“B-But can you really protect me?”
Though Edwin Veid was frightened out of his wits, years of noble upbringing still preserved a shred of his composure.
“If I become a witness, the family will definitely come after me…”
He knew all too well the methods those great nobles used—torments so cruel they made death seem a mercy.
As a tainted witness, if he couldn’t bring down the powerful Veid Family in one blow, the revenge awaiting him would be more terrible than death itself.
Compared to that, the threat before him was frightening, but Princess Astreia was here.
From what he knew of the Eldest Princess, her innate knightly honor would never allow her to tolerate such cruelty!
Hearing Edwin’s tearless, desperate excuses, Wendy didn’t even bother to argue. He simply gave a look to the one-eyed veteran.
Sera immediately understood, her knuckles cracking with a sinister smile as she stepped forward.
She was ready to personally teach the former Chief Clerk a harsh lesson.
“Ah! Don’t come closer! Please don’t hit me, don’t hit me!”
Seeing this, Edwin Veid was utterly terrified, curling into the furthest corner of the cell and crying out like a slaughtered pig.
“I just want to live… please!”
However, just as Sera took a step forward, a gauntleted arm blocked her path.
It was Astreia.
Seeing this, the broken Edwin Veid suddenly felt a surge of joy at having narrowly escaped death, an uncontrollable smirk creeping onto his lips.
As expected!
This kind-hearted Eldest Princess would never allow something like this…
“Ah!!!”
A blood-curdling scream shattered the dungeon’s gloom.
Astreia grabbed Edwin’s hair and roughly forced his face toward the rotting, stinking corpse—only a finger’s width from the writhing maggots!
The stench of death and decay instantly flooded Edwin’s nose, mouth, and lungs.
“Swear on your soul right now to obey Wendy’s demands completely.”
The Princess’s voice rang coldly above him, utterly devoid of emotion.
“Or die!”
“……”
Even battle-hardened General Sera was stunned by such brutal simplicity.
Her one eye widened, mouth slightly agape in disbelief.
The Eldest Princess seems to be getting more ruthless…
Wendy also looked at Astreia with mixed suspicion and amazement. In that instant, he almost thought the Princess had been consumed by Darkness Corruption again and fallen back into being a witch.
But her emerald eyes contained nothing but cold killing intent, without a trace of the usual violet glow—it was clear she still retained her rational mind.
Apparently, her previous witch transformation had irreversibly affected her rigid, straightforward knightly nature.
But… this feeling wasn’t bad at all.
“Don’t worry. Once we reach the Royal Capital, the Veid Family will be too busy to bother with you.”
Wendy crouched down, seizing the moment to speak the cruelest words in the gentlest tone.
“So, will you cooperate? If you don’t… you will die~”
“I-I agree! I’ll agree to anything! I will cooperate! Please…”
Edwin’s mental defenses completely collapsed.
Tears streamed down his face as he babbled incoherently, agreeing over and over.
Right now, his only thought was to get as far away from that damned corpse as possible—just one second’s delay, and he might be suffocated alive in that mass of writhing rot.
“Good.”
Wendy stood up, satisfied, and casually instructed the nearby guards, “Move him to a clean cell. Bring some hot water and food, and find him some decent clothes. Our important ‘witness’ must not appear in court looking like a mess.”
The guards obeyed, dragging the utterly limp Edwin out like a dead weight.
When they left the dungeon and breathed the fresh, earthy air above ground, Astreia cast a final glance back at the dungeon’s dark entrance, her emerald eyes calm and untroubled.
A traitor does not deserve any sympathy.
She knew full well that the road ahead would no longer be the light and justice depicted in Knightly Romance Tales, but rather paved with conspiracy, betrayal, and unimaginable bloodshed.
And to protect the Prince by her side, to stand with him forever—
Even if she became the demon in the eyes of the world, she would do so willingly, gladly!
The Princess quietly squeezed the Prince’s hand. The warmth spreading from his palm banished the last trace of unease and fear caused by her diminished power.
She was no longer alone…
Wendy, having been awakened by what had just transpired, felt a bold, almost mad idea take shape in his mind.
Since Astreia’s normal state wasn’t strong enough…
What if he let her Blacken again… become that world-destroying witch?
From the fragments she had accidentally revealed earlier, Wendy had pieced together the truth of that night—some unknown female cleric, using his lie about eloping with her, had successfully provoked Astreia, causing her to succumb to Darkness Corruption and fall into witchhood.
Then… could this process be replicated?
Deliberately create conditions so Astreia would enter the witch state controllably, then “physically purify” her himself, forming a perfect closed loop?
If handled correctly, he would always have an almost invincible top-tier bodyguard on the continent by his side, guaranteeing absolute safety during their journey to the Royal Capital.
Moreover, under the pretense of “purification,” he could legitimately absorb pure magical energy to strengthen himself…
Fulfilling some secret “platinum cesium beryllium” needs, while achieving the ultimate dream of growing stronger without effort or risk.
This was a cheat code tailor-made for him!
With this thought, Wendy could no longer contain his excitement.
He hurriedly took the still confused Astreia, bid farewell to General Sera, and briskly headed toward the back of Sunset Fortress, to a small, seldom-visited grove.
“W-Wendy, why did you bring me here?”
At first, Astreia thought Wendy had something urgent to discuss privately.
But when she saw him leading her deeper into the quiet grove beside the stables, the dreadful images she had glimpsed among the “spoils” began to swirl uncontrollably in her mind.
The Princess’s cheeks flushed red in an instant.
Twisting her fingers nervously, she whispered, “I-It’s still broad daylight… and we’re outdoors… at least, shouldn’t we go back to the room first…?”
Wendy nearly stumbled at her words.
He turned around speechlessly, looking at the Eldest Princess before him, and could only think one thing:
It’s over.
This northern lioness has completely turned into a useless mess.
He decided to get straight to the point before the Princess’s little head conjured up any more restricted-level fantasies.
“Astreia, I brought you here to make you remember something.”
Wendy pointed to the broken trees and cracked earth.
His voice grew serious.
“Remember clearly all the memories from that night that caused you to fall to witchhood!”
“What?!”