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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Ever since receiving the proposal, Ludmilla intentionally showed off her left hand, flaunting the engagement ring she received from Edanant.
She had the engagement ring.
Now, she would marry Edanant next spring.
As she extended her left hand, the engagement ring, scattering a dazzling radiance, came into view.
The usually unpretentious princess, who had considered makeup and jewelry as mere formalities, now sported a beautiful ring, drawing countless gazes.
“I heard she’s promised to marry Sir Edanant of House Hohenberc.”
“Sir Edanant… Isn’t he the new hero of the Holy Kingdom, chosen by the Earth Mother’s oracle?”
The Red Dragon of the Empire and the new hero of the Holy Kingdom.
They were indeed a well-matched couple.
The nobles of the Valtarian Empire, wishing for the prosperity of the imperial family, offered their congratulations to the soon-to-be-wed couple.
“Congratulations! I heard you received an engagement ring from Sir Edanant?”
“Thank you, Sister Isabelle.”
“He must have been very busy dealing with the cultists who invaded the Empire… Haha, it must mean that Sir Edanant is very fond of our Liza.”
“Ahem! You flatter me.”
I threatened him, asking if he wanted to lose his life or the engagement ring.
-She couldn’t possibly reveal the truth.
So, Ludmilla blushed and turned her head slightly.
“Congratulations, Sister! I heard the news as well!”
“Thank you.”
Alexis, who happened to be with Isabelle, looked ecstatic.
He seemed delighted that Edanant, chosen by the Holy Earth Mother as the new hero, would become his brother-in-law.
The younger brother of the hero, Maximilian.
And the newly chosen hero.
He was a perfect candidate to be welcomed as the son-in-law of the Valtarian imperial family.
Therefore, the engagement was accepted without any objections or opposition.
“….”
Ludmilla silently placed her left hand on the table, her gaze sweeping over the engagement ring on her ring finger.
She was happy.
To think she received a proposal from Edanant.
Although there was a minor incident (…) along the way, she decided to focus on the outcome.
“Now that Milla has received an engagement ring… there are two married women in the Valtarian imperial family? Haha.”
The noblewoman with luscious auburn hair, showing off her own wedding ring, chuckled.
Ludmilla responded with a faint smile.
She had remained unmarried until the age of twenty-seven, causing her family much worry.
It was time to put an end to her life as an old maid.
Even if a natural disaster were to sweep across the continent, she was determined to hold the wedding ceremony next year.
“I’ll be going now. I have something to discuss with Edanant…”
“Already prioritizing your husband? Haha, just kidding. Go ahead.”
Ludmilla excused herself from Isabelle and Alexis and rose from her seat.
Edanant must be waiting for her in the drawing-room.
He probably wanted to discuss the incident at the Hohenberc marquisate.
The murky aura.
The black flames that had instantly reduced their surroundings to ashes.
It was the power of the Red Dragon, but something was different.
The power of the Empire’s guardian dragon had transformed into violence and tyranny.
If Edanant hadn’t sacrificed himself to quell the madness, the Hohenberc marquisate would have been consumed by an unprecedented inferno.
Uncontrolled power only brought harm to the innocent.
She had to find a way to control her power.
With a heavy heart, she made her way to the drawing-room.
“Fancy meeting you here, Saintess.”
“It seems Edan has summoned both the Saintess and the Princess.”
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Ludmilla, heading towards the drawing-room where Edanant awaited, bumped into Zebeline in the hallway.
They exchanged greetings out of courtesy.
It was basic etiquette for the princess of the Empire and the saintess of the Holy Kingdom.
However, neither of them bothered to hide their animosity towards their rival.
As if a winter blizzard had descended upon them, the maids in the hallway hastily retreated.
‘Was the First Saintess always wearing a ring?’
As they walked side by side, Ludmilla noticed the engagement ring on Zebeline’s ring finger.
Where did she get that?
Don’t tell me Edanant gave it to her?
She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the engagement ring adorned with a glass-like diamond.
Sensing Ludmilla’s gaze, Zebeline smiled faintly and raised her left hand.
‘She must have threatened Edanant to get that engagement ring. To think the saintess of the Holy Kingdom would resort to such shameless tactics… But the design is quite similar. Could it be a replica she had made?’
