The Devil’s Cage

The wagon branded with the sword emblem of the lord of Sicar departed around evening from Lower Seventh Ring.

The sunset shed a layer of red glow on the sword emblem, making it look like it was on fire.

After the bloody sword emblem, representing the God of War, was removed, it was replaced by a single sword. It looked like it was sheathed, reserved but not cowardly, never backing down against difficulty and always relying on oneself.

Erin Sicar leaned back on her seat in the carriage, reminiscing the story that her face one told her about her family.

She had forgotten a lot though, all she remembered was her father emphasizing ‘striving to become stronger’ and ‘humility and politeness’.

However, after her brother, the late viscount and a devoted believer of the God of War, took over the house, everything seemed to have changed.

Now with her back on the top, everything would return on track.

Sicar house once again became the lord of Sicar.

Erin Sicar might not be a qualified lord, but she’d try her best.

As she recalled how the two little girls stayed around her for the whole day, the baroness reckoned that she had to do better, at least try not to disappoint the girls should they travel to Sicar.

The elder sister behaved like a mature adult and the younger sister was simple and cute.

The thought of the sisters having the slightest chance of being disappointed made the baroness feel that she couldn’t let this happen.

The two little girls were exactly the same as Carl when he was young. Too bad Carl stopped her from dressing him with dresses at the age of 7 or 8. The dress was cute, why couldn’t he wear it for a little longer?

Now, after befriended Erin and Ellie, she knew they would love those little dresses.

‘I want to go back to Sicar and make some dresses for them! No! The best tailor must be in Edatine Castle, I should ask for one tomorrow!’

The baroness seemed to have thought of some beautiful things, her mouth unconsciously curling up.

As for the restless feeling that plagued her on the way to Edatine Castle?

It was gone!

She believed Simon truthfully as he assured her multiple times.

Since Simon told her to leave everything to him, she’d trust him.

The rest?

She would have to consider the color and the patterns of the skirts, and hoped that she could find a reliable tailor.

The wagon drove steadily to the palace while the baroness was dreaming.

Due to his oversized body, Rogart, the wagoner, exposed half of his back when he sat on the wagoner’s seat. It was natural that the seat was too small for him.

If he had a choice, he’d rather walk, but he couldn’t disobey lord emissary’s order: protect the baroness at all cost.

Therefore, he sat down at the most eye-catching spot.

Six of his comrades rode horses and escorted the wagon from both sides and behind; in the shadows, there were six more men following them quietly, just for the sake of safety.

Edatine wasn’t Sicar, their home, so they must be careful.

Even more so when they saw the War God Temple that towered over Edatine’s palace. The young men had a trace of disgust and reluctance flash over their eyes.

‘Hypocrites and cruel bastards!’ commented the young men.

Rogart, the protector of the baroness on the bridge side, didn’t conceal his action, looking askance at War God Temple and… Pui!

He spat on the ground and the spit drowned under the wagon’s wheel.

Originally, in times like this, there should be an armed priest with two armed deacons and no less than 20 deacons on guard duty in front of the temple, but unfortunately, the attack on the slums last night messed up the whole temple.

Rogart even picked up the smell of blood when they moved past the temple.

“I hope all of you die a horrible death!”

As a loyal believer of the Mist, the young man did not hold back when he cursed the ones responsible for the multiple destructions of Sicar City and the shady bastards who hid in the shadows.

Similar to how they wouldn’t care about the young girls.

Hanging them to death and decapitating them was considered a mercy for those bastards.

They should be crucified and burned alive, blazing hell was the only place these bastards should go.

However, the young Rogart quickly adjusted his emotions because he knew it wasn’t time yet.

He and the others had to wait patiently, but it wouldn’t be long.

The thought in his mind strengthened the beliefs in his heart.

He then shifted his attention to Edatine palace.

A moment later, the bear-like young man frowned at what he saw.

The buff and huge physique did not blunt the young man’s perception and instinct. He sharply noticed something wasn’t right in the palace before his eyes.

The looks on the palace guards were strange.

They did not possess the sharp presence of an elite, instead they looked like… they were in a daze!

As if they had suffered some tremendous shock.

What happened?

Asking himself in his heart, young Rogart stopped the wagon.

The dazed off guards regained their senses when the wagon stopped, following their standard operating procedures and welcoming the baroness.

“Kingdom defender of the north, ruler of Sicar, blessed by nature, Lady Erin Sicar has arrived.”

When the baroness stepped on the red carpet, the welcoming chants came from the two rows of guards and it extended into the palace one after another.

The first two phrases were uttered out of respect, it was her title and the honor of the Sicar family; the last phrase stated how she isolated herself from the masses and lived in peace.

