The Duchess of Highgate's daughter, Princess Alice. Louise. Eve. Naffal, was now regretting her actions.
As Roy had said, she was using her maid to test the new king. She had thought the whole thing was well-hidden. She had concealed herself as a spirit to observe from nearby, hoping to glean the new king's personality and behavior in close proximity, rather than relying on cold, hard textual reports.
But she hadn't expected Roy to see through her little trick so easily. His use of her plan against her had left her feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place.
‘Maybe I've been spending too much time with Alexander and have forgotten that God-killers are true demons.’
Alice chuckled wryly. She wasn't unfamiliar with God-killers. In fact, she had encountered nearly every God-killer in this era. However, she had only met the others briefly, whereas she had known Alexander. Gascoigne for several years. Perhaps because of this, she had become accustomed to using Alexander. Gascoigne's personality as a template for all God-killers, completely forgetting that demons could be incredibly cruel and merciless at times.
Princess Alice had only one thought in her mind now - how to rescue her maid. The woman was incredibly loyal to her and was now on the verge of death because of Alice's mistake.
Before Alice could lower herself and plead forgiveness, Roy's 『Sodom's Eye』 turned to her.
“『King』?!”
Even Erica and Liliana cried out in alarm. They hadn't expected Roy to use his power against Alice. Hadn't he said that he needed Alice's witch power to perform the ritual? Why was he suddenly trying to kill her? Had Alice's actions angered him so much that he no longer cared?
While Erica and Liliana were momentarily stunned, a massive surge of magical energy crashed down on Alice in the form of Roy's Eye power. However, contrary to their expectations, Alice's body didn't turn into a pillar of salt. Instead, she vanished like a wisp of smoke.
“It's a spirit! The Alice here is a spirit form.”
As a fellow witch, Liliana recognized the technique Alice was using. For witches, the highest level of witch magic was the ‘Transcendent Realm Technique,’ allowing them to travel to the Spirit Realm in their physical form. The Spirit Realm was the source of a witch's spiritual vision, so mastering this technique would naturally make a witch vastly more powerful.
The ‘Transcendent Realm Technique’ was the highest level magic, something even Liliana, at her current level, couldn’t achieve. Alice’s ability to create a ‘spirit form’ was even more impressive. She could travel back and forth between the material and spirit realms as she pleased, without even having to use a significant amount of magic.
“To greet the 『King』 as a spirit? Princess Alice, you’ve gone too far!”
Even Erica was angry. Faced with the arrival of the 『King』, Alice hadn't come to greet him in her physical form. Instead, she had created a spirit form and concealed herself to secretly observe. This was tantamount to disrespecting Roy, a blatant disregard for the dignity of the 『King』.
Liliana felt indignant as well. Both she and Erica were now Roy’s knights. To insult their master was to insult them, and to insult the 『Copper Black Cross』 and the 『Bronze Black Cross』. It was a natural human instinct to elevate such matters to a higher level.
“Go up. Our princess is waiting for you on the fourth floor.”
Roy stepped over the maid, who had now completely turned into a pillar of salt, and headed up the stairs.
The maid wasn't dead, but unless Roy deactivated the power or the salt pillar shattered, she was as good as dead.
Alice’s residence was extremely luxurious. She lived on Hampstead, one of London's most exclusive residential streets. It was impossible to buy a property like hers, with its garden, even with unlimited money.
Aside from Alice and her maid, the four-story house was staffed by regular maids. Upon seeing the maid turn into a pillar of salt, they trembled in fear, none daring to stand in Roy's way. They watched as he climbed the stairs towards Alice's bedroom.
The solid wood door was pushed open by Erica and Liliana. The fourth-floor room was off-limits to everyone except the maid and a select few personal servants. Yet now, a man and two women were entering the princess’s boudoir.
Alice's bedroom was decorated in a classic and elegant style. The most eye-catching feature was a princess bed draped in a sheer canopy. A delicate figure was half-hidden behind the curtain, lying on the bed like a Sleeping Beauty, waiting for the prince to awaken her with a kiss.
“King Roy, please forgive Alice for being unable to meet you downstairs. The reason I greeted you as a spirit wasn’t out of disrespect, but because my body wouldn't allow me to receive you in person. However, for you to do something so cruel in a lady's room is truly un-gentlemanly.”
A sweet, light voice came from behind the canopy. However, it was weaker than the Alice they had heard at the front door.
Her tone was graceful, but there was a hint of anger in her voice, anger at Roy for intruding uninvited.
Roy didn't say a word. He just gestured to Erica and Liliana. Erica immediately went forward and pulled back the canopy of the princess bed, while Liliana moved a chair from the room and placed it next to the bed, allowing Roy to sit down.
Lying on the princess bed was a delicate young woman. As with the one at the front door, Alice’s face was stunning. The blanket over her body hinted at a graceful curve, but unlike the spirit Alice they had seen before, her true body was much thinner, her face pale and bloodless. It was easy to imagine her as a patient recovering from surgery.
“Well, King Roy, are you satisfied with what you see? As you can see, my health is very poor. I can barely even get out of bed. I need constant massage to maintain my basic health.”
Alice’s pale hand gripped the blanket. She was breathing heavily, as if even a simple movement was exhausting.
Erica realized then that the renowned Princess Alice was in fact a frail, sickly young woman. She rushed forward to help Alice sit up, putting a soft cushion behind her back so she could comfortably lean against the headboard.
“Thank you.”
Alice thanked Erica, her voice graceful and charming, even more aristocratic than the Italian girl. She seemed like a noblewoman who had spent her life at balls.
She was dressed in a frilly nightgown. Only a segment of her wrist was exposed, pale and glowing white. Her platinum blonde hair was not as luminous as one might imagine, but rather dull and lifeless.
“Your lifespan is short, Princess Alice. You are only twenty years old. Your body's functions still allow you to continue living, but in at most ten years, your life will wither and die, like a flower wilting at its peak.”
Roy glanced at Alice’s body and stated matter-of-factly.
“I suppose this is what they call a beautiful woman's unfortunate fate.”