Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 443

In the end, Olivia achieved her intended purpose.

She had orchestrated things such that the empire could not dispose of Reinhart on its own. However, she had not been able to get them to transfer custody of Reinhart over to the Order of the Holy Knights.

Vertus knew what Olivia’s true purpose was. Olivia would do everything she could to secure Reinhart’s release, and since it was impossible to do so by force, she would resort to political power instead.

Olivia fed Reinhart water and porridge, who lacked the strength to speak properly. It was only after Olivia had tearfully begged Reinhart, who had seemed unwilling to eat up to that point, that he began to accept the food she offered, little by little.

Sabioleen Tana quietly watched the entire scene.

“I will be coming back,” Olivia said as she stood up, looking down at Reinhart with a sympathetic gaze.

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Reinhart, but she couldn’t stay there either. For Reinhart’s sake, she needed to get busy, moving where he couldn’t see her, rather than standing in front of him.

Clenching her teeth, Olivia passed by Sabioleen Tana and walked down the corridor of the underground prison.

Tana continued to quietly watch Reinhart.

Could it be that the Demon King was truly not evil?

***

When Olivia Lanche returned to those waiting above ground, she noticed an additional person who hadn’t been there before.

In the past, that person had always seemed a little dazed, but this time she appeared even more listless, her black hair hanging limply.

Ellen Artorius stood beside Vertus. She seemed to have come simply because she had been told to, without knowing why she had been summoned. She appeared to be an empty shell of a person, devoid of any thoughts or will.

Her appearance was somehow similar to Reinhart’s, who was being confined within the underground prison. Just as Reinhart seemed to have given up everything and lost himself to despair, Ellen Artorius also seemed to have abandoned everything after this apparent betrayal.

Olivia gave Vertus, who was standing beside Ellen, a wry smile. “Ah, I see what you’re thinking.”

Having been threatened by a holy relic, they had summoned another hero with a different relic.

To oppose Olivia’s tyranny, they needed a stronger justification. Olivia was the champion of Ouen, chosen by Tiamata. But Ellen was the sister of Ragan Artorius. Not only would she naturally have the support of the Mensis Order, but as Ragan Artorius’s sister, she would also have the support of the majority of the populace.

Ellen objectively had a stronger background than Olivia, so Vertus had summoned Ellen to counter Olivia’s oppressiveness. Moreover, Ellen possessed Lapelt, the holy relic of the Sun God, though only Reinhart and Charlotte knew that Ellen held Lapelt. However, if this fact were revealed, Ellen, as the holder of two holy relics, would have an even stronger background than Olivia.

Naturally, if Ellen’s beliefs diverged from Olivia’s, the holy knights that accompanied Olivia would feel confused. A division among the holy knights would mean that Olivia’s support would be split, and she would no longer be able to act so forcefully.

‘However...’

Olivia quietly observed Ellen. Olivia didn’t know that Ellen had played a decisive role in tracking down the Demon King, but she could see from Ellen’s expression that she had fallen into despair after losing everything.

“Are you okay with this?”

“...”

Ellen gave no response to Olivia’s question.

“Are you just going to let Reinhart be labeled as a bad guy, cry somewhere else, and let him die?”

“...”

“Is that all you’re capable of?”

At those words, light returned to Ellen’s once lifeless eyes.

Anger... The cruel words that denounced her feelings as insignificant clawed at Ellen’s dead heart.

“What do you know?” Ellen said.

“Well, I don’t know much, do I?” Olivia’s lips tilted into a crooked smile. “But I do know that you’re going to sit in a corner, sulking, telling youreslf that Reinhart is the bad Demon King’s son who killed my brother.”

Ellen gritted her teeth at the provocation.

“You... you don’t know my heart... or what I’m thinking... How much I liked Reinhart or how I feel... How could you... How could you know... What do you know about me... What do you know at all...?”

Finally, Ellen’s lips trembled and her complexion turned pale. Tears fell from her eyes, and Olivia laughed, covering her mouth.

“Oh, sure. Be sad. Go ahead and be sad. Who’s stopping you?” Olivia’s smile was sinister, as if she had forgotten that many strong individuals and holy knights were watching her.She was completely focused only on expressing her own feelings.

