82 Epilogue (2/2)

”My Lord!” Melinda suddenly gave a cry.

Devon turned around to see that Sylvia was now standing up on the ledge of the balcony.

”Sylvia? What are you doing? Get down from there.” Devon took a few steps out towards her.

”Sh-she's not done,” Sylvia shouted. ”She hates me the most. She'll be coming for me. She already put something inside me!”

”Something?” Devon looked on in helpless confusion. ”Sylvia, your status is blank, you have nothing wrong with you.”

”It's going to tear me apart. She's going to make me pay more than any other. I can't- I can't do it. Tell everyone… I'm sorry.”

”Sylvia, no! Just get down…”

However, her eyes had already glassed over like she was looking at the beyond. ”Richard, my love, I'm joining you soon.”

She fell back and Devon ran as fast as he could to the Balcony but he was a few steps short. A moment later there was a scream from down below. Devon looked out over the ledge and winced while Melinda followed, giving an unreadable expression. Down below was a body that had struck the ground headfirst. Her neck was bent in an unnatural position, and blood was already starting to pool from her body.

Devon left the room somberly and started to sign orders to keep things under control. He had meeting after meeting of angry dignitaries and upset families. He signed off on dozens of letters of condolence, and as the sun started to set, he felt like he had barely even scratched the surface of the duties he needed to perform.

Meanwhile, the reports had finally come in, and now Devon read through file after file spread out on his lap and the floor in front of him as he sat on the throne. It was a horrible tale of kidnapping women, raping them to death, or if they survived, wiping their memory and dumping them at their houses, often to be rejected by their confused husbands. He read in disbelief as he found eye witness report after eyewitness report of the depravity and horror his family had bestowed on their people. It wasn't just his family, it was the whole noble line. Dukes, Marquis, Knights… the numbers were larger than he could believe.

The one night he had gone himself, he had seen a taste of how deep these things went, but he had arrived early and hid his eyes in the receiving room as to not see how many or how bad it was. It was an institution that had deep roots throughout the capital, and might even be said to be what this country was known for by other foreign dignitaries.

Now Devon knew why his country, despite being considered a bit poor on trade, received so much attention by other larger countries. If you pulled away the attractiveness of this sex trade, the country was likely a smaller producer than Daphne. The King's entire dynasty was grown on giving dignitaries the freedom to **** and murder its citizens.

”How many in all?” Devon asked.

There was a clerk that had been standing in attendance for the last hour as he read report after report, going through everything that their remaining force, which included the city guards and only a dozen knights, had gathered in the light hours.

”About three-fourths of all the nobles in the capital city are dead. Their ages range from eighteen to seventy-two. They include most men, but plenty of women as well.”

”And where were they on the night of the Harvest.” Devon wore a dark stare that he didn't realize he had on his face.

The clerk twisted uncomfortably. ”That is… difficult to tell. Of those testimonials I trust, servants have been able to identify nearly seventy nobles that they claim to have seen at this underground… er… event. Of those, all seventy have been found dead this morning. Other families are not as willing to talk although at least one noble admitted that her husband was not home that night and would come home once a month smelling of other women. Of those that allowed us to search the room of the deceased, we found a mask in the majority.”

Devon nodded, but as he watched the clerk twist, it was clear that he had something else to say. ”What is it, speak!”

The clerk gave a nod. ”That is… sir… a rumor that has been going around as well.”

”Tell me it.”

”It has been said that many nobles have been recently going to clinics and churches trying to get a certain status misalignment removed.”

”A curse, is it?”

”I don't know. The name of this status has never been seen before. It's called the Black Widow. Every report of attempted anti-curses failed. However, it seemed to have no apparent status defects, so most nobles thought to ignore it.”

”Black Widow?” Devon frowned.

Black Widow would likely refer to a woman whose husband recently died. She'd wear black and grieve over her husband's loss. That was the extent of Devon's knowledge. However, there was a flash in his memory that teetered on the edge of forgetfulness. He had picked up Aria's forged Guild card. He had only glanced at her skills for a moment, but something about the word Black Widow was familiar. Then, the reality of what Sylvia had said came crashing home.

”Cornelia Bartrum.” The words came out of his mouth.

”Ah, yes… the corpse that was believed to be the burnt princess was exhumed from the tombs and analyzed per your request. The corpse appears to not be Cornelia Bartrum. Furthermore, I just received word from the kingdom of Daphne. They sent a most recent painting of the princess…”

”And?” Devon leaned forward.

