424 Preparing To Summon The Devil
Ivanov bloodline?
King Theron concluded, “Are you saying that I have to summon this Devil myself?”
The High Priest nodded. “Indeed. Not only are you the current ruler of the kingdom affected by the curse, but you are also a direct descendant of the founding king. I believe you should be the one to do the summoning, Your Majesty.”
“And what should I do to summon this creature?” King Theron asked. He understood that a summoning would probably involve a ritual or ceremony of sorts, and they had to make certain preparations.
“That, you can leave it to me, Your Majesty. I will guide you,” the High Priest said.
“Well, where will we be doing it? The palace? The central square? The faster it is done, the better we resolve this issue.”
“No, Your Majesty. We will be conducting the summoning ceremony in the temple. Once the preparations are done, you will be informed to come to the temple,” the High Priest replied.
“Very well,” the King agreed.
As the High Priest left to start making preparations, King Theron wondered if perhaps he too had gone crazy to involve himself in this madness. “But if it can alleviate the fears of the people…”
——-
That night, when King Theron went to the Queen’s chamber, his mood was somewhat brightened seeing his son welcome him with an adorable coo, even reaching out his chubby hands to him the moment he saw him. Ever since the little prince stayed with Esther, his health seemed to have massively improved.
As King Theron carried his son who had just fallen asleep in his arms, Esther approached to gently put the baby back in its cradle. “You do not have to worry about Little Keiran. The physician has confirmed that nothing is wrong with his health.”
“How can our son not be healthy when you are with him all day?” King Theron said, caressing his son’s tiny hand. “Perhaps you are the reason that even I can endure this curse on the kingdom.”
“Curse?” Esther repeated with a curious face.
“Hmm.” King Theron nodded and looked at her, who was now sitting on the bed after making sure the little prince was fully asleep. “Today, the High Priest came to see me.”
“What did he say?” Esther asked as she motioned for her husband to sit on the spot beside her. Though she wasn’t sure the High Priest would know the reason for all the unnatural things happening all over the kingdom, it still made her curious if perhaps the old man held a decent clue.
King Theron sat beside his wife on the bed and idly played with her hand. “Well, he said it’s some kind of curse that occurs every one hundred years.”
“A curse? Like sorcery? Black magic?”
“Weirdly, it’s a curse from an ancient god but it is called the Devil’s Curse,” the young king said wistfully. “The High Priest says there’s this imaginary being who needs to lift this curse…”
However, at this point, Esther could no longer hear the rest of his words.
“Devil’s Curse?” she mumbled under her breath. As a being who had existed in the continent for more than a hundred years, she of course knew what that phenomenon is. ‘Of course. A century has passed since then. How could I not recognize the signs? How could I have forgotten about this possibility? But… why? Why is the curse here of all places? Is this a coincidence or…?’
“Esther? Are you all right?”
The Queen snapped back to reality after hearing her husband’s voice. “I-I just realized something.”
“Do you know it?” King Theron asked. “Hmm, I do remember you worked for the ancient history section of books in the royal library before. Have you read about the Devil’s Curse there?”
She nodded, glad that her husband found a decent excuse for her. “Yes, you are right. It’s from those old books and scrolls, but I didn’t think it was the reason. W-What did the High Priest suggest we do?”
“He said I have to summon the Devil and only then will the curse be lifted,” he replied with a bitter laugh. “Can you believe this? The royal family are now relying on prayers towards some invisible mighty existence.”
“I think we should follow what the High Priest asks us to do,” she replied. There was no reason for her to discourage her husband. Among all the people in this kingdom, no, in this continent, no one could claim they were more confident than her when it came to saying the Devil truly existed.
“I have no other choice,” the young king replied helplessly. “All that’s left is to pray and rekindle the hope of our people.”
“Everything will be fine, Theron,” she assured, though no one could say if the smile on her face was genuine or not.
—-
For the next three days, the King of Megaris underwent a cleansing period under the instructions of the High Priest. He was not allowed to touch meat and alcohol, and he could only drink holy water and wash his body with special oil provided by the temple. Worse, he was not allowed to touch or be touched by other people, causing him to be in a terrible mood that he was unable to even stay in the same bed with his wife or even carry his son. However, he endured all these for the sake of the kingdom.
News that the King would make his way to the temple to worship the dragon who blessed the kingdom made its way to the common folk, causing many of them to praise King Theron’s virtue and pray as well in their own abodes, creating small altars in hopes that a divine blessing would really come to them.
On the day of the summoning ceremony, many people wanted to crowd around the temple that was situated on the outskirts of Blackhelm City, but they were kept in check by the guards and no one contested, simply content to watch the royal carriage enter the temple premises.
As the Queen, Esther accompanied the King to the temple, though they came in separate carriages. She didn’t know what would happen. She was in fact even more nervous than her husband, as she knew that the Devil would truly appear today.
‘It had been so long…’