DGDITMIAE 09

Chapter 09

The next day. In the sunlit office of the Grand Ducal residence, Cookie, Terestia’s beloved puppy, let out a long yawn.

Normally, Terestia would have seen that sight and, with a languid expression, reached out to stroke Cookie’s head. But today, she was quite irritated by the documents that had come up belatedly.

Those bastards who either made threats as soon as she entered the territory, or who groveled before her.

She shouldn’t have killed them so easily.

Terestia gritted her teeth as she thought.

She had dealt with them quickly out of fear that they might learn her identity and report it to the Empress Dowager, but if she had known the work would end up like this, she would have made them suffer more!

Now that she thought about it, she felt she had let them off too easily, and she was tempted to open their coffins again.

Even the original Terestia had absolutely hated those who couldn’t do their jobs and only groveled and watched for cues.

Let alone the current Terestia, who dreamed of expanding her power and commanding countless subordinates.

Of course, for the current Terestia, the biggest obstacle wasn’t the ones who died so easily, but the documents that had come up today.

“I clearly said to finish the background checks on the territory’s residents by last month, but what is this that came up today? Should I assume they want to evade taxes and military service?”

Did I have to organize everything all over again, when I had already arranged it so neatly?

Terestia barely swallowed those words and turned the next page with an irritated gesture.

“An application to permit trade with the Eschultz Trading Company? Aren’t they the ones who played games with the salt prices last time? They’re dreaming big. Absolutely not. Handle things like this on your own.”

Her violet eyes quickly scanned down the text.

The documents that had come up haphazardly and belatedly were all laid out in a disorderly order.

This was the result of her and Argo being away for a few days on a monster hunt.

*’We came back yesterday, and I can’t even get a single day of rest.’*

Terestia glared sharply at the aide who had submitted the documents in such a mess during Argo’s brief absence, and quickly processed the work.

As the new aide swallowed nervously, watching Terestia’s thoroughly displeased mood, a savior arrived to lift her spirits.

“…Your Highness, it’s Bess. May I come in for a moment?”

“Come in.”

Bess, the maid, smiled brightly and entered the office.

Terestia, who had been buried under a tall pile of documents with her nose practically on the desk, only looked up after a small plate was placed before her.

The chocolate brownie on the white plate emitted a sweet aroma, gently smoothing down Terestia’s raised eyebrows.

“What’s this?”

“Lord Argo instructed me to bring you dessert at this hour, Your Highness.”

Pass!

Terestia shot another glare at the aide standing right in front of her, while giving Argo—who wasn’t even present—a passing grade.

No wonder Terestia always kept Argo by her side.

There was no need to hire many aides.

Argo alone handled all the work well and also knew how to cater to Terestia’s moods.

Terestia had thought all aides were as sharp as Argo…

Well, thinking back, she had been quite lucky to meet Argo in the first place!

Her previously tense face softened as she took a bite of the brownie.

“Have one each, you too. Hurry up.”

The Grand Duke, who had just been sharp and competent a moment ago, instantly became approachable and distributed a brownie each to Bess the maid and the cowering new aide who had been watching her nervously.

*’As a demon, I could have devoured all these sweet treats by myself and no one would say a thing, but I’m different from those low-level demons who mindlessly hoard everything for themselves!’*

Moreover, this too was all for the purpose of creating followers who would serve her, and she praised her own calculating nature.

As if she had never been angry, Terestia mumbled while picking up her pen, her doll-like, splendid, and noble face now dusted with brownie crumbs at the corners of her mouth as she immersed herself in the documents again.

“…Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

“I simply cannot believe what I have just heard. You say Terestia is alive?”

A sharply hooked nose and upturned eyes.

A dress using only dull colors and a stiff tone of voice.

Hair tied up high so that not a single strand fell out, and an erect posture.

The Empress Dowager, who at a glance was clearly strict in etiquette, twisted her face greatly at the words of the man bowing his head before her.

Even the social etiquette that a noble lady should never reveal her emotions openly—at this moment, she simply could not endure it.

The Empress Dowager barely concealed her trembling hands, sharpened her olive-green eyes, and spoke.

“Did you not tell me she was dead? That you saw her breath cease… and yet how is she alive and well in the North?”

“…The ritual clearly failed. There was some interference—whether from the temple or some other external force, I do not know.”

“If the ritual failed! How could Her Highness the noble princess have come back to life? If a demon had possessed her, I would understand, but you say the ritual failed! Duke, I… unless you have lied to me, I simply cannot…”

“Your Majesty, please calm yourself.”

A man with red eyes, whose brown hair was interspersed with streaks of white, spoke calmly.

The man, who appeared to be between middle and old age, stroked his beard and soon shook his head.

“That woman may not be the princess. It is possible that she is merely imitating Her Highness.”

“Imitating? How could one imitate the noble violet eyes that only royalty possess? Eyes that cannot even be fabricated with magic! Duke Opheus, I would sooner believe you lied to me from the start—that would make more sense!”

The Duke ultimately failed to calm the enraged Empress Dowager and inwardly swallowed a sigh.

Choosing Princess Terestia as the sacrifice to summon the great demon had been the right decision… but he should have reconsidered joining hands with the Empress Dowager.

He had thought she would be easy to use, given that she harbored jealousy, envy, and hatred for Princess Terestia, but he never expected things to get tangled up like this.

However, even for him, this was an unbelievable matter and an unexpected variable.

How could the dead Princess Terestia have come back to life?

Unless a demon had taken over her skin, how?

But the demon summoning ritual had clearly failed.

It was Duke Opheus himself who had confirmed the corpse of Terestia, her breath having ceased.

When he heard the news that the princess had fled to the North and was looking after her territory there, even he could hardly believe it.

He had hurriedly sent his informants to the North, but even traveling nonstop to the North would take over a month.

So in the meantime, he had to somehow endure the Empress Dowager’s fits of nerves…

“Enough.”

“…Pardon?”

“That woman—that good-for-nothing wretch—there’s no way she can survive in the North. The Empire’s North is a barren land where a frail existence like her, who has never once lifted anything heavy, cannot possibly survive.”

“But… still, she is the Grand Duke of Inyument. She will likely find a way to survive, even if it means squeezing the territory’s residents dry.”

“Hmph! I know that woman better than anyone in the world, Duke. That wastrel, steeped in debauchery, unable to live a single night without alcohol and parties—she must find the North to be hell! Is there even one thing up there that she likes?”

“……”

Of course, the Empress Dowager’s words were correct.

Princess Terestia was… the pinnacle of dissipated living.

Despite her noble birth, it was astonishing how she could live so vulgarly—even the Duke himself had thought so at times.

To her, the most noble thing was herself, and everything else was merely an accessory for her sake.

But the North was a cold, barren land, a place inhabited only by harsh rum, vicious monsters, and poor, gaunt territory residents.

As the Empress Dowager said, Princess Terestia and the North were a complete mismatch.

“Then you intend to leave Her Highness the princess as she is? If she returns to the capital…”

“Do not worry. If that woman returns to the capital, I will kill her with my own hands on that very day.”

“……”

“I must see with my own eyes her breath cease.”

Then I will surely be able to sleep in perfect peace.

The Empress Dowager murmured with a dreamy gaze and an evil smile.