Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 635

When I brought up the issue about the grand duke visiting Edina, the Senate told me that it was my own decision.

Lucinil, however, recommended that only one grand duke should be allowed to see Edina, just in case things turned out to be dangerous. Harriet and I both agreed with this cautious approach.

We didn’t know if bringing the grand duke might help us in any way, but it would be a shame if it didn’t. Perhaps by thinking it over together, something might come to light.

And so, a few days later...

“Dad!”

Wham!

I watched from a distance as Harriet ran to the grand duke and hugged him tightly.

Time changed many things. When did the daughter who’d once found her father bothersome become so affectionate?

It felt like just the day before when I’d had to sneak into Arnaria for a serious conversation before quietly slipping away.

But now, with the grand duke on our side, Harriet could visit her family freely.

It wasn’t a tearful reunion. Harriet seemed more excited than emotional, and the grand duke appeared genuinely pleased. After a long embrace, father and daughter finally parted, and the grand duke turned to me.

“Thank you, Reinhart.”

“I’m the one who should be grateful.”

Hearing the grand duke thank me for arranging this meeting felt awkward. It didn’t seem like something I should be thanked for. Wasn’t it just natural to do what felt right?

Being hated by humanity came with the territory of being the Demon King, but I also experienced kindness and gratitude now and then, which always left me feeling a bit unsettled.

The grand duke stood at the gates of the royal castle, gazing out at Edina, which lay sprawled below the hill.

Now that he knew where this place was, he could visit whenever he wished.

“Indeed... I suppose things can turn out like this if it’s an island...”

The grand duke seemed to be moved by a peculiar emotion as he looked down at the tranquil seaside village of Rajak.

“To think such a view still exists in the world...”

The vast open sea formed an impenetrable barrier that even the flying monsters from the continent could not cross.

The Edina Archipelago had been a tourist destination, blessed with good weather, clear skies, and transparent seas. The landscape was breathtaking, but that was not the only thing.

“Who would have thought such a scene could exist...”

Even from a distance, demons and humans could be seen living side by side.

Some humans still feared demons, but others spoke with them freely, without hesitation.

The grand duke observed with wide eyes, as if he was feeling the full depth of regret for not knowing such harmony was possible before. He seemed to be reflecting on how meaningless the Great War had been.

“When the Gate Incident began, we focused on stabilizing this area, and managed to minimize the initial damage.”

As soon as the Gate Incident had been triggered, I rushed to Edina and rescued Airi, before destroying all the warp gates on the archipelago.

“Yes, Dad. After that, we set up a base on the continent and evacuated both people and demons here. We’ve been doing that ever since.”

Harriet began explaining to the grand duke what we had been working on since the onset of the Gate Incident. She had not been able to reveal these details to him at their last meeting, but now, with nothing left to hide, she recounted everything from beginning to end.

Harriet seemed more animated than ever.

We had accomplished something significant. We had done what we could. And because of that, we were able to create this new world.

The grand duke watched his daughter, who was passionately sharing every detail.

With a faint smile, Harriet reflected not only on her own actions but also on the contributions of others. She thought about Olivia Lanche, who, despite their strained relationship, had still managed to help people. She also pointed out how the succubi were genuinely loved by many, and how Charlotte was bringing stability to the chaos that had plagued Edina before.

Harriet seemed eager to share not just her own achievements, but also the accomplishments of those around her.

It was strange; the grand duke should have been the one moved, yet seeing Harriet like this stirred something within me. Harriet truly loved this country, and felt a surge of pride when discussing it.

Watching Harriet genuinely care for and take pride in the people stirred something unfamiliar within me. Perhaps the grand duke felt the same way.

After chatting for a while, the grand duke gently placed his hand on his daughter’s head.

“This takes me back to the old days.”

Harriet tilted her head, puzzled by the sudden mention of the past. “The old days? What do you mean?”

“You were always seeking praise.”

Harriet blushed and stole a glance at me. “W-why bring that up now...”

“Whenever you learned a new spell, you’d come running to show it off, looking up at me with those eyes, just like you’re doing now.”

“D-did I really?” Harriet mumbled.

In a palace like Arnaria, where people were few and far between, Harriet stood out as a genius. She must have mastered magic at a young age.

The thought of little Harriet eagerly flipping through tomes, hoping to earn praise from her dad, mom, or brothers, was almost unbearably cute. Just imagining it made my heart melt.

