Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 454

Before wrapping up the long day, I felt an obligation to talk to each person in my party, just as Riana had come to find me.

The people in the castle who encountered me in my Demon King form would turn pale and hurriedly avert their eyes, trembling where they stood or even fleeing from me.

Aside from the horns, I didn’t think I looked particularly frightening. Perhaps they imagined something beyond what they could see, something that made them fear me.

My companions were planning to stay in the guest rooms within the palace for the moment. Once the whereabouts of the remaining royal family members were sorted out, everyone would have proper rooms and accommodations.

I had decided to make myself king, but I didn’t know exactly what a king was supposed to do. Therefore, I needed the help of those around me, as well as the assistance of the former royal family. I had taken over the country without any preparation, just by claiming that I was the new king. It was bound to be a troublesome affair.

As I descended the tower and entered the wing of the palace where the guest rooms were, I saw Harriet standing on the terrace, staring blankly outside, much like I had been doing earlier.

Sensing my presence, Harriet turned around and gasped.

“Oh...! Uh, ah... Reinhart...”

It was only natural that she wasn’t accustomed to seeing me in my Demon King form.

“Is this... your true form?”

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“Well... you could say that.”

I wondered if the concept of a true form even held any meaning.

Harriet quietly looked up at me, as if scrutinizing my face. She looked puzzled.

“It seems like you but at the same time it doesn’t...You’re different yet not entirely different... I don’t know. I guess I’ll get used to it over time.”

Over time...

Those words resonated strangely within me. They implied that she intended to stay by my side.

Harriet and I stood side by side on the terrace. I had not said much to Harriet. I had only asked her to believe that no matter what happened, I had tried to save everyone.

How could she believe such a simple statement? The things I had done and my true identity must have been overwhelming in comparison.

And wasn’t I the ultimate cause of this whole situation?

Regardless of my intentions, the fact that my subordinate Eleris had caused the Gate Incident meant that the responsibility lay with me, the one whom she had sworn fealty to.

I didn’t know how events would unfold in the long run, but Harriet had essentially chosen to become an enemy of humanity.

“You seem to be deep in thought,” Harriet said quietly, looking out the window.

If this situation only concerned me, it would be fine. I could handle the problems that arose for me or the situations I faced. But it was different if those who had chosen to side with me had to share these burdens imposed on me because of me.

“Now doesn’t seem like the time to think about too many things,” Harriet said, taking my hand. “I don’t know what others think. I only know my own thoughts.”

Harriet looked up at me. “I’m okay. So don’t worry about me.”

Harriet smiled at me, as if to say she could at least take that one worry away, even if she couldn’t relieve all the burdens that weighed me down.

Harriet was surely worried about what had happened to her duchy and how things were unfolding there, yet she was comforting me, reassuring me that she was okay in this situation.

Thinking back, although she always seemed to be grumbling, Harriet genuinely worried about me whenever things got serious. She had been like that even during my duel in the early days of our first year, when our relationship had been terribly bad.

Harriet, who had watched the duel hoping I would get beaten badly, had turned pale and worried about me after I had been beaten into a terrible state. She always took my side at crucial moments, and I sometimes helped her too, but at some point, I found myself always receiving help from Harriet.

“I don’t think I can say that everything will be alright anymore,” Harriet said, holding my hand tightly and quietly looking out the window.

The situation was too dire, and even in this brief moment of rest, people were dying. Not everything could turn out well. It was already too late for too many things.

“But there will be things we can do. There will be things only I can do,” Harriet said, looking at me. “And there will definitely be things only you can do because you’re you.”

Instead of blaming ourselves and feeling sorry, she was saying that we should focus on finding out what we could actually do about it. It was exactly what I had been thinking, and just knowing that someone else was thinking the exact same thing as me brought a strange sense of comfort.

“Thank you,” I said.

As the most talented mage of her generation, Harriet would find out what she could do in this situation. I, as the Demon King, had to as well.

***

After finishing up my conversation with Harriet, I went to find Olivia.

When Olivia saw me, she immediately pulled me into a hug.

“Oh, Reinhart. We haven’t had a proper chance to talk because of the whole situation. I’m so glad you’re safe. Really.”

I hugged Olivia back.

“Thank you, noona.”

I had a feeling that Olivia would still be on my side even knowing I was the Demon King, but actually seeing Olivia stand by me was a different matter.

Olivia had done what she could.

If it weren’t for Olivia, the empire’s judgment might have been swift. If that had happened, the Gate Incident might not have occurred. Ultimately, what Olivia had done extended my life by a few days, and because of those extra few days, it had left time for the Gate Incident to be triggered.

But I couldn’t blame Olivia for it. There was no guarantee that the Gate Incident wouldn’t have been triggered just because of my death. Olivia had tried to save me and had played a decisive role in it.

The Gate Incident had been triggered and I had survived, but I couldn’t blame Olivia for it.

I was alive and could do something, anything, all thanks to Olivia. I had to think that way. I had to believe that the risk I had taken to save Olivia before had now led to a situation in which I could survive in a world where everything had fallen apart.

