Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 536

A few days ago, Louise von Schwartz sought an audience with the Emperor. She intended to confront him about the decisive blow that had been dealt to the already strained relationships among the members of the Schwartz royal family.

“Your Majesty, it seems you have an excessive interest in the affairs of the Schwartz royal family,” Louise said.

“How could I not have an interest in one of the main factions of the Allied Forces?”

The emperor of the Gradias Empire, Vertus de Gradias... There were emperors who excelled in times of war, and those who excelled in times of peace.

Louise von Schwartz did not know on which side Emperor Vertus’s abilities lay. However, she knew that while the Empire could not be said to be thriving, it was still breathing, and it had managed to unite the surviving vassal states to form an allied army. That was certainly a demonstration of Emperor Vertus’s abilities.

“Surely you must realize that someone from the Gradias family casually throwing out a comment regarding such a sensitive issue is a significant insult to the Schwartz royal family.”

The Empire was above Kernstadt, but Kernstadt was not a nation to be taken lightly. If the Kernstadt army were to withdraw from the Allied Forces, the army would lose thirty percent of its fighting strength.

Kernstadt’s forces played a crucial role within the alliance. No matter how powerful the Empire was, referring to the youngest prince of the Schwartz royal family as an illegitimate child, regardless of whether it was said in private, was a serious diplomatic blunder and a clear misstep on the part of the emperor.

Despite Louise von Schwartz’s cold gaze, Vertus wore his usual smile. novelbuddy-cσ๓

“Do you think I don’t know that it would be better to remain silent?” Vertus said. “Or rather, would it have been better if I had remained silent?”

Ignoring the issue of the illegitimate child would be to the Emperor’s advantage.

“If I had remained silent, Heinrich would eventually be assassinated by his envious and inferior siblings,” Vertus said quietly. “I could use his death as a pretext to eliminate the Schwartz royal family, who have always been a thorn in the Empire’s side—all under the guise of wartime necessity.”

He let out a faint sigh. “Sure, there would be an unbearable amount of noise. The backlash would be intense. But still... there’s justification for it, isn’t there? We’re fighting a war that will determine the fate of humanity. The Allied Forces might waver, but the army would not collapse. We’re fighting a just war, after all.”

He folded his hands, and his voice grew colder. “Giving away the life of Heinrich von Schwartz in exchange for the removal of the Schwartz royal family—who will almost certainly challenge the Empire once the war ends—is a possible, calculated move. If I simply stayed silent, everything would unfold naturally.”

Then, with a faint, almost ironic smile, he added, “Wouldn’t it have been wiser for the ruler of the Empire to remain silent?”

Vertus’s harsh words were in direct contrast to his smiling expression. Louise’s expression hardened further. If he had remained silent, Kernstadt would fall on its own, and Vertus could take advantage of the chaos to destroy any future the Schwartz royal family had under the guise of a just cause, thereby swallowing the entire Kernstadt army.

There would be significant backlash from the Kernstadt army, but this war was not a war being waged for any personal gain.

Vertus calculated that the Allied Forces would suffer great turmoil but would not split apart. Kernstadt, which might become the biggest competitor post-war, would fall on its own There was no reason for him not to watch it happen.

“What are you saying?” Louise asked.

“I’m saying that I didn’t make a diplomatic blunder by bringing up the possibility of an illegitimate child for some ulterior motive. I just didn’t want to see a friend die... That’s all.”

Vertus could have ignored him, but he had not remained silent when approached by Heinrich. Heinrich was an important asset, but exchanging his life for the future of the Empire was something that had to be done. However, Vertus would not go down that route. He did not give Heinrich a direct answer, but provided him with some aspect of the truth. Not the whole truth, but some.

“I’ve come to understand that if you don’t value your friends, terrible things happen.”

Louise could not understand this additional, seemingly meaningless statement from Vertus. But had things been left as they were, Heinrich would have been killed... That statement made Louise grit her teeth.

“Do you really believe such a thing will happen? Do you think such a foolish, nonsensical thing will occur?” Louise asked.

“Your two brothers are more foolish than you think.”

Louise had trust in brotherhood. No, not even that. She had faith in humanity itself.

To believe that, on the eve of humanity’s final battle, they would be jealous of an illegitimate child more talented than themselves and attempt to assassinate him... Louise could not understand that such a foolish and nonsensical thing could happen. Those who had more rights than others should also bear more responsibility than them.

