Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 533

A camp-wide celebratory banquet was being held, and so the tent that housed the general headquarters, under the command of Vertus, was also the venue of a lavish banquet.

Ellen Artorius had also been invited to the banquet at the headquarters but declined, choosing instead to rest in her tent. Of course, she was actually playing with a cat.

Heinrich had every right to meet the emperor who was presiding over the banquet. Although the name of the Temple did not mean much under these circumstances, Heingrich was still a former classmate of the emperor and held a crucial position within the Allied Forces.

Upon hearing that Heinrich had requested an audience, Vertus left the banquet hall and summoned Heinrich into the tent reserved for his personal use when he visited the encampment.

“Have you been drinking? Well, given the occasion, I guess it’s understandable...” Vertus remarked.

Heinrich nodded as he knelt before Vertus. “Yes, Your Majesty, just a little...”

“Relax, it’s just the two of us here.”

“Alright...”

“Have a seat.”

Heinrich took the seat Vertus offered.

He was in the presence of the emperor. Even though humanity had suffered near-catastrophic losses, the emperor was still the emperor. Yet Heinrich found it quite remarkable that he could request an audience with the emperor with just a word and sit across from him like this. It was even more astonishing than the days they shared at the Temple.

Vertus uncorked a bottle of wine, poured some into Heinrich’s glass, and then filled his own.

“It’s a good day. There’s no reason we can’t share a drink. Besides, it seems you’ve already had a few.”

“Thanks.”

Heinrich took a sip of the wine the emperor poured him and gave a wry smile. It was a mediocre wine, no different from what had arrived at the Kernstadt military headquarters. Was this all the emperor could drink now?

Vertus also took a sip of the wine and let out a deep sigh. “It would be nice if things could always be like this.”

“Indeed.”

Vertus gazed into the distance, his eyes unfocused.

If only every battle could be like that day... But everyone knew such a thing wasn’t possible. The operation had not been an assault on a major city containing a mega warp gate. When that time came, the casualties would be on a completely different scale.

The ease at which victory had been gained in this first operation might cause the Allied Forces to lower their guard. But Heinrich wasn’t in a position to worry or be concerned about such things. He just needed to fight where he was told to fight. He didn’t concern himself with matters beyond his control. He had become better at understanding his place than he used to be.

Of course, he had rather overstepped those bounds by summoning the emperor while under the influence of alcohol.

“So, you didn’t call me just to see my face after a long time, did you?”

“...”

“Is there something you’re curious about? Something happening in the outskirts, perhaps...”

As Vertus speculated what Heinrich might have come to him for, Heinrich shook his head.

“I have a problem I don’t understand...” he said. “I thought you might be able to help me.”

“A problem?”

“If you were in my position, what would you do?”

“Hm?”

The question was so vague that Vertus tilted his head in confusion.

“That statement is too abstract for me to understand what you’re asking.”

“If you were in my situation right now...”

Henrich couldn’t bring himself to divulge the details. They were too cursed to even mention, and so he could only speak in vague terms. Vertus was smart, and as the emperor, he was well-versed in politics. Heinrich thought that he would be able to find the answer that eluded him just by thinking about it.

“If you were in my situation... What would be the best choice...?”

His siblings hated him, but his stature would inevitably grow, regardless of his intentions. He knew that this unintended friction would inevitably lead to an explosion, but he didn’t know what to do. Both staying with the Kernstadt army or leaving would be problematic.

Vertus could only offer an answer if he understood Heinrich’s position and the internal affairs of the Kernstadt royal family.

“I don’t know what I should do,” Heinrich continued quietly. “I don’t know what the right answer is. It seems like whatever I do, there will be problems. So... you’re the only person I could think of who might know about such things...”

This was why he had resorted to this rudeness.

“Well...” Vertus swirled the red liquid in his wine glass about, lost in thought. He had already guessed what Heinrich wanted from him.

“You know what it means for your sister, Louise von Schwartz, to incorporate you into the Kernstadt army, right?”

“A little, just a little.”

“Yes. It means she doesn’t want the general headquarters to have any influence on her. In fact, she wants to have something to hold against them.”

Heinrich was just a pawn in that game of hers. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

“It’s ridiculous to talk about what would happen after the war, but... you will inevitably become a very important person in the Kernstadt or Schwartz royal family. Such progression would only be natural..”

