Chapter 185
“You won’t die. You’ll just suffer a bit. Either way, I’m trusting you with this.”
“Aaaaagh!!”
Alros screamed, but it was a futile protest.
Dragging the wailing Alros along, Christian mounted his horse.
But just as he was about to leave the castle gates, an unexpected figure blocked his path.
A composed beauty with a gentle expression—
It was Yulian.
“…Lady Yulian.”
“You’re heading somewhere dangerous, so I stopped by just to see you off.”
Yulian offered a soft smile.
It was the kind of beautiful smile that seemed to brighten everything around her—but Chris couldn’t look at it comfortably.
‘She’s stronger than before…?’
Outwardly, nothing about her power seemed different.
But the demonic aura lingering around her had grown markedly denser.
A trace that only someone like Chris, who had lived through the Age of Ruin, could recognize.
‘She’s received an additional blessing from a devil. But why?’
Chris’s gaze darkened.
More important than the fact that she’d been granted stronger demonic power… was the reason.
All devil contractors form pacts out of deep and desperate desires.
So then, what exactly did Yulian desire?
‘There’s no way she made a pact just to become Head of House.’
Yulian had never once tried to obstruct Chris from becoming the Grand Duke.
That meant her true aim wasn’t the position of House Leader.
It was something else entirely.
‘I have no leads.’
Chris suddenly realized just how little he actually knew about Yulian.
He had been far too indifferent toward her.
‘But there’s one thing I’m sure of.’
Yulian was undoubtedly harboring some chilling ambition.
The subtle tension she gave off now made that clear.
She was smiling calmly… but it felt as though a blade hovered in the air between them.
“Come to think of it, I never gave you a proper congratulations on becoming Grand Duke. As your older sister, I should’ve taken better care of that—sorry.”
“There’s no need to put on that act. You don’t actually care about me in the slightest, do you?”
“!!”
For a moment, Yulian’s expression froze.
But then it softened again, as smoothly as if it had never changed.
“That’s not true. In my own way, I’ve always considered you special.”
“You mean me?”
“Yeah. Strange, isn’t it? We’re not even that close. I don’t fully understand it myself, but… maybe it’s because you seem different from everyone else. I’m not even sure how I feel about you.”
Her vague, unreadable words left Christian in silence.
Yulian chuckled softly.
“You’re going to the western territory in person this time… It’s to save the people, isn’t it?”
“…What are you implying?”
“I heard what happened during the plague outbreak at Gold Cross—that you treated the people. They’re even calling you the Saint of Darkness, aren’t they?”
Chris looked genuinely surprised.
It wasn’t a story that had spread widely in the Magus Empire.
Compared to other major events, it was seen as relatively minor and didn’t garner much attention.
“I only did it to stop the Curse Demonic House’s scheme. It wasn’t out of concern for the people.”
“But if stopping their scheme was all you cared about, you wouldn’t have needed to work so hard healing the infected. From what I heard, you saved every patient.”
“…I just happened to have the ability, so I helped while I was at it.”
“Heh… that’s what sets you apart from others. There are so many people in this world who don’t even possess basic goodwill—only malice.”
Yulian’s voice turned subtly strange as she continued.
“People who wouldn’t hesitate to drag others into hell for the sake of their own selfish desires.”
Chris flinched.
‘Just now…?’
Her words had sounded casual, as if she were merely musing aloud—but they weren’t.
Chris instinctively sensed that what Yulian had just said held a key to revealing her true nature.
“You say that like you’ve experienced something similar yourself.”
He probed, but she simply laughed it off.
“Who knows~? Anyway, I’ve been holding you up too long. Safe travels.”
With that, Yulian disappeared without another word.
After parting with Chris, she climbed the tower of the castle.
Facing the wind, she gazed up at the sky.
“‘Experienced something similar,’ huh…”
Her expression turned bitter.
“More like lived through it.”
A dreadful scene surfaced in her mind—
The personal hell she had once endured.
If not for that experience, she would never have sold her soul to a devil.
And then—
A sharp, high-pitched voice called out to her.
“So? What did you think of Christian?”
She turned her head—and standing there was a shocking figure.
Radiant silver hair.
A beauty like that of a woman.
And a chilling scar slashed diagonally across his face.
It was Sherad, the First Prince—
The very same Sherad who had once tried to kill Christian.
He had been cast into Gehenna by Christian’s scheme… but somehow, he had returned alive.
And not just alive.
Beneath his eyes shimmered the mark of a devil’s stigma.
Proof that Sherad had become a devil contractor.
“Is your body all right now… Brother?”
“Ah, thanks to you. Though… calling me ‘brother’ sounds a bit strange, doesn’t it?”
Sherad grinned darkly.
“You’re not my real sister, after all.”
“!!”
A shocking, deeply meaningful revelation.
Yulian didn’t deny his words.
“Things like that… don’t matter to people like us, do they?”
“Kuhuhu, true enough. You want the blood of the Dark Demonic House… and I just want to drink that blood alongside you.”
Sherad stuck out his tongue and slowly licked the jagged scar that slashed diagonally across his face.
“So then, what are you going to do about Christian?”
Yulian stayed silent for a moment.
She planned to drench the Dark Demonic House in blood.
And yet—strangely—while she could kill anyone else without hesitation, she didn’t want to kill Christian.
At least… not with her own hands.
‘But if I’m to achieve my goal… I can’t let Christian live.’
That left only one option.
Yulian’s voice hardened.
