Chapter 451: Chapter 451

“At any rate, the discussion has come to a close for now. We need to treat your wounds quickly…….”

Sitri, visibly flustered, hurried over to me.

She took a glass bottle out, but her fingers fumbled so badly that she ended up dropping it. The bottle hit the floor, spilling wine-colored liquid everywhere. Sitri panicked as she let out a string of startled sounds. She pulled out another potion bottle, but once again, it slipped from her hands and fell.

Gamigin sighed and wedged herself between Sitri and me.

“This is exactly why people like you are useless in a pinch. I honestly don’t know how you ever managed to lead soldiers like that.”

Gamigin knelt down and leaned over me. She then tore a large strip from the skirt of her dress. Judging by how generously she doused the cloth with potion, it seemed she intended to use it as a bandage. Without a word, Gamigin tied the potion-soaked fabric around the stump of my thigh with indifferent eyes.

She tugged the bandage tight and then lifted her gaze to my face. The usual faint smile that always lingered on her lips was nowhere to be found.

“Why do I have to worry about your body more than you do?”

“Thank you for your concern.”

“If you don’t care about your own body, who else will……? No, forget it. This will probably just go in one ear and out the other. Fine. Live the rest of your life with one leg. That suits you perfectly.”

“I’m suddenly feeling tired. I came all the way here to watch that bitch Barbatos die disgracefully, but then she just escaped out of nowhere. I tried my best to defend someone, and what do I get? They just go and hand over their leg like it’s nothing. Makes me wonder what the point of trying hard in life even is. Do whatever you want. I’m going back to the palace to sleep.”

Gamigin stepped down from the platform. The torn hem of her skirt swayed, revealing the pale skin of her thigh. The two unaffiliated Demon Lords who usually followed her trailed after her. It felt like today’s court session was coming to an end.

“It is true that there are very few matters we can actually discuss right now.”

Marbas let out a sigh.

“I propose we adjourn for today. The Mountain Faction will take responsibility for the pursuit of Barbatos. If anything comes up, we will need to reconvene immediately, so I ask that all of you remain on standby at the imperial palace.”

I waited for the anti-magic field to be lifted, and with Sitri’s support, moved to the Habsburg Imperial Palace. The amusing thing was that neither of us was in any condition to walk properly.

“I’ll do it. All of you step back.”

The attendants nearby rushed in to help, but Sitri stubbornly insisted on supporting me herself. I gave a wry smile. She had been on the brink of death just a few days ago, so she was in no condition to be helping anyone.

To be honest, she wasn’t much help at all. Sitri’s right arm hadn’t healed yet, and I had lost my left leg. It’s impossible for her to support me properly since our balance was off.

“I’m fine. I can make do with a cane or something.”

“Look. The bleeding’s already stopped. There’s nothing to worry about.”

It was only after I spent a long while reassuring her that Sitri finally brought me a cane. It was a wooden cane lacquered thickly in black. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed too luxurious to be something she’d just picked up, and I tilted my head in puzzlement.

“Where did you get this?”

“Someone happened to be using it, so I asked and borrowed it. Hehe.” The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel-fire.net

Well, if a Demon Lord with bloodshot eyes like Sitri asks you to hand over your cane, no matter how brave a demon you are, you’d probably fork it over without a second thought. My condolences to the unfortunate noble who lost their precious luxury item out of nowhere.

I was able to walk somewhat thanks to the cane. The balance of my body felt completely unfamiliar, so I limped rather badly. Each time I did, Sitri would get all flustered and rush to support me. Her face looked so serious that it felt like she might burst into tears at any moment.

I had to stop once because I ran out of breath. It wasn’t because I was trying to walk with one leg. My body was simply exhausted after losing a large amount of blood all of a sudden. My skull felt like it was being tightly compressed, and I could even feel a headache coming. It felt like the hallway itself would start spinning whenever I took a step, and I just couldn’t go on any farther.

“Just a moment……. Could I rest for a little while?”

“Sure. Let’s rest, Dantalian. Take all the time you need.”

Sitri answered in a panic.

I slid down the hallway wall until I was sitting with my back against it. There wasn’t a single ounce of strength left in my body. If Sitri hadn’t been holding onto my arm, I would’ve dropped right onto my butt.

My breathing was ragged. It felt like the area around my chest wasn’t even part of my body anymore as it pounded out of control. My throat hurt just as much. For some reason, it felt like my esophagus had been completely scraped raw. I wanted to cough up phlegm, but my mouth was too dry, and all that came out was a harsh, empty cough.

My vision turned a little white. It was like the lights were flickering on and off.

“D-Dantalian. Are you okay? Are you really okay?”

“I’m feeling…… just a bit dizzy. I’ll be fine. It’s just lightheadedness.”

I fumbled around in my chest pocket and pulled out a potion vial. A faint scent of rosemary drifted out. The top-grade potion, blended with herbs and honey, moistened the inside of my mouth. It also had a bit of alcohol in it.

I took small sips of the potion, savoring it not just with part of my tongue, but with every bit of it.

As my mouth filled with the refreshing liquid, it finally felt like even my skull was being cleansed. I swallowed the potion. After a short while, the dizziness began to fade.

By the time I realized it, Sitri was already pressing her face against my chest, crying.

