Time passed by without her knowing how.

The fallen Marquis Valois still hadn’t regained consciousness. To the physician’s question of how on earth he had ended up in such a state, Renie could only reply that she didn’t know.

No one knew that the King of Ferno had been in the Marquis’s bedroom, and everyone assumed that his own daughter, the Pope, would never harm her own father. Thus, the Marquis’s assault remained a mystery. Once again, Renie was the only one who knew the truth of what had happened that day.

According to the physician’s opinion, the Marquis had suffered not only physical injuries but also damage to his central nervous system, making it unlikely that he would ever live normally again even if he woke up.

But Renie did not grieve. Their relationship as father and daughter was not affectionate enough for such emotions, and lately, she didn’t even have the energy to care for herself.

On that night when thick despair had descended upon her, one of Kahn’s subordinates examined Renie under his orders. She simply extended her arm, cradled in Kahn’s embrace like a soulless doll.

His subordinate, who checked her pulse as the physician had done, soon reported concisely.

“A pregnancy pulse is detected. It seems to be about three weeks along.”

“I thought so. It reacted to my magic. It seems it was trying to protect the mother’s body from my power.”

Kahn laughed cheerfully, as if he were impressed.

“For this reason, you must refrain from sex for a while.”

It was at that point that Kahn’s usually easygoing mood soured. He tilted his eyebrows skeptically.

“Is it really necessary?”

“It’s still the early stages, so it’s best to do so until the womb is fully settled. There’s a risk of miscarriage otherwise.”

Kahn clicked his tongue displeasedly, rolled his eyes, and asked, “Just no insertion, then, right?”

His eyes were smoothly gleaming, as if he had never been irritable in the first place. At his sharply probing question, his subordinate nodded.

Since the examination, Kahn had not inserted himself into her.

To be precise, he hadn’t only refrained from insertion.

Now, he sucked and probed her lower regions even more relentlessly with his fingers, forcing Renie to experience unwanted climaxes repeatedly. And he would rub his hard, erect member between her thighs, ejaculating repeatedly. The number of times he buried his face between her legs like a dog in heat had also increased compared to before.

In other words, except for the insertion, she was still being violently handled by him in the same way.

The memory of just last night was enough to prove that.

Inside the dark bedroom. As soon as he pulled down her underwear, Kahn, whose massive erection sprang out with a ‘thwack’, forced it into her mouth and urged her to suck.

His thick head filled her mouth, already making her jaw ache, but Renie had no choice but to obediently open her lips. Rather than escalating things by pointlessly resisting and displeasing him, it was better for her mind and body to respond as calmly as possible. The lethargy that seeped from her crushed sanity had completely stolen her will to resist him.

As the sticky tip burrowed in and rubbed against her tongue, a reflexive wave of nausea rose. Then, the thick shaft that followed constricted her throat, naturally making her eyes water.

“Suck the glans harder.”

“Uhn, hmm...”

The man proceeded with his usual merciless oral sex, treating her mouth like a warm hole to be carelessly thrust into. Renie had to constantly strive not to bite down, even as she gagged.

“Your bottom hole still has a long way to go to become skillful. It doesn’t have the chewy taste of a cunt.”

He muttered lowly, ignoring her desperate efforts to barely grasp the pillar-like member that was larger than both her hands could hold.

“Doing it so clumsily, you wouldn’t be able to make me cum even if you sucked all day. Bite down with your teeth a little.”

At his sudden demand, Renie froze. The man, shaking his head at her slightly stiffened movements, gently caressed her lips.

“You don’t want your jaw to dislocate, do you?”

It was a threat that if she didn’t do as he said quickly, he would thrust himself into her even more violently than before.

Afraid, Renie bit his member haphazardly, without any skill. But even that was so insignificant, like a display of her weak nature, that it was merely ticklish.

Kahn, noticing this, chuckled and stroked the back of her round head.

He licked the opening between the glans and occasionally bit down with his teeth, and finally, he thrust his cock deeper and ejaculated. At his words that he wouldn’t pull out until she swallowed, Renie had to force all the disgusting ejaculate down her throat.

That arduous night passed.

Perhaps due to its aftereffects, Renie simply sat listlessly throughout the consistory meeting the next day. Her throat, overworked the previous night, was still scratchy. Besides that, her mind was cluttered for various reasons, and she didn’t even know how the matters were proceeding. The archbishops had to call her several times before she would come to her senses.

“Then, we shall proceed with the Holy Festival as previously decided.”

