The temple’s atmosphere was turbulent. The sudden death of First Paladin Ruben had stirred up a restless mood.

Even without the still-unresolved matter of the Pope’s nighttime attack, the unexpected demise of a highly skilled paladin was enough to cause such unease.

While preparations for his funeral were underway, Renie was not herself.

Until she fell asleep, she was tormented by Kahn, and when she did sleep, she was haunted by nightmares of that terrible night when Ruben’s head was brutally severed.

Nor were the days any better. Since that day, Kahn had begun to torment her even in broad daylight. He shamelessly tried to force himself on her in secluded places where others were present, including the Pope’s office.

Furthermore, their intimate encounters had become vicious and cruel. When she didn’t respond as he wished and bit her lip to stifle a moan, he would deliberately bite down harder, drawing blood. There were even times when he conducted their affairs with his subordinates deliberately stationed outside the chamber.

It was clear to anyone that these actions were intended to suffocate Renie. All the behaviors that would have horrified her in the past were now carried out without hesitation under the ruthless demon.

For these reasons, she grew more and more exhausted with each passing day.

Currently, Renie was so emaciated that she could barely handle her official duties. The Holy City was rife with rumors about the Pope’s increasingly gaunt appearance, which suggested a clear decline in health. However, since the Pope did not voice her suffering, everyone hesitated to interfere, simply observing for the time being.

Eventually, the day of Ruben’s funeral arrived.

His young siblings visited the temple for the ceremony. Seeing them clutching Ruben’s coffin and weeping bitterly tore at Renie’s heart. Their cries sounded like a mournful dirge.

She stared blankly at the black coffin.

The question still lingered vividly in her mind: why did Ruben have to die? Behind that question, guilt always followed like clinging mud.

The reason she suffered such deep guilt was that her relationship with Ruben had been truly innocent. There hadn’t even been the subtle undercurrent of attraction between a man and a woman that Kahn had found irritating.

To Renie, Ruben was merely a childhood friend and the knight who guarded her. He wasn’t someone of great significance. Of course, she was grateful that he had recognized her sorrow and pain, but that didn’t make him particularly special to her.

If he had been someone who held a deeper meaning for her, his death wouldn’t have felt so futile. However, the utterly ordinary nature of their relationship, for which she could find no particular significance, drove her to even greater guilt.

There was no reason for him to have died like that. And so...

“Your Holiness, I believe it is time to conclude the proceedings.”

The Archbishop whispered quietly to Renie.

While the Pernese delegation was staying here, they needed to present only their best image. Therefore, the consistory had decided that the funeral scene should not be exposed.

The death of a comrade was deeply sorrowful, but they couldn’t allow it to disrupt official duties. At times like this, even the temple, full of love and affection, could be incredibly cold.

Accordingly, the funeral had to be concluded quickly. Ruben’s family wasn’t even given enough time to fully grieve.

“...Provide a carriage to escort them, and the temple will be responsible for the livelihood of Lord Ruben’s family from now on.”

The temple was always short of funds, but they couldn’t refuse the Pope’s order. Above all, her father, Marquis Valois, provided such enormous donations that no one dared to object to her proposal.

Unable to watch the departing carriage until the end, Renie turned away.

Returning to her office, she stared out the window with a detached expression. Whenever she reflected on how things had come to this point, it felt as if she were trapped in an endless darkness.

After sending Ruben away so meaninglessly, Renie became even more reluctant to let anyone get close to her. She had never been particularly sociable, but now she showed no opening at all. She couldn’t risk getting close to anyone else and incurring Kahn’s displeasure.

If her solitary existence could save others, then it was better to be completely alone. The Holy City, a warm land that felt like family to her, even though they shared no blood, was where Renie was becoming utterly isolated.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

“Your Holiness, I will enter.”

The maid, Cecil, opened the office door. Behind her stood the physician. As Renie tried to figure out why he was here, she remembered that it was the day for her regular monthly check-up.

During their encounters, whenever Kahn tried to leave marks, Renie would resist fiercely. So, displaying a semblance of patience, he would only leave marks in hidden places, such as the inner thighs that were only visible when all undergarments were removed, or around her breasts.

Therefore, even while submitting to the examination, Renie held tightly to her clothes. She knew that the physician couldn’t undress her without permission, but her body, conditioned by the demon’s ruthlessness, instinctively adopted a defensive posture.

The scent of tea that Cecil had left behind filled the room, but Renie’s stomach churned incessantly. With every movement of her body, her stomach also swayed, leaving her to simply lean back in the chair like a corpse.

The physician, who had been carefully observing her, tilted his head in confusion and repeatedly checked her pulse. Feeling uneasy about his actions, Renie couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?”

“How strange. Why do I keep feeling a pregnancy pulse...?”

The physician trailed off, as if even he found his own words absurd.

However, Renie couldn’t easily dismiss his words. It was as if she had been doused with ice water in the middle of winter; her entire body stiffened. Her heart tumbled down and landed at her feet.

Renie forced herself to appear calm, concealing her trembling inner turmoil, and withdrew her hand from his grasp.

“A pregnancy pulse? That can’t be right.”

She managed a strained smile, but the muscles around her mouth twitched as if in a spasm. Her chest pounded even more violently. She was terrified that the person in front of her would notice the secret she was hiding. She desperately prayed that it wouldn’t show.

“Perhaps I made a mistake,” the physician said, nodding in agreement with her words. After all, a pregnancy in a cleric, especially one who was supposed to uphold chastity, was unthinkable. Moreover, she wasn’t just any cleric; she was the Pope, the ruler of this land.

It was something that felt sinful even to imagine, so he seemed to dismiss it as a simple misdiagnosis.

