CHAPTER 50
Outside the Temple.
Famous figures, known to absolutely everyone in the Empire, were gathered in front of the building.

Alios, a Sword Master and the heir to a Dukedom, whom every Imperial citizen had at least heard rumors of even if they hadn't seen her in person.
Viol, the Emperor of the Empire, whose face anyone would immediately recognize.
Sibylius, the half-demon Archmage whom fewer people could recognize by sight, but whom the citizens of the Empire simultaneously feared and took pride in.
And though not particularly famous within the Empire, there were also the Death Knights—Expert-class knights led by an undead Sword Master.

Any single one of them would have been enough to throw the surrounding area into an uproar, but with all of them gathered in one place, a miracle occurred.
Absolutely no one dared to approach them. The crowds had all backed away, leaving a completely empty 100-meter radius around the women.

"W-What's going on?"
"Why is Her Majesty the Emperor here?"

The citizens of the capital, whispering among themselves from a distance, didn't know the exact details, but they could instantly tell the atmosphere was volatile.
The famous figures gathered there were all glaring at each other with deeply unpleasant expressions. No matter how dense someone was, it was impossible not to read the room.

"You crazy bitch, couldn't you just go die somewhere out of my sight?" Viol spat at Alios, looking absolutely disgusted.

Alios merely tilted her head. "Why should I?"

"...This bitch is still speaking to me informally. The other wenches here put me in a foul mood too, but your disrespect is truly in a league of its own."

Viol wasn't just being sarcastic; she genuinely meant it.
She loathed Hames and Sibylius as well, but compared to Alios, they at least possessed a basic level of common sense. Hames maintained formal etiquette, even if it was just for show, and Sibylius, though Viol hated to admit it, was treated as a near-equal collaborator by generations of past Emperors.

But this one?
"Why don't you go die instead?"

For the heir of a family that had sworn loyalty to the Emperor for generations to spew such words at her, the ruling Emperor—it was utterly absurd.

"Seriously, what exactly is giving you this much confidence?" Viol snapped. "Even Ceres, the heir to the leading aristocratic faction that actively keeps the Emperor in check, doesn't treat me like this!"

"Well, maybe Ceres actually wants to act like this but is just holding it in?"

"Holding it in? Ha. With his personality, if he were truly pissed off, he would have chewed me out right then and there! Lately, his attitude has actually been quite sweet."

Viol's expression softened as she said this, and she wasn't just boasting—it was the truth. Even from an outsider's perspective, Ceres's demeanor toward the Emperor had grown noticeably friendlier.

"It's all thanks to me stepping up when it truly mattered. Unlike someone who did absolutely nothing when Ceres needed help," Viol bragged.

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you unaware that I was the one who brought him to the Imperial Palace when he was suffering humiliation at his estate? His attitude toward me completely changed from that moment on."

"...If I had heard the news, I would have handled it much better!" Alios retorted.

"Better than me, the Emperor? How exactly?"

"I would have slaughtered every single one of those bastards causing trouble right then and there, High Priest or not!"

"You would massacre them all right in front of Ceres's eyes? You barbaric brute."
"What did you say?!"

Alios and Viol sneered, insulted, and raged at each other, but they didn't actually cross blades. They still remembered Ceres explicitly telling them not to fight.
Because of that, they were stuck in a messy verbal spat, which the Death Knights were watching with immense interest.

"My, our Lord is truly a sinful man."
"To completely captivate such incredibly capable women."
"It's almost scary. A crime of passion might break out at this rate."

They voiced words of concern, but their faces were stretched into wide, amused grins, clearly enjoying the spectacle. Watching high-ranking, powerful figures fight over a supreme beauty was an entertaining drama for both the living and the dead.

"Who are you rooting for?"
"Emperor Viol. Like she said, she actually showed up at the crucial moment."
"I'm voting for Emperor Viol, too."
"Why?"
"Because if Lord Ceres marries that woman, he can take over this entire Empire."
"Ah, true. If the Emperor were to give birth to a daughter who inherits our Lord's Divine Power..."
"This entire nation would unknowingly become the Holy Empire, the true successor to the Holy Kingdom."

While the Death Knights huddled together chattering about their happy delusions, their Commander was not among them.
Commander Niobe was standing a step back, her gaze fixed on Sibylius.

Who is that woman?
Niobe wore a strange expression as she looked at the Archmage.
It was her first time seeing this woman today, but for some reason, she felt a chilling sensation. She also felt an eerie sense of familiarity, as if she had encountered something like this before.

Where was it? I'm certain I've felt this exact presence once before.
Just as she was digging through a thousand years of memories, Sibylius noticed her stare and looked back.

"Is there a problem?" Sibylius asked.

