Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 650

Everyone was taken aback by Connor Lint’s unexpected confession of falling into a beauty trap, but what came next was even more startling.

The Demon King had planned to raid the imperial mausoleum to bolster their ranks of Death Knights. And to infiltrate the imperial palace, they needed Connor Lint’s assistance.

Lint offered his help to the Demon King. However, when they reached the mausoleum, they found all the sarcophagi empty. They then turned to the Imperial National Cemetery, only to discover that all the bodies had been swapped.

It became evident that the Empire was working on something sinister involving the undead.

After replenishing the Death Knights from the underground tomb beneath the main temple of the Order of the Holy Knights, the Demon King cautioned Lint that probing any further would be perilous, and advised him to cease his investigations before vanishing.

Heinrich could only stare wide-eyed at Connor Lint after his revelation.

“That... was you guys...?”

Ellen, Heinrich, Louise, and Ludwig had been swept into an investigation of an event... An event where the true culprit remained unknown. That incident had revealed the flow of major events and led to an unexpected truth, resulting in them tracing everything back to Archbishop Rowen.

Heinrich was left speechless upon discovering that the incident at the Tomb of the Saints had been orchestrated by Connor Lint and the Demon King. While he had harbored some suspicions about the Demon King, learning that Connor Lint had also been involved was nothing short of shocking.

“I-I mean... yeah, it definitely wasn’t a good thing to do, but... I thought it was necessary. I don’t regret it,” declared Connor Lint, although he still looked slightly guilty.

He then turned to Kaier. “Kaier, that jerk is indeed at the root of all this, but he hasn’t just sat back and done nothing. He tried to make a difference. Now that he has acted like this, it’s clear things didn’t go as he planned. Even reaching out to the Allied Forces... he must have had his reasons.”

“Is that really so...” Kaiser mumbled doubtfully.

Since he hadn’t witnessed everything directly, he felt as though the Demon King was trying to use the opportunity to win everything without taking any action. But Connor Lint had not only seen it all, but also assisted the Demon King to some degree.

Kaier was speechless.

Erhi, who had been quiet until now, was gazing at Connor Lint in disbelief. “You... really...”

He let out a huge sigh.

Kernstadt’s decision was driven by the need to survive. Yet Connor Lint spoke as if he genuinely trusted the Demon King. Their motivations were fundamentally different. Aligning oneself with the Demon King for survival might be seen as cowardly, but trusting him could be perceived as sheer madness.

“Is it really strange to trust the Demon King?” Lint mused aloud. “I suppose that’s how it would seem...”

Erhi shook his head. “No, that’s not even the most important thing...”

He looked at Lint, his expression suggesting an entirely different perspective. “How did you manage to keep your mouth shut about this until now?”

“Huh?” Lint replied, caught off guard.

Even Kaier, who had been lost in thought, nodded in agreement along with Heinrich.

“Right now, that’s the most surprising thing to me as well,” Cliffman said, his voice laced with disbelief.

Thanks to his abilities, Connor Lint had a knack for gathering stories from all corners. Thus, whenever something happened, he was the first to spread the word about the newest events and update the others about the latest gossip. The fact that someone like him had managed to keep such a significant secret without so much as a whisper was truly astonishing.

“Are you saying... I’m loose-lipped?” Connor asked, genuinely taken aback by his friends’ surprise over something he hadn’t even considered remarkable.

“Wait, you didn’t know that until now?” one of them replied, incredulous.

For someone who was practically the poster child for loose lips, it was shocking that Connor had managed to keep such a monumental secret under wraps for so long. Nothing else could even come close in terms of the astonishment factor. He had managed to hold onto this secret for months, even after meeting the Demon King twice and aiding in the Demon King’s covert operation.

“I can keep my mouth shut when I need to, you bastards...! What do you take me for?” Connor Lint replied indignantly. He could not believe what his friends were saying about him.

This was a revelation for everyone. It turned out Connor Lint knew when to stay silent.

Despite the crucial events they were discussing, this development was so unexpected, and they couldn’t help but be amazed at Connor Lint’s ability to keep a secret. Heinrich gave a wry smile as he watched things unfold.

Connor Lint had his own secrets. And even though Kernstadt had sided with the Demon King and discussed that reality, Heinrich had his own secret that he hadn’t yet shared.

“Actually, I’ve met Reinhart too,” he confessed.

The others looked at him in disbelief. “What?”

They fell silent, stunned by Heinrich’s revelation. They believed Reinhart had vanished without a trace, but that wasn’t true. To their surprise, Reinhart was still lurking around, his presence a well-guarded secret among those who encountered him.

