Chapter 913: Darkness Is Getting Married?
"Get out!"
Darkness roared at Eiji and kicked at him. Eiji didn't move at all, yet she missed her kick and slammed into the bedpost.
"You're really strange. I heard you used to get excited when people misunderstood and said you'd slept with the Demon King?"
Eiji rolled his eyes, showing an expression of annoyance.
"That... that was just..."
"Young mistress, is something wrong?"
A servant's confused voice suddenly came from outside the door.
"Nothing! It's nothing at all. I just couldn't hold back my anger!"
Darkness quickly cut off the servant's questions and fiercely made a shushing gesture at Eiji.
The young mistress must be under too much stress lately, the servant thought with a sigh before slowly retreating.
"Alright, tell me what's really going on."
Eiji turned around and sat on Darkness's bed without any hesitation, casually crossing his legs.
"Sigh... fine."
Darkness wanted to say something else, but after thinking about it, she gave up struggling.
"I'm getting married."
"Sorry."
"? Why are you suddenly apologizing?"
"I think marriage is still too early for me."
Eiji repeatedly waved his hands, putting on an expression that said "I know you have a crush on me, but right now I want to focus on my career."
"What does my marriage have to do with you?"
Darkness stared at him dumbfounded, completely unable to understand what he was thinking.
"...Oh?"
Eiji narrowed his eyes.
Suddenly, Darkness shuddered.
She rubbed her arms, noticing she had goosebumps all over. For some reason, the room temperature seemed to have dropped significantly.
"An arranged marriage by your father?"
"No, my father would never force me."
Darkness shook her head, a hint of warmth appearing on her face.
"I lost my mother when I was young, and my father was often busy with state affairs. He always felt guilty toward me, thinking he didn't give me a happy childhood. Although he always set up various matchmaking meetings to find me a reliable partner, after what happened with the Demon King recently, he gave up and has let me live freely since then."
Eiji also thought it was unlikely. When Darkness was captured by the Demon King, her father risked his life to personally go to the small Demon King's Castle to rescue her.
Such a father probably wouldn't arrange a marriage without consulting her.
"In that case?"
"...My father's health has deteriorated."
Darkness scratched her short golden hair, her expression unusually troubled.
"His health was always very good, but recently he's been bedridden for some reason. The doctors can't find anything wrong with their examinations. It might really be that he's reaching his limit..."
"What about the possibility of a curse?"
Eiji asked without showing any urgency in his expression.
"We already had a bishop from the Eris Church examine him. He said it couldn't possibly be a curse."
"Maybe he's just incompetent?"
"Watch your words! That's the strongest priest in this world! Aside from the gods themselves, no one is better at removing curses than him."
Darkness gave him an exasperated look. "I know you're capable, but don't underestimate everyone in the world."
Eiji paid no mind and continued asking.
"Then someone approached you with an offer—they could restore your father's health, but the condition was that you marry them?"
"Uh, how did you know?"
"That doesn't even require guessing."
Eiji curled his lip.
Just from hearing the beginning, he'd already predicted the ending.
Half of all netorare doujinshi followed this exact plot!
"Take me to see your father."
"This..."
"Is there a problem?"
"You can meet my father, but I hope you won't mention this matter in front of him."
Darkness showed hesitation but ultimately agreed to his request.
"I never told my father about this because I didn't want him to worry."
So that's how it is.
Any man would likely suffer simultaneous heart attacks, high blood pressure, and various other ailments upon learning his daughter was going to marry someone she disliked for his sake.
Right now, he was merely bedridden—if he learned about Darkness's situation, he might kick the bucket on the spot.
Darkness peeked out, confirmed the corridor was empty, then called Eiji out and led him deeper into the mansion. When they encountered people, she simply said she was entertaining a friend.
"He's right here."
She carefully opened the door and beckoned to him.
Eiji entered the room and immediately saw the elderly man lying in bed, eyes tightly shut, breathing faint, complexion pale. His limbs and entire body showed muscular atrophy like a long-term bedridden patient.
He had seen this person before—over a month ago when the man came to the Demon King's Castle to rescue someone.
Back then, he had appeared only forty or fifty years old, still quite youthful, and remained energetic despite staying up all night. Now he looked haggard, like a man in his seventies or eighties.
"Well? Can you see anything? Is it a curse?"
"Hmm..."
Facing Darkness's expectant gaze, Eiji hummed thoughtfully, studied the situation carefully for a while, then seriously raised his head.
"I can't tell!"
"Then why did you even look!"
Darkness couldn't help but roar, but when her father groaned and showed signs of waking from deep sleep, she quickly lowered her voice.
Eiji rolled his eyes.
He was never skilled in magecraft or magic to begin with, and he was a complete amateur in curses. Even professional priests couldn't identify it—how could he spot anything unusual at a glance?
Real curses definitely don't constantly emit black smoke like in movies and anime, making them obvious at first sight!
"While I can't identify a curse, I can see that your father's physical decline is highly abnormal. His organs lack the vitality appropriate for his age. Even if it's not a curse, it must be something similar!"
To be precise, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance it was a curse!
However, Eiji possessed no means to remove curses. The feather mantle that could block all abnormal interference had been returned to Aqua. Excalibur wasn't a limited-use divine weapon, but it couldn't be wielded by unqualified users either. While his "cut through anything" ability could theoretically sever curses, it would also slice her father to death in the process.
Ultimately, if this was truly a curse that even the world's strongest priest couldn't lift, then probably all existing methods would be useless.
"Darkness, who was the person who made you the offer?"
At that thought, Eiji suddenly had a moment of clarity.
A curse so sophisticated that even the world's strongest priest couldn't detect it—there were very few people in this world capable of casting such a masterful curse!
Combined with what Chris had told him a few days earlier, Eiji began to form a suspicion in his heart.
"Aldap."
Darkness spoke the name with a gloomy expression.
"That very Aldap—the lord of Axel who bullies men and women, commits every evil deed imaginable, has a reputation that stinks to high heaven, yet against whom no evidence can ever be found to expose him, and who remains at large to this day!"