Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 388

Vertus had called me to the tea-time terrace, where we were having tea together for the first time in a while.

Two relics... He already knew that I was Tiamata’s master. I had an inkling of it since Sabioleen Tana’s warning.

Vertus seemed like he wanted to say something, but he hesitated slightly, as if the words were stuck in his throat. His fingertips trembled.

‘This guy...! You’re thinking about that again!’

“...”

Vertus opened his mouth again but said nothing. Perhaps he thought he might slip up.

Finally, he sighed. “Well, whatever. That’s not what’s important, is it? The fact that you’ve been chosen by two relics, that’s what’s important.”

‘Yeah. Let’s erase that topic from our minds entirely. I feel like a truly confusing conversation is about to come up, and I’m tired of being confused in this way. Something like, “If you’re chosen by two relics, you’re supposed to be as incredible as Ragan Artorius, so why did you cross-dress?” I don’t want to hear that!’

Vertus looked at me with a serious expression. “I have a lot of questions, Reinhart.”

“... Uh, yeah. That...”

“Not that, you idiot!”

“I-I didn’t say anything yet!”

After that incident, Vertus and I had lost the ability to be serious with each other.

“Charlotte,” he said.

When that name was mentioned, though, we both naturally grew serious.

“You did it, didn’t you?”

He was asking even though he already knew the answer. I couldn’t deny it. He didn’t ask specifically how I did it, but I guess he didn’t feel the need to go that far.

“Yeah.”

“Well, it’s good that you’re not denying it meaninglessly.”

He probably knew everything about my actions and Charlotte’s. Vertus added milk to his tea and stirred it quietly with a teaspoon.

“Reinhart, I can’t touch you anymore,” he said. “You’re not a fool, so I think you understand that much.”

“...”

Having not just one, but two relics now... It was unthinkable to kill me or harm me in any way. My existence had become too important, and so he had lost the option of laying a hand on me, even if I was on Charlotte’s side.

That’s what was frightening about Vertus. He never revealed how much he knew. I didn’t know that he knew I’d saved Charlotte’s life, nor did I know how much he knew about the method which I used, or Charlotte’s current state. He never showed anything, then suddenly blurted out the truth so clearly and matter-of-factly as though it had been obvious all along, confusing the listener.

That was why I didn’t know how much to say, and if I started talking, I might end up revealing things Vertus didn’t know. It was like having a conversation with a snake.

“Reinhart, you can be on Charlotte’s side, but becoming my enemy is a different choice. You can’t be on both Charlotte’s side and mine. But just being on Charlotte’s side doesn’t necessarily make you my enemy.”

Vertus looked at me calmly. “Will you become my enemy? Let’s just be clear about that.”

What would happen if I said I would become his enemy? Vertus wouldn’t tell me what would happen if I became his enemy. For the moment, he might leave me alone, or he might make a move.

“I don’t particularly intend to.”

“Yeah, that’s what I hope for too.”

Things had changed. I wasn’t just a Royal Class student anymore; I was the master of two relics. As long as no one found out that Ellen also wielded two, I was the only person in the world with two relics.

Just as I didn’t want to make Vertus my enemy, Vertus wouldn’t want to make me his enemy either.

Vertus took a sip of his milk tea, and his expression turned cold.

“But Reinhart, do you know something? The competition for the throne is already over. Charlotte can’t take the throne,” he declared.

I wasn’t surprised at all. Vertus had dismantled the Revolutionary Forces, one of the significant threats facing the empire.

However, that wasn’t all. While Charlotte had struggled to recover from her infirmity, Vertus had been handling numerous matters. Compared to Charlotte, who had been overwhelmed by the aftermath of her abduction and imprisonment within the Demon King’s Castle, Vertus had likely proven his capabilities multiple times, in places unknown to me.

Charlotte, who had been incapable of doing anything, and Vertus, who had continuously demonstrated his abilities...

In the battle for the succession of the throne, things had slowly tilted in Vertus’s favor, especially after the incident involving the Revolutionary Forces. Although it wasn’t public knowledge, the emperor, at least, would be aware of Vertus’s achievements.

The die had been cast, and the outcome had already been determined.

“Of course, aside from all that, just the fact that the Demon King’s soul resides within her means Charlotte can never become the emperor of the empire.”

‘He even knows that?’

The Demon King’s soul could not be separated from Charlotte’s. Vertus knew this, and if he decided to speak out, Charlotte’s life would be in jeopardy, given the widespread fear of the Demon King across the continent.

“Reinhart, you might not believe me when I say this, but I don’t want to kill my sibling.”

His excessively cold expression made his unbelievable words even harder to believe.

“Why do you think the reason is?”

“Because you’re siblings” could not be the real reason. There had to be another reason why keeping Charlotte alive was the better option, and there was only one reason I could see.

“... Is it because of me?”

“Yes.”

If any harm came to Charlotte, I would become Vertus’s enemy. I had resolved to do so, and knowing what I had done, Vertus would be aware of that too. And Vertus had just said he didn’t want me as an enemy.

“If a reckless madman like you becomes my enemy, I would surely feel chills down my spine.”

The school delinquent Reinhart had become the delinquent hero Reinhart. The scope and scale of what I could do had changed.

Frankly, if Ragan Artorius were alive, no one in the world would dare to treat him lightly, and no one would want to become his enemy.

If Vertus killed Charlotte, he would make me his enemy. That was why he said it was better for him not to kill Charlotte, because my existence has become a significant obstacle.

“But I can’t not kill Charlotte.” @@novelbin@@

“... Why?”

