The Church has been the source of some of my deepest, oldest traumas.

The Arlez family was a family of loyal paladins of the Holy City.

Thus, I grew up in close proximity to the Church.

After the death of my parents, I was tied to the Church to repay five-hundred million markas

Just like how the Divine wasn’t merciful all of the time, neither was the Church.

They always managed to be just merciful enough.

Though they didn’t force us, the orphaned siblings to repay the gigantic debt overnight, they didn’t ease or forgive our debt, either.

I worked myself to near death to at least repay the interest.

Or else, the Holy City authorities could change their minds.

Once they decide that a debtor wouldn’t be able to repay them, the authorities would sell the bond to others.

The bond, now in the public hands, will eventually make its way through different people to end up in the hands of loan sharks.

Now that is when you’re really screwed.

On the payment days when I wasn’t able to get the interest deposited on time, I would have to tremble in fear the that the authorities would dispose of our bond the entire day.

Then I would go around scrimmaging for anything that could be of worth, only to run to the Holy City first thing the next morning to make the deposit.

All of the horrors were in the past now, but for some reason……

As I stood there paralyzed, unable to touch the envelope, Zahid raised his brow.

He picked up the letter knife for me.

Swiftly opening the envelope with the small blade, Zahid summarized the letter in a brief sentence.

“They want you to visit the Holy City. It’s nothing more than an invitation.”

Only then I was able to take the letter in my hands and read through it.

It was a handwritten invitation from the Pope, and nothing more.

The invitation didn’t say much, other than that he wanted me to visit as soon as possible.

Such invitations are sent from time to time to people of great influence.

However, something didn’t sit right with me in that I hadn’t done anything influential, other than becoming the Duchess of Carnoire.

Thus, it was an anomaly for the Church to invite someone like me.

I tried to trace my memory to remember how Pope St. Zenoxius was portrayed in the novel.

He abhorred witchcraft and wizardry.

He perceived the nature-derived elemental powers of wizards as treachery against his divine powers, as well as an act of idolatry.

He appeared in the novel as the main antagonist that gets defeated by the protagonist, but I wasn’t aware of how the Pope met his end because I hadn’t finished the novel.

Of course, our protagonist would have gotten through him as well without too much trouble.

Zahid, being the protagonist and all, probably would have made it through one way or the other.

The Pope, on the other hand, was what really bothered me.

From what I remembered, he was sure to be……

Just as much of a lunatic as the protagonist.

My stomach sank into my bowels.

I was already struggling with handling Zahid.

Now I have to deal with the Pope?

Aerta in the original tale never had to deal with the Pope, mainly since she gets killed off during the earlier parts of the story.

An entirely new plot was unraveling before my very eyes.

I couldn’t guess one bit as to why on earth the Pope would want to see me.

“Are you intimidated?”

Fazed and overwhelmed, I turned to look at Zahid.

“You don’t have to go, Aerta.”

Zahid added casually as if it was no big deal.

I could see clouds drawing upon Dymon’s face as those words left Zahid’s lips.

He was worried about Zahid’s nonchalance, given that there was nothing good to come of crossing the Church.

I too thought that it was best for me to pay the Holy City a visit.

Even if I were to decline this time, I would eventually come to meet him one way or the other as long as it was the Pope’s will.

It would save me the hassle for me to abide by his orders the first time.

Besides, I was curious as to why the Pope wanted to see me in the first place.

Alas, fear had rendered me voiceless.

Zahid squinted his eyes at my silence and opened his mouth.

“If you want, I could go with you.”

I pondered his suggestion for a moment.

Is it really the smart choice to enter a tiger’s cave on a lion’s back?

Of course, it was a very possible scenario for the lion to devour me before I even get to meet the tiger.

If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to escape while they go at their throats.

I put on a grateful expression as I responded.

“Thank you, Zahid.”

“Good. I was worried that you might say no.”

He responded casually.

Though he spoke with a breezy tone, his message was not light at all.

He really gave me only two options:

To go with him, or to not go at all.

If I was to choose anything else, he would have nudged me in the direction of his will.

Even if I was to choose anything else, he would have pressured me to follow the scenario that he had in mind anyways.

I was in the middle of an interesting daydream in which Zahid was ripping out the Pope’s hair when he tapped the desk a couple of times to bring me back to reality.

“Aerta.”

I looked up at his face.

“Do you want to have lunch with your siblings and me later?”

“...... Lunch?”

He planted his palms on the desk and leaned in towards me.

His hair flowed down his face, and almost brushed against mine.

The distance between us became close enough for me to feel his breath as a smile spread across his face.

“I’d like to get acquainted with my brother and sister-in-law as soon as possible.”

***

Dymon Shayke spent his entire life as a butler to the Ducal House of Carnoire.

Having served Zahid ever since he was a young boy, Dymon knew that Zahid was different from others.

