“Damn, what the hell is going on? Let’s hurry and go!”

They took off their cones, filled them with water from the fountain, and quickly disappeared towards the warehouse.

“Hey, Aaron. Shouldn’t we go too?”

The seed warehouse was the life and future of the Noums.

But Aaron showed no reaction.

“Aaron?”

He stood alone in the courtyard, staring at a particular spot.

‘Why did he wear the cloth over his head if he was going to stand out like that?’

Rukna grumbled and followed his gaze.

Children around 10 years old were laughing and riding on a long wooden swing.

A man with a thick beard, probably their father, was lovingly watching the children and pushing the swing.

A woman who seemed to be the children’s mother was sitting at a table, pouring and drinking tea.

Their clothing seemed subtly luxurious…

‘Could they be the Viscount and Viscountess Nouman?’

So, Aaron’s father and stepmother? Rukna shifted her gaze back to Aaron.

Aaron’s expression as he blankly stared at the scene, as if absorbed in nostalgia, looked somewhat sad.

‘It’s nice to see a happy family scene, but…’

A viscount who should be responsible for the estate enjoying leisure time in a crisis with demons appearing, well… It wasn’t entirely pleasant to see.

Moreover, there was a fire now.

“Hey Aaron, are you going to meet the Viscount now?”

“…No. I should see my father when that witch isn’t around. Let’s go to the seed warehouse first.”

Last night.

Viscount Nouman paced his office with his hands clasped behind his back.

“The contamination is spreading too easily in the Golden Plains. The land protected by the Seed of Life shouldn’t be like this!”

Then he gazed at his wife, Yolan.

She was originally a concubine, but after the Viscountess who tried to poison her was executed by burning, she took the position of the main wife.

She was a kind and good woman. In Noum society, which values fertility, she bore four children and became a role model for others.

And a few years ago, the Viscount entrusted Yolan with the management of the seed warehouse that stored the Seed of Life and other high-quality seeds.

He judged that nothing would happen to the seed warehouse that had been safe for 300 years.

The Seed of Life would spread the ether of the earth and protect this land.

“Yolan, the Seed of Life is still there, right?”

If the situation gets this bad, a royal audit could take place.

It would be no different from giving humans a pretext to intervene in the land of Noums, which had been operating rather independently.

“Of course, Viscount. Do you not trust me?”

Yolan drooped her eyebrows and looked sad.

“Ah, no. That’s not what I meant, I was just checking. The contamination is spreading too easily to these Golden Plains.”

“Then I will go and check again.”

Yolan, wearing a shawl, headed to the warehouse alone without any attendants.

She was very careful with security when going to the seed warehouse.

As she entered the warehouse, the smell of blood vibrated.

Red Eagles wearing black hoods were gathered inside.

“The Viscount seems to be making a move. We need to hurry, High Priest.”

Yolan bowed her head to Chad, who was standing at the front.

Chad then lowered the hood he was wearing and smiled brightly.

“Hmm, I thought the one who took the Seed of Life would appear here, strange.”

Chad was waiting for Rukna.

He expected that as soon as she set foot on the Golden Plains, she would come here to put it back in its place.

‘You’re always unexpected.’

So should I wait one more day for you? If I meet you here even tomorrow, that’s when I want to see you crying and sobbing.

“Let’s set fire to this place in two days.”

At Chad’s words, Yolan showed a troubled expression.

“The situation back there is not very good, High Priest. There was a report that Matian Wiegratz will sort out the situation soon.”

“What have our Deacons and Elders been doing that they can’t even hold back Matian?”

“There were limitations to summoning demons as the purification speed of the priests was faster than expected.”

“Hmm, is it because of Luka? His holy power has been enhanced these days.”

You’re always at the places that overturn expectations.

Maybe that’s why that bastard Matian was acting up like that too.

“Then, unfortunately, let’s set the fire tomorrow. The plan is getting rushed. Isn’t it really annoying, Bishop?”

Chad turned his head towards the Bishop standing by the wall.

“Then shall we change the target from Matian Wiegratz to Rukna Golden? Kugh!”

The Bishop groaned as soon as he finished speaking. Chad had strangled the Bishop’s neck.

“Watch your words. That is the sacrifice I will offer last.”

And it will be the sacrifice I have created most sincerely.

“But isn’t that bastard interfering every time?!”

“That’s why we have to break him down more elaborately. How can you think of killing him at once?”

The current situation where the future has begun to flow differently from the contents of the prophecy book originated from Rukna.

Because the prophecy was distorted from the moment she escaped her role as a sacrifice to contaminate the Holy Sword.

I really want to kill her, but now my curiosity has grown as much as that murderous intent.

How will I turn this pretty and damn variable into a sacrifice?

Chad was making a blissful dilemma as he released the Bishop, whose face was turning pale.

Cough, cough! She suppressed the coughs bursting out and glared at Chad.

Recently, it seemed that he was gradually escaping her control.

Meanwhile, Chad moved his steps in front of the body lying on the floor.

As he bent one knee and removed the cloth covering the body…

“Ugh!”

The figure of Mella Chamber with her limbs tied up was revealed. She couldn’t even scream because of the cloth stuffed in her mouth.