“There are no other abnormalities in your health. However, you seem to be fatigued, so it would be best if you take sufficient rest between your duties.”

After completing the routine examination, the physician left the office. Only when she was alone did Renie spring up and pace around the room. Her face was filled with anxiety as she bit her lip.

Pregnancy? Pregnancy?

Her mind, which had been languidly drifting, instantly became chaotic.

Come to think of it, she couldn’t even remember when her last period had been. But she couldn’t rely solely on that, as her body was weak enough that her periods would stop even with slight fatigue.

There was no need to try and calculate the time based on her cycle anyway. That demon had forced himself on her every night since the day after he arrived in the Holy City.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered contraception. But Renie had no one she could honestly confide in about her situation, and for a cleric and the Pope to seek medication for ‘contraception’ was absurd in itself.

Furthermore, the Holy City regarded the birth of life as a great blessing. So, there was no way that a drug to artificially suppress conception would exist there. To obtain it, she would have to go to the royal capital of Evreux at the very least.

All the actions she would have to take to prevent the pregnancy were incredibly risky. They were things that Renie could only do if she were prepared to relinquish her position.

So she had procrastinated, and in the end, Renie clutched her stomach with a face that looked as if she were about to burst into tears.

‘If that demon finds out...’

Just imagining it made her legs buckle. She leaned against the wall and sank down, gasping for breath. Her emerald eyes trembled incessantly, reflecting the turmoil in her heart.

Until Ruben died, Renie had thought she could endure it. She believed that if she could just bear the period Kahn had mentioned, she could return her life to what it once was. So, even while suffering humiliating treatment, she endured everything, telling herself to just hold on a little longer, just bear it.

Because eventually, peace would return.

If it was something she could handle on her own, she didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.

But now it was different. All her pride and self-esteem had been trampled upon, and the knight who had approached her with kindness had died helplessly. Those miserable memories drove her to an endless abyss.

And in the midst of all this, pregnancy?

She was carrying that demon’s child?

Renie let out a bitter laugh.

God couldn’t do this to her. If He loved her even a little, He couldn’t treat her so cruelly. She didn’t even wish for happiness; she just wanted to live an ordinary life. Was that such a great desire?

There were countless people in the world who lived without hardship, so why was she the only one suffering so much?

Perhaps God was angry with her? Angry at the detestable way she had used the demon’s power to become Pope and serve Him. Was that why God was inflicting such harsh punishment on her?

Whatever the reason, she was now so drained that even tears wouldn’t come.

Knock, knock.

Lost in resignation and half-dazed, Renie inhaled sharply at the sudden sound of someone approaching.

Her heart pounded violently.

Who was it? Who could it be? If it was that demon coming to find her...

“Your Holiness, may I come in for a moment?”

Contrary to her anxious anticipation, the owner of the approaching footsteps was not the man she feared.

Renie steadied herself against the wall and rose. In that fleeting moment, she roughly composed her utterly shattered emotions. She, too, had no time for sorrow. This feeling of being relentlessly constricted even when alone was a personal hell bestowed upon her by the demon himself.

Suppressing the rising emotions, she opened the door to find Second Archbishop Hosen standing there.

“What is it?”

“A royal messenger has arrived from the capital.”

“Is that so.”

Someone had arrived from the capital. The most important figure for this upcoming amity. His arrival meant that the envoy’s departure date was not far off. But Renie couldn’t feel any joy.

How could she be happy when she had just learned of her unwanted pregnancy?

“Let’s go to the reception room.”

“Ah, and there is one more person with him.”

“Who are you talking about?”

Hosen replied to Renie, whose expression was subdued.

“Marquis Valois has come with them.”

________________________________________

Facing her father, someone she wouldn’t welcome even in normal circumstances, in such a dire state was incredibly difficult. Perhaps because of this, Renie couldn’t calm her turbulent feelings as she headed to the reception room.

The tyrant who had shaken and crushed her world since childhood. Not a demon, but a person as cruel as one.

He had come to the Holy City.

Entering the reception room, Renie exchanged brief greetings with the royal messenger who had arrived from the capital. Beside the messenger, Marquis Valois was scrutinizing her with a sharp gaze, picking her apart piece by piece.

“Where is the King of Ferno?”

“A messenger has been sent; he will arrive soon.”

No sooner had Renie answered the messenger than the reception room door opened.

At the appearance of Kahn, who had tormented her the previous night, she reflexively flinched.

Kahn smiled faintly at her. His rather affable demeanor made the two of them appear very close.

Seeing Biron following behind Kahn, Renie felt a wave of nausea and averted her gaze. Perhaps it was because Ruben’s funeral had just concluded, but they felt like nothing more than murderers to her.

Furthermore, she now knew that the demon’s seed resided within her womb.

Renie felt a chill as if a parasite had been implanted inside her. She barely endured the urge to tear at her hair. If she acted rudely towards Kahn here, it was obvious what kind of look her own father would give her.

They each took their seats.

The messenger smoothly opened the conversation.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty the King of Ferno. I am Kether Ravel, the royal messenger sent by His Majesty the King. Has your time in the Holy City been peaceful?”

“It has been most enjoyable. Her Holiness the Pope has treated me so lavishly that I look forward to waking up each day. Wouldn’t you agree?”

At Kahn’s question, Biron, who stood staunchly behind him like a guard, nodded. The messenger’s lowered eyes visibly brightened at their easygoing attitude. Marquis Valois was the same.

“I was quite worried due to the urgent message sent from the capital, but it is indeed fortunate.”