“It wasn’t just magic. Whenever you learned something new, you’d proudly share it—reciting poems or stories you’d memorized. It happened so often that I can’t forget it.”

It was only natural for children to seek their parents’ approval. In that light, a daughter proudly sharing her hard work must have been utterly endearing.

Since she was a genius, others must have constantly praised her as “amazing.” But at the end of the day, she was still just a child.

“The magic, the studies, the poems and stories you memorized, the etiquette you learned—you boasted about all of it...”

The grand duke gazed down the hill. “And now, you’re boasting about saving countless lives, about creating this world...”

The child who once brought home perfect test scores had grown up. Now she was saying, “I’ve created this world. I’ve saved countless people.”

The grand duke’s eyes glistened with emotion.

“D-Dad...?”

The grand duke gently slipped his arms under Harriet’s armpits and lifted her up.

He still treated her like a child, even though she had long since grown up.

Once, she had been just a smart, arrogant girl who struggled to think about others. But now, instead of flaunting her intelligence and cleverness, she took pride in saving lives. What parent wouldn’t be moved by that transformation?

“You’re amazing, my daughter.”

It was just like when Harriet was young, but the words carried a different weight now. It was the highest praise and gratitude a parent, the grand duke, could offer.

As Harriet noticed the redness in the grand duke’s eyes, her own eyes began to well up. “D-Dad... Dad... I... I did well, right?”

“Yes, you did well.”

“I... I worked hard. Really... with Reinhart... I worked hard. I knew I couldn’t do everything perfectly, but I did my best... It was hard because I couldn’t save everyone. It was painful. But... but... but... but...”

Harriet, who had been holding back her tears, finally broke down completely.

“But... Wasn’t that enough?” she asked, her voice trembling as tears fell from her face. “I did well, right? I did well, didn’t I?”

As she spoke of those she had saved, her thoughts inevitably drifted to those she couldn’t. The weight of guilt was evident in her eyes.

“Of course, you did.”

The grand duke, seeing his daughter burdened by the lives she couldn’t save, offered her gentle reassurance.

Her composure crumbled, and she began to sob, each one more heart-wrenching than the last.

“Ugh!”

The grand duke wrapped his arms around his youngest daughter, who was sobbing uncontrollably.

In the end, their reunion became one filled with tears.

***

“It’s so embarrassing,” Harriet muttered, her eyes puffy and her face flushed. She let her bangs fall over her eyes, as if to hide them from view.

“Go for a walk with your dad, sweetheart,” I suggested.

“S-sweetheart...? W-what are you saying?” she stammered, taken aback.

“Who else would be the sweetheart if not you?” I replied with a smile. “Anyway, go for a walk and have a good cry. The grand duke doesn’t have much time.”

“Y-you jerk, you’re teasing me again!”

She tried to muster her anger, but deep down, she knew the truth. The Allied Forces were advancing, and the grand duke had carved out time from his hectic schedule to make this trip.

In reality, he had a lot on his plate, and had essentially left without permission. He would have to return soon, so they needed to talk while they had the chance.

Harriet, grumbling that I’d better be ready when she got back, took the grand duke by the hand and began to lead him down the hill.

‘A daughter going for a walk holding her dad’s hand... Only a baby like you would do something like that.’

The grand duke followed with a smile.

“To think I’d live to see something like this. Ugh.”

Olivia Lanche, who had somehow appeared beside me, feigned gagging, as if the sight made her sick.

“What’s wrong with it? It’s a pleasant sight.”

“As an orphan, I never had a father, and the one I did have used to whip me, so I can’t relate at all.”

That surprised me. “You were whipped?”

Was Leverier Lanche really that terrible?

“No, I was just exaggerating. It wasn’t that bad. But it would’ve been better if it were.”

Why did she tell such shocking lies?

Even with her exaggeration, I understood what Olivia meant.

Harriet’s dedication to magic wasn’t driven by parental pressure; she simply loved the praise, so she studied on her own.

Olivia, on the other hand, had been forced into doing everything. She had probably never received any praise, and no matter what she achieved, she was always told it wasn’t enough. After enduring a life of what was essentially brainwashing, Olivia had become a hollow shell.

She continued to observe the shrinking silhouettes of Harriet and the grand duke. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

It was as if she were imagining something she had never experienced.

Olivia smiled at me, her eyes glinting with amusement.

“I didn’t think so before, but maybe I’m a bit twisted,” she admitted.

