The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 199

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 199

“It’s been 2 years.”

Despite my family’s intense reactions, I grabbed Adrian’s hand and asked without caring.

“When did you come? How did you get here? Was the red moon that rose yesterday because you came? What do you mean it’s been 2 years? What have you been doing all this time? Huh?”

Watching me ask questions without pause, Adrian smiled brightly.

What he meant by “2 years” was probably that he had been in the past for 2 years.

Adrian had changed tremendously, as teenagers typically do.

His height, which had been similar to Isaac’s, had grown tall enough to reach Johan’s level, and his baby fat had disappeared a bit, making his jawline sharper. Most of all, his voice! His voice that had been close to a boy’s soprano had become very deep.

It was surprising, fascinating, and even delightful.

As my eyes sparkled with excitement, I felt sharp gazes from behind me. It was my family.

Henri, who regained his composure first among the family, separated me from Adrian.

“His Highness is confused. Let’s take it slowly.”

He said while looking around.

‘Oh right.’

Although no one else was visible around us, we had to be careful since this was the Imperial Palace.

I nodded my head.

“Should we go to your palace?”

“Let’s go somewhere else. I don’t want to reveal that I’m here yet.”

It had been two weeks since Adrian disappeared.

The reason it had been so quiet despite a prince disappearing was because this child had received orders from the Emperor to leave for the Border Region just before he vanished.

To avoid Adrian’s absence being discovered, I asked Father to deliver a bribe to the Border Count.

“Oh, the Emperor thinks you’re sick. It would seem strange if there was no contact even after arriving at the border, so I…”

When I whispered, Adrian nodded saying “I know.”

“Then how are you going to explain coming to the Imperial Palace?”

“My people found evidence that the Border Count colluded with the Foreign Tribes. I came under the pretext of consulting with the Prime Minister, so you don’t need to worry.”

“I see… Won’t you go see His Majesty?”

For the Emperor it had only been two weeks, but for Adrian, this was his father he was seeing after 2 years.

When I drooped my eyebrows, Adrian patted my head.

“A son who grew this much in just two weeks would be suspicious.”

Then he turned his head to Father and my brothers and said, “I’ll escort you to the greenhouse.”

Father and my brothers glared fiercely at Adrian and followed behind him, while I stood for a moment and touched the part he had patted.

‘He’s definitely become more mature.’

He had seemed like such a little kid, but somehow I felt strange. Is this how a sister feels when seeing her little brother suddenly grown up? It was both unsettling and somehow…

‘My cheek is tingling. Why?’

Did a bug bite me?

Just as I was thinking that, Isaac shouted “Aren’t you coming?!” so I scratched my cheek vigorously and chased after them.

* * *

The greenhouse Adrian led us to was utterly desolate.

It was so shabby that I couldn’t imagine it being a greenhouse in the Imperial Palace, and as I made a puzzled expression, Henri whispered to me, “It’s the Empress’s greenhouse.”

‘Ah…’

The late Empress Elsa.

Empress Elsa was Adrian’s mother and the only empress during the current Emperor’s reign.

So she was practically a political enemy to Imperial Consort Yvonne, who didn’t manage the Empress Palace at all in order to flaunt her own influence and make people forget Empress Elsa.

Because of that, the greenhouse was overgrown with weeds and messy.

Among the randomly grown trees, there was exactly one tree that seemed to have been touched by human hands, with a completely rotted nameplate attached to it.

[Adrian]

It seemed that when Empress Elsa was alive, she had planted a tree named after the child she would bear.

This place was like Adrian’s world. As lonely as him standing alone in the desolation.

“I apologize for the poor hospitality to our distinguished guests.”

Adrian offered the table that was carelessly placed in the greenhouse to our family.

“At least you’re aware.”

Isaac grumbled as he sat down, and I glared at him fiercely.

“…It’s a nice place.”

Only after Isaac flinched and quickly changed his words did I withdraw my gaze.

Adrian looked at me with a faint smile and took something out from his chest, placing it on the table.

“Since we both have schedules, I’ll get straight to the point.”

When I saw what Adrian had taken out, my eyes widened.

“Mother’s seal!”

I had definitely seen it in the past.

The seal of the Duchess Dubbled that shone alongside her wedding ring on Mother’s hand.

The sun and moon were interlocked with each other, and in the center were the Dubbled crest and jewel.

I remembered it clearly because it was the same form as my seal that Father gave me, only with a different jewel.

Father and Johan also recognized it, their expressions hardening.

“How does Your Highness come to possess this?”

Adrian answered Johan’s question.

“After sending the Young Lady here, I returned to Dubbled Territory to bury the bodies of the Duchess and the maid. But the bodies had disappeared, and only this remained.”

Father, holding Mother’s seal, nodded.

“The bodies disappeared?”

“Yes. When I went to the mountain, Dubbled’s soldiers were also wandering around looking for the Duchess and Young Lady, but as you know, no one found the bodies. Not even the Cardinal’s body.”

“We also know that the shrine must have cleaned up to hide the incident. What is Your Highness trying to say?”

“My finding the Duchess’s seal was by no means a coincidence.”

“…What do you mean?”

“It was placed conspicuously where blood was visible. As if giving a hint.”

Our entire family’s faces hardened as we all looked at Adrian.

