Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 352 [Illustration]

Our exploration of the aboveground areas of the Demon King’s Castle only resulted in Charlotte having to acknowledge a truth she didn’t want to accept.

Charlotte reached the conviction that Baalier had used her from the beginning. The idea that everything he had done was for the Demon King’s resurrection, and not to save her, tied up all the loose ends perfectly. Because of this sudden realization, Charlotte was in a state to do anything more that day. The sense of betrayal had caused her to lose all motivation.

Was she regretting warning Eleris to run away? At that time, Charlotte had been almost certain that Baalier was the Demon King’s successor.

She had only just come to a conclusion regarding Baalier’s intentions for saving her. Things had become clear for her. The moment I revealed my identity, Charlotte, at least, would inevitably hate me.

However, if we could find a way to completely restore Charlotte’s condition somewhere inside the Demon King’s Castle, perhaps Charlotte could come to realize that my intentions to protect her were pure even if my identity was revealed later on.

Somehow, I found myself thinking about all this under the assumption that it was inevitable my identity would be revealed. However, it couldn’t be helped. If I quietly lived my life inside the Temple, I wouldn’t find myself in situations where my identity might be exposed. However, that wasn’t possible because of all the things I was involved in. I knew that the longer the tail, the more likely it was to be stepped on, yet I just couldn’t help it.

We were not able to continue with our exploration, and all the floors aboveground had already been explored. We had discovered Baalier’s room, which I never knew about, and Charlotte had found some clarity because of it.

This naturally led to a question. I had first regained consciousness not in Baalier’s room, but in a corridor.

I was Baalier, the prince of the Demon Realm, but I was also not Baalier.

The real prince of the Demon Realm, Baalier, had not been a good prince. He was a scoundrel, lazy, and a fool with no abilities. He was a pathetic guy who acted arrogantly because he had the backing of the Demon King.

I had claimed memory loss to cover for my lack of knowledge, and all I knew was that Baalier had been a spoiled, hot-headed brat. Nonetheless, Baalier had had a life before I became him.

At that moment, just before the Demon King’s death, when I possessed Baalier’s body, Baalier had to have been doing something.

I’d seen Baalier’s room for the first time that day, and the first place where I’d regained consciousness was a corridor. Not this room, but a corridor. This meant he’d been going somewhere.

‘Where was Baalier going before I possessed him? To the battlefield, where the Demon King was battling for his life? In his then-weak state, which was the epitome of incompetence?’

My return to the Demon King’s Castle brought with it a question that I had never considered before.

***

We were at the VIP suite inside the garrison headquarters. It was a room that had been prepared for visiting high-ranking nobles or military personnel who were conducting inspections. There were several bedrooms within the suite, and seemed like a comfortable place to stay for a few days.

Instead of staying in separate quarters, we decided to share one suite since we didn’t know how Charlotte’s condition might change overnight. There were separate bedrooms in the suite, so it did not matter much. Sunset was already approaching.

“I’ll go see how the search of the underground floors is going,” Sabioleen Tana said to Charlotte.

“Yes, Dame Tana.”

“Please rest.”

Sabioleen Tana left the room for a moment. Charlotte, having hung the robe she had been wearing all day on a hanger, stared at me intently.

“... What’s wrong?”

“... I want to wash up.”

‘Right. She has this thing where she’s very embarrassed about someone hearing her washing up.’

Charlotte seemed like she wanted to say something more to me but was hesitating out of embarrassment.

“I’ll step outside for a bit,” I said.

I might have reacted differently in another circumstance, but Charlotte wasn’t in a state to be disturbed at the moment.

“... Sorry,” she said.

While Charlotte washed up, I waited outside the VIP suite.

In the corridor outside the VIP suite, the towering walls of the Demon King’s Castle were visible through the window.

‘Whatever secret place is most probably underground, but how are we going to enter, and how would we bypass the traps?’

There were likely rangers and mages familiar with traps stationed in the garrison specifically to uncover the secrets of the Demon King’s Castle, and if they were struggling to make progress, then the same would go for us as well.

Click.

Quite some time must have passed while I was lost in those thoughts. I heard the door open and saw Charlotte peeking out. Her hair was dripping wet, and her face was flushed.

“I’m done washing up...”

Somehow, that statement made me think strange thoughts...

***

Charlotte, now dressed in a white gown and wearing slippers, was standing in front of the mirror, toweling her hair dry. Someone else had probably done all this for her in the palace, but at the Temple, she had to live independently, so it wasn’t particularly strange to see both Vertus and Charlotte doing such mundane things themselves.

In this state, she did not seem to channel the majesty or authority of a princess. She seemed just like an ordinary person of her age.

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” Charlotte asked, noticing my gaze.

“Oh, nothing. Just...”

“Hmm.”

Charlotte returned to drying her hair in front of the mirror.

After some time, once her hair was relatively dry, Charlotte came over and sat next to me.