”The woman we had housed for about a month was not Princess Bartrum, but an imposter.”

Devon nodded, already expecting the answer. ”She did it. She was in league with the Bandit King… or possibly his prisoner. I wish I had been able to catch him and interrogate him. She called herself Aria. She had been selected as their sacrifice for this sick ritual. She had the motive, she had the capacity.”

”But… I've read about these sacrifices, the things they do…” even the clerk looked a little sick. ”She couldn't survive that.”

”But she did… and she got her revenge… her class is unique. Something called Seductress…”

”I've never heard of it.”

”No one has, at least, no one I've been able to find. But she did it. She killed everyone who raped her. They undid themselves.”

”You say the Bandit King, but assassination doesn't sound like something they'd do. Perhaps she was working with the demons then? She was friendly with Reinhart after all…”

Devon winced at that. That was the other blow. Reinhart had fled around the same time as Aria, and after finding monsters in the cellar of that tower he did some careful prodding to find out that Reinhart was, in fact, a spy from the demon continent. He was likely half-demon himself. Devon found evidence that Reinhart had been using potions to suppress his demonic nature. However, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to associate Aria's actions with Reinhart's. He just didn't believe she was a demonic spy.

”What of the three girls that hung around Aria… err… the Cornelia Imposter?”

”Ah,” the clerk realized he wanted to change the subject and thus Examined his papers. ”You mean Melinda, Destine, and Mary. As far as I can tell, they are innocent of any charges. They were as duped as the rest of us. However, they also voiced strong support for Cornelia Bartrum.”

”So… they don't believe that Cornelia was really Aria…” Devon sighed.

”No…” the clerk looked a little sheepish. ”They believed. They simply support her anyway. I think it was the older one, Melinda, who put it simply. She said 'If the girl did it, she did it for a reason. After what I've heard, I think she had a more than valid reason'.”

Devon gave a wry smile. He never spent much time with Melinda, but he saw a lot of Aria in her. He would have to watch her more carefully in the future. She was a cunning one and with the power vacuum in the capital city right now, Devon had to choose his friends and enemies very carefully.

”Shall we… pursue the girl? Even if she wasn't the source of the curse, she knowingly impersonated a princess and was likely involved in the robbing of the royal palace. That alone is a punishment of death.”

Devon froze… he had been avoiding thinking about it. Aria did attack the throne. Any way you saw it, she had betrayed this country. At best, she was a traitor, at worse, a king slayer. Regicide, assassination, theft, impersonation… her list of guilt was a mile long. His emotions were a jumbled knot of confusion, and he had no clue how he should go about dealing with her. On the surface, he thought she needed to be jailed, as she was a danger to the throne. However, deep down, he still didn't think she held this country any malice. She acted and reacted, but in the end, she only went exactly as far against this country, as this country had done to her.

”No…” Devon said after a few moments of thought. ”We will keep the issue of Aria quiet. We will keep the story as it is. Cornelia died by a fireball during an attack by thieves. I pursued the thieves and killed their leader. Let the foreign nations know that a strange sexually transmitted disease known as Black Widow spread out from the city, but it seems to have burnt itself out. Hint that it might have been a demon orchestrated disease, and they won't ask too many questions. If any guard's memory of Cornelia doesn't line up with the facts, give them a few coins to jog their memory.”

”Yes, my King.” The clerk bowed.

”Ah… I'm not King, that is…” Devon tried to protest.

”But… you are next in line, my lord.” The clerk gave a wry smile.

The realization struck home at that moment. As the last living heir, he was king of the nation. Aria, whoever she was, had driven herself into his life like a typhoon, and in its wake, he had moved from a relatively low position to the king of a nation in the middle of a crisis. She had murdered his family, but at the same time liberated the capital from their cruel and inhumane acts. Worst off, she had stolen his heart and then left a mass of destruction in her wake. Devon himself didn't know what he would do if he ever saw her again. He was just as likely to kiss her as cut off her head.

The clerk was waiting for an answer, so he straightened his clothing, sat up straight, and started to act the part of a king.

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Various human looking creatures with differing animal parts sat in a poorly lit room. There was a tavern-like section where people could relax, get a drink, or play one of the various table games set about. There was also a secondary section which consisted of a line of receptionists in a situation more akin to a DMV.

The door opened, and a couple walked into the space, the biting cold of the outside blowing in as they opened the door. It shut behind them, sealing off the snow drifting in from the outside, but a few looked up and readjusted their cloaks to maintain their warmth. A few others snuggled closer to a dwindling fire that seemed to serve as this places source of warmth.

