ITK C46: A Demon’s Love
“After hearing the history of our race, you must realize how important the holy swords are to us!”
“Y-Yes!”
“If Astres has the Wicked-Holy Sword Dreischwartz with her, her lineage will be eligible to fight for the Demon King’s throne once more! Even the senate will have no choice but to withdraw their verdict of exiling her!”
Ah, so this was the Demon King’s ultimate goal!
“This is the only way left to save Astres. Other political means of saving her have been forestalled! Please!”
The Demon King, a person with the highest social standing, bowed so low that I could see the back of his head.
“Lord Zedan…! Going this far for my sake is-!”
Miss Astres wells up with tears upon witnessing the Demon King’s actions.
…
These two are definitely…
While I was lost in my ideas as to what kind of relationship they had, someone lightly tugged me by the hem of my shirt.
It was Batemy and Belena.
Do they have a suggestion? I absolutely have no idea how to proceed with this situation anyway, so I’m open to any.
“The Demon King and Miss Astres like each other.”
I can tell.
“Plus, they’re childhood friends.”
Okay, how cliché can this get?
“Both being of noble lineage, they’ve been acquainted with each other since childhood times. They immediately fell in love at first sight and promised a future together.”
I wish they would just explode.
“But Lord Zedan is from the family of Demon Kings. From a tender age, he has already displayed exceptional wisdom and skill, and has secured the throne after surpassing his siblings.”
“That’s why the four noble families attempted to get close to His Majesty by sending maidens of appropriate age his way. But His Majesty only has eyes for Miss Astres…”
“What’s more, Miss Astres also did numerous meritorious deeds on the battlefield in order to become a worthy wife and was recruited to be part of the Heavenly Four…”
“If she becomes the Demon King’s wife, she’s bound to have the highest level of authority. Fearing that outcome, the other members of the Heavenly Four…”
…Eliminated her before that could happen.
Regardless of whether Miss Astres succeeded or failed, they tasked her with causing a commotion for which she took complete responsibility and eventually lost her position—the very same uproar that occurred here not long ago.
“Are you saying the demon race used us for their political strife?”
“Should we destroy them?”
Platy and Veil are furious, but I need to calm them down.
“We should have realized things sooner. But the human army has been on the offense lately… I had to go to the frontlines myself to keep them in check, especially after they gained strong allies… No, that’s wrong. Apologies, I’m only coming up with excuses.”
The Demon King shuts down his own words with self-deprecation.
“The purpose of challenging you to a bout earlier was more so to get our hands on the holy sword rather than fight you.”
“Don’t be irrational, Lord Zedan!!!” reprimands Miss Astres. “Be that as it may, you don’t know the saint’s true strength! His Majesty may be the strongest there is in our race, but once the saint gets serious, you’ll be killed in an instant!”
Um…not really.
I’m just a commoner with a skill that makes me look superior.
I can never stand a chance against the likes of the Demon King… I think.
“Please don’t make light of yourself. The demon race owes everything to you, Lord Zedan!”
“But Astres, I can’t help wanting to save you for as long as I’m alive. If I can’t obtain the holy sword, then I might as well die in the hands of the strongest person!”
They’re free to be in their own world like that, but I won’t kill anyone.
I will never allow myself to commit such a deed that can create a breeding ground for future problems.
“I don’t mind handing over the holy sword if your situation calls for it…”
“Really?!”
It’s not like I wanted to have it in the first place anyway.
But it was impossible. When I was about to hand over the holy sword to the Demon King, it clung to my hands like a superglue.
“Huh?! It won’t let go!”
“This is why it’s impossible for me to hand it over even if I wanted to.”
What now?
Personally, after grasping this uninvited couple’s true intentions, my thought of wanting them to explode has decreased by half. The other half now wants to open a path for their romance to blossom.
The broken holy sword caught my attention once more—Miss Astres’ family heirloom.
It was smashed by the Demon King of that era some hundreds of years ago. From then on, Miss Astres’ family resigned to their fate of being the Demon King’s aide with the broken sword as proof of their defeat.
According to their story, if Miss Astres has a proper holy sword in place of a broken one, not only will her family status rise, but she will also become an indispensable person for the demon race.
By doing so, she will regain her lost position. It sounds a little reckless, but I’m confident she will never betray anyone, so the plan might just work.
I take the broken sword in my hands.
…What was its name again? The Wild-Holy Sword Sechsweiss?
“What’s wrong, Dear?”
I concentrate on sensing an aura from the Sechsweiss’ hilt without answering Platy’s question.
Nothing.
It’s completely different from whenever I hold Dreischwartz. As I thought, this sword died the moment it broke.
“…Orkubo.”
I order one of the orcs on standby.
“Bring as much mana metal as you can from the storeroom to the forge and start the furnace.”
“What are you planning to do, Master?”
Long story short, Miss Astres can just show this sword to them. A holy sword is a holy sword, after all.
“I’m restoring this sword with my own hands.”
Thank for the chapter.
If Astres always wanted to be Zedan’s wife then why did she want to kidnap Platy to be his bride?
actually, they’re unrelated to each other. astres was keeping her public and private matters separate (her duty as a heavenly king vs her feelings for zedan), and she was only doing what she was asked to do. she had no idea what it was for. i could elaborate more, but im more or less spoiling chapter 52. haha
Just because she likes Zedan doesn’t mean she will neglect her duties as one of the four heavenly demon kings. There are people who are able to separate their personal and public matters.
Remember in the previous chapters that they wanted to make ties to the mermaid race so that they have the power of land and sea to fight against the human race.
It’s a political piece and has nothing to do with love. This was common in our history I’m sure. “How a Realist Hero Rebuilt a Kingdom” is a perfect example on explaining the harem and political marriages.