“Kuk kuk, are you very scared? Thanks to you, we had a good time. We tried to shake Matian’s mind using the young lady’s blood, and it seems to have worked.”

The fear Mella felt was good nourishment for black magic.

She shook her body, trying to free herself from her bonds.

“Oh? Don’t waste your energy. You have important work to do tomorrow.”

“Hmm, hmm.”

“You will set fire to the seed warehouse and burn to death with it. The Noums will curse the young lady who destroyed the Seed of Life and set fire to this place. The expression of Marquis Chamber will be worth seeing.”

“Ah, hmm!”

“Ah, why was it you?”

Haha. Chad laughed, closing his eyes, and brushed aside Mella’s sweat-soaked bangs.

“You’ve been a nuisance since the incident at the Lake of Truth. So why did you meddle so much, huh?”

Chad tapped Mella’s cheek.

“Hmm, the desperate face is worth seeing, but I don’t want to eat it. A face resembling Matian is not my taste. My taste is picky.”

Chad held up a finger in front of her eyes.

And as he snapped his fingers with a clicking sound, black smoke rose from there. Mella’s eyes lost focus instantly as she inhaled the smoke.

“You will fall asleep here tonight and set fire to the warehouse tomorrow. And you’ll burn to death with it. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Nod. Mella quietly moved her head.

And today.

Mella sobbed as she used a match to light the torch placed at her feet.

As it blazed up, she moved the embers around the warehouse.

‘No, please. Don’t move!’

Even though her consciousness was awake, her body could not be controlled.

‘Since when did this happen?’

After the incident at the Lake of Truth, Mella Chamber had investigated the suspicious building where Rukna Golden had been confined with an investigation team dispatched from the imperial family to uncover the truth of the incident.

In the process, a female classmate skilled in magic had offered a hand.

〈Shall I help you?〉

Only now did she know that the identity of that female classmate was the Bishop, but at that time, she couldn’t even imagine it.

‘It was from then on that I became sleepier than usual and my mind became hazy.’

Sometimes when I opened my eyes, I was standing in an unfamiliar place, or I was saying and doing strange things.

‘I was even with Chad Buto…’

〈Oh my. You woke up quickly, Mella. Is it because you’re Wiegratz’s cousin?〉

Chad was whispering something to her at a distance close enough for their lips to touch.

It was against the law for an unmarried man and woman to be in close contact.

At that time, she was in a hurry to leave the place without properly considering the situation.

She didn’t know how Chad Buto climbed over the high wall of the girls’ dormitory.

It was the same on the day she was selected as Her Highness’s maid and visited the military academy to meet Rukna.

When she discovered herself standing blankly in an abandoned lecture room, she got goosebumps. It seems she put something inside the desk, but what was it?

It’s a mental illness. At this rate, let alone becoming the head of the family to succeed the Marquis, she might lose everything and be sent to a convent.

Mella suffered from terrible anxiety every day.

In the midst of such confusion, Rukna Golden, whom she met again, was a ray of light to her.

When she was with Rukna, it felt like the dark fog filling her head was clearing up.

‘I should stop yearning though.’

So maybe that’s why she unknowingly engaged in a battle of nerves with Lady Giselle Golden over Rukna’s betrothal.

‘Please help me, Lady Rukna.’

Mella thought only of Rukna as she set fire to the warehouse.

Even when embers caught on the hem of her skirt, she couldn’t move an inch.

〈You will set fire to the warehouse. And you’ll burn to death.〉

Chad’s words dominated her entire body.

Creak.

Then, with the sound of the warehouse door opening.

“Lady Mella Chamber?”

The voice she had been longing for in her head was heard.

Mella managed to turn her eyes and stared ahead.

Rukna and Aaron were running towards her.

Rukna came out of the warehouse carrying Mella, wearing only a sleeveless white undershirt.

Her jacket was covering Mella Chamber’s face, and her shirt was covering the thighs exposed under the burnt dress.

It was for Mella, who risked her life to keep the discipline of the girls’ school. Aaron also actively participated.

‘If I could, I want to take off my underwear and cover her too.’

Even though her chest was flat because she drank the gender juice, her slender body lines might be visible, so she couldn’t take this off too.

‘First, we need to treat her.’

She wanted to put Mella down right away and pour holy power into her, but it was impossible.

Angry Noums were following Rukna, protesting.

“Put that witch down right now, human! Are you in league with the Red Eagles too?”

“I told you, no. This young lady is a victim possessed by black magic.”

Rukna, who was proclaiming Mella’s innocence, stopped walking.

She hadn’t left the courtyard yet.

Soldiers approaching from the opposite side blocked Rukna’s path.

Eventually, Rukna and Aaron were surrounded.

“Clear the way now!”

Aaron commanded the soldiers.

“I’m sorry, but we have no obligation to listen to the young master.”

“That’s right. The young master abandoned the Golden Plains and went to the military academy. We won’t follow the words of such a person.”

Just then.

「It’s an ambush. Dodge to the left immediately and prepare to attack.」

Suddenly, the voice of the Holy Sword was heard.

‘Ambush?’

Rukna moved quickly as advised.

Soon, the spot where she had been standing sank, and the courtyard lawn collapsed, creating a large sinkhole.