The wife of the Demon Grand Duke? That was important, but it wouldn’t have mattered if she wasn’t Grand Duke's wife.
If she could provide such powerful magic power, she could have the second-highest rank as the center of demon society, next to Belled.
That’s why Naberus bowed his head to Beryl because it was his instinct as a demon. Because she had proven her abilities in many ways.
“The bet is my victory, right?”
Beryl said to him as if driving a wedge into him. It was undoubtedly Beryl’s victory.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The magic power was so powerful that he didn’t feel any resistance to bowing his head. Naberus swallowed without realizing it.
“Be well.”
Even the gentle voice seemed to contain magic power, and Naberus shivered.
“I’m sorry for being rude, Your Highness.”
He thought as he spoke sincerely.
As expected, His Highness Belled always makes the right choice.
He couldn’t help but be impressed. To the demon who was in danger due to lack of magic power, isn’t this the perfect ‘alliance’?
“...!”
Just as he was thinking that, he felt an intense gaze.
“Excuse me?”
The low voice was Belled’s. Naberus paused.
“Oh, it’s already over.”
He also heard Beryl’s voice replying as if it was nothing.
“If it’s over, then you’re saying there was something before that.”
The low voice answered her words again. Naberus couldn’t even breathe because of the murderous intent pouring down on him.
This was more oppressive than being in the middle of a battlefield.
“Naberus, tell me.”
Your faults, thoroughly.
Naberus’ face completely lost its color at Belled’s low voice.
There was no way Belled didn’t know about the bet. Naberus’ head began to spin taut.
In that case, what he was telling him to tell him now meant that he had to confess all the blasphemous thoughts he had.
“...”
And if he confesses those thoughts, this murderous intent will become real and rip his throat open.
That meant Naberus had such absurd thoughts in his head.
Naberus felt his mouth go dry. In the end, there was only one thing he could do.
Boom!
He knelt heavily and bowed deeply.
“Punish me!”
If he had done something wrong, he should receive the punishment he deserved. Soon, the lord would give him the appropriate punishment.
He was ready to accept it even if it was death.
How dare he, who should have accepted his lord’s orders as truth and stood at the forefront on the battlefield, doubt his lord’s choice!
He closed his eyes and waited for the decision.
“I will leave it to Beryl’s mercy.”
And he heard his lord’s gentle words, like someone else’s.
“?”
For a moment, forgetting that he was being disrespectful, Naberus looked forward.
And when his eyes met with Belled’s, he couldn’t hold back the murderous rage that was pouring out of him and lowered his head again.
What? Did he hear wrong?
“What kind of punishment will be given to the one who dared to treat my wife so carelessly?”
Wife? She's your wife, but she's not really your wife, is she?
“If it’s over, then you’re saying there was something before that.”
The low voice answered her words again. Naberus couldn’t even breathe because of the murderous intent pouring down on him.
This was more oppressive than being in the middle of a battlefield.
“Naberus, tell me.”
Your faults, thoroughly.
Naberus’ face completely lost its color at Belled’s low voice.
There was no way Belled didn’t know about the bet. Naberus’ head began to spin taut.
In that case, what he was telling him to tell him now meant that he had to confess all the blasphemous thoughts he had.
“...”
And if he confesses those thoughts, this murderous intent will become real and rip his throat open.
That meant Naberus had such absurd thoughts in his head.
Naberus felt his mouth go dry. In the end, there was only one thing he could do.
Boom!
He knelt heavily and bowed deeply.
“Punish me!”
If he had done something wrong, he should receive the punishment he deserved. Soon, the lord would give him the appropriate punishment.
He was ready to accept it even if it was death.
How dare he, who should have accepted his lord’s orders as truth and stood at the forefront on the battlefield, doubt his lord’s choice!
He closed his eyes and waited for the decision.
“I will leave it to Beryl’s mercy.”
And he heard his lord’s gentle words, like someone else’s.
“?”
For a moment, forgetting that he was being disrespectful, Naberus looked forward.
And when his eyes met with Belled’s, he couldn’t hold back the murderous rage that was pouring out of him and lowered his head again.
What? Did he hear wrong?
“What kind of punishment will be given to the one who dared to treat my wife so carelessly?”
Wife? She's your wife, but she's not really your wife, is she?
Naberus’s mind began to spin in a complicated way.
In the meantime, Beryl’s words rang out.
“I think he was naturally suspicious as a general.”
“Naturally suspicious...”
Belled’s voice, which received those words, was truly gentle, like someone else’s.
It was definitely not the voice he had heard for a long time.
Naberus' head was starting to spin. What the hell? Were they really... really married, seriously?
He hadn't just brought her here because she was interesting or useful?
The gentle voice was heard again, and Naberus felt Belled’s gaze.
He swallowed hard from the tension. He would accept the punishment sweetly.
He raised his head with a determined face.
“Get out.”
Instead of punishment, he only received a hand gesture telling him to get out. Naberus’s expression became blank.
“Huh?”
