Chapter 213 – Chapter 213 ― Mist, Mist of Swin Lake (2)
Episode 213 ― Fog, Swin Lake Fog (2)
The carriage stopped for supper.
The son-in-law became dark and the servants became busy.
Around the time when the foothills and high peaks that were visible in the distance were erased by the darkness and invisible.
Lying side by side in a low tent,
Eleanor continued the story he started in the carriage.
“At that time, His Majesty the Emperor came to Swin Lake with young Roan. It was rare. Because there is no way to take a young prince along a long way like Roan.”
Eleanor remembered the past.
It may have faded, but the childhood is still vivid.
It was the time when I was living in the darkest and darkest tower of Swinho Castle.
A life in which she was kept confined because the person who gave birth to her was a human. However, young Elenir didn’t know that it wasn’t normal. It’s because she didn’t have anything to compare with in the first place.
She could only read her sympathy in the eyes of the maids who tidied her room and brought her meals.
Her maids feared her as a hybrid of her duke and her human, despised her, but pitied her.
So they often told the news from outside to the child instead of fairy tales.
It was for this reason that Erenia heard her story about the prince visiting the castle. For young maids, the story of the little prince is good gossip.
“Even back then, Roan must have been a very cute kid. All the maids talked about Roan.”
So, for the first time as a young Erenir, she decided to go on an adventure of her own, driven by her own curiosity.
It escaped
“It was actually easy to get out of the room. The maids thought I was a helpless fool, and I knew where the keys were kept.”
“Eleanor is smart. You couldn’t have known that.”
“Whoops♡”
While holding her chin and gently brushing Roan’s hair, Erenia pressed her heavy chest against his upper body. But she shows no signs of seduction in her gestures.
She continued her story.
“She came out of the castle, but got lost. She’d never been outside. It’s a world that’s so big beyond imagination that a child who lived in a room comes out as a castle. She was wandering around the castle with half curiosity and half fear, but she met Roan by chance. What is it?”
A deep smile appeared on Erenia’s face.
“Roan at that time was also very pretty♡”
And Erenia lightly touched Roan’s eyelashes. Roan blinked slowly, and eyes shining like amethyst disappeared and appeared under his eyelids.
“Okay. These jewel-like eyes were so pretty. It was the first time I thought I wanted someone♡ But do you know what Roan said the first time he saw me?”
Roan shook his head slowly.
Erenia answered with a smile without a hint of sadness.
“Your hair is beautiful, resembling the night sky.”
Roan laughed.
The demon lord, you’ve been good at saying things like that since you were little. When he met the guy, the things to make fun of increased.
Erenia had a dreamy expression on her face.
“I must have inherited my hair from my mother. That’s why she didn’t call anyone pretty. Roan was the first to say I was beautiful and that someone didn’t avoid me♡ So she made up her mind then. I will find a way to leave the room, leave the castle, and meet Roan.”
Like a cat, she gently rubbed her cheek against Roan’s arms.
“But Roan didn’t even give me a chance to do that♡”
“Hmm?”
“Do you remember talking about me with His Majesty and Father?”
Roan shook his head again.
Then, unlike before, a slightly sad expression lingered in Erenia’s soft expression.
Roan apologized as he slowly brushed the hair of the Eleanor he was hugging.
“Sorry.”
“I can’t help it because it was a trivial thing when I was young… I wanted to ask you what you said about me.”
Eleanor, who was speechless for a moment, was silent.
As if to soothe her, her Roan petted her for a while, and then Erenia opened her mouth again.
“Roan said that he talked about me in the presence of His Majesty and Father. She is a girl with the color of the night sky and has tremendous magical powers. Originally, the magic power of children before awakening could not be confirmed, so my father was quite surprised when he heard that.”
Roan’s eyes narrowed.
Knowing who has magical powers is the realm of ‘detection’.
(Former) Did the demon lord have this skill since he was young? If so, he is also an extraordinary talent.
Skills usually crystallize and blossom with awakening. Occasionally, in the case of exceptional, strong abilities, there are times when they have skills even from a young age, but the holders are children.
In most cases, children do not know what abilities I have, what differences I have from others, and what I should say.
However, it seems that the (former) demon king was not like that.
Judging from the fact that he had his eyes on Elenier, who had high magical power.
A normal child would have found a giant stag beetle hanging from a tree trunk more attractive than someone his age with high magic power.
“As soon as I heard that, my father found me. Taken by her maid and being scolded in her room, she said that from now on she would receive her education. Since then, my life has changed.”
Her eyes met Elenir.
Desire welled up in his blood-red eyes.
The skill conveyed that it was a ‘possessive desire’.
In Roan’s sharp eyes, a slight wariness bloomed and then disappeared.
Now Roan knows that possessiveness doesn’t just express itself in purely affectionate gestures.
Eleanor’s deep and dark desires are hidden inside Roan’s hair, statues, and portraits that she hides inside her bedroom device.
“So did you succeed as a wizard? For me?”
Upon hearing Roan’s question, Erenia’s eyes were bent like half moons.
“It’s for Roan♡”
Ernear raised her body.
