I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 165
“I told you, I am not the Demon King!”
Flames flared up from Rufus’s grasp.
Startled, the demonic toad let out a shrill scream and began to flee. The fire Rufus conjured seemed ready to devour the toad at any moment.
It was then.
Hiss!
Blue water descended upon Rufus’s flames.
“Oh my, is it right to bully such small and cute creatures?”
A familiar face appeared behind the now extinguished flames. Red hair, wildly tousled by the wind. A black curse mark engraved on her forehead.
“…Witch Odr.”
“Good evening, Lord Rufus.”
The witch Odr, holding a broom, smiled slyly. Her ageless appearance remained as enigmatic as ever.
The demonic toad, barely having escaped the flames, stared blankly at the witch before it started digging into the ground with a grating noise.
“It’s the witch! The witch will capture me and turn me into a familiar!”
“Oh, you’re quite the clever one. I’d love to make you mine.”
But the demonic toad quickly disappeared.
“How cruel. Trying to kill such small and cute creatures.”
Leaving the vanished toad behind, the witch Odr clicked her tongue and glared at Rufus.
“That creature was the one that started spouting nonsense and picked a fight.”
“What did it say?”
“It called me the Demon King.”
The broom paused in mid-air as the witch Odr, who had been unpacking her bag, froze in place.
“…What did you say?”
“It kept calling me the Demon King and bowing to me, so I tried to burn it.”
“The toad called you the Demon King?”
“Yes. It seems it mistook me for the Demon King because of the heart of Audixus.”
Rufus replied matter-of-factly.
“…”
The witch Odr’s smile disappeared as quickly as molten lava cooling.
The Demon King, the Demon King, it said.
For a mere creature that had never approached the Demon King’s castle to dare call Rufus the Demon King.
What could this mean?
“Witch Odr, what about the items I requested?”
“…Ah, yes. They’re finished.”
Awakened from her thoughts by Rufus’s call, the witch Odr hurriedly moved her hands.
“First, here is the cursed sword of Queen Echinacea.”
The item was wrapped tightly in thick cloth. Rufus carefully unwrapped it, ensuring the cursed sword didn’t touch his hands.
The pure silver sword gleamed brightly.
It was the very same cursed sword that Rufus and Iruel had discovered in the palace sewage treatment plant. The only difference was its contents had been altered.
‘Crown Prince Viren will be quite pleased with this.’
Rufus chuckled to himself.
“And this is the item you requested separately today. The Hiramith poison.”
The witch Odr pulled a tiny glass vial from her bag.
“The liquid is originally green, but I made it transparent as you requested.”
“Thank you.”
Rufus stared at the poison in the vial for a moment before tucking it into his pocket.
Everything was now ready.
“Please take good care of my little, cute son.”
Having delivered the two items, the witch Odr requested of him.
“Of course, Iruel may drink a bit too much, be overly fond of women, be perpetually lazy, not the sharpest tool in the shed, have a nasty personality, and be somewhat dim-witted, but he’s actually a good kid.”
“Given how you describe him, I’m not sure if he’s really a good person.”
“Oh, come on, Lord Rufus, you just don’t know him well.”
The witch Odr let out a laugh as she mounted her broom.
“Then, I’ll be expecting good news tomorrow night.”
With those parting words, the witch Odr swiftly soared into the sky. Watching her, Rufus turned to make his way back to the palace.
“…”
Riding her broom towards the Demon King’s castle, the witch Odr felt a heavy weight on her heart.
Why?
Why did the demonic toad call Rufus the Demon King?
Of course, she didn’t believe the words of such a lowly creature. What could creatures with such low intelligence possibly know?
But the demonic toad had no capability to lie. The bright red toad’s blue tongue always spoke the truth.
What could this all mean?
“…”
Facing the strong wind brushing past her face, the witch Odr sank into deep thought.
***
In a secluded corner of the palace, a prison. In a dark, pitch-black space where not even a ray of light could enter, there was someone lying on the ground, groaning.
“Ugh…”
It was Roned.
Prince Camus, who had failed to meet Saintess Sarubia, was enraged. He had beaten Roned nearly to death before throwing him into the underground prison.
Thrown onto the moldy, damp stone floor, Roned could barely move his body. There wasn’t a single part of him that wasn’t injured. His limbs throbbed as if his bones were fractured, and a bitter, metallic taste of blood filled his throat.
‘This… this is all because of that woman!’
Roned clenched his weak fist.
That damned woman. That arrogant wench. That wretch. After I personally wrote to inform her of my visit, how could she act as if she didn’t see me and just leave?
It was a deal he had started under the condition of connecting Prince Camus with the Saintess.
‘Primrose… after all I did for you when you were young, how dare you treat me like this?’
Roned gritted his teeth.
Primrose—now known as Saintess Sarubia—had been very close to Roned when they were young.
The two had met at an orphanage and were as close as real siblings. Roned had seen the much younger girl as his own little sister. He drew pictures with her, read her storybooks, and even folded paper flowers for her. Later, he even gave her the name “Primrose,” after his favorite flower.
‘You are now Primrose.’
‘Primrose?’
‘Yes, it’s the name of a flower, the same color as your ivory hair. How about it, isn’t it pretty?’
‘No, it’s ugly.’
‘Ugly? The name Primrose is so beautiful. You’re just too young to understand. Trust your big brother.’
She didn’t seem to like the name much, but it didn’t matter. As long as it pleased him and rolled off the tongue nicely, that was enough.
The relationship between them had taken a decisive turn when Roned turned sixteen and had his coming-of-age ceremony.