“Reinhart could be evil. He could be a bad guy. He might be plotting some incredibly wicked scheme. Sure, that could be it. But I will believe in Reinhart to the end. Even if I’m betrayed at the very last moment, no matter what happens. Even if I’m wrong. I will believe in Reinhart.

“So, in the end, is this all you can do? ’Reinhart is the Demon King, I’m so scared and sad, I’m going crazy with betrayal.’ Go ahead, and wither away like that. Like a fool.

“If there’s a choice between being unhappy because you believed or being unhappy because you didn’t, I’ll choose to be unhappy because I believed.

“Do you understand? I’m different from someone like you.”

It was not the wisest thing to say in front of those holy knights, that she believed in the Demon King, but Olivia said all of it calmly.

Olivia gestured to the holy knights, who were stunned by her explosive declaration. “Let’s head out.”

With her hands in her pockets, walking with a swagger more befitting of a neighborhood thug rather than the champion of Ouen, Olivia led the dazed holy knights away.

Ellen’s face turned pale.

‘Is that really all I am? Too afraid to even consider listening? Is it better to be unhappy because I believed in him, or unhappy because I didn’t? If both lead to unhappiness, which misfortune is better?’

Shocked by the fact that she had been deceived all along, Ellen had stayed holed up in a corner by herself, doing nothing.

Everything Olivia Lanche had said was true.

Ellen’s feelings couldn’t be a lie. She thought that her heart was larger and stronger than anyone else’s. But succumbing to fear and betrayal, living in a daze like this...

Ellen didn’t know much else, but she knew one thing.

What the right thing to do was, Ellen couldn’t say for sure. But she knew that just sitting about and crying was definitely wrong.

***

Olivia Lanche led the holy knights away. Before the existence of this new hero became known to everyone on the continent, rumors would spread that the hero was actually the Demon King.

A conflict with the religious orders would become unavoidable. What Vertus needed to do was prevent this situation from escalating into war.

After Olivia left and the alert was lifted, Vertus led Ellen into his office.

It was true that Reinhart was the Demon King. Despite that, Olivia Lanche had still decided to believe in Reinhart. She didn’t want to think that it was simply because he had saved her multiple times.

Olivia said that if there were two paths, being unhappy because she believed in something or being unhappy because she didn’t, she would choose the former.

She had suggested that Ellen amounted to nothing, and her words pierced Ellen’s heart painfully.

Could she have believed in him? Even after hiding such things from her, was it right for her to believe in him? Was it possible? It seemed impossible. It seemed utterly impossible.

But Ellen had just seen someone who had been able to do so. Of course, Olivia had received help from the Demon King, and therefore might find it easier to believe in him. Ellen thought about all the events that had happened. Perhaps all of them weren’t false.

Could believing in Reinhart again make those seemingly false times real? Should she have tried a little harder to believe in Reinhart?

What Olivia had been able to do, Ellen couldn’t. Was this all she really was?

“...”

Ellen stared blankly at the table with empty eyes.

“Ellen, you have enough authority to attend a papal-level meeting of the Church of the Five Great Gods. You know that, right?”

“... Do I?” Ellen mumbled absentmindedly in response to Vertus’s words.

“Olivia Lanche will try to transfer custody of the Demon King over to the Order of the Holy Knights and somehow justify his actions. You’re the only one who can counter that crazy fool’s influence.”

“... I guess so.”

“...”

At Ellen’s lackluster response, Vertus crossed his arms and looked at her.

“Are you thinking of trying to believe in Reinhart too?”

“...”

“That’s what everyone wants. We all want to believe that Reinhart’s outrageous claims were true. But it’s impossible. It doesn’t make sense. And even if Reinhart’s intentions are genuine, the problem remains the same.”

Ellen bit her lip.

“If things continue like this, Olivia will hold a meeting within the Church of the Five Great Gods and claim that, since the Demon King was chosen by two holy relics, the Church has to recognize him as a Champion of the Gods. That would mean humanity would face a world in which both the Church of the Five Great Gods and the Demon God Cult will be in their grasp.

“Regardless of whether or not Reinhart truly does not despise humans, the continent could be split in two, and another Great War could occur in the future. Reinhart’s intentions will be irrelevant. Division is certain.”

