Chapter 633

As the grand duke pointed out, it would have been odd if I didn’t harbor any desire for revenge.

Many blamed me for how the world was, insisting that the Demon King was the root of all this chaos.

Yet, there were also those who understood that it was only natural for the prince of the Demon Realm, whose world had been destroyed by humanity, to feel such anger.

The right to annihilate humanity. Who else could claim it, If not me? In fact, it would be strange for me

not

to desire it. That was why people naturally assumed that I craved humanity’s destruction. It was the perfect and overwhelming motivation.

However, what caught me off guard was the grand duke’s readiness to die.

“I was going to give you permission to kill me, but ask you to please spare my daughter.”

The grand duke’s solemn expression wasn’t one of anger, directed at the thief who had taken his daughter. It was that of a man ready to face death.

The grand duke saw himself as my adversary. He believed that if I demanded his life, it was right for him to willingly surrender it. The realization that the Great War had been unjust only deepened his sense of guilt towards me.

“If I were to do such a thing, how could I ever face Thick-sk—no, how could I ever face Harriet again?”

“Is that so?” the grand duke replied with a nod. A faint smile appeared across his lips.

It was a strange situation. The grand duke seemed to be contemplating matters I hadn’t even begun to consider.

Harriet had followed me when I disappeared. He must have constantly questioned whether I was merely using Harriet, or if I genuinely cared for her.

If I did care for her, was it despite her being the daughter of my supposed enemy? And what were my true feelings about that enemy? These thoughts must have plagued him endlessly.

Perhaps, when the request for a meeting reached him, he did not think,

‘How dare the despicable Demon King show his face,’

but rather,

‘The inevitable has finally come.’

He might have believed that he would be forced into making a dreadful choice—to offer his life in exchange for his daughter’s safety.

When I arrived, though, I was just a nervous thief, anxiously watching for signs of displeasure.

The grand duke had met me, fully prepared to die. Yet, the one who should have been eager to kill him had stood there trembling, guilt written all over my face. It must have been a strange feeling for him.

Our mutual feeling of guilt led to over an hour of silence between the grand duke and me, neither of us able to find the words to break the tension.

At last, unable to endure the silence any longer, the grand duke had asked me if I felt I had done him wrong, and insisted that he was the one who should feel guilty. It was then that he realized I harbored no desire for revenge, and he seemed genuinely surprised.

“It’s peculiar,” he remarked. “You don’t even seem to have the self-awareness that you are the Demon King.”

Indeed. Even if one believed the Demon King was inherently good, it would be odd not to sense in him even the smallest desire for revenge against humanity.

“You’re not wrong, to be honest. I have no memories of my time as the prince of the Demon Realm. I guess it’s more accurate to say that I was, in a way, ‘reborn’ the day the Great War ended. That would also explain why I knew the future. It’s all meaningless now, though.”

There was no point in telling him I was the Creator. He wouldn’t believe me, and it might even provoke resentment. In the end, it was more accurate to see me as a new being, born in that moment. Neither the Demon King, nor anything else.

“I see...”

The grand duke sat on a bench, as if he had given up trying to understand what was beyond his comprehension. Did he feel like he’d narrowly escaped death?

Honestly, I hadn’t taken the decision to meet him lightly either, but the grand duke seemed to be carrying an even heavier burden than me.

I realized then that the leaders of humanity feared me more than I had ever imagined. They feared me, yet they couldn’t ignore the legitimacy of my potential desire for revenge. The fact that I was seeking to incorporate humanity into my kingdom rather than destroy it might have seemed like some sort of forgiveness to them.

Could this be considered a favorable turn of events?

Revenge was something I could not even fathom; it was beyond my imagination. In my stead, those who feared the Demon King were justifying, giving meaning to, and rationalizing my actions.

The Demon King, the one with the power to destroy humanity, was choosing to forgive them and rule over them. Some might tremble, fearing the Demon King’s oppressive rule, while others might feel grateful for his rare moments of mercy and generosity.

The grand duke seemed to fall into the latter category.

“So... if you don’t plan to kill or harm me, and you approach me with the look of someone burdened by guilt... then I believe I understand your intentions.”

The grand duke had grasped what I was about to say without needing me to voice it.

“You need my power.”

The grand duke’s knowledge.

The grand duke’s authority.

And the grand duke’s territory, along with its people.

In other words, everything that belonged to the Duchy of Saint-Ouen.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I see...”

The grand duke nodded thoughtfully. “If this can serve as even a small atonement for all I’ve done to demonkind, then it must be done.”

“People will criticize you even more,” I said.

“That doesn’t matter at all,” he replied with a faint smile. “There is a duty to existence, and I will follow that duty.”

The grand duke, whom I once believed to be without sin, had turned into someone burdened by many.

