ODDEF 23

The carriage journey continued for half a day.

The maids, unaccustomed to long-distance travel by carriage, turned pale with motion sickness and kept fanning themselves.

In contrast, Lucrezia felt perfectly fine. She was too busy trying to calm her pounding heart at the thought of seeing the world outside the capital for the first time.

“Those trees have looked unusual for a while now. It’s as if they have thorns instead of leaves.”

Each time she spotted scenery she had never seen within the capital, Lucrezia’s eyes widened.

The maids watched her and exchanged soft giggles. With her cheeks faintly flushed, Lucrezia looked more lively than she ever had before.

But as they drew closer to their destination, her mood visibly darkened. Excitement began to give way to tension.

Please let everything end safely.

Their destination was a vast plain. Lucrezia stared in awe at the open view stretching all the way to the horizon.

A large encampment had already been built there. She was guided to the most luxurious tent among them.

It was so splendid that it was clearly meant for the Emperor and Empress to share—yet even there, the Emperor was nowhere to be seen.

“The summoning ritual will begin shortly, Your Majesty.”

After resting briefly inside the tent, Lucrezia returned to the plain. A great number of knights had already gathered, along with nobles who had come to cheer them on.

The Emperor was there as well.

“Ah.”

The moment she spotted him, her heart lurched.

It had been a long time since she had seen him. He had been so busy these past few days that she hadn’t even been able to glimpse him from afar.

Dressed in the jet-black uniform unique to the knightly order, the Emperor stood out as though he alone absorbed all the light around him.

Unlike her, who had been carefully dressed since dawn, he wore no ornamentation at all—yet her gaze kept drifting toward him.

It was more than mere beauty of features. Lucrezia realized anew how powerful unwavering confidence and composure could be.

“There is only one order I will give you.”

The Emperor stood before the assembled knights and spoke.

“Exterminate them. And present every last one of their heads before me.”

The knights saluted, pressing the hilts of their swords to their hearts. In each pair of eyes shone unmistakable reverence for their sovereign.

Having pledged themselves to their lord, the knights then moved to pledge their safe return to their lovers. Those who had been waiting welcomed them with emotional expressions.

Here and there, knights knelt before their beloveds, swearing love and safe return. A tall knight approached Ira, Lucrezia’s maid, and knelt before her.

Kissing the back of Ira’s hand, he said,

“I’ll return without fail, my love. Don’t worry.”

“You must. Please. I’ll be praying for you.”

Ira, her voice trembling, kissed the knight’s forehead.

Lucrezia watched the scene with quiet satisfaction. They made a beautiful pair.

So absorbed in the sight was she that she realized a beat too late that the noise around her had suddenly fallen silent.

“A day filled with the blessings of the earth, Empress.”

At the unexpected voice, Lucrezia lifted her widened eyes forward.

The Emperor had approached without her noticing. He stood before her, casting a long shadow.

“…Your Majesty.”

She barely managed to speak.

Seeing him again after so long, she noticed his gaze seemed deeper than before.

A languid fatigue lingered in his red eyes, and whether the rumors were true that he burned sedatives heavily, a decadent, intense scent pierced her lungs.

“A day filled with the blessings of the earth.”

Relief washed over her when her voice did not tremble.

The Emperor’s gaze lowered slowly. Only in the next moment did Lucrezia realize that he had knelt before her.

“Oh my—!”

“Gasp—”

The maids reacted in her place as she froze like ice.

Clamping their hands over their mouths, they hurriedly stepped back, watching the imperial couple with eyes full of excitement and hope.

The Emperor’s large hand naturally drew hers from within her sleeve.

Lucrezia stared blankly as he pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

“I shall lay Serilda’s heart at your feet.”

After finishing his oath, he looked up at her.

Under the sunlight, his crimson eyes were so beautiful they resembled gemstones rather than human pupils.

Stay calm.

Don’t overreact. Lucrezia ordered her heart.

The founding Emperor of the Siegfried Empire had been a knight, and the founding Empress the lady who received his vow.

It had since become tradition for Emperors, as his descendants, to kneel before their Empress before departing for battle and swear an oath.

Yes. It was only tradition. Don’t panic like a fool. Just speak the words of blessing in return.

“…I will be praying for your safe return.”

The maids looked on with boundless satisfaction.