“The Fernese delegation will depart according to the schedule at the end of the Holy Festival.”

The final event during the Fernese delegation’s two-month stay was the Holy Festival. The Holy Festival was a massive religious celebration in which all the people of the Holy City participated. On that day, all the gates on the east and west sides of the Holy City were opened, allowing foreigners to enter and leave freely without separate inspections.

For some reason, Kahn had set a grace period before returning. He had declared, not quite a proclamation, that he would take her to the Demon Realm after the Holy Festival ended.

While lying exhausted after the sex without insertion, Renie overheard a conversation that seemed to be the reason for this.

“...did they?”

“They apparently change their names every time they cross the border. That’s why they’ve been so difficult to find all this time.”

“They hid well, like rats. Just like their descendants.”

Kahn’s tone, which was usually somewhat affable towards Renie, was sharp and prickly. It was a nervous tone.

“No matter what, I have to kill all those bastards before I leave. It would be too infuriating to just return quietly like this!”

The emotion contained within his sticky laughter was truly scathing. Renie felt so afraid just trying to figure out who the target was that she quickly feigned sleep.

In any case, Kahn and his group seemed to have things to do in this land. And that period was the last bit of freedom given to Renie.

No, to call it freedom was no different from a bird trapped in a cage.

Renie would imagine escaping the Holy City dozens of times a day. But behind that sweet and dizzying fantasy followed Kahn’s chilling threat: if she ran away, he would turn this place into a sea of blood...

She wanted to believe that he wouldn’t go that far, but based on what she had experienced so far, he was more than capable of it. The animals in the carriage, Paladin Ruben, and even her own father. There were more than one or two pieces of evidence that couldn’t be dismissed as lies.

The Marquis’s estate was one thing, but the Holy City, this place had been a source of warm comfort to her.

The Archbishop and many priests who sincerely believed in and followed her, the kind servants including Cecil. She couldn’t push them into the line of fire without any hesitation just to save herself. It was the last bit of responsibility left in her, who was so broken and distorted.

Amidst all this, she felt both foolish and helpless for not being able to run away while clinging to a sense of responsibility. If her single sacrifice was the path to saving everyone... her 고민 always ended so miserably.

Sometimes, without even consciously realizing it, she would grip a dagger. One day, its tip would be pointed at her throat, another day at her wrist. They were mostly positions where a well-aimed stab could result in instant death.

Hanging precariously over her bold actions was always the thought, “Wouldn’t it be better to die than to be dragged away by Kahn?” If she were captured by him like this and taken to the Demon Realm, she didn’t know what would become of her life. That thought urged her to take her own life.

But the attempts always failed. Death was even more terrifying than being dragged away by the demon. She found herself pathetic and, at the same time, pitiable. To have only the choice between pain and greater pain. What a truly pitiful situation.

Returning to her office, Renie stared intently at her wrist. It was as thin as a twig; she could even see that she had lost weight just by looking at it, as she hadn’t been eating properly lately.

The blue veins pulsing beneath her white skin were clearly visible. She habitually rummaged through her drawer. The dagger in the third drawer of her work desk was within reach.

She rubbed the blunt side of the blade over her veins. Would it hurt if she stabbed herself? It would hurt a lot, wouldn’t it? As she pondered how much pain it would be, her wrist was already trembling.

In the end, even today, her resolve couldn’t be firmly established.

“Your Holiness.”

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Startled, Renie dropped the dagger she was holding. Only after quickly picking it up and putting it back in the drawer did she open her mouth.

“What is it?”

“The merchant guild has arrived for the Holy Festival preparations. The guild leader wishes to pay his respects to Your Holiness. What shall we do?”

During the Holy Festival, which was also the grand festival of the Evreux Kingdom, merchant groups from other countries would flock to the Holy City. As it was a festival with a large crowd, the Holy Festival was excellent prey for those who smelled money.

“Let them in.”

Although it was a ploy, the merchant guilds played a significant role in enlivening the atmosphere, so the Holy City welcomed their entry. Recalling this, Renie readily gave her permission.

The door opened, and a figure cloaked in a robe stepped inside.

Renie paused at the entrance of this person, who exuded a strangely ominous aura. Soon, he removed the hood he was wearing.

After the dark skin that looked tanned by the scorching sun, the first thing that caught her eye was a long scar that ran from his temple down to near his mouth.

Even though merchant guilds traveled between countries and lived a hectic life, they didn’t usually emanate such a menacing atmosphere. Especially that scar made him look more like a bandit who plundered merchant caravans than a guild leader.

