After a while.
“It’s sending, ‘Receive the new emperor.'”
A very deep night when even the stars were asleep.
Rixus and I were having an important conversation next to a magical stone candle that could light up the entire spacious room even though the surrounding was dark.
I passed on to him the story I had heard from Johann, and Rixus seemed to have a lot of thoughts.
He scrunched his brow deeply, repeating the frequency content he heard from me once again.
His father, the emperor, was still alive.
So it would be taken as a threat not only to himself, but also to his sick father.
“…It’s surprising that Johann has such ambitions, isn’t it?”
“I’ve never had a good feeling about him.”
“He has a very good reputation among people, and he pretends he’s not greedy… he’s such a person, so why?””
“Well.”
Rixus exhaled lowly and rubbed his chin.
“I can’t explain it other than that I just felt particularly bad.”
‘Perhaps, because he is the main character of this novel, it’s naturally inherent for him to have anxiety towards the villain?’
After all, Rixus was a person who had no choice but to fight the final enemy.
With that thought in mind, I looked at Rixus.
He opened his mouth and continued speaking.
“I’ve always been wary of nobles who say ‘I don’t care about power at all’, even though they’re in a high position. Those humans…”
Rixus uttered on, narrowing his characteristic sharp eyes.
“Actually, I’ve seen a lot of cases where they were crazily fascinated by power.”
“…There is credibility.”
I nodded deeply and drank the chocolate he had melted.
He said he kept these items in his room because he wanted to do it himself in case I would come.
He was a very well-prepared man.
‘What else have you meticulously prepared?’
…I mean, it made me curious.
“Are there any cookies or something?”
While I was seriously thinking about it, Rixus took out a cookie and gave it to me.
‘There’s really cookies?!’
I was surprised inside, but I took it and ate it quietly without showing off.
Crunch—
“Thank you.”
“If I researched Molanto myself, it’ll be obvious.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m pretending to believe in John… I’m going to send a ‘Spinel’ search party.”
“You’ve already thought about it.”
“Of course. Spinel’s search team will organize what they found and report to me. And I’ll share the contents.”
“….…”
“No one knows.”
Rixus looked at me with a low admiration.
I gazed back at him and continued speaking.
“From this moment on, no.”
“…….”
“From the moment I left Johann’s place, no one should know that we’re working together.”
“How far are we keeping the secret?”
“Not even to Ires. I won’t tell the maids or Duke Orléans either.”
“To keep it perfectly secret…”
The sentence that Rixus started, I immediately understood and completed it.
At this moment, we seemed to know that we were thinking the same thing as we looked into each other’s eyes.
“…we have to let no one know in the first place.”
“…….”
“Since the opponent is a human who uses the magical power of a demon, Ires or Duke Orléans can also be a target. Might it be possible to steal consciousness and force them to speak what they know?
“I agree with you, Berylia.”
As I pondered more deeply, I recounted what I had been curious about for a while.
“By the way, the ‘gate’ in the Molanto Valley… Where the hell is it connected to?”
I didn’t even guess at all.
I didn’t even bother to ask Johann because I was afraid it would be too obvious if I asked.
But then, Rixus answered.
“Marsephone.”
“…Marsephone?”
“When introducing himself, who would unite the five continents, he changed his last name to ‘Johann Toulouse’.”
“Yes.”
“‘Toulouse’ is the name of a corrupted demon abandoned in Marsephone.”
“…What is Marsephone?”
“Hell of demons.”
Rixus was said to have studied demons together with demonologists in order to know the roots of the monsters to subjugate various kinds of demons.
It hadn’t been my area of interest. I guess I should be interested in it from now on.
“If Johann made a contract with Toulouse, then he is the human who will inherit the power of Toulouse on the earth.”
“…Can’t Toulouse just open the door?”
“Actually, a demon who fell to Marsephone cannot transfer power to Earth. Unless there is a ‘medium’.”
…So, the medium is Johann, and he opens the ‘gate’ that is in the Molanto Valley?
“It’s only a hypothesis, Berylia.”
It was a terrifying hypothesis. And it was a very probable hypothesis.
“But if that door really leads to Marsephone…”
Rixus made a gruesome assumption.
“On the day that door opens, all the demons will come out and destroy the world.”
Goosebumps welled up my spine. It felt like a cold snake crawling on the skin of my whole body.
The five continents that Johann wanted to rule were not continents where only humans lived.
If the demons supported him, all humans would be turned into slaves.
‘It’s awful.’
I jumped from my seat.
“…We have to stop it!”
So, what will happen to the people when that happens?
The people I had been trying to protect… No, all innocent people on this earth?
Scenes of human beings suffering and being brutally slaughtered in a living hell flashed before my eyes.
At the same time, a part of the conversation I had with Johann came to mind.