The design of the engagement ring was strikingly similar.
It must be a fake.
Ludmilla immediately concluded that it was a counterfeit.
After all, the engagement ring she received directly from Edanant was the real deal.
With a smug look, she glanced at Zebeline, who seemed desperate to deny the obvious.
‘What are you staring at? As if an old maid like you could possess the real thing.’
Zebeline scoffed at Ludmilla’s blatant reaction.
Just like Ludmilla, who believed her engagement ring to be genuine, Zebeline also considered hers to be the real one.
Because the engagement ring she received was a keepsake from Edanant’s late mother.
It is the wife’s role to inherit the role of the mother.
The engagement ring possessed by the old maid princess was nothing more than an antique passed down through generations of Hohenberc family heads.
With that thought, Zebeline cherished the engagement ring she received even more.
‘My engagement ring is the real one.’
‘My engagement ring is the real one, you know?’
Arriving simultaneously at the drawing-room without yielding to each other, Ludmilla and Zebeline glared at each other, their hands resting on the doorknob.
And they flung open the doors to the drawing-room where Edanant awaited.
???????
The Demon Realm.
A land ravaged by demons who had crossed over from another world.
A man arrived at the demon’s territory.
Clad in black priestly robes, the man gripped two blood-soaked swords in his hands, evidence of a recent battle.
Ilkeron Nebiakus.
The leader of the Holy Kingdom’s guardian knights and one of the Seven Strongest.
The Black Cardinal.
A monster who had purged countless heretics.
The cardinal, having piled up a mountain of demon corpses, began to wipe his bloodstained glasses.
As if waiting for someone, he stood patiently amidst the carnage.
“…Master.”
“You’ve arrived, Maximilian.”
A few minutes passed, and a man with flowing black hair approached.
Ilkeron, his face brightening with a welcoming smile, greeted his old friend.
“Did the Pontiff send you?”
“Of course. You don’t think I would be here because I was bored in retirement, do you?”
He had long since retired and passed the torch to his successors in the Holy Kingdom.
However, he had been summoned back to the secular world by the call of his old friend and superior, the Pontiff.
Ilkeron smiled, wrinkles etching his face, and put his glasses back on.
“It’s far worse than I imagined. To think the apocalypse prophesied by the Earth Mother has already begun.”
Nearly half of the Demon Realm had been painted “gray.”
Gray.
An ashen hue devoid of any other color.
The spaces consumed by the apocalyptic gray were robbed of their color and time.
As if to prove this, the demons swallowed by the gray stood frozen like statues, their movements halted as if a pause button had been pressed.
It wasn’t just living beings.
All objects in the material world lost their vitality.
The gray was spreading.
Soon, it would devour all the colors that existed on the continent.
The cardinal dispatched from the Holy Kingdom made a brief sign of the cross, mourning all the lives consumed by the gray.
“Have you come to stop Beatrice?”
“Don’t be absurd. I’m not heartless enough to wage war against the Saintess Party.”
He was aware of their plan to resurrect the Calamity of Death.
Maximilian glanced at the aged cardinal, sensing the Earth Mother’s intervention.
“The Calamity of Tyranny has been resurrected in the Valtarian Empire. It has broken free from the One True God’s seal.”
“…What?”
The Calamity of Tyranny.
The ancient specter, once vanquished by the One True God, had returned.
Maximilian’s eyes widened in shock at Ilkeron’s words.
“Why bother awakening the Calamity of Death? The Calamity of Famine will soon follow.”
“…”
The Calamity of Tyranny had been resurrected.
And soon, the Calamity of Famine would inevitably follow.
If the Calamity of Death were to be resurrected as well, it would lead to an unstoppable catastrophe.
This could not be ignored.
The resurrection of all the Calamities signified the fall of the One True God.
The reason the Black Cardinal had come to the demon-infested land was to persuade the Saintess Party, who were on the verge of crossing the line.
And to inform them that the Calamity of Harmlessness was nearing its full resurrection.
“Maximilian. In the name of the Holy One True God, I propose a deal.”
The cardinal, bearing the weight of his faith, extended his hand.
It was a gesture asking them to accept the Earth Mother’s deal to prevent the apocalypse.
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