The Villainess Proposed a Contractual Marriage

Let's turn back time briefly to the afternoon of New Year's Day.

"This is a good story."

A woman with a concealed appearance visited First Prince Rupehit's bedchamber. Rupehit eyed her warily but calmly asked:

"Who... are you?"

"Just a simple apothecary. But one with extraordinary abilities to aid Your Highness."

"Aid? You... me?"

"That's right."

Even if Rupehit's judgment was clouded, he wasn't foolish enough to blindly trust the words of a stranger who suddenly appeared. So he remained vigilant and interrogated the intruder.

"If you truly wish to help me, start by explaining how you infiltrated this place."

"As I said, I'm a capable apothecary. A potion to temporarily turn oneself invisible... Given enough time, I can produce as much as needed."

"Such a thing... exists?"

"Why would I lie about something so easily disproven? If you're skeptical, I'll gladly demonstrate."

The woman removed her hood, revealing her face. Rupehit had been eyeing her suspiciously, but upon seeing her visage, he struggled to control his expression.

She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her sharp, slanting eyes and vibrant lips stirred desire. Even the famed holy maidens Ibria and Elphisia Luminel would likely pale in comparison to this woman.

When she then swallowed the liquid from a vial, Rupehit witnessed an incredible sight.

"Is, is this real...?"

The woman's form gradually vanished, replaced by empty space. Her beautiful appearance disappeared so suddenly that it left him feeling stunned.

About a minute later, the woman's beauty regained its color and radiance.

"Do you believe me now?"

"Ah... of course... I believe you."

The usual Rupehit would have been more suspicious. But beauty has a strange power. The more attractive someone is, the more it clouds one's judgment.

That was Rupehit's current state.

Half-entranced by her beauty and faced with a convincing demonstration, his doubts evaporated.

"So, so then? How do you intend to help me? If things go well, I'll grant you any position you desire!"

"Even if what I desire is the position of Empress?"

"Th-that would be... even better...! No, never mind. Ahem... I promise. I'll give you anything."

Rupehit had no idea.

That the potion the woman drank was merely plain water, and that he had fallen under the spell of her Charm ability.

Love allows one to do anything for the other person.

When in love, even a deer can be believed to be a fine steed. Likewise, it's not unreasonable to deeply believe a perfectly visible person is actually invisible.

Essentially mind control.

The moment Rupehit felt lust for the woman - the Queen of Succubi - he had already surrendered his mind.

"Your Highness, take this medicine."

"What... is it?"

"A potion to make you sharper and stronger, Your Highness."

Charm isn't all-powerful.

If one notices too great a contradiction, the spell risks breaking at any time. Moreover, once broken, Charm doesn't work a second time. Therefore, to maintain Charm stably, the target needed to be broken.

For instance, if not relying on drugs... making proper judgment impossible.

"And please take this as well."

"Is it different from the medicine you just gave me?"

"Of course."

She smiled with what seemed like pure benevolence.

"Even a single drop will do. Mix just a tiny bit of this into the food that will be served at the hunting festival."

"What will happen if I mix it in?"

"Everyone... will react exactly as Your Highness wishes."

More precisely, they would see the illusions the woman intended. After all, this drug was also a medium to amplify the effects of Charm.

And so Rupehit used drugs to recruit people and realize his conspiracy...

Leading to the present, as the hunting festival drew to a close.

---

---

Rupehit regained focus as he witnessed the fountain of blood before him. He then observed the current situation, devoid of any sense of reality.

What was this sticky, warm liquid covering him?

Blood. Gushing from a cleanly severed throat.

What was that round object floating in the sky?

A human head. The head of the man who reigned supreme in the Empire and was praised as the wisest monarch in history.

Then... what was the heavy object gripped in his hand...?

"Uh...? Ah... Ah...?"

The name of that thing with a ghastly sharpened blade stained crimson red... was clearly a sword.

Connecting these three elements like drawing lines, Rupehit reached a single conclusion.

"What... what have I done...?"

He killed.

He assassinated.

He beheaded the current Emperor, who reigned as the Empire's absolute ruler, with this sword.

But why?

This body, these arms, these hands moved on their own like a puppet on strings, compelling him to commit this unfilial act. Who in their right mind would commit the foolish act of murdering the Emperor here, where everyone's eyes were upon them?

"What on earth... happened... I... I...!"

Clang!

The sword he was holding fell, and both hands clutched his head as if it might shatter. That's when it happened.

Zing-!

A deep blue light traced an elegant curve on the ground. The process unfolded too quickly to intervene. Thus, a circle surrounding the hunting grounds was completed, and strange hieroglyphs were etched into the earth.