It wasn’t just that Reinhart was the Demon King; he was also a Champion of the Gods.

Moreover, the demon god cultists would surely follow the Demon King. If the miraculous unification of the Church of the Five Great Gods and the Demon God Cult were achieved, that could result in a force that was completely separate from the empire.

The effect of Reinhart’s existence was so immense that even if he did not desire conflict, he was bound to become the flashpoint of a massive conflict. From Vertus’s perspective, from the perspective of one who had been tasked with protecting the empire, he could not allow the Demon King to be released into the world peacefully.

Ellen listened quietly to his explanation before speaking up.

“I’ll attend the meeting of the five Orders.”

However, she did not say what she was planning to say at that meeting.

“Can I... go see Reinhart?”

It seemed that was all she had been thinking about.

***

Standing before the chained Reinhart, Ellen was startled by the guilt welling up from deep within her.

She had played a crucial role in capturing the Demon King, who was a threat to humanity. It was an achievement that anyone in the world would commend her for, a deed that would go down in history.

However, upon seeing the limp form of Reinhart, Ellen did not feel any satisfaction or the joy of vengeance being fulfilled. Instead, guilt welled up within her heart, overshadowing everything else.

‘I... I did this to Reinhart. I made him like this.’

“...”

She hadn’t expected him to be treated well, but seeing it with her own eyes was a different matter.

His pitiful state made Ellen’s fingertips tremble and her breath catch. It felt as if someone was squeezing her heart.

Reinhart struggled to lift his head, trying to focus on Ellen, standing beyond the bars of his cell. He was gagged, his gaze unfocused from exhaustion or resignation, but he still struggled to make Ellen out.

Finally, Reinhart seemed to recognize her, and tears welled up in his unfocused eyes. Ellen felt an urge to tear at her own heart.

“...”

‘Are even those tears fake? No, they can’t be. Absolutely not.’

Ellen gripped the bars, looking at Reinhart inside the cell, her lips trembling.

‘What have I done? What have I done to him?’

She wanted to say she was sorry, but knowing she had no right to say such words, Ellen could only open and close her mouth silently.

The son of the Demon King who had killed her brother... All the deceptions, and the countless things he had done without telling anyone...

All of that vanished when she saw Reinhart in his broken state.

‘It was my fault. I ruined everything. I should have believed in him more. At the very least, I should have listened to his story. But I didn’t.’

Overcome by fear and terror, consumed by betrayal and suspicion, Ellen had failed to do even that.

If only she had given him a chance to speak. If only she had listened when he actually did speak. He had said it before, albeit playfully, but those words might have been an attempt to address his inner frustration and gloom.

If she had taken those words even a little seriously, if she hadn’t dismissed them as some unpleasant joke, things might not have turned out this way.

She hadn’t believed in Reinhart, and so, everything had fallen apart.

“I... I’ve ruined... I’ve ruined everything...” Ellen sobbed, her whole body trembling, as Sabioleen Tana, who was acting as the warden, quietly watched her.

Reinhart, his head drooping, couldn’t say anything because of the gag. He only shook his head with difficulty, as if to say it wasn’t her fault.

When she saw this, Ellen trembled even more, and her crying only intensified.

Sabioleen Tana watched the scene silently—Ellen Artorius, who had practically captured the Demon King herself, breaking down upon seeing the captured Demon King.

Olivia Lanche had declared that she would save Reinhart no matter what. Having gained the hearts of very important individuals, it was completely possible that Reinhart might survive even after being revealed as the Demon King.

If the Demon King, himself a master of holy relics, gained the support of Olivia and Ellen, he could survive not through fighting, but through political means.

No, it was more than that. It might even be possible for him to take over half of humanity and turn it into his own force. Now that his identity had been revealed, because it had been exposed, such a thing might become possible. Could this also be part of the Demon King’s scheme?

Sabioleen Tana looked beyond the crying Ellen and at the Demon King. The Demon King, who was shaking his head as if to tell her to stop crying, and that it wasn’t her fault.

Could that weary gesture really be a lie?

In Sabioleen Tana’s heart, dark clouds of suspicion and doubt began to gather.