The Supermarket System

"Go ahead and talk—I won’t bite you," said Kai, staring at the young man named Rio, who looked terrified.

Rio couldn’t go anywhere because Jo and Keith had tied him to a chair. Actually, Kai didn’t want to tie Rio up, but since Rio had tried to run away earlier, Kai asked Keith and Jo to do it.

What really scared Rio was Kaileon himself, because Kaileon was staring at him with a strange look. It was as if Kaileon could pierce right through his head with that gaze.

"I... I... that... I’m sorry, I don’t know anything. My body gets taken over at certain times; it feels strange to me, too. I can’t fight it, because it’s a powerful entity. I don’t understand—please forgive me, young master, have mercy on me!" said Rio, his voice trembling.

The young man was clearly speaking the truth, as the lie detector showed no signs that Rio was lying or harboring any ill intent.

Rio was a good young man; he was always honest. And because of that, he couldn’t be detected by magic or any device.

Kai was certain the demon was inside Rio’s body, but not even the black pearl bracelet could overcome the dark magic to prove that Kai’s suspicions were correct.

"Then, why were you in that forest? Was it that entity you mentioned that made you go there?" Kai asked.

Still showing fear, Rio shook his head slowly, then replied.

"No, young master, I went on my own because I wanted to hunt to earn money, as usual. But suddenly, that entity took control of my body. While I was under its control, I couldn’t remember anything. Then... I only came to my senses once I was already here. I was terrified because I didn’t know what was happening, so I tried to run away. Please forgive me, young master."

Kai let out a heavy sigh, then turned to his father, who was standing beside him, staring at Rio almost without blinking.

"Father, is there anything you want to say?" Kai asked.

Hendry nodded, then walked over to Rio, making Rio even more terrified. The young man’s face had turned deathly pale, as if his life were about to be taken right then and there.

With his bare hands, Hendry untied the ropes binding Rio.

"Take off your clothes," Hendry said.

Not wanting to anger Duke Arslan, Rio hurriedly stripped off his clothes. He almost took off his pants as well, but Hendry quickly stopped him.

"Just your top," Hendry said.

When Hendry then shifted so that Kai could see Rio’s upper body, Kai noticed something on Rio’s chest—like a mark or a tattoo. But it was impossible for Rio to have a tattoo, since such things were uncommon—in fact, it didn’t even exist in this world.

"It’s like the mark of the demon prince, Kaileon. This young man also looks exactly like the demon prince, doesn’t he? I don’t really understand black magic, since we’ve never studied anything like that. But on the battlefield, this kind of thing happens often. Suddenly, soldiers on our side start acting strangely, and it turns out they’ve been possessed. I don’t understand how the possession works, but what’s certain is that the demon sends a portion of its soul to enter the body of another creature or even an object. Since it’s only a portion of the soul, it doesn’t damage the possessed body, but it can be controlled from a distance. Not just any creature or object can be possessed—it has to be compatible with that particular demon first. There hasn’t been any research on this yet, so this is all I know. Also, this mark can tell us whether someone has a fragment of another demon’s soul or not. Every demon has its own unique mark, and I know what this demon prince’s mark looks like. Unfortunately, there’s no way to remove a demon’s soul fragment from a possessed person other than by killing them."

Duke Arslan’s last sentence terrified Rio to death; he squirmed in his seat.

"Calm down, Rio. I’m not going to kill you," said Kai.

"But if we not kill—"

"Father..." Kai cut Hendry off, and Hendry relented, shrugging his shoulders and stepping away from Rio.

"All right, but you know the risks, right? Don’t tell me you actually want him to stay close to you," said Hendry.

"Great idea, Father. Rio, you want to train to become a knight, don’t you? If you get stronger, you’ll become my knight," said Kai.

Hearing that, Rio looked very happy.

"I’d love to, young master!"

"Good. Father... please ask your army commander to train him, okay? He has extraordinary talent. Don’t forget to keep it a secret that Rio is possessed by the demon prince—I don’t want to cause a commotion," said Kai.

At that moment, Rio couldn’t believe that Kai was protecting him and had even arranged for him to train directly under the Duke’s incredibly powerful army commander.

"Of course," said Hendry, then he turned back to look at Rio, making the young man scared all over again.

Hendry said again, "Hey, kid, hurry up and get dressed, then come with me."

