I have a date with the devil

Chapter 24

　It is indeed true that "man is an animal of appearance". If it had been an unkempt vagabond who had come out of the blue today, the first impression and trust of the King and Queen of Ayr would have been greatly diminished. The good thing is, Berial has been unassuming, calm and elegant throughout, so it doesn't hurt to hear him explain his intentions.

King Ayr stared at the young man's calm face: "You say you have a cure for the prince's illness?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Berial explained unhurriedly: "I am an astrologer, and I have studied light and dark magic for professional reasons. From the images I foresee, His Royal Highness is not an ordinary illness, but is cursed."

The king and the queen heard his word "curse" with conviction, and their faces changed slightly.

Ye Miao was stunned to hear this.

Astrologer?

In the continent of Ripass, astrologers were active in the elven era and the early post-elven era, and they are somewhat similar to the present-day ecclesiastical priests, but the priests are in the position to listen to the oracles of God and serve the royal family directly. The astrologers were a group of god-favored commoners who could predict rain or shine through the stars, divine fortunes, and, for the more advanced, briefly predict the future - not by seeing a clear picture, but by having a vague and generalized hunch. At the beginning of the Age of Sail, astrologers played a significant role in the folklore.

Of course, in today's increasingly thinning of God's family, it is rare to see people in this profession anymore, but there are many charlatans who fish in the water.

Berial didn't even blink, and gave himself such a title.

This would explain how he knew the exact symptoms of the young prince's illness in the deep palace. It's just that the astrologer's job is to divine, and it's never been known to be so versatile as to be involved in both light and dark magic, which is a bit puzzling.

For an anxious mother, every straw does not want to let go. The queen leaned forward slightly: "So, can you lift the curse for him?"

"Of course." Berial smiled faintly: "Your Majesty, I am here to solve your troubles for you."

King Al obviously considered more than the Queen, after all, Berial's origin was unknown, in case he had evil intentions, it would be bad if he made his young son, who was already very sick, worse.

At the moment of his hesitation, Ye Miao gave him a helping hand at the right time and said seriously: "Father, I think there is no harm in letting him try. With us around, this commoner will definitely not dare to act recklessly. If he deceives us, he is guilty of deceiving the king, and there is no harm in sentencing him to death."

When he heard the threat of "capital punishment", Berial glanced at Ye Miao with a smile, but did not retort.

There was no other way out, and his daughter was right, so King Ayr weighed his options and finally nodded, saying in a deep voice, "Let's try it."

Several people came to Ye Cheng's room. Since knowing the fact that the corpse chrysalis was mixed with food into his brother's belly, prudent, Ye Miao woke up today and sent the steady and reliable Margo to his side to prevent his brother from having to fall alone.

Margot stood with her head hanging and hands gathered to the side, saluting the king after seeing a strange dark-haired teenager appear behind them, and immediately marveled at his beautiful, almost demonic face.

Ye Miao said, "Marg, go out first and keep the door guarded."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The door to the room closed slowly, and Berial pretended to set foot in this place for the first time, and after asking the king's permission, he half-kneeled down by the bed and reached out to probe Ye Cheng's forehead. The king and queen were staring nervously at his movements.

After silently reciting a few incantations, Berial reached out and wiped his hand on the young teenager's lips, as fast as magic, and a greenish-gray worm appeared on his flat palm.

The seemingly professional and smooth action is very bluffing, only Ye Miao in the belly - again in the pretence.

The corpse pupa was already taken out yesterday. Just now is just a blindfold, right?

The king and the queen both changed their faces dramatically: "This is?"

"Your Majesty, this is the corpse chrysalis. It is the reason that has kept His Highness unconscious during this period of time. As long as it is crushed, His Highness the Prince will awaken immediately." After saying that, as if to verify his words, Berial closed his five fingers, only to hear a "zi" sound, there was no disgusting image of juice flowing, and the dense black smoke kept coming out from between his fingers. When he spread his hand again, the worm had vaporized.

This also just shows that it is not a normal creature.

Just after the black mist escaped, the teenager on the bed suddenly twitched and slowly opened his eyes, his voice filled with the confusion and hoarseness after waking up from a long sleep: "Father, Mother ......"

The king and the queen simultaneously revealed an expression of great joy, seeing this, Ye Miao also greatly relieved.