The mysterious couple wore long woolen cloaks, and their faces were wrapped up in scarves that protected them from the snow outside. They looked around the room as they shook off the snow that had fallen on their shoulders. A few patrons looked back, but besides being a little scrawny and a little short for adventurers, they did not draw any particular notice.

The pair began moving their way to the receptionist section of the room, standing in a line that already contained a wolfman, a dwarf, and a man with red eyes.

”Would not be necessary…” One of them spoke up in a pouty sounding voice that was just deep enough that it wasn't explicitly feminine. ”If Vessë did not give money all away.”

The other snorted like she had heard this before. ”It was stolen. How can I make a name for myself if I run around and support myself with stolen goods? We did save that village from financial collapse after their famine, didn't we?”

”And Vessë cheated. Sex with half of village.” The shorter one replied.

”Ah… well, it did get a little wild there for a bit, but leveling…”

”Vessë level 30, no level without class up.”

”True… but there are still skills to consider… they say they get harder to train when you class up…”

Their hard-to-understand conversation was ignored by most although it sounded like the typical banter of adventurers. The fact there was a woman came as a surprise to a few though. Women were rarely adventurers. However, the few that stayed with it long were known as some of the fiercest bunch. They had to be given the world they lived in.

”Can I help you?” a male receptionist asked as they came up to the front.

”Well, hello…” The taller woman said, reaching out as if to touch his hand on the counter, but then falling short.

”Vessë need to stop seducing…”

Despite the fact that she was wearing a cloak with a hood up and further had a scarf around her face, her body's femininity still seemed to leak through her winter clothing. As a result, even without being able to see her, the man was blushing a bit as she eyed him intently with a predator-like gaze.

Ignoring the smaller one, she began talking. ”We'd like to join the guild. We're adventurers. Subjugation quests, fetch quests, guard quests… these are the things an adventurer like me should have been doing from the beginning.”

She said it in a self-important way, but the receptionist didn't notice. He had been watching her eyes, which almost seemed to draw him in like deep mesmerizing pools. He'd never been the kind of guy to hit on patrons, but even without seeing her face, he was already considering asking her out to eat later. However, the smaller one made a noise with their throat and he shook out of it. The taller one gave the other one an annoyed look, but the smaller one just kept looking ahead.

”Th-that's right. I'll just need your information. Its 50 silver per person to join. You'll get a guild card and your rank will start out as class copper also known as F class. You can pick up tasks on the board- ”

”Yes, yes, we know the adventurer routine. Heard it all before. Just give me a card.”

The smaller one put out 100 silver coins. ”Rest of money, won't eat tonight.”

”I won't let my cute little Min go hungry. I'll get us some grub- ”

”Cheater.”

”M-min? If it's for you- ”

”Rather starve.”

”Don't be like that!”

The receptionist was having trouble keeping up with the pair, and after a moment finally shook himself. ”That's good, okay, I need your information.”

”Ah, that's right! I'm Aria, and this cute, sexy, beautiful man is my wife, Min.”

”Flattery… Failed.”

The one calling herself Aria looked disappointed that her words didn't sway the other who had their head turned away while looking upset. However, the top of their cheeks not covered by the scarf were turning red, suggesting that the words may have been working after all. The clerk gave a double take at a man that she just called her wife.

He gave his head a shake to recover. ”Al-Alright, then I need to know what class you are.”

”Ah, I'm a- pew…” her mouth got caught on the scarf and she had to spit it out.

In annoyance, she reached around and started unwrapping the scarf. Like that, she ripped off the coverings and then pulled back her hood. The man inhaled his breath at the sight. An otherworldly beauty with golden brown hair stood before him. Her eyes practically glowed blue, and she had milky white skin completely devoid of imperfection. She was like a goddess suddenly coming to life.

There was the shattering of some glasses and the scrapping of a seat. Suddenly, everyone in the room was staring at the supernatural beauty, even though it was only her face that could be seen. She gave out a glowing smile laced with sultry Seduction. It was the kind of smile that made someone's life feel lighter just by seeing it, but also hinted that there was more to come if you but gave her everything you had. Many men were ready to throw their purses and lives at her already.

”Excuse me, let me introduce myself again.” Aria shook back her hair, dropping flecks of snow onto the ground like a snow fairy, ”I'm Aria… and I am the Seductress.”