episode_0052

“How much can you tell me?”

He asked, leaning against the sofa.

“I can tell you everything you want to know.”

“So, how much do you know?”

“At least more than what Her Highness the Princess knows, I dare say.”

After this night, Cloe will be taken away, and a day will pass. As time passed, anxiety grew. It was impossible to rely solely on Karl’s words that nothing would happen.

“Do you also know about Deminus?”

“Of course.”

The man in front of me, Matthias, raised his head from pouring the drink.

He handed me a glass with large ice and strong whiskey inside.

“Is there a reason you didn’t bring a maid?”

“Do you think I can’t handle being alone?”

“Of course not. I was just curious. Perhaps the maids are not properly attending to Her Highness the Princess….”

“Don’t worry needlessly.”

In fact, I deliberately came alone.

Yulia seemed to… dislike my getting to know the power of the nobles and their past in detail. It might have been just my mood, but it felt that way. Today, I don’t have the luxury to care about such doubts. My attention is entirely consumed by Cloe and the academy.

I brought the glass to my lips and drank.

I gulped down the strong liquor all at once.

Surely, this drink was not made to be drunk like this. It’s a drink to be savored slowly, enjoying its aroma. But I was thirsty. Anxious. I wanted to gulp it down.

Matthias silently looked at my empty glass and refilled it without a word. It hadn’t been long since I sat down, but I had already emptied two glasses.

“Do you know about what happened at the academy today?”

“I heard that the knights of the academy visited.”

“And who they took?”

“Yes.”

Whether it was due to this man’s skill or because news of the Grand Lady’s arrest had spread like wildfire, it was unclear. Thanks to that, the conversation seemed to speed up.

“I’m curious why the clergy doubts Clowe Deminuus.”

“…”

“He’s just a distant descendant of the hero Deminuus, with no connection to the royal family, right?”

Emperor Green and the hero Deminuus were key figures in leading the victory against the demons, but they were distinctly different. One became a wizard and king, the other a knight protecting the king as a duke. Eventually, they both gained independence and established their own nations.

“Princess, it seems you truly know nothing.”

“…Are you mocking me?”

“It’s evident how much the knights and maids protected you.”

Matthias chuckled softly.

It might have seemed impudent at first, but it was helpful to me. After seeing the blind dedication shown by the count and Blair, encountering someone more audacious was refreshing. The knowledge he had accumulated while traveling the continent proved useful.

“Deminuus and Green. They were the core of the hero party. People gathered around them.”

“I know that.”

That’s how legends work. In the process of being passed down through generations, they tend to change. They adapt to the desires of the teller and the convenience of the listener… Distortions occur.

Once again, he offered a strong drink.

Until I say otherwise, this will be the most precious and valuable drink brought here. I silently raised the glass to my lips, listening carefully to Matthias’s words.

“Intentional or not, stories differ from the truth. There are various kinds of distortions. Whether Deminuus and Green were rivals, fought over a woman, or were both artificial beings….”

It was something I had heard or read somewhere before.

There were so many anecdotes about the hero party that it was difficult to list them all. It was uncertain which were true and which were false.

“Our household knows relatively truthful stories. We served the noble… Emperor Green.”

“That’s good. Thanks to that, you can provide me with the information I need.”

“Yes, I am very pleased to have fulfilled my duty.”

“After the conversation, at least give me some praise.”

Watching Matthias continue speaking with ease, it was clear he was seeking praise. If his stories satisfied, she was willing to flatter him as much as necessary. No matter how close one was, everyone needed their master’s approval.

“All distorted and wandering tales have one thing in common. That is the unchanging truth. That Deminos received the blessing of the stars. And later, Green, who becomes the emperor, is a magician.”

“That’s right.”

My existence proves the power of Emperor Green.

The indescribable bright energy shown by Cloe Deminos reveals the remnants of the blessing that the hero received. I could feel it instinctively.

“But why didn’t the hero step forward? It’s natural for the hero’s party to take the lead. On the other hand, Deminos did not want to step forward or sit on the throne. He just wanted to become a knight.”

“….”

“Deminos’s power, the blessing of the stars, becomes stronger depending on emotions. There aren’t many people who know this principle now.”

“…I see.”

Come to think of it, Cloe’s active role in the novel began when she realized her feelings for Karl Mayner. She couldn’t surpass Karl’s talent and potential, but she was depicted quite strongly. The source of her power was always ‘love’ for Karl.

Pure love.

Not sticky, but devoted and sacrificial love.

It was a love far from my taste.

Reading the novel, I didn’t quite understand it, and honestly, it wasn’t a very interesting story. I preferred something more stimulating… I liked thick, sticky jealousy and obsession. If I had to express it, I liked a dark love.

