The woman who had reigned as the Empire's greatest mage for hundreds of years.
She was also one of the greatest military powers protecting the Empire.
Some people abandoned any thought of antagonizing the Empire simply because of her existence within it.
Despite her immense power and centuries of contributions to the Empire through magical research, she held no title.
Half-demon.
This was due to her birth as a half-blood with demon lineage.
She lived under subtle discrimination, residing not within the capital, but in a forest outside it.
She couldn't even enter the capital without permission, but surprisingly, Sibylius herself was content with this treatment.
She inherently disliked meeting people.
As long as the imperial family provided research funds on time, she was the type to focus solely on magical research, ignoring everything else.
She actually disliked visiting the capital even when permitted.
Thus, successive emperors, who found her unsettling, also had their reasons and rarely summoned her unless absolutely necessary.
So,
“Who are all of you?!”
When hundreds of people from the capital sought her out in the middle of the night, Sibylius was more surprised than she had ever been in her life.
'What is this!'
She had been engrossed in research as usual in her residence-slash-magic workshop in the forest when soldiers suddenly arrived.
It was clearly an abnormal situation, and even she, who had lived for hundreds of years, couldn't maintain her composure.
'Surely, Emperor Viol, you don't intend to purge me!'
For a moment, she wondered if the imperial family had finally come to dispose of her, but…
'...No. Their forces are too inadequate.'
The arrivals consisted of several hundred fully armed soldiers.
And dozens of mana-wielding knights.
It was a formidable force, but insufficient to kill a great mage with demon blood.
'If they truly wanted me dead, high-level forces like Emperor Viol herself or the Hero Alios would have been included.'
Understanding the situation, she deduced the identity of the visitors.
This was a warning delivered by living soldiers.
A warning implying, 'I have a request serious enough to dispatch even these forces.'
“Hurry up and state your business.”
She urged the knight who stood forward as the representative but hadn't even made eye contact since appearing. The knight stammered.
"Your, Your M-Majesty the Emperor summons Sir Sibylius.”
“I am not a noble, so the ‘Sir’ is unnecessary. More importantly, what exactly is the reason for this summons?”
“I don’t know the details either, but, but if you refuse to come....”
“If I refuse?”
“...Her Majesty ordered us to forcibly bring Sibylius, branding her a criminal if she refused.”
Sibylius's expression immediately contorted.
These forces alone couldn't drag her away. Even knowing it was just a bluff mixed with threats, it was irritating.
Previous emperors had respected her as much as they feared her. No one had ever treated her like this, how dare she.
“Viol, that little brat, acting high and mighty just because she’s the Emperor……!”
Just as she was about to erupt in anger.
“But if you come, tenfold! She said she’d increase your research funding tenfold!”
"Is that true?"
The knight's rapid-fire delivery of the unbelievable condition made her anger vanish, leaving her stunned.
"No, what on earth is going on that warrants a tenfold increase?"
“I don’t know that either. But if you don’t come, you’re a criminal, and if you do, you get a tenfold increase, so coming is clearly advantageous!”
“...That is true.”
Though reluctant, she had to admit it.
Curious about what could warrant such an offer, Sibylius nodded.
"Let's go."
"We're saved!"
The knight let out a cry without realizing it.
It was a mission where death awaited whether she offended either party, but having succeeded, she guided Sibylius with a joyful heart.
Entering the capital and being led into the imperial palace, right into the royal family's domain, Sibylius was surprised.
'Letting me in this far.'
They didn't even let her into the capital without permission, let alone the imperial palace or the royal living quarters.
Entering what was essentially a forbidden zone without being stopped, she found it strange and went inside.
Inside a certain room, there were two familiar faces.
“Emperor Viol.”
“Shouldn’t you add ‘Majesty’?”
Viol, who replied cheekily, was naturally present as the one who summoned her, but…
“High Priest Hames, why are you here as well?”
“...You don’t need to concern yourself with me.”
Seeing the High Priest, with whom she had an inherently awkward relationship due to her origins, Sibylius frowned.
They briefly glanced at each other, then averted their gazes to avoid unnecessary conflict.
“Summoning even the High Priest… is there someone in need of healing?”
“Yes. Heal that boy.”
Sibylius followed Viol’s gaze and saw the third person in the room for the first time.
Shining silver hair.
Skin as white as snow.
Beauty seemingly crafted by the gods.
“Ceres Whiperion?”
She recognized him immediately upon seeing him.
'The Empire's greatest beauty. The very one they call an angel now for healing people with holy power? It was all true. If anything, the rumors don't do him justice.'
