MHHC Chapter 27

Bewitchment

"So answer me, demon. What you are, what purpose you had for committing such acts, and at whose instigation."

The Shadow, the Dragon of Bitzleben, Slayer of the World Tree, the Sacred Morig's Antithesis, God's Only Twin, Devourer of Darkness. He finally answered.

[Shadow. I must win this war. I desire unbreakable honor.]

"Hah..."

When his mouth opened and uttered the first words, Adelheid gasped and bent at the waist.

It was a shock like lightning striking her brain. Chills rose on her spine, the back of her neck tensed, and it was a resonance that made her scalp prickle.

It sounded both like several overlapping voices and like one powerful voice, profound yet simultaneously fierce.

That resonance was being transmitted directly into her head.

[If that's what it takes, I can give you anything. I will gladly sell even my soul, Dragon of Bitzleben.]

[You are dying. And I have no interest in your paltry soul.]

Adelheid immediately realized this was a conversation between Valentin and the Shadow. It was showing her the moment of their contract, their final conversation.

[Hngh...]

Even the labored, shallow breathing from that time was being faithfully reproduced. Valentin's voice was so weak that not a trace of vitality could be felt. It was as if he was on the very verge of death.

After a moment of silence, the dragon spoke again.

[But I see one thing you can give me.]

[Really?]

Faint hope settled into the murky voice. Valentin pleaded desperately.

[I will gladly pay any price, Dragon. Make me the victor of this war.]

[You will not live.]

[History will remember me. I will be recorded as Ansgar's greatest sovereign. I...]

Valentin coughed with difficulty.

[Then I will... live... forever. Not... such a miserable... defeated end...]

His voice was unclear, as if blood had pooled in his mouth. Nevertheless, the content came through clearly. Eagerness permeated the dragon's voice.

[Then the contract is established.]

Adelheid gasped for breath. She couldn't even grasp what she had just experienced or what state she was in. It felt like all the strength had drained from her body, as if she'd been mercilessly beaten.

When she swayed, the shadow stepped closer. His voice was desperate.

"I... told... you. Did... what... you... wanted."

For a moment, she couldn't distinguish between the voice she'd heard in her head and 'Valentin's' voice. When she flinched in surprise, he bit his own lip hard.

"So... please... don't... cry."

Crying? Me? Adelheid blinked in bewilderment, then was even more flustered when tears suddenly fell. She thought she'd run out of tears a while ago. There was no reason to cry anymore...

It looked like it wanted to wipe away her tears. When he carefully raised his hand, Adelheid tilted her head back to avoid him. He seemed a bit surprised by that clear refusal. He then bit his lip with sorrowful eyes.

"Should have... known. You're... always... only... harsh... to me."

"......"

"...I just."

"......"

"Missed... you. Adelheid."

Adelheid's green eyes widened.

'Missed me? Me?'

According to the 'conversation' he had transmitted, he was the Dragon of Bitzleben. There was no choice but to believe it now. Not after hearing such a voice in her head.

Surprisingly, he could learn, engage in intelligent conversation, and mimic being human quite convincingly, but in the end, the fact that he was a demon didn't change.

'I've never done anything to deserve meeting a demon.'

And as for her, she had never set foot outside the castle since the day she arrived in Ansgar. She had absolutely no knights or guards to escort her.

Without having learned a single self-defense technique, just wandering around inside the castle was dangerous—if she went outside, who knows what troublesome incident she might get caught up in.

The north was never a safe place. They were endlessly generous to northerners who shared the blood of barbarians, but were so closed off to outsiders that they actively ostracized them.

'That's why I stayed almost confined inside the castle.'

When did he see her? How did he know to miss her? Adelheid muttered helplessly.

"You, you're speaking as if you really were the Grand Duke..."

It was an unsolvable riddle. As Adelheid counted through possibilities one by one, she suddenly thought of one.

"Could it be...? Did you possess someone else's body to watch me? Or did you possess a beast?"

"......"

"Then what about His Grace? Where is His Grace's soul? Tell me what happens to that body after you 'enter' and then leave!"

"......"

"You're holding His Grace's soul, aren't you?"

