Chapter 113:
Sue’s resolve to ignore the Holy Demon Religion crumbled a week later.
That day was the day Melaine was taking her followers to the Holy Demon Religion chapel, and it was also the day of the Byron family dinner party.
The first dinner party of the year had a larger number of attendees than last year. Peter’s wife, Dayron, and Elizabeth’s family were all present.
“Sister Sue! I missed you!”
Elizabeth’s daughter, Razli, rushed into Sue’s arms. Razli, who was still only ten years old, genuinely admired Sue as a Skia. Sue, feeling an unprecedented love, awkwardly patted Razli’s red hair.
“Lady Sue, I’m glad to see you’re well.”
Elizabeth’s husband, Perlman, was wearing round glasses and had a square face, like a typical, uptight doctor, but his constant smile made him seem approachable.
Ironically, Perlman was the only one in the Byron family with a conscience. Sue wondered how Elizabeth had ended up marrying such a man.
Sue, who had greeted her relatives in the garden, was tasked with escorting them to the dining room. She held the hands of Razli and Lapis, who had asked to hold her hand.
And then, she saw it.
“Lapis…”
“What is it, Sister?”
“What’s that necklace?”
Sue pointed at his neck with a trembling hand. Lapis Perlman was wearing a silver necklace.
A silver necklace with a raven pendant.
Sue turned to Elizabeth and Perlman, her eyes cold.
“Uncle, this necklace…”
“Necklace? …Ah, this one?”
Perlman smiled nonchalantly, as if it was nothing, and pulled out a necklace from under his shirt, identical to Lapis’s.
Sue looked back and forth between the Perlman family, her face filled with shock. Elizabeth even took out a necklace from her handbag and shrugged, as if asking what the big deal was.
“This is a symbol of the subordinate religion we joined.”
***
What followed was chaos. Sue barely managed to hold onto her sanity, her mind blanking out, unable to even register what she was eating.
According to the story, one of Perlman’s patients had been a follower of the Holy Demon Religion. The patient had given the Perlman family raven necklaces as a token of gratitude, and after some enthusiastic proselytizing, they had all joined the Holy Demon Religion.
“Well, since it’s a religion based in Dande, we stopped by the chapel on our way here and attended a service. That’s about it.”
“The chapel was amazing! There were so many people!”
The conversation about the Holy Demon Religion continued even after the dinner party began, perhaps because Sue had reacted so unexpectedly.
“Oh my, really? That’s surprising. Actually, Lady Melaine joined the Holy Demon Religion too. Uncle, how was the chapel?”
Sue, who had vowed to “stop caring,” found herself asking the absurd family, all wearing raven pendants, for information, ignoring the question of how Perlman’s patient, who lived in a remote region, had become a follower of the Holy Demon Religion.
“I didn’t meet the high priest. The chapel was in the basement of a small abandoned building, but it was surprisingly cozy, and as Razli said, there were a lot of followers.”
Elizabeth replied softly, sipping her wine. Even she, the miracle of the Byron family, was proudly wearing a raven pendant.
Sue hurriedly cut up a potato and stuffed it in her mouth, trying to hide her stiffening expression.
“By the way, Lady Melaine is the second daughter of the Vava marquis family, right? She joined the Holy Demon Religion too… We didn’t see her there.”
“Sister, can we please stop talking about the Holy Demon Religion?”
Peter, bored by the conversation about a subordinate religion he had never heard of, interrupted Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed at him.
Peter, not bothering to make excuses, gestured towards the center of the dining table.
“Brother has been looking very bored. Shall we change the subject?”
“Ahem.”
“Oh my.”
Elizabeth chuckled softly.
Eren, who had been waiting for the uninteresting and tedious Holy Demon Religion talk to end, snorted, his lips pouting like a seven-year-old child.
“Why are you all so interested in some backwater subordinate religion? We’re all gathered here as a family!”
“Hahaha, you’re right. Let’s talk about something else. Brother, Dayron brought some wine for you.”
Peter smoothly changed the subject, and the Holy Demon Religion vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
It was a reminder that the Byron family dinner party was always about appeasing Eren.
The adults occasionally brought up topics like Sue’s marriage partner and her debutante ball, but no discussion ended constructively, thanks to Eren’s greedy declaration that he would “make sure she’s partnered with a man from the capital.”