Belled frowned at him as he asked back. Only then did Naberus come to his senses and bow his head.
“I, I’ll get out.”
With that, he quickly backed away from the office. The door that was opening with Belled’s magic moved roughly as if telling him to get out quickly.
Bang!
As soon as the office door closed, Naberus’s movements suddenly stopped. He slowly raised his head.
The murderous intent that had felt like a blade was being stabbed into his neck until just now disappeared as if by magic as soon as the door closed.
“What?”
Am I dreaming? Am I finally losing my desire to live and falling asleep?
There are too many things I want to accomplish? I should just destroy mountains and split the seas in one blow.
It was when he was having stupid thoughts.
“Naberus.”
Two demons approached him quietly.
“Yes?”
They were none other than Ronove and Decarabia.
“There is something I need to talk about.”
Ronove had a very serious expression on his face.
“Oh, yes.”
Naberus followed them as if he were being dragged away without even being able to organize his confused thoughts.
And then he had to listen to strange questions in a corner room downstairs.
“What do you think?”
“What do you mean?”
When he asked back at Ronove’s words, Eonove made a frustrated expression.
“Between you two.”
“That’s right.”
Decarabia crossed her arms as if she was sure.
“I thought so too.”
The two of them were in sync. Naberus, who still hadn’t figured out the situation, asked stupidly.
“Huh?”
Then Decarabia opened her mouth as if she was frustrated.
“I asked Stolas.”
“What?”
“What?”
Ronove looked surprised, and Naberus looked back at her with his still dumbfounded face.
Decarabia drove a wedge into them.
“He said he liked it.”
At those words, Ronove’s mouth gaped open as if his jaw was about to drop to the floor.
And Naberus understood the words three beats later.
Really? Since when? No, how, why? What was it again? Where?
Naberus, who was uselessly reciting the six principles he had heard in the human world or something, his mind was tangled like a ball of thread.
In that state, he asked back as the mansion left.
“Huh????”
Decarabia had to hurriedly shut her mouth.
***
“This is my first time seeing it up close.”
After Naberus left, Beryl was looking at the magic drink he had brought.
“A detailed report will be posted later.”
Belled said, looking at her rather than the magic drink.
As far as he knew, the magic drink did not have a good effect on humans. They said that if you have a strong desire, you will go crazy just by touching it.
However, she was actually resonating with the magic drink. Did she have that many suppressed desires?
She must have had strong desires left in her, combining the desires she had wished for in her past two lives. Enough for the magic drink to react.
“In my previous life, the magic drink was causing strange phenomena in the southern river basin of Yubar.”
Belled’s thoughts stopped. Beryl said with a cautious expression.
“Duke Yubar knew that strange phenomena were occurring, but he just stood by. He said that the commoners must have seen it wrong.”
It was passed around between the priests’ mouths as evidence that ‘Yubar condoned the actions of demons’ in the previous life.
It could be possible in this life too.
Although the magic drink was taken from Vine, many of the people of Vine would clearly remember the strange phenomenon that Duke Vine overlooked.
“Will you tell the temple that you brought the magic wine?”
Then Vine would immediately be suspected of being a demon.
There might be a story about why the Saintess Beryl chose Vine over the demon Yubar, but the oracle she received in the first place was ‘The Saintess will lead you to where the demons are,’ so she could have just chosen the best place to find the demons.
However, Beryl shook her head.
“The demons are designated publicly on the day of the opening ceremony.”
Belled narrowed his eyes at Beryl’s words. Since it was a story that only happened in the temple, there was no way he could know the reason.
However, he quickly deduced the reason.
“To prevent the demons from escaping. Plus.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“The demons’ best goal was to hide in the human world without being labeled as demons, so they must have also been calculating that they would pretend to be human until the day of the opening ceremony...”
A slight discomfort appeared on his face and then disappeared. And a faint smile took its place.
“If the Saintess had no choice but to open the gates of hell together, that would certainly have been the best option.”
Beryl smiled involuntarily at those words. Their eyes met. Belled slightly bowed his head to her. It was a gesture of gratitude.
Beryl smiled faintly again.
“Then what are you going to do with the magic drink?”
Belled pointed to the magic drink. First, to avoid suspicion, he had to bring it to the temple.
Even if he postponed the external identification of the demon until the opening ceremony, he had to at least pretend to cooperate with the temple, which trusted the saintess as its ally.
“If I bring it to the temple, they will definitely trust me. Yubar will be a demon family that has turned a blind eye to such a magical object. However...”
Then, the demons of Vine would not be able to enjoy the magical power coming from the magic drink.
Beryl’s eyes sparkled. Then, she had to find a way to obtain both.
And she seemed to know the answer.
“The priests do not want to take risks. They especially hate anything that involves dealing with demons.”
Even without having to bring back memories of her past life, she could tell just by looking at the way she would bring forward the waiting time or arbitrarily skip the wedding reception.
So.
“I will volunteer to take care of this ‘dangerous’ item that can summon the devil.”
Belled’s eyes widened at those words.
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