TYFGU 35

TYFGU

Posted by Arsiii_here, Released on July 29, 2025

Episode 35

“Can you see this?”

The Grand Duke nodded solemnly.

As his eyes urged her to explain, Reyana swallowed hard and responded.

“I made a contract with a demon.”

“…A contract?”

“A contract that says it won’t leave His Highness’s body.”

“The demon trapped itself in Theodore’s body on purpose?”

“Until the child can withstand its power.”

At her words, the Grand Duke’s expression twisted. He opened his mouth several times only to shut it again.

His face said he didn’t understand at all.

“Why?”

He finally asked after a long pause.

Even Reyana didn’t know the reason. When she shook her head, the Grand Duke’s expression turned even more peculiar.

“It’s probably not a lie.”

“Of course not. A contract was made.”

The demon even said goodbye, saying it wouldn’t be around for a while. Since it said it, Reyana figured it would keep its word. But the Grand Duke’s expression was graver than she expected.

“Words bound by a contract must be honored. Especially when the soul is pledged. If the terms aren’t upheld, the soul is destroyed.”

“…Excuse me?”

She hadn’t realized it was that serious.

Reyana’s face darkened as she realized she’d been deceived.

“A demon can only wager its soul. That’s why. So what exactly did it ask for?”

The Grand Duke’s voice was grim, and Reyana hesitated more and more.

The longer her silence dragged on, the more dangerous his expression became.

“Don’t tell me it was your life?”

“No…”

Somehow, it felt even more embarrassing to say the truth.

All the demon had asked was for her to “stop discriminating.” And yet, it had staked its soul.

No wonder it suddenly demanded “you.”

The demon had gambled with itself. Damn it.

“Answer.”

With the Grand Duke urging her again, Reyana squeezed her eyes shut and shouted,

“N-Not to… discriminate…”

Her words shot out with a burst of volume, but the end trailed off into a whisper.

Her cheeks were burning for some reason.

“Discriminate?”

Reyana waved her hands awkwardly, like she was making excuses, when the Grand Duke asked again in disbelief.

“Uh, it… it said not to treat him differently from the young lord…”

The longer she spoke, the more Reyana wanted to crawl into a hole.

Maybe it was the Grand Duke’s increasingly unimpressed expression.

“I heard you received flowers. Was that a confession?”

“Of course not! It’s a demon!”

“Why not?”

His mocking tone made Reyana feel like she’d been caught cheating in front of her future father-in-law.

It was too humiliating, and her head sank lower and lower.

It was a ridiculous thought, but when she thought about everything that had happened… it did sound strange.

Receiving flowers. Being asked not to discriminate.

Why did the demon do that?

While Reyana was deep in thought, the Grand Duke leaned back into the sofa with an incredulous sigh.

“I should’ve known when the demon said it wanted to marry through a priest.”

Relieved that the demon’s conditions weren’t worse, the Grand Duke managed a faint smile.

At least it wasn’t a catastrophic deal.

As long as she acted with caution, things should be fine.

“Never thought I’d live to see the day I’d advise someone to treat a demon kindly. Life’s full of surprises.”

As he joked, Reyana’s face flushed even more.

“I thought you were my son’s bride, but turns out you’re the demon’s.”

“That’s not it. Absolutely not.”

All Reyana could do was deny it—but even to herself, it sounded odd.

She had been so desperate for Theodore to recover that she’d blindly accepted the demon’s terms.

Reyana decided she’d ask the demon why next time they met.

“Come to think of it, you are receiving divine love. Even if it’s from a dark god—demons are still gods.”

The Grand Duke’s murmur made Reyana recall an old myth.

A human loved by a god.

A god who shared his power with that human.

But was that human truly happy after becoming emperor with divine power?

Reyana wasn’t sure. There was no answer, but she still hoped he had been happy.

Just as she hoped Theodore would be happy.

“Enough joking. I heard you were looking for me yesterday. Was this the reason?”

“Oh, no. That was something else.”

“You’re not going to drop another bombshell, are you? If so, give me a warning next time. I might die of a heart attack.”

Despite the remark, the Grand Duke’s expression remained flat. His jokes were always hard to distinguish.

Reyana hesitated, unsure whether she really needed to give a warning.

“…That was a joke, right?”

“You’ve got some nerve, coming back here after signing a contract with a demon, and asking if I’m joking?”

So he was scolding her.

At the Grand Duke’s low voice, Reyana immediately straightened up.

“Know what a demon wants before you agree to a contract.”

She was relieved she hadn’t told him the demon had asked for her.

If the Grand Duke ever found out, she wouldn’t just get scolded—she might actually die.

His deadly eyes were silently reprimanding her.

“I’ll be more careful next time.”

Seeing how cautious she was being, the Grand Duke rubbed his brow to ease his temper.

“So? What was it you wanted to talk about?”

“…I think, because of the contract, His Highness is becoming one with the demon.”

She hesitated again, fearing he might be shocked, but surprisingly, he replied calmly.

“If the demon trapped itself in Theodore’s body willingly… then it makes sense.”

His reaction seemed almost expected, and Reyana blinked wide-eyed.

“You knew something?”

“Think about the myths. Don’t they remind you of anything?”

As she blinked in confusion, she finally muttered in surprise,

“The First Emperor…”

The demon who entered the first emperor’s body to seize the power left by a god.

The current situation mirrored that legend.

“There’s a tablet left behind by the First Emperor in the Imperial Palace. It contains stories about demons. It’s a royal secret, but the Crown Prince is required to read all of it. It’s tradition.”

“I suppose I can’t see it, then.”

When Reyana sounded disappointed, the Grand Duke thought for a moment, then calmly recited,

“After the god died and was reborn, a demon entered the body of the First Emperor. From then on, the emperor could wield both the god’s and the demon’s powers.”

The short sentence made Reyana realize he was quoting the stone tablet directly, and she quickly focused.

She had a feeling she wouldn’t get a second chance to hear this.

“The emperor could be as merciful as a god and as cruel as a demon, making it difficult for his subjects to serve him. But when they witnessed him wield his power, they saw a figure resembling the divine—and thus began the rise of Astell. All rejoiced and cried out in awe.”

After finishing the recitation, the Grand Duke observed her reaction quietly.

After a pause, Reyana asked blankly,

“…Wasn’t that a royal secret?”

“Are you going to leak it?”

The Grand Duke smiled—deadly.

Feeling a chill on her neck, Reyana instinctively rubbed it and replied,

“No. I’ll never tell anyone.”

He gave a satisfied smile.

“I don’t know how Theodore came to possess divine power, but in this life, it seems you’re the one loved by a dark god. Let’s see if you lead the empire to prosperity… or ruin.”

“I want neither prosperity nor ruin.”

While reviewing documents with the vice-captain in the Knight Commander’s office, Crociad recalled what Reyana had just said.

“All I want is peace for His Highness.”

For someone with the power to deal with demons, her wishes were modest. That modesty pleased the Grand Duke.

“I really did find a good daughter-in-law.”

“…Excuse me?”

Vice-captain Elixon asked in confusion.

Crociad, who had been scanning a document, narrowed his eyes at him.

Elixon had been sneaking glances for a while, and with his large frame, those glances were anything but subtle.

That annoyance scattered all the fond thoughts Crociad had just had about Reyana.

Uncharacteristically distracted, the Grand Duke put the paper down and asked,

“Elixon, is there something you want to say?”