Moreover, unlike the merchants who always wore a slick smile, the man before her didn’t have a single twitch at the corner of his lips.

This man doesn’t seem to be the guild leader.

If that was true, it meant he had entered this place by concealing his identity, and that suspicious point made Renie extremely tense. She glared at the man, slowly reaching her hand towards the drawer where she had placed the dagger.

The man stood stiffly, seemingly taken aback by Renie’s wary attitude, then bowed neatly. Renie blinked blankly at the sudden greeting.

“Greetings, Your Holiness.”

Despite his suspiciousness, Renie relaxed her guard slightly at his polite demeanor.

“Who are you? The guild leader... doesn’t seem to be you.”

“I sincerely apologize for unintentionally concealing my identity. My name is Gail.”

The man, Gail, who spoke fluidly, slowly raised his head.

“I should introduce myself as a demon hunter.”

Blue eyes, resembling the night sky, gleamed sharply.

________________________________________

Demon hunter.

Renie stared at the man who had introduced himself that way with a look of doubt. It wasn’t the first time she had heard that title, but it was the first time she had actually met one.

Their origins predated even the temple. Before the fact that divine power was the power of God was revealed, that is, from a time when the concept of a priest didn’t exist, those who had fought against evil forces were the demon hunters.

They defeated demons using their own power independently, without registering with the temple. As far as Renie knew, they operated through secret guilds in each country, chasing down demons with bounties on their heads from the humans who had contracted them.

Unlike the temple, whose duties were entirely focused on tracing the traces of dark magic or purifying humans whose souls had already been consumed, their actions were quite aggressive.

“I apologize for coming to you so abruptly. Time was pressing, and there was no other way.”

Gail opened his mouth with the same determined stance he had when he first entered.

“While tracking a demon I am searching for, I learned that Your Holiness might have a connection to that demon.”

“Connection...?”

“The frame that was in the Valois Marquis’s chapel.”

Renie’s eyes momentarily hardened. A memory of the past, when she had made a contract with Kahn, suddenly flashed through her mind and then dissipated.

She quickly regained her composure and asked, “How do you know about that frame?”

“The one who imprisoned the demon in that place was another demon hunter, and my ancestor.”

“Imprisoned... you say?”

“Yes. It was sealed.”

Gail took a sip of the tea she had offered and began to explain concisely.

“That demon was sealed in my ancestor’s time, a very long time ago. His name is Kahn, the king of demons.”

Renie swallowed hard at the mention of the familiar name.

“At that time, the number of demon hunters mobilized to capture Kahn was 72, and half of them lost their lives in the process. After barely succeeding in sealing him, one hunter especially managed the frame that held Kahn.”

“......”

“However, as time passed, the danger of that demon didn’t greatly affect the descendants, and as a result, the management gradually became negligent. As you know, the existence of demons doesn’t greatly resonate with ordinary people who cannot wield divine power.”

It was a plausible explanation. Renie also hadn’t known if such demonic beings actually existed until she had learned theology.

“So, no one expected it. That his descendant would put the frame up for auction at a high price to solve his impoverished circumstances.”

Renie also didn’t know how that frame had come to be in the Marquis’s estate. It seemed that the one sold at the auction had gone through several hands and eventually ended up in the chapel of the Marquis’s estate.

“Later, upon learning that fact, I chased after it, and recently discovered that the frame was in the Valois Marquis’s estate. However, no one from the family, including the Marquis, was there, so they said they couldn’t let me in without permission. Therefore, I apologize for secretly infiltrating and looking around the house.”

The recent time he was referring to seemed to be around the time Marquis Valois had arrived in the Holy City. Since then, the Marquis had stayed here, so currently, there was no one with the name Valois at the estate.

Renie couldn’t say anything to Gail, who was confessing to trespassing. She was just barely breathing, her throat feeling parched. Only the story this man would tell next was important.

“Fortunately, I found the frame in the chapel, but as I feared, the demon was not there.”

“......”

“Since Your Holiness is a member of the Valois Marquis family, I came to you hoping you might know something. Please tell me anything you know, no matter how trivial. We must find that demon.”

It felt too persistent for just trying to get a bounty. It felt as if there was a reason why Kahn absolutely had to be sealed, even across generations.

Stroking her chest, which had begun to pound, Leniere艰难ly asked, “Why? Is there a special... reason?”

Gail looked at her for a moment before answering.

