“It's Calitus, isn't it? It's Captain's sword.”

The young man in front me is also a member of the Special Task Squad?

“I just borrowed it temporarily.”

“You borrowed it?”

The young man voiced his doubt and he looked at me suspiciously. Well, no wonder he would be suspicious.

“Then, do you think I could stole it? From the leader of Special Task Squad?”

“Hmm…that's also not possible.”

After hearing my words, that brat nodded his head. Sigh… the leader of Special Task Squad is not someone I could stole or even forcefuly s.n.a.t.c.hed away from. So, without doubts, I indeed borrowed it.

“But, why did Captain willingly lend Calitus to you, Miss?”

“I wanted to beat up a d.a.m.n brat from the Special Task Squad.”

“Huh? Which one?”

“A thin-build brat with yellow hair.”

“Oh, Clauen?”

Clauen…? Is he a circus performer? Seems like it's not his real name. I smiled brightly at the young man who was coming to me.

“Do you know where he is?”

“If he really ran away, then he definitely wouldn't be around here anymore. And also… who are you, Miss?”

“Ca– Silla Epheria. The eldest daughter of Count Epheria.”

Just now I almost introduced myself as Captain of Holy Knights Roel.

“Ohh, that one… I'm Lather. Usually being called Lathy.”

Rather than trying to remember his name, I'm much more interested with the words he said in the beginning. What did he mean by ‘that one'?

“Lathy, seems like you know something about me.”

“Hm? Did Captain not tell you anything Miss? Even though Miss has been brought here? Captain definitely has comfirmed that Miss is not the one. Otherwise, Miss wouldn't be able to borrow Calitus.”

‘Not the one'? That d.a.m.n circus brat also said something similar. I was about to ask Lathy for some information but I decided to look for Captain Jullius. He must had known in detail, right? Before that… I stared at the Special Task Squad's headquarters that couldn't be considered as small…

“Lathy.”

“Hm?”

“Do you know where is Captain Jullius right now?”

I was too focused in chasing that d.a.m.n brat that I paid no attention to my surroundings and I didn't know which door I came from. Lathy burst out laughing when he heard my dejected voice then he gave me a signal using his hand to follow him.

The place we were going to was an office room on second floor. He brought me right in front of the office's door then he quickly turned around to run after saying, “The Demon King is inside that room!”

Demon King? It's impossible there could be a Demon King inside the Capital, moreover inside the Imperial Palace. That must be someone else, right? I raised my hand and knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

The voice that came from inside was from someone unfamiliar to me. That's not Captain Jullius' voice, then who he might be? The Demon King? As I opened the door and walked inside, I saw two men there. One of them was Captain Jullius and the other one was a man with bright red eyes and red-hair who was wearing a neat uniform. I stared at both of them one after another and raised the sword in my hand.

“The sword…”

Huhu…I'm not willing to return it. But I couldn't steal it, could I?

“I come here to return this.”

“Captain Jullius Rizar.”

As soon as he recognized Calitus in my hands, the man who was wearing uniform, had a frightening gloomy face. He moved his gaze to Captain Jullius and talked in low voice.

“Calitus is a symbol of Special Task Squad's Captain and also a sword that was bestowed directly by His Majesty. Not only you recklessly left it at random places but you even lent it to a stranger you just met? It doesn't make any sense at all. As your a.s.sistant, I can't stand it when my superior become too lax.”

“…, it's not allowed?”

Captain Jullius pouted a bit while mumbling and I felt somewhat guilty inside my heart. Captain Jullius kindly lent me his sword, meanwhile I broke the holy sword into pieces. Although it could be restored back, I still felt guilty about it.

“Of course it's not allowed. I hope there won't be next time.”

“Understood.”

Arghhhh!! It felt like I was being scolded. Suddenly I think I could clearly heard all the usual scoldings from the church elders and also the Cardinals in my ears. Captain Jullius, I felt you. As a leader, the presence of an a.s.sistant was similar to a leash that bind your movements. A leash that could be painful when it was tightly pulled.

(T/N:basically it's similar to dog's leash. The meaning is the a.s.sistant always corrected/warned/scolded/restricted,etc the leader not to act recklessly. Similar to relations.h.i.+p between an owner and his pet xD)

I secretly watched the a.s.sistant's mood and moved closer to Captain Jullius. Now I have to return the sword, but…

Sigh… it's really hard to part away with this sword.

“Ughh…bye bye love!”

With disappointed face, I handed the sword to Captain Jullius. Although our time together was short, I would never forget you… duh, I felt a bit guilty towards Altaire. Don't worry Altaire, I still like you. No matter what, a partner that went through thick and thin together was still the best. It's a pity that you broke in the last moment. Well, mainly it's my fault that you got broken into pieces.

“Thank you for lending your sword. Although I was still not able to beat up that annoying brat.”

“He's an expert in running away.”

Did he purposely lend me his sword because he knew I won't be able to catch that brat? Well, I also won't lend that powerful sword if I knew my subordinate won't be able to get away. Well, whatever. The main thing is I had already returned his sword. Now back to the main problem. I stared at the two men before me.

“What's the reason you brought me here?”

Why did he suddenly appear as my witness and  then bring me here to launch an attack on me? After some thoughts, it's very suspicious as I saw Captain Jullius pacing back and forth near the solemn a.s.sistant. I got a hunch that Captain Jullius had been deliberately hid somewhere to monitor me rather than accidentally saw me jumped out from the window on that day.

The a.s.sistant started to talk after hearing my question.

