– I have brought His Highness the prince.
When the demons heard this, they immediately recognized that the human child with that tired expression was the prince. They also understood what Dehan expected from them.
‘Are you asking us to scold him thoroughly?’
‘How do you know that’s exactly what we’re good at?’
The demons, who were already bored, were pleased with the idea.
“Why would His Highness the Prince be here in such a place?”
“Indeed. There’s only dust flying around here.”
They all snickered as they spoke. At that moment, Benita’s face crumpled in frustration. He was not an idiot. Benita immediately realized why Dehan had brought him to this place.
“You…!”
Benita gritted his teeth and slapped Dehan’s cheek.
“You think I don’t know your wicked intentions?”
Slap!
Although Dehan could easily block the obvious punch, he did not. He just stood with his arms crossed, leaving his left cheek exposed.
“How dare you mock me!”
From the words alone, it sounded as though he were an emperor.
He had not acted like this in front of his uncle, Ferda.
Dehan judged that Benita was someone who was weak in front of the strong but harsh toward the weak.
“You worthless thing!”
Slap!
Benita swung his fist again.
The demons, who had been lying down, flinched at the sight. Benita shouted toward them.
“Stay still, you pathetic creatures. I’ll kill this insolent brat!”
“What?”
The demons laughed mockingly and exchanged glances.
“Hey. Pathetic? Is he talking to you?”
“No way. It’s obviously you.”
Ha ha ha!
But they ignored Benita and continued joking around. Benita’s face turned bright red. His trembling fists seemed to reflect his humiliation.
Despite his anger, he could not afford to attack them. Even after being hit twice, Dehan stood still, and Benita grabbed a handful of his hair.
“You! You’re trying to insult me!”
Thud! Slap!
Benita endlessly beat Dehan. At that moment, one of the demons, who was still focused on practicing his swordsmanship, spoke to Salmon.
“Salmon, your disciple is getting beaten.”
Salmon then lowered his sword and looked at Dehan and Benita. To someone who didn’t know the situation, it might have seemed like Dehan was being beaten mercilessly, but to Salmon, it appeared as though Dehan was just standing there. Dehan was not someone who would fall from such soft punches.
“Eh, not my problem.”
Salmon casually ignored it and swung his sword again.
“That heartless guy.”
“Hey, Your Highness, stop it. Whether it’s a scheme or not, it seems like he’s just here to let us watch.”
Benita finally stopped hitting Dehan and looked at the demons. Blood from Dehan was on his hands.
“How dare you, a mere subordinate of a worthless Margrave, defy me! Do you really think you can get away unscathed after this?”
Normally, Benita wouldn’t have been so agitated.
However, his frustration from coming all the way to the distant North, his anger toward Shekina who hadn’t shown her face for days, and his shame of no one acknowledging him, all began to take control of his mind.
I’m not someone who should be ignored in a place like this. I’m not someone to be looked down upon in a place like this!
Benita pulled Dehan’s hair roughly and shouted.
“I’ll behead the Count! Right now!”
What a ridiculous remark. If his uncle, Ferda, had been present, he would have silenced Benita immediately and taken him away, but unfortunately, Ferda was not around.
“You worthless Margrave’s subordinate! Do you dare?! Remember this, the Count will be executed because of you! What are you doing?! Bring the Count here immediately!”
As Benita’s words continued, the expressions of the demons slowly hardened.
You’re insulting me? I don’t care. Dehan getting beaten? I don’t care. But insulting our Demon King? That’s something I can’t overlook.
The demons stood up at once.
“Look at him. The kid’s already learned some strange things.”
“He’ll die young at this rate.”
“He might die today?”
“Hahaha!”
They mocked Benita, looking at his flushed face.
“You bastards…!”
“Your Highness.”
One of the demons raised his eyebrows and grinned.
“Enough, calm down.”
At that moment, Benita felt all his remaining pride shatter. This can’t be happening. I can’t back down here!
