Chapter 25

“Since there are so many eyes inside the inner wall.”

“Alright, and then?”

Pressed by Lady Olden, the servant recalled the next incident.

Even remembering it now felt frightening. Back when the Madam lived in the Capital, she had been vicious, but never quite like this.

“She disciplined an official very harshly.”

“She disciplined him? How?”

“She ordered soldiers to force the official to kneel on the ground and slapped him countless times. She even kicked him later.”

Lady Olden found it strange.

It would be one thing if it were a maid or a guard. But Elicia had almost no reason to involve herself with the castle’s officials.

Officially she was in charge of this construction project, but everyone knew she did not have the brains to manage a vast territory like Lombard.

She went out on inspections only to flirt with that fallen priest anyway.

“For what reason did she discipline an official?”

“My apologies. The area was restricted for outsiders so I could not get close enough.”

The servant shook his head and continued.

“It did seem that Madam was scolding him for something specific. When her voice rose I could catch fragments here and there.”

The servant explained the scene as accurately as he could.

Madam insisted something had happened when it had not, and pressed the official aggressively.

The official protested in shock that he was innocent. The more he insisted, the angrier Madam became and the more violently she slapped him.

Hearing this much, something passed through Lady Olden’s mind.

“So that was it. Madam must have been trying to establish discipline.”

“Discipline, Madam?”

It was a common tactic even in the Capital.

You grab anyone for the smallest excuse, force them to kneel, and make them beg for forgiveness.

‘She is trying to establish authority as the mistress of the house, but she only knows one single method.’

A duchess was not a role ruled through royal authority like a princess. She needed the respect of officials and the hearts of the territory residents.

‘Doing things the same way she did in the imperial palace will never work.’

Lady Olden chuckled and praised the servant with a much softer expression.

The servant’s eyes widened at the gold coin placed on his palm.

“Th, this much money…!”

“It is a small token of goodwill.”

Watching the servant bow deeply, ready to jump into fire for her sake, Lady Olden’s lips curled in satisfaction.

There was no reason to investigate further. Elicia was living no differently from how she had lived in the Capital.

‘Stupid, violent, and indulgent.’

She felt foolish for even doubting or worrying for a moment.

Leaving the servant behind as he bowed repeatedly, Lady Olden turned away.

Her steps were elegant and without excess.

* * *

At that same time, Vincent was moving along the ridgeline of the Valheim Mountains.

Even in the pitch-black darkness without a single trace of moonlight, his steps were steady.

“Ahh, my Lord…”

Thick waves of demonic energy clawed painfully at his insides.

But the more it hurt, the more the smile on Vincent’s face deepened. He looked almost as if he were feeling pleasure through the pain.

Drawing a long breath, he whispered.

“There was a reason You sent me here.”

One night, the pope had received a divine oracle in his dream.

A foul presence had settled upon northern Lombard. A massive demonic force had coiled around the land and was devouring all life and order created by God.

The Holy Father awakened with dread that would not lift.

Thus he ordered the Holy Office to dispatch a special investigator.

That was why Vincent had left the Holy City and traveled all the way to this distant northern land.

“At first I wondered how I was supposed to find a heretic with no clues except that they were somewhere in the north.”

But the moment he crossed the Valheim Gate, he could sense the ominous aura spread over all of Lombard.

The divine oracle was unfolding with not a single error.

Vincent believed the most urgent task was to locate the source of this malevolent energy rooted in the land.

To move freely, he disguised himself as a low-ranking priest dispatched from the Holy City.

And then, on the first day of his investigation, he had encountered her so easily.

As if arranged by God Himself.

‘This way. This section holds the relics of His Holiness Andrecilious the First, the very first pope…’

Elicia Valdin La Lombard, Duchess of Lombard.

He sensed an ominous aura from her.

But because the duchess was someone a low-ranking priest had no access to, he used her interest in a certain outer-wall monastery as an excuse to infiltrate it under the guise of volunteer work.

As expected, he met her by pretending it was coincidence, and naturally became close to her.

Vincent observed her constantly.

At first he believed she was destined to bring calamity to this land. But as time passed, a different truth became clear.

Rather than the duchess being the source of demonic energy, it felt more like someone near her possessed an immense concentration of it.

What clung to her was merely the trace left by someone else.

‘So it is not her.’

From now on, he needed to search her surroundings.

Thinking of the wasted effort infuriated him. Half out of irritation, half for mischief, he had wanted to play a small prank.

On the servant who had been tailing the duchess all morning.

He knew the servant’s target was not him, but the mere fact that someone dared observe him put him in a foul mood.

‘Let him waste his time for nothing.’

Vincent purposely tripped the duchess.

Then caught her by the waist as she fell, making it impossible for the servant not to misunderstand.

‘Are you hurt anywhere.’

He had been curious what ridiculous story the servant would go home and spin. But then Vincent found himself shocked.

‘How can a human body be this fragile and slender.’

Her waist felt so delicate in his hands that he feared he might break her just by holding on. Her skin, which brushed his fingers, was white and soft like fresh cream.

None of the bodies he had handled before had ever felt like this.

When the duchess looked up at him with those large, clear eyes, Vincent froze completely.

‘It was fortunate that the official and soldiers came rushing in, or I would have stayed frozen longer.’

The moment she heard the official’s report, the duchess’s expression hardened fearsomely.

He had never imagined she could make such a face. The surprise stirred his curiosity.

Even though it had nothing to do with investigating demonic energy, he followed her anyway.

‘Hold him.’

‘W, what. All of a sudden…!’

The duchess slapped the kneeling official without hesitation.

Even Vincent felt briefly overwhelmed. Her fury was astonishing.

She slapped the official until her palm nearly split, then kicked him viciously when she ran out of strength to slap.

It was too emotional to be dismissed as simple arrogance.

That was what intrigued Vincent.

‘They said she was stupid and empty-headed…’

Rumors were never to be trusted.

Just like the rumor that the Prefect of the Holy Office was a merciless demon without blood or tears.

Shaking off the memory, Vincent chuckled.

Yet even in his amusement, he never forgot his duty.

Who had stained the duchess with demonic energy. What was the source of the ominous presence spreading throughout Lombard.

Were the two the same entity.

Looking down the mountain, Vincent’s eyes sharpened.

‘He is merciful. He loves all that God has created. Deeply.’

Yes. I love everything God has created.

Which is exactly why everything that is not must be eradicated.

Without leaving even a trace. Bones shattered, flesh torn, souls burned in agony, until this land is restored to the pure state God created at the beginning.

Vincent chuckled lowly and looked down toward Lombard Castle.

A sword piercing an overturned chalice.

The insignia of the Inquisitor engraved on his uniform shone with a cold, sacred light, like the smile of a holy statue.