After finishing his conversation with Isadora, Demian ran fast at night through the dark streets and moved to the royal palace prison to meet the captured black sorcerer.
When Lara asked Demian what he had said to the black sorcerer, he could not bring himself to tell the truth, but he had something to confirm.
"Chaos."
That was what the black sorcerer said.
But after that, he continued with an unbelievable remark.
"We will kill the saintess."
The saintess?
Demain considered his words as lies.
It had already been more than 100 years since God left this land. No matter how much the Temple of Glory refused it, those who knew had already admitted it. It was easy to see just by looking at the fact that it was almost impossible to find a priest who could use God's power.
How could there be saintess in such a land?
In the deep dawn, Demian appeared in the royal palace prison.
He moved silently in the darkness. His senses that were trained on the battlefield could feel the presence of dozens of soldiers. Demian did not think the King of Hautean would kill the black sorcerer. The King loved the late-born Princess, but it was very difficult to capture a black sorcerer. So he would try to keep him alive and use him as long as he can.
Demian climbed up the steep wall, opened a window, and entered the prison.
The place reeked of blood.
The black sorcerer was tied to the torture rack with his mouth and limbs subdued. He was unconscious after being tortured.
"Oi."
He did not wake up.
Demian could not help but to pinch the black sorcerer's pain spot, making him jump, and opened his eyes wide.
"Urgh!"
"Shush. Be quiet if you don't want to be tortured more. The soldiers will come."
Demian did not say whether he would release him if he cooperated or kill him painlessly.
The black sorcerer would not believe him anyway.
Instead, he asked about what he was curious about.
"There's a saintess in this land?"
"…Yes."
Demian asked him again.
"How did you know about that?"
"The demon told me."
The black sorcerer did not intend to hide about that.
Maybe he thought he was going to die anyway, or maybe he was confident that Demian could not stop the black sorcerers from killing the saintess.
"We will kill all the women that we suspect to be the saintess."
"Does that include the Princess?"
"Yes, since Sonnet Hautean was one of the strong candidates…"
Then, Demian could feel the presence of a few people, together with the noise of chatter in the hallway outside the prison.
Demian agonized briefly.
A demon's puppet could never be reformed. As soon as they made a contract with the demon, they were already dominated, depriving them of both their rights to their lives and souls. Those people would surely betray anyone if their lives were to be spared. In a worst-case scenario, those who wanted strong power could have approached him and helped him escape.
Demian hated it when things got annoying.
There was no need to spare his life when even he declared that he would kill all the women he suspected to be the saintess.
Demian did not think for too long.
His body moved fast. A sharp sword left a flash of light and took the life of the black sorcerer.
Demian took a glance at the black sorcerer who was breathing his last breath and walked out the window.
8. The Emergence of a Divorce Expert
A message came from the Marquess of Bailey.
He invited Lara to talk with him.
Lara received his message while she was contemplating what to wear between the dress Eunice bought her and her newly tailored dress.
"He really doesn't know when to give up. How could he ask me to go there? I'm not crazy enough to do that."
Lara snorted and tore up the message from the Marquess. Konny approached her and said.
"Milady, it's raining today, so it would be uncomfortable to wear a long skirt."
"Then, I will wear this one."
Lara chose the knee-length dress bought by Eunice.
With pale yellow outer and black lining, a strong complementary contrast was made whenever the skirt swayed.
Konny nodded with satisfaction as she tied black silk as the belt.
"You look good."
"Now all I have to do is put on the gown."
"What do you mean gown?"
"This just arrived."
Lara placed a box delivered from the boutique on the table and opened the lid. There were summer gowns in various colors in the box. She did not know exactly how many years later it would be, but there would be a time when the trend that started from the Empire swept the society of Hautean.
A dancer in the Empire began to wear an indoor gown as outerwear. The thin fabric followed her silhouette and fluttered whenever it moved, capturing women's hearts and quickly becoming a trend.
While acting as the fake saintess, Lara really wanted to wear the summer gown. The way it was see-through while softly fluttering was so pretty and fascinating. She bought it secretly only to hang it in the closet without even a chance to wear it.
She thought it was not tidy enough to be worn by a saintess.
She wondered why she did that back then.
"Wow! Milady, it is quite pretty for pajamas."
From the see-through fabric to the flower patterns of primary colors, the designer that Eunice and Ximena introduced made the gown perfectly as Lara had requested.
"It's not pajamas."
"It's not? What about this part?"
"I can use this to cover my clothes if I don't want them to get dirty or crumpled. If it's raining all of a sudden like today, it can keep my temperature in moderation when the weather is cool. Besides… it's pretty."
Konny nodded quickly as a sign that she agreed and dressed Lara in the gown.
"I'm deeply touched. You have always been looking for long white clothes, like a curtain ghost. Finally, you have found something that suits you."
"Curtain ghost?"
"You have never heard of it? It was a ghost that lives behind the curtain. It was said that at night, it will come out and try to hurt someone sleeping. There was also a saying that it stands by our heads and looks down at us all night."
"There's a ghost story like that? I think it's not that scary if it just looks down at us."
"I heard the curtain ghost is scared of fire. So we need to sleep with a lamp on our head…"
"Konny, stop reading weird books."
"Her Ladyship's secretary lent it to me. It's Hautean traditional ghost story. It's a really famous series."
"Sebastian?"
What strange taste he has.
Lara opened her cat-like eyes wide.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
After encountering Lara at the banquet, Marquess of Bailey looked rather shocked by Lara's actions, but he was not completely driven to the corner yet. She needed to put him on the edge of the cliff for her mother. Only then would he sign the divorce documents.
Lara moved without a break.
"Sebastian!"
When she headed out, Sebastian was about to get on the carriage after getting ready for work.
He turned around to find Lara and greeted her politely.
"Good morning, milady. Did you have a good night's rest?"
"I'm sorry to keep you worried."
"I think I heard you say the same thing last time."
He smiled faintly.
"Demian would have gone back to the arena. Sooner or later, he will move into this house. I plan to set up his accommodations in the annex…"
"Pardon? Why?"
Lara asked him.
She knew nothing about the conversation that Isadora, Sebastian, and Demian had.
Sebastian added a brief explanation for Lara.
"He's going to be your real knight escort."
"Demian?"
"Those who have noticed his skills will soon begin to contact him, so we should hurry up and take the lead. The contract will be ready by today. You will meet him in this house soon."
Lara dropped her jaws.
"He's quite stubborn. If you meet him today, persuade him to do as we suggest."
"Demian is being persistent?"
"Yes, we're negotiating his salary now."
Sebastian said with a strange smile around his wrinkled eyes.
"Madam Isadora is trying to pay him a large sum of money for his salary, but he said he doesn't need it. So we're having a hard time negotiating his salary."
What the…
"I was surprised to know that there is someone in this world who would refuse money from Madam Isadora."
"…I know, right?"
Lara smiled awkwardly.
What a strange man he was.
It was hard to understand his behavior in her past life. But when she came back and met him, it was even more difficult to understand.
He had no problem taking money directly from my wallet. But why won't he take the salary that my mother had offered?
I need to ask him when we meet later.