Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 112

112.

It took a while, but April finally calmed down. As soon as she regained her composure, she wiped her face with a damp cloth and looked back at us, clearly embarrassed.

“I’m sorry. I showed you such an unsightly 모습 [Korean: appearance].”

“It’s okay. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, I feel much better, thanks to you.”

She answered with a bright smile. Her eyes were swollen from crying, but it didn’t diminish her beauty. However, her pitifully exposed collarbones caught my eye.

Even though it was hard to see under her thick cloak, she was excessively thin. Her hands looked dry, and her fingernails were split. Even Isana, who had wandered the mountains for months without proper nutrition, wasn’t in this bad shape. It was clear she had suffered for quite some time.

Isana, standing right next to her, couldn’t have missed my observation. He urged April with a stern face.

“Please tell us, 누님 [Korean: older sister (used by a male)]. What happened to you and 형님 [Korean: older brother (used by a male)] during that time?”

“…….”

April raised her head hesitantly. Isana nodded, reassuring her as he saw her wavering eyes. Encouraged by this, April’s expression became resolute.

“Actually…….”

Starting with a soft opening, she began to slowly explain what had happened. As her story unfolded, we all held our breath. The things she described were almost unbelievable.

“형님 [Korean: older brother]… You’re saying he was brainwashed?”

April nodded, her face looking as if she was about to cry again at Isana’s shocked reaction.

Her explanation was as follows: Duke Cahlwell, a loyal subject of the Empire and a devout follower of the Demon God Church, would invite a priest of the Demon God Church to his mansion every year as an annual event to offer prayers for the Imperial Family. However, about three years ago, the priest who visited the mansion as usual suddenly told the Duke something unexpected. He claimed to have received a revelation from the Demon God in a dream: a great catastrophe would soon befall the Imperial Family.

However, this was a predetermined catastrophe, so no one could stop it, and trying to stop it would only bring greater harm. Therefore, he should close the mansion and quietly wait for the disaster to pass. The Duke was skeptical, but because it was the word of a trusted priest, he agreed.

Not long after, an unexpected oracle was issued by the Demon God Church. It blamed the current Emperor of the Empire for the ten-year drought.

The Duke instinctively realized this was the catastrophe the priest had foreseen. He wanted to go to the Imperial Palace immediately, but he remembered the priest’s warning not to interfere. Instead, he went to the priest who had given the revelation and asked what he should do. The priest’s answer was simple: he should send his younger sister, April, to the Demon God Church to pray with utmost devotion.

Until then, she had been in complete agreement with the Duke. She accepted the priest’s will without question and willingly went to the Demon God Church.

There, the priests treated her like a servant. All the menial tasks of the Demon God Church were her responsibility. The priests said the more she endured suffering, the less the disaster would affect the Imperial Family. April voluntarily smeared soot on her face and took on the dirtiest work. It was common for her to skip meals.

However, no matter how much she suffered and prayed, the Imperial Family’s situation showed no signs of improving. The people’s anger didn’t subside; instead, it grew increasingly ominous. Nevertheless, the priest only repeated the same words like a parrot, saying everything was going well.

Some time later, the Duke visited the Demon God Church to see her after a long absence. He was furious to see his only younger sister looking so pathetic. April tried to smile and say she was okay, but the priest’s excuse was absurd.

“It is because the Duke disobeyed my warning and intended to leave this place and go to the capital. Because of that, his sister has been cursed and has begun to suffer.”

Although he had sent his only younger sister to the Demon God Church, the Duke was restless every time he heard news from the Imperial Family. In the end, he decided he could no longer stand by and began packing to leave for the Imperial Palace immediately. He stopped by the Demon God Church to bring April back home, having made up his mind. But the Duke was confused when he was told his sister had been cursed because of his decision.

Of course, April was even more dumbfounded. The reason her body was frail and thin wasn’t because she was cursed or sick, but simply because she had been doing menial tasks and starving at the Demon God Church.

April doubted the priest for the first time that day. She also realized something else: people were watching her wherever she went. Was it necessary to assign guards to a woman who had simply come to pray? She began to suspect the priest had other intentions.

When she felt all their words were hypocritical and fabricated, she finally fled the temple. It was a desperate escape, taking advantage of a brief moment when the guards’ attention was diverted.

Fortunately, she had one ability others didn’t know well: she could use magic, though only at a basic level. She used illusion magic to disguise herself as a man and avoid the Demon God Church’s pursuit. On the street, she heard shocking news: the Emperor had decided to ascend the execution stand himself.

‘I must stop that at all costs!’

With a sense of mission, she tried to meet the Duke. However, there were so many guards everywhere that she couldn’t even get close.

The Duke must have heard about the Emperor’s decision as well. Moreover, it was strange that the mansion was still quiet, even though news of his younger sister leaving the temple without permission would have reached him by now.

She was frustrated, but there was nothing she could do with her frail body. Helpless, April looked for someone to ask for help.

After much deliberation, she went to a merchant guild called Cliff. The head of the guild was a woman named Ikana, who was not only knowledgeable but also quick to gather Imperial information. And it was the only place that had no dealings with the Demon God Church.