It definitely wasn’t uttered to mock her late husband, who had wrestled a bear before.

The baroness walked in front and Rogart, her protector, went behind her.

Even the slow baroness noticed something was wrong with the guards and the palace.

‘What happened in the palace?’ the baroness wondered.

When the baroness entered the palace, she saw Kieran at first glance.

Kieran was very eye-catching as he sat in the middle of the grand hall.

It wasn’t just because Kieran wore all black and did not follow the dress code like the other invited guests, it was also because all the people around him were looking at him.

Their gazes showed fear, doubt, reverence and… a sense of flattery!

Correct, a sense of flattery!

The baroness would never be wrong about this! She had seen too much of this type of gaze.

Many normal people also looked at her father, her brother, and herself with similar gazes, but this was Edatine Castle’s palace!

The people around Kieran were everything but normal!

Taking a quick glance over, there were a dozen dukes, a few viscounts, counts and marquises, but every single one of them used the same gaze at the Snake Sect Demon Hunter.

But it still wasn’t the most astonishing fact to the baroness.

What astonished the baroness the most was Edatine VI.

The king smiled and nodded at her, then looked at the Snake Sect Demon Hunter with a loving and merciful gaze. It struck a sense of discomfort in the baroness.

After all, she expected difficult hurdles to cross when she was on the way here, and Edatine VI would be first among all to test her.

But now? The king looked nothing like himself.

The feeling of missing a punch after a fully charged up stance caused grievance in the baroness’ heart, but what followed was heavy curiosity.

The king’s vassal, Monte, led the baroness to her seat respectfully before the baroness opened her ears to listen to the soft discussions going on in the hall.

The more she heard, the wider her mouth opened up.

Manners she had with her since young made her cover up his mouth with her hands, but the shock in her eyes was unconcealable.

The Snake Sect Demon Hunter was the heir to Edatine’s throne?!

Prince Svenson was nothing but an imposter to attract attention!?

Information after information painted the baroness’ mind blank.

She never expected things to unfold this way.

Soon, she further expanded her thoughts.

If Edatine VI put his true son under the Demon Hunter’s care and now he called back his son righteously, that meant… there was no need to worry about certain matters anymore?

The God of War? Lady Calamity?

Was everything dealt with?

The particular guess did not just pop up in the baroness’ mind, the other nobles in the hall shared the same thought as well.

Most of the nobles were delighted with the news, even the orthodox part shared the happiness as well. They only disagreed with the king’s new decree, they were not really rebellious, neither would they deny the existence of the royal court.

Now, a better heir had appeared and it seemed to be a good thing.

There were also a small part of the nobles that reacted differently.

Although they looked fine, their eyes had worry and viciousness intertwined.

Not all of the nobles supported the king.

Those nobles were originally pawns planted beside the king. Or more precisely, they were the product of compromisation of Edatine royal court. They of course understood the source of the viscount’s wealth.

Therefore, they were audacious to do something. They couldn’t at the moment but they might have a chance later.

Bloody Mary captured everything with its sharp gaze. It quietly remembered the faces of these nobles with ulterior motives and checked them off the list of guests which it had seen before.

It didn’t have any extra thoughts, Blood Mary just wanted to prevent the unhappy things from happening.

After all, it had become king, it had to be responsible for its kingdom.

Of course there was also…

Bloody Mary intuitively looked at its boss.

A sharp and cold gaze flashed over its boss’ eyes. Bloody Mary immediately replied as if it was making a plea.

Everyone saw Edatine VI’s response to his son and they believed that it was because of the guilt in Edatine VI’s heart.

Then, the people further solidified their thoughts because Edatine VI stood up from his throne and walked to the Snake Sect Demon Hunter.

The Snake Sect Demon Hunter responded coldly and pulled his seat beside the throne.

Everyone knew what the spot represented. They also expected Edatine VI to announce the Snake Sect Demon Hunter’s identity soon and at the very next moment, he said, “My loyal subjects, today is a joyful day…”

The banquet began with Edatine VI’s announcement.

Compared to the initial expectation, the banquet turned out to be merrier.

After the announcement, the nobles swirled around Kieran like butterflies, introducing themselves while maintaining their bearing as they flattered him.

The scene was extra lively, but it had nothing to do with Horlaika the Undying, at least not on the bright side.

No one would relate a member of the Silent Night Secret Society to the heir of Edatine’s throne.

While the banquet was happening, Horlaika slowly walked towards the center of Silent Night Town under all the townspeople’s gaze.

Midnight was coming, it was time to ring the bell!