Special-grade magic device - Dimensional barrier Eldorado.

It was a demon treasure that the Charm-afflicted Rupehit had buried in the hunting grounds, originally meant to be used in pairs.

Its effect was spatial transposition. Within the range of the magic circles drawn by the paired objects, it swapped their spaces.

In other words, at this moment, a large number of troops waiting in the demon realm were indiscriminately summoned to the hunting grounds.

"Ravage them."

An icy voice rang out.

Thunderous roars followed immediately after.

---

---

It was pandemonium.

Terrified people pushed and trampled each other. Demons and demon beasts charged in with bellowing roars, and the hunting grounds, which had been a festive scene just moments ago, transformed into a hellscape in an instant.

"Urgh."

Throb!

Another splitting headache struck my skull. As it did, I experienced a hallucination where the current situation seemed to be overlaid with a frame, like a photograph from the distant past.

"Harte! Wake up, Harte!!!"

"Papa!"

"Elphisia... Tina..."

I had to snap to attention as Elphisia said. I had to move, thoroughly ignoring the pain in my body.

"Haa... Haa..."

I was irritated.

Anger welled up inside me.

Without even knowing what was provoking such emotions, I took a step forward. But a rough hand held me back.

"Son-in-law!"

"Duke...?"

"You must quickly escape with my daughter and the children. Leave this place to me and the knights."

"But..."

"You're the only one who can protect the remaining people and evacuate them! So go now!"

"..."

It was frustrating, but he was right. Moreover, in my current strange physical state, I might even end up being a hindrance.

So, I quickly leapt towards the platform where Yulian and Glen were.

"Director!"

"Are you alright?!"

"Kids, the details..."

In that instant, the sound of tearing air brushed past my earlobe.

A subtle presence approached with agility that made it difficult to even perceive. I reflexively drew my sword to defend against the stranger's blade.

Clang, clang clang...

"Still as..."

The man crossing swords with me tried to say something. But time was of the essence. So I pushed back hard against his blade, then swung forcefully to send him flying far away.

Thud thud thud thud...!

"Lord Demon King...!"

Someone called the man tumbling along the ground "Demon King".

Regardless, I leapt while tucking Yulian and Glen under each arm. Thanks to the Duke and knights working together to hold them back, evacuation was smooth even amidst the chaos.

"Di-Director. Just now, they said Demon King...!"

"It doesn't matter. The Duke will take care of it, so you two focus on staying safe."

My tone came out aggressively, perhaps due to my frayed nerves. Yulian, with his characteristic perceptiveness, sensed something was off and nodded.

'The forest path is ahead. Taking carriages would be suicide. Once the horses get spooked, it's all over.'

But fleeing on foot would also lead to annihilation. Then there was only one way to get the maximum number of people through this crisis safely.

Divine power.

I had to borrow the power of miracles to protect people from the demon invasion.

If that happened, the demon side would also have justification for a holy war.

Perhaps once a holy war begins, we'd have to kill all the demons. Until no more children of the Demon God are born, forever.

It was a scenario worth considering.

Last time, the demon side preemptively established a plot to divide us using their holy maiden's divine power. So the authority to end the holy war rested with humans.

Back then, we ended it by simply executing the demons' holy maiden, but...

'If I become the catalyst...?'

Will they try to avenge their holy maiden on me? What if they don't give up until I die?

Selfishly, I have no intention of suicide.

People who would be saddened by my death have appeared.

Sadly, I've come to know the warmth of family.

"...te."

What should I... do...

"Harte!!!"

Flash!

Elphisia's cry suddenly pulled my consciousness back to reality. She grabbed both my shoulders and urgently conveyed:

"I know what you're thinking. Don't use your divine power. Absolutely not. Do you understand?"

"Elphisia... But... There are too many people... At this rate, we can't protect everyone..."

This was different from the vampire incident. Back then, at least a one-on-one structure was formed, but now we were overwhelmingly outnumbered. Moreover, some demons as strong as those vampires could be seen.

If I don't use divine power, people will die.

Nevertheless, Elphisia firmly opposed it.

"No. Absolutely do not use it. Use it for trivial, silly things if you must, but right now... please stand down. I'm begging you."

"Elphisia. I..."

Amidst the chaos consuming my mind.

I tried to persuade her somehow. Even though I myself was still conflicted about using divine power, I was unconsciously doing so.

But Elphisia forcefully cut off my words.

"I told you not to do it!!!"

She truly shouted at the top of her lungs.

Probably for the first time since we met.

The logic I was trying to piece together to persuade her turned blank in an instant. Though it wasn't the time to be caught up in sentiments, I couldn't help it.