Louise von Schwartz believed that her brothers would not stoop to such irresponsible acts. She did not think her brothers were that foolish. She did not expect much from them, but she did not think the were this despicable.

However, the situation had already unfolded. The other two brothers had begun to insist that they had to act before their youngest brother did something foolish.

Assassination was no longer a distant possibility but a likely reality that had been pushed to the forefront. Alphonse and German seriously believed that if they did not kill Heinrich, they themselves might be killed. Now, it was a matter of time before it happened.

But wasn’t it the Emperor’s words that started it all? His term, “illegitimate child.” If Heinrich had not heard that, this would not have happened.

Could all this really have been avoided, though? Louise had seen their blatant disregard and contempt for Heinrich, both from afar and up close. Even if this incident with the emperor had not happened, something else would have eventually triggered it.

Would they really attempt to kill Heinrich in secret—out of sight, beyond her awareness, without even asking for her consent?

She did not think they were that foolish and stupid. But could humans be that foolish? Louise von Schwartz’ desperately felt like punching the emperor, who was smiling after irresponsibly throwing a bomb into her lap, in the face.

Had the bomb been there all along, though? Had she just refused to see it ticking?

“It is a bit disappointing that the commander of the Kernstadt forces has come to see me like this, to be honest.”

“Did you just say you were disappointed?”

Louise’s brow furrowed. He seemed to be trying to reverse the situation. Did he think the emperor’s name carried the same prestige as before?

Humanity’s forces had diminished, and so the emperor no longer wielded the same prestige and authority as before. Did he still mistakenly think that he stood above everyone, like in the days when the height of the Empire’s power soared to the heavens after the Great War?

“The Emperor of the Empire has committed the rudeness of interfering in the domestic affairs of another state to save the life of the Commander’s son, yet you’ve come to question me instead of being grateful. Isn’t that something to be disappointed about?” Vertus said.

Louise could not hide her shock.

“Why, did you think I wouldn’t know?” continued Vertus.

Louise felt a chill run down her spine. This was something that was only known to three people within the Schwartz royal family—the king, the current queen, and Louise herself. Yet the emperor knew about it.

“The Commander graduated early from the Kernstadt Royal Academy at the age of eighteen, didn’t she?”

Louise remained silent.

She was a genius who had graduated early from the Royal Academy of Kernstadt. That was what the rest of the world was told.

“But you did not graduate early, did you? You dropped out.”

Vertus continued to gaze at her, and Louise felt a suffocating pressure.

“Raphael Müller.”

Her eyes went wide with shock.

“Do I need to explain further?”

The Emperor already knew the name Louise had buried in her heart long ago—the name of the person she had loved, who had died long ago.

***

“I couldn’t understand why the Schwartz royal family had accepted a child presumed to be an illegitimate child into the royal family. King Konstantin is a very meticulous person who wouldn’t create a bastard, and Queen Solenin would faint if she knew of a bastard’s existence. Yet, for some reason, Heinrich, whom everyone presumed to be an illegitimate child, had not been dealt with, but accepted into the family... I could not understand it. The Schwartz royal family I knew was not like that.”

Louise was staring at Vertus, her face as hard as a rock.

To Vertus, the king and queen were not the sort of people to sire bastards, and even if they did, they would have dealt with them rather than accepting them into the royal family. Yet, for some reason, Heinrich had been accepted into the royal family.

Of course, this was all backwards deduction. The youngest prince, who was excessively disliked, appeared to be a bastard. But if they hated him so much, why hadn’t they just gotten rid of him? There had to have been other circumstances that forced them to keep him alive.

Louise von Schwartz, despite being of age, had not yet married. Although she had not yet succeeded to the throne, heirs were very important to those who would succeed the throne. Despite that, she had not married, and showed no intention of doing so.

The Kernstadt Royal Academy was modeled on the Temple, and shared the same sort of structure. People from different social classes were all admitted and took classes together.

Louise was still staring stonily at the table. Vertus was being extremely rude, both on a personal and political level, and she could make an issue out of it if she wanted to. But Louise could not say anything, and that in itself was already evidence.

“I have several assumptions in my head, but I won’t voice them. Anything more would only torment you, Commander.”

Louise remained silent.

“The point is this.” Vertus put down his teacup and looked over at Louise von Schwartz, who was stiff as a stone. “You can’t protect everything.”

Heinrich had been made aware of the danger he was in, leading to a dispute. A choice had to be made.

“You must choose,” said Vertus. “Before you lose everything by not choosing either.”

