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Belphegor Library, Belphegor Castle, Somewhere in the Belphegor Domain, the Underworld
'Sigh… it seems I really can't shake off what Zest said…' Seir wondered, floating aimlessly with a book in hand. The title read The Tales of the Undead.
Yes, he was once again reading the very same book Thea had given him on the day they first met. Why? Because the information Zest had revealed a few days back kept lingering in his mind.
"Thea was once a member of Roygun's peerage…"
"Thea once served as the first [Rook] in Roygun's peerage…"
"Thea was once like a sister to Roygun…"
'How did she end up dying?' That question lingered in his mind.
Yes, he was curious—not just about Thea's fate, but about her entire past. How had she come to be like a sister to Roygun? What led her to join Roygun's peerage? And most of all, how did she meet her end… only to return as the ghostly librarian of the ancestral Belphegor Castle?
Although it was often said that some secrets were best left buried, Seir couldn't ignore his curiosity. He didn't just want to learn about Thea for the sake of knowing—he felt that understanding her past would also help him understand Roygun.
Sure, he knew a lot about his sister… or at least, he thought he did. But in reality, that knowledge barely scratched the surface.
There were so many unanswered questions about Roygun's past—things he had never even thought to ask before.
Despite being siblings, Seir realized that he didn't truly know who Roygun was… or how she had become the person she was today.
There wasn't much revealed about Roygun in the canon. All that was mentioned was that she was a super-hot, flirty, elder-sister-type woman who appeared to be in her early twenties but was actually centuries old. She used a [King] Piece to rise to prominence, becoming one of the three Champions of the Rating Game and the Head of the Belphegor Household. However, once the truth about the [King] Piece was exposed, she was stripped of her title, demoted from an Ultimate-Class Devil to a High-Class Devil, and lost both her strength and reputation.
Despite everything, she still loved the Rating Games. And now that she no longer had a home, she was searching for a husband. Since she had a preference for younger men, she ended up taking an interest in a certain Red Dragon Emperor… and well yada… yada… yada.
Rating Games and Younger Men… Is that really all there is to Roygun Belphegor?
'I want to know…'
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"Thea… I want to talk with–" Seir began as he appeared behind Thea, who was peeking at Kuisha and Zest from behind a bookshelf.
Before he could finish his sentence, the spiral-spectacled girl let out a horrified scream, "Aaaahhhhhh…!" Nearly foaming at the mouth, she instantly faded from sight, leaving Seir standing there, utterly stunned.
Stomping his foot in frustration, Seir muttered, "So much for the direct approach..." With a sigh, he turned and made his way over to join Zest and Kuisha.
"It didn't work, it seems…" Kuisha mumbled.
Seir shook his head. "Nuh-uh… she just faded away."
Zest shrugged. "I did tell you that this method wouldn't work."
"Then suggest something else," Seir said, fixing his gaze on Zest. He added, "Since you don't have much of a clue about what happened to her, the only option left is to ask the person herself hence, I wish to speak with her… but, it seems difficult given her reaction."
Of course, he could ask Roygun or Lucia as well, but he wanted to try speaking with Thea first—to see if it worked and if she remembered anything.
Based on what he had read about ghosts in Tales of the Undead, ghosts were incomplete beings—mere remnants of their former selves. In most cases, they didn't even remember the details of their past lives. It was only their lingering emotions and regrets that kept them tethered to the land of the living.
Truth be told, Seir wasn't even certain if he could get any useful information from Thea. But he didn't mind trying. After all, this was also a study of sorts—an opportunity to better understand ghosts and, ultimately, the nature of souls themselves.
"Well…" Zest murmured hesitantly, her expression uncertain.
She thought to herself, 'It's not like we know nothing… We do have our own guesses. Thea's death wasn't the only thing that happened back then—there were other events, too. And if we piece them together, we could probably form a rough idea of what really happened. But… as expected, it's better not to bring them up.'
Of course, even if she didn't want to speak out her guesses, she couldn't bring herself to stop Seir, so after a brief moment of contemplation, she offered a suggestion. "Why not try tempting her with treats?"
"Tempt her?" "With treats?" Seir and Kuisha echoed in disbelief.
"Would something like that even work?" Kuisha asked, raising an eyebrow.
Seir frowned. "In the first place, do ghosts even eat?" Tales of the Undead hadn't mentioned anything about ghosts consuming food, so he wasn't convinced by Zest's idea.
Zest shrugged. "Well, the Thea I remember used to eat treats all the time—she was a real glutton," she explained. "So, tempting her with the type of food that she likes might just work… but then again, she is a ghost now, so I can't say for sure."
"I suppose there's no harm in trying," Seir muttered, though he remained skeptical.
