Ch226 (p2), After the first miracle
⚠️ Long post ⚠️
[Geez, Tumblr and a weak internet connection ate my initial attempt at this post, so now I'm trying my best to recreate it. It will not be worded quite the same as the original. 😔 Anyway....]
We see Modri standing outside Anna's bedroom door, lifting a hand to knock but then partially lowering it, failing to actually do so. He's also carrying a tray of tea and baked goods. The demon acting as a financial adviser walks towards him and points out the tea will get cold. That's such a Sebastian thing to say, showing concern over the presentation of food and drink, the duties and corresponding efforts of a servant... though we cannot just yet be certain this demon is the same as Sebastian. Plus, Sebastian had apparently never served as a butler before.
Modri states that the wheat miraculously ripened overnight, but it didn't stop the planned wedding.
Then we see what they hear: Anna is bawling and screaming over being forced to proceed with the promised union to the much older baron... who claims she isn't much to look at but will likely suffice for his purposes.
The demon hesitates then decides he will go to her and brave the onslaught of her tantrum. Inside her room and not leaving her bed, Anna cries and laments the futility of the fulfillment of her wish. The wheat grew and ripened in time to save her family and the tenants on their land, but she is still to marry the baron. At this point, it's no longer about necessity, her father is stubbornly committed to his promise as a means of saving face. He simply refuses to back out of a promise that's been made public.
This is the second time, as far as I recall, that someone in the series has complained that they are the only one -- "and only I" -- being forced to handle a particular burden. I've included a page from ch117 (on the right) for comparison with Lizzie. Oddly enough, both of these situations involve an intended betrothal, though Lizzie is fighting to protect her fiancé (what's left of him), not wishing to reject him for another (not even for his twin brother).
Back to ch226... where the demon, unseen by Anna (because she's crying into her pillow), smiles in response to her situation. It's not so much because she's suffering but because she's told him she loves another... and has also just told him the identity of her beloved.
But he replies with sympathy at the news she has feelings for someone other than her fiancé. He assumes the two are lovers; Anna quickly explains that she loves the young doctor but has not yet professed that love.
Since Anna isn't yet stating any more clear wishes, and perhaps also because the demon is getting impatient to finish up, he starts asking leading questions. We can tell it's definitely him saying the wish, despite it being in first person, because of the quotes. He states what he believes to be her wish then asks for her to agree or deny it. [Note he's holding up a thumb and a finger; it's not (just) to make a 🤔 expression.]
She agrees and then adds to it how she'd love to run away with Dr. Matyas. However, love for her family and people continues to take priority, and it's for them she chooses to marry the baron and to suffer.
Despite (or due to) hearing her say she will accept the arranged marriage, he proposes another wish for her to approve. Again, he states it in first person, in quotes, then asks if he's got it right. She again agrees. With this wish, he's no longer holding the thumb and index finger to his face; instead, he's just plain holding up the thumb and two fingers. His smile returns, becoming a grin 😁, now that he's tricked a second and a third wish out of her.
Now he simply says "As you wish." Anna responds in confusion, but when she sits up to look at him, he's already left the room. Her sleeping gown has slipped off her left shoulder, and we can now see she definitely does have a contract seal. I'm not sure how he had marked her without her even knowing it, back when she had wished for the wheat to ripen early. I recall that when Sebastian marks our earl, it's painful and bleeds. Each time they agree upon a condition of their contract, Sebastian "seals" it with their seals. There's none of that here.
With Anna's marriage to the baron looming nearer, this demon informs Modri that Dr. Matyas has expressed his love for Anna. I do think Anna and Modri are simply taking the demon's word for it, for a few reasons:
The image of Matyas and Anna together is merely an imagined rendering. If they had actually met up and expressed their feelings, we would see it as it happens, not in some grayscale embroidery design -- because that's what that is there, merely an embroidery design.
Also, Modri wouldn't need to hear it from this "advisor" if it had actually happened. Anna would have been the bearer of the joyful news.
The demon is probably pretending to be a messenger between Anna and Matyas anyway, since they likely wouldn't be able to keep everything hush hush if all this were to take place at her home... where she is likely stuck and at least somewhat monitored.
The demon (according to Sebastian, also back in ch117) cannot sway Matyas' "heart"; there would be no way to make Matyas love her, if he did not. If the demon actually spoke to Matyas, and Matyas rejected Anna, the next time Matyas paid a visit he might mention it to Anna's father. The easiest way around this is to just lie to Modri and Anna.
Here's the page from ch117, where Sebastian talks about being unable to "bind a heart in the truest sense of the word. Not even a god can do this.
Back to ch226 again, the demon is the one talking once more, laying out plans to have Anna and Matyas marry in secret. He says the wedding must be held in secret to keep the baron from finding out, but I suspect the main reasons are 1) so Matyas doesn't find out and deny any involvement, 2) so her family doesn't find out and keep it from happening, and 3) so the demon doesn't have to go to the extra effort of killing so many people. Holding the ceremony in a church within their domain is probably mostly a matter of convenience for the demon, too. Making it seem as though she'd died in a tragic accident will be much easier with the use of her actual corpse. Helping them escape is a non-issue, since they are to die that night. Thinking back to Matyas (and ch117), the demon will not be able to sway her father. Considering the previous exchange between Modri, the "adviser", and Anna's dad, there's really no way to convince her father that his daughter's happiness is worth more that keeping his word to some disgusting old baron. And the last part is to ensure no one can expose the demon in his lies.
Keeping to the secrecy of their plans, Anna asks Modri to wait until the day of the wedding and hire a carriage in a neighboring town. People in the other town won't care too much about someone they don't know selling jewelry and hiring a carriage with the money. Modri seems to be emphasizing the heirloom or sentimental value of the ring, but Anna might not realize it. She insists she won't need the ring, since she will be the wife of a town doctor. She could mean that the wife of a town doctor should be ok with a modest living and not feel the need to keep or show off such luxuries. She could also simply mean that she doesn't need to keep it now to sell off later, since a town doctor should be able to find work as a physician anywhere they travel and/or end up settling down.
Modri worries about betraying his master, the man who gave him a home and a purpose in life, but he cannot help but want to make Anna happy, as he also serves her. He wishes not to sin, but he believes in a compassionate god who should forgive him for choosing Anna's happiness over her father's senses of pride and duty. Besides, thanks to the "miracles" of this "adviser," Modri believes they have received divine blessings.
The night of the secret wedding, Modri is driving the hired carriage from the neighboring town to his master's own domain. A wheel gets stuck in the mud. It's not quite a full moon, but there's plenty of light for Modri to unstick the wheel by. Looks like he checks in at the Kornich house to make sure everything is still calm there, then he changes into clean clothes and heads to the selected church.
By the time Modri gets to the church and up to the door, he's in high spirits, thinking it's all going so smoothly and that all will be well.
Next: the scene he arrives to....