“The central temple has collapsed?”
The Empress, Diana, filled the room with her resounding voice.
The maids attending to her flinched in surprise, but Diana didn’t care. She grabbed Ferda’s arm and widened her eyes.
“What do you mean by that? Why? How did this happen?”
Seeing Diana unable to calm down, Ferda hesitated briefly before dismissing all the maids from the room. Then, he slowly pulled his hand away from Diana’s grasp.
“Your Majesty, please restrain yourself.”
Only then did Diana regain her composure, hurriedly pulling her arm back and straightening her posture.
“Although nothing has been officially announced yet, there’s one thing that the witnesses all seem to agree on.”
“And what is that?”
Ferda’s voice lowered as he whispered.
“It was a monster.”
Diana’s eyes widened in disbelief, and she cautiously asked again.
“…A monster, you say?”
“Yes, a monster.”
“That’s impossible… No, wait. How could a monster that only appears in the north suddenly show up in the middle of the capital?”
“That, I have not yet determined. But there are rumors among the people.”
Ferda lowered his voice even further.
“They say that someone has been secretly summoning monsters from the underground temple.”
“Impossible!”
Diana screamed in horror.
She knew. She knew that the central temple hid many secrets.
Even though they held the greatest power on the continent, they had announced very little.
But monsters? Secretly summoning the vile, base creatures of the demon realm, the very origin of evil? It was unthinkable. It should never happen.
“No matter how much the Pope may obstruct and hinder us, they would never go so far as to commit such a heinous act. No, they shouldn’t have!”
“Yes, I agree.”
Unlike the frantic Diana, Ferda remained unexpectedly calm. Partly because he had already been shocked when he first heard the news, but also because the future he envisioned in his mind was far clearer than what Diana could see.
Ferda’s lips curved into a smile.
“But do you think the people will think the same?”
“……….”
Diana’s large eyes darted around.
She was no longer just a sheltered rose in a greenhouse. Perhaps there was a time when she was, but not anymore. After all, she had survived even after the Emperor changed. Isn’t that enough proof?
Having grasped and organized the situation, Diana bit her lip hard.
“Are you saying we can use this opportunity?”
Ferda nodded with a broad smile.
“Indeed. Whether it’s true or not, we can make people believe it. If we do, we can reduce the influence of the temple even further.”
“If the temple’s influence diminishes, His Majesty the Emperor will also be less concerned with them.”
Diana and Ferda exchanged glances.
“He will try to find another way to divert the people’s attention.”
Diana could feel a thrilling sensation running from her head to her toes.
It felt like she could finally breathe. It felt like she could finally see the path forward.
What a stroke of luck this was. Just as the power of the Benita family was weakening, the temple caused a massive incident!
Diana laughed heartily, and Ferda joined in with a similar laugh.
Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he added.
“Furthermore,”
He said, lowering his voice again,
“it seems that a child was seen entering the central temple.”
“A child?”
“Yes. And one of them is…”
Ferda beckoned with his hand, and Diana tilted her head towards him. It was a familiar gesture.
“They say it’s the young lady from the House of Daimon.”
“My goodness!”
Diana shouted and covered her mouth.
The young lady from the House of Daimon had entered the central temple? Why?
“The relationship between the temple and the House of Daimon is…”
“Bad. Very bad. So why would the Daimon family send a child to the temple?”
Everyone knows that the temple has been tormenting and criticizing the House of Daimon. Even though the Daimon family protects the northern borders, they haven’t received much hospitality.
Rumors have spread widely that the Daimon family keeps their distance from the temple because of the temple’s vile tactics, which have caused the Daimon family to suffer repeatedly.
And now the child of that family has entered the temple? And then a monster appeared?
“There must be something going on.”
“Yes, definitely.”
Even if there’s nothing, a scenario could easily be fabricated.
Diana’s lips curled into a smile.
“Bring that child to me.”
She opened her fan widely and lifted her chin.
“I need to see her for myself.”
***
“Earlier, you were about to leave without taking Shekina, weren’t you?”
Arthur’s cold voice echoed through the hallway.
The twins clinging to him widened their eyes and looked back at Lucart, who clicked his tongue and lowered his head slightly. Arthur’s teeth ground together audibly.
“Why did you do that?”
Lucart let out a long sigh.
Arthur, who had lost the children he cherished due to the rampage of monsters, couldn’t remain calm in this situation. Lucart, knowing this, lowered his voice as much as possible when he answered.
“You know very well that it was a situation where I couldn’t reveal my true identity.”
But why?
Even as he replied, Lucart could feel irritation rising within him.
It was as if he had been branded as a ruthless being who had committed an unforgivable act. He furrowed his brow.
“Are you saying I should have put everyone in danger just to save a single homunculus?”
Just a homunculus? Arthur’s lips twisted.
“If it wasn’t a homunculus, but me instead, what would you have done? Or even if it was just a weak demon guarding the castle, would you still have tried to leave?”
“…….…”
It wasn’t something he hadn’t thought about.
On the way back to the quarters with Shekina and Dehan, Lucart had thought about it the entire time.
What if it wasn’t Shekina, but another demon? What if it was Arthur, Martin, or Lyat? Would he still have made the same decision?
“I understand perfectly that a homunculus isn’t part of the demon world.”
Wasn’t it because there was a perception that he would just use the homunculus and then discard it?
Lucart clenched his fist tightly.
“The demon clan has weakened. You know very well that we can’t afford to take any more risks!”
Yes. He was justified.
It was an unavoidable decision.
It’s natural to sacrifice a few to protect the majority.
There was no reason—none at all—to risk saving Shekina. No reason at all.
– I will recover the Demon King’s power.
Lucart tried hard to ignore Shekina’s words that kept resurfacing in his mind. He tried to ignore them.
It was then.
Something fell at Lucart’s feet with a thud.
“You know what this is, don’t you?”
Something familiar appeared in Lucart’s sight.
“This is the relic that Shekina risked everything to retrieve.”
Lucart couldn’t help but grind his teeth.
– These are relics and artifacts from the underground of the Papal Palace.
– I brought them for the boss.
And what condition was Shekina in when he said that?
Bleeding profusely, limping, in a mess.
Yet, she still looked at me and smiled.
This…
“Doesn’t seeing this make you feel anything?”
Lucart suddenly remembered the words he had casually said to Shekina.
– I will protect your life.
Ah.
His eyes squeezed shut.
“It’s not the demon clan that has weakened; it’s the Demon King.”
All he had protected was his fragile pride.