“My grandfather said that there was only one reason why the king of demons would appear in this world.”

“......”

“To obtain a bride.”

At that moment, Renie’s hand trembled violently, and the tea inside spilled out. But there was no way she could have the presence of mind to wipe it.

Only the image of Kahn looking at her a few days ago and mentioning ‘bride’ flickered before her eyes.

“A bride, you say?”

“To establish the life conceived between the king and a human, that half-human, half-demon, as the next king of the Demon Realm.”

“......”

“There is only one reason why a king residing in the Demon Realm would cross over to the human realm. And that half-human, half-demon, will probably be an entity with tremendous power, capable of encompassing both this world and the Demon Realm. Therefore, keeping him alive will inevitably be a disaster for this world. More demons will flood over than now, seducing humans and dragging them into evil. To prevent that, we are trying to stop Kahn.”

Half-human, half-demon. Tremendous power. Disaster for the world.

The chilling terms he uttered all referred to the life that had taken root in Renie’s womb.

Clang! She finally dropped the teacup she was holding. Hearing Gail’s explanation, she understood why Kahn had been so delighted upon realizing her pregnancy. His face, filled with joy, had momentarily bordered on ecstasy.

Was that the thrill of being able to completely stain this world with the power of evil?

“That demon, Kahn.”

Renie couldn’t calm down at all and covered her face with trembling hands.

“He is here now. Here......”

Gail’s eyes gleamed as if he had finally found a clue.

But Renie only felt gloomy. There was still a heavy reality he needed to know.

“And it seems that the bride that demon has set his sights on... is me.”

Gail, who had been poised to ask a question as soon as she finished speaking, stiffened. His eyes were filled with bewilderment.

“Is that true?”

Renie confessed everything honestly, from the contract she had made as a child to the moment she had reunited with Kahn. Deep down, there was a hope that perhaps this man could become a light in her bleak situation. It was a change that even she, who had been trapped in darkness for so long, hadn’t realized.

“I wondered how on earth he broke the seal...”

“If you put it that way, the timing fits roughly. Didn’t the power of evil in the world suddenly become stronger around a certain day? It’s because the king was released from the seal that the demons’ power also became fierce.”

Gail, who had been stroking his chin and deep in thought, sighed.

“The condition for keeping him in the frame was black magic. That is, the dark power that demons use. It was made so that he could never get out as long as he possessed that power, but it seems he transferred all that power to Your Holiness through the contract. If that’s the case, getting out would have been easy.”

“So, in the end, my contract was...”

“Yes. It became the catalyst for Kahn to escape.”

That day, her heart, melted by his sweet voice, had ultimately created this tragic situation. Renie wore a pained expression, for she herself was the origin of the absolute evil that had come into the world.

“If he truly plans to take Your Holiness as his bride, it would be best to leave this place as soon as possible. If you were to become pregnant...”

Gail wore a troubled expression. It felt like a sign that the world was about to collapse, and Renie’s heart sank.

When she, who had been answering well so far, gave no reply, Gail looked puzzled. Renie clutched her stomach with a face that looked as if she was about to cry. Perhaps he敏锐ly noticed this, as Gail’s face gradually hardened.

“Surely not, Your Holiness.”

She bit her lip, unable to say anything. Her pale, ashen face showed how much she was trembling with anxiety. Gail, whose face also darkened, rubbed his dry face, utterly unprepared for this turn of events.

After a long silence, he艰难ly opened his mouth.

“You must terminate it.”

“......I know.”

“No, that alone won’t do. Once he has marked you as his bride, he will try to drag Your Holiness to the Demon Realm no matter what. You should have fled as soon as possible in the first place. Why have you stayed here all this time!”

“Do you think I didn’t want to?”

Renie clutched her head, feeling like she was going mad.

“That demon tried to kill the people around me just because they displeased him. Some people actually died. For no reason to die, so meaninglessly! Now he’s threatening to kill everyone here if I run away, so how can I...!”

Her strained voice echoed in the office. Gail, who had been wearing a bewildered expression as he listened to her plea, suddenly spoke.

“Your Holiness. Who exactly... are you worried about right now?”

Those words pierced Renie’s heart like a spear. Her face, which had stiffened with a flinch, soon began to crumple little by little like paper.

Ah, that’s right.

He was right.

Renie was in no position to worry about others. She had to prioritize her own safety over the treatment of others. It was not the time to leisurely bestow mercy on others.

I need to live, I don’t know what will become of me.