“Even you?” Connor Lint asked, astonished by Heinrich’s unexpected admission.

“But it wasn’t the same as you,” Heinrich replied, a hint of mystery in his voice. “I didn’t help him... Instead, I received help.”

“Received help?”

Connor Lint, despite being caught between willingness and reluctance, had found himself working with the Demon King. But Heinrich’s situation was different.

It was a difficult subject to broach.

“If it weren’t for Reinhart...” he said slowly, “I might have died.”

Talking about it meant confronting the death of his siblings.

***

The subject Heinrich introduced was undeniably heavy.

He had to delve into a past he rarely spoke of—a time so distant that the memories were hazy. It was the story of how he awakened his powers at such a tender age, an event that tragically resulted in the death of his siblings. This catastrophe led to his banishment to the Empire and the Temple, a place that only fueled the resentment of his surviving siblings toward him.

To explain why his siblings had tried to kill him, Heinrich needed to reveal the dark past he had kept hidden from everyone.

His siblings had grown to envy and despise him, especially as he rose to fame as a war hero. Then came the ominous letter from an anonymous friend, warning him of his siblings’ deadly intentions. Adding to the turmoil was the emperor’s suspicion that Heinrich might be an illegitimate child, a rumor that only intensified the family conflict.

As tensions reached their breaking point, Reinhart approached Heinrich with a grave warning. He urged Heinrich to leave with him, cautioning that staying might cost him his life. He promised to explain everything, and discuss what they could do together.

However, Heinrich didn’t follow Reinhart.

As he pondered whether to reveal the truth about being an illegitimate child, guilt gnawed at him for his mother, but he knew he had to speak. Everything had to be laid bare.

Finally, when his ‘sister’ killed their siblings with her own hands, Heinrich discovered that his eldest sister was, in fact, his mother.

His friends were left in shock by the overwhelming revelations.

“Reinhart didn’t save me directly, but he tried to. Because of that letter, the actions I took ultimately kept me alive.”

Heinrich had come perilously close to death.

Louise had spoken with the emperor and learned of the plot, which allowed her to prevent it.

Reinhart did not save Heinrich directly, but without Reinhart’s letter, Heinrich would have perished.

“I don’t expect you to understand,” he said, “but my sister... no, my mother... She sided with the Demon King because she knew this.”

Louise knew the Demon King had tried to save her son, and ultimately made it so that she could save him. In a desperate situation, where survival was paramount, she had simply made a choice so that her son would survive, and the Demon King had been a significant factor. Louise owed this to the Demon King.

Even though Loiuse and Heinrich still felt awkward and unfamiliar with each other, the fact that they could see each other every day, knowing what they meant to one another, was undoubtedly thanks to the Demon King.

That was what Louise felt, and Heinrich felt the same.

He hadn’t been killed by his siblings, despite the torment of believing he might be an illegitimate child and the dreadful thoughts that came with it. He realized he was truly loved, and understood why he hadn’t died. He learned that he had been allowed to live in the Temple because his mother, whom he had thought was his eldest sister, had pleaded on his behalf to her king.

All this had been triggered by a letter sent by the Demon King.

Everyone found it difficult to speak after the heavy truths Heinrich shared.

Those he’d believed to be his brothers had been, in reality, his uncles. Those uncles had attempted to kill the youngest, who was, in fact, their sister’s son. But the mother had fiercely protected her child.

Within this tale, which had been condensed into just a few lines by Heinrich, lay countless harrowing truths.

“I can’t figure out how Reinhart knew I was in danger, but that guy... he definitely didn’t want me dead. Maybe he intended to use me... but I don’t think that’s the case. And after hearing what he did for you, Lint, it seems like he just... wants us to be safe. He wants everyone to be happy. Even though things haven’t gone as he hoped, he still wishes for it. I’m certain of that.”

Heinrich, who had initiated this conversation, glanced around at the others. “Whatever the real cause of the Gate Incident is, whether Reinhart is truly to blame or not... Sure, Reinhart might be at fault. Whatever the Demon King is up to, we can’t assume it will end well. I understand that as well.”

Whether the Demon King was right or wrong... It was a mystery in the past, and it still remained a mystery. The truth would only be revealed by the outcomes, and predicting the outcome now felt pointless.

“So, I never thought I’d say this, but...”

When Heinrich had been scorned as a mere flint by Reinhart, he had genuinely wanted to kill him. Which was why the thing he was about to say was the most unbelievable thing to Heinrich himself.

“I believe in Reinhart.”

