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Chapter 18
Seiri didn’t take a single step after entering the council chamber. She merely furrowed her brows slightly, yet that small gesture instantly turned the baron and the duke—renowned for their wisdom and decorum—into nothing more than lunatics. Fear was inevitable.
Raiden, who already knew the situation from Reno, showed almost no change in expression. Of course, he wasn’t completely unaffected. He had expected something like this, but the grotesque behavior of the baron and the duke far exceeded even his imagination.
“I’d heard about it, but seeing it in person is even more absurd.”
The ministers, incredulous, looked at Raiden.
“Your Majesty, what on earth is happening? Am I dreaming right now?”
“I did warn you in advance, didn’t I?”
At that moment, Reno rushed into the hall, panting.
“I—I’ll explain everything!!”
Barely catching his breath, Reno dropped to his knees between Seiri and the ministers.
Seeing the two men making ridiculous gestures of affection toward Seiri, and the terrified ministers, he immediately understood the situation.
“You’re late, Chancellor.”
“Huff… huff… I’m sorry. To begin explaining… huff… the Saint possesses the Great Saint’s power of ‘Great Love’… huff, looking into her eyes makes anyone fall in love… huff… it’s that kind of power.”
Reno, exhausted from rushing all the way, barely managed to keep speaking.
“That power was once wielded by the Great Saint long ago… huff… and it proves that she possesses the qualities of a true Great Saint!”
When the Emperor had spoken earlier, it had been hard to believe—but now that the baron and the duke were proclaiming their love, some ministers began to waver.
“What kind of ‘great power’ is that? Just look at the baron and the duke—they’re clearly lunatics!”
As the hall grew uneasy, Count Mortika stepped forward.
“They are only frightened because they are overwhelmed by an intense emotion they have never felt before. Once the excitement subsides, they will return to normal. So there is no need to worry.”
“Preposterous! The Chancellor is wrong!”
The Count sharply countered Reno.
“Your Majesty, I have conclusive proof that this woman is a demon, or at least allied with demons.”
He reached out and produced a black velvet pouch.
Seiri, who had remained indifferent until now because she had only been concerned with monitoring wrist veins, finally fixed a terrifying gaze on him.
“What is that?”
“This contains seeds of the demon race.”
“Demon seeds?”
“Excuse me? Why does the Count have demon seeds?”
“They were found inside the clothing of a demon captured earlier. Many people saw that demon sharing affection with that witch. These seeds are proof that this witch, in league with demons, intends to dominate Your Majesty and the Empire…”
Before the Count could finish, Seiri moved.
The ministers, who had been pointing fingers and trying to pull her veil off, stepped back in surprise.
The Count, alone, did not move his feet—but that was his limit.
As Seiri approached, his knees trembled. He wanted to collapse but barely held himself upright with his stubborn pride.
The chilling, icy aura felt as if she could chew him up alive.
Meeting her sharply gleaming red eyes, the Count felt a cold terror unlike anything he had ever experienced.
She exuded a presence far greater than her small frame suggested, making him sweat. Fear, pure and raw—something he had never felt, even after surviving countless blood-soaked battlefields.
‘Am I… scared? Of a tiny girl?’
Her cold voice struck him like a whip.
“You brought what the lower demon was hiding back then?”
As Seiri came close, the Count felt as if swallowed by a massive wave and instinctively stepped back.
“D-don’t come any closer!”
He tried to resist, but in an instant, despite being two heads taller, he was subdued by her delicate arms.
Before he knew it, he had been struck in the shins and fell to the ground. The pouch he had held was now in her hands. Everyone in the room was stunned at how quickly it had happened.
“S-Saint, please, stop!”
Reno tried to restrain her.
Seiri had never attacked anyone outside of demons captured in the village. Even if she were falsely accused, resorting to violence inside the palace was unthinkable. And if she harmed the Chancellor, it could raise serious doubts about her legitimacy as the Great Saint. She needed to be stopped.
“Drop it, demon… ah, what?!”
The Count, sprawled on the ground with a twisted arm, watched as Seiri emptied the pouch.
“W-where did it go? It was here this morning!”
All the seeds were gone. He had checked the pouch upon entering the hall—there was no way it could have disappeared.
“Huff!?”
Suddenly, it felt as if a massive boulder pressed down on the Count’s neck.
“Tell me how many seeds were in there.”
“Confess honestly to my love!”
“Confess, I say!”
Under Seiri’s command, the baron and the duke, under the power of Great Love, shouted in unison. Yet their presence was more a nuisance than assistance to Seiri.
“Be quiet! Close your mouths and stay down!”
“If you wish, we shall be silent!”
“Forever, my love!”
The baron and duke flattened themselves like cockroaches. They looked ready to endure even a blade to the mouth.
With them quiet, Seiri returned her focus to Count Mortika.
“How many? Tell me!”
“Ugh… f-five… ack!”
The Count’s head smashed into the floor, shaking his body violently.
‘These idiots!’
Seiri’s anger flared, regardless of the Count’s trembling. Raiden, sensing something serious, asked:
“Seiri, what’s going on?”
“If the seeds aren’t planted immediately, they attach to nearby children and become uncontrollable!”
Demon seeds were condensed with enormous amounts of demonic energy and extremely dangerous.
Planted in a human or demon child, the seed could create a loyal servant. But left unattended, the seed would seek its first host on its own—and that host was inevitably a child.
This was why Seiri had crushed the previous seeds the moment they emerged from a child’s body.
‘Damn it. I was so distracted with Horu back then, I didn’t think he could have hidden more seeds.’
But now was not the time for regrets. Seiri looked to Raiden.
“How many children are in the palace?”
Raiden’s expression stiffened. He had just witnessed the terror of demon seeds firsthand.
“Only Kanan.”
‘Damn it!’
Seiri kicked open the doors of the council chamber. She didn’t hesitate for even a second.
Raiden, Reno, and the bodyguards urgently followed her. All that remained behind were the ministers, dumbfounded.
“What… what should we do now? If something happens to Kanan, we’re all doomed!”
“We only followed her. It’s not our fault… Count Mortika should take responsibility! This isn’t our doing.”
“From now on, I’ll follow the Emperor’s will on matters concerning the Great Saint. That’s what I intended from the start.”
The blame fell entirely on the Count, who, dazed as if possessed, muttered:
“She’s not the Great Saint.”
“Not even after witnessing the Great Saint’s power of Love?”
“If she saves Kanan, no one can call her a demon. Even with the situation this messy, I still say she’s not…!”
“I said it’s not true!”
The Count shouted, startling everyone.
“She’s clearly a demon. She looked at me that way… at me…”
“Excuse me? What did you just say…?”
“In any case, she is not the Great Saint. I am certain of this. Soon, I will gather proof and show everyone.”
“Wait! Where do you think you’re going, leaving everything like this?!”
Ignoring the ministers’ protests, Count Mortika was led out by a noble under his command.
For a long moment, no one spoke. The ministers’ eyes reflected fear as they watched the chaos caused by the Count and the rapidly broken, prestigious nobles.
“Seiri, turn left there. Kanan’s room is at the end of the hall!”
Raiden shouted after Seiri as she surged ahead.