The truth that had suddenly struck her like thunder shook her insides terribly.

She had cried a lot for a while, so she thought her tear ducts had run dry. Recently, she hadn’t shed a single tear while being manipulated by him. Lately, everything had felt vague and indifferent, like a dream.

But the moment she heard Gail’s words, the fear that had only been an illusion became real and overwhelmed her like a tsunami.

The reason she hadn’t reacted much until now was because she hadn’t felt the reality of it. Because she was still here, in this Holy City, in a space she knew so well, the idea of being dragged to the Demon Realm hadn’t truly sunk in.

The various emotions she had been forcibly holding back surged forth like a burst dam. She clutched her head and sobbed uncontrollably. Tears poured down like rain.

“Please, please save me...”

“Your Holiness.”

“He said he would take me to the Demon Realm. I don’t want to. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to! Why, why do I have to go? Why do I have to die! Why, why...”

She hated being dragged to the Demon Realm by him, hated willingly going to the Demon Realm to stop him, hated throwing away her life to stop him. Renie just wanted to live an ordinary life. But why, the more she struggled, did she seem to be crawling into this abysmal mire?

Gail quietly watched Renie, who was trembling pathetically.

It wasn’t the first time he had seen such a sight. Those who had been tormented by demons to the point where all reason had collapsed often showed the same unstable behavior as her. He keenly felt how severely she had been tormented by the demon.

“I will help you.”

Renie, who had been wailing as if the world was collapsing,艰难ly lifted her head.

“That’s why I came to see Your Holiness in the first place. To deal with that demon. He is nothing but a harmful existence if left unchecked.”

“......”

“So, from now on, Your Holiness must pull yourself together. Now that things have come to this, your role has become the most important.”

“What...”

“I plan to seal Kahn once more.”

Renie gasped sharply, like someone facing something unimaginable. Gail calmly laid out his plan.

“A group of hunters who travel with me have arrived in the royal capital. They are all descendants of the hunters who helped seal Kahn in the past. Only I came here first due to the security checks. Since the Holy Festival is scheduled soon, I will arrange for all of them to naturally enter the Holy City, mixed in with the crowds.”

Her heart pounded. If before it had only been a sliver of hope with almost no chance, this time, it was a slightly brighter form. Perhaps, perhaps. Renie’s hope, which had repeatedly collapsed in vain, was thus raising its head once more.

“However, there is something Your Holiness must do.”

Gail took something out from his inner pocket. It was a small glass bottle. It was filled with a transparent liquid like water.

“This is...”

“Holy water.”

Renie’s tear-glossed eyes widened.

“Holy water?”

Holy water.

It was sacred water from the World Tree, the most lethal poison for demons. However, since the first thing demons had done when they began to invade this land was to destroy the World Tree, finding holy water now was like trying to pluck a star from the sky.

She had heard that the efficacy of holy water was incomparably stronger than divine power. Perhaps that was why theologians speculated that demons had eradicated the World Tree first.

“It was passed down from my ancestor. I’ve never used it, just in case of an emergency. A very long time ago, holy water was essential when sealing Kahn. You could say it played a nearly decisive role.”

Gail handed her the glass bottle.

“What Your Holiness needs to do is to feed this to Kahn.”

“......!”

Renie almost dropped the glass bottle for a moment. But remembering that it was very precious and at the same time the only lifeline that could save her, she barely managed to clutch it.

“Any method is fine. And it doesn’t have to be all of it. You only need to feed him one drop, just one drop.”

“H-he is very perceptive. If he were to find out...”

“You asked me to save you, didn’t you?”

“......”

“Please believe that feeding him this is the only way to escape him. If not this way, we can no longer help you. No. We will help, but the chances of success will be extremely slim.”

Gail said very firmly that there was no other way.

Since coming to the Holy City, Kahn hadn’t touched any food. He was like that even before revealing that he was a demon, and it went without saying after the revelation.

Instead, he steadily intertwined his body with Renie, as if he were eating a meal. Considering what he had said before, that a demon’s hunger is only satisfied by human energy... he wouldn’t eat any food she prepared.

‘Can I do it?’

Renie looked down at the glass bottle with a dizzying feeling.

Soon, her thoughts changed.

‘No, I have to do it.’

There were no other options left. If even this failed, Renie would be helplessly devoured by the demon. So, she had to somehow feed Kahn this holy water.

Strength entered the fingertips of her firmly clenched hand. Renie’s pupils, usually filled with tension, shone resolutely for the first time in a very long time.