“You kill Christian. Use the chaos of this incident with the Venomous Demonic House to find an opening.”
“Kuhuhu, gladly. I never intended to let anyone else take Christian’s life anyway—it belongs to me.”
Sherad’s lips curled into a twisted grin.
His features were beautiful—like a woman’s—but paired with the grotesque scar across his face, the smile he wore was spine-chilling.
“I’m curious to see what brilliant display he’ll put on this time.”
He raised a hand and caressed the scar across his face.
A glint of madness shimmered in his jewel-like eyes.
“Every time I think about Christian… this scar aches. Even now. Ah… I’m so excited, my heart’s practically trembling.”
And then, Sherad vanished in a blur, leaving behind only his lingering malice.
Yulian’s expression darkened.
‘It can’t be helped.’
In the past… in a hellish nightmare she could never forget—
She had made a vow.
To become a devil.
And so, it was fine.
Everything was fine.
Thus, from behind Christian’s back, a new threat began to take shape.
* * *
‘Yulian is dangerous.’
While en route to the western territory, Christian reflected grimly.
He had no idea what her true objective was—but one thing was clear:
Yulian was harboring a tremendous, deadly ambition.
‘I need to be ready.’
There was a good chance she might try to make a move during this incident with the Venomous Demonic House.
If that were to happen, a difficult situation would only grow more dire.
But that was fine.
‘After all… Lady Yulian has no idea what trump cards I’m holding.’
Yes.
No matter what kind of sinister scheme Marquis Goras of the Venomous Demonic House had prepared.
No matter how Marquis Langham tried to interfere.
No matter what kind of dagger Yulian intended to plunge into his back.
None of it mattered.
Because in the end—he would crush them all.
“Alros?”
“Y-yes?”
“You haven’t forgotten what I asked you to do, right?”
Alros’s face turned pale.
“I’m counting on you.”
And with that, Christian’s grand scheme—meant to deceive everyone—began its first act.
* * *
The next day.
They finally arrived at the western territory.
As soon as they reached it, a heavy and gloomy atmosphere blanketed the surroundings.
The people were consumed by fear of the mysterious plague spreading through the land.
“Who are they?”
“They’re from the main house. Could that be Lord Christian?”
A beautifully handsome young man revealed himself before the crowd.
“They say he might be the greatest genius in the history of the main family.”
“If it’s him, maybe he really can stop this plague!”
“Long live Lord Christian!”
“Long live!!”
A chorus of hopeful cheers rang out.
But Christian’s reaction was strange.
Normally, he would’ve worn his trademark smug, arrogant expression—but now, he could only force an awkward smile.
There was a reason for it.
‘Aaaaah! You damned devil bastard! How could you make me do something like this?!’
Because he wasn’t Christian.
Chris had once again used the Seal of the Constellation to disguise Alros as himself, making him play the decoy.
Alros squeezed his eyes shut and recalled his prior conversation with Chris.
— “Y-you want me to be a decoy?! I don’t know a thing about poisons or diseases!”
— “That’s fine. Actually, it’s better.”
— “B-better?!”
— “Our main goal is to fool the enemy. So just act lost and clumsy like you normally do. Actually, to sell it even better, it might be good if you get infected too.”
At those words, Alros had gulped nervously.
He realized that Chris had no intention of just investigating the plague—he was planning something far more devious.
He was clearly using Alros as bait to blind the enemy while he carried out something terrifying behind the scenes.
— “I-I can’t believe this! You’re telling me to get poisoned? Absolutely not!”
— “Well, yeah, even I wouldn’t go that far. I’m not that cruel. I’m nice, remember? Instead… here, take this.”
— “…W-what is this?”
— “An elixir. A specially enhanced one. It boosts demonic energy far more efficiently than the old formula. Even an idiot like you should be able to absorb it.”
— “…Why would you give me something this valuable?”
Alros had looked at him suspiciously.
And rightly so.
— “Well, it does have a few side effects.”
— “…What kind of side effects?”
— “You’ll show symptoms similar to the plague spreading through the western territory. But hey, it won’t be too bad, so don’t worry too much.”
— “…Are you sure?”
— “Probably? You won’t die, most likely.”
— “ARGHHH! That answer is not comforting at all! So in the end, you’re basically just poisoning me!”
— “All good elixirs are a bit harsh on the body. If you don’t want it, I can always take it back.”
It was clear Chris intended to completely disarm the enemy by sacrificing(?) Alros.
Alros was on the verge of tears, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
Because the elixir Chris had handed him was something so precious, someone like him—just a lowly branch family member—could never hope to obtain under normal circumstances.
‘Ughhh… You damned devil bastard! Sigh… Lord Roy, I miss you. When will I ever be free from this hellspawn?!’
Today of all days, Alros deeply missed Roy, the viscount he’d met back in Gold Cross.
Meanwhile, Randol—a spy sent by Marquis Langham—let out a quiet chuckle.
‘Just as I thought. He’s nothing special. Of course—how could even a genius know anything about poisons or diseases? He probably let the praise get to his head and rushed in blindly. Serves him right.’
The sight of the fake Christian—Alros—bumbling about cluelessly made him snort.
‘Marquis Langham ordered me to sabotage the investigation, but it looks like I won’t even need to bother.’
Randol began writing a report to Marquis Langham, stating that there was no need to worry—Grand Duke Christian wouldn’t be uncovering any truths.
But what Randol didn’t know was…
What the real Christian was doing at that very momen