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"Will this really work?" Kuisha whispered, her voice barely audible.
"From what I've gathered, in some matters, ghosts generally have a low level of intelligence and tend to act more on instinct and desire than anything else," Seir explained. "Although Thea seems smart enough to communicate, she is still a ghost, and as such, she should ultimately be driven by her desires."
After finishing his explanation, he kept his gaze fixed on the bowl of candies and added, "Let's just wait and see."
Following Zest's suggestion, they had placed a bowl filled with an assortment of sweets near the bookshelf where Thea often hid while peeking out. Seir wasn't sure if this plan would work, but there was no harm in trying.
After setting the bait, both Seir and Kuisha returned to their seats, pretending to focus on their studies. However, every now and then, they stole quick glances at the bowl from the corner of their eyes—waiting for the ghost girl to take the bait.
They waited.
And waited.
Minutes passed. Then more. The anticipation grew, but nothing happened. Aside from the rustling of papers and the occasional scratch of a quill, the library remained eerily still.
After more than an hour, Kuisha whispered, "Maybe she's not interes—"
"Shhh!" Seir quickly silenced her.
Because at that very moment, there was movement.
From the corner of their eyes, they saw it—a green head adorned with spiral glasses shimmering faintly as it cautiously peeked out from behind the bookshelf. It lingered there, watching Seir and Kuisha from a distance.
Then, suddenly, her gaze landed on the bowl of candies, and her expression froze.
Saliva—somehow—began to drip from her mouth.
The owner of the spiral glasses was clearly tempted, her eyes darting between Seir and Kuisha, who sat in the distance, and the bowl of treats lying just a short distance away from her.
She hesitated, glancing back and forth—first at the two little devils, seemingly engrossed in their work, then at the candies.
Temptation battled with hesitation.
But in the end, she seemingly resisted the temptation and, without warning, disappeared back into the bookshelf.
Seeing her vanish so abruptly, Kuisha frowned and whispered, "Did it fail…?"
"Maybe it'll take a few more tries…" Seir murmured.
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Same place, the same two little devils seemingly studying, and the same bowl filled with treats placed near the bookshelf. Meanwhile, the same pair of spiral glasses peeked out from behind the shelf, eyes darting between the bowl of candies and the two little devils.
"No progress so far…" Kuisha whispered.
It had been a few days since Seir started this routine, yet there hadn't been any real progress.
"It doesn't matter," he shrugged, unfazed by the lack of results. "It's not like I'm in a hurry." Though inwardly, he noted, 'Besides, it's not like there's no progress at all… The time she spends staring at the bowl of candies is increasing each day.'
Kuisha hummed in acknowledgment. "I see…"
As the two little devils continued their work, the familiar pair of spiral glasses vanished behind the bookshelf, leading Seir to think, 'So, not today eith—'
But before he could finish his thought, something unexpected happened.
A hand cautiously emerged from behind the bookshelf, inching toward the bowl of candies. In a swift motion, it snatched a single candy before disappearing just as quickly back onto the shelf.
Seir and Kuisha, who had been watching from the corners of their eyes, sat frozen in stunned silence, their eyes wide in disbelief.
"Did she just—?" Kuisha began.
Seir nodded slowly. "Yeah… she did."
Ghosts are, after all, beings driven by their desires—perhaps even more so than Devils.
And even if it was Thea, who could resist the temptations to a certain extent, seeing those candies day after day, lying right in front of her, the urge to eat them must have been steadily growing inside her. If she had disliked sweets, it might have been a different story. But according to Zest, Thea had loved candies and treats, indulging in them all the time.
Resisting that temptation was no easy feat.
So, in the end, it was no surprise that she finally gave in—taking just one, just to try.
But there's something about taking just one—just to try. It's like opening Pandora's box.
And sugar itself is addictive by nature…
So, it was no surprise when, just a short while later, the hand emerged from the bookshelf once more, snatched another candy, and vanished just as quickly.
Once someone has taken the first and second steps, the third and fourth no longer seem like a big deal. And after taking a few more, a thought inevitably arises—
'Why am I taking only one candy at a time? Wouldn't it be better to take several at once?'
A few minutes later, the hand emerged from the bookshelf once more, its fingers curling around a small handful of candies before swiftly retracting into the bookshelf.
Seir exchanged a glance with Kuisha, barely holding back a chuckle.
But even that wasn't the end.
Before long, the entire bowl of candies disappeared in one swift motion, leaving behind nothing but an empty dish.
A heavy silence stretched between them. Then, in disbelief, Kuisha whispered, "She took all of them."
Seir exhaled, shaking his head in amusement. "Yeah. She really did, didn't she?"
Thea had finally started succumbing to the temptation of the treats.
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That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading this one!
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