DGDITMIAE 05

Chapter 05

The Inyument Territory was quiet.

The residents all looked gaunt and emaciated, with dead eyes, dragging their half-frozen bodies and barely managing to exhale white breaths.

And there…

“Hello.”

The Queen of Pleasure, who had never once bothered to look at the dry and barren Grand Ducal territory, greeted the residents lightly, dressed in a splendid gown that hardly suited the North.

Terestia walked into the territory, recalling the words Argo had firmly instructed her.

In her hand was still the sword she had taken from the bandit, and its tip was dripping with blood. Fortunately, it wasn’t the blood of the kind carriage driver who had brought her here, but that of a monster that had come down from the border, however…

“Why do you all have such ugly expressions?”

She tilted her head, unable to understand the residents’ shocked faces, their mouths agape at the sight.

She hadn’t done anything worthy of being called a ‘demon’ yet.

Terestia looked around and spotted the gatekeeper who had been arrogant and hadn’t recognized her.

The gatekeeper had initially told her to get lost, but only after noticing her violet eyes—a trait unique to the imperial family of the Pavellon Empire—did he let her in, with a look of disbelief.

At that time, Argo had told her that he would stay outside, and that once she went inside, she should kill that gatekeeper.

When she asked why, he summarized it: ‘He didn’t recognize his master and was arrogant enough to say he’d let you in if you paid him. That’s embezzlement.’

So… what exactly is embezzlement again…?

Hmm, according to Terestia’s memories… when she does it, it’s as natural and obvious as breathing, but when her subordinate does it, it’s arrogant and deserves death…

“Aha!”

Letting out an exclamation as if she had realized something, Terestia raised her sword and struck down on the gatekeeper’s neck.

Of course, the gatekeeper was one of the corrupt powerful figures who had been embezzling in the Inyument Territory, but people screamed in shock at the sight.

“Kyaaah!”

“Ah, it’s a demon!”

Again, again! They called me a demon!

‘No, why on earth?’

Because Argo said to kill him, because he’s a corrupt official, because embezzlers must die!

That’s why she killed him, so why were they calling her a demon again?

Terestia lowered her sword, feeling flustered. Fortunately, her curiosity was soon satisfied.

“You demonic…! There’s no way you’re Her Highness the Princess! How dare you impersonate Her Highness Terestia, the Princess and Grand Duke of Inyument!”

A man appeared with a flushed face, enraged, and shouted loudly.

Terestia blinked in pure curiosity and asked.

“Why?”

“W-Well, if you were truly Her Highness the Princess, you would have given prior notice! That you would be visiting this cold and insignificant territory, so we could prepare to welcome Her Highness the Princess with all our hearts…”

“I see?”

Thanks for the answer.

Terestia said that and cut down that man as well. Because…

‘If anyone gets angry at Your Highness right after you kill the gatekeeper, kill that person too.’

That’s what Argo had said.

Anyway, she detested people with loud voices, so this time, she decided not to question Argo’s words.

Thinking that, Terestia slowly turned her head toward her next target.

Then, those who had stayed without running away and met her eyes turned pale and began confessing their wrongdoings.

“I-I… the ledgers, well… I definitely recorded them properly. It was a m-mistake!”

“Oh dear! That, that wretch failed to recognize Her Highness the Princess! The taxes collected last month… Ah, they just haven’t been registered in the documents yet. I will personally deliver them to Her Highness the Princess! So please, spare my life!”

Watching them confess their faults in detail, frightened by their own assumptions, Terestia narrowed her eyes.

‘What are they talking about.’

Whatever it is, it means they have something to hide, right?

Argo had also said that even those who readily confess their faults are bound to betray again, so don’t spare them!

Terestia came to a simple conclusion and kindly took their lives as well.

Then she recalled the words of the man who had shouted that she was like a demon.

‘I wondered why humans kept saying I was like a demon…’

In short, it’s because she wasn’t acting like the rumored ‘Princess’, right?

Then what kind of expression and behavior did Terestia… show at times like this?

Groaning as she rummaged through her memories, Terestia soon lifted her chin, a slight smirk on her lips.

And before the word ‘demon’ could spread to everyone, she cut down, one by one, those who, like the gatekeeper, were loud and fawned over her with flattery… in other words, the ‘purge targets’ Argo had told her about.

Her attitude was haughty, her gaze ruthless, and her tone dignified.

Terestia was confident that she was perfectly imitating the ‘Princess’ by searching her memories.

“Damn, she’s worse than the rumors! She’s definitely going to squeeze us dry now!”

“Should we abandon this place and run away while we still can?”

“But where on earth would we go? And if we run, she’ll definitely kill us just like those dead ones…”

“Oh, God. Please save us from this demon…”

Why again! I have no intention of killing scrawny humans like you!

Argo had told her to only pick and kill the fat, healthy-looking ones!

Terestia had only faithfully followed Argo’s words, but she felt frustrated because everyone seemed to have caught on to her true identity.

Glancing at the terrified residents, she thought she should go confront Argo right away and turned on her heel.

Her destination was, of course, Argo outside the territory.

However, upon seeing the fuming Terestia, Argo smiled and, as if he had been waiting, led her toward the border…

—

“Hiiiik!”

“It’s okay, this isn’t my blood.”

A few days later, Terestia reappeared, dragging the carcass of a monster.

She looked quite far from the rumored splendid Princess, covered in blood, but she calmly tried to reassure them.

She didn’t realize that the problem was that this reassurance was going in a completely different direction from what people were worried about.

She simply placed the large monster corpse she had dragged in front of a resident’s house and said with a joyful face.

“Eat this.”

Because she was told these monsters were edible!

“I did as you said, but they misunderstand and call me a demon!”

“Oh dear. I missed one thing. They’ll be happy if you give them food.”

Belatedly realizing this, Terestia had just returned from monster hunting.

Now the humans won’t starve and will like me, right? They won’t call me a demon either?

But the residents still watched Terestia with a mixture of astonishment and suspicious eyes, wary of her.

Everyone was amazed that her brutal purge was followed by monster hunting, but on the other hand, they feared that her bloodthirsty behavior meant a demon was involved.

Ultimately, Terestia became sullen, left the mountain of monster corpses behind, and entered the Ducal castle, not showing herself for a while.

Several days passed like that.

In the meantime, aside from a recruitment notice posted on the castle wall that the Ducal castle was hiring people to work, no notable incidents occurred.

The residents whispered among themselves when they saw the notice.

Sinister rumors that those who went to work at the Ducal castle ended up dying horribly spread quietly in tandem.

‘Surely if you go to the Ducal castle, you’ll die a terrible death…’

The residents trembled in fear and didn’t even go near the Ducal castle.

However, among them, there was one person who thought differently.

‘Whether I starve to death or die at the hands of the demonic Grand Duke, it’s all the same, isn’t it?’

A young lady named Bess, who was so poor she couldn’t even get married and was barely scraping by.

Bess had already lost her parents and was left alone, waiting for death, having not eaten for three days already.

After hesitating for a long time, Bess finally seemed to make up her mind. Taking a deep breath, she tore down the recruitment notice attached to the castle wall, held it to her chest, and headed for the Ducal castle.

And from that day on, an unexpected new wind of change began to blow through the Inyument Territory.