The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 687: That feeling when you know the fate might be on your side after all

Chapter 687: That feeling when you know the fate might be on your side after all

For ten seconds, we only stared at the words until they vanished, leaving the stone surface smooth again. Afterward, the silence prevailed for a minute more, before I opened my mouth and stuttered.

"A...Auntie?"

"Yes?"

"I’m not seeing things, right?"

"I surely hope not."

This time, even Aunt Nezja looked surprised. Just like me, she stared at the stone disc without blinking. As if in a trance, she reached out for the stone and wrote just one word.

Sangen?

I presumed it was the name of the human who corresponded with the society before. But...would that person still be alive? If the last connection was during the war, it would be around ninety years ago.

Humans couldn’t live that long.

I glanced at Aunt Nezja, who looked at the stone slab closely. There were questions in her eyes, probably the same as me. When she caught my gaze, she smiled wryly. "I was wondering if...if there had been an attempt to communicate while this disc sat inside my storage space."

"Ah..."

Right. They gave up communicating after a few years of nothing. Surely, they wouldn’t just let the disc lying around as a decoration. If anyone tried to contact the society through the stone, she wouldn’t know.

I mean, it wasn’t like the stone had archive features like a cellphone.

...wait--could we try to make a simple cellphone with this?! One with a call and text function?!

Ohmygod, ohmygod! I had to tell Izzi about this tomorrow!

But let’s focus on this sudden appearance of text first--because a reply has come!

’Great grandson’

"Oh!"

"As I thought, it wouldn’t be him," Aunt Nezja smiled wryly. She sounded genuinely sad, which was rare for her. Perhaps they had become a good friend through the correspondence, which was why the stone came to her possession instead of another member’s.

"Unm...what are you going to reply, Auntie?"

Honestly, it was suspicious that the communication stopped before the war happened. We had no idea if this Sangen person got found out, or if he knew about the attack and didn’t tell the Society...

Still, Aunt Nezja seemed fond of the Sangen person, so I didn’t want to sully the memory with suspicion. Besides, knowing Aunt Nezja, I was sure she had already thought about the worst possibility a long time ago.

Perhaps that was why she also looked hesitant. I knew she was eager, but she had a lot of bitter experiences in her life that made her develop a big trust issue.

In the end, she wrote cautiously. Would you happen to know who I am?

’Society of Remembrance,’ the reply came quicker this time. ’You want the Old Covenant back.’

"Oh! He knows!" I gasped. It was rather difficult to read fast from my position, so I moved to stand beside Aunt Nezja.

Who told you?

’My great-grandfather’s diary.’

Aunt Nezja frowned slightly. How did it come to you?

’I inherit the house...’ the reply came in ten seconds, and we waited for another ten seconds for the next text. ’Found a secret vault.’

"Wow...what in the world?" I covered my mouth to not be noisy. But this was...wow--a secret vault in an old house that no one had ever found before. Sounds...exciting! Ahem. I glanced at Aunt Nezja and asked carefully. "Do you believe him?"

"There’s no reason not to. It’s just a matter of finding the stone," Aunt Nezja said cooly. "What important is his stance on the Society itself."

"Right," I nodded.

Honestly, if he wanted to trick us about the stone, he could just say that it was something inherited from his father or something. It would be easier to believe him if he acted like he didn’t know anything.

The question was...how to determine his stance? Aunt Nezja also seemed to be thinking about it deeply. The text, however, appeared again before we could give any reply.

’Who are you?’

"Uhh...what will you do, Auntie?"

"Hmm..."

How much did this great-grandson know about the Society of Remembrance? How much did Sangen write in his diary? Ugh...it was so hard taking a step when we were in the dark about the other side.

But then, the great-grandson wrote something again.

’My name is Sagan, ’ the text came and disappeared. ’Who are you?’

"Oh, a manner," Aunt Nezja raised her brow, and finally replied to the inquiry.

Nejza

Wait--she answered it truthfully?! He glanced at me and smiled. "Sangen knew my name, but not my position in the Demon Realm."

"I see..."

But there was probably a mention that ’Nezja’ was the name of a demon...right?