“I thought I had fulfilled my duty, but in the end, those thoughts were just arrogance.”

Even those who believed they were on the right path might eventually look back and realize they had strayed. The grand duke finally acknowledged his arrogance.

“If that’s the case, then I must do what I can now.”

He was admitting that his confidence in his ability to discern the righteous path had been misplaced.

“My power is yours from now on.”

It was impossible for anyone to always be right, and the grand duke was no exception.

***

The Duchy of Saint-Ouen had joined my side.

The negotiations had turned out very differently from what I had expected. I had pictured myself begging on my knees, getting slapped, and pleading pitifully to find some way forward. I had even worried about what I would do if the grand duke tried to kill me.

Instead, the grand duke felt compelled to join me because of the sins he believed he had committed. Though things had transpired differently from my expectations, I still achieved the desired outcome.

“It would be nice if you could stay for a meal, but my wife might not be ready yet,” he said.

“Oh... yes,” I replied, realizing he wasn’t referring to the meal.

Had the grand duke already told his wife he was prepared to die? Meeting the grand duchess at this moment might just cause her to have a heart attack.

Even though she had seen with her own eyes that Harriet was safe, the Grand Duchess would likely be just as wary of me as the grand duke was.

“I’ll explain everything clearly. If you come back to me at some later time, you might be able to meet her, just like before.”

I would be able to meet her again once the grand duke had a chance to explain everything to her.

‘Just like before.’

Thinking back to how the Grand Duchess and Harriet’s three brothers treated me when I first arrived in Arnaria filled me with a sense of nostalgia.

It had been overwhelming back then.

‘Can we ever return to how things were?’

The grand duke’s words stirred something in my heart, a glimmer of hope.

‘We can go back to how things were before. Yes, we definitely can.’

While some things could not be undone, there were certainly others that could be.

“By the way, you must have established a kingdom of your own by now. Is there a place on this land where such a thing is possible?”

“Yes, there is... It’s not incredibly large or anything, but...”

The grand duke nodded slowly, surprised to hear there was still a safe place to plant a flag in such a dangerous land.

“If you’d like, you could visit it... I think it would be fine.”

It would be okay, since the grand duke was no longer a stranger anymore. Or maybe he had never been a stranger at all.

The grand duke’s eyes widened at my suggestion. “Really?”

He seemed genuinely excited about the idea of seeing where his daughter had been living all this time.

‘I mean, I’m the king. If I want to do it, I can, right?’

But then, Duchess de Granz’s words echoed in my mind. She had warned me about letting anyone into our circle without knowing if they were a wolf or a sheep.

The grand duke was not just anyone, but the fact remained that many people would eventually learn about Edina. That posed a significant risk.

Even Rowen hadn’t been to Edina yet.

“Actually... I’m sorry for saying this after bringing it up, but I don’t think it’s something I can decide on my own. I think I need to have a meeting to discuss it.”

I felt guilty for raising his hopes only to let him down, but this truly wasn’t a decision I could make alone.

“B-but given the circumstances, Harriet might be able to visit occasionally... so there’s that.”

“Yes, I understand. It’s probably better if I don’t know. I get it. It’s wiser that way.”

The grand duke nodded. He fully understood the caution I was exercising, and was reassuring me to assuage any feelings of guilt. He seemed content with the fact that I wasn’t making decisions about my world all by myself.

‘Ah, I see now. This is why Adelia is so captivated by him.’

The change in the atmosphere brought back a thought I had been trying to bury—the thought of Adelia. The issue with her lingered in my mind, refusing to fade away.

“I said it was okay, so there’s no need to feel sorry,” he reassured me.

“O-oh no... That’s not it. But thank you for understanding,” I replied.

It seemed the grand duke had misunderstood, assuming my remorse stemmed from some dark thoughts.

‘What should I do about that issue?’

I knew the grand duke was a devoted father, but he was also a true noble and a genuinely good person.

I hadn’t intended to say anything, but I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer.

‘Does the grand duke really not know? Should I at least give him a hint?’

“By the way, about Titan,” I ventured.

“Ah, yes. The Titan,” the grand duke replied, crossing his arms thoughtfully. “Unfortunately, while I can fully support whatever you plan to do, granting you the power of Titan is impossible.”

‘No, that’s not what I meant. But whatever, I needed to discuss the operation of Titan anyway.’

“As we both know, Titan is a magical weapon that can only be operated together with Adelia, your former classmate. It requires two Master Orbs, so I can’t manage it on my own.”

‘Yes, I am aware of that.’

Naturally, the conversation turned to Adelia.

“And if you intend to use Titan in a war...”

He was clearly concerned about the massive casualties that could ensue. While the grand duke couldn’t stop me if I chose that path, he certainly didn’t want a large-scale bloodbath.

“No, no. You know I wouldn’t use it for that.”