“No, in fact, even if you don’t want it, it will happen soon.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I’m saying that there’s no such thing as Rixus becoming emperor.”
“Definitely, Johann said it would be ‘soon’. ‘Soon’.”
I had already told Rixus all about my conversation with Johann, but after making a terrifying hypothesis, the meaning came to me even more.
Seeing me being riled up, Rixus calmly grabbed my hand.
“Calm down, Berylia.”
“….…”
“Nothing is for sure yet.”
“But what if that’s true? What if that door really opens soon and demons jump out into the world?”
‘That’s really scary. It’s so terrible, ah…!’
Rixus slowly sat me down and looked at me with blue-violet eyes as heavy as the morning air.
A low-pitched sound reached my ear.
“If it’s true, we can stop it. If we wait for the right time without getting agitated, we can definitely do that.”
“….…”
“Trust me, Berylia.”
His voice slowly calmed my heart, which was beating hard, as if it had been a tranquilizer.
The conclusion of ‘it can definitely be done’ was very powerful. Especially from a man with the ability to do that, it was like a guarantee.
Rubbing his chin, Rixus changed the subject in front of the anxious me.
“Did you wear that cloak all the way here just to sneak in?”
“……Yes.”
He grinned.
“Cute.”
‘…Oh my god, what is cute about that?’
“You came right here like a squirrel bragging about picking up an acorn, Candy.”
…it was true that I ran as soon as I got the information from the conversation with John.
“If I get caught coming right here after meeting Johann, we’ll be ruined right?”
“Haha.”
As I retorted seriously, Rixus let out another low laugh. That was then.
A voice came from outside the door.
“Your Highness, this is Ires. May I come in?”
“Come in.”
I looked at him, startled by his answer.
“!”
Then, Rixus, who responded immediately due to habit, looked at my expression and seemed to realize belatedly.
That he had decided to keep everything a secret, even to Ires.
Flop—
I had no choice but to run to his bed, lay down, and put the blanket over my head.
Rixus sat right next to me, leaning as if trying to cover the bulging blanket, and covered himself with some more blanket.
All of this happened in just a mere second.
“Your Highness? Were you about to sleep?”
“…What’s going on?”
As soon as Ires opened the door, I could feel Rixus flipping a book over and putting it down next to me.
The book slipped a little off my head and fell down.
“!”
Fortunately, Ires didn’t seem to notice.
His voice came right away.
“I’m here to report on the Illuminati Mountains. The team has searched up to one third of it, but they haven’t found any clear clues yet. Where the frequency is coming from, it seems like it’s spreading throughout the world, so even scholars specializing in demon studies are taking it seriously. “
I was struggling listening to Ires’ voice with my nose pressed against Rixus’ abs and was confused.
‘This is torture!’
I didn’t realize it before, but the shirt he wore when he slept was very thin.
His hip bone was visible through the loosely pushed up shirt,
I had to keep my posture like this under the blanket.
‘…Let’s take a quick breath.’
‘I can’t breathe wildly. Or else he’ll see me as a pervert, right?’
At that moment, Rixus’ languid voice was heard.
“Even if you don’t have any results for the time being, continue to search. Spinel’s search team will start looking at the deep foothills tomorrow, so you should look into the rest.”
“Yes.”
…Being partners with a man with a fast brain was comfortable.
He gave instructions without having to discuss in advance. It could raise Johann’s suspicions if Aktoum’s search party found the gate first.
The same went for stopping the search. So, he intentionally dropped Aktoum’s search party from Molanto and continued the search.
It was at that time, when I was moved by Rixus.
I suddenly felt a tickling sensation on my cheek.
Rixus moved only his fingers from the inside and began to carefully and sneakily sweep my cheeks and chin.
“!”
I closed my eyes tightly at the strange feeling.
It was a cheeky joke, a naughty hand prank.
To make matters worse, Ires asked.
“By the way, dsd you eat all the cookies? Didn’t you say that you will give those to Her Majesty when she comes?”
“Ah.”
At that moment, Rixus let out a low groan.
Because I bit Rixus’ finger, which was making fun of me, quite ferociously.
“…Your Highness?”
“I’m craving sweets.”
“Is that enough to make you moan…?”
At Ires’ words, I almost burst out of laughter.
“When you’re done reporting, get out of here quickly.”
“……Yes.”
As soon as Ires left,
Rixus pulled back the blanket and held my chin softly, saying,
“You’re in trouble if you bite your master, meow.”
Tak, I clenched his hand and sat on his firm thigh, holding his shoulder.
Then I raised his chin and replied,
“Anyone can see that I’m the ‘master’, right? This sassy dog.”
Rixus’ sharp eyes twitched in delight, and he bit his lips and said…
After a while.
