I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 4, page 16
“Huh?”
Ares wasn’t expecting that answer, and he looks up. “That’s not possible. Black hair and red eyes. Those are the hallmarks of the demon king.”
He knows because the envoy from Hausel who’s secretly staying in his mansion told him as much.
“Well, that’s true, but there could easily be other men with black hair and red eyes.”
“No… No, that is the demon king! I’m positive.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Ares almost answers truthfully, then presses his lips together tightly. Unconsciously, he touches the band on his right arm. Ever since that man appeared, the fiend dragon has been putting up a ferocious resistance. Even when it’s under the influence of demon snuff, it tries to go to him.
However, there’s no way he can say, Because this armband I used to seal the fiend dragon is telling me so.
“If you want us to declare war on Imperial Ellmeyer, then produce conclusive proof that guard is the demon king and link him to the fiend dragon.”
“…Yes, sire. I swear I will.”
Now may be the time, he thinks. Time to strike the finishing blow.
A blow that will expose the fact the spineless holy king can’t protect this kingdom.
Maybe I’ll use the proposal that one fellow made.
“On that subject, Your Majesty. I believe it’s high time we repaired the holy sword. May I have permission to conduct the ceremony?”
He’s suggested this many times, and every time he’s been rebuffed, but this time Baal agrees easily. “Yes, we’ll leave that to you. Ensure that it succeeds— By the way, Ares. Did you know that Roxane can’t draw to save her life?”
“Huh?”
Ares looks up, wondering where this is coming from all of a sudden. Baal smiles back at him thinly. For a moment, those violet, noble eyes overawe him, and he gulps.
“It was a joke. Don’t worry about it. Just go.”
As if embarrassed that he’s flinched, he bows his head again and leaves the throne room.
The attendant he employed a short while ago is waiting for him just outside. The man has absolutely no skill with a sword, but Ares has plenty of that himself; he hired this fellow for his quick wits.
This adviser is the one who came up with the plan for arresting Roxane.
“Isaac. The holy king has finally given his permission. We’re going to hold the ceremony to repair the holy sword.”
“I see. In that case, let’s do it as soon as we can. Tomorrow, even. We’ve already procured weapons, and the other preparations are complete.”
Ares, who’d begun walking down the corridor, is so surprised he stops. His eyes narrow. “But then there won’t be time to get Roxane’s confession. What will we do about that?”
“We don’t need her confession. What’s important is the perception of it all. The people want to know once and for all who’s protecting this country, and who saved it.”
Isaac raises his index finger. “First, we’ll have the fiend dragon possess the demon king’s body and barge in on the holy sword’s restoration ceremony. We can make him tell us about his relationship to Roxane then. That way, everyone will see that the demon king is using the dragon in an attempt to destroy the kingdom, and that the principal consort led him here.”
He goes on, putting up a second finger, and then a third.
“Then we’ll give the holy sword to the holy king, so he can kill the demon king. It won’t be the real sword, of course. We’ll