The atmosphere was generally peaceful. Within that peace, Renie alone couldn’t let go of her tension. Before her sat the demon who had been tormenting her lately and the father who had abused her her entire life. Her limbs felt uneasy, as if thorns were embedded all over her skin.

Just then, Kahn turned to Marquis Valois.

“Is this one of the party from the capital as well?”

Marquis Valois, who had been silently sipping his tea, paused as if taken aback by the sudden address, then quietly rose and bowed.

“Greetings, Your Majesty the King of Ferno. While it is true that I came from the capital, I was not sent by Your Highness but came to see my daughter.”

“My daughter?”

There was only one person in that room who could be referred to with such a title. Renie swallowed hard at the attention that suddenly focused on her.

“Hmm.”

Kahn, who also turned to look at her, seemed to have gleaned the answer from the surrounding reactions. His crimson eyes briefly flashed with a sharp coldness. Renie, who was meeting his gaze, was the only one who noticed the change.

Kahn scanned Marquis Valois from head to toe with an expression that suggested he had much to say. However, he said nothing and merely shrugged. It was Renie’s responsibility to read every nuance of his actions.

“Shall we begin the negotiations, then?”

When the atmosphere had eased somewhat, the messenger subtly brought up the main topic.

Since only the messenger and the Fernese delegation could participate in the negotiations, Renie and Marquis Valois had to leave the reception room.

“It’s been a while,” Marquis Valois greeted her once they were left alone. Renie almost scoffed at his transparent attitude.

If Kahn had reacted lukewarmly to the messenger’s question, her father wouldn’t have even spoken to her. Or perhaps he would have dragged her to a secluded place immediately and slapped her, demanding, “How did you treat him that resulted in such a tepid response?”

It was all hypothetical anyway. Renie tried hard to shake off the gloomy thoughts.

“Yes, it has.”

The reserved Renie hesitated for a long moment, as if choosing her words carefully.

When Renie had heard that her father had arrived, she had thought it was the last chance given to her.

A chance to escape from the demon’s clutches.

Renie had reluctantly agreed to the new contract with Kahn and had prostrated herself before him so far entirely to maintain her position as Pope. If she were to step down from the papacy, neither the Holy City nor her father would accept her.

She had endured and endured for his sake, but her patience had now reached its limit.

Not only had she suffered, but someone who had shielded her had died. And with the possibility of more deaths to come, she no longer had the strength to endure. She didn’t want to stain her surroundings with more blood.

But the heavens were not on her side. Not only was she being toyed with by Kahn, but she was also pregnant. If this were discovered, surely...

In the midst of all this, Marquis Valois had come to the Holy City without any prior notice. That unexpected timing couldn’t help but feel like an opportunity to her.

She knew that her father only saw her as a tool, but the natural bond between parent and child was not something easily severed. No matter what anyone said, she and her father were connected by thick blood ties.

Hadn’t she worked incredibly hard to meet her father’s expectations all this time? So, wouldn’t her father respect her decision at least once?

Just once.

In fact, she knew very well that it was a ridiculous thought. But after her self-esteem had been damaged and she had lost Ruben, her completely shattered mind couldn’t even muster half of its usual judgment.

She was just desperately trying to escape from Kahn in any way possible.

If she could only persuade her father, she wouldn’t need to cling to the papacy. It would mean she wouldn’t have to depend on that demon anymore.

Her father was a rotten rope. A choice where she shouldn’t expect him to willingly pull her out of the mire. Like black and white logic, in her father’s grasp, there was only salvation or ruin. Only one of the two existed.

But by that logic, Kahn was a burning rope. There was no chance he would save her; he would devour her entirely with pain. A terrifying and dreadful... abyss.

Rather than grasping at a rope with no possibility of salvation, she wanted to at least pretend to pull on the rotten one.

“I will prepare a place for you to stay.”

“Alright.”

His compliant attitude suggested that he had indeed planned to stay here tonight. Renie felt a slight easing of tension, thinking that she didn’t have to speak to him right away.

“And... this evening, there is something important I need to discuss with you.”

Renie clasped her hands neatly in her lap. Beneath her sleeve, she could feel the rough scar on the back of her hand. It was a mark left by the cane the Marquis had unhesitatingly struck her with when she was young.

Renie could have used her divine power to erase the scar, but she didn’t. Knowing her own precarious position as a puppet whose strings could be cut at any moment, she had kept it as a reminder to steel her resolve from time to time.

“Alright, I understand.”

If her father had any conscience, he would respect her decision this time.

No matter how wicked his temperament and behavior, he was a human, not a demon. Having experienced a truly cruel and ruthless demon, her father didn’t feel as frightening as he used to. Perhaps reaching the edge of a cliff had made her lose all sense of fear.

In any case, all that Renie could cling to now was the sliver of conscience her father might possess.

She didn’t know what spirit she had eaten dinner with.

In fact, she had barely eaten anything. Not knowing how her father would react, her heart was anxious, and everything tasted like sand.

The negotiations, which had begun in the afternoon, fortunately concluded smoothly.

Now, Evreux and Ferno were allied nations bound by amity. Hearing the report, Renie felt a strange mix of emotions.

She knew that Ferno was not just a powerful new nation but a den of demons.

An alliance between the demonic realm and a human nation. Could there be a more meaningless friendship?

In a way, it felt like a relationship between a cat and a mouse. The moment one looked away, the other would be devoured without resistance... Having reached that thought, Renie felt pathetic. She couldn’t believe that she, on the verge of being devoured by a demon, was worrying about someone else.

As the sky darkened, Renie went to the bedroom where the Marquis was staying. A servant brought in tea for two and quietly left.

An awkward silence hung in the air of the room where they were alone.

“Have you been well?”

After enduring a long silence, she finally managed to speak.