“Are you still talking?!”
Benita drew a dagger from his waist and plunged it into Dehan’s stomach, who was standing still.
“Hey, you little!”
Benita laughed sinisterly as he saw the pale faces of the demons.
“Instead of you, this brat will die! No, this is not over! I’ll cut off the Count’s head…!”
BAM!
A tremendous explosion struck them. The source of the explosion was Salmon, who had been swinging his sword.
He passed by a bundle of dirt that barely missed Benita and approached him. Salmon’s expression was more serious than ever before, but it was hard to tell whether it was because Benita insulted the Demon King or because his disciple had been struck by a sword. What was certain, however, was that Salmon was very angry.
“How dare this human brat make me angry…”
And so, the situation had come to this point.
Salmon was in the midst of a life-changing dilemma.
Should he kill him? Or let him live?
This arrogant child had no worth in living, so wouldn’t it be better to just kill him? Yeah, just kill him. As Salmon’s thoughts leaned toward one side, it was at that moment.
“Stoooooop!”
Shekina’s voice was heard. She was not alone at that moment—Lucart, Lyat, and Martin were also there. If it had been just Shekina, she would have killed Benita immediately, but since the Demon King was present, that couldn’t happen. Salmon sheathed his sword.
“Are you all out of your minds? Are you sane? No, you never have been sane. What’s going on here?”
Shekina, who had been jumping around, placed her hand on her forehead and began to speak quickly.
“I told you not to cause any trouble… huh? Dehan?”
Shekina, who had thought it was just a joke among the demons, froze for a moment when she saw Dehan collapsed on the ground.
The sight of Dehan bleeding caused Shekina to relive a memory from her past life. The moment she had killed him, his face as he died, betrayed by someone he trusted, flashed vividly before her eyes.
Shekina gritted her teeth.
“What… is going on?”
Regaining her composure, Shekina turned to the one holding the bloody dagger. Benita, realizing this was Shekina, immediately raised his chin in a proud manner.
“He insulted me. I’ve just given him a fitting punishment.”
I am the prince. So, if I answer like this, there should be no further responsibility.
Benita, who had been shaking earlier, appeared confident, believing Shekina hadn’t seen his earlier fear.
“You…”
Shekina stared blankly at Benita, raising her chin proudly.
“Who are you?”
Benita’s face twisted in anger.
***
The situation was quickly resolved.
Dehan was taken to the healer, the 1st Legion demons were scolded by Martin, and Benita was dragged away by Ferda, who had arrived running.
However, this matter would not end here.
No matter how much Benita was at fault, the fact that the 1st Legion demons had threatened him was a serious crime.
Ferda would likely mediate, but…
“Seriously, this is absurd.”
Shekina did not want this.
“He’s royal and all, but how dare he make a hole in Dehan’s stomach?”
And then expect him to be fine? Isn’t that just greed? He should experience the same thing. Yeah, that’s right.
It was at that moment.
Ring!
[SYSTEM]
Don’t forget the quest!
Ring!
Sub-Quest: Win the Prince’s Favor!
The prince is on his way to the North, filled with excitement about the first command he was ever given.
You must treat the prince well, of course!
Try to win his favor! (Favor: 0/100)
(Hint: None! Figure it out yourself!)
Reward: Imperial Family’s Secret Stories
Failure: Death
The long-absent system was now giving Shekina only one choice: make friends with the prince. If she doesn’t, she will die.
“What?”
Shekina exhaled sharply and widened her eyes.
“You mean, I should not oppose him, but win his favor?”
Ring!
[SYSTEM]
Exactly. You’ve become quite perceptive while I wasn’t looking!
Shekina’s mouth curled into a smile.
“Winning his favor? There are many ways to do that, right?”
Then, she clenched her fist and pulled out a black spinel filled with magic.
“If I save him from dying, his favor will surely go up.”
Shekina had no intention of showing any mercy to Benita.
