Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 679 [Illustration]

We were on a terrace on the third floor of the Central Palace Tetra.

Despite the looming political unrest, the streets of the palace remained eerily quiet, the chaos outside unable to penetrate the serene confines of the central palace.

Harriet and I were sharing tea for the first time in what felt like ages.

“Sigh... It still doesn’t feel real. I can’t quite grasp what’s happening and what isn’t...”

Harriet’s deep sigh reflected Olivia’s sense of being unmoored, as if they were both floating in a sea of uncertainty.

Yet, despite her uncertainty, Harriet had achieved remarkable feats with just a touch of magic, saving an incredible amount of time and resources. Her magic had not only obliterated countless monsters, but also saved innumerable lives. If one were to compile a list of the greatest mages in history, Harriet’s name would undoubtedly be at the top.

As time passed, it became increasingly clear that Charlotte would be making almost all the decisions. My role was merely to determine whether to approve them or not. During the war, Harriet and I had been the busiest, but now it was Charlotte who would bear that burden. Harriet was brilliant, yet she lacked political savvy.

It would be better if neither of us had to use our powers anymore. However, once the political situation stabilized, Harriet would need to step up again to construct new warp gates. In many ways, she had become indispensable.

Harriet crossed her arms and gazed out the window. The arrogance and disdain that once filled her eyes had disappeared. Now, they were consumed by worry and anxiety—haunted by fears of what lay ahead and what had already transpired.

We kept sipping our tea, letting the minutes slip by.

Harriet’s eyes slowly softened, her gaze becoming more serene. I couldn’t decipher her thoughts.

Out of nowhere, Harriet addressed me.

“Reinhart.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s talk.”

Those simple words sent a shiver down my spine.

“Uh, uh... Okay...”

I watched as Harriet stood up, and I awkwardly got to my feet as well.

There was something unsettling about those two words. They filled me with horror. We were already talking, so what did she mean by “let’s talk”? Was she hinting at a different conversation?

I followed Harriet, trembling with an inexplicable fear.

***

Couldn’t we have just continued the conversation where we were sitting?

Harriet led me to another room, flung open a door, glanced around, and motioned for me to enter.

It was a bedroom, though I had no idea whose it was. It wasn’t the emperor’s bedroom, where I had been staying since arriving in Tetra. Instead, it was one of many other vacant rooms.

Click.

As soon as I stepped inside, Harriet shut the door and locked it.

‘Um... Excuse me...? Why lock the door?’

Was she trying to keep me from leaving?

Harriet leaned against the door, effectively blocking it, and fixed her gaze on me.

She stared at me, and I stood there, frozen with fear.

“Let’s talk...” Those two words were more terrifying than any declaration of war.

Was something wrong? Had I messed up?

‘What should I do?’

I frantically searched my memory, trying to remember if I had done anything to upset her during the recent chaos, but nothing came to mind.

There were countless ways I might have let her down, like not being there when she needed me. It wasn’t that I hadn’t made any mistakes; there were just so many possibilities that I couldn’t identify any specific one.

We had reached a certain point, but we were too busy to have a proper conversation afterward.

My heart pounded with fear.

She looked me in the eyes. “Are you scared?”

“Huh...?”

Harriet seemed to see the fear written all over my face.

Of course, I was scared. There had been countless times in my life when fear had gripped me, but this was the first time I felt this level of inexplicable terror.

I didn’t even know why I was scared; I just was. It wasn’t just plain fear; I was utterly terrified. Terrified to death.

If I had done something wrong, couldn’t she just tell me what it was?

I was ready to kneel on the ground and apologize. But if I did, she’d just ask what I was apologizing for! There were so many things I could have done wrong that I couldn’t even begin to guess which one she’d mention!

“Are you not going to answer?” Harriet asked quietly.

Why was she acting like this all of a sudden? Wasn’t this exactly what I used to do to intimidate the other kids back in the Temple days?

“I... I... I’m scared...” I stammered.

In the face of Harriet’s persistent questioning, I could only nod, my expression a mix of confusion and fear.

Harriet tilted her head in curiosity.

“Why are you scared?” she asked.

I felt like I was losing my mind.

“Well, because... you... You don’t usually act like this...” I stammered.

Somewhere along the way, I found it impossible to be harsh toward her. It was likely because I was overwhelmed by regret and gratitude to her.

“Why? Am I not allowed to act like this?” she asked.

“No... it’s not that you can’t...”

Harriet approached me with a gentle smile. As she drew nearer, I instinctively stepped back until I stumbled and landed on the bed. She stood over me, still smiling softly.

“Are you afraid I’ll scold you?” she asked.

Getting scolded by her... Her words sounded playful, but the idea was genuinely intimidating. Harriet had only scolded me once, back at the start of our first year, before we became friends.

It wasn’t just that she never scolded me. After some point, she always seemed to understand, accept, and do things for me. The idea of Harriet seriously pointing out my mistakes and getting angry was impossible to wrap my mind around.

I didn’t even know how to apologize, so I could only nod.

“Yeah... I’m scared.”

If she ever actually got angry, I might actually bite my tongue and die.

“Nothing would happen if I scolded you, so why are you scared?” Harriet asked again.

“Because it’s you,” I replied without thinking.

I felt like I was the only one taking this seriously.

What was she trying to say? Sure, nothing would really change if she scolded me. But... the thought of it was still frightening.