The queen jumped directly to the bedside and cried with joy, "Xiao Cheng! This is wonderful!"

Ye Cheng mumbled, "I... How did I end up lying in my own bed? I clearly remember that I went to the horse farm ......"

The queen touched his face: "You fainted at the horse farm and have been in bed for half a month ...... Thank goodness, you finally woke up."

Ye Cheng's eyes slowly widened, confused: "It's already half a month later? But I don't feel anything at all, it seems like I just had a long sleep and I don't feel hungry ...... Mother, you didn't lie to me?"

King Al put his arm around his wife's shoulders, and the Queen stood up knowingly: "Of course it's true, look who's back?"

Finally, as an afterthought, he saw Ye Miao standing behind him, Ye Cheng's eyes suddenly widened and he sat up at once, his little face overflowing with pure joy: "Sister?

He jumped down quickly, hugged Ye Miao's waist, and said joyfully, "Sister! I didn't dream it, you've really come back from that hellish place! That's great!"

Ye Miao laughed and rubbed his head.

The family of four was truly reunited. King and Queen El came back to their senses and turned to Berial behind them, his expression eased a lot: "Berial, what reward do you want?"

Just now when this young man said that their son was cursed, the king and his wife actually did not fully believe it, but only took a test attitude - after all, even the experienced Grand Priest of the Holy See, said that they did not see the problem.

Who knew that this young man would find the crux of the problem as soon as he came in and immediately awakened their son, which proved that he had real talent and was not pretending to be a god.

Berial said respectfully, "It is my honor to share the worries of His Majesty the King."

Although he didn't have a summary of the reward, King Al had already given him a credit in his heart, and with a satisfied nod, he asked again, "By the way, the corpse chrysalis just now, what exactly is the curse?"

After Berial explained the source of the corpse chrysalis, the king and his wife's face really grew grave: "You mean, someone deliberately added corpse chrysalis to Xiao Cheng's food?"

"Your Majesty, if it wasn't intentional, this kind of thing, there's no way it could appear in the royal palace." Berial turned to Ye Cheng and said patiently, "Your Highness, can you still recall if you ate any unusual food on the day you fainted?"

Although it was all half a month ago, for Ye Cheng, he had only slept, and all his memories were as clear as if it had happened yesterday. He shook his head: "Nothing special, just the usual breakfast and lunch."

Ye Miao frowned: "A food to be delivered to his brother, I do not know how many layers to go through. It's not surprising that something was added in the middle of the journey by someone with bad intentions."

The queen was worried: "Then, is there a way to find out who started it based on the corpse chrysalis?"

"No." Berial said sincerely, "Your Majesty, with all due respect, those people should already know that His Highness the Prince has woken up and will most likely strike again afterwards. If they know that you have discovered that the evil-doers are corpse nymphs, then, next time, I am afraid that they will be more insidious and defensive, and may even come for more than just His Highness the Prince."

King Al's brow was furrowed, and Berial's words undoubtedly hit the nail on the head of his greatest concern: "Then what should we do, in your opinion?"

Berial smiled as if he had already prepared his next words, "The method is simple. I hope Your Majesty will allow me to stay in the palace. In the future, I will try all the food handed to you and make sure there is nothing unusual before presenting it to you. At the same time, I will also assist you in finding the real culprit."

His words moved the king and his wife. After all, they had just seen Berial's skills, which were much more reliable than even the priests of the Holy See. If he was around, he could definitely reduce the probability of victimization.

King Al nodded: "Let's do that. Do you have a clue to find out the real culprit?"

Berial's red eyes flickered slightly and he said with a low smile, "Yes. Your Majesty, please listen to me--"

......

That night, Berial stayed in the palace with VIP treatment, and in the future, he would have his own room in this place.

No one knew that in the dead of night, this "guest", who had never opened the door of his room, had silently appeared in the room of the princess, who was heavily protected by the guards, and unmistakably held the princess, who had just finished her bath and whose toes were pink, on his lap, sniffing her hair and grumbling and complaining: "Your Highness, you are so cruel to let your father put me to death."

That voice was somewhat ambiguously vague, revealing a kind of despondent aggression.

Ye Miao: "......"

He loves to talk sophistry, but also often through sophistry to sit on the ground, and not a day and a half of things, obviously she is helping him to dispel his father's doubts, okay? Why now suddenly have a feeling of leading the wolf into the house ......

