Catherine and Percyville focused on each other for quite some time.
It wasn’t like anyone had any intention of communicating with each other. Rather, for Catherine, this moment of meeting his and her gaze felt like a kind of tug-of-war, in which each other’s strength was measured.
The bright moonlight is covered by clouds again.
Priests appear from somewhere surrounded Percyville. Only then did Percyville’s eyes fall from Catherine, and before long, the space where he stood became empty. However, Catherine stayed as if she were nailed to where she was standing.
Boom!
As the spectacular fireworks display began, admiration erupted from all sides. But Catherine could not concentrate on the splendor unfolding before her eyes.
‘Percyville…’
Should she be surprised that he signed a contract with the Great Devil? Or should she be surprised that the Vatican is the one who executed the contract?
After contemplating for a long time, she shook her head slowly.
“No, what’s important right now is…”
A cat ribbon.
Before leaving Beaton Blue, she has to buy a pretty cat ribbon and put it on Meow’s neck. She has to do it. It will be cuter!
Catherine rushed out of the shopping mall building after enjoying the climax of the fireworks.
World peace will be protected by the heads of countries and organizations, so he was right not to care. Someone who’s not her will be a hero.
******
Lilith’s return to Christopher’s schedule was one day shorter than its arrival at Beaton Blue.
The mood of the passengers, busy playing and eating, was noticeably quiet throughout the cruise to Christopher.
They must have been exhausted, but they all seemed to be on their own because of the devil summoning incident that happened once. Everyone was hoping that this cruise trip would end safely.
“The name is Maggie Orléans, ah. The last name may be different, so just Maggie. She is a pretty lady with blonde hair and yellowish-brown eyes. She is tall, sensitive, and has a slightly glowing skin color—”
“No, no. That’s enough. How old will your child be?”
The cabin attendant asked Catherine with a serious look. How old was she? After a brief thought, she answered.
“Twenty-two.”
Oh. And she added just in case.
“By the way, it’s not a daughter, it’s a sister.”
At her words, the cabin attendant put on a puzzled face.
“We only broadcast broadcasts looking for infants… I’ll do it for you this time.”
She requested a broadcast to meet Maggie, but she didn’t know they could only do it for infants.
Is it because she’s dressed like a VIP? The cabin attendant accepted her request as if it had no choice.
Money is the best. Catherine was grateful for her life today, tomorrow, and the rest of her life in luxury.
“Thank you. Good Empire. The Mont Blanc of the Empire is delicious. The Beaten Blue of the Empire is beautiful. The Iterana Empire is a wonderful country. Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”
The crew bowed with a smile that they were proud of contributing to the development of the country. Catherine headed on board for a reunion with Maggie. Catherine headed on board to reunite with Maggie. As soon as she took her seat, an announcement came out as if she had been waiting.
“Looking for people. Maggie, Maggie-nim, please find your sister at the cafeteria on board right now. Maggie, who has blonde, yellowish-brown eyes, tall, and sensitive personality, please now—”
Hmm. It’s going well.
How much time has passed? The coffee she ordered was about to come.
“Unnie!”
A woman wearing a dress with a gorgeous rose pattern came running in a hurry. Even though her eyes were covered by black sunglasses, she looked dissatisfied.
Maggie immediately became angry with Catherine as she approached.
“Why are you sending such a broadcast like that! Do you know how much my colleagues teased me?”
Then she sat in the chair opposite her and grabbed the coffee placed in front of Catherine. She swallowed the coffee without a drop of syrup, like a fruit juice drink.
“Is there anything to tease about? It’s all true.”
“Everyone says it’s like me even if they don’t hear my name!”
It was fortunate that it was delivered as intended. While staring at the floor of the empty coffee cup in an instant, she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
“Unnie, are you okay? Didn’t you get hurt then?”
“I’m fine. What about you?
“For me, thanks to you, I’m fine. Of course, I’d be fine without you, but—”
Well, she wonders if it’s true.
At that time, those who were taken as sacrifices could not keep their lives alive. What if Maggie was included in it? No matter how little blood was mixed, it was an assumption that she didn’t want to imagine.
“But what was the identity of that strange monster?”
At Maggie’s question, the cat stuck in her bag crawls out and sticks its head out.
「It’s me.」
Oh my. With her mouth open in her blankness, Maggie hurriedly took off her sunglasses with one of her hands.
“Oh my Gosh! Surprisingly. It’s surprisingly cute.”
「Huh. It is not polite to describe this body as cute. If you have eyes, you have to say it’s cool.」
Meow pulled its claws out, shook them, and went back into the bag. Maggie, who had been looking at it in disbelief, cleared her throat and put on her sunglasses again.
“It’s obvious, it’s obvious. You can see it very clearly. Did the Grand Duke give Unnie an escort? That’s a horrific monster escort.”