He had received a letter from an anonymous friend. Now, he had to give a reply, a message of trust in the name of friendship.

Whether the Demon King was right or wrong, he did not know. But he believed.

Too many things had happened that made it impossible for him not to believe in Reinhart. And so, he followed.

Kernstadt’s reason for choosing the Demon King for survival was understandable, but now that everything had been shared, Heinrich had declared that he was following Reinhart not out of necessity, but because he believed in him.

How long did the silence stretch after that declaration?

“Me too,” Connor Lint finally said, finally breaking it. “I want to believe in that moron, too.”

Some saw the Demon King as a prince from a distant land. Others saw him as just an ordinary commoner.

But while people might give consideration to social status, belief itself did not.

***

In the end, while the gathering was of elite soldiers, they were still just soldiers. How much their faith or lack of faith in the Demon King would sway the larger course of events was uncertain. But the time had come for their stories to be told.

It was the moment when everyone was forced to choose sides, and they had to take a stand, whether they wanted to or not.

Would they place their faith in the Empire or the Demon King?

Would the Empire endure, or would the Demon King prevail?

It was a choice between belief and survival.

“Whether we believe in him or not, does this mean another war will erupt once the Gate Incident concludes...?” Cliffman said, breaking the silence that followed.

Reinhart’s desires, whether others believed in them or not, were a separate matter. In the end, as soon as one disaster concluded, another storm would begin, leaving no time to catch their breath. Not everyone could align themselves with the Demon King, and not everyone could stand with the Empire.

“Does this mean we have to choose between the two?” Kaier asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

Heinrich shook his head. “There is an option where neither path is chosen.”

“What do you mean?” Kaier replied, puzzled.

“Exactly what I said,” Heinrich answered.

Although the decision seemed harsh and clear-cut, there was an unexpected third option: choosing nothing.

“There are those who hope that both the Empire and the Demon King will vanish.”

They could wish for the downfall of both.

In a world where it seemed like they had to pick a side, choosing neither was still an option.

“Then... what are you suggesting? What’s the plan?” Erhi asked.

What would be the point of choosing neither the Empire nor the Demon King, and leaving both to vanish? There would be no need to discuss cowardice or courage. It was simply a desire for everyone’s ruin.

Heinrich flashed a bitter smile. “There’s no plan for what comes next.”

Only retribution. Only judgment.

If such a thing happened, everyone would have to fend for themselves, and justice and punishment had to be served to the guilty.

Heinrich knew there were people who thought like this, and he understood that they were the ones who posed the greatest threat.

Cliffman, who had been quiet until then, finally spoke up. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

“Heinrich, there’s something I need to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Ludwig’s arm.”

“Ah.”

“It’s connected to the Immortals, isn’t it?” Cliffman asked.

Ludwig had undergone some kind of procedure, and Cristina, Louis Ankton, and Anna were all tied to the Immortals.

After his procedure, Ludwig’s demeanor had shifted slightly.

It was as if the pieces of a puzzle that had long eluded understanding were finally coming together.

“Yes, it must be,” Heinrich agreed.

Now that they knew what the Immortals were, it was clear that Ludwig’s restored arm was linked to them. It couldn’t be just any ordinary arm, and Ludwig was hardly in a normal state.

Heinrich had recognized it the moment Ludwig returned. He was aware that Ludwig might have undergone a chimera procedure in the underground lab.

Everyone sitting around this gathering would eventually have to make a decision. Whether they made their choice for survival or out of conviction, that was the only distinction.

Among those who had no choice but to reflect on their eventual decision, there was one who was still contemplating matters.

“Could you perhaps deliver a message?” Cliffman asked quietly.

***

Charlotte and I sat across from each other in the king’s office, which now served as the regent’s office.

“Hmm...”

“Umm...”

We both wore uncertain expressions.

Charlotte was the first to break the silence.

“In truth, it isn’t really a problem. A large, undefined number of people already know that we’re involved with the Allied Forces, and that there are groups within it that are not siding with us. Word of our meddling was bound to spread all the way through the Allied Forces sooner or later.”

“I figured as much,” I replied.

As Charlotte mentioned, while some had reasons to keep the Demon King’s connection to the Allied Forces a secret, others had none. Therefore, rumors about the Demon King’s influence were bound to reach even the foot soldiers.

Thus far, I feared that if such rumors spread within the Allied Forces, it might lead to their collapse. After all, even if the commanders were aligning themselves with me for their survival, there was no guarantee that all the soldiers and knights under them would follow their lead.