Today has been for him to pretend to be a human to approach their parents feel on edge, until see him conceal the sky, the tense nerves only relaxed, so she is very early tonight sleepy: "Then what do you want to take offense?"

Berial stretched out a finger and nudged her heart with a wicked smile, "I'm going to punish you."

In his case, reward, punishment and asking for payment are simply the same thing. Ye Miao yawned: "Oh, then you hurry up today, I want to sleep."

"Your Highness, could you be a little more affectionate." Berial flung her down on the sofa, propped up one elbow, propped it next to her head, gazed at her, shook his head and sighed: "At a time like this, shouldn't you show a very scared look and then refuse to welcome her back?"

Ye Miao hummed: "Did you just find out today, I'm just uninterested."

"That's okay." Berial held her hand on her chest and kissed the fingertips before taking them into his mouth, his voice getting lower and lower: "I have a lot of time, I can teach you slowly ......"

According to the rules, commoners can not live in the palace, but let Berial to do the guard, seems to be condescending to him, and moreover, in the king and his wife's view, this teenager was born with a good quality, at first glance is not born brutal master. So simply let him stay as the prince's teacher, claiming to teach the prince astrology.

In this way, Berial is officially separated from the identity of the common people, is a civil servant of the line.

The powerful royal family has their capricious capital, if they have a special hobby, it is not strange to hire someone to teach. For example, there was a king in the previous generation, in addition to political affairs, very addicted to antiques, for this reason, the palace often have a few skilled in this way to answer questions.

Soon, a news spread in the noble class - the prince had a minor illness, and now has recovered. During his illness, he read a lot of books on astrology in the library, and his interest in this field was aroused, so the loving king and queen sought an astrologer to be his teacher.

For an unknown commoner, such a treatment can be said to be a step to heaven.

Moreover, it is said that during this period of time, His Royal Highness trusted this astrologer, and he talked to him everything, and was inseparable. His Majesty the King also seems to be very favored this new minister.

There is even no verified gossip that the king has become dissatisfied with the Holy See, and now sees a new power to rely on, and intends to weaken the power of the Holy See.

If this news is true, then it can be said to be a big shock to the Church of the God of Light, which has existed firmly for centuries. For a while, there were a lot of people watching and discussing. Some were speculating about the authenticity of the gossip, others were questioning whether the reappearance of the long-lost astrology would be a hoax, and many more were curious about what this guy, who had been in the limelight for a while, was all about.

In fact, most of these statements are intentionally spread out, but there is also a part that is true - in order to ensure the safety of the young prince, while not arousing suspicion, Berial will spend some time with Ye Cheng in the study every day.

Berial's true identity can never be exposed in front of others. Ye Miao originally thought that Berial and Ye Cheng, who grew up in opposite backgrounds, would not have anything in common, but who knew that the two got along very well.

I don't know what method Berial used, it was simply a silent infiltration into her life, and Ye Cheng quickly removed her heart's defenses to him.

Although he and his sister's relationship is also very close, but after all, men and women are different, boys some shy questions, he was too embarrassed to ask Ye Miao, run to ask the father is also inappropriate. Now there is a patient mouth strict, trustworthy and happens to be their own life-saving brother appeared, can become the best listener of his teenage heart, the two almost everything to talk about.

Ye Miao once really curious, secretly asked his brother, what they talk about in private, but by his brother a serious face with "this is a secret between men" the words to block back, so she was depressed for two days.

In the blink of an eye, a month of seemingly uneventful days passed.

During this month, as Berial said, a letter from Abil came from afar and loaned 60% of Kadam's soldiers semi-mandatorily. If the situation doesn't improve, I'm afraid this won't be the last "loan" - what's the point of emptying out a vassal state to save your own?

It's only a matter of time before the shadow of the undead army invades Kadam's mountains. If that day comes, the worst outcome for Kardan is to have no one to turn to. But right now, it is impossible to refuse Yabil's order. Perhaps this is the sadness of a defeated vassal state.

At the end of the month, Ye Miao's seventeenth birthday arrived. In the continent of Ripass, girls come of age earlier than boys, sixteen is the age of majority, seventeen years old can start to talk about marriage.

The king and queen seem to have an interest in the idea. The king and queen seem to be interested in this opportunity to formally introduce the mysterious princess to the outside world, but also can be used to regulate the sluggish atmosphere of Kardan, half a month in advance will begin to set up the venue, then, all the nobles of Imbal, as well as the king's capital outside the major lords, will come to this birthday banquet.

On the night of the banquet, the moon was in the sky.

Ye Miao long-awaited to put on the dress of Cardan, violet strapless dress, gold threads in the snow-white back interlaced, and then covered with a layer of hidden gauze. As the protagonist of the banquet, dressing can not be arbitrary, Ye Miao sat in front of the mirror from noon to late afternoon, before finally finishing the job.

Shana could not help but exclaim: "Your Highness, you are so beautiful, there will be a large number of people charmed by you tonight!"

When I was in Abil, a simple dress was beautiful enough. Wearing back to the country's dress, dressed up, is another kind of eye-catching clear beauty.

Ye Miao was amused by her: "What a large number of people."

Shana cheeky smile: "Really, see the princess, I as a woman, I also heart."

Arriving at the banquet venue, it was already brightly lit and crowded with people, surrounded by a sea of flowers wrapped spare. As soon as she entered the venue, Ye Miao felt countless eyes cast on her face. Unlike the hostility she felt in Abilene, the eyes here were hot and full of curiosity.

After all, this is her first appearance in the high society of Kardan, and with the experience of "having been a hostage in Abil", it will naturally attract a lot of attention.

It was not long before a noble lady came up to her with a smile on her face. Although she does not like to exchange pleasantries with strangers, but this occasion, Ye Miao does not have stage fright, posing as a princess, smiling and talking generously.

In addition to her, the other focus of the scene is undoubtedly Berial, who appeared in front of people for the first time. Throughout, he wore a faint smile and stood by the side of the young prince, so it seems that the rumors of being quite popular are not false.

Just by looking at the appearance, it is also impossible to see whether this person has a few real skills, or is pretending to be a god.

Inadvertently, Ye Miao and his eyes met, but then quickly staggered, as if not familiar at all.

Soon it was time to dance, as the main character of the party, Ye Miao was naturally the most invited person, and she had to be the one to open the show.

The crowd was waiting to see who would be favored by the beautiful young princess when they saw her smilingly place her hand in the hands of her bratty brother, without showing a tendency to favor any of the noble forces.

There are some undying people intend to wait for the end of a song to invite again, but after the music changed, look around, a pair of dancing people, where can still see the princess.

The truth is that after dealing with the nobles all night, Ye Miao's face was already smiling to the point of cramping, and had to take advantage of the end of the first song to slip away to the balcony connected with the corridor, leaning on a pillar to rest.

Suddenly a deliberately low voice came from behind her, and someone came up behind her: "Your Highness, didn't anyone tell you that it's easy to meet bad people when you come to such places alone?"

"But you're not considered a 'person'." Ye Miao leaned back slightly and blinked pleasantly: "How about it, I'm a good dancer, right?"

"You're the best."

"That's for sure, I didn't practice much when I was a kid."

"Oh." Berial glanced at her and asked, as if inadvertently, "Who practiced with you?"

"That's a lot ......" Ye Miao poked his heart with her elbow: "So do you know how to dance?"

Berial raised his eyebrows: "I complement you in this regard."

"......" This can be said really euphemistically. The corners of Ye Miao's mouth twitched, so she took his hand: "Come on, while I have time now, teach you a few steps."

After passing through a corridor, she pulled Berial and pushed open a door, an empty room, outside the tall floor-to-ceiling windows, silver light and clear glow like a hazy white veil, hovering in mid-air.

From afar, the dance music was distant and faint, and they started slowly, spinning slowly.

Berial's silky hair wavered slightly, and his onyx-like pupils were flooded with bright and dark light, as if the bright stardust that had fallen to earth had been absorbed into it.

Ye Miao a moment lost in thought, but the heart drummed up.

If the devil is so beautiful, no wonder there are countless believers willing to leap down from the clouds and follow the devil into hell.

The devil never forces people to follow, he just does his best to tempt and awaken your desire.

Unbeknownst to her, her back was already against the curtain, and just as a shadow was covering her eyes and her lips were about to be kissed, Berial suddenly gave a start, straightened up, and tilted her head slightly: "Someone is coming."