Elphisia was crying.

Tears flowed down her cheeks, which were usually flushed with passion. It was truly a sight I never wanted to see in my lifetime.

"This time... I don't know what I did wrong or where. I don't understand why you have to be forced into such a choice. Is it my fault? Did this happen because I was too greedy? Or is even this my karmic retribution...?"

"Elphisia...?"

"Please... listen to me... Harte. Prioritize yourself over those strangers, damn it. Even family shouldn't be more important than you...

That's how it should be...!"

I was shocked to hear Elphisia actually say such things. The Elphisia I knew was always a good person who acted for others, so I never imagined she would speak so directly like this.

Right then, a nobleman who had been eavesdropping on our conversation nearby desperately clung to me.

"Wh-what are you saying? Divine power, you mean that amazing miracle? Use it quickly. People who can be saved should be saved, shouldn't they...?"

It was a natural logical conclusion, but Elphisia's gaze was as fierce as if it had been stabbed.

"Shut up."

Whoosh!

She drew the sword at my waist and thrust towards the nobleman begging for mercy.

"Hii, hiik..."

"No one can force Harte to do anything. After all I've lost... After all I've seen... I can't lose it again. Even if I have to cut off every clinging hand. Not even I am an exception."

Elphisia muttered incomprehensibly, as if she had lost her mind. Moreover, her focus was blurred as if her psyche had been scraped away.

I grabbed Elphisia's hand and lowered the sword. Then I forcibly turned her face towards me.

"Calm down, Elphisia."

"... Harte. Let's go. We need to move quickly. The knights will soon send reinforcements..."

"Elphisia."

"..."

"It's okay. Everything will be alright."

I reassured her without revealing the invading headache.

"Yes... It will be okay. It will definitely be okay."

─At the same time, I manifested my divine power.

The golden aura harmonizing with the setting sun gently enveloped our surroundings. Now I just needed to recite the holy words to transport everyone at the hunting grounds to Luminel manor.

"Harte...!!!"

I fully embraced Elphisia, who was almost screaming.

I wished she would listen quietly, if only for a moment. So that she could detach herself from me, who worried her so much.

"Hey, you know what? Elphisia. I told a lie... No, I've been lying quite often."

"..."

"We... signed that contract so solemnly, but..."

I was certain it would be kept. I had been convinced that it was impossible for me, who had intended to remain celibate for life, to develop feelings for a woman.

That's why I hate myself for having to say these words.

"I don't think I'll be able to keep that contract after all."

"... What?"

"Instead, I'll pay the price for the handkerchief."

I lightly kissed Elphisia's lips, which had frozen in bewilderment.

It was a brief kiss, like a butterfly fluttering by for a moment.

So the soft sensation of our lips meeting was short. But the lingering feeling remembered by the body was long.

"...... Can I slowly repay the sin of daring to commit adultery without knowing my place?"

"Wait, wait a minute...! Harte!!!"

Whoosh!

Before Elphisia could finish speaking, the whole world filled with golden light. The omnipotence embraced all those celebrating life and removed them from the pandemonium.

As the divine radiance faded, the world that became peaceful was quiet.

I remained behind, as someone had to defeat the demons.

"... Karmic retribution, perhaps."

No other words came to mind to express it.

I mean, isn't it?

The one who appears... is the Demon God's proxy.

That old demon who suddenly attacked me from behind was the High Priest. However, the holiness seeping from his very existence far transcended the ravages of time.

"The High Priest, I presume."

"..."

His silence was affirmation enough.

The man granted a role equivalent to the Pope in the demon realm had personally descended here.

Neither the Pope nor the High Priest have baptismal names.

For the heads of temples are vessels inhabited by god.

Their names are the same as their chief deities.

"Child who has twisted causality, I shall erase you and set right the providence."

"... That's troublesome. I haven't fulfilled my contract yet, you see."

No further expression of our intentions was necessary.

Pop, swish, pop.

The sound of giant soap bubbles bursting. The somehow familiar sound tapped at my ears as the High Priest's divine power manifested.

His divine power took the form of dark red bubbles.

The deep crimson aura floating about mixed with golden particles as they battled for dominance.

"Haa... Ugh."

Suddenly, the strength left one of my knees.

As my headache worsened, hallucinations overlaid reality.

This was my first time witnessing the High Priest's divine power. Yet I was certain it felt familiar somehow. Moreover, my memories were jumbled, as if I had caught some mental illness.

"Hnngh... Ah..."

In the instant I dropped my head and widened my eyes, what flowed into my mind were memories that should have been forgotten.

From a vanished future, reminiscences riddled with irredeemable regrets.

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