Chapter 123
“He won’t reveal himself easily. He knows very well that a full‑scale fight would put him at a disadvantage….”
“As if that’s a surprise.”
I frowned, recalling the illusion the enemy had used.
Guys with annoying tricks like that always preferred hit‑and‑run tactics.
That’s what makes it such a pain.
There were two ways to deal with this.
Either we go looking for him, or we create a situation where he has no choice but to come to us.
Obviously, the latter was far more advantageous for us.
To steer things that way, we need information.
Luckily, we had someone on our side who knew the enemy very well. No—“knew” wasn’t enough to describe it.
Even though he was currently kneeling pathetically on the floor, this guy was once the king of the demon race.
“Blanche, he’s your subordinate, right? Can’t you just order him to get lost already?”
“Well….”
At my sigh‑laden question, Blanche gave an awkward smile, looking embarrassed.
“It seems a rebellion has broken out in the Demon Realm.”
“A rebellion?”
“They said they can’t follow a madman who abandoned the Demon Realm and worships a human as king.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
If an emperor suddenly started worshipping a puppy as king and abandoned state affairs, humans would revolt too and drive the lunatic out.
Seeing that I seemed to understand, Blanche’s lips drooped downward.
“Then why did your subordinate bother coming over here? If he took the empty throne you abandoned, the rebellion would succeed easily.”
“The law of the Demon Realm is that the strongest becomes king. To prove that, one must fight the king in front of everyone.”
“So your subordinate wants to drag the Demon King back to the Demon Realm and fight you—to prove he deserves the throne.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then….”
I crossed my arms and tilted my head.
“Why don’t you just go with him and fight once? Problem solved.”
There was no need to complicate things when such a simple solution existed.
“But I’m stronger than him. If we fight, I’ll win.”
“Then why do you look like this right now?”
I scanned his battered appearance with a frown, and Blanche complained indignantly.
“He was properly summoned, but I was forced across the barrier, so I had no choice. Once I return to the Demon Realm, I’ll recover my strength quickly.”
“Then just deliberately lose.”
“There is no falsehood in strength. A duel must be truthful.”
“Then live properly in the Demon Realm and act like a real Demon King.”
“But I want to stay by your side.”
This is bad, that is bad.
What exactly do you want to do?
Something that could have been resolved easily was becoming complicated because of Blanche’s stubbornness.
Come to think of it, it was always like this. The moment Blanche got involved, everything turned into a mess.
Was my greatest enemy not Pamel, but this idiot Demon King?
Realizing that anew, I let out a deep sigh and grabbed my head.
“Oh, and about that ‘proper summoning.’ Was it Kana who summoned the demon?”
“That’s what Labellice said. The human who summoned me in the past was probably that woman too.”
“Then that means….”
That meant a demon had been inside Kana for three years.
That was more than enough time for a demon skilled in illusions to slowly take over the Winter Estate.
We can assume everything here has already fallen into Kana and that demon’s hands.
Thinking that way, one concern stood out sharply.
“…Grandfather.”
Could it be that even the Grand Duke had fallen victim to Kana and the demon?
But when I recalled the day he guided me to the imperial chamber, he had seemed no different from usual.
Was that an illusion too?
Then where was the real Grand Duke? Was he alive? Or had he already been eliminated…?
My heart dropped at the thought.
My chest felt tight, as if something heavy were pressing down on it, making it hard to breathe.
No. No.
Clutching my chest, I shook my head.
The seal of the family head, which allowed entry to the imperial chamber—that was something an illusion could not create.
That day, I entered the imperial chamber. I met Pamel there, and I came out with his soul.
The Grand Duke was safe.
The moment I reached that conclusion, the pressure crushing my chest disappeared completely.
But….
A strange feeling filled my heart in place of that vanished weight.
Since when did I start worrying about the Grand Duke like this?
If the Grand Duke died, I—the heir—would succeed him as the Grand Duke of Ashinov.
I would gain full authority over the family and fulfill my long‑held wish of “the family’s destruction.”
So if the Grand Duke died, wouldn’t that be a good thing for “Danae, who dreams of revenge”?
And yet, the moment I imagined his death, the first thing I felt was fear.
Fear…?
After regaining memories of my past life, I tried my hardest not to grow attached to the Grand Duke.
A descendant of Pamel.
Heir to my enemy’s bloodline.
The master of the family I was meant to destroy.
But the Grand Duke, unaware of my intentions, was always devoted to me as his granddaughter.
Even the three brothers, who shared not a drop of blood with me, cherished me sincerely as their younger sister—all because of the Grand Duke’s love.
Every time I faced their clumsy yet unmistakable affection, guilt stabbed at my chest.
I kept insisting I’d ignore those feelings and carry out my revenge.
But now, I had no choice but to admit it.
At some point, I had stopped seeing him as “my enemy’s descendant” and started thinking of him simply as my “grandfather.”
…I lost.
In the end, I lost to that unwavering affection and silent support.
The hardened vengeance that began in my past life melted away under the Grand Duke’s sun‑like warmth, which I had mistaken for the north wind.
If this was the reason Pamel reincarnated me through his descendant’s body, then his plan was a complete success.
“Danae?”
“My king?”
Seeing me standing there absent‑mindedly, Rien and Blanche called out to me in concern.
I took a deep breath and clenched my fist tightly.
“I need to check on my grandfather first.”
“If you mean him, Ska is protecting him. Don’t worry.”
At Rien’s words, my head snapped up. Now that I thought about it, Ska—who had left with Rien—was nowhere to be seen.
“Ska?”
“As soon as we woke from the illusion, we split up. I came this way, Ska went that way.”
If Ska was protecting the Grand Duke, then it was reassuring.
Despite his casual manner, he was a being with tremendous power.
Feeling relieved, another question came to mind.
“By the way, Rien, what kind of illusion did you encounter?”
“…….”
I thought it was a light question, but unexpectedly, Rien pressed his lips shut.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“But I told you about mine.”
“That was to confirm your safety, Danae.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Rien.
The more desperately he refused, the more curious I became about the illusion he had seen.
Crossing my arms, I rubbed my chin and began to reason it out.
“That demon mistook me and you for lovers.”
Then maybe Rien had been shown something similar?
“Did I throw myself at you and kiss you? Or did I run at you after stripping my clothes?”
I deliberately grinned slyly and poked Rien in the side with my elbow.
I expected him to shout, ‘Absolutely not!’—but once again, Rien said nothing.
“…….”
His silence made me go quiet too. A dreadful thought crossed my mind.
“…Did I really run at you naked?”
“…It was only an illusion.”
That delayed answer confirmed everything.
What Rien saw was “lover mode” Danae—an extremely intense version at that.
“No, seriously? That actually happened?”
I could only think he was insane. What kind of illusion had that crazy demon shown him?
Well, maybe it was so absurd that Rien broke out of it quickly….
Still, I wasn’t grateful at all.
“Forget it completely. Erase it from your mind!”
“…That’s not something I can control.”
Right. Of course it wasn’t.
If I had seen an illusion of a half‑naked Rien, I wouldn’t be able to forget it easily either.
As I stood there at a loss for words, Rien sighed awkwardly.
“As I said earlier, it was just an illusion. It only had your face, Danae—it wasn’t really you. I don’t think of the person I met in that illusion as you.”
“Rien, I appreciate the thought, but that’s not comforting at all.”
As I pouted and took a step back, a new figure appeared through the open doorway.
“Oh my. It seems you didn’t like my illusion. I prepared it very carefully, tailored just for you.”
The mastermind behind all of this!
It was Labellice, wearing Kana’s skin.