When someone who never lost their temper suddenly did, it would naturally be terrifying.

If they were someone unimportant, it wouldn’t bother me at all. But she was not unimportant. So when someone like her got angry, of course I would find it terrifying.

My reply seemed to make her happy.

Harriet sat quietly on my lap, leaning in so close that our noses nearly touched.

‘Why are you doing this...?!’

Her actions and words were at odds with each other.

“I’ve been away from my family for too long,” she said softly.

“Well... Yeah...” I replied, unsure of what else to say.

“So, now that I’ve almost finished what I need to do...” Harriet paused, glancing out the window. “I want to go back to the duchy for a few years. You don’t need me right now anyway.”

Her words felt like a stone striking my heart. I completely understood. I knew exactly what she meant. She loved and missed her family deeply.

But to leave so suddenly? Not just for a moment, but for a few years?

Harriet looked down at me and asked, “Is that okay?”

I was silent.

She had already done so much for me—more than anyone else ever could. No one else could have done what she had. Asking for more would be too much.

In any case, she wasn’t saying she’d leave forever. She promised to return whenever I needed her. But she wouldn’t be by my side, as close as she had been until this point.

She had always been within reach. Always there to talk to, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She had been the first to hear my stories, the one who watched me struggle up close.

Now, she was saying that we couldn’t live like that anymore. And she was asking if that was okay.

She wasn’t scolding me. She was asking for permission.

Harriet was close enough that we could feel each other’s breath as she prepared to say goodbye.

“Do you hate the thought of it?” she asked.

Of course, I hated it. But asking for more, asking her to stay by my side as if it were the most natural thing in the world, felt like too much.

In the end, all I could manage was, “Of course... I hate it.”

It was a pathetic response, but it was the only one I had.

Harriet seemed to take it as an acknowledgment. She smiled at my answer, a smile unlike any I had seen from her before. It made me wonder if she had always been capable of such warmth.

She leaned in closer, her body pressing against mine.

Before I could say another word, Harriet kissed me.

In that moment, it felt as if I were losing my mind. I couldn’t tell how long the kiss lasted.

When she finally pulled away, she looked at me, still smiling.

“You know, I actually knew,” she said.

“Knew what...?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Her smile deepened as she leaned in to whisper softly in my ear.

“I knew that if I went through with this, you wouldn’t be able to push me away. At some point, I noticed how you got flustered whenever I spoke a bit harshly. Sometimes, I wondered if it was because you felt guilty, but... I knew it wasn’t just that. I’d known for a while.

“I knew exactly what to say, how to act. I’d known for a long time. But... I knew it wouldn’t be fair. It would be cowardly. So, I held back.”

“But... I won’t keep doing that anymore,” Harriet declared. “Now, I’ll be unfair and cowardly too. Now, I’ll do things my way.”

I was baffled by what Harriet was trying to say.

“Marry me,” she whispered in my ear. “Or else, I’ll never see you again.”

Was this what she meant by knowing exactly what to say?

Marriage... The thought of it sent a strange feeling through me.

If I didn’t agree to marry her, she’d walk away.

Was that... her ultimatum?

“But... then...” I stammered.

“Are you saying you don’t want to?”

Harriet’s face started to shift.

No, it wasn’t about wanting or not wanting.

“You weren’t planning to?” I asked.

Harriet looked genuinely taken aback by my response. “Huh?”

“I mean... Weren’t you planning to marry me?”

The fear of her leaving was fleeting, but now she was the one caught off guard.

“Of course I’ll marry you. I was planning to, anyway,” I said.

At my words, Harriet’s cheeks flushed with confusion, as if she couldn’t quite understand what was going on.

Marriage... Wasn’t it obvious that we would?

“O-oh... W-was that... Was that what you were thinking...?”

I couldn’t quite read her thoughts, but did she really think we might not get married?

Harriet’s lips trembled in response to her own bold words, as if she’d momentarily forgotten her daring actions.

“Of course, we will. We have to,” I reassured her.

“O-oh... Y-yeah...” she stammered, her face flushing a deep red.

‘Our beloved Thick-Skull. You finally did it. You finally made me say something like that.’

And then I ended up saying more, to make things even worse.

“And... this is a bit... awkward to say, but...”

Her eyes were darting about in confusion. “Huh?”

“Do you think I’d only do it with you...?”

Harriet’s expression shifted, realizing things weren’t quite as she had imagined.

“I’ll do it with you... and with Charlotte... and with Olivia too...”

‘Obviously! Of course! I’m the emperor! I need to forge alliances through marriage. In fact, I might have to do even more than that! It’s not about what I want or don’t want—it’s simply necessary. It would be even stranger if I didn’t go ahead with it!’

Harriet nodded, her face blank. “Oh... I s-see... that’s... right...”

Her expression slowly turned cold.

It was an awful thing to say.

Right after she had just proposed, I blurted out, “Yeah, I’ll marry you, and others too.”

It was a terrible thing to say.

Unsurprisingly, Harriet, who was sitting on top of me, was immediately filled with resentment.

And then...

Squeeze!

“Ugh... Argh!”

She began to choke me.

“Y-you... I hate you so much!” she cried, tears brimming in her eyes. “I really... really hate you more than anyone else in the world!”

I sat there, unable to speak, as her words hung in the air.

“T-then marry me first! Marry me first, you piece of trash!” Harriet screamed, her voice desperate, as if her very life depended on it.