Translator and Editor: nieye

Chapter 29

A while later, the ceremony began.

Rube took Mary’s hand and slowly entered the lake.

Dressed in a silver dress with a veil, Mary looked like a saint.

Her veil, positioned over her finely braided red hair, sparkled even more in the sunlight.

Rube was wearing a blue robe, unlike his usual papal robe.

He had a blue mozzetta in the form of a cape wrapped around him with a silver belt.

As he stood like Mithra**, she felt an unmatched aura radiating from him.

[ **T/N: The Greeks and Romans considered Mithra as a sun god. ]

Eliana began to follow the two into the lake.

She didn’t forget to be careful not to fall.

In Eliana’s hands were a white handkerchief and a silver tray. It held a silver bowl containing holy water.

Every time she took a step, she could hear the slosh of the water.

Soon, they stopped after the water reached around their knees.

The hem of her wet dress ruffled in the water.

Only the sound of water filled the vicinity of the lake.

The nobles watched the ceremony with bated breath.

Eliana secretly searched for Verkley among them, but he was nowhere to be found.

She was positive he was nearby, waiting to steal Mary’s power, but Verkley wasn’t anywhere.

Then she thought back to when she saw him earlier.

His eyes were strangely different from usual.

‘Since when did you want to make me your empress?’

Eliana was worried that she might have to walk a tightrope at the Imperial Palace for good.

Then, Rube recited a verse from the scriptures.

It was a phrase to thank the God Algiers, who controlled time and space.

Eliana shook off her thoughts and focused on the ceremony.

After a while, Rube took the silver bowl that Eliana was holding into his hands.

* * *

Mary naturally knelt.

The hem of Mary’s dress fluttered along the waves.

Mary closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and Rube poured the holy water over her head.

The ceremony was followed immediately by the revelation ceremony.

Eliana could no longer find Verkley and decided to concentrate.

Rube lifted the handkerchief engraved with the crest of the Owen family and dipped it into the water.

The handkerchief automatically dissolved in the water and the engraved crest shone.

It was the pattern of a blue hawk flying with its wings spread.

The Owen’s crest floated over the surface of the water and wrapped Mary in gold.

If she has magic powers, blue feathers will scatter, and if she has divine powers, she will hear the sound of a bird singing.

Everyone waited breathlessly, watching to see what abilities she would manifest.

And then Eliana found Verkley in the distance.

His eyes were unusually red.

At that moment, she remembered the night when she made it snow in the Central Palace.

The vivid mark on Verkley’s right eye that she saw that day.

‘…!’ 

Eliana took a deep breath.

Only then did she realize why the image Rube showed her felt so familiar.

Verkley had the mark of the Hanevs.

Eliana fixed her gaze on him, unable to shut her gaping mouth.

Then, when Verkley’s eyes met hers, he gave a chilling grin.

He had a completely different vibe, and Eliana knew whoever that was, it wasn’t Verkley.

Eliana stiffened and Verkley raised his arm in Mary’s direction.

The ring he was wearing glowed red.

At the same time, the lake suddenly swayed loudly, causing untimely waves.

Kallius, who was watching the ceremony, quickly cast a windshield to protect Mary.

Eliana was on the verge of being swept away by the waves, but Rube tugged her into his arms.

Boom!

With the sound of an explosion, their surroundings became a raging noise.

The waves roared.

Something exploded not only in the lake but also where the nobles sat.

The sounds of screaming and shouting caused chaos in the entire area.

Eliana breathed heavily in the place of this complete mess.

The explosion distracted her. Her ears began to ring.

Riing–

“Eliana!”

Rube shook Eliana’s shoulder and shouted, but the ringing was so loud that she could hardly hear.

One after another, explosions burst all over.

The nobles shouted and began to evacuate, judging that the explosions were unlikely to end.

Eliana frowned and turned to where Verkley stood.

But he was no longer there.

‘No. Where’d he go?’

Eliana gasped, leaning against Rube.

She felt nauseous.

The surrounding sounds started to seem distant.

For a moment, she had a flashback of the bus flipping.

The car’s horn rang in her ears.

Eliana covered her ears and groaned.

Her whole body felt like it was broken.

She barely moved her head and turned to Mary.

As Mary stared at the ceremony with confusion, Kallius lifted her.

“…liana, Eliana! Can you hear me?!”