“It’s sending, ‘Receive the new emperor.'”
A very deep night when even the stars were asleep.
Rixus and I were having an important conversation next to a magical stone candle that could light up the entire spacious room even though the surrounding was dark.
I passed on to him the story I had heard from Johann, and Rixus seemed to have a lot of thoughts.
He scrunched his brow deeply, repeating the frequency content he heard from me once again.
His father, the emperor, was still alive.
So it would be taken as a threat not only to himself, but also to his sick father.
“…It’s surprising that Johann has such ambitions, isn’t it?”
“I’ve never had a good feeling about him.”
“He has a very good reputation among people, and he pretends he’s not greedy… he’s such a person, so why?””
“Well.”
Rixus exhaled lowly and rubbed his chin.
“I can’t explain it other than that I just felt particularly bad.”
‘Perhaps, because he is the main character of this novel, it’s naturally inherent for him to have anxiety towards the villain?’
After all, Rixus was a person who had no choice but to fight the final enemy.
With that thought in mind, I looked at Rixus.
He opened his mouth and continued speaking.
“I’ve always been wary of nobles who say ‘I don’t care about power at all’, even though they’re in a high position. Those humans…”
Rixus uttered on, narrowing his characteristic sharp eyes.
“Actually, I’ve seen a lot of cases where they were crazily fascinated by power.”
“…There is credibility.”
I nodded deeply and drank the chocolate he had melted.
He said he kept these items in his room because he wanted to do it himself in case I would come.
He was a very well-prepared man.
‘What else have you meticulously prepared?’
…I mean, it made me curious.
“Are there any cookies or something?”
While I was seriously thinking about it, Rixus took out a cookie and gave it to me.
‘There’s really cookies?!’
I was surprised inside, but I took it and ate it quietly without showing off.
Crunch—
“Thank you.”
“If I researched Molanto myself, it’ll be obvious.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m pretending to believe in John… I’m going to send a ‘Spinel’ search party.”
“You’ve already thought about it.”
“Of course. Spinel’s search team will organize what they found and report to me. And I’ll share the contents.”
“….…”
“No one knows.”
Rixus looked at me with a low admiration.
I gazed back at him and continued speaking.
“From this moment on, no.”
“…….”
“From the moment I left Johann’s place, no one should know that we’re working together.”
“How far are we keeping the secret?”
“Not even to Ires. I won’t tell the maids or Duke Orléans either.”
“To keep it perfectly secret…”
The sentence that Rixus started, I immediately understood and completed it.
At this moment, we seemed to know that we were thinking the same thing as we looked into each other’s eyes.
“…we have to let no one know in the first place.”
“…….”
“Since the opponent is a human who uses the magical power of a demon, Ires or Duke Orléans can also be a target. Might it be possible to steal consciousness and force them to speak what they know?
“I agree with you, Berylia.”
As I pondered more deeply, I recounted what I had been curious about for a while.
“By the way, the ‘gate’ in the Molanto Valley… Where the hell is it connected to?”
I didn’t even guess at all.
I didn’t even bother to ask Johann because I was afraid it would be too obvious if I asked.
But then, Rixus answered.
“Marsephone.”
“…Marsephone?”
“When introducing himself, who would unite the five continents, he changed his last name to ‘Johann Toulouse’.”
“Yes.”
“‘Toulouse’ is the name of a corrupted demon abandoned in Marsephone.”
“…What is Marsephone?”
“Hell of demons.”
Rixus was said to have studied demons together with demonologists in order to know the roots of the monsters to subjugate various kinds of demons.
It hadn’t been my area of interest. I guess I should be interested in it from now on.
“If Johann made a contract with Toulouse, then he is the human who will inherit the power of Toulouse on the earth.”
“…Can’t Toulouse just open the door?”
“Actually, a demon who fell to Marsephone cannot transfer power to Earth. Unless there is a ‘medium’.”
…So, the medium is Johann, and he opens the ‘gate’ that is in the Molanto Valley?
“It’s only a hypothesis, Berylia.”
It was a terrifying hypothesis. And it was a very probable hypothesis.
“But if that door really leads to Marsephone…”
Rixus made a gruesome assumption.
“On the day that door opens, all the demons will come out and destroy the world.”
Goosebumps welled up my spine. It felt like a cold snake crawling on the skin of my whole body.
The five continents that Johann wanted to rule were not continents where only humans lived.
If the demons supported him, all humans would be turned into slaves.
‘It’s awful.’
I jumped from my seat.
“…We have to stop it!”
So, what will happen to the people when that happens?
The people I had been trying to protect… No, all innocent people on this earth?
Scenes of human beings suffering and being brutally slaughtered in a living hell flashed before my eyes.
At the same time, a part of the conversation I had with Johann came to mind.
