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“It’s alright. Please cast that spell on me.” Raios requested with a voice that had become completely calm. “I will accept the judgment of my soul.”
“Your Highness!”
“It is to prove the truth.”
Raios was firm. His face was imbued with an unbreakable will, like a barrier made of steel, impossible to tear down.
“I will not accept any verdict without the judgment of soul.”
Something felt off. Dana bit her lower lip hard.Strange, something, very strange.A sense of dissonance was scratching at the back of her neck.
Would Raios really go this far? The judgment of soul isn’t just death. It is the annihilation of the soul. Knowing this, yet… he still want to go through with that?
Has Raios truly lost his mind?
One wouldn’t go to such lengths unless they were mad. It’s unthinkable to gamble not just a life but a soul.
Or is it all just bravado?
No. It’s not. It wasn’t bravado or even a lie. It was real. Raios was truly staking his soul, claiming his innocence. But that wasn’t the only strange thing.
And why is she…? Why is she trembling?
It wasn’t a mistake. Allice was trembling. She was terrified and anxious. Dana clearly saw Allice’s cheek twitching. This wasn’t just nervousness. It was sheer terror.
Was she afraid because Raios might be in danger? Or if not… Then…
At that moment, a sinister premonition passed through Dana’s mind.Could it be?
This girl. Could it be? No way!
“…It can’t be done right now.” At that time, the pope sighed in resignation as if unable to resist Raios’s insistence. “First, Your Highness must draft a document stating that the papacy will not be held accountable should anything go wrong.”
“Fine.” Raios nodded as if he had been waiting for it. “I’ll go to my office to write it and stamp it with my seal. Please wait a moment.” He walked out of the cathedral without hesitation.
Bang.The moment the door closed, the cardinals burst into condemnation.
“Your Holiness! How could you say such a thing!”
“The judgment of the soul?”
“That’s absolutely unacceptable!”
The pope looked troubled but shook his head. “His Highness will come to his senses soon. We must hope he changes his mind by the time he returns from the office.”
“And if he continues to insist?”
At Cardinal Felix’s question, the pope was silent for a moment but soon answered in a clear voice. “Then we will accept His Highness’s request.”
“Your Holiness!”
“It’s the first holy trial of the century. We must reach a verdict somehow.”
Dana made up her mind.I have to see it.She had to see what would happen next. Whether Raios would truly receive the judgment of soul, and if so, what the outcome would be, she needed to see it, no matter what. So, please, let her third eye open.
Dana concentrated with all her might.Hurry!
But no matter how much she tried, the door wouldn’t open. Dana bit her lip and clenched her fist. The pain of her nails digging into her palm was dizzying.
Her third eye still wouldn’t open, just like before. Why? After truly awakening, it would always open with such concentration. Why couldn’t she open it anymore? It was as if she could no longer see the future…
Wait.A flash of insight crossed her mind. If she could no longer see the future, then.What about the past?
Dana closed her eyes again. Ignoring the murmuring voices of the cardinals, she concentrated with all her strength. If she could no longer see the future, show her the past.
Please. Eight nights ago. Please, show me. What happened in Raios’s bedroom. Show me! Hurry!
And at that moment, a vast planetary eye flashed open its eyelid. The soul split open, and through that crack, an eyeball was revealed. The earth was her pupil. The sky was her field of vision. Dana, with that vast eye, finally saw everything.
“Y-Your Highness?”
Eight nights ago. On a dark night, in Raios’s bedroom.
“Your Highness, why in the world.”
Allice’s voice trembled as she wept.
“Why are you doing this?”
Huuuu.Allice burst into tears. She couldn’t bear the sorrow.
“How can you sleep like this!”
Allice shook Raios. But Raios, deep in sleep, showed no signs of waking.
“Wake up, Your Highness!”
What was that potion again?
“Mix it with body hair and give it to His Highness. It will make your first night easier.”
Yes, and after that, Yoris—the servant of her mother—explained in detail before leaving.
“It’s a drug that maximizes sexual desire for the owner of the body hair.”
“Se-Sexual desire?”
“Yes. But Milady.”
Yoris cautiously asked.
“Are you on good terms with His Highness?’
“W-Why do you ask?”
“If there’s hatred, loathing, or any negative emotion towards the owner of the body hair, it might cause a strong sleep as a side effect.”
“Strong sleep?”
“Yes. Even if the world falls apart, they won’t wake up for 12 hours.”
Yes. That was it.
“How can he just sleep like that…”
It was unbelievable.
Could it be that the drug was made by a quack?
No. Her mother got it from someone she trusted more than anyone else, an old acquaintance. If her mother was that confident, it must be someone reliable.
Then why did he just fall asleep? Of course, if there’s hatred, loathing, or disgust, it would act as a sleeping pill with no other effect.But that’s impossible! Your Highness loves me!
“Sob, sob, Your Highness, Your Highness! Wake up!”
Allice cried wildly, like an animal. If it were normal, he would have woken up by now.
“Even if the world falls apart, they won’t wake up for 12 hours.”
No, that couldn’t be. Maybe the drug was wrong? Maybe it’s just a sleeping pill?
“Your Highness, Your Highneess, Your Highneeeessss!”
Allice shook Raios, hoping desperately it was just a sleeping pill, however,
“Even if the world falls apart, they won’t wake up for 12 hours.”
“No, wake up, it’s a lie!”
The effect really occurred. The side effect of falling into a deep sleep like death if the owner of the body hair is hated or loathed.
I put my hair in, so why. Why did the side effect occur? Why!It was unbelievable, and Allice burst into tears.
“Sob,sob.”
She was confused.Maybe His Highness doesn’t love me?The mere thought brought a surge of fear.
“No, that can’t be. Something must have gone wrong.” She got up abruptly and paced around the room.
But Mother. But the drug. But. But, but, but—
Then, Allice’s eyes caught the wine bottle on the nightstand. She grabbed the bottle roughly and drank it as if pouring it down her throat.Glug, glug, glug.Emptying the wine bottle in seconds, she then gasped for air and slumped down on the spot.
Something must have gone wrong. His Highness must be just tired. Right, he said he was tired today. His Highness loves me.
“I’ve come to love you, Allice Windsor.”
One day, suddenly, he confessed that he liked me, not Dana.
“You’re far more attractive than Danae Windsor. I love you more.”
That confession couldn’t have been a lie. There was no way he would have said that while hating her while being disgusted by her, enduring it all, right?