“Yeah,” Heinrich acknowledged.

“I don’t know what you should do because I don’t know what you want. But I have an idea of what might happen to you.”

“What might happen to me?”

“Yes.” Vertus looked at Heinrich as he took another sip of wine. “Your siblings might try to kill you, whether during the war or after.”

Heinrich’s eyes widened. He knew that Vertus wasn’t the one who had sent the mysterious letter, but Vertus had come to the same conclusion.

“Why...? Why would they go that far? What did I do so wrong? I...”

“Heinrich. Listen to me without getting angry.” Vertus finished his wine and let out a breath as he looked over at Heinrich.

“It’s possible that you might be an illegitimate child.”

What Charlotte de Gradias knew, Vertus de Gradias also knew. Heinrich could only stare widey-eyed at Vertus.

“That’s... that’s impossible... You’re lying. Don’t lie,” Heinrich said, trembling as he denied Vertus’s cruel suspicions.

“I said it’s a possibility, not a fact.”

“Yeah, well... I didn’t come to hear such nonsense...”

“You know as well,” Vertus said with a stern expression, “that if this is true, it will explain why you’ve been so hated.”

Heinrich was speechless.

Excessive hatred, contempt, and animosity... It was just a possibility, but if it was true, it would explain everything, and make the environment he had been in make sense.

Heinrich could only stare at his glass with a stony expression.

***

Heinrich stumbled out of the headquarters tent, wandering through the camp without any clear direction.

‘An illegitimate child...’ A term he had never once considered in his life now echoed through his mind, refusing to fade.

Vertus had only suggested it as a possibility, not a fact. But to Heinrich, it felt like the pieces of a long-forgotten puzzle were finally falling into place.

Why his powers had awakened while being under extreme stress as a child.

Why, during that forgotten childhood, two of his siblings had died in a fire he had caused.

Why, at just eight years old, he had been sent to the Temple instead of the prestigious Kernstadt Royal Academy.

And why even now, despite becoming a celebrated war hero, his siblings continued to look at him with disdain, never missing a chance to purposely ignore or belittle him.

Had it not been an accident, but a murder he had unknowingly committed in his childhood?

Was it simply that his siblings couldn’t stand the idea of an illegitimate child rising to prominence in the Schwartz royal family, especially one who had taken the lives of two legitimate heirs?

If that were the case, why hadn’t they just killed him when the incident happened? Why bother keeping him alive and banishing him to the Temple? If they were going to treat him so contemptuously, they shouldn’t have kept him alive.

The cold gazes of his siblings and his parents, faint memories of his childhood, began to resurface.

Was it possible that their hatred for him had not only sprung up after the incident, but that he had always been hated? Was the hatred of his siblings what led to his awakening as a supernatural being?

Heinrich staggered through the bustling Allied Forces encampment as he made his way back to the Kernstadt military camp.

As he approached the Kernstadt military camp, he heard voices acknowledging him and cheering him on.

Normally, he would have smiled and waved, but Heinrich didn’t have the energy for that.

“Then... What am I supposed to do?”

If he was truly an illegitimate child, then the idea that his siblings would try to kill him was likely true. It would inevitably happen after the war, and there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen during the war.

“If you ask me to protect you, I can do that,” Vertus had told Heinrich.

“But Louise von Schwartz would surely object to me trying to take back an asset that had already been granted to her. It would mean overturning a decision and denying her something she had been clear about.”

“Really...?”

“She might suspect my intentions, and she could easily say that I’m trying to do something foolish with you, even if I don’t have such intentions. It would give them an excuse to accuse me of internal interference.”

The emperor could offer him protection, but that would expose the emperor to significant risk.

“Moreover, my actions might make your life even more dangerous.”

That was undeniable.

“Staying with the Kernstadt army would be difficult as well... You’ll be constantly exposed to danger. But if you choose to stay with the other Temple students, it would give them a reason to suspect that you have other intentions... Hmm. It’s complicated.”

If he was indeed an illegitimate child, Heinrich had no choice but to die, no matter which path he took. His siblings would always try to kill him.

Whether he fled to the emperor’s protection or stayed with the Kernstadt army, he would die. As long as he was part of the Allied Forces and his achievements remained as they were, it was inevitable that his siblings would attempt to kill him.

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Heinrich.”