“What kind of special events would there be? Just the same old routine,” the Marquis replied casually, continuously sipping his tea as if they had nothing to talk about. The Marquis, never one for kind words, scanned Renie with his usual scrutinizing gaze.

“By the way, why does your complexion look like that?”

Renie looked at her father, who was pointing out her appearance, with a slightly surprised gaze. She herself knew very well that her face had become gaunt due to the recent events. That her father had brought it up first was quite astonishing.

It almost felt like he was worried.

To Renie, who desperately wanted her father to save her, each of these small signs felt particularly significant.

“Are you getting check-ups from the physician?”

“Yes, of course.”

“If you keep looking so thin and like you’re about to collapse, what will become of my reputation as your father? Won’t I look like a cold-blooded person who doesn’t care about you? Make sure you refrain from any behavior that might harm me.”

However, the moment the conversation deepened slightly, she realized how utterly foolish her delusion had been.

For Marquis Valois, his own well-being was always the priority. As always, he didn’t care about the health of his daughter, whom he considered useless.

He didn’t just look cold-blooded; he was actually cold-blooded. What else could it be if not cold-blooded to look at his own blood-related daughter with such icy eyes?

Her chest, which had swelled with anticipation, deflated, and Renie unknowingly let out a soft laugh. It was a weak, soundless laugh born of despair.

“Why are you laughing so foolishly?”

But even that laugh quickly vanished at the Marquis’s cold reprimand.

As expectation turned to disappointment, the words she had intended to say caught in her throat. But the fear of Kahn urged her relentlessly, as if she didn’t want to let go of even a sliver of hope.

Her mouth felt heavy. But if she went back like this, she would surely be burdened with regret for not having even tried to speak.

Renie bit her lip for a long time before finally summoning her courage. Her voice was strained, sounding almost like panting.

“Father.”

It was a title she hadn’t used in a long time. Since becoming Pope, Renie had called him Marquis, not by a familial term. It wasn’t something anyone had told her to do; she had consistently used that formal address, drawing a clear line between him and herself.

The moment she uttered the dust-laden title, it became an opportunity to steady her wavering heart.

“I... I want to step down from this position now.”

Marquis Valois, who had been sipping his tea, paused.

He slowly raised his gaze. For a moment, Renie felt as if her skin was prickling with pain. The Marquis’s eyes were as sharp as blades.

“What?”

“I want to resign from the papacy.”

Her voice trembled, but nonetheless, she clearly conveyed her intention with firmness.

“Are you saying that sincerely?”

“Yes.”

“You must be utterly mad.”

Marquis Valois made a rather rough gesture with his hand. The sound of the cup and saucer hitting the table rang like thunder.

His eyes, which had already begun to blaze, glared at his daughter. His face was so devoid of any hint of the conscience she had hoped for that it seemed impossible to find even a trace of it. At that, the inside of Renie’s heart shattered into pieces.

She had known all along that there was no love, so what on earth had she been expecting?

“If I had known you were going to spout such nonsense, I wouldn’t have agreed to this conversation you requested.”

“Father.”

“Do you even know if that position is something anyone can just take? You don’t even know how lucky you are.”

Renie bit her lip at the colder reception than she had anticipated.

Her whole body tensed up. She felt as if tears would burst forth if she relaxed even a little.

The Marquis stood up abruptly, as if he didn’t want to hear any more. Renie quickly grabbed the hem of his clothes.

“Father. I’m serious. I don’t want to stay in the Holy City anymore.”

“Was my meaning really that difficult to understand?”

“......”

“You cannot step down from that position until you die! Honestly, you useless thing. Have you even considered how much your position benefits my business? I’m sure you haven’t. Just because things are a little difficult, you act so insolently and make demands.”

His displeased gaze clung to her like thorns all over her body.

The words “you useless thing,” which he had uttered so casually, struck her like an arrow. For a moment, her chest felt suffocatingly tight.

Why on earth was her father being so heartless towards her?

The black, rotten rope was already almost completely worn away. Only a few strands remained, barely dangling. Renie was the only one who hadn’t realized it. Even so, she felt incredibly foolish for having held onto hope. It truly felt as if she was as useless as her father claimed.

A surge of emotion welled up inside her.

“I said I want to quit. What are you going to do about it, Father?”

The Marquis, who had turned his back to walk away, paused. The gaze that returned was truly menacing, like that of a tyrant in the dead of night.

“What?”

“I want to stop being sacrificed for your selfish desires.”

Her father had been the problem from the beginning.

His abuse had made her mother sick, and the fear of her mother dying had led Renie to the chapel, where she had met the demon. Her weakened heart had allowed her to accept the contract with Kahn. The cause might have been her, but the one who provided that cause was none other than her father.

Something brushed past her face. It crashed to the floor with a loud shattering sound. Marquis Valois had thrown the vase that was on the table.

“Sacrifice? What on earth have you sacrificed? What have you done as Pope all this time!”

Renie couldn’t help but be dumbfounded this time.

What she had done as Pope. For the most part, it was a record of her trying to live more virtuously than her father. As if atoning for the sins of her father, who was like a demon sucking the marrow from others’ bones, she had dedicated her life to God, bit by bit.

And yet he said she had done nothing...

Entering the path of theology hadn’t been her own will but a way to escape her father’s brutality, and all her diligent service after becoming Pope had been for the same reason.

Father, Father, Father.

It was all about him.

How could he say such things to her, who had never once escaped his torment?

The sorrow that had welled up and heated Renie’s chest suddenly cooled. Her heart turned into a cold lump of ice. Thanks to that, she could open her mouth calmly, without getting agitated.