“…Well, it’s similar.”
There is a real escort, but it was also true that Meow was more reliable than that escort.
“I can’t believe he even prepared a monster escort… Isn’t the Grand Duke really into you? Or is this the basic level for rich people? I heard that Grand Duke Cesare’s wealth is greater than that of the imperial family? It might not be a big deal to an Archduke to train a monster…”
Maggie, who spits out a swift shot, hurriedly waved her hand and blocked Catherine’s mouth. Whether or not, Catherine ordered two more cups of coffee without giving a glance.
“No, it’s not. I’ll hear that story all at once later. If I listen to it now, I’m going to fall in love with it.…. I wanted to ask you something.”
“You know that Anne’s wedding is exactly four days after the end of Lilith’s schedule, right?”
“What? Wedding ceremony?”
Surprised. Catherine asked Maggie back. Maggie crumpled her forehead.
“I gave Anne’s wedding invitation to Unnie at the time. Did you really not read it?”
I haven’t… Have I not read it? Judging by the fact that she doesn’t remember checking the date, it seems that she didn’t even open the wedding invitation.
“Did I throw it into the fireplace when I sleep—?”
“Oh, my. I understand that. If I knew it, I would have taken about three more.”
Whether it was three or thirty, she wouldn’t have opened Anne’s wedding invitation.
“So Unnie, are you not going to the wedding?”
“Of course I should go.”
“Right? As expected, you’re going, right? Did you prepare how to mess it up?”
Maggie asked with her twinkling eyes. To be precise, the twinkling eyes were clearly cast over the black sunglasses.
Catherine was speechless by her sister’s reaction to death since it was the first time she had been so happy.
“Don’t pass it on to me, why don’t you prepare yourself? You said you don’t want to let it go.”
“Of course I prepared it! I have prepared Operation 1 to 10. Now it’s time for that brat’s wedding day to come.”
Maggie adjusted her sunglasses to her confident look.
As soon as the coffee came out, Maggie emptied another cup. Does she think it’s water?
“I’m busy, so I’ll get up first. Thank you for the coffee. Why does this coffee taste so bad?”
What was so busy? Maggie shook off her dress and stood up to say goodbye.
“Yeah. See you next time.”
Maggie, who had been walking well, paused for a moment, and then she returned to Catherine, she asked.
“Sorry, I forgot to ask you something else. Hmm. Unnie? What’s wrong with you? Why are you showing something that’s not like you normally do?”
Something that’s not like usual?
‘…Ah. Now I look different.’
She forgot for a moment because Maggie treat her as if it were so familiar. The answer to the question was simple.
Because she doesn’t want to be associated with past relationships again.
However, Catherine, who didn’t want to show her feelings, answered roughly in moderation.
“It’s just my hobby.”
Maggie’s expression was seriously distorted, in a way, it was a natural reaction.
******
The schedule to return to Christopher was relaxing.
She seems to have met Cesare at least once every afternoon. She usually enjoyed a light meal or tea in his cabin or in Catherine’s cabin, but on dreary days she savored the sea breeze in the onboard cafeteria.
People’s attention was focused on them at the moment. In the interest of people who peeked at them, the two—.
“7th Pope?”
“Henry I.”
“It’s six letters.”
He used to enjoy playing puzzles casually.
“Six letters, six letters…”
Catherine echoed Cesare’s words with her serious face. Then, the baptismal name must be the Pope with four letters. Who is the Pope like that?
“Haha. Humanly, how do you guess who the Pope 9 generations ago was? Right now, the current Pope was there even before I was born.”
Cesare didn’t blink an eye to answer her grumbling.
“The answer is Johannes I. Don’t say you don’t know, he was quite a great man.”
“What do you know and use it for?”
“I’m solving puzzles.”
With a clear answer, Cesare raised his glasses again.
“Next… Which port city is one of the 7 most beautiful places of the Iterana Empire and was selected as the ‘No. 1 honeymoon destination for newlyweds this year’?”
No. 1 honeymoon destination.
“…Beaton Blue?”
“You finally got one.”
Cesare wrote an answer in the newspaper with a proud face.
Beaton Blue. Peeking at the puzzle filled with elegant handwriting, Catherine recalled Anne. Since she got married after receiving a mine, she will go to a nice place for their honeymoon.
She asked Cesare what she was curious about as Anne came to mind.
“Cesare. How long will it take from Christopher to Orléans by horsepower?”
He glanced at Catherine with a face that was asked an absurd question.
“Orléans? There would be nothing to see in the countryside. Do you even need medical care?”
She knows best than anyone else that Orléans is in the countryside. Catherine, who had been agonizing for a while, called him in a subtle voice.
“You know, Cesare.”
Cesare nodded his head lightly as if to say something if she had something to say. Catherine cautiously says to him.
“Would you like to go to my hometown to play in four days?”