“No, in fact, even if you don’t want it, it will happen soon.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I’m saying that there’s no such thing as Rixus becoming emperor.”
“Definitely, Johann said it would be ‘soon’. ‘Soon’.”
I had already told Rixus all about my conversation with Johann, but after making a terrifying hypothesis, the meaning came to me even more.
Seeing me being riled up, Rixus calmly grabbed my hand.
“Calm down, Berylia.”
“….…”
“Nothing is for sure yet.”
“But what if that’s true? What if that door really opens soon and demons jump out into the world?”
‘That’s really scary. It’s so terrible, ah…!’
Rixus slowly sat me down and looked at me with blue-violet eyes as heavy as the morning air.
A low-pitched sound reached my ear.
“If it’s true, we can stop it. If we wait for the right time without getting agitated, we can definitely do that.”
“….…”
“Trust me, Berylia.”
His voice slowly calmed my heart, which was beating hard, as if it had been a tranquilizer.
The conclusion of ‘it can definitely be done’ was very powerful. Especially from a man with the ability to do that, it was like a guarantee.
Rubbing his chin, Rixus changed the subject in front of the anxious me.
“Did you wear that cloak all the way here just to sneak in?”
“……Yes.”
He grinned.
“Cute.”
‘…Oh my god, what is cute about that?’
“You came right here like a squirrel bragging about picking up an acorn, Candy.”
…it was true that I ran as soon as I got the information from the conversation with John.
“If I get caught coming right here after meeting Johann, we’ll be ruined right?”
“Haha.”
As I retorted seriously, Rixus let out another low laugh. That was then.
A voice came from outside the door.
“Your Highness, this is Ires. May I come in?”
“Come in.”
I looked at him, startled by his answer.
“!”
Then, Rixus, who responded immediately due to habit, looked at my expression and seemed to realize belatedly.
That he had decided to keep everything a secret, even to Ires.
Flop—
I had no choice but to run to his bed, lay down, and put the blanket over my head.
Rixus sat right next to me, leaning as if trying to cover the bulging blanket, and covered himself with some more blanket.
All of this happened in just a mere second.
“Your Highness? Were you about to sleep?”
“…What’s going on?”
As soon as Ires opened the door, I could feel Rixus flipping a book over and putting it down next to me.
The book slipped a little off my head and fell down.
“!”
Fortunately, Ires didn’t seem to notice.
His voice came right away.
“I’m here to report on the Illuminati Mountains. The team has searched up to one third of it, but they haven’t found any clear clues yet. Where the frequency is coming from, it seems like it’s spreading throughout the world, so even scholars specializing in demon studies are taking it seriously. “
I was struggling listening to Ires’ voice with my nose pressed against Rixus’ abs and was confused.
‘This is torture!’
I didn’t realize it before, but the shirt he wore when he slept was very thin.
His hip bone was visible through the loosely pushed up shirt,
I had to keep my posture like this under the blanket.
‘…Let’s take a quick breath.’
‘I can’t breathe wildly. Or else he’ll see me as a pervert, right?’
At that moment, Rixus’ languid voice was heard.
“Even if you don’t have any results for the time being, continue to search. Spinel’s search team will start looking at the deep foothills tomorrow, so you should look into the rest.”
“Yes.”
…Being partners with a man with a fast brain was comfortable.
He gave instructions without having to discuss in advance. It could raise Johann’s suspicions if Aktoum’s search party found the gate first.
The same went for stopping the search. So, he intentionally dropped Aktoum’s search party from Molanto and continued the search.
It was at that time, when I was moved by Rixus.
I suddenly felt a tickling sensation on my cheek.
Rixus moved only his fingers from the inside and began to carefully and sneakily sweep my cheeks and chin.
“!”
I closed my eyes tightly at the strange feeling.
It was a cheeky joke, a naughty hand prank.
To make matters worse, Ires asked.
“By the way, dsd you eat all the cookies? Didn’t you say that you will give those to Her Majesty when she comes?”
“Ah.”
At that moment, Rixus let out a low groan.
Because I bit Rixus’ finger, which was making fun of me, quite ferociously.
“…Your Highness?”
“I’m craving sweets.”
“Is that enough to make you moan…?”
At Ires’ words, I almost burst out of laughter.
“When you’re done reporting, get out of here quickly.”
“……Yes.”
As soon as Ires left,
Rixus pulled back the blanket and held my chin softly, saying,
“You’re in trouble if you bite your master, meow.”
Tak, I clenched his hand and sat on his firm thigh, holding his shoulder.
Then I raised his chin and replied,
“Anyone can see that I’m the ‘master’, right? This sassy dog.”
Rixus’ sharp eyes twitched in delight, and he bit his lips and said…
