Contract Marriage with the Devil Duke - Chapter 69

The nobles became frantic, thinking something terrible had happened when the Belial Knights appeared as a group. It would be troublesome if people scattered in panic. Since the knights had come to protect them, they had to follow their command.

Olentia stepped forward and spoke to the nobles.

“Everyone, please calm down! We’ll be fine with the knights here!”

Then all the nobles flocked to Olentia and bombarded her with questions.

“Why aren’t we allowed to leave the banquet hall?”

“Has an assassin infiltrated the grand palace like last time?”

“Please tell us in detail what’s going on!”

It seemed they were coming to her because they didn’t dare approach Dimidius.

What should she do about this?

While she pondered, the tightly closed doors of the banquet hall trembled as if about to open. At a glance, it looked like they were moving due to a strong wind, but Olentia knew it was the work of evil spirits.

At that moment, Dimidius shouted to the knights.

“Everyone, form ranks!”

He seemed to think those large, solid doors would open soon. It made sense, given the abnormally strong wolves he had mentioned.

Shortly after, the doors moved greatly, and through the gap, several ashen wolves entered. The wolves bared their teeth and growled, their golden eyes flashing. Moreover, black energy flowed from them, just like she had seen from the maid possessed by an evil spirit in the past.

They were clearly wolves possessed by evil spirits.

The knights fought the wolves while protecting the screaming nobles. As Dimidius had said earlier, the wolves continued to attack even when wounded, without flinching. Several Belial Knights were seriously injured by the wolves’ attacks.

“Kyaaah! What on earth is happening?”

“Why have wolves come down here?”

“At this rate, we’ll all become wolf food!”

The voices of nobles who had lost their senses in the terrible situation could be heard. Facing wolf attacks while unarmed must be terrifying. They still didn’t seem to realize it was the work of evil spirits.

Olentia gripped her dress tightly and deliberated.

‘I have to step up. Holy power is needed to defeat the evil spirits possessing the wolves’ bodies. At this rate, only the wolves and knights will get hurt.’

Knowing this, she hesitated cautiously. Using holy power in front of the nobles would mean everyone would know she possessed it.

‘It doesn’t matter anymore.’

Some knights had fallen with severe injuries, and the wolves had sustained many wounds as well. Dimidius was struggling valiantly, but it seemed he couldn’t resolve everything.

As Olentia was about to step forward, Regalis, who was behind her, grabbed her arm.

“What are you trying to do in this situation, my lady?”

Olentia shook off his hand and said firmly.

“These creatures must be repelled using holy power.”

She might not be able to use enough holy power to destroy all the evil spirits possessing the wolves. But even so, she had to try.

Olentia ran in front of the knights, gathered energy in her fingers, and created a huge white sphere. It seemed she could now handle quite strong holy power after practicing regularly.

Seeing Olentia’s actions, the nobles cried out in surprise.

“Look at that! The Armeniacas’ holy power has been revived!”

“My goodness! Isn’t this the first time in nearly 100 years?”

“I’ve never actually seen such a large white sphere before.”

Olentia focused her mind to maintain concentration, then hurled the white sphere at the wolves. Sticky fluids oozed from the wolves’ bodies, and several collapsed.

But it wasn’t enough yet. Olentia continuously created white spheres and threw them at the wolves, while Dimidius used his demonic power to assist her.

Then the banquet hall filled with black smoke and the stench of blood. This was because evil spirits ejected from the wolves’ bodies filled the hall.

Olentia couldn’t see well and was waving away the smoke with her hand when she spotted a wolf lunging at her.

She was about to be attacked by that wolf, but Dimidius rushed over and cut it down with his sword. Unlike the other knights, he possessed demonic power, so even the evil spirits fell and collapsed from Dimidius’s attacks.

“Are you alright, my lady?”

In response to Dimidius’s concern, Olentia stood firmly and nodded.

“I’m fine. You came running to save me, after all.”

Then Dimidius looked at the still thick smoke and ordered the knights.

“Open all the windows in the banquet hall!”

The sound of windows opening was heard, and as the wind blew in, the smoke gradually cleared. Olentia sighed at the sight of the dead or fallen wolves.

But it wasn’t over yet. The evil spirits that had burst out of the wolves’ bodies were clustered together, emitting a terrifying aura.

