Chapter 435

Temple, Temple of the Sun God.

"...."

Eren lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"It seems like Reinhardt has returned."

"...."

Charlotte returned from her brief conversation somewhere and said so to Eren.

During the fight with Royar, Eren had narrowly escaped death several times.

Even as a Sword Master, it was difficult to deal with the power of the rampaging Lycanslope, fueled by the power of the Full Moon.

Lament and Raphelt.

If they didn't have the two relics, they might have lost.

In a miserable state, Eren succeeded in subduing Lycanslope and dragged his body out to the outside of the sewer before passing out.

The remaining tasks were completed by the soldiers and knights who followed Eren.

Although her condition was improved by the priests' treatment, the fatigue that felt like her whole body was about to break did not recover.

Adriana was taken away.

She told Charlotte that it was unrelated to this incident, but she didn't know what would happen.

The two followed the truth and finally reached it after only two days.

It was not difficult to catch the scattered clues around.

But dealing with the truth that was easily found was another problem.

"Eren."

"Yeah."

Charlotte asked Eren, unable to look at her.

"Is Reinhardt... the Demon King?"

Eren looked up at the ceiling quietly.

He's not the Demon King, but Reinhardt may be a minion of the Demon King.

But the confession that seemed like a joke at the time.

It has now become the last puzzle piece.

All the arrows of suspicion and doubt were aimed at Reinhardt.

"Yeah."

Eren, whose focus disappeared from her eyes, said quietly.

"He will be. Definitely."

Reinhardt is the Demon King.

* * *

The temple was quiet.

The news that the hero Reinhardt was suspected of being the Demon King and arrested was kept top secret.

Those who knew the contents were in a panic.

And the elite troops of the Empire, including Savioleene Tana, who had left for Dark Land, returned after receiving a call from the Empire while searching for the missing Reinhardt.

Of course, the Crown Prince and Heriot were also included.

Heriot, who was rolling her feet with a pale face because she couldn't find the missing Reinhardt, heard the story of the Crown Prince who met with the Emperor with Savioleene Tana and returned, and her face turned pale beyond white.

"W-what are you talking about, Dad...?"

The Crown Prince didn't understand the situation either.

"His Majesty said that there is a very high possibility that Reinhardt is the Demon King...."

"What...? What are you talking about?"

The Crown Prince briefly conveyed the investigation process of Charlotte and Eren and Berthus's final instructions that he heard from the Emperor.

Heriot's head was not bad enough to not understand all of those stories.

But she couldn't believe it. "Something is misunderstood... There must be a misunderstanding. There's no way, Dad. Reinhardt is... Reinhardt is a human being... But how could Reinhardt be..." Heriot's head was spinning as Duke held her gently. "Yes. If there was a misunderstanding, it will be revealed." "Yes, there's something, a misunderstanding. Definitely..." In Heriot's faint consciousness, Reinhardt's last words echoed in her mind. 'I wanted to save everyone...' Reinhardt couldn't be the Demon King. He couldn't be. But at that moment, Heriot clearly remembered the presence that was with Reinhardt, who had an unknown identity but possessed strong magic power. Heriot saw Savioleene Tana walking out of the central palace of the Huanggung in a daze. Heriot saw Shanafeil's commander-in-chief, who had turned pale, leaving the Tetra and stumbling before collapsing. -Commander! -Commander! Numerous knights rushed to Shanafeil's commander-in-chief, who had collapsed with weakened legs. That much. There was no choice but to raise huge doubts, suspicions, and shock in everyone's hearts. * * * The shackles were on. It was to prevent any foolishness with the power of the decree. However, because of that, I couldn't make any excuses or say anything to defend myself. Why I did what I did until now. What was the reason for everything I had done until now. I wasn't given even a chance for a little excuse or argument. I did all this to prevent the Gate Crisis, which could destroy the world, and now that I have found Akasha, I have achieved my goal. I wasn't even given a chance to say that. The fact that I have the power of the decree. The strongest supernatural power has become the worst curse for me now. The power of the decree seemed like a device to prevent me from saying anything in this situation. I was in a state where I couldn't say anything for myself or for those who felt betrayed by me. I couldn't feel the passage of time while trapped in the dark underground, but I knew that it was morning. Royar had returned in human form. Royar was trapped in the opposite iron bars. Royar, with the gag in his mouth, looked at me. "Ugh... U... Ugh..." Tears were flowing from Royar's swollen eyes. Does he think it's his fault that I'm caught? I don't think so. The accumulated events were destined to explode at some point, and it just happened at a really bad timing. I didn't know what I had to bear, but since it had become like this, I just had to accept it. Since it had become like this, it must have been meant to be. It felt like a reckless gamble. So I couldn't say anything, but I nodded my head as I looked at Royar, who was crying with his eyes wide open. I had the freedom to move my head. Is it your fault? I don't think so. Did my feelings get through to him? Royar didn't stop crying, but instead made more beast-like sounds. Where am I in the temple? I don't know. However, it seemed like the empire decided it was better to keep me in the temple rather than transfer me to the palace as long as I was being held captive in the temple. Soon, the guards were replaced. They were knights from Shanafeil and mages from the imperial magic corps. Those who had left with me on a mission just yesterday had now arrived to monitor me, who was now accused of being the Demon King. Everything had been turned upside down in just one day. Two iron bars. I soon found out who would be watching me and Royar from the closest place. Savioleene Tana. She was sitting inside the iron bars, looking down at me. She still seemed unable to understand the situation. "Reinhardt." "......" She called me from outside the bars. "Are you the Demon King?" I couldn't say anything because I was gagged. It's better that way. Yes, I am the Demon King. Or I could lie and say I'm not in this situation. I didn't want to say anything. Savioleene Tana looked at me through the bars with wide eyes. "Could it be... you saved the princess too...?" "......" Yes. I guess that's the conclusion. In the chain of events, everything I did to protect someone in the pretext of saving everyone would become an arrow that would come back to me. I could understand the process of such a disaster in my head, but I couldn't help feeling desperate and miserable. Of course, I wasn't just being watched while trapped. "The dispel isn't working." "Yes, then it must have been a magic that was released the moment I crossed the temple gate." She must have guessed that I was changing my appearance. The Sarkegar ring, which was specialized in disguise, was not detected by the mages' magic. Savioleene Tana looked at me quietly, as if she wanted to believe that I was just a human. But she knew that my sponsor was Lycanslof, who was undoubtedly the Demon King's henchman. And at the point where I possessed two relics, I couldn't be treated as anything less than a minion of the Demon King. There must have been a recognition that if I wasn't at the level of the Demon King, I couldn't possess two relics. How much time has passed? Do the Council and the Black Order know that I'm in this state? What will happen if they find out? In a state where I couldn't properly sense time, I was soon able to face what I had to face. "Your Highness..." Savioleene Tana spoke to someone with a trembling voice. Soon, someone's figure appeared in front of the iron bars. It was Charlotte. Charlotte looked at me silently.