The place where her body temperature dropped was replaced by the cool night air. Or, do you feel that coolness in your heart?
“I wanted to make the prince mine. Of course, my father refused. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Sitting sideways on her bed, Erenia stared blankly at Roan.
“Around the time before awakening. I asked again. To be betrothed to the prince. Father refused again. I had to see what kind of wizard I would become after awakening.”
I can feel the strange heat in my voice.
A crooked smile appeared on Erenia’s mouth as she closed her eyes as if recalling that time.
“So I became a wizard. And I was finally able to get engaged to Roan♡”
“Awesome. It was because of the talent, Erennier.”
“Huh? No, Roan.”
Eleanor said firmly.
Had she ever denied Roan’s words?
Feeling her doubt, Roan stared at Erenir.
Her expression was always kind and loving.
“I became a wizard to be with you♡ Because I was able to do that♡”
“You were able to do that?”
You mean you could become a wizard at will?
Roan remembered the story he had heard from Aranya. The story of how Roan became betrothed to Eleanor.
Chancellor Aranya was one of Roan’s guardians. (Former) The Demon King’s parents died suddenly. And the chancellor, even now, she always wants to keep the great lords in check.
However, her fiancée is the daughter of the great lord.
So, Roan once asked the chancellor why the high lord’s daughter and her became betrothed. At that time, Aranya’s answer was this.
— The Grand Duke of the Southern Black Spirit was the de facto number one until last year. Politically, he was similar to me, but in reality, the central nobles could never ignore his authority and power.
He has been demanding an engagement. He is presumptuous, but His Majesty’s position was ambiguous until recently, so it was not easy to ignore the grand duke’s insistence with the power of the imperial family. He was the only one who could challenge His Majesty with force and force.
In other words, it means that she had no choice but to accept the engagement because she was trying to catch the attention of the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke hid and raised Eleanor for several years. Then he (with the advice of the young demon king) suddenly put his daughter in front and started teaching magic. She succeeded and became a genius wizard. She (before) she is enough to be betrothed to the Demon King.
Conversely, the engagement could not have worked if she did not stand out in some way.
Ernaire said she dreamed of it, but it’s hard for her to become like this unless she’s out of luck. How far is she planning and how much is coincidence?
“I told you, Roan. I can do anything for Roan♡”
The new bride whispered her love to Roan in a sweet voice.
“It will be as I said♡ Don’t worry, my prince♡ I won’t let you go no matter what happens♡”
**
Similar to the usual image of ‘southern regions’, Namheukryeong is also a warm and sunny place.
However, there is a thick fog around Swin Lake. To the point of being obnoxious.
“There are many adults in the family who are uncomfortable with sunlight.”
Being a vampire, it’s natural.
Maybe that’s why I settled down in this place in the first place.
Across the river, beyond the gates of the city, a group of people were heading this way to meet the emperor and empress.
“Congratulations on your marriage. Her Majesty the Emperor, Her Highness the Empress. This is Rumbe, the chief secretary at Swinho Castle.”
Secretary Revenant, with a thin, sunken face, looked haggard, but bowed respectfully.
“It’s a pity that I couldn’t see the grand wedding in person. I’m glad you arrived safely after a long trip.”
Her eyes widened as Erenia got off her wagon, she asked.
“Rumbe? What about your father?”
“The Grand Duke was on a sudden inspection of the suburbs, but there was a minor accident.”
“It’s an accident. How about the grand duke?”
When Roan asked, the secretary-general lowered his head again.
“The Grand Duke is safe. A wagon wheel shattered, bringing the party to a halt. It can be dangerous to come back alone, so I plan to fix the wagon and come back with the knights.”
Roan’s gaze turned to the chief secretary, but the chief secretary just calmly finished his report and waited for his words.
It is nonsense that the Grand Duke could be dangerous.
I am the only one in this country who can put him in danger.
In the first place, the date of Elenir’s return was set, but why did the Grand Duke leave?
“It must have been urgent. I get it.”
Anyway, there is nothing to ask about it outside the castle.
Roan agreed, and the party was finally able to enter the castle.
Swin Lake is a beautiful city.
Where two rivers merge.
The beautiful Central Mountains are visible to the north and the vast plains to the south.
But why does this city look so gloomy?
The damp fog settled quietly even within the walls of Swin Lake. Is this melancholy due to the thick fog that blocks the sun?
And the moment he entered the lord’s castle, Roan frowned once again.
‘Even here… ?!’
Eleanor and Rumbe looked back at him, not knowing why, but Roan couldn’t easily turn back his expression.
What filled this dim castle
A distinct stench permeating the thick fog.
It is the traces of the devil that create unbearable discomfort against Roan’s holy power.
Roan reflexively looked back at Erenier.
However, he didn’t feel any discomfort from Elenia when he entered the castle.
Not only ‘Detection’, but all skills such as ‘Politics’ and ‘Detection’ made it known that Elenir really did not feel any discomfort.
“What’s wrong, Roan? Is something strange?”
The empress leaned over and approached Roan.
Trying to adjust to the slight discomfort that filled his entire body, Roan forced a smile.
“No, nothing.”