“Miss Silla Epheria.”

“Yes?”

“What I'm going to say after this is confidential. Miss must keep it as secret.”

“You must have known that I don't have no one to talk to anyway. In the mansion, there's only a maid to serve me.”

Although I haven't met the Count and also my step-sibilings, but other than Sofia, all people in the mansion regard me as someone who never exist. If by any chances we b.u.mped into each other, let alone a greetings, they didn't even bother to look at me. The a.s.sistant shrugged his shoulder when he heard me.

“Well, anyway it will be your loss if you tell others about it.”

“Oh? How curious.”

The a.s.sistant kept silent for a moment before continued the talk.

“The Demon King who cursed the Crown Prince is affliated with Count Epheria's household.”

“…, what?”

“In other words, it means that the chance of Count Epheria intended to harm His Highness the Crown Prince is very high.”

I widened my eyes instantly as I failed to conceal my surprised feeling. Huh… hmm… after some thoughts, it's indeed possible! d.a.m.n! Why didn't I never think that way? Surely, any Demon King rarely made a contract with just one person. The more they desired to possess human souls, then they would always binded a contract in every available chances. In that case, perhaps Count Epheria really made a contract with the Demon King in purpose to curse His Highness the Crown Prince, but still…

It can't be cla.s.sified as a normal contract in which a n.o.bleman used his own blood-related daughter as the sacrifice…

If not for some special requests in return, it would be better to kidnap orphans or stray kids then coaxed them to bind a contract and later discarded them after all is done. It's unlikely to get caught and additionally no aftermaths problems. However, using his own flesh and blood as sacrifice, regardless there're some affections or not, was a risky move. If he used his own flesh and blood, he need to confine her inside the mansion as precaution and it would become a bigger problem if he got caught. Furthermore, it could arose the church's suspicion if all of a sudden a n.o.ble died at young age when the contract is completed.

In exchanged, someone could ask for bigger demand if he used a young n.o.ble lady as sacrifice. There's also some limitations on how much power could be absorbed by the Demon King. The more talented and young the sacrifice, the higher her value will be. Then, that means the contract was made recently… did Silla agree to it? I have no idea.

Sigh…no matter what, now I was faced with dire matters.

“Then, the reason I was attacked…”

“To confirm something. Now the most suspicious things to be used as the contract payment from the Count is none other than Miss Silla Epheria. The sacrifice used to fulfill the contract usually got a weak barrier from the Demon King so we had no choice but to offend Miss for checking it. And the result is Miss is not the sacrifice because you used holy power.”

… you're right though. To be precise, this body is the sacrifice, not my soul. Even so, I can't bluntly admit and give them compliments like, “You've guessed it right! Awesome!”

Since I didn't say anything, the a.s.sistant asked me, “That aside, I heard Miss used holy power well.”

The method to use holy power was only known by the clergies and could only be taught between the clergies. Though sometimes it could be taught in secret, but the practices were strictly prohibited to prevent others used the power bestowed by the G.o.ddess for wrong cause.

“Ah, actually my dream is to be a clergy.”

That's not a lie.

“And in the past, I met Sir Roel by chance.”

“The leader of Holy Knights Squad?”

“Yes. As both of you had known, my family's condition is kinda messed up. Thats why Sir Roel taught me a bit about holy power to protect myself. The method to use holy power by holy knights aren't that significant to be a secret anyway.”

The holy knights could use their holy power because it's resided inside their bodies and they could learn how to use it without much learning by theirselves. In short, this type of holy power is only useful for it's owner body, different for those priests' holy powers that were being used to give blessings and heal others.

“Sir Roel even said that he would arrange for me to join the church after he returned from his mission, but…”

I looked down and covered my face with my hands as I faked some tears. I know this is silly but how could they know anyways? In any case, it was me all the way. The now Silla and the dead Roel are both me. Well, let's just a.s.sume it as if I made a promise to myself then! It won't become a lie if I think that way.

“In conclusion, Miss Silla Epheria can use holy power so she has no affiliation to the Demon King.”

“Yes. Of course.”

To be honest, there is a connection and I'm the one who beat up the Demon King until he was black and blue. Sigh… and I only need one last hit to end it all…

“Then, can we ask Miss to cooperate with us as a spy in the Epheria household? Although we already sent someone, it would be better to have another spy who is the member of the household itself even though she's unfavored.”

“You've sent someone? May I ask who is it?”

“That's a secret.”

Did he imply that I was not trustworthy enough to be informed of the spy? Hmm… acted as a spy inside the family…? It's not a bad offer. But…

The problem might become more complicated than how it already is if they got to know I was the sacrifice for the contract.

That's the biggest problem I might faced in the future. Someone who made a contract with the Demons would received death sentenced or exiled. It wouldn't be a problem if I could prove myself as Roel who had gotten my soul to be switched with Silla. But, they wouldn't believe me if I said it anyway. They would definitely think I made up some lies so I won't get exiled.

For now I could free myself from suspicion because I can use holy power but… if the contract was made before Silla is born, all my efforts would be futile.

Someone who had awakened his holy power couldn't be use as sacrifice and binded a contract with demons, but it would be different matter if the contract was made before you awakened your holy power. No matter what, the contract's detail with the Demon King must not be known before I could meet with High Priest and prove my ident.i.ty. Duh, what should I do? Should I just barged in to the church tommorow…? Wait! I stared at Captain Jullius and the a.s.sistant with bright eyes.

“I will become your spy if you guys could fulfilled my only request!”

“Request?”