Olentia fingered the Pieta bracelet on her right wrist and created another white sphere. At that moment, an even more splendid and holy light than the sphere radiated from Olentia’s body. It seemed such power emerged naturally from her desire to save people.

As the sphere filled with Olentia’s power flew toward the cluster of evil spirits, it soon shattered and disappeared, leaving only black ashes.

Olentia barely held her body upright, feeling as if she might collapse, and looked at the nobles in the banquet hall. If even one person had been hurt, she would not be able to avoid responsibility. Fortunately, none of the guests appeared to be injured.

Dimidius lifted Olentia into his arms and addressed the nobles.

“It seems everything is over now. I deeply apologize for putting you through this ordeal.”

Although it wasn’t Dimidius’s fault that evil spirits had appeared, it was something he had to say. Olentia felt the nobles’ gazes looking at her in wonder before she lost consciousness. Once again, it was due to using too much power.

Then Regalis ran up to Dimidius and said.

“Is my lady alright?”

Dimidius glared at Regalis with his injured body.

“It’s none of your concern. There’s no place for you in the grand palace, so get lost!”

Dimidius carried Olentia straight to her room. The panicked nobles would be appropriately guided by the knights or the grand palace servants.

After laying her on the bed, Dimidius looked at Olentia with sad eyes. He regretted not stopping her when she used her holy power. Her frail body had fought until she lost strength and collapsed like this. But if Olentia hadn’t stepped up, it would have been difficult to completely destroy the evil spirits possessing the wolves.

Although demonic power could defeat evil spirits, it seemed holy power was indeed the most effective ability against them.

Dimidius thanked her and quickly called for a physician. He had heard from the physician before that Olentia had only lost energy when she eliminated the evil spirit possessing the maid, but he was still worried.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next morning, Olentia woke up safely. Although her whole body was stiff, she didn’t stay in bed as long as last time.

Pieta climbed onto the bed and examined Olentia’s face.

[It seems your recovery has improved, little one.]

Olentia felt like she had just escaped death, yet Pieta was saying such carefree things.

Olentia pouted her lips.

“I almost died, you know. And now everyone knows I have holy power.”

[How can you change what’s your destiny?]

“I don’t believe in things like destiny or fate. I won’t believe it.”

In fact, there had been several moments when she thought it might be destiny.

Hearing that Olentia had woken up, Dimidius entered the room. As soon as he entered, he embraced Olentia tightly. Bobby and Podion were also in the room. This was the first time Dimidius had hugged her first like this. His embrace was warm and firm, making her feel at peace.

Olentia said to Dimidius.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

Then Dimidius spoke in a choked voice.

“I couldn’t even be by your side because I was taking care of the remaining nobles in the grand palace.”

“Of course you had to do that. The honored guests must have been very anxious.”

“Most of them left the grand palace by carriage that day, but some nobles said they would stay a bit longer.”

Olentia barely escaped from his embrace and smiled awkwardly. Fortunately, Pieta didn’t bark at Dimidius this time. Perhaps he finally realized the dog’s situation.

Olentia got up from the bed to greet the remaining guests in the grand palace.

“I should get ready and go down now.”

But Dimidius sat her back down on the bed and said.

“My lady, you should rest more. I’ll take care of entertaining the guests.”

“No, I’m fine!”

“You are not fine. The physician said you shouldn’t overexert yourself for a while.”

It seemed impossible to change Dimidius’s mind. Olentia had no choice but to lie back down and pull up the blanket. It felt comfortable and nice to lie down again, but she felt uneasy for some reason.

After Dimidius left, Bobby and Podion approached her side.

“My lady, you seemed to use a lot of power at that time. I think it would be better to stay in bed as the Grand Duke said.”

Podion’s eyes were full of concern. Olentia nodded slowly.

“I didn’t know you possessed such strong power. You were amazing when you removed the evil spirit from the maid too. It wasn’t me protecting you, my lady, but you protecting me.”

Somehow, Podion’s words made her feel like crying. It felt like her courage in fighting at that time was being acknowledged.

It hadn’t taken long to change like this after learning she possessed holy power. Olentia didn’t know how much stronger her power might become.

She was starting to believe even Pieta’s words that she had the strongest holy power in the Bonus Empire.