Chapter 59

Elicia was a completely different kind of person from anyone Vincent had dealt with so far.

Noble blood, high rank, wealth enough that nothing was missing.

Seen just like that she wasn’t much different from the great nobles Vincent knew, but what moved him was how she treated his sanctity.

‘How curious.’

Vincent was among the strongest even in the holy city.

Because of that people spat at his arrogance then flipped their attitude whenever they needed power and wagged their tails. They tried to steal his strength any way they could.

To the favored of the gods sanctity meant life force.

They ought to have known that.

‘Divine power draws on a priest’s life force. The price is too high to trade for a single minor wound.’

Why did that one short line of hers keep turning over and over in his head.

Vincent found the answer.

‘Elicia sees me as me.’

She treated him not as a tool with powerful sanctity that was useful but troublesome, but as a human named Vincent.

For a noblewoman who surely had no immunity to pain that wound would never be a light thing.

And yet that woman.

“…”

Vincent dropped his gaze.

The duke and Elicia were walking side by side through the snow-covered garden. Whatever they were talking about the mood looked pretty good.

In the brief quiet their eyes met.

Something twisted inside him.

‘They were supposed to be on bad terms…’

Just as the duke reached out to Elicia the physician from the residence burst out and hurried to check her wound.

The duke halted and drew his hand back cautiously.

Vincent noticed the vein standing out on the knuckled hand as if something was being suppressed.

‘This is more interesting than I thought.’

A slow smirk tugged at his lips.

As if he’d found an intriguing toy.

Part 4. I avoided history and history found me

* * *

Dawn carried a pale blue gloom.

Curled in mother’s arms asleep without a care, Nero blinked awake.

The snow had stopped but the roads were blocked by the heavy fall so travel was difficult. People decided to stay the night at the residence and wait to see how things went.

“Meoow.”

It was still before sunrise so it would be half a day before mom woke.

Nero rose quietly and peered at the hand wrapped in bandages left on the bedside.

He nudged it with his nose and licked it a few times but nothing changed.

It must have hurt…

His tail, which had been high with expectation, drooped weakly.

[Stop being so pathetic. Did you do this on purpose?]

Hng.

[You really are the problem. You should’ve noticed when you cried that you had to protect mom even if you were crushed and looked for another host.]

Hng.

[Okay, okay, I get it!]

Morcathus burrowed under sleeping Elicia’s chin and rubbed his cheek against hers.

He brushed his demonic energy carefully over the bandaged back of her hand and wrist, the side wrapped by the coverlet, the leg, and the slowly rising and falling chest.

Though he’d once struck a bargain with a trivial cat, the essence of a great demon didn’t change and most monsters would fear approaching Elicia.

It might have the side effect of drawing inquisitors’ attention but that could be handled by whatever husband or whatever she had, so he let it slide.

[Good, that’s perfect.]

“Meow.”

[I’m tired. From now on do as you like.]

Morcathus willingly handed control of the body back to Nero.

He’d been about to unleash his power and fight the intruders who’d come into his territory when this woman suddenly showed up and ruined the shedding.

He’d nearly exposed his true form from the rebound but barely managed to recover and had used up a lot of demonic energy doing so.

Once Nero had the body he dove straight into Elicia’s arms.

He buried his head on her chest and drank in her scent.

Purr purr, a happy rumble bubbled out.

‘Hah, well.’

In truth Morcathus had been feeling strange emotions for some time.

When this fragile woman had cut through the blizzard and come for him.

And when that monstrous Lombard man fought and then hugged her tightly as if to protect her and wouldn’t let go.

A strange feeling he’d never experienced before welled up.

He suddenly realized he was getting used to softness and warmth.

Having tasted the comfort of being in a human woman’s arms…

‘Please don’t tell me I’m really becoming catlike just because I’m in a cat’s body.’

Morcathus, the great demon who once filled the Black Continent with terror?

No way.

Right now he was playing a pathetic pet near this woman because of that human man, but when the opportunity came he’d find a proper body again.

And he’d teach that damned Lombard man a lesson he wouldn’t forget.

Hahahaha.

“Purr purr…”

The grand visions faded at the soft purring sound.

‘It feels good just to lie here beside her.’

Morcathus snorted and closed his eyes, soaked in the warm body and the calm air in the bed.

The tease that he enjoyed it too never reached the great demon who soon fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The soldiers raised in the northern snows were tough.

They cleared the snow piled around the residence overnight and opened a route to other towns.

When I learned that I immediately—

“Welcome to Bellamare Village!”

“Your face looks especially pleasant today, Lord Ramon.”

“Aah, that’s flattering and fills me with pride.”

I dashed from the residence crawling with inquisitors to the Bellamare area by the western port.

The sharp sea wind slapped my cheeks but I was happy nonetheless.

‘Let the duke handle the guest reception.’

According to my physician Gilbert, the two inquisitors who’d been mashed up would take months at the earliest to rise from their beds.

Also moving them long distances before the bones had set was a bad idea so Vincent and his party were staying at the residence.

If that continued the lady of the house would be stuck and unable to move.

So I used the pretext of inspecting roadworks on the western route blocked by the landslide to slip out.

“I’ve been riding for days and my back feels like it’s going to snap. Where will I stay?”

“There’s a villa belonging to the Lombard family here in Bellamare. We hurried to tidy it up when we heard you were coming but I don’t know if you’ll like it. I didn’t want to boast but I have a good eye for interior design so—”

While Ramon babbled on obliviously I grew icily cold.

A Count Conte who had just stepped down from the carriage ducked back into it and hid.

“A villa? Usually villas are far away from the city.”

“You only need to ride another eight hours from here. It’s perfect for quietly enjoying Bellamare’s scenery…”

“If you don’t want to see me lose my temper, get the nearest place. If my spine gets wrecked you’ll get wrecked too. Take me to a soft bed this instant. Understand?”

Because the main road from the western residence to Bellamare was blocked by the collapsed route we had to use a detour.

It was a rough mountain track barely fit for a single carriage.

The detour was originally a military road that didn’t pass through villages so we had to sleep rough on the hard, bumpy track for days.

My patience which had always been thin reached the edge of breaking.

I could feel the murderous gleam in my eyes even without a mirror.

“The, that woman is the duchess…”

“I didn’t expect it but the rumors were true. She’s terrifying.”

“If we get on the wrong side of her our necks will be gone so we must be careful.”

I couldn’t catch everything the Bellamare officials trailing Ramon were thinking but anyway—