And then, a reply came. ’Ah, the one he loved.’

"...what?!"

I clasped my stupid mouth and glanced apologetically at Aunt Nezja. She looked at the fading words and closed her eyes briefly, letting out a sigh.

Ah...she knew.

I couldn’t help but wonder...did she develop the same feeling? Was that why she remained unmarried? But if this man answering us was Sangen’s great-grandson, it meant he got married and sire a child.

Uhh...I wouldn’t know how to feel if I was in that situation.

’Listen,’ the text appeared again. ’Ah, I guess it should be read.’

"What’s with this person?" I almost chuckled. After knowing he was talking to someone his great-grandpa loved, his speech started to feel different.

’My grandfather disliked the Society’

Uhh...

’It’s what killed great-grandpa,’

"Oh..."

I guessed...that was understandable.

Aunt Nezja replied shortly. But how?

’He was haunted by guilt and died from heartbreak,’

"Huh..."

Did Sangen feel guilty because he couldn’t warn the Society about the human attack? Perhaps he stopped communicating because of that? Well...we would probably find out if we could get a hold of that diary, but...

Would this great-grandson even let us? If Sangen’s son despised the Society, then...he might not tell his son about it. That was why this Sagan guy found it through the diary, not from his father’s or grandfather’s story.

Hmm...what to do?

But, as always, this man on the other side texted fast.

’But I understand,’ the words flashed quickly. ’The human realm is not alright.’

Oh?

’The Old Covenant must be re-enacted.’

"Huh..."

Aunt Nezja replied after thinking for a while. What do you propose?

’A meeting.’

I crouched and looked at her in concern. "Auntie, this sounds suspicious."

"I know," she stared at the stone deeply and, as if sensing our distrust, Sagan wrote again. This guy must have good mana control.

’Doesn’t have to be you in person,’ the cursive words were as pretty as the first one, and he wrote quickly. ’I think the diary will help.’

Oh--oh! Could we get the diary with this?

Help how?

’To pull the cancer of the human realm,’ the text seemed to be rougher and deeper than before, as if written in anger. ’The Great Church of Light.’

I blinked, before turning my head toward Aunt Nezja with widened eyes. The ’Great Church of Light’ was what people called the center of the Holy Empire--the church where the executives lived, including the Pope. It used to be a palace, which was converted into a church when the kingdom became a theocratic monarchy and the Holy Empire was born.

Yep. The target of this war.

Now--if this man called the church ’cancerous,’ it was safe to say that he did not support the current church. Frankly, it was good news for us, as long as what he said was the truth.

"This is unexpected," Aunt Nezja crossed her arms. The stormy eyes narrowed with a complicated gaze. She must have wanted to believe it, but it was hard to do so right away. "Sangen was a pacifist, but his grandson seemed to be more aggressive."

"If he said the truth," I muttered.

"Yes."

She took a deep breath and wrote a reply after a few seconds. How can a diary do that?

’Half of the diary talks about the inner work of the church.’

Huh? So...was it like a whistle-blower’s report or something like that? Now that I think about it, Sangen was the one who contacted the Society first. For that, he must know that the Society had been contacting the bordering kingdom first. The one who would know about this would be an aristocrat or a church member.

Perhaps...someone who was devoted to the Goddess instead of the church, like Fatia’s mother.

But that wasn’t the extent of the surprising news, because more incredible information followed the disappeared text.

’And the Grand Church’s floorplan.’

I choked on my saliva.

Wait a minute. Wait. A. Minute.

By floorplan... did it mean the whole structure of the church? The chambers, the prayer rooms, the meeting rooms, the residential area?

What about the secret tunnel? What about--

I gasped, and before I knew it, I was already writing on the stone. It was rude of me to do it without asking for Aunt Nezja’s permission, but I couldn’t help it at that time.

What about the position of the portal?

I stared at the stone without blinking as the words disappeared. It only took ten seconds for the reply to surface, but it felt like ten hours.

’Yes,’ the reply came, followed by another in five seconds. ’And where it connects to.’

Fate! You have yet to forsake me!