The Shadow remained silent, but Adelheid thought that very act was an affirmation of her question. She was confused about how to deal with the 'Shadow' before her eyes.

"Good heavens... Then can His Grace return later?"

It slightly contorted its eyes. And it reached out as if to hold Adelheid. It seemed worried she might faint. When its fingertips touched her shoulder, she squeezed her eyes shut.

Instinctive revulsion was inevitable. No matter how much 'it' held its breath and maintained a shell close to human while feigning its attitude. She didn't know when it might reveal its true form and try to swallow her whole with a gaping red maw.

"Please."

'It' carefully placed its hand on Adelheid's thin, shrinking shoulder. As anxiously as if caressing glass that might shatter at any moment.

"......"

"Adelheid. Look... at... me."

He carefully grasped Adelheid's chin and lifted it, then lightly stroked Adelheid's eyelids with his thumb. Adelheid exhaled the breath she'd been holding and opened her eyes.

The thing with Valentin's face narrowed its eyes happily.

"......"

Even if she wanted to believe the man before her was her husband, whenever she faced those inhumanly slit pupils, she felt thrown into cold reality.

Adelheid barely moved her frozen lips to plead.

"Tell me."

"......"

"What on earth happened to my husband... What I should do from now on."

"......"

"I want to know everything."

He extended his hand, which had barely been touching with just his fingers, and fully cupped Adelheid's cheeks with both palms. Unlike before, his hands now carried her warmth.

Looking down at her quietly with eyes of unknown meaning, he eventually closed his eyes. Bending at the waist, he brought his forehead to her pale forehead. Again. As soon as Adelheid gasped, the tingling resonance began.

[I simply want to see it with my own eyes. I want Ansgar's glory to resound throughout the world, my name to be gloriously displayed, my body to ascend to... Not my brother, but I want to enjoy all of that in my own name. Even if I die, or even if I sleep within you...]

Valentin seemed half out of his mind with pain in the middle of speaking. Sometimes his words trailed off, sometimes they became muffled, and sometimes they couldn't continue for a long time as he struggled to breathe. The dragon must have thought his writhing was like that of a worm.

Did he keenly sense that the Shadow was rapidly losing interest in him? Valentin raised his voice and cried out.

[You... won't die, will you, Shadow!]

A long sigh. Whether due to the resonance, the two voices sounded similar. Because of that, Adelheid couldn't accurately distinguish whether it was the dragon's or her husband's.

Eventually, the dragon slowly opened its mouth.

[What you must pay me is the people of Ansgar. I will take the blood and flesh of them all.]

Her heart felt like it dropped. No. Not that... no. The dragon being here meant their contract was already complete. Even knowing there was nothing she could do about it, Adelheid desperately cried out inwardly.

[Choose.]

Surprisingly, Valentin burst into laughter. Though it was a dying sound, that alone could be clearly distinguished.

[Now I understand... hah... why Nassau perished after three hundred years. How the Lion King... was able to raise his name so high in history...]

[...]

[Just coordinate... the timing. The people should naturally... follow... their sovereign.]

[...]

[Until then... I'll sleep... within you...]

Adelheid inhaled as if emerging from a long dive. It felt like she had barely revived after sinking into deep water. Though her body was dry, she had the illusion of being soaked through. Adelheid pushed away the thing—no... the man—before her with trembling hands. He was pushed back obediently.

"Are you... all... right?"

Valentin asked anxiously. The way he checked her complexion with slurred pronunciation showed none of the dignity from moments before. She blinked slowly.

'Now I understand everything.'

The reason the man returned to Ansgar, the reason he specifically possessed Valentin's body, the reason he hadn't harmed anyone despite being a demon...

'I can't let the contract be fulfilled. If that happens, destruction will come to Ansgar.'

Why not? At that moment, someone whispered softly from within her chest.

Adelheid froze in shock, only blinking. It felt less like something from inside her chest and more like eavesdropping on someone's cruel voice whispering in her ear. At first faint, gradually that voice grew louder and clearer.

Ansgar has always ostracized you. Tormented you, ignored you, made you suffer...

Now, think carefully. Isn't it a good thing? The husband who hated you terribly is dead, and the people who ignored you now bow to you...