However, with the final battle looming and most of the Allied Forces’ real strength coming from the Immortals, there might not be a significant problem even if the Allied Forces fell apart.

The question was whether suspicion would turn into discord and then division before or after they reached the final battlefield.

For the moment, the Demon King’s followers and those loyal to the Empire shared an uneasy coexistence—something that should never have been possible.

Fortunately, Diane, the capital of Rizeln, wasn’t far away. Division had to wait until Diane was captured. And for the moment, at least, the rumors of the Demon King’s involvement hadn’t spread too widely.

Those whispers had been started by someone within the leadership.

“Still, Heinrich—won’t he get in trouble with his mom for this?” I asked, looking serious.

“Probably...” Charlotte replied, nodding in agreement.

In short, Heinrich had stirred up trouble.

“And he stirred up trouble, only to run and tell his mom about it afterward?”

“Exactly.”

Heinrich understood that Kernstadt had chosen to align with us.

In truth, it was Louise von Schwartz, not Rowen or me, who was rallying other small countries and forces to our cause. However, because of her efforts, she faced immense danger. She was acting like a frontline agent, even more so than Rowen, and so it was no surprise that she was threatened with assassination.

Louise was enduring all of this while fulfilling her role as the Demon King’s agent. Yet, amidst these challenges, Heinrich had confided in his friends about Kernstadt’s betrayal.

“Of course, as you mentioned, Charlotte, well... It was inevitable, so it’s not a major shock...”

“I can’t say it’s unreasonable either. And Heinrich did it with you in mind. The outcome does seem promising.”

“That’s true.”

I understood Heinrich’s intentions, and I couldn’t call his actions foolish. Ultimately, he had acted for the sake of me and for his friends.

From Heinrich’s point of view, he wanted to avoid a scenario where he might have to go up against his friends once they realized how quickly things were changing. He also wanted to represent my stance on things.

In essence, Heinrich had acted to prevent a situation where I would be forced to harm my classmates. He didn’t want us to turn against each other.

However, Louise would surely be utterly shocked if her son suddenly confessed to doing something like that.

I wonder if he was slapped by his mom for pulling such a stunt.

“That’s not the most important thing right now.”

Heinrich’s actions were troubling in their own way, but as Charlotte pointed out, the truth would have eventually come out, even if Heinrich hadn’t said a word. It wasn’t a huge issue, and Heinrich had acted with my benefit in mind.

Charlotte and I weren’t debating whether Heinrich had caused trouble.

I’d received a message.

Since Louise had never met me directly, she had to send her message through Rowen.

From Louise’s account, her son had shared a secret with his friends based on his own judgment, and then asked her to pass a message to the Demon King. The person who passed on this message was Rowen, the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights, whom Louise personally disliked. The fact that the message reached me meant Louise had swallowed her pride and endured the discomfort of asking Rowen to deliver it.

What if Rowen had chided Louise? “Oh, you can’t keep your brother quiet, can you?” she might have said.

“If it were my son, he would have gotten a slap,” I said.

“...”

Charlotte’s expression was peculiar, but she nodded as if she agreed with me.

‘Heinrich... You survived because you’re her son... You should understand what you’re asking your mom to do...’

The message was passed from Heinrich to Louise, then from Louise to Rowen, and finally from Rowen to me.

In the end, while Heinrich’s actions might have been a mistake, a message of great significance had reached me.

It seemed that after Heinrich’s confession, Connor Lint decided to side with me.

This was huge.

From Louise’s perspective, her foolish son had caused trouble without understanding the consequences, but for me, it was a fortunate mistake. Even though Connor Lint had already helped me previously, his decision to support me further expanded the possibilities.

There were so many things I could do now.

Louise might have a reason to scold her son, but I felt grateful to Heinrich.

It seemed Erhi and Kaier were still considering matters.

And then there was Cliffman.

It wasn’t about whether Heinrich was on my side; it was about the message he delivered.

Heinrich had probably been willing to risk getting slapped by his mom because it was Cliffman’s request.

Heinrich hadn’t said, “I did this, and this happened.” Instead, he’d said, “I did this, and he asked me to deliver a message.”

That was the part we were really considering.

It wasn’t a politically significant message, nor one that would greatly influence the way things were moving. From my perspective as the Demon King, and from Charlotte’s as the regent, Cliffman’s message wasn’t very important.

“This decision isn’t up to us, is it?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Charlotte agreed.

Ultimately, neither Charlotte nor I could make a decision on how to respond to the message. And whether or not it influenced the way things were moving, it was still not a trivial message.

Cliffman’s message was simple and to the point.

He wanted to meet Riana.