The Academy's Strongest Undercover Professor

I walked over to Amelia, who still had her eyes tightly shut, holding onto her legs and forming a small ball. Usually, I wasn't good when it deducted what people were feeling; however, looking at her right now reminded me of myself. Or, at the very least, it reminded me of my past self when I had fought against the first demon I had seen.

I could understand what she was going through. She was scared, maybe even traumatized, that something so evil could exist in this world. She had seen Zero, but he was special; he couldn't actually be considered a demon, and considering that the person who became one was so close to her, he must have made things difficult… even that part was similar to my own situation.

I didn't have the right words for her, and no one could have them since she would have to be the one to fight through all this pain… by her own means. Still, I would do my best so that she doesn't lose herself like I did back then. That was the best I could do for her.

I didn't tell her to open her eyes just yet as I didn't think that seeing the dead body of a "friend" would be something that she would want. Instead, I patted her head slowly and grabbed her in my arms.

"It's not your fault, just know that, alright?" I said as those words hit deep within me. I remember blaming myself for weeks for everything that had happened to those around me who had suffered because of my decisions. "It's his fault that he didn't believe in you…"

She continued to cry with her eyes closed as I left her bedroom, leaving behind yet another dead body. Today had been quite the day, I had killed over 30 demons in such a short time, and I couldn't even begin to imagine the number of demons that had infiltrated the humans, elves, and dwarves… the numbers have to be absolutely crazy. After all, the only thing they need is one mentally weak, and he will accept right away such a thing to happen.

Within a few minutes, I reached the throne room, where I could still see the dead bodies of all the nobles that I had killed, where a few remaining nobles who hadn't betrayed Amelia were still there.

I could already see them asking for help, but with a snap of my fingers, I removed their right to speak. Amelia was unstable right now. I didn't want her to hear such things. I made them silent and quickly helped them untie while still holding onto Amelia, who now had her arms wrapped around my neck.

"Can I open my eyes now?" She whispered… her voice absolutely broken.

"Not yet, don't worry, I'll tell you."

It took a few more minutes, but I got out of the Ice Castle and finally told her that she could open her eyes.

"You can open your eyes now…"

Her eyes finally fluttered as tears kept running down her face… no matter how much she tried, she couldn't keep those tears for herself. They kept going and going as she continued to look at my face from up close, so close that I could feel her hot and warm breath against my face.

She kept looking at me in the eyes and then toward my lips, over and over again.

"A-Are you sure that you don't like me?" She finally uttered. "Because the more I know about you… the more he makes me like you."

I didn't say anything just yet. I tried, but I didn't know what to say. However, as she continued to glare at me, I had no choice but to say something… even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"You don't know me… no one really knows about me. I like you, but I don't want to hide things from you about my life, about my past… about everything I do. I… just can't."

Amelia frowned right away. "Then just tell me… I won't say anything to anyone, please. I-I just don't want to lose you to someone else. It'll only hurt me even more."

"I…" I didn't know what to tell her. I wasn't ready to tell her everything… I wanted to try, but I couldn't. I wished my life was a simple one, but it just isn't. M-My life is complicated, too complicated for anyone to enter it. "I can't."

I knew that pushing people away was the best thing I could do… that's always what I did, and it never failed me yet. I knew that it made me lonely and made it harder for people to approach me.

"Why… why can't you tell me? I just want to know you. I don't care about being a queen any longer; everyone I knew betrayed me, and I'm all alone. If I can't know you, then I don't know what I'll do…"

She kept crying, which was just making things harder for me. I was never affected by emotions, but right now… looking at her, it was hard to resist. Maybe it was because I truly cared about her, but I felt bad for her. I wanted her to be happy, but I didn't know how to give her that happiness.

"I'll always be there for you, don't worry."

I continued to hug her.

"I don't want to hurt you. I just can't be with you right now… I can't be with anyone. Not until this war against the demons finally ends."

She sighed. I could even feel her shaking her head. "Why do you even care about the existence of demons that much… let's just live peacefully away from everything. Wouldn't that be perfect?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"I'm not one to hide while the rest of the world is slowly getting destroyed by demons. I won't stop until every single one of them is dead, even the demon king."

"But why… just tell me what the demons did for you to hate them so much?" She faintly smiled. "Just tell me, and I won't ask ever again." Continue reading stories on empire