The owner of a beauty so renowned that even someone living in seclusion like her had heard of it.
Seeing him in person, she was simultaneously impressed and puzzled.
“Why is Ceres Whiperion here? I heard he was so frail he couldn’t even walk.”
She asked, but no answer came.
Instead, Viol remained silent, and Hames looked at her reproachfully, allowing Sibylius to guess.
'She's caused some trouble again.'
Grasping the general situation, she grumbled.
“Ah, fine. The reason doesn’t matter. But be aware. Even I cannot cure an inherently frail constitution.”
“No. He was able to move on his own just moments ago. He suddenly suffered from mana overflow and collapsed!”
Mana overflow?
Puzzled by Viol's words, Sibylius examined Ceres.
'This seems a bit strange for mana overflow. What is this?'
Using her mana sense to detect the mana flowing within Ceres, she detected something strange.
“Mana is circulating in a compressed state. I’ve seen this a few times before. However, the symptoms are subtly different due to another power interfering while healing the body.”
Sibylius explained, perplexed.
“It seems fixing this will take quite some time.”
“Fix him right now!”
“Don’t be unreasonable! Do you want something to happen to this man because I rushed the treatment?”
"Ugh!"
It was a valid point, and Viol couldn't refute it.
“Th-then, can’t you at least alleviate his pain? Standard painkillers and anesthetics don't work.”
“Understood.”
Sibylius reached into the air and pulled a syringe from her subspace.
As she brought the specially made medicine towards Ceres to inject him—
“Doesn’t this man have a strange scent? It’s clear and pure, yet somehow smells incredibly delicious.”
Noticing the odd fragrance, she asked, and Viol replied.
"Well, he is the young master of a noble house, so naturally, he'd wear perfume. I quite like it; I'll ask him where he got it when he wakes up later.”
Just as the two were about to dismiss it as perfume.
“Ceres does not wear perfume.”
Hames, who had been listening silently, interjected.
“I have never seen him wear perfume either. It emanates even from his bare back, so I believe it simply comes from his body.”
“How would you know it comes from his bare skin?”
“There were circumstances.”
Hames calmly replied to Viol, who was glaring at her.
'A floral scent coming from a man's body? What nonsense.'
Hearing their conversation, Sibylius scoffed inwardly.
'Has she developed strange fantasies from spending all her time praying in the temple, avoiding men?'
To think she'd entertain delusions that even Sibylius, who had lived alone as a spinster in the forest for hundreds of years, wouldn't.
Not believing it at all, she scoffed and administered the injection to Ceres.
And a moment later.
"...!"
Ceres's eyes opened, his piercingly blue irises fixed upon her.
Who is this woman?
For some reason, the pain had subsided considerably, allowing me to regain consciousness.
But I was flustered to see a woman I'd never met before, not Viol whom I had last seen.
She was a woman with long black hair, wearing a black, one-piece dress-like outfit.
This woman was also taller than him, with a mature yet slender figure.
And she exuded an aura that was both haughty and lonely.
She was a beauty with the air of a gorgeous witch, but for some reason, I felt an immediate aversion upon seeing her.
One of the male leads had black hair and black clothes... could it be?
“Sibylius?”
“Surprising that you recognize me, living secluded in the forest.”
Damn it, it really is Sibylius! The Empire's great mage and the craziest psycho among the male leads!
'Ah, my lovely Ceres. It is your fault for awakening my demonic nature. Now I cannot live without you. Down to the last drop of your blood. Because it's a taste I can never forget.'
Why is the guy who spouted such insane lines standing in front of me?!
"Ceres, are you conscious!"
“Ceres, look at me!”
Viol and Hames, whose presence I couldn't explain, grabbed onto me as I woke up, but I had no attention to spare for them.
Because the crazy Sibylius had discarded the empty syringe and was pulling out a new one, intending to inject me again.
No, what is she trying to do to me!
“St-stop.”
“I refuse. My research funding is on the line, so I must administer this to you.”
Research? What does she mean? Is she planning to experiment on me?
That crazy mage!
An uncontrollable rage surged within me.
'Your very existence disgusts me! You're so foul and dirty that I want to cut off the parts of my body you've touched! Take this and get lost!'
“Fuck, your very existence disgusts me! You’re so vile and filthy I feel like cutting off the parts of my body you’ve touched! Take that and piss off!”
I ended up blurting out the line the original Ceres had said to the Sibylius who had obsessed over her in the novel.
“That’s a bit harsh……”
“Why would you say such a thing?”
Viol and Hames were taken aback.
And I could see Sibylius's expression harden.