But others reacted differently.

A few who heard the Emperor’s words began whispering.

“Serilda?”

“Did he just say Serilda?”

Serilda was the third demon, governing poison and hallucination among the twenty sins.

Its body took the form of a massive serpent. Every single scale carried a lethal dose of venom, and from its mouth it spat a toxin potent enough to melt the earth itself.

Worst of all, the moment one met Serilda’s gaze, they would fall into hallucinations and crawl into pools of poison on their own.

“Are they saying the demon to be summoned this time is Serilda?”

Shocked murmurs spread. Some people even began quietly packing their belongings.

The last time Serilda had been summoned was eighty years ago. Half the knights had died, and even nobles observing the hunting ceremony had suffered casualties before it was sealed again.

Only then did people understand why the knights’ expressions were more resolute than usual.

No one knew which demon would be summoned until just before the ritual. Several who would never have come had they known it was Serilda began hesitating and stepping back.

Amid all the commotion, the Emperor pressed his lips to the back of Lucrezia’s hand once more.

The soft pressure sent shivers racing through her body.

She drew in a quiet breath. Physical contact with others was unfamiliar—especially the lips of a man.

While she tried to calm her pounding heart, the Emperor did not move.

After a moment, he spoke slowly.

“…That perfume.”

He whispered without lifting his lips from her hand.

His breath tickled her sensitive skin, and she flinched.

“You’re still wearing it.”

Perfume…?

Already stiff, Lucrezia blinked blankly at the sudden remark.

She had indeed applied Lafine fragrance that morning. But she hadn’t expected the Emperor to notice.

“Such a cloying scent.”

His displeased voice from the past was still vivid in her memory.

And though she had used it at dawn, hours of carriage travel should have faded it considerably.

They said those who honed their martial prowess to extremes had exceptionally keen senses.

Still, she hadn’t imagined he would dislike even such a faint trace. Had she known, she wouldn’t have worn it. She had no desire whatsoever to displease him.

“…Does it offend you?”

She asked carefully, but no answer came.

A moment later, releasing her tightly held hand, the Emperor let out a dry laugh.

“No.”

He rose to his feet.

“As if.”

A cold smile curved his lips, almost arrogant. The anger he had radiated moments before had vanished without a trace.

Confusion washed over Lucrezia. Perhaps the perfume was merely an excuse—perhaps he simply disliked her.

Clicking his tongue softly, the Emperor turned away. His heavy, resolute voice rang out.

“We will begin the summoning.”

The knights, faces set like stone, returned to formation.

Soon a priest stepped forward, carrying a box containing the sealing stone.

The Emperor opened it himself. From within spread a sinister green light.

Once he thrust his sword into it, the seal would break—and Serilda would manifest in the world once more.

“Your Majesty, please follow me. I will guide you to a safe place.”

A man wearing silver-rimmed glasses led her—Dion, the Emperor’s chief aide.

Imperial nobles, foreign dignitaries, and their attendants hurried along as well. Their destination was the cliff above—a vantage point from which the sacred sealing ritual could be viewed at a glance.

The sheer cliff towering above the plain was the perfect place to look down upon it.

Like spectators at an opera house, the guests chose positions with the best view. Some had telescopes raised to their eyes.

“Oh!”

“My heavens…!”

Exclamations and gasps erupted everywhere. Lucrezia stood among them—

Frozen pale.

The scene unfolding below was nothing short of hell.

“Kyah!”

“Oh no!”

When the enormous serpent swung its tail, screams rang out.

As the venom-laced tail swept through a cluster of knights, Lucrezia felt as though her heart stopped.

I knew the hunting ceremony was like this, but…

Sitting here in person, it was far worse for one’s heart than she had imagined.

Knights desperately hunting the demon. Distinguished guests watching them from a distance.

In stark contrast to the desperate battlefield below, the cliff above—shielded by a barrier—felt unnaturally safe.

It’s strange. Truly strange.

The periodic resealing of the Twelve Demons was the duty of the Siegfried Empire, which possessed the strongest military power on the continent.

But the Empire did not simply carry out that dangerous and troublesome duty.

By displaying the process in full view of foreign dignitaries and its own nobles, it flaunted its might and authority.

Certainly, this year as well, that purpose seemed to be thoroughly achieved.