"...I was just wondering what you were doing," Niobe quickly fabricated an excuse, caught off guard. "You haven't been participating in their conversation. You've just been staring blankly at your surroundings for a while now, so I was curious."

"Ah, that." Sibylius frowned and surveyed the area again. "The structure of the capital is strange, so I was examining it."

"Strange? How so?"

"I haven't had much reason to visit the capital until now, so I didn't know, but looking at it now... there are secret passages hidden all over the city."

While waiting for Ceres outside the Temple, she had discovered several hidden mechanisms scattered throughout the capital.

"They are concealed with magic, but my eyes can see them. They are blatantly hidden even beneath ordinary streets. What on earth are these passages, and when were they built?"

"Could they be emergency escape routes created by the Imperial Family?" Niobe guessed.

"No, if that were the case, there's no way I wouldn't know about them. Even if you asked Emperor Viol over there, she wouldn't know either. Furthermore..."

"Furthermore?"

"Hasn't it felt a bit noisy for a while now?"
Sibylius grew anxious at an unidentifiable sensation brushing against her senses. It felt as though something was rising from underground. She focused her attention carefully when—

This scent?!
The moment she detected a familiar scent, one of the secret passages burst open.

Someone with red hair climbed out, carrying someone with silver hair in her arms. Only a few people knew the red-haired woman, but absolutely everyone present knew the silver-haired man.

"Ceres?!"
Almost in unison, they cried out his name.

"Why are you here? And who the hell is that bastard (새끼)?" Viol asked suspiciously. Why was Ceres, who should have been inside the Temple, coming out of here? And more importantly, who was the woman holding him?

Viol's foul mood was evident in her tone, but the response she got was just as sharp.

"Then who the hell are you, you bastard?"

It wasn't Ceres who answered, but the woman holding him—Red. Viol's face hardened.
"Are you talking to me right now?"

"Are your ears just for decoration?" Red shot back.

"...Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Then do you know who I am? You called me a bastard, so I called you a bastard back. Getting offended by that just makes you a motherless bitch."

"You little—!" Viol glared murderously. She had just called Alios exceptionally disrespectful, but Red was even worse. And because she couldn't technically deny Red's logic, it made her even angrier.
"I'll kill you right—!"

"Red!"
Before Viol could fully step up, Alios shouted first.
"You're still after Ceres?!"
Seeing Red holding Ceres, Alios assumed she had kidnapped him again and immediately drew her sword.

"No, no!!"
The one who stopped them was Ceres himself.
He hurriedly hopped down from Red's arms and shouted, "This idiot actually helped me!"

"...That thing helped you? Why?"
"I don't know either!"

Since he genuinely had no idea, Ceres screamed his honest answer and then urgently looked around at the group.
"More importantly, demons are chasing me right now!"

"We can see that without you telling us!" Viol pointed at Red.
"No, not her!"

Seeing that Red was still under suspicion, Ceres literally picked Red up, shoved her to the side, and explained in more detail.

"Haas! No, that bitch Haas! There was an exclusive mage named Haas working for our family, and it turns out she was actually a demon!"

"Haas... I've heard that name. Isn't she someone who worked for the Whiperion family for over 20 years? And she was a demon all along?"

"Yes! She's a demon, and she betrayed me! I was tricked by her and went down into the Temple's underground, and she had over 100 demons waiting in ambush down there!"

100 demons.
That was an absolute military force that could not be ignored. If true, it was a disaster that could sweep through the entire capital. Yet, despite hearing this, no one was shocked. They just looked bewildered.

"100 demons are in the capital?"
"And of all places, beneath the Temple?"
"Ceres, did you hit your head and go crazy again?"

Viol, Alios, and Sibylius—none of them believed him.
Sibylius, in particular, looked genuinely concerned for Ceres's mental state.

"Are these demons... actually real entities?" Sibylius asked gently.
"Yes!"

"Then why are these demons targeting you?"
"...I don't know that part either."

"Ceres, did that demon over there brainwash you?"
Since Ceres kept answering "I don't know" to everything, they inevitably turned their suspicion back to Red.

"They said they're going to make Ceres resurrect the Demon King, and then take him as the Demon King's consort (반려)."
Unable to watch anymore, Red stepped in and shared the part she knew.

"What kind of crazy bullshit is that?!"
"...I just said that as a joke back then, though."

Both Ceres and Sibylius were startled by the revelation.
Ceres was shocked because it was a fact even he hadn't known.
Sibylius was startled because she wondered if her recent love confession—where she casually brought up the Demon King—had somehow triggered this entire mess.

Amidst the confusion, a loud, rumbling noise echoed from the passage Ceres and Red had just escaped from. A massive crowd was rushing up.