The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 36

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The alarm blared sharply throughout the castle.

Santiago grimaced at the irritating sound and headed outside with practiced movements. Ever since the large-scale demon attack a while ago, there hadn’t been a single day of rest. They were coming down to the castle walls to attack almost every other day. He had been going over the walls even in bad weather to stop them, but strangely, they were out of control this year.

There hadn’t been any major casualties yet because no large demons had appeared, but the cumulative fatigue from being exposed to the harsh weather one day after another was considerable.

“What’s going on? Did the demons come again?”

On top of that, the mental fatigue was piling up as well. Yurban came to him as soon as the alarm went off and shouted.

He nodded briefly and passed him.

Unsatisfied, Yurban approached Yulania, who was nearby. He paced around her, muttering anxiously.

“I can’t stay in this dangerous place any longer. No matter what anyone says, I’m going back right now! I’m going to tell the royal investigation team to prepare.”

Yulania stopped him with a cold voice. Her patience had long run out.

“Get a grip, Yurban. No one can go out right now because of the blizzard. We just need to stay inside the castle.”

Yurban was taken aback by her firm attitude and was momentarily speechless, but soon grumbled discontentedly.

“It’s all because of my sister and the Duke. They’re putting the royal investigation team in danger.”

Yulania couldn’t take it anymore and retorted sharply.

“Yurban! Please.”

Because she came on so strong for the first time, Yurban shut his mouth, turned away with a displeased expression, and left the room. Yulania sighed wearily and looked out the window at the darkness.

Meanwhile, outside the castle, Santiago was leading the royal investigation team and the Macari Knights on a direct expedition to fight the demons. In the blizzard, the demons were moving more organized and meticulously than before. Santiago couldn’t shake off an ominous feeling at the sight of them acting as if they had a purpose.

The worsening weather and the strangely close demons only fueled his anxiety. Now, it was hard to guarantee that Macari Castle was a safe place.

“Maintain the defense line! Hold your positions!”

At his shout, the knights moved in unison and took up defensive positions. The knights of the royal investigation team also faced the demons with tension. Among them, there were a few knights who could use mana, which helped in the battle.

After a long battle, the demons finally began to retreat, and Santiago took a deep breath.

‘A retreat.’

The conditions weren’t right to chase after them, but he was dying to go after them right away. Demons didn’t retreat. Or, more precisely, they didn’t have the concept of strategy.

To run away while still alive meant that they were planning for the future. It was proof that there was a higher being giving them instructions.

Santiago felt the suspicion he wanted to deny becoming more and more certain and hated it. He shook his cloak, which was soaked in dirty black blood, and shook it hard to shake off that disgust as well.

After the battle was roughly over, Santiago returned to the castle and went straight to Yulania’s room. He saw her back as she gazed at the bright yellow light.

“…Yulania?”

Half an hour ago.

The battle cries and demon screams echoing from outside the castle gate penetrated deeply into Yulania’s room through the fierce blizzard. She leaned against the wall with her back to the tightly closed window, anxiously watching the stone in her hand, which was vibrating with an increasingly strong light.

The sacred stone she carried in her bosom was no longer a mere superstition. The smooth stone pulsed like a living thing, reacting with Yulania’s heart and pulsing rhythmically.

‘Only when demons are near.’

The last time a demon came down to the castle, the light emitted by the sacred stone was faint. But now it was so intense that it dimly lit the room.

She raised her hand and carefully covered the light. The sacred stone, held tightly in both hands, was still vibrating, giving an uneasy resonance as if something was knocking from the inside, trying to get out.

‘Why now, of all times…?’

A stone that brings good luck. A stone found only in the Macari territory. A stone that had only been the subject of superstition without any particular reaction.

Ominously, the stone had begun to show strange reactions since Yulania began to disobey the king’s orders. The closer the demons came, the more violently the sacred stone reacted.

Yulania trembled at the thought that came to her mind.

“Could it be that I’m calling them, Father? Is that why?”

The words sank into the room like a taboo that no one should hear. She covered her mouth and slowly shook her head.

‘No. What am I, I can’t be such a being…’

But fear stubbornly grabbed her feet and wouldn’t let go.

What if, without her knowing, this sacred stone was connected to the demons, and that threat that Santiago was fighting at this very moment was touching her?

Yulania paced around the room, trembling with anxiety. She tried to think of things to refute her thoughts, but she couldn’t think of a single one.

Soon, she approached the window and slightly parted the curtains, and a blizzard mixed with red light was turbidly cutting through the sky. Darkness containing the noisy battle sounds covered the pale earth. The sight made her feel like it was all her fault, and she hugged the sacred stone tightly with both arms.

After a while, she suddenly heard footsteps at the end of the hallway.

Heavy and neat steps. With each step that reached the door, her heart seemed to beat louder and louder. The sacred stone she was holding in her bosom was still shining brightly. For some reason, she felt like she shouldn’t show this to Santiago.

Yulania looked at the door, not knowing what to do, and at the moment when the presence came closer, she covered the sacred stone with both hands and turned around. Soon, the door opened silently, and a questioning bass voice quietly filled the room.

“…Yulania?”

Yulania’s heart sank at the question in the name called a beat late. The sacred stone, which was just shining prettily in front of her, made her eyes burn for no reason. When she didn’t react, Santiago’s mouth opened again.

“What is it?”

Then she heard footsteps approaching, and when she finally felt warmth behind her, Yulania couldn’t help but turn her head. When she looked back diagonally, she met his dark eyes.

“What’s wrong, are you sick? Is there a problem?”

And when Santiago saw those tearful eyes, he frowned at once and asked. He immediately turned to her and quickly scanned her. And when he realized that the light illuminating the room was not from a candle or lamp but was coming from her hand, his gaze stopped.

“That is…”

“Santiago, that’s…”

Yulania slowly called his name. But she couldn’t continue any further, and she lowered her eyes, holding the sacred stone tightly in both hands. When she glanced up, Santiago was staring at the sacred stone with wide eyes. As if he recognized the sacred stone, as if he was angry at something.

Startled by the look in his eyes, Yulania stammered.

“…This is, right now… it keeps, doing this. From just now, no, a little bit before that. But today it’s too much…”

She trailed off. Santiago looked at her face for a moment, then came a little closer and looked at the sacred stone again.

“Give it to me.”

Yulania inhaled and carefully opened her hands.

At that moment, the room was filled with the subtle yet intense light emanating from the sacred stone. The light, which seemed to be a mixture of yellow and white, reached Santiago’s eyes with a subtle tremor like a wave.

He narrowed his eyes at the sight. The sacred stone wasn’t just emitting light. It was clearly reacting to something, and Yulania, at the center of it, was also sensing it.

“Is it, could it be that I’m calling the demons?”

Santiago’s eyes flickered slightly at Yulania’s words. She continued weakly.

“If that’s the case, then what you fought today, all that danger if it’s because of me, then I—”

“Stop.”

Santiago cut her off firmly before her self-reproach could continue.

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