“Hic…… ghh…… haaa…….”

Sitri’s shoulders trembled. The sound of her sobbing spilled out like a quiet stream. My mind was still hazy, so I stared at her for a while. Slowly, I came to understand what I should do.

I raised my right hand. Then, I gently patted Sitri’s head as she kept it lowered.

“It’s all right, Sitri. I’m not going to disappear.”

“If I lose you as well…… ugh, if you disappear as well, I…….”

“Really, it’s all right. Everything will be okay.”

Sitri couldn’t form coherent sentences as she simply wept. I continued to gently pat her head and pressed her face more firmly into my chest. My clothes slowly grew wet from her tears.

How could I ever tell Sitri the truth?

That I was the one who killed her most precious Paimon, and that even now, in this very moment, Paimon is clinging to the side of my body as a phantom, gripping my clothes with her nails just like Sitri is.

I had nothing else to say to Sitri besides telling her it was going to be okay.

I most likely will never be able to tell Sitri the truth.

I realized something strange.

If Daisy had revealed the truth about Paimon’s assassination during the execution earlier, I would have suffered irreversible damage. Sitri and the Mountain Faction Demon Lords would have been thrown into confusion, and the chaos would have only deepened. But then why didn’t Daisy name me as the assassin?

It must be because Daisy’s goal isn’t simply my destruction.

Let’s say the truth that I’m the assassin was revealed beyond any doubt. I would no longer be able to escape execution. But in another sense, that would also be the kind of death I want.

I would take responsibility for Paimon’s death, receive Sitri’s wrath, and be executed as a clear embodiment of evil. I have no complaints about dying that way. If Daisy were the one to expose me, all the better. More likely than not, Daisy already understands my true intentions.

That’s why Daisy isn’t aiming for simple destruction—she wants to hand me a thorough defeat. “You can’t live the way you want, and you can’t even die the way you want. You’ve lost.” That must be the declaration Daisy intends to make.

I know where Daisy must have fled.

Daisy has almost certainly sought asylum with Consul Elizabeth. I believe Consul Elizabeth has both the right and the ability to kill me. In other words, I consider her quite a suitable candidate to present me with a death befitting me.

Daisy will pretend to serve under Elizabeth, only to assassinate her—because doing so will erase one of the possibilities for “Father to die in the manner he wishes.”

Once, Daisy said this:

— Earl Bercy, Consul Elizabeth, and Luke. Do you genuinely think that they have the authority to end your life, Father?— What do they truly know about you, Father? In the first place, do you think that they could kill you in the truest sense?— I will say this now, but that is a grave misunderstanding.

In short, Daisy planned to eliminate those candidates by any means necessary.

The corner of my mouth twisted strangely.

Good. The rough outline had taken shape.

I now understood why that brat had kidnapped Barbatos. She’s probably going to use her like a kind of bribe for Consul Elizabeth. If she also hands over the information that Emperor Rudolf von Habsburg of the current Habsburg Empire is, in fact, a corpse resurrected through Barbatos’ black magic, that would be like icing on the cake.

Daisy would gain Elizabeth’s trust in an instant. Then, in the very moment Elizabeth lets her guard down, she would strike and kill her in one blow. That must be Daisy’s script.

For such a clueless little brat, she’s harbored quite a grand plan. Not bad. But let’s see just how far the world will bend to your will…….

“Dantalian. You’re not really going to go on living , are you? When you said you’d spend your whole life as a cripple, you were just trying to make light of a serious situation, right?”

Suddenly, Sitri’s tearful voice broke me out of my thoughts. I must have been lost in them without realizing. I gave a faint smile.

“It would be better to talk about that a little later. We need to deal with what’s right in front of us first. We can’t just let Barbatos slip away. Don’t you agree?”

“Mm…… well, that’s true, but…”

I cut Sitri off. In my head, I was already carefully mapping out the possible scenarios if Daisy defected to Elizabeth.

“Ivar should be waiting in my bedroom right now.”

“A maid. Small build, blonde hair. Could you bring her here for me?”

Elizabeth was not the sort of person to easily trust others. Merely offering Barbatos as tribute wouldn’t be enough to gain her confidence. Daisy would need to prove that she was a “loyal traitor”.

Since ancient times, the most effective way for a traitor to earn the trust of a new master had always been clear—by leaking this side’s military intelligence.

Daisy knows about the secret passageways in my Demon Lord Castle. She’d surely tell Elizabeth about them. To verify whether Daisy is telling the truth, Elizabeth will most likely send a squad of assassins through those secret tunnels…….

Elizabeth and Daisy. In the original course of history, they would have been the empress and the hero.

There wasn’t much time. I needed to fortify the defenses of my Demon Lord Castle.

Still, making it too obvious that I had anticipated this would be a rather undignified move. Perhaps I should have a little fun with it instead…….

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I might have to grovel. I had this chapter done last Saturday, but I must’ve completely blanked out cause I was so sure I uploaded it… It turns out I didn’t and just convinced myself otherwise… Oopsie… Surprisingly, this is the first time this has ever happened. Considering I’ve been translating for over 8 years now, I guess this is impressive in its own way.

Oh no… is it because I’m OLD?! I’m becoming forgetful… This is tragic.

I’ll see you guys in the if I haven’t become dust.