“Yeah?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Vertus shrugged. “If you want to live, you have to kill.”

Heinrich was silent.

“We’re killing monsters because we want to live, right? In the end, how is this any different?”

Vertus paused, then continued, “Of course, if all the Kernstadt royals except you were to die, that would cause chaos. I don’t want that to happen. Chaos within the Allied Forces would be as big a problem as you dying.”

If Heinrich were to kill the legitimate heirs of the royal family to survive, it would sow great chaos in the Allied Forces.

“But to survive, you have to do something. Whatever it is.”

Vertus could not help Heinrich directly, but he could keep his mouth shut.

This army was a representative of humanity’s collective will to survive. In the same way, if Heinrich wanted to live, he had to do something about it.

‘Am I really an illegitimate child? As the mysterious letter suggested and as Vertus predicted, are my siblings really trying to kill me? If so, do I have to kill my siblings to survive?

‘I don’t want to be killed, nor do I want to kill. All I wanted was to be treated as a sibling. But given the situation, it can’t be helped. Should such things happen just because of that?’

Heinrich wandered aimlessly and finally arrived at the Kernstadt military headquarters tent. The sound of lively chatter was still coming from inside the banquet tent, an indication that the banquet was still in full swing.

He didn’t want to see anyone inside, no matter who they were. Heinrich turned to head to his own tent, located behind the headquarters tent.

He didn’t know what to do next. Nothing was certain yet, so he had no intention of doing anything. In fact, he even entertained the thought that it might be better to be killed.

However, as he passed behind the tent, a voice called out to him.

“Where have you been?”

Heinrich had no choice but to turn around.

“Brother,” Heinrich responded.

It was the eldest son and second in line to the Schwartz royal throne, German von Schwartz, standing with the second son, Alphonse von Schwartz. The two of them were conversing outside the tent. Perhaps they had something to discuss, or had just stepped out for some fresh air.

Alphonse was openly confrontational, while German von Schwartz treated him as if he were invisible.

“I went to the general headquarters tent,” Heinrich said.

“For what reason?”

German’s question sounded almost like an interrogation.

Was it because he was an illegitimate child?

Was he being treated this way because of that?

Was it because he was only half-blooded that he always had to face such stiff questioning?

Were these cold, hard expressions all because he was someone less than a stranger, and they were being forced to acknowledge that lesser being as family?

One ignored him, the other despised him.

“I went to see a friend.”

“Who are you referring to as a friend?”

“Who else could it be but His Majesty the Emperor?”

There was no one else at the headquarters tent he could call a friend except for Evia and Vertus.

He tossed the word “emperor” out casually, and Alphonse von Schwartz began to laugh.

“Wow, our youngest brother is something else. Are you boasting that you’re friends with the emperor?”

Heinrich lowered his eyes at that blatantly mocking tone.

“I don’t think so, but His Majesty seems to think so.”

“Huh.”

Alphonse’s expression hardened at Heinrich’s response. It seemed he hadn’t expected Heinrich, who usually just listened quietly, to respond like this.

“You’ve become arrogant, youngest brother.”

It was German von Schwartz who spoke.

“It’s true that you’re an important asset, but you’re still part of the Schwartz royal family. You may claim to be friends with him, but any personal visit with the emperor should be decided only after consulting with me or our sister.”

He was essentially saying that every step he took had to be overseen. As a member of the Schwartz royal family, every action could have political implications, so he had to be cautious.

The statement itself was correct. But why was he only treated as a sibling in such situations? And how could he consult them when his purpose for seeing the emperor was to ask if his siblings intended to kill him?

“Don’t act rashly. Even on this day of celebration, you should maintain your bearing as a royal. If you don’t want to cause unnecessary misunderstandings, refrain from such actions.”

Misunderstandings? What misunderstandings? They were the ones wary of Heinrich, even though he himself had no such ambitions.

German’s cold words, and Alphonse’s mocking attitude. They turned their gaze away from Heinrich entirely, as if they had said all they wanted to say.

Henirich had been drinking. And Heinrich wanted to know.

Heinrich looked at his brothers, his expression growing hard.

“Brothers...”

“We have nothing more to say. Go in—”

“Am I an illegitimate child?”

His elder brothers were startled.

“What?”

Heinrich wanted to know if the possibility that had been revealed to him was true.

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