“Saying that like it’s a sudden revelation—that’s what’s truly twisted about you,” I teased.

“What?” she asked, feigning innocence.

“It’s a good thing,” I replied with a playful smirk.

“Hmph. I suppose,” she conceded.

Olivia crossed her arms and gazed down at the sprawling view of Rajak.

“Honestly, I’ve been really scared lately,” she confessed.

I understood her fears without needing her to elaborate.

“It’s too late to say we should just stay hidden away in this backwater and live only for ourselves, right?”

I looked down the hill. “Yes, it is.”

Perhaps we could have chosen that path some time in the past. But now, we had already embraced a different outcome. Letting go would not restore things to their original state. They would only fall and be irreparably shattered.

***

The phrase “like a blade through bamboo” is used to describe an army cutting effortlessly through a bamboo grove with a sharpened blade. But could the Allied Forces’ progress truly be described in that way? They were advancing swiftly, but without truly facing any opposition.

The commanders of each army gradually realized that an unknown, powerful force was fighting on their side, and that the Empire seemed to wield some kind of dark magic. This unsettling knowledge spread slowly.

It was a power shrouded in secrecy. An evil power, and a formidable one.

Naturally, people began to suspect that the Empire had allied with the Demon King. Their imaginations could only stretch so far.

Instead of considering the grim possibility that the Empire was resurrecting and strengthening the corpses of fallen soldiers to bolster their ranks, they remained fixated on the Demon King as the embodiment of evil.

When the Demon King had been aiding their advance, they hadn’t considered his involvement. But now, even though the Demon King was not actively involved in clearing the path, their thoughts turned to him.

Humanity imagined the Demon King as a terrifying and formidable figure. In truth, he and his forces were even more powerful than they could conceive, which only fueled their fears.

Rumors, born from anxiety and lacking any real foundation, spread like wildfire. Questions lingered. How had the Demon King come to ally with the Empire? Why was he aiding them? And why would the Empire join forces with such a feared entity?

In the absence of answers, people filled the gaps with wild speculations, imagining hidden motives and secret deals. They wondered if the Demon King was lurking nearby, and what he might demand in return for his assistance to humans.

Even baseless rumors could spark chaos, so people chose their words carefully. Yet, the seeds of confusion and anxiety had already taken root in their hearts.

Since there were no lengthy battles to engage in, the soldiers’ bodies remained mostly idle, leaving their minds to run wild, constantly occupied with conjecture.

Nothing was certain.

By May, the Allied Forces had terminated their plans to march on the other major cities in Raziern, and focused their efforts in a single direction: the capital of Raziern, Diane.

They hadn’t conquered all the other major cities, yet they were moving directly toward the site of the final battle.

“To think the Immortals were even able to handle Rosentine by themselves... It’s impressive,” Vertus mused, distractedly reading the latest Immortals battle report.

The port city of Rosentine was in close proximity to two other cities, which essentially formed a cluster of three major cities.

This meant that entering Rosentine required conquering all three cities in succession.

Given the increasingly perilous nature of each gate, leaving that area as the final target could jeopardize the resolution of the Gate Incident.

In fact, conquering that region was considered more challenging than taking the capital, since it was impossible to capture just one city at a time. All three had to be subdued simultaneously.

The decision was made to target the area before it became too dangerous to manage, and to send the Immortals in by themselves. They succeeded in pacifying the region on their own.

“About 80% of the Immortals were damaged, though,” one of the commanders reported. “It seems impossible to retake the remaining major cities using just the Immortals alone.”

“So we can’t rely solely on the Immortals anymore,” Vertus acknowledged.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the commander replied.

The Immortals could be repaired even if damaged, but even they were reaching their limits. There was only so much the Immortals could do on their own. The Titan and the main ranks of the Allied Forces would need to join the fight as well.

The gates within the cluster of three major cities around Rosentine, predicted to be the most chaotic battlefield, had already been destroyed.

The Allied Forces were advancing toward the capital of Raziern, Diane.

Three major cities lay along their path.

The Immortals would take care of the smaller towns and cities during the march.

Once the Allied Forces captured the three cities, the Gate Incident would finally be over.

Just three battles remained.

The end was in sight.

They could finally put a stop to this relentless wave of destruction.

The Immortals couldn’t remain hidden forever. When large-scale battles erupted, there would be no choice but to call upon them to join the Allied Forces in the fight.