“Ah…” 

In the end, Eliana couldn’t stand the pain and let out a shallow moan, giving into the darkness.

Rube was trying to hold on to Eliana, who collapsed, but someone quickly snatched her away.

Black hair shielded Eliana’s face.

Verkley’s eyes were still red and with the same unsettling grin.

He cast a cold glare at Rube.

Rube stared at Verkley with a hard face.

Precisely focusing on his right eye.

* * *

When Eliana opened her eyes, there was only darkness.

She couldn’t believe she lost consciousness in that uproar.

She tried to get up and figure out what was going on, but her body wouldn’t cooperate.

Strangely, she was lying on her back with her hands tied together.

She felt a soft bed mat below her, but the air was cool.

Eliana tried using magic to untie the bonds but then froze.

She sensed movement right beside her.

As she turned her head, she squinted, adapting to the darkness, finally noticing the bright red eyes staring back at her.

‘Verkley… No, that’s not Verkley.’

Eliana flinched as she looked into his eyes, shining brightly in the dark.

The eyes peering down at her were so unfamiliar.

He looked down at Eliana as if he were examining a very interesting creature.

It was like he was contemplating whether he should kill her or not.

Goosebumps rose across her skin when she realized the person inside Verkley was not exactly Verkley.

‘A small snake swallowing a piece of gold larger than its body…’

Eliana feigned a laugh as she checked the mark on his right eye again.

She thought it felt familiar, but to be so close.

It’s become embarrassing to see how hard she’s struggling to survive.

Verkley made a deal with the Hanevs, not a demon.

Eliana continued to laugh in vain, whether Verkley’s face became cold or not.

‘Because those who have signed a contract with the Hanevs always have tragic endings.’

She remembered what Rube had told her.

Somehow, while she thought things were going well, they weren’t. Rather, she was in a twisted situation.

It’s impossible to reverse the fact that Verkley has already favored her.

Eliana once again felt like she only knew a fraction of the story.

Not knowing the novel’s ending was a great risk.

‘Come to think of it, every time Verkley appeared in the novel, there were constant incidents.’

If all of this was caused by the deal with the Hanev, Eliana had stepped into a complete curse.

“You’re not surprised?” The Hanev asked in a cool voice.

He was expecting her to be somewhat shocked.

His expression was different from Verkley’s. He had mischievous written all over him.

He seemed to have only an instinct for power.

Eliana stared at the Hanev with a hard face. “Where’s Verkley?”

Eliana was surprised to hear herself ask that question.

It was funny how she worried about his safety in this situation.

“Aren’t I Verkley?”

The Hanev responded with a skeptical voice, but it was an unseemly joke.

Verkley couldn’t have tied her hands and intimidated her so openly.

‘You used the demon’s power, and now you’re being controlled by him.’

Whenever he used the demon’s power, sometimes he couldn’t control it, so the demon would take over his body.

The Verkley standing before her was not the real Verkley.

It was the same with how she was Eliana but not the real Eliana.

Eliana showed no signs of disbelief, and the Hanev’s mouth drew into a straight line.

“You knew something, didn’t you?”

Eliana stared at him silently.

In the novel, Verkley had no memory of being controlled by the demon.

So it was okay to act more comfortably with the demon.

Eliana thought for a second before sharply responding with a question.

“You’re going to recklessly take control of the contractor’s body?”

The Hanev had done a lot of difficult things on Verkley’s part whenever he controlled his body.

It was the same now.

The real Verkley wouldn’t have tied her hands and locked her in a secret room.

She knew this, but she couldn’t say anything to the Hanev because he was borrowing his power.

The Hanev chuckled at Eliana’s question.

“You’re not saying that while you’re recklessly controlling that body, are you? You don’t own that body.” 

The Hanev cocked his head with a smile.

Eliana’s eyes widened at the Hanev’s words.

Since entering the novel, she’s never told anyone that secret. And now, it’s just been revealed.

Eliana was completely captured in his eyes.

A piercing persistent gaze.

Eliana thrashed her body violently out of fear she would be exposed to him.

A warning sign went off inside her head, telling her she had to get free and run.

Then he chuckled and roughly grabbed Eliana by the chin.

T/N: Hello! I’m nieye, the translator/editor for this novel. If you’d like to support me, head over to my Ko-fi (っ˘ω˘ς ). Thank you for the love <33