“Even if you wish for me to remain in this position, Father, it’s impossible.”

“What?”

“I can no longer use divine power.”

“If you can’t use divine power, it will be difficult not only to be Pope but even to work in the temple.”

“You, you...”

“So, rather than having this scandal discovered later and tarnishing your reputation, I’m saying I will step down early.”

“You foolish girl!”

Suddenly, her scalp felt as if it was being torn apart. It was because the Marquis, who had approached with heavy, echoing footsteps, had grabbed her blonde hair as if he would rip it all out. Renie staggered, trying to escape him, and lost her balance, falling to the ground.

“What? You can’t use divine power?”

Renie, half out of her mind from the pain in her throbbing scalp, screamed as her father’s foot slammed into the back of her hand.

“What kind of behavior have you been engaging in for such a thing to happen!”

The back of her hand, marked by the signs of abuse, was ruthlessly trampled by his black boot.

“I thought you might finally be of some use.”

Marquis Valois grumbled like someone truly enraged.

Urgent footsteps were heard from outside the door. A servant, who couldn’t dare open the door without permission, called out, asking what was wrong. They must have heard her sharp scream.

“No one is to enter until I permit it!”

Renie, jolted back to her senses by the Marquis’s thunderous roar,艰难ly lifted her eyes.

The Marquis, unable to contain his rage, was loosening his cuffs with an angry expression. Her heart sank. That rough behavior was very familiar to her. It was a signal that he would now lay hands on her without restraint.

The past image of her brutal father, who had beaten her mercilessly, flashed before her eyes like a lingering shadow.

A fog of fear consumed her brain. Renie trembled violently and huddled up. She wanted to run away, but the fear that had been ingrained in her since childhood made her as immobile as a stone statue.

“If you quit being Pope, what about all the donations I’ve made so far? Are you saying that’s all to be thrown away? Do you even know how much that amount is! You foolish thing.”

“I... I will find a way somehow...”

“What do you think you can do? Do you think those shady temple bastards will let it slide? I’ve never seen such greedy bastards as the temple, who never return the money they’ve received. Still, I thought of it as an investment to keep you in that position for a long time, so I poured in such a huge sum. What? Now you’re saying you’ll step down because you can’t use divine power anymore?”

Marquis Valois kicked Renie hard in the chest.

At the merciless kick, she couldn’t breathe properly for a moment. Unlike the symptoms that had appeared due to the psychological pressure she had been under, her breathing became labored, as if something in her lungs had actually broken.

Seeing him extend his foot back again, Renie instinctively clutched her stomach. It was a reflex action that had emerged without her even consciously realizing it. She herself was more surprised by it than anyone else.

Surely, when she had faced Kahn, this life that had sprung from his loins had felt like nothing more than a parasite. A terrifying existence that she had never wanted, clinging to her body and stealing her nutrients.

To try and protect such a loathsome being.

Renie, gasping in pain, couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. Lost in her daze, she was helplessly struck by the approaching foot. Her body swayed and hit the leg of a nearby table. The teacup on it fell to the floor and shattered with a loud crash.

Struggling to escape her father’s rain-like violence, she was scratched here and there by the sharp fragments. Whether it was the edge of a large piece that tore her, something sticky flowed down her forehead.

Before she could even wipe it away, her collar was grabbed, and her upper body was forcibly pulled up.

Her father must have aged the same way she had while she was growing up, but he was still vigorous. Furthermore, that fierce temper of his, meant to intimidate her, remained unchanged.

“Get a hold of yourself.”

The Marquis said, looking straight into Renie’s tear-filled eyes.

“You must dedicate your life to me forever.”

“......”

“You need to be at least that useful to be my child. Don’t you agree?”

It was the moment when the rotten rope that had been fraying at the end finally snapped.

Something in Renie’s heart crumbled miserably. She had dreamt a fleeting, futile dream. What on earth had she been expecting when she had honestly confided in her father? Not even the natural bond between parent and child could change her tyrannical father’s nature.

If not her father, there was no one else in this world who could save her. He had been the only person who could help her under Kahn’s ruthless surveillance, but now he wasn’t.

In the end, Renie was utterly alone.

Her eyes, already rusted through and through, finally lost their light.

It was then.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Marquis Valois’s shoulder. Surprised by the unexpected touch, the Marquis released Renie as if throwing her away.

“Who dares to act without permission... Keuk!”

Renie, who was kneeling and coughing heavily, widened her eyes at her father’s groan. Clutching her sore throat, she艰难ly raised her upper body. At the end of her gaze were her father, collapsed and looking more frail than she had ever seen him, and Kahn, standing tall before him.

Kahn looked back and forth between the Marquis and Renie without a trace of a smile. His gaze lingered particularly long on Renie’s pale, ashen face.

A chilling silence descended into the savage atmosphere.

“I heard you came all the way to the Holy City to see your daughter.”

Not long after, Kahn broke the heavy silence.

“Y-Your Majesty the King of Ferno.”

“But why are you laying hands on your own daughter?”

“What brings you all the way here...?”

“Are you deaf?”

Kahn’s face, which had been muttering lowly, twisted.

“Why are you beating your daughter like a stray dog?”

It was surely a face Renie had never seen before. He, who had always worn either a smile or an indifferent expression, was showing his honest, bare face to her for the first time. But that unfamiliarity had never felt as ominous as it did at this moment.

He pressed down firmly on the shoulder of the fallen Marquis Valois with his foot. The Marquis, who had been exuding a violent aura as if he would retaliate at any moment, was frozen, at a loss for what to do.

Renie found that sight of her father quite amusing. The father who had beaten his own blood-related daughter, to borrow Kahn’s expression, like a stray dog, was now utterly helpless before the king of a newly established nation. It was a classic case of being strong against the weak and weak against the strong.