Rio hurriedly got dressed and followed the most feared Duke Arslan.

***

Kai stretched, after sitting for several hours working on various tasks that had to be finished before he left for the empire.

And Kai had to finish everything by this afternoon, because he didn’t have much time. Especially since this afternoon, Kai had to welcome the Duke’s guest, together with the Duke and Duchess.

It was just a formality, nothing more. The visitor was Justine’s prospective fiancé, the princess of another kingdom. Kai didn’t even know which kingdom it was, since the visit was so sudden that not much information had been shared.

It seemed the Duchess had deliberately kept this a secret, even from the Duke himself.

Kai suspected that the Duchess intended to bring that kingdom over to her and the Queen’s side.

Kai stepped out of his office, and once he was outside, he saw his younger brother sitting on a park bench with his head bowed.

Kai gave a faint smile, feeling pity for his brother, who was constantly controlled by his mother.

Justine had just found out that he already had a prospective fiancé from another kingdom.

Not only had his wish to follow Kaileon to the empire been flatly rejected by the Duchess, but he also had to accept a prospective fiancé he didn’t know at all.

"Hey, why are you daydreaming so much? I’ll buy you a cake..." said Kai, sitting down next to his brother and putting his arm around his shoulder.

Even though Kai was trying to cheer him up, Justine only grew sadder. His eyes, which had been merely glistening, now began to shed tears.

"Don’t cry, Justine... it’s just a prospective fiancé; if it doesn’t work out—"

"It’s impossible to call it off. Mother said I have to obey her every word. The princess I’m being betrothed to is the best for me, and the best for the Duchess herself. She says that by becoming that princess’s fiancé, I can strengthen my position because her kingdom can help me—oh, I don’t understand! Why is Mom like this, Kaileon? Does my opinion not matter to her anymore?"

Kai hugged his younger brother, patting him on the back, hoping it would make him feel better.

Well, Justine did feel comfortable with Kaileon, because he was the only one who could accept him just as he was, without expecting anything from him.

"I understand how you feel, Justine... but I was also forced into an engagement, and I’ve come to accept Princess Angeline just fine."

"That’s because Princess Angeline is beautiful, kind, and talented!"

Kai then released his embrace so that Justine would look directly at his face.

"Hey, if your future fiancée isn’t talented, would you not like her?"

"N-no, that’s not it! I mean..."

Kai chuckled, patted Justine on the shoulder, and said,

"Listen, Justine, you haven’t even met your fiancée yet—you don’t even know her. Besides, this is still just the getting-to-know-you phase; you can’t actually get engaged until you’re old enough. So just relax."

Justine smiled, then chuckled.

"Thanks, Kaileon... I want you to buy me some cake! I want brownies and cheesecake!"

Kai laughed at that, "If you like both, then I have a cake that combines the two."

Kai bought Justine a cake that combined brownies and cheesecake. The bottom layer was brownie, while the top layer was cheesecake.

Justine was thrilled to see the cake, so she asked Kai to buy a few more of those brownie-cheesecake cakes to serve to their guests.

Kai agreed, as long as Justine was willing to get ready to welcome her fiancé.

Meanwhile, Kai followed Justine to the Duke’s main castle.

Everyone was busy at the time—even the maids in the pavilion had to pitch in—so Kai helped them out.

Peoni, Lily, and the other pavilion maids were busy baking cakes for the reception.

So, Kai handed them the cheesecake brownies to be served to their guests later.

After handing over the cakes, Kai had to get ready with Justine and Luka in Justine’s room.

But before Kai even reached Justine’s room, he heard the Duchess talking to herself in a quiet spot.

Kai crept up and tried to eavesdrop.

It turned out the Duchess was talking into a strange device. It was shaped like an oyster, but there was a screen on it showing someone talking to the Duchess. It was like a video call.

Just as Kai was trying to see who was talking to the Duchess, he suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder from behind.

Kai quickly turned around and saw Jessica standing there.

"Kaileon—"

"Shhh! Be quiet, Jessica."

Then Jessica looked at her mother, who was talking to herself, and dragged Kaileon away.

"Mom’s always like that—she seems to be talking to someone, but I don’t know who it is. But I’ve seen his face clearly before."

Kai pulled out his smartphone and showed her the face of the demon prince saved in his photo gallery.

Jessica’s eyes widened, then she nodded, indicating that it was the same face she had seen before.