‘A princess in a white gown and slippers...’

Charlotte leaned her head against me quietly. Knowing that Charlotte was likely both physically and mentally exhausted today, I didn’t say much.

“It’s strange,” she said.

“... What is?”

“What Detto said. It keeps coming to mind lately.”

The bizarre statement that we would get married...

“When I first heard it, I wondered what it meant. Our statuses are vastly different, and while I think you’re a good person, honestly... I didn’t have that kind of interest in you.”

“... So what?”

“You’re Ouen’s Champion.”

“... That’s right.”

“Status? That’s no longer an issue.”

Ouen’s Champion... Being chosen by a god made me more special than anyone else in the world. That title was an incomparable honor, even against royalty or nobility.

“I don’t think emotions are an issue anymore either,” Charlotte said. She seemed totally calm as she divulged that she had special feelings for me.

It was such a straightforward confession that it didn’t have much impact, which made it feel strangely ordinary.

‘Does she think that it would be strange if the prophecy doesn’t come true now?’

I couldn’t find the right words to say, so I just kept my mouth shut.

“I always thought that prophecy was definitely wrong,” she continued. “I still think it’s wrong, but the reason for my thinking has changed so much from before.”

“... What do you mean?”

Charlotte looked up at me quietly, as she leaned against me.

“I never thought about marrying you.”

“... I figured as much.”

Charlotte smiled at me.

“Now though, even if I wanted to marry you, I feel like you wouldn’t agree to it at all.”

Her words left me breathless. Her declaration was so straightforward that I couldn’t find a response.

“Given your personality, even if His Majesty decreed that we were to marry, you’d probably run away somewhere.”

“Wh-What, what on earth... what are you saying...?”

‘What am I supposed to do?’

As I stammered, unable to respond, Charlotte suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck. She had just showered, and the scent of her hair filled my senses.

Charlotte trembled, her head buried in the crook of my neck. “You don’t have to love me, Reinhart.”

“...” n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“But, just promise me one thing.”

I felt moisture on my neck. Charlotte was crying.

“Don’t betray me.”

She wasn’t asking for my love, only for my declaration that I wouldn’t betray her. It was easy enough for me to say, a promise I could easily give. It was as if she was saying, “I’ve compromised this much, so please compromise as well.” Drenched in betrayal, Charlotte was in an emotionally vulnerable state.

That’s why she was asking me to promise not to betray her. I could say it as much as I wanted.

“Of course.”

The moment I said that, though, I was already being untruthful. It was as if I had already betrayed Charlotte.

The further Charlotte distanced herself from Baalier, the closer she seemed to get to me. And once she reached the conclusion that she had been completely used, she had not only let go of Baalier, but had moved to cling to me even more.

My relationship with Charlotte only added to my guilt. Just as Charlotte seemed to cling to me to some extent, I was also clinging to Charlotte.

It was an attachment laden with obligation. I wished for her to live happily, no matter what. Therefore, even though it was hard to constantly lie to Charlotte, I couldn’t leave her alone.

We were in a suite that was not meant for one person alone. And therefore, a problem arose.

Click.

Both Charlotte and I jumped in surprise.

“Oh.”

While Charlotte was clinging to me, Sabioleen Tana returned.

“...”

Charlotte remained clinging to me, frozen in place, unable to even turn around. As soon as she opened the door, Sabioleen Tana uttered an “Oh” and turned to stone.

I was just as frozen, my eyes locked on hers. It was a situation ripe for misunderstanding. Or perhaps it wasn’t even a misunderstanding.

Tana seemed to hate herself for opening the door without knocking, and Charlotte seemed to hate herself for acting without thinking.

For the first time in a while, I could read Tana’s thoughts from her expression.

‘What did I just see? Should I leave? But I’ve already seen it, so what’s the point of leaving? Should I intervene? But why would I intervene? Who am I to intervene? What should I do? I wish I could go back five seconds!’

In the end, Tana backed out of the room with a stiff expression as if nothing had happened and closed the door behind her.

Click.

“...”

Charlotte pulled away from me. After making a confession of sorts, she seemed surprised at herself for not considering that someone might stumble upon this scene, and her face turned bright red.

“I-I’m... I-I’m just going to... um... go to sleep now...”

“... Alright.”

Charlotte staggered into the bedroom as though her soul had left her body and quietly closed the door.

A while later...

Knock, knock, knock.

There was a gentle knocking at the door.

“It looks like there’s only one VIP suite available...” Sabioleen Tana said with a sigh, looking as though she were at her wit’s end.

‘Wait. Were you planning to sleep in another suite to give us space? Aren’t you supposed to be around to prevent things like this from happening?’

“I-I don’t know... what to do about these kinds of situations...” Sabioleen Tana stammered.

Judging by her stammering, it seemed she was more mentally affected than Charlotte. With trembling lips, she said cautiously, “Um... make sure to... use protection...”