Kahn leaned his upper body towards him, who remained silent even after a long wait.

“Did your daughter displease you?”

The twisted expression had long since smoothed out. Perhaps the Marquis felt that it was a signal to heed his words, as he quickly nodded his head.

“Yes. It was just a minor disagreement between father and daughter.”

It was a situation where one side had been severely and unilaterally harmed to call it minor, but the Marquis spoke with an utterly shameless face, as if it were his natural disposition.

Kahn smiled faintly. And seeing him, Renie’s heart pounded. Whenever the demon smiled like that, unbearable turmoil always followed...

Before she could even register that unease, Marquis Valois was struck in the lower jaw and sent flying.

While the stubborn Renie shrank back, holding her breath, Kahn’s merciless violence began. Harsh impact sounds filled the room oppressively.

Renie stared blankly at her father, who had been knocked down by Kahn’s kicks. Like her own past self, her father, curled up in a ball, was utterly vulnerable. The tyrant who had always lorded over her, manipulating her as he pleased, was now displaying such a precarious figure.

Kahn’s violence held no trace of mercy. Furthermore, since he was kicking with his hands still in his pockets, it didn’t even feel like he was exerting any effort in his actions. He was oppressing his own father with utter ease.

Absurdly, it was only at this moment that Renie truly realized that her father, who had always seemed like a demon, was ultimately just a person.

A demon wouldn’t attach itself to someone like her father. That title was reserved for someone like the man who was calmly trampling his own father.

Kahn suddenly stopped all his actions and stared down at the Marquis, who was on the verge of fainting. His already vivid crimson eyes gleamed even more intensely, as if filled with blood. Within them raged a terrifying energy close to brutality.

“Keuheok!”

Soon after, a strange thing happened.

The joints all over the Marquis’s limp body began to twitch uncontrollably. His limbs twisted and bent into bizarre shapes, as if someone were carelessly manipulating a wooden puppet.

The sight of the bones inside his body wriggling as if trying to break through the skin was severely grotesque.

Upon closer inspection, Renie saw that a black mist-like substance was covering the Marquis’s body. Only then did she realize that Kahn was using magic.

Kahn gazed at the Marquis’s forearm, bent at an unnatural angle, as if measuring it, and then stomped on it languidly. Then, he reached out into the air. A dark aura seemed to gather in his hand, and soon, a shape with a sharp point, like a sword, appeared.

“Which hand did you use to hit her?”

His gaze was fixed on the Marquis, but his question was clearly directed at Renie. However, huddled in the corner and barely holding onto her fading sanity, there was no way she could understand him.

Kahn, feeling that it didn’t matter which hand it was, effortlessly severed the Marquis’s right hand with the sharp blade.

A thunderous scream erupted in the room. Red blood, the color of Kahn’s eyes, splattered onto the dry floor with a soft thud. Kahn steadfastly cut off the other hand as well, despite the Marquis’s reaction of rolling his eyes back. In an instant, the Marquis had lost both hands.

Soon, the room was filled with the stench of blood.

“It seems I won’t get anything more out of him even if I press him further...”

Kahn, having carelessly thrown down the blade he was holding, turned his gaze to the corner. Renie flinched as if losing her strength at the gaze that reached her.

“Now, Renie. Tell me.”

“......”

“Why was this man laying hands on you?”

Her mouth felt parched. It was a very simple question, but the fear that her throat would be instantly slit if she answered incorrectly overwhelmed her. Whenever that man evoked such terrifying tension, Renie’s heart always shrank like kneaded clay.

Kahn fixed his gaze on her and pressed down with his foot. At that, the Marquis twisted his limbs as if convulsing, letting out choked gasps.

“He wouldn’t have hit you without a reason, would he?”

A gentle tone that was completely different from the way he had brutally beaten his own father. But that contrast felt even more terrifying to Renie.

Because Ruben, too, had been like that before...

“If you don’t answer, I will kill this man.”

No sooner had she felt a sense of déjà vu in this agonizing situation than he spoke. As if to prove it wasn’t a lie, he ground his foot into the Marquis’s neck.

Kahn glanced down at Marquis Valois, who had already fainted with blood foaming from his mouth. He had unintentionally used too much force while beating him, and this was the result. It seemed that even if he regained consciousness, he wouldn’t be able to live normally as before. Honestly, he didn’t even want to leave him like that.

“If I apply just a little more force here, your father will die. But if I stop around here, well, he might just become disabled.”

There was no warmth in his voice. It was neither cold nor hot. It was just plain. That meant that, just like when he had killed Ruben, he could commit murder this time without any hesitation.

The corners of Renie’s eyes trembled.

Her gaze faltered and fell upon the slumped figure of the Marquis.

In truth, he was someone she had wished dead so many times. A father who had never warmly embraced her since birth and had always seen her as nothing more than a tool. Whenever she stayed at the Marquis’s estate and suffered his abuse, she had always wished for him to disappear from this world.

At the dining table, holding a knife, she had imagined stabbing her father’s neck countless times. It was a violent fantasy that made her feel strange about herself. That’s how much Renie hated, feared, and disliked him.

But that had always remained just a fantasy. Because she, as a child, believed she couldn’t navigate this world without her father.

The thief of her self-esteem. The evil one who had shattered her pride.

It was a golden opportunity to get rid of such a father.

“......”

But when that moment actually arrived, she hesitated, absurdly enough. It wasn’t because the subject was her father. It was because, so soon after her dear friend Ruben had died, she didn’t want to see anyone else die because of her.

She was tired of the stench of blood, and the nightmares that haunted her every night were wearisome.