As a close aide that has been by Zahid’s side since he was a young boy, he picked up that Zahid was different from others.

Not just because of his frightening intelligence, his incredible versatility in various different fields, devilish powers, or his otherworldly beauty.

Zahid el Carnoire was not a human being.

To be more accurate, he had an entirely different cognitive and emotional backbone.

Zahid would treat everything as if it were a part of some game.

He enjoyed the checkmates he would cast after being pushed to the extremes and chased the thrills of stepping on top of others to get what he wanted.

Nothing ever got in the way of getting things his way, and during none of that was he able to feel even the slightest bit of remorse or guilt.

He used whatever means necessary to achieve his will and was free of guilt no matter how immoral his deeds were.

He was able to shed fraudulent tears if needed, and often used his charms to seduce people so that he could use them to his liking.

Using everything and everyone at his disposal, Zahid greedily accumulated wealth and power.

His prey flocked around him like a moth to a flame and praised him, completely unaware of the fact that they were being exploited.

Though things like these would be enough to evoke guilt in others, this was a mundane occurrence for him.

He had the morals fit for a monster.

Though Dymon was fully aware of Zahid’s horrendous personality, he chose to stay by his side.

Frankly speaking, he couldn’t help but stay.

Zahid was the one that single-handedly brought the fallen Carnoire name back to where it is now.

When the Carnoire name was being ridiculed and trampled by everybody, Dymon was desperate enough to make a deal with the devil to protect the Ducal House.

And that was when he met Zahid.

His questionable methods aside, Zahid always made the right choice for the Carnoire castle.

Thus, Dymon was willing to be Zahid’s loyal aide no matter how gruesome things got.

There was one thing, however, that made Dymon question Zahid.

It was the new Duchess that Zahid had taken in for the price of five hundred million markas.

“Redo the entire garden outside the annex wing, just the way she likes it. Has the silk from the East arrived yet?”

“I contacted the merchants earlier today. I will make sure to get the dressmakers to turn it into a dress for Her Grace as soon as it arrives.”

“Good. I also want you to get me a list of the most renowned bakeries here in the capital. I’m planning on purchasing some of them.”

‘Aerta has quite a sweet tooth, I see.’

He murmured to himself and grinned.

Amidst making a long mental list of his to-dos, Dymon couldn’t get rid of how uncomfortably unusual this was of him.

He used to be as cold as the mid-winter weather around some of the most beautiful women of the empire.

But for some reason, he seemed desperate to win Madam Arlez over.

She seemed a tad bit uninterested - uncomfortable even, but Zahid continued to make his advances.

Our madam was a beauty indeed, but her beauty was quite quotidian among the other noble ladies.

He was drowning in curiosity as to what exactly it was about her that had him spellbound.

Dymon had made an attempt to ask Zahid this question before, but all that came in return was a riddle of an answer.

-She is indispensable to me.

Is it possible that Zahid was indeed capable of love?

As incredulous it sounded, his recent actions seemed to say yes.

“Oh, and one more thing……”

Zahid leaned deep into his office chair.

“We are going to head off to the Holy City first thing tomorrow.

“I will prepare the carriage.”

“Good. The sooner the better. I haven’t seen the His Holiness in such a long time.”

Zahid, who had been tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair, broke into laughter.

His laugh soon diminished into a low chuckle as a corner of his lips twisted into a wicked grin.

“Incredibly insolent, isn’t he?”

Dymon, whilst organizing the complete paperwork, flinched at Zahid’s frightening and irritated tone.

“How dare he covet my wife.”

It was dangerous to catch his eye when he was riled up like this.

Dymon quietly continued to focus on packing the papers to avoid irritating him any further.

Though he tried his best to keep a straight face, he couldn’t ignore the uneasy feeling in his stomach.

His instincts were screaming that his master was already beginning to plan to take down the Holy City.

***

The Duke, famous for always having his hands full turned into a very idle person every time I was involved.

To be honest, I didn’t really want my siblings to cross paths with him in any way.

As if he saw right through me, he chose my siblings as his first target.

I could feel his grasp inching in closer, dragging in everything dear to me one at a time.

His kindness towards Cheryl and Ethan would vanish into thin air once the twins manifest into wizards.

From that moment onwards, they are no longer the siblings of his wife, but mere competitors that could take away his Purifier.

I was well aware of how Zahid dealt with any obstacles that came his way.

Though I did sell myself to him for immediate survival, I would have to get the twins out of here before things began to snowball.

I was going to come up with a meticulous escape plan without him finding out during the five years here.

While perfectly playing the role of a duchess so that I don’t get devoured in the meanwhile, of course.

I headed towards the annex wing with a cluttered mind.

Cheryl and Ethan were to be taught by the most famous tutors in the capital starting today.

These were all things that I couldn’t afford to provide for them.

“Cheryl, Ethan!”

The twins were doing their homework at the library.

Having been scribbling away with quills diligently, the two lifted their heads up at the sound of my voice.