The unexpected comment left me speechless.

‘What? What is this?’

Thunk!

Charlotte, her face flushed, burst through the bedroom door, yelling at the top of her lungs, “No! No! It’s not like that!”

***

Charlotte retreated into her room. She seemed to be sleeping or pretending to sleep, and was determined not to take a single step outside for the rest of the night.

Sabioleen Tana, shocked by her own absurd comment, sat dumbly on the sofa, seemingly in disbelief.

“What... what did I just say...” she muttered over and over.

It was something an adult might have said, but it had definitely been unexpected. Words often unknowingly slip out, and that had been the case with Tana moments earlier.

Depending on the situation, it could have been considered an insult to royalty, but fortunately, Charlotte didn’t take issue with it, and no one else heard it. As it stood, Tana would likely be mentally out of sorts for the rest of the night.

“It’s all a misunderstanding,” I said.

“Is that so...?”

‘A room with only two people inside, a man and a woman, embracing... How could such a thing be a misunderstanding?’ said her expression.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

‘No, I mean, you can think all sorts of things, but it’s not like that!’

“Let’s talk about work.”

“Work? Ah... Oh right, work.”

Sabioleen Tana seemed to have completely forgotten what she had gone to do. She cleared her throat a few times.

“I spoke to the commander about how the search of the underground areas is progressing and... it's strange.”

As soon as we started talking about the task at hand, her demeanor changed. She spread out the map she had brought back on the table, which laid out the progress of the underground search.

“The underground up to the fifth floor has been explored. There are storage rooms, underground prisons, armories, and large breeding grounds where beasts were raised or kept. Even though it’s called the fifth floor, the facilities are so large that the underground of the Demon King’s Castle is actually bigger than the surface.”

The underground of the Demon King’s Castle looked rather extensive, even on the map.

“Most of the underground areas have been explored, and treasures have already been recovered.”

“Are there more levels below? You said the search wasn’t completed yet.”

“Yes. A few months ago, while exploring the fifth underground floor, they found a secret staircase leading further down.”

“There was a sixth floor below that?”

“That’s right.”

Sabioleen Tana pointed to a relatively newly-drawn door in one of the rooms, with a spiral staircase leading down depicted below it. However, the lower part of that spiral staircase was not completed.

“The staircase continues downward. You can keep descending for hours. But if you take just a few steps back up, you arrive back on the fifth floor.”

“... Sorry?”

Sabioleen Tana looked grim. “In other words, from the sixth floor onward, it’s a labyrinth.”

‘A labyrinth...’

“There’s no way to know if there are only six floors or if there are actually seven, eight or more. They’ve tried to map out the sixth floor, but it’s useless because the structure keeps changing every time they explore it. The traps seem to reappear as the structure changes, no matter how many times they’re dismantled.”

The commander had provided us with an overly simplified explanation earlier. The problem wasn’t just the traps; the area from the sixth floor downwards was an unknown labyrinth.

“He thought he would be reprimanded by Her Highness, so he deliberately downplayed it. The existence of this underground labyrinth hasn’t even been reported to the imperial family. In reality, there has been no progress beyond the first five floors.”

“... I see.”

“It’s understandable. The mages don’t know what magic is in the labyrinth, and there have been too many casualties. Injuries are common, and there are countless others whose fates are unknown.”

This labyrinth of unimaginable complexity had been discovered in the bowels of the Demon King’s Castle. The commander had deliberately avoided mentioning the labyrinth to us, merely stating that the underground area was dangerous. He didn’t want to be reprimanded or demoted for not disclosing the labyrinth to the princess. Since he thought this was a routine inspection, he probably believed we would take a cursory look around the place before leaving.

However, we weren’t there for an inspection; we were there to conduct our own exploration of the place. That’s why Sabioleen Tana needed to know exactly what was down there, and she had made the commander confess to the truth.

‘A mysterious underground labyrinth below the Demon King’s Castle... The labyrinth’s structure constantly changes, and traps reappear, making it meaningless to disarm traps and advance.’

The commander was just biding time, waiting for orders to withdraw rather than pointlessly sending more people into the labyrinth and suffering more casualties.

It was a dereliction of duty, but for the soldiers stationed in the garrison, it was a welcome one

In the original story, this labyrinth would never have been excavated.

The commander was trying to conceal the very existence of the labyrinth. If the imperial family knew about it, they would have ordered more soldiers to be sent in, resulting in many injuries or deaths.

While I agreed that human life was precious, now that Sabioleen Tana knew about this, it seemed unlikely that the commander would keep his position. There was definitely something inside the labyrinth, and it was certainly connected to the secret place I was searching for.

“It’s too dangerous for you or Her Highness to go in there...”

It seemed I would be prevented from heading inside, and Charlotte as well. It was too dangerous for someone as important as her to enter.