The process of meeting the head wasn’t easy, but fortunately, Ikana recognized her. She remembered her from when she had briefly seen her during the process of establishing the merchant guild a few years ago, when April visited the lord’s manor to pay her respects. Ikana was interested in her situation and readily offered her help.

“Okay, I’ll look into the Duke’s situation for you. Creating a debt with Lady Clymour wouldn’t be a bad deal for our merchant guild’s future either.”

A few days later, April’s heart sank when Ikana handed her a document. The Emperor’s execution had been carried out. And the Duke had been killed for trying to stop it, and the Duke’s sister had died from a curse.

April clenched her fists, her lips trembling.

“After that… the sealing of the mansion became even more severe. Other than the priests who visited periodically, 오라버니 [Korean: older brother (used by a female)] did not allow anyone to approach him at all. But I didn’t give up. I had to let 오라버니 [Korean: older brother (used by a female)] know that I was alive, no matter what. But all of that was useless.”

“What do you mean?”

“…Once, Head Ikana arranged a meeting with 오라버니 [Korean: older brother (used by a female)]. The head of the merchant guild has the right to have a private audience with the lord once, in any case. She used that for me.”

“Then you met 형님 [Korean: older brother]?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. But 오라버니 [Korean: older brother (used by a female)]… didn’t recognize me.”

“What…….”

That was a truly unexpected answer. As Isana swallowed his words in embarrassment, April began to cry sadly.

“When I called him 오라버니 [Korean: older brother (used by a female)], he was furious. He said I was an unscrupulous merchant trying to use my sister’s death as a cheap business venture. I don’t know what method he used, but he didn’t doubt at all that I was dead. He didn’t even seem to think I resembled my sister.”

“So…….”

“I was immediately kicked out, and since then, 오라버니 [Korean: older brother (used by a female)] has not dealt with the Cliff Merchant Guild at all. The Demon God Church, which noticed my movements because of that incident, is now monitoring the Cliff Merchant Guild. All I could do was secretly run away again.”

“…….”

“…….”

When she finished her explanation, we were speechless. A heavy silence lingered around her, who had bitten her lip.

Even when we heard the priest had lied or the Duke had been deceived, we didn’t think the situation was that difficult. We thought we could solve it quickly if we just revealed the truth. But if he couldn’t recognize his younger sister even when she was right in front of him, then the problem was quite serious.

“Was he really brainwashed? He didn’t seem like it when I was spying…….”

“It’s more like imprinting than brainwashing.”

“Imprinting?”

The person who responded was Lapis. When I looked at him, he shrugged and said,

“The Duke is a Sword Master, right? If that’s the case, then his mental strength is much stronger than ordinary people. Widespread brainwashing wouldn’t work, and there’s a high risk he’d notice it right away if you tried it. So, they probably used the most harmless type of suggestion within the range they could use. In other words, they only made him accept the fact that his younger sister was dead. It’s a common hypnotic technique, but it seems to be a type of curse among them if it doesn’t come undone easily.”

“Isn’t cursing under Eluien’s jurisdiction?”

“The Demon God also has jurisdiction. Rather, the Demon God is more powerful in that area. The Demon God is the supreme god when it comes to demon attributes. For reference, the curse cast by the priest can only be undone by the priest.”

“Ugh, really?”

“If not, there’s also a way to use an object imbued with the Demon God’s power. Anyway, the Demon God’s power must be involved unconditionally. And it requires quite a lot of power. Even if it’s a simple suggestion, it would have taken a fairly high-ranking priest to curse a Sword Master. You’d need at least a demon sword.”

Kaitain nodded his head vigorously, agreeing. Even if others didn’t agree, if he agreed, then it was really true. I frowned.

“This is difficult. Where am I supposed to find a demon sword all of a sudden?”

“Well, they say demon swords are everywhere in the Demon World. You can just pick one up there.”

“How do I get to the Demon World?”

“I don’t know about that.”

“…….”

I was silent for a moment at the irresponsible answer. When I looked at him in bewilderment, he raised his chin arrogantly, as if asking what was wrong.

“Um…….”

If April hadn’t spoken at that moment, I might have punched him in the stomach. Barely suppressing the urge to hit him, I turned my head, and April carefully looked around and said,

“I’m not sure, but I’ve heard something before. They say a demon sword is sealed in a certain underground cave.”

“Oh, really? Where is that place?”

“I… I don’t know that well either. I heard about it when I was with the Cliff Merchant Guild. Ikana probably knows more about it.”

“Ikana, you mean the head who helped you?”

“Yes, that’s right. But now that place is being monitored by the Demon God Church…….”

She trailed off uncertainly, her face contorting as if she was about to cry. She seemed to feel guilty about the merchant guild being harmed because of her. Lapis said nonchalantly this time as well,

“Well, we can just create a way to meet them. What does the Cliff Merchant Guild usually deal with?”

“Jewels, jewels or ancient artifacts…….”

“Really? Then we can just say we came to appraise jewels. El, if you show them a few of the flowers you have, they’ll let you through quickly.”

“Flowers? Ah, are you talking about Bria’s jewels?”

“Yeah, that. It’s a jewel for now, anyway.”

It sounded like a plausible method. Feeling a ray of hope, I looked back at everyone. No further discussion was needed. Now it was time to put the decision into action.