If she failed to save him this time as well, if someone else died because of her, she felt as if she truly wouldn’t be able to protect anything anymore. Even if it was her father, something in her heart felt as if it would crumble.

Renie now knew how to please the man. It was very simple.

She just had to do as he wished.

“I... I...”

“......”

“Said I wanted to quit being Pope.”

“......”

“I want to get out of here...”

Kahn’s smooth eyebrows twitched. Seeing that sign of displeasure, her body trembled. A silent gaze continued for a moment.

Soon, as promised, he lifted his foot from the Marquis.

Kahn stepped over the Marquis, who lay sprawled like a corpse, and strode towards Renie. The echoing footsteps in the room sounded like a monster approaching her. Renie unknowingly shrank back into the corner.

He quickly reached her, knelt down, and met her gaze. Kahn reached out his hand. Renie hesitated at the touch on her forehead.

“Why?”

He gently rubbed away the blood that had flowed from her torn skin.

“Trying to run away from me?”

Her throat felt as if it had been glued shut, and she couldn’t say anything. But seeing her face covered in terror, Kahn smiled wryly, as if he knew the answer.

“Why are you trembling so much, Renie?”

“......”

“Are you afraid of me?”

The hand that had been lingering on her forehead slowly moved down.

“How strange. You’re more afraid of me than the father who abused you your whole life?”

He suddenly grabbed Renie’s hand. She frowned at his strong grip.

“This wound. All of it was made by that man, wasn’t it?”

She knew what Kahn was referring to without even looking. It must be the deep scar on the back of her hand.

He licked the back of Renie’s hand while their eyes were locked.

It was an old wound, so there was no reason to feel pain, yet the spot where his tongue had passed felt strangely tingly.

“So you wanted to run away from me so much that you would choose such a father?”

His pupils narrowed into long slits, like those of a ferocious beast. His sharp eyes were so chilling that Renie’s fingertips curled inward.

“The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get.”

His voice suddenly dropped.

“I guess it would be better to just kill him.”

Kahn, having released Renie’s hand that he had been gripping tightly, stood up. His resolute attitude suggested that he wouldn’t leave her even the slightest choice.

Realizing that the changed Kahn was about to head towards her fallen father, Renie’s heart sank bleakly.

“No!”

She desperately tried to grab his trousers.

Before she could, a sharp pain suddenly surged from inside her abdomen. Renie gasped, her breath catching at the piercing sensation, and her upper body slumped down.

It felt as if someone was violently stabbing the inside of her stomach with a knife.

As she gasped for breath with a deathly pale face, Kahn, sensing something was wrong, turned around. His expression turned icily cold as he saw Renie collapsed, clutching her stomach.

Through her wavering vision, she saw Kahn rapidly approaching. He wore an unfamiliar expression. It was clearly a look of bewilderment, as if he were even worried about her fallen state.

“What, why suddenly...”

Kahn, who had been hastily examining Renie, paused.

Renie, who was艰难ly taking deep breaths, could easily tell that his gaze was fixed on her abdomen. At that moment, goosebumps, like grains of sand, ran down her spine.

“......You.”

His crimson eyes met Renie’s.

“Are you pregnant?”

The moment she saw the corners of his lips curving upward in delight, Renie’s heart was filled with terror. As his menacing aura subsided, the pain in her abdomen also gradually lessened. But Renie, utterly terrified, didn’t even notice the change.

Raising her upper body, she trembled and began to back away, shuffling on her buttocks.

“N-no. No...”

Like someone denying reality, Renie frantically shook her head.

“Lies.”

“No, it’s not true!”

Kahn reached out his hand towards her stomach. It seemed she had already been found out, but Renie pushed his hand away in a final desperate act. However, as if it were a predetermined outcome, his hand covered Renie’s abdomen without any gap.

Kahn focused his senses on his fingertips for a moment. A black light flickered like ashes from his palm. Then, the sharp pain from before returned, and Renie’s face contorted violently. Her face was drenched in sweat.

As soon as he confirmed that reaction, Kahn removed his hand and then smiled brightly. The face that had been cold with anger just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

It was the first time she had ever seen him wear such a joyful smile, he who always had only a calm smile.

Truly, as if he were lost in happiness.

“Finally, I’ve gotten my seed.”

His lips, stretched wide, looked grotesque.

Strange. Why is he so happy? It’s as if he had been waiting for this news.

Renie, trembling, couldn’t take her eyes off his exultant face. That sinister smile kept unpleasantly scratching at something deep inside her.

“Biron.”

At his single call, someone emerged from the darkness. It was Biron, Kahn’s subordinate, whose presence here she hadn’t even noticed.

“Prepare for our return to the Demon Realm.”

Kahn added, caressing her cheek with a tender gaze, “And... tell them the bride and child will be coming too.”

Renie, noticing his gaze alternating between her and her stomach, was stunned. Kahn rose as if time were of the essence. This time, she grabbed the hem of his trousers.

Even while denying that it could be true, she felt truly faint, as if the ‘bride’ he was referring to was her. Her heart pounded so violently that she wouldn’t have been surprised if she fainted then and there.

This time, Kahn readily allowed her to hold him. He even leaned down and cupped Renie’s cheeks before pressing his lips to hers. As if they were a loving couple...

Even though she had experienced enough kisses to be sick of them, a strange chill ran down her spine. Perhaps that was why she didn’t even register that Biron was witnessing their kiss.

Behind the dry kiss, devoid of saliva, he smiled.

“You are coming with me to the Demon Realm.”

His pupils emitted a strange, iridescent light. An emotion far too radiant to be merely described as joy surged deeply like a wave.