Vertus had accelerated something that would have happened eventually. Louise von Schwartz had to choose to save something before everything was ruined.

“Did you really just want Heinrich to live? Is that really all?” Louise asked quietly.

Vertus chuckled. “If I had remained silent, we wouldn’t have needed to have this uncomfortable meeting. Why do you think I endured it?”

He didn’t want a friend to die. Despite the potential for significant political gain, Vertus had not remained silent. He had given Heinrich a hint, even at the risk of provoking Louise von Schwartz’s wrath. He had acted without any notion of self-interest.

Vertus’s statement erased the last suspicions Louise had that his intentions might be malicious.

‘If you want to protect your son, you must see blood,’ was his implication.

Vertus said no more. It seemed that this was as far as he would go when it came to meddling in another nation’s internal affairs.

***

A long time ago...

“Why... Why did you kill Raphael? Why did you have to go that far?”

“You’ve lost your mind. We cannot allow the seed of a filthy commoner into the royal family. I told you to study with the commoners and understand their ways, not to form attachments. How could you not understand this much, given all your intelligence and talent?

“A lowly creature dared to covet what it could not have, so it was rightfully punished. Do you think there is room for personal feelings on the path to becoming the Queen of Kernstadt and laying the foundation to surpass the Gradias royal family?

“You were foolish, my daughter. Yes, humans make mistakes. There can be no perfect being. You made a mistake, and we need to move past it. Erase it, forget everything. Start anew.”

The cruel words of her father, Konstantin von Schwartz, left Louise dazed.

It had been a young love. It could have been called naive, but the fact that it was love could not be denied. That clumsy love bore clumsy fruit, and a cruel price had to be paid.

That love was the first real emotion she had encountered, an escape from a world where everything was suffocatingly forced upon her. A world of dignity, hypocrisy, honor, and pretense, where things she never wanted were forced upon her.

That love was the first thing she had gained by her own will, but it had been taken from her and mercilessly trampled upon.

“No,” Louise said to her father. “Do not take anything else from me.”

“What did you say?”

“If you try to take any more, you will lose me.”

It was a transaction. A transaction using her own life.

She could not retrieve what had already been taken, but she did not want to lose more. So she threatened her parents with her own life.

‘You will not take my child from me as well.’

The king and queen were ultimately unable to give up the greatest talent in the history of the Schwartz royal family, one that might only appear once in a generation.

The child she bore was disguised as her father’s bastard, and assumed into the royal family.

Very few knew the truth. Those kept in the dark included not only other royals, but also the son who had been born.

And so the event was buried under countless lies, deceptions, and half-truths.

***

“S-Sister...”

Louise von Schwartz, having killed her last two remaining brothers with her own hands, stood there silently, looking into the terrified eyes of her son.

Srrrng.

She sheathed her sword.

“Let’s head back,” Louise said.

“S-Sister, what is this... What are you saying? I... I don’t understand...”

“I said, let’s head back.”

In the end, the two brothers had tried to kill Heinrich several times without even consulting her.

If Louise had not been monitoring the situation, she would have lost her son with her eyes wide open.

If the emperor had thought differently, he could have used this incident to destroy the Schwartz royal family by implicating not only the two brothers, but her as well.

Whatever prompted the emperor to change his mind, she would never truly know. But instead of cutting down the Schwartz royal family, he had given Louise a hint to act quickly before it was too late.

The Emperor had told her that to protect what she wanted to protect, she had to see blood. Louise had seen blood. By killing her own kin, she was able to protect her kin.

Louise staggered toward the tethered horse. Her blood-soaked fingertips trembled violently.

Louise mounted her horse, leaving behind the horses Alphonse and German had ridden. Heinrich, still in shock, followed her command and mounted as well.

She had killed her brothers. She had no plan on how to inform the military of this, let alone the royal family.

Louise had no plan. She had no idea what to say to her ‘youngest sibling,’ who had just discovered that his eldest sister was actually his mother. She’d had to make a choice, and so she made one. That was all there was to it.

With a whinny, the horses galloped away from the abandoned warehouse, the two figures disappearing into the distance.

Uncertainty and confusion... As those two emotions faded from view, two figures emerged from thin air.

Both were silent, and both seemed shocked. They had heard an unbelievable story.

Reinhart and Harriet stood there, their faces pale.

“What... What is... What is going on?” Reinhart said, dazed.

Harriet shook her head slightly. “I... I don’t know...”

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