“Because there’s no reason to keep her alive. Charlotte, just by existing, already affects my claim to the throne. So if Charlotte is left alive, the people around me will call for her to be killed hundreds of times a day, whether it’s after I’m confirmed as the next emperor or after I ascend to the throne. They’ll whisper it in my ear for days, months, or years, and my close aides won’t understand why I refuse. And the empire's subjects would prefer a ruthless ruler over a soft one, that’s for certain. I can’t afford to sow discord among my aides by keeping Charlotte, a strong contender for the throne, alive for no reason.”

A strong contender for the throne, if left alive even after being eliminated from contention, would still pose a threat to the throne just by existing... It was always possible that a rebellion might stir in support of Charlotte, or a movement to enthrone a new emperor if Vertus made a mistake.

There was no reason to keep Charlotte alive, and Vertus, regardless of his will, would inevitably have to kill Charlotte. He didn’t want to kill her, but he had to.

Charlotte had said something similar. If either she or Vertus ascended to the throne, the other would eventually have to die.

From the outset, their fight only had two outcomes: gain the throne, or die. They would not be able to decide the other’s fate through their will alone. If one survived, they had to kill the other.

However, if Vertus killed Charlotte, he would make me his enemy.

“This is the tricky part. If you die fighting the Demon King, that’s one thing. But if things somehow turn out well and you kill the Demon King and become a hero of humanity, I would still have to kill Charlotte if I then become the emperor. If that happens, who knows what a crazy person like you might do to me? But if I kill you after you become the hero of humanity... hmm. I would not be emperor for long. What would happen if the emperor had killed Ragan Artorius after he returned victorious? It would be just like that.”

Vertus had stated something so brutal so casually. He’d just mentioned without batting an eyelid that it’d be best for him if I died along with the Demon King, like Ragan Artorius had. Of course, if I were a real hero, I might fear Vertus stabbing me in the back the moment I killed the Demon King, but unfortunately, I was literally incapable of fighting the Demon King.

Vertus had to kill Charlotte. But if he did, something very dangerous would happen.

“So, are you saying that you have to kill Charlotte, and that it’s something unavoidable, so I should understand...? Is that it?”

Vertus shook his head at my words.

“You wouldn’t accept something like that,” Vertus said with a sly smile. “I said earlier that there’s no reason to keep her alive, right?”

“... You did.”

There would be no reason for him to keep Charlotte alive. His aides would constantly argue that he should kill Charlotte to solidify his claim to the throne, to which Vertus would have no counterargument.

“So, I need a justification. A justification for not having to kill my sibling.”

A reason, or rather, a justification... A justification for not having to kill Charlotte even if Vertus became the emperor. A justification that would prevent his aides from demanding Charlotte’s death.

Vertus stirred his teacup with a sly smile. The issue of Charlotte’s soul aside, it ultimately circled back to being a political problem.

Charlotte de Gradias... A girl who had to die no matter which path she took.

“You want to save my sibling’s life, don’t you?” Vertus asked, implying that just as I had pulled Charlotte from the darkness before, I might try to save her from the political situation that demanded her death.

I nodded without hesitation, honestly. “That’s right.”

“By any means?”

“By any means.”

Vertus chuckled softly. “Marry my sibling then. There’s no other way.”

Dettomorian’s prophecy... His prophecy had foretold this situation, and I also understood what personal request the emperor had intended to make of me.

However, a question arose.

“Wouldn’t that also strengthen Charlotte’s claim as a successor to the throne?”

Despite everything he’d said, Vertus had no reason to keep Charlotte alive. Even if he didn’t want me as an enemy, having Charlotte someone who possessed holy relics would only increase her standing.

“That’s true.”

Even though he had already won, if such a thing were to come to pass, it could breathe life into Charlotte’s claim to the throne.

Vertus had to have some kind of plan for that. He wouldn’t do something that only benefitted Charlotte. However, he did not share what those thoughts were. Or perhaps, he genuinely felt some sympathy for Charlotte. Who knew?

***

Vertus was already confident in his victory, knowing the result couldn’t be overturned, and I knew that too.

Even if Vertus did not exist, it was uncertain whether Charlotte could ascend to the throne. Now that the Demon King’s soul had merged with hers, the people would merely view her as the wielder of a sinister power unless she could fully control the dark power she’d inherited. All other things aside, that alone was preventing Charlotte’s rise to the throne.

That was why Vertus no longer saw Charlotte as a competitor. However, if he were forced by his aides to kill Charlotte, he would gain a strange and unpredictable enemy in me. Ultimately, Vertus was saying that he was a little afraid of me.

I was the master of both Alsbringer and Tiamata. If Charlotte were to marry me, my status would rise, but Charlotte’s existence would become safer.

If a battle with the Demon King became imminent, my existence would inevitably be revealed, and I would be bestowed with titles like “Hero of Humanity” and “Hope of Humanity”. And if Charlotte became my wife, the empire would not be able to touch her just as they could not touch me.

Whether before or after Vertus became emperor, as long as I was alive, there would be no talk of needing to kill Charlotte.

The emperor had to be aware of these facts as well. That was why he’d stopped himself from making such a request of me. My existence had become too significant for him to ask something so personal of me, and so he dared not make that personal request.

Charlotte likely knew these facts too. To save Charlotte, I would have to marry her. With Alsbringer now in my possession, the justification for such an action had grown even stronger.

That was why Vertus had brought it up. If someone with not just one, but two relics went mad, who knew what they might do?

Then again, was it right to make such a decision regardless of Charlotte’s wishes? What exactly was Vertus’s intention?

.

.

Clang!

“What are you thinking about?”

“... Oh. Nothing. I just...”

“Give me your hand.”

Ellen helped me up after I’d stumbled and fallen backward, my legs all tangled up.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

I had vowed countless times to protect Charlotte no matter what, but now it seemed I had to go as far as marrying her, and I wouldn’t be able to save her unless I did.

‘Is that really the right thing to do?’