“Oh... Is that so,” he mused.

“Just avoiding its use in such critical situations should suffice.”

“Yes... If it ever came to using Titan, it would mean dragging that child into dangerous affairs... and honestly, I don’t want that.”

Indeed, with the grand duke and Adelia together, Titan could be activated. It served as more of a safety device, but the fact that those two could operate Titan without anyone else’s authorization might be seen as a vulnerability.

Adelia, despite her brilliance, was still just a child in the grand duke’s eyes. He couldn’t bear the thought of her being entangled in the power struggle between the Dark Land and the Empire.

Anyway, now that Adelia’s name had come up naturally, it was an opportunity.

“Well, setting Titan aside for a moment... speaking of which, you know... About Adelia.”

“Ah, yes.”

“How is she...? Is she doing well?” I asked cautiously, trying not to raise any suspicion.

‘Let’s see what the grand duke thinks.’

If he didn’t know, I wasn’t going to enlighten him.

I just wanted to confirm whether the grand duke was truly unaware of what was going on.

Sarkegar had mentioned something about how Adelia looked at the grand duke, but all I knew was that the grand duke showed no signs of reciprocating.

When I asked him, the grand duke sighed.

“Yes, Adelia was very close with our youngest...”

He seemed to think I was inquiring on Harriet’s behalf.

This was promising.

“The fact that she is accompanying the army means she can’t be said to be doing well.”

‘Yes, it was rather odd to ask if she was doing well.’

“Even though she’s not directly involved in combat, you could say she’s safe, if not entirely well.”

Adelia wasn’t a battle mage, after all. But the grand duke could handle anything himself. But I wasn’t really asking about her safety; I wanted to know what the grand duke thought of Adelia.

‘What should I do? Ugh, whatever! I might as well just ask.’

“Well... What do you think of Adelia, Your Grace?”

“I remember something you said once.”

I blinked at the unexpected pivot. “Me?”

“You mentioned that Magic Research Club you started that you would create something that would astonish the world.”

‘Ah. So that’s what he’s talking about.’

The grand duke had shared various thoughts with me back then, and his message had been clear: I was not to ever consider using his daughter for frivolous purposes. When I told him that I found his daughter amazing, though, he seemed genuinely moved.

“I realized that my perspective was much narrower than yours,” he admitted.

In the end, both Moonshine and Power Cartridge had come to be. The results I had foreseen, even though I wasn’t a mage, had come to life.

“Was that also something from the future you knew?” he asked.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“It’s fascinating,” he mused, “that someone who knows the future speaks of it, yet no one believed it at the time... Or is that just how the world is?”

‘Well, who would believe someone if they spoke of miraculous events in the future?’

“There are people who create miracles,” the grand duke continued. “Adelia is one of those people.”

People whose very existence was a miracle and a blessing to humanity... That was likely the highest praise the grand duke could offer.

‘But still... That’s not quite what I meant... I mean, honestly, how should I put this?’

It was really difficult to ask about it without giving myself away.

‘It’s not like I can ask, “Does she seem like a woman to you?” or something!’

“So, if that child is okay with it, when all this is over, I was thinking of asking her to become part of our family...”

I almost fell over. “Sorry?”

‘Um... Excuse me? I heard that wrong, right?’

“Not just because she’s from the lineage of a great mage, but because she was a good friend to our youngest. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

‘Oh, wait a minute...’

“It seems our third son is quite fond of Adelia.”

‘I want to die.’

***

‘Is this what it feels like to be a living corpse?’

After exchanging some final words with the grand duke and leaving Arnaria, I stumbled into the square.

Honestly, I couldn’t even recall what we discussed after that.

“Your Highness...?”

From afar, Eleris, cloaked in a hood, noticed my dazed state and hurried over to me, her expression filled with concern.

“It didn’t seem like anything happened to you... But why does your complexion look so...”

From my utterly exhausted face, she seemed to think something terrible had happened.

‘No... nothing happened to me...’

“Mom...” I muttered.

“S-sorry?”

“Mom, I want to die...”

“Your Highness...?”

‘Mom! Mother!’

Eleris wasn’t my mom, but she felt to me like a great-great-grandmother or something.

‘Waaah!’

I wished I could become a baby and just forget everything.

Eleris held me, looking bewildered as I suddenly devolved into acting like a child.

“P-please calm down. I don’t know what happened, but...”

Eleris gently patted my back over and over.

It was the first time I had such a strong urge to regress.

I felt dizzy. I had already been feeling dizzy, but then I was forced to hear something even more unsettling.

“Curiosity... It doesn’t just kill cats; it kills people too...”

Eleris was beyond confused. “Excuse me?”

‘I had promised myself I wouldn’t say a word when I entered. So why did I ask such pointless questions once I was inside? Why?!

‘Yeah, I’m the idiot.’