Adrian, who had exchanged glances with Father, opened his mouth again.

“The shrine has absolutely no reason to give hints that they killed the Duchess.”

“…The one who concluded that incident isn’t on the shrine’s side?”

“The one who recovered the Duchess’s body – could it be someone who followed the shrine for some reason but wasn’t completely on their side?”

‘Real Trigon.’

The one who erased Lea and Cecilia’s memories was there on the mountain at the last moment.

I quickly looked at Father. Father nodded, seeming to share the same thought as me.

‘According to Trigon, Real Trigon was a sincere and kind person who loved his family.’

“That guy following the shrine? That’s ridiculous! How small is his courage! He’s an idiot who couldn’t even harm a baby mouse!”

“But it’s certain that Lea and Cecilia fell victim to Real Trigon’s alchemy. Think carefully. Wasn’t there anything suspicious at that time?”

“Well. It was such a long time ago… Ah, at that time Lord Aragon (Real Trigon’s father) was in a carriage accident. I was also injured by chance, so I was distressed that I couldn’t take care of him.”

Recalling my conversation with Fake Trigon, I gripped my skirt hem tightly.

“Family.”

“What?”

Isaac turned to look at me as if asking what I was talking about. I bit my lips tightly.

“The shrine threatened Real Trigon with his family. So he had no choice but to follow them.”

Father added.

“Aragon’s son was famous for his deep filial piety. But he left behind a seal ring.”

“He was forced to follow the shrine, but the kind Real Trigon couldn’t bear the pangs of conscience. So…”

When I looked at Adrian, he said.

“If he was a smart person, he would have left evidence. And he gave us a hint. With this seal ring.”

Right, he must have been under surveillance by the shrine, so he couldn’t leave clear words.

So he would have left it on the mountain as if he had accidentally dropped the seal ring.

“What on earth could that hint be…”

When I muttered, Adrian said.

“Leblaine.”

“Yes?”

“The sun and moon. Does anything come to mind?”

“The sun and moon…? That’s…”

I opened my eyes wide and suddenly sat up.

“The Underground Altar! Father, there’s an interlocked sun and moon on the tapestry at the shrine’s Underground Altar!”

The place where I died in my first life.

I had been staring at that tapestry the entire time as I was dying.

“But Adrian. How did you know about that?”

“Because I’ve been to that altar before. And I saw him. The man who was crumbling like filth in that place.”

“…Real Trigon is alive?”

“I don’t know if it’s him. I don’t know why you think it’s him either. But what’s certain is that this seal ring is a hint to bring down the shrine.”

I placed my finger on the seal that was in Father’s hand.

‘This has become interesting.’

Adrian had returned safely, so there was no longer any need to go to the shrine. But now a reason to go to the shrine again had arisen to find the real Trigon.

As if someone was leading me to the shrine.

‘Whether it’s God Neriad or the Evil God, one thing is certain.’

If I can enter the Underground Temple, I can find the real Trigon.

‘And if I find the real Trigon, I can bring down the shrine.’

Our family’s eyes sank low with fierce intensity.

* * *

The Paladin and Priests followed behind Cardinal Blasio, lowering their voices.

“The Pope is greatly troubled.”

“I know.”

“Is the Red Spinel truly showing no response?”

“That’s right.”

“But when we found it, it was clearly a ‘passage’. Why suddenly… The Pope has threatened to find the fragments of Etoile by any means necessary.”

“I told you I know!”

Cardinal Blasio stopped abruptly and shouted.

The Palace Servants passing through the quiet Corridor startled and looked at him. They seemed puzzled by the outburst of anger from the usually benevolent Cardinal.

The Paladin panicked and quickly waved his hands to dismiss the Palace Servants.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Blasio roughly ran his hands through his hair.

The Red Spinel they had found with such difficulty had lost its light two weeks ago. As if the Demon had disappeared.

‘There were signs of intrusion in my Office. Someone had entered. But who exactly? Who on earth dared to infiltrate the Palace of Grace and touch my belongings.’

It wouldn’t have been a petty thief.

If it were a thief, they would have stolen the Red Spinel, not caused it to lose its light.

‘Did a user of Etoile touch it? But at that time, Etoile was definitely in the shrine…’

The reason was equally unknowable to him as well.

The Pope was pressing him, the Red Spinel showed no sign of regaining its light, and he didn’t know who the intruder was.

It was a situation of being surrounded on all sides.

‘And in the midst of all this, I have to deal with the Empress Dowager’s tantrums. Damn old woman.’

Having taken offense at the shrine, she was still refusing the Pope’s requests for private audiences.

The Emperor was red-eyed with desire to reduce the shrine’s influence, and Marshu was somehow not following the Pope’s orders recently.

If they couldn’t even hold onto the Empress Dowager in this situation, the shrine’s circumstances would only worsen.

Veins bulged in Blasio’s fists.

That’s when it happened.

“Lord Blasio!”

A bright voice came from the end of the Corridor. A small lady with luscious brown curly hair came running toward him and bowed her head.

“Hello?”

“Child of Fate…”

“It’s Leblaine!”

No one could guess what was going through the brightly smiling Leblaine’s mind.

That inside that small girl were hundreds of venomous snakes baring their poisonous fangs, and that they were her chosen sacrificial lambs for today.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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