From that day on, Alice avoided Chession. Gremory also kept her mouth shut when the story of Castle Forquint came up. The two witches seemed to know something, but they didn't cooperate, so things dragged on.
Chession contacted the nobles he was close to and inquired about Forquint Castle. But no one knew.
He also tried to find out about Princess Serietti, but failed. It was because there was extremely little information. As if someone had intentionally erased it. An ordinary Princess would have some records.
The data of the First Emperor, the father of Princess Serietti, remains to that extent, but it was meaningless. It was full of textbooks about the great achievements of the Emperor.
A week had passed.
"Hey, Your Highness."
Alice came to the office on her own.
"What's going on?"
"I'm here to tell you this. Hoho..."
Alice crouched and handed over a huge, dirty piece of paper. It smelled like musty dust, probably because it was old paper.
"What is this?"
"Unfold it."
Chession spread the paper on the desk. It was an old map.
"This is a map from 200 years ago. It's a map that few of the empire remain, but I've been getting it. Hoho..."
Alice spoke in a creeping voice, glancing at Chession. His complexion was pale.
"Why did you get this?"
"Look here."
Alice's long finger pointed somewhere on the map. In the northwest of the empire. It was now the land of the dead, ruled by vicious demons.
It said 'Forquint Castle' there.
"What? Why is there a castle in the Forquint on a map from 200 years ago? Could it be that the castle was destroyed because it was pushed out of the war with monsters?"
"No. Forquint Castle has not been destroyed. It was just erased from the map by someone's intention. Originally, no monsters lived here. Someone released a monster so that no one could access the castle. Hoho..."
"Who the hell is it?"
"The First Emperor. Hamburton de Prilliant."
The corners of Alice's mouth trembled as she said his name.
"Alice, are you okay?"
"Hoho... That's all I can say. Because this is the only memory I can remember. I'll just go mop the floor."
Alice hurriedly left the office as if she were running away. Chession looked at the old and tattered map for a long time.
'Abandoned Castle and Princess Serietti. And what do witches have to do with them?'
He could understand a little that Mori was afraid of the Forquint Castle. Iberia herself said that the first fragment of the Demon God was related to Mori's painful past.
But why is Alice afraid of the Forquint Castle?
One thing was certain: he had to go to Forquint Castle right away. As Iberia said, Ham told him about the place where the Demon God's Soul Fragment would be.
"Do you have to go alone right away?"
He didn't know when the demon god would go berserk, so he couldn't delay time like this. If he can't take Mori, it's right to go alone.
At that time, he was struggling with how to cross the land of death. The window swung open, and Gremory poked her head in.
"Let's go together."
The frightened Chession rushed towards Gremory.
"No, Mori! You can't turn into a cat, so why do you keep walking through the window? It's dangerous! Come in quickly."
"It's okay. I'm pretty nimble."
Gremory grabbed Chession's outstretched hand and swooped into the office.
"But let's go to Forquint Castle together? Are you okay?"
"It's not okay. But that doesn't mean I can't send you there alone. Because of my contract with you, I have to stay by your side."
"But won't you have a hard time?"
"I want to go to that castle and find out what I'm afraid of and..."
Gremory buried his face in Chession's arms. Then he made a muttering voice.
"I think it would be okay if I went with you."
In response to her heartfelt confession, Chession kissed Gremory's round crown of the head.
"I'll protect you. By all means."
As if to believe it, Gremory dug deeper into Chession's arms.
***
Gremory and Chession began to prepare for the land of the dead. After hearing all the news, Isolene felt anger rising deep in her heart. She grabbed Chession's as he passed down the hallway
"Your Highness! Are you really going to that dangerous place? No one survived there."
"It's okay because I'm going with Mori. And didn't I explain the situation to you?"
"But...!"
'I understand your concern. I will definitely come back, so please take care of the Grand Duke's residence."
Chession passed by Isolene. Isolene felt deprived and angry at Gremory at the same time.
'Why should the Grand Duke go to such a dangerous place? It's also because of the witch who picked it up...'
Then, when she came to her senses, she felt strange.
'Ha, why am I really doing this? I feel like I'm getting crazier day by day. Is the witch really cursing me?'
It was also difficult to confide in anyone. She was afraid that she would look ugly, jealous of Mori. This place was a sacred shield that the witch's power could not reach, so it was difficult to say that the witch seemed to be cursed.
Then, Gremory passed in front of Isolene. Isolene frowned unconsciously. Seeing her rotten expression, Gremory stopped.
"What? Why are you naughty to me?"
"Mori. Is there anything really strange about me?"
"Because it's a face."
"Oh, really!"
"It's a joke. Your face is beautiful."
Gremory casually passed by Isolene. Dumbfounded, Isolene stared blankly at the back of Gremory's head.
'What the hell...'
Isolene shook her head and left. A black shadow in the form of a person followed behind her for a long time and then disappeared.
Isolene went to the office and sorted out the mountains of invitations that were piled up in the box. Then she wrote down a reply of refusal. Chession and Gremory must be busy going to the castle of Forquint, and since they must be in the Grand Duke's territory under the protection of the holy relics, no one could accept the invitation.
At that time, her wrist was starting to hurt, and she wanted to take a break. There was a white envelope that stood out to Isolene.
'What is this?'
The envelope was plain without any decorations. Usually, when they send out invitations, they use a colorfully decorated envelope.
Curious, Isolene picked up the white envelope. There was no sender written on it. It wasn't even sealed with wax. She didn't know how this came to the Grand Duke's residence.
Inside the envelope was not an invitation or anything, but a torn piece of paper.
[ Please save me, please. I was wrong. ]
"What is this?"
Isolene put away the piece of paper without much trouble. It seemed that someone was playing a prank.
She thought as she wrote down her refusal reply. The handwriting of that prank letter seems to be somewhat similar to Catherine's.
***
Gremory spread the witch's wings and flew up with Chession in her arms. Hiding in the night sky, the two flew across the land of death.
Guuuu-
She heard the monster crying strangely. At her feet, many black trees had grown protrudingly.
Occasionally, winged monsters flew up and attacked the two of them, but at the sound of Gremory's gesture, they fell out.
In the distance, they saw a very old castle.
"Chession."
"Yes."
"Why did you drop so much from earlier?"
"I have a fear of heights."
"Don't look down, keep your eyes closed."
"Hmm..."
Chession held Gremory's small body like a rope and closed his eyes.
"Hey, Mori."
"Why?"
"If there's anything scary in that castle, close your eyes and stick to me."
"Yes."
Gremory replied calmly.
A place where witches are afraid. A castle buried by the First Emperor in history, and a place where the soul of the demon god is located. It will never be easy to be there.
But what should I do? It is a job that affects 80% of humanity. Gremory wanted to maintain a peaceful daily life with the members of the Grand Duke's family.
And she desperately wanted freedom. She wanted to kill the demon god and be freed from the sacrifice.
When they finally arrived, the castle had been discolored because it had not been maintained for a long time. The two entered the castle through a large window.
The Inside was dead and quiet. She thought one or two monsters were living inside, but surprisingly, she didn't see a single ant.
Gremory grabbed Chession's hand tightly. Then she dragged Chession to the stairs in front of her.
"Let's go. I have to go over there."
"Did you remember the past?"
"...No. It's just a gut feeling."
Without saying a word, Chession took Gremory's hand and went down the spiral staircase. The bottom was dark without a single light.
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