Reincarnated as the Villainess's attendant

*thump*

Devios fell to his knees in front of a pile of bloody corpses stacked in the courtyard at the back of the castle.

"When did this happen...? I didn't hear anything... There should be a commotion, there should be screams...! How could everyone get murdered like this...?!"

He uttered in disbelief, staring wide-eyed at the hellish picture of his world crumbling into pieces.

Servants, soldiers, his family members, and friends.

All dead, with unseeing glossy eyes staring into the distance.

Miriette was crossing her arms and looking to the side – she was still wearing her helmet, but she didn't have to remove it for others to understand that she was feeling nauseous.

As for the other two, Zoemi and Burushi walked past Devios – Zoemi patted the younger boy's shoulder – and began inspecting the pile.

"Some of them were tied up."

The black-haired boy pointed out at a few spots where some of the corpses had their hands wrapped with a rope, one of them had his head visible and it was easy to spot that he was gagged.

"Most of them weren't, look. Those wounds were self-inflicted."

The blond heroine nodded with a grim expression while motioning at the majority of the visible bodies.

"There is your answer, my lord. You couldn't hear anything because they were hexed – and those who didn't were probably knocked out before getting killed – see? Those who are tied up have closed eyes."

She explained in a matter-of-fact voice, sounding a bit distorted since she wasn't breathing through her nose at all.

"This doesn't make sense...! It doesn't! At all! If the barbarians can use hexes so strong that they can order someone to kill themselves – why didn't they do that from the start?! They should be able to conquer Bellcephora kingdom without as much as a struggle! It's impo...!"

"What if the hexes became stronger because of the curse that was put on this territory?"

Devios shook his head as the tears started flooding his eyes. No matter how tough he usually aced, he could not accept the reality that he was faced with – but then Zoemi interrupted him with his own theory.

"..."

The young heir of the Perserios family – that decreased in numbers considerably n a mere few hours – froze with his mouth hanging open as he stared at the black-haired boy.

"If the barbarians were preparing for many years, as we suspect them to, then wouldn't it be obvious that they worked out a way of strengthening their hexes and curses? In the end, what good would it be for them to cut off Perserios territory from the outside world if the Perserios troops would just wipe them off with their magic? Huh...?! I-I mean, they could just try to starve them – but in the end, there would be some crops available – not much because of the harsh climate, but still. Same with stock animals – there are farms closer to the borders with other territories of our kingdom."

Zoemi shrugged his shoulder and said while looking at the pile of corpses with sorrow – after all, some of them were part of his family too, not for long considering that it was only a few weeks since his father married teacher Rokiana, but that didn't really matter. At one point his eyes widened and his face became a few shades paler, but he hurriedly looked away from the spot that caused him such a reaction and continued as if nothing happened.

"...?"

Even with all the emotions gnawing at his heart, Devios didn't miss the odd behavior and turned back to the pile staring at it intently to see what he missed.

In the end he didn't believe that there could be anyone who would cause Zoemi to become more shaken than he was...

"That may not be correct but is sure worth taking into consideration. We need to be even more careful than before so I hope no one would mind if I add a sentinel or two to each of you. Is that okay?"

Seeing Devios looking at the corpses with more attention than before, Zoemi tensed up and began speaking, doing his best to take the younger boy's attention away from it...

"I don't mind, but one that is stern, my air emperor can be difficult at times and I don't want them to quarrel all the time."

Despite that being a diversion tactic, the idea pitched up by the black-haired boy was good enough to get Miriette's approval.

"I believe that the tiny ball of passive aggression I already have by my side is enough, but I also don't want to get brainwashed, so... better safe than sorry."

Burushi also agreed and began moving to the side with a rather clear intention of blocking the view of the young heir of the Perserios family.

She also saw Zoemi unusual reaction and figured out that if he wants to stop the younger boy from seeing something, it couldn't be good.

"!!!"

But unfortunately, her movement was exactly what made Devios find the thing that made Zoemi flinch.

It was just a hand, a normal hand with a scar on one of its fingers, nothing more – but the moment the blue-haired boy laid his eyes on it, all of the blood just drained from his face and he rushed at it.

"Devios...! Devios, wait...!"

Zoemi tried to catch him, but the younger boy used his enchantments while Zoemi was not, and outspend the black-haired boy.

"No...! No! NO! NO!"

Devios climbed on top of the pile of corpses and grabbed the hand with a scar – thanks to using the water enchantments he was strong enough to pull the body it belonged to while pushing aside the other bodies.

And at the moment that the gagged head showed up...

"NOOOOOO! FATHER! NOOOOO!"

Devios completely lost his mind and let out a heartbreaking wail.

"FATHER...! FATHER!"

Devios began pulling up the body while crying his eyes out...

"Anesthesia."

"...ther..."

Burushi didn't allow him though – she touched his calf and activated one of her spells, knocking the younger boy out almost instantly.

"!!!"

As the blue-haired boy began falling back, Zoemi rushed forward and caught him before he could hit the ground.