The nearly magical refreshing scent kept coming to mind. He found himself repeatedly looking back to where she was.

He wasn’t thinking about handling work; he was only considering ways to postpone it.

In the end, all he wanted to do was go back to the room where Beril was. He found his own behavior unbelievable.

Have I ever been this lazy?

He had had lazy days, but he thought those were long past.

Could I really be bewitched?

“…….”
He felt as if his mouth was burning. From her emanated a pure, negative energy that one couldn’t even feel in the middle of a battlefield filled with human despair and terror.

For him, a demon, it was of course an incredibly tempting scent. But on the other hand, he couldn’t understand it.

Why would something from human negative emotions be so….

“….Ah.”

Before he knew it, he was thinking about Beril again. He repeatedly wiped his face.
Yet he couldn’t stop himself. He kept recalling her past that he had read in her eyes.

The past revealed in those clouded eyes belonged to an extraordinarily intense category, even among the countless histories he had seen.

Though it was rare for him to feel emotions from those times even with his clairvoyant abilities, he could tell because the emotions were too strong.

I want to live.
She who felt that way was in despair for not being able to live, feeling powerless and sad from the fear that she couldn’t escape.

The emotion most intensely revealed by humans just before death—she, who had already experienced death twice, couldn’t help but emit it strongly.

That seemed to attract him even more. The power emanating from purer emotions than those mixed in the chaos of a battlefield seemed to paralyze his rationality.
Perhaps that’s why the magical power that had been expended in the battle before the wedding—

“…Ah, Your Highness?”

“?”

Bellede looked up sharply. Before him stood a demon with a troubled expression.

Next to the man with lustrous brown hair, feathers of the same brown hue fluttered down.

Bellede’s gaze touched the feathers, then dropped.

“…What’s the matter, Helbas?”

“The Holy Maiden tried to send a telegram.”
Helbas looked at him with worried eyes before adding,

“But are you alright? What if the Holy Maiden has done something.”

“Beril is.”

Bellede found himself speaking without realizing it. Helbas blinked.

“Excuse me?”

Bellede narrowed his eyes. He realized that the name that had slipped out so naturally could sound odd to another demon.
Even if she has such powerful magical energy, she should be aware that she’s a Holy Maiden after all.

She must have been trying to do something foolish.

He slowly closed his eyes. The problem was that according to Bain’s customs, there were still two more nights left.

He had felt completely entranced that night.

Would the Holy Maiden choose to stay here any longer? She could have already had enough evidence that I am a demon.
He hadn’t concealed himself in last night’s conversation either. So, if she wanted to, she could accuse him at any time.

Then, all that would follow is war. Yet, Belled closed his eyes.

Could he allow that? Could he leave it be?

If the second night were to disappear, could I avoid going mad at that point—

“Perhaps His Excellency has done something to the Holy Maiden…”
Suddenly, Helbas had opened the door and was about to hurriedly give some command outside.

—Whoosh!

—Bang!

Belled pulled Helbas back with his magic and forcefully shut the door.

If anything had been done, he had done it; Verill had been quiet all along.

He had no choice but to admit that he was enthralled. Enthralled by someone who had been doing nothing.

“……What’s going on?”

“Are you really alright?”
Only after nodding did Belled realize that he had previously asked what was going on. He closed and opened his eyes.

“I’m fine. So…….”

What was the conversation about earlier? He only remembered that it was related to Verill; the rest slipped his mind.

“Here, this is the orb the saintess was trying to send.”

“An orb, you say.”
Sending an orb in Bain required the lord’s permission. It was a procedure established long ago, back when there were multiple demon archdukes, to prevent the leak of information.

In other words, one couldn’t just send an orb as they pleased.

What might she have sent? What evidence might she have found? It was obvious where the saintess would send it.

―Woong!

As his inner eye focused on the orb, a strange light emanated from his deep green eyes.

The eyes that see the end.
If he broke into the holy sanctuary of the temple, the priests would realize that the letter had been intercepted, so he had only seen the end of the letter.

And as is often the case with many letters, the letter revealed all its contents before going up in flames.

Of course, that was after Beleled’s eyes had caught all the content.

I have safely arrived in Bain. I have spent time together, but have not found evidence that the Duke of Bain is a demon.] Upon reading that content, Beleled raised an eyebrow.

Really?