“Aerta!”

“A, Aerta!”

I chuckled at the sight of the two struggling to hop off the high chairs and gently propped them down one by one.

Now that they were dressed in fancy clothing, they looked much like little lords and ladies.

I was so proud of these two chicklings.

“His Grace has invited us to have lunch with him.”

“The dude?”

“W, what does that punk want to do with us?”

I warned them about addressing the Duke in such a manner, but the two pouted their lips and refused to listen.

They had to be coaxed for a good amount of time before I could get them to budge.

With each of their hands in mine, we walked towards the dining hall. On our way there, Cheryl chatted like a little bird about the things that took place earlier today.

“The Governess treated us like complete dummies! Not that she said it to our faces, but I could feel it in the way she treated me and Ethan. We’ll show her that we can study too. We’re going to prove her wrong alright.”

Young noble lords and ladies are usually taught various things from a very young age, and by the age of ten, they already reach a certain level of academic achievement.

Thus, in the eyes of the Governess, Cheryl and Ethan would have seemed like uneducated wild children.

Either way, it seemed like the twins have come up with a very reasonable mode of retaliation.

I made it clear to the twins that they had to let me know if the Governess said anything rude to them or treated them poorly.

“How about you, Ethan?”

“I, it’s not easy, but it’s not t, that ba……”

Ethan went from quiet to completely silent, and Cheryl squeezed my hands.

The twins glared behind my back as if they were in the presence of their worst enemy.

It was Zahid.

“You seemed to be running a little late, so I was on my way to come find you.”

Cheryl and Ethan clung to each of my hands.

They quite obviously had their guards up.

Their strong antipathy towards Zahid was pretty obvious, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Zahid walked closer and got down on one knee in front of the twins.

“Hey there.”

As always, Zahid’s looks did him many favors.

Even Cheryl, who had seen the inhumane side of him, flinched at the sight of his wonderfully kind face.

At the same eye level as the twins, Zahid asked gently.

“You must be Cheryl, and let’s see…… Ethan, right?”

They nodded their heads in unison.

Zahid gave his secretaries a hand signal.

They brought each of the twins a small, ornate box.

“I’m not very well aware of what children are into these days, so I’ve got you two a modest gift.

In the boxes were jeweled brooches that each complimented Cheryl’s scarlet eyes and Ethan’s deep olive eyes.

It seemed like he was going to start things off by wooing them with material things, which made sense considering his massive wealth.

Zahid even went on to pin his gifts onto their collars even.

After surprising them with gifts, Zahid led us down to the dining hall.

The table setting was simpler than usual, so that the twins, who were not yet fully accustomed to the dining etiquettes, wouldn’t have too much trouble.

He pulled out my chair and helped me get seated.

Zahid sat at the head of the table, while the twins and I filled his left and right, consecutively.

And thus, our meal commenced, and a thick fog of silence shrouded the four of us as expected.

Unlike me, who could barely eat due to the pressure, Zahid seemed to be actually enjoying this.

He made the first move and struck up a conversation with the twins.

“I assume that there’s a lot you want to ask me. Feel free to do so.”

I was kind of hoping that we’d get through this lunch with less talk, but Cheryl didn’t miss this opportunity.

“What made you decide to get married to my sister, Your Grace?”

I kicked her lightly in the shin underneath the dinner table, but Cheryl dodged it as she added to her question.

“I’m also curious as to what about her got you to fall in love.”

Zahid let out lighthearted laughter.

“That’s on me. Our marriage is a bit too rushed, to be honest.”

He took a sip of his aperitif and continued to answer.

“But I didn’t want to lose her to anyone else. My feelings for her are true, Cheryl. It was love at first sight.”

Cheryl and Ethan’s expressions became grew serious.

They must be thinking that though this was a contractual marriage, Zahid could be sincerely in love with me.

“And let’s see. The thing that made me fall for her……”

His eyes met mine.

This tension made my mouth dry, so I reached out for the glass of water and gulped it down.

His charming voice rang through the hall.

“Her bold personality?”

“......”

I almost sprayed his face with water but thankfully managed to swallow it.

He must have seen my speechless expression. With a subtle grin, he once again opened his mouth.

“I just hope Aerta will someday fall in love with me as well.”

Zahid, who just slickly dodged a tricky question, asked the twins if there was anything else they would like to know about.

I could see Cheryl nudging Ethan with her elbow through the corner of my eye.

That little minx……!

I was making a mental note to retaliate later when Ethan spoke up - with a knife in one fist and a fork in the other.

“A, Aerta likes us b, best!”

Not very logical, but well fought Ethan.

It wasn’t really possible for ten-year-old kids to outsmart Zahid, an adult that has gone through all sorts of uglies.

“Of course, she does.”

Zahid rested his chin on one hand and bent the corners of his eyes in a relaxed manner.

“But dear, I don’t mind being third on her list.”