"Open it."

"Your Highness, I cannot."

"Open it."

Charlotte said it twice. Savioleene Tana eventually opened the door with a key. Charlotte kneeled in front of me, tied up.

Charlotte looked at me.

I couldn't gauge the depth of the emotions raging in her eyes, the depth of her betrayal.

Charlotte asked me while looking at me.

"You've told me too many lies until now."

"......"

"So, this time, just this once... Honestly. Just once... Tell me honestly."

Charlotte looked at me.

Even in this situation, she begs for the truth while kneeling in front of me.

"Are you... right?"

She didn't ask what was right, but I know what she's asking.

Whether I am the child of the Demon King who escaped from the Demon Castle.

Whether I am the Demon King.

That's what she's asking.

Should I say no?

Should I continue to lie even in this situation?

There is no place to escape, and the truth that I am the Demon King cannot be hidden.

There is no way to go back to the way things were before without being suspected by the Council and the Black Order.

I have deceived Charlotte more than anyone else.

I have told her the most lies.

And even now, when everything is over, should I tell more lies?

No.

I'm tired now.

I'm tired of piling up lies.

I look at Charlotte.

If I lie here, even greater betrayal will come back to me.

If I deny it here, something irreversible will happen.

It's too late.

I couldn't pile up any more misunderstandings.

-Nod

I nodded my head and held out the shackles to her.

"I am... here... I am..."

Charlotte lowered her head and muttered in a trembling voice.

She was crying.

"What did I do wrong to you...? Why did you have to torment me like this? Did you hate me that much? Yes, I understand that the Empire destroyed the Demon World and you wanted revenge... But why me... Why did you have to... Why did you have to suffer so much... Was it your plan for me to rely on you again...?"

I wanted to save you.

"What did you want to do with the soul of the Demon King inside me? Yes, it was strange. That's why. You asked to be taken to the Spring Palace and appeared just in time to stop me from going on a rampage... You could do that because you were the son of the Demon King... You knew everything about what was happening to me from the beginning..."

I couldn't say anything about the puzzle I was trying to solve alone.

If my mouth wasn't sewn shut, could I say something?

Why didn't I say anything earlier? Do I have anything to say? "Now I can speak, but you probably think I'm just lying again since I've already been caught. Did you think that by marrying me...if we had gotten married...you could have taken over the empire...? Yes, I could have had such thoughts. The engagement to protect you could be seen as a conspiracy by the Demon King, who was trying to take over the empire by marrying the princess who had been eliminated from the imperial competition. It was Berthus who proposed the engagement with the princess, but I accepted it. I was not rebuilding the Demon World, but becoming a demon king who would swallow up the enemy and make them mine. It was a plausible plan even in my opinion. Of course, I had no such intention. Then is Ellen, who prevented that situation by becoming the princess's guardian knight, a hero of the empire's salvation? "Did I...do so much wrong to you?" I only used you from the beginning to the end. From escaping the Demon Castle, meeting me at the temple, becoming close to me, taking on the role of messenger, and all the lies I built up while dealing with Charlotte, they could all be understood as part of my ambition to swallow up the empire. So Charlotte was in front of me, trembling with betrayal and unable to cry properly. "I'd rather you kill me...I'd rather you kill me than make me so miserable like this...If you're going to make me so miserable like this, I'd rather you kill me..." The person who saved her was actually the Demon King. And even the person she relied on now was also the Demon King. She could only think that she had been deceived all along. "It would have been fun...to play with me like that...all those moments when I didn't know anything and smiled in front of you...and cried in front of you...it was fun, wasn't it?" Charlotte looks at me. Her empty gaze stares at me. "Every moment when I clung to you without knowing that you were my enemy, and every moment when I was used by you without knowing it...I couldn't stand it because it was so ridiculous." No. My current situation is more ridiculous than anything else. This reality where I caused all this trouble by meddling in things I should have left alone, and now facing the crisis of everything. My current situation is ridiculous. "I hope you die...in the most miserable way possible in the world..." Charlotte mutters absentmindedly. "I hope you die and can't even rest in peace, and are stuck in a hellish place forever..." Charlotte curses me. She kept saying in front of me, "What did I do so wrong?" That was what I wanted to say. What did I do so wrong...