Renie, who had been dazed, regained her senses a beat late and pushed him away.

“W-what are you talking about...?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to conceive. There’s no need to delay any longer.”

“Go where! I’m not going, absolutely not!”

Renie struggled, trying to break free from his embrace, screaming. Tears welled up, blurring her vision. She kept crying because she knew very well that no matter how much she struggled, she could never escape this man.

Kahn hugged her tightly as she twisted her body, trying to get away from him. His large hand gently stroked Renie’s stomach, like a male caressing a beloved female.

“I’m not a very patient person, Renie.”

“......”

“So, if you try to run away from me again, I might just turn this land into a sea of blood next time.”

He whispered in a languid voice, nibbling at her earlobe.

Renie’s body instantly stiffened like a stone. It was because she had suddenly imagined the Holy City in ruins. Disgusting bloodshed and corpses lying around, neatly severed. Herself standing in that nightmarish scene. It was a truly horrific sight that made her want to vomit.

“You know better than anyone that I’m not just talking.”

He gently caressed her thigh, as if trying to calm her down. Renie cried out with ragged breaths, “The contract was clearly to give you back your power before you left. There was no talk of taking me, taking me away!”

That’s right.

She had endured until now, believing in the terms of that contract. Kahn himself had said that if she gave him back the power he possessed within her, he would allow her to continue being Pope. So, she had resolved to just endure until then, right before Ruben had died.

But what was he saying now? Taking her to the Demon Realm?

Kahn burst into laughter. The sound that rang in her ears tightened her chest. He grabbed Renie’s chin and lifted it. Renie, resisting because she didn’t want to meet his bloodshot eyes, lost her balance and fell to the floor.

Kahn swiftly mounted her and pinned both her hands to the ground.

“I never made a new contract with you in the first place, Renie.”

Renie, who had been struggling, momentarily doubted her own ears.

“......What?”

“Our contract is only the one you made when you were a child. I reclaimed my power from you a long time ago.”

Come to think of it, it was slightly different from the contract she had experienced in the chapel as a child. Back then, she had touched a frame, and she had felt something at her fingertips.

So, there had been some kind of ‘contact’. But there had been nothing like that in this contract.

Then, was it really true that there had been no new contract?

“......Why.”

If that was true, then it had been a futile hope from the beginning. The hope of being able to maintain her position as Pope, the hope that things would become peaceful if she just endured this period!

All the endurance she had shown until now crumbled, and she truly lost her reason.

“Then why did you bring up the contract, why! Why me...?”

“Because it’s amusing.”

“......What?”

“The moment when a human’s hope turns into despair.”

“......”

“I could have easily made you pregnant without using a contract to hold you. However, because I planted hope in you, you willingly came into my arms.”

Something in Renie’s heart shattered with a crack. Her mind, far too weak to deal with his viciousness, began to break.

“Kneel when I tell you to kneel, spread your legs on your own, sway your hips, swallow my cum.”

“......”

“Could I have seen such a sight if I had forced you? No, you would have thought it better to commit suicide than to act so submissively.”

She wanted to cover her ears. But even if she did, the memories he was pointing out played themselves out in her head. Her own groveling figure, clinging to him while abandoning all pride and self-respect, caused a lump of emotion to rise hotly within her.

Her eyes burned with tears.

“Why... why are you doing this to me?”

Her tear-choked voice was pathetic.

“Why... why...”

She no longer had the strength to even angrily question him.

Beyond hardship awaited greater hardship, beyond despair awaited even greater despair. He tormented her cruelly, as if it were laughable that she had held onto hope, as if mocking her endurance.

Tears streamed down her face before she knew it. Her vision blurred with wetness, but she had no desire to wipe them away. Only the bleak thought of wanting to smash her head and die filled her mind. That’s how far she had been driven to the very edge.

“I told you.”

Kahn licked his lips languidly, looking at her eyes that had lost their light from torment and hardship. It was an action that seemed as if he were savoring a taste.

“Your misfortune is so very lovely.”

He cupped both her cheeks and smiled beautifully. For the first time, his crimson pupils felt as soft as if they had been made by melting honey. His gaze, as if looking at something truly precious, made her feel that way.

But Renie, the object of that gaze, could only tremble. His sweet gaze and soft voice felt to her like a sword that would pierce her throat in a moment of carelessness.

He brought his face close to hers. His ever-eerie crimson eyes were sticky like a swamp.

“Lovely, truly.”

“......”

“That’s why I want you to become even more unhappy.”

A demon. A being that feeds on evil.

To them, human misfortune must be as sweet as candy. No, it wasn’t something that could be described as just candy. It must be something alluring that continuously aroused their appetite.

At his cruel words, wishing for her to become even more unhappy, Renie let out a deep sigh. The time to wonder, “Why me?” had already passed. She didn’t even know if there was an answer to that question. It was nearly impossible for her to understand him, who had already far surpassed her standards several times.

So, she had no choice but to resign herself. Asking her father for help to escape the Holy City, or the hope of regaining a peaceful life after her contract with this man ended—everything felt like a midsummer night’s dream.

Perhaps he read the resignation in her eyes, as his smile deepened. He gently tucked her disheveled blonde hair behind her ear and whispered tenderly.

“Don’t even think about running away.”

“......”

“Because if you run away, I will kill everyone here.”

His crimson eyes felt even more chilling than usual today. It wasn’t an empty threat. That cunning man would truly do it.

So, this is how it ends. Depending on what I do, many people’s lives will either be saved or lost.

Renie slowly lowered her eyelids, as if trying to shield her eyes from the unbelievable reality.

The swamp of darkness that had been pooling at her feet finally swallowed her whole.