-Really? Thank you! Thank you so much!”
And behind the enormous throne.
A middle-aged man stood, his eyes tightly shut in hesitation.
Gremory is still hiding well. That’s a relief.
With black hair and blue eyes, the sharp-featured man was the first Emperor, Hambutton de Prilliant.
Yes, run. Keep running. My daughter Sereti will devour all their souls, and when there’s nothing left to eat, they’ll starve to death. That’s the only way to end this horrible tragedy.
Hambutton, slumped behind the throne, covered his face with his palms and sobbed. His sobs were drowned out by the agonizing screams of the witches.
If I had known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have made that choice 200 years ago. If I had known…
At that moment, his daughter, Sereti de Prilliant, peeked her head around the throne and asked.
“Father, do you want some too?”
“…Yes, I’ll eat too.”
Hambutton wiped his tears and devoured the terrified witches’ souls. It was disgusting, but he had to join in and consume their souls to end this long tragedy.
He just wanted the witches to be extinct, and the meaningless throne of the Demon Lord to crumble.
Gremory could feel it instinctively. The box that had contained so many emotions began to crack open. Some of the emotions that had been held in check began to run wild.
She realized that what her mother had sealed away wasn’t just emotions.
As the gap in her emotions widened, the instincts of the witch began to stir.
She was hungry. She wanted to torment humans, spread a plague, and fill the darkness with souls.
And she wanted him.
Cheshion.
If he resisted… well, she might devour him. His body and soul.
The twisted emotions and thoughts tangled together, and an unfamiliar fear flooded her. She feared that she might become a monster. She feared that everything she had built so far would collapse.
Then, a middle-aged man’s voice echoed in her mind.
The Demon Lord is not satisfied. Run. The high-level witches she sent will come after you.
She didn’t know whose voice it was, but it made sense.
After all, that damned Demon Lord wouldn’t be satisfied with a replacement. She was sure to send a strong pursuit squad to fill her hunger.
But how will they send high-level witches to the human realm? Witches can’t enter without a summoning.
Does the Demon Lord have some special power? A power to send witches to the human realm without a summoning?
Well, if she had such power, she would have used it long ago. Why hold back while starving?
This was a bad dream. Gremory pressed down the uneasy feeling. The awakening of her strange instincts was probably just a trick of the nightmare.
It has to be.
Suddenly, a soft sensation spread through her. It felt like someone was reassuring her, telling her it was okay to wake up.
When she opened her eyes, Cheshion Edel was there. He was stroking her head, bathed in the morning sunlight.
“Did you wake up?”
“…”
“I’m sorry I woke you up. It seemed like you were having a bad dream.”
Gremory blinked her dark eyes and, like a cat, burrowed into Cheshion’s arms.
“It was a really bad dream.”
Cheshion gently stroked her shoulder.
“Really? What was it about?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Gremory curled up in a ball, wrapping herself in the blanket. Cheshion continued to comfort her, as if he were cuddling a little snail.
Thanks to his touch, Gremory slowly melted, and the sour, uncomfortable emotions from the nightmare turned into dust and flew away.
I just had a strange dream. It’s probably because my mother died, and I’m feeling unsettled.
Gremory decided to brush it off and focus on thinking about Cheshion’s birthday gift. It was much more useful than dwelling on a bad dream.
Then, suddenly, she felt the presence of a high-level witch. It was the presence of Ophensia. She had come looking for Gremory, probably because she had something to discuss.
Gremory reluctantly got out of bed and, transforming into a cat, jumped through the window toward the garden.
In a corner of the deserted garden, Ophensia bowed as soon as she saw Gremory.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to cleanly end my relationship with the person I loved. I feel so much better now.”
“That’s good to hear. Is that why you came to see me?”
“Yes. Now that I have no more regrets, I plan to break my unfair contract with the Crown Prince and return to the demon realm. But before I go, I felt like I should see you.”
“Already planning to leave? You said you wanted to enjoy the human realm.”
“The damn Sevastian idiot is too scared of me, and I don’t want to stay with someone like that. So, can you release this binding collar for me? I can’t go back to the demon realm with this on.”
“Alright, hurry up and go back.”
Gremory stretched out her paw. With a sharp sound, the binding collar around Ophensia’s neck broke. Ophensia touched her neck, free from the collar.
“But, Gremory, if you stay here, you’ll need to be careful of Marvas. He’s a demon with a strong sense of revenge. He’ll definitely try to torment you. He might even go to the demon realm and expose your position to the witches.”
“Demons are always lying, so whatever he says, no one will believe him.”
“That’s true, but still… Be careful. I’m leaving now.”
“Goodbye, take care.”
Ophensia bowed deeply and left. Gremory sat in the corner of the empty garden for a long while.
Will Marvas really come for revenge? The witch hunter squad is already annoying enough.
Suddenly, her head started to ache. It was already uneasy because of the nightmare.
I should keep a better watch on my surroundings for now.
For a while, she decided to minimize her idle time. She needed to increase her range to detect witches or demons by being more alert.
Even in this situation, the thought of leaving this place didn’t cross her mind. She had tried enough, and she had been caught enough. She had received a lot of comfort.
This is my home now. It’s the place I need to protect, the place I will stay. I will stay here and protect everyone.
Gremory firmly set her paw down and left, determined. Her current goal was to fully protect Cheshion’s birthday party.
To do that, what should she do first? Gremory pondered and then decided. She stormed into Cheshion’s office.
“From now on, no going out without me.”
Cheshion, who had been working in his office, was taken aback.