Olivia and I entered the room and sat down on chairs. She rested her chin on her wrists and looked at me with a slightly sulky expression.

“Honestly, I’m really, really glad you’re safe, but I’m against all of this,” she said.

“...”

“The fact that you were the Demon King is truly shocking, but... Now that I know that, I don’t understand.”

Her reaction was only natural.

“You have no reason to protect humans. You tried to prevent this situation, even though it occurred anyway. And it’s impressive that you came all the way to this distant southern country and took over in a day... But assuming we can deal with this Gate Incident or whatever from here, then what?”

I knew exactly what Olivia was trying to say. What would happen after everything was resolved?

“In the end, the fact that we’re the root cause of the Gate Incident doesn’t change. No matter how hard you try to save humanity, people will still hate us. The empire will spread propaganda that the Demon King is the root cause of everything in order to control public sentiment, and it’s not entirely wrong.”

Since Eleris was the one who had activated Akasha, the empire blaming us as the root cause of the Gate Incident couldn’t exactly be considered a smear campaign.

“The empire won’t acknowledge that if they had believed you, even a little, this wouldn’t have happened, and they have no reason to. They will inevitably make us the target of all the blame.”

“That’s true.”

“In the end, the empire and humans will try to force responsibility for all of this on you. No one will know how many people we tried to save, or that you didn’t really want this to happen. No one will understand, and no one will acknowledge it because you’re the Demon King. They’ll bury all the truth with that simple fact.”

Olivia sighed.

“Let’s not do anything,” she continued. “The Gate Incident won’t affect this southern island nation. So let’s just leave the continent’s affairs and the matters of humans as they are. Let’s live quietly somewhere, with just our people. You don’t really need to be a king. It’ll only be troublesome. I don’t see why you should risk your life for something that won’t be acknowledged by anyone.”

Olivia, a human, was telling me to turn my back on humans.

Since I was the root cause of the Gate Incident, nothing I did would be acknowledged by any human. Once the Gate Incident was resolved, the empire would target me. They would stabilize the situation and promote unity and cohesion among humanity through a shared hatred of the Demon King.

All of these things were so obvious and inevitable. It did not take much thought to arrive at this conclusion. I knew all this even without Olivia articulating it. Because of this, Olivia was suggesting that I ignore the Gate Incident, let humans die in droves or even face extinction, and live a quiet life without caring about them.

“If I was doing all this for someone’s recognition or hoping that someone would understand, I wouldn’t have started in the first place,” I said.

I had a choice: whether to do something or not.

Entering the Temple had been Sarkegar’s suggestion, but I could have just lived a quiet life within the Temple. However, I didn’t do that. I had tried to do something, to achieve something. Ultimately, those actions had led to the Gate Incident.

Was it right that I now ignore everything, and declare that it was actually right to do nothing?

I couldn’t do that. Since I had decided to do something, and the result of my actions was the Gate Incident, I then had to do something else about it. It wasn’t because I wanted recognition.

“And, the people who need to know the truth do know,” I said. “That’s enough.”

There were people who knew that my intention was not to destroy humanity. Although I was bound to be misunderstood and be the target of hatred, the people who needed to know, knew.

Even if the empire directed all the blame at me, they couldn’t deny that my intentions had been pure. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so quick to provide the only solution to the Gate Incident as soon as it had been triggered.

All the same, the empire would try to make me a scapegoat and the target of all hatred, but they would not be able to deny my true intentions, and that was enough for me.

“And besides, if doing nothing had been the goal from the start, I wouldn’t have become close to you, noona.”

“...”

“It wasn’t all just bad; there were good things too. Definitely.”

Just because what I had chosen to do had led to a hugely negative outcome did not mean that it was the sole result of everything I had done thus far.

Harriet, Riana, and Olivia had all decided to trust me and followed me.

It wasn’t all bad.

I wouldn’t have had any reason to save Olivia in the first place, if I had deemed action unnecessary. As a result of risking my life to save Olivia, I was able to survive.

“So, the things I’m going to do from now on, the unnecessary things, won’t necessarily only result in bad outcomes for me. There will be good things too, and this might turn out to be something good for me later on. Like how you saved me. That kind of good thing.”

“...”

Olivia looked at me quietly for a while, as if she had nothing more to say.

“I didn’t think you’d listen to what I said,” she said, smiling at me. “You’re always so headstrong. You saved me on your own terms and did all sorts of things on your own terms. No matter what I say, it won’t make a difference, will it?”

She paused, then asked, “But from now on, whatever you do, whatever we do, there won’t be any secrets, right?”

“Of course,” I replied.

Olivia smiled brightly, as if that was enough.

Once the Gate Incident was resolved, a conflict with the empire might be on the horizon. It could bring devastating harm to humanity, and it could lead to a future in which I died in an even more miserable state.

Olivia, Riana, Harriet—all those who were helping me might end up dying miserably.

But I would never let such a future come to pass.

Since I had already failed at trying to do something, I wouldn’t back down this time, thinking that my attempt to do something this time would also end in failure.

Whether I did nothing or I did something, the world would hate me.

If that was the case, then I would at least try to do something.