Chapter 037
Count Delint sat down with a gloomy expression. He never imagined that fulfilling a small request from the Empress would escalate to this extent.
“…Your Highness, I assure you I had no knowledge of what transpired this time.”
Count Delint defended himself.
“I would never consent to such a dangerous act of offering my daughter as a sacrifice!”
He emphasized that he was also a victim in this situation.
Alejandro stared at Count Delint with a chilling gaze.
“That’s enough.”
Emil advised with a sigh. Count Delint hesitated, glancing at Alejandro, and then clamped his lips shut.
After a suffocating silence, Alejandro’s knights brought in the mercenaries. The mercenaries, thrown to the ground, groaned heavily as they lifted their heads.
Red and cold eyes.
Hair as dark as the night sky.
The sight of Alejandro resembling the Grim Reaper made the mercenaries tremble. Some even wet themselves. Count Delint cursed under his breath.
However, such words posed no threat to the mercenaries.
“Ah, ah, we saw a demon… please, please spare our lives!!”
If they had seen Lucifer’s true form, they would have been tormented by horrific hallucinations. Emil smiled wryly. For some reason, Alejandro’s mood didn’t seem very good.
It seemed to have worsened since Evelina returned.
“We, we won’t do it again, we swear!”
The mercenaries apologized profusely. Count Delint swallowed hard and glanced at Alejandro. They clearly referred to him as a demon, didn’t they?
But Alejandro had been here all along with Count Delint. The curse Alejandro received and the demon they spoke of must be unrelated.
Has that woman named Evelina done something?
‘She must be a witch.’
Suddenly, chills ran down his spine. It’s a plausible hypothesis. Otherwise, there’s no way she could have grown her business so much in just two months.
“A witch is enchanting people…”
“Shut up.”
Alejandro snapped.
“It’s better to only say what you can take responsibility for.”
Count Delint covered his mouth. Alejandro’s murderous intent made it hard for him to breathe. Alejandro’s gaze turned back to the mercenaries.
“Tell me everything you know. Your treatment will be decided afterward.”
“I, I…”
The mercenary swallowed hard. Even though he wanted to say something, he found himself lost for words. His mind went blank.
“Uh, uh?”
The mercenaries blinked stupidly in unison. Emil, quick to grasp the situation, grabbed the mercenary by the collar.
“G-g-get your hands off me! Wh-who are you?!”
Emil glared at the trembling mercenary, his eyes filled with rage.
“It’s the work of a witch. It seems like a spell has been cast on him. He’s been set to lose all his memories as soon as he betrays them.”
Emil threw the mercenary to the ground.
“Cough!”
Alejandro slowly swept his hair back. He knew that among those serving the Empress, there was a witch. The witch was similar but different from Alvaro’s priests.
While Alvaro’s priests performed sorcery by borrowing the power of the dark god, witches performed sorcery based on the power absorbed from nature.
However, when the Alvaro religion was purged in the past, the witches were also eradicated. That was a mistake from the past. Since that day, witches had hidden themselves and turned their backs on the temples and the imperial family.
And now that witch has revealed herself.
“…Ha.”
Alejandro glared at the mercenaries with cold eyes.
“We’ve been played.”
Emil roughly swept his hair back. He had used Evelina as bait to catch the rat. But all that remained was an empty shell.
Emil turned his head to stare at Count Delint.
“Have you encountered any suspicious women?”
Count Delint shook his head in fear. He had just witnessed everything unfold before his eyes. He saw the mercenaries, foolishly forgetting even their own names.
His heart sank.
A sense of dread wrapped around Count Delint, as if he had stepped into a realm of darkness he should never have entered. Trembling, Count Delint spoke.
“Since losing my wife, I rarely go out! My daughter is the same. We try to avoid contact with outsiders as much as possible.”
“You must have met someone from the Empress. Who was it?”
“I only exchanged messages! I’ve never met anyone!”
“Alright, Count. Then what did you trade with the Empress?”
The Count swallowed hard.
“The Empress only instructed that no one armed should be allowed inside while Lady Regnis is staying here.”
“And what did you receive in return?”
“Since that was all she wanted, I didn’t receive anything significant!”
Count Delint clasped his hands together. He felt as if his heart might burst from fear. Count Delint was a small-minded man, content to live in this little countryside.
“I, I just… asked for help when Aria enters society soon. There’s no noblewoman in our family, and her mother is gone…”
Count Delint’s voice was quivering.
“I-I was told that Her Majesty the Empress would give her patronage in the social circle. That’s all, I swear!”
“You mentioned you exchanged messages. Do you have any of the letters left?”
It wasn’t anything substantial, and it wouldn’t prove anything. Still, he wanted to obtain whatever the Empress had left behind.
Even to prove that Evelina’s struggles were not in vain!
Count Delint swallowed hard.
“Ah, there’s nothing. I was instructed to burn the letters as soon as I received them.”
And naively, Count Delint did as he was told. For a count living in a remote countryside away from the center, the Empress’s orders were absolute.
Alejandro cursed under his breath.
“…What should we do, Your Highness?”
Alejandro glared at Count Delint with blood-red eyes. He was already powerless.
“Count Delint.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Lady Regnis was kidnapped in your territory. Do you understand what this means?”
“…Your Highness…!”
“It means that Delint is no longer safe, and this year’s business is ruined.”
Count Delint shed tears.
The terrified middle-aged man trembled.
“I can help.”
“Yes? I, Your Highness… I am grateful for your grace…”
“In exchange, there is something you must do.”
Count Delint nodded. If this season’s business failed, he might starve for a year. He could offer his private property to feed the villagers, but then what?
Was there any guarantee that next year would be better?
What about the other year?
For the future, this matter had to be resolved somehow.
“I will do anything.”
Alejandro smiled coldly.
“From now on, Delint will not follow any of the Empress’s orders. Do you understand my words?”
“Yes, yes!”
Count Delint nodded vigorously.
“And my knights will reside in Delint for the entire year, and when there are difficulties, you will receive their help. The knights of Delint will be disbanded. New knights to protect Delint will be selected and trained with the help of my people.”
Count Delint swallowed hard. This would publicly show that Delint had aligned itself with the Crown Prince.
It was an overwhelming task for a country lord. However, he had no other choice.
“I understand, Your Highness. I will follow your orders.”
With this, he could gain the cooperation of the small territories centered around Delint. The Delint festival does not only support Delint itself.
During the boat festival season in Delint, dozens of small territories around it purchase grains and alcohol. They operated their territories with that income.
At least two-thirds of the southeastern region would now follow Alejandro. Thanks to temporarily giving up Evelina, Alejandro had gained two-thirds of the southeastern region.
Yet, he couldn’t understand why he felt so dirty about it.
“And those people…”
Alejandro turned to gaze at the mercenaries who had become like fools.
“Sell them to the pirates.”
That was no different from a death sentence.