Of course, I didn’t dislike Cloe as the heroine, but it was less enjoyable to watch. She was too delicate and overflowing with consideration in real competition.

If it were me, I would never act like that.

If it were me, I would never be able to give love like the one given by Cloe in the novel.

….

I’m having strange thoughts again.

It’s because of the alcohol.

I hurriedly put down the glass and waited for Matthias’s next words.

Thud-

The sound of the glass being placed on the wooden table broke the silence.

Matthias looked at me and continued speaking.

“Warrior Deminus was actually disqualified as a hero.”

“…!?”

“A hero who should fight for humanity fought only to protect one person.”

“…Unbelievable.”

My mind was already racing.

Thinking about the character Cloe in the novel, I anticipated Matthias’s next story. The hero Deminus probably…

“Did the hero assume the role of Green’s knight?”

“As expected, Princess Jeon is quick-witted. Yes, that’s right.”

….

“Deminus not taking the king’s place, not leaving Green’s side… everything was for one reason.”

“…Love.”

Warrior Deminus loved the Green Emperor.

It’s certain.

“Just out of curiosity, was Green a woman? Or-”

“Deminus wanted to become the queen.”

“The hero was a woman.”

In novels and games, it’s not uncommon for the hero to be a woman, so it wasn’t surprising.

But there was still an unresolved question.

…Why not a queen but a duchess?

Even after making Green the emperor, the woman who had protected his side, who had assumed the role of a single knight… why wasn’t she remembered as a queen and instead received a fiefdom to establish an independent country?

….

I soon found the answer.

People tend to speculate based on their usual way of thinking and familiar environments. So it wasn’t difficult to anticipate what had happened.

A rival,

There was another woman.

Just as the original work had various heroines including the saint for the protagonist Karl Mayner….

The Green Emperor must have had several women. Even the hero Deminus couldn’t escape being part of the harem without leaving her mark….

Sigh.

This novel is too harsh on women, on heroines.

Thinking that the hero Deminus might have been a heroine from the previous generation, I felt sympathy.

Matthias, after examining my uncomfortable expression, brought out a glass of cold water.

I gulped down the water he handed me.

“Sigh…”

I let out a sigh.

“I get it roughly. In the end, the empress became another woman, and the warrior who couldn’t even obtain a part of the empress’s exclusive love established his own country and left. Is that the conclusion?”

“Similar.”

“….”

I didn’t want to hear more.

It was such a dreadful story.

Thinking about Deminuss’s situation, it was really… agonizing.

“What does that have to do with Clo?”

“……”

“Anyway, the warrior left the side of the green emperor and left descendants, right? Then, Clo, as a descendant, would have no relation to the royal family, right?”

I wondered if the organization was randomly investigating any strong-looking girl of my age. Otherwise, why suddenly bring up Clo…

Ah.

Ah…!

Suddenly, a certain scene came to mind.

It was a vivid imagination that brushed through my mind.

With trembling hands, I found a glass and calmed myself down. Matthias’ expression was also slightly stiff.

“I’ll ask… Did Deminuss leave the side of the green emperor willingly?”

“……”

“As a condition for leaving, did she demand something, or did something happen just before she left…?”

I didn’t want to imagine.

But the scene was already being drawn in my head.

“A jealous, blind warrior is dangerous in itself.”

“…Ah.”

“It wasn’t easy to control her powerful strength in a deteriorated mental state.”

“…So what happened then?”

I asked with a trembling voice.

I waited for the expected answer, the answer I didn’t want to hear.

“One day, after the empress was decided, Deminuss proposed to Green.”

“A proposal…?”

“It was a fervent request, persuasion, almost like a threat.”

“Like a plea, then.”

“You could see it that way.”

Ha.

An uneasy premonition never proved wrong.

“You don’t look good. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“…I have to.”

“It seems the guardian knights had a reason to protect Her Highness. Do you want to hear it?”

“I don’t want to hear it, I have to. Don’t make me say it three times.”

Matthias sighed deeply… and said,

“I want your child.”

Stop.

Don’t recite the lines from back then.

“When I hear your voice, I feel like throwing up. Just explain the situation.”

“…Yes, Deminuss suggests it. To conceive a child through coitus. Then, there will be nothing that catches the attention of the empress in the future, and I will leave and live quietly.”

“Haah… Did Green accept that proposal?”

Matthias answered without hesitation.

The knowledge within the family was undoubtedly correct.

“People with the name Deminuss, descendants of the hero, are also descendants of Emperor Green. Now their blood has thinned considerably.”

“….”

Cloé.

Cloé Deminuss.

Her distant ancestor… was the same as mine.

We were both descendants of Emperor Green.

My distant relative imprisoned by the institution.

Wait for me.

I will definitely save you…

Cloé.