Sue inwardly mocked her father’s delusional dream, outwardly focusing on entertaining Lapis and Razli, who were clinging to her.
Even her cousins, tugging at her arms, vying for her affection, were wearing raven pendants, sadly enough.
‘Everyone and their dog is joining the Holy Demon Religion.’
Sue tried to calm her nerves.
Did the fact that Elizabeth’s entire family had joined the Holy Demon Religion mean that they had all been brainwashed?
But unlike Melaine, they didn’t seem to be obsessed with it.
‘Maybe the brainwashing was weak, or maybe they weren’t brainwashed at all since they didn’t meet the high priest… In the novel, only the high priest used brainwashing magic… Ah, whatever! Why am I even bothering to think about this?’
The description of the ‘Holy Demon Religion’ in the novel wasn’t focused on the religion itself, but rather, it was a device to showcase Soran Halo’s extraordinary power. So she knew how much of a genius Halo was, but she didn’t know the extent of the Holy Demon Religion’s evil deeds.
The Holy Demon Religion continued to torment her even after the dinner party ended.
‘I was just surprised, that’s all. It’s none of my business. Right, that’s right.’
Sue, who had to stay at the main residence on dinner party days, left her room to clear her head and walked down the hallway, bathed in moonlight.
And there, she ran into her aunt, Elizabeth Perlman.
“Sue.”
Elizabeth was also in her pajamas. Her hair was down, and she had removed her makeup, but her elegant beauty still shone in the darkness.
“Can’t you sleep either?”
Her gentle voice was laced with fatigue. Sue played the role of the good niece and replied,
“Yes, it seems like you can’t either, Aunt.”
“Hehe.”
Elizabeth chuckled softly. She took a step closer to Sue and gently stroked her red hair.
“I’m so glad you’re healthy. Lapis and Razli were worried about you too.”
She was a little taller than Sue, and she looked so kind, but Sue didn’t really know her aunt. They rarely saw each other, and they weren’t close.
Sometimes, Elizabeth seemed like a woman with a strong desire for power, and sometimes, she seemed like an unassuming lower-ranking noblewoman, devoid of any ambition.
Her elegant smile, faintly visible in the moonlight, sometimes made her seem like two different people.
“Right, Sue, you seemed to be concerned about the Holy Demon Religion earlier.”
Elizabeth, oblivious to Sue’s thoughts about her, brought up the topic, hoping to continue the conversation.
“…No, I’m not concerned about the Holy Demon Religion anymore…”
Elizabeth, ignoring Sue’s sincere denial, took off the silver necklace she was wearing.
“You said Lady Melaine of the Vava marquis family joined the Holy Demon Religion. That’s what you’re worried about, right?”
Sue pressed her lips together, caught off guard. Elizabeth slowly placed the necklace in Sue’s thin left palm. Her gentle voice, in the quiet darkness, soothed Sue’s ears.
“Then it might not be a bad idea to visit the chapel with Lady Melaine. You always have to keep an open mind. Especially if you’re going to be the head of the Byron family.”
Why was she saying this?
Because she wanted to gain favor with the powerful?
Or because she was genuinely concerned about her niece?
Or because she had been brainwashed by the Holy Demon Religion?
‘…My head hurts.’
What was she supposed to do?
The silver chain in her pale palm felt cold, as if mocking her.
***
The main gate of the glass garden closed with a grating sound of rusted metal. It was already dark outside. Sue watched the Lopetrefer servants bustling about, her numb wrist throbbing.
Enzhe, surprisingly, hadn’t changed. The frequency had decreased, but she was still making good use of the basement of the glass garden, even after moving to the Graduation Building.
Being separated from Fritz, Melaine’s Holy Demon Religion talk, Fritz losing to Raines Noel. Sue understood that she needed an outlet for her stress.
When would this end?
Her swollen hand was throbbing. She stared at it blankly, then chuckled and slumped to the ground.
‘This is fucked up.’
Ironically, she felt sorry for herself.
Sue Byron wasn’t a tragic heroine. She wasn’t a revolutionary trying to change the world. She was just a selfish, violent person, nothing more, nothing less.
“…What am I even doing?”
She heard the mournful cry of a raven overhead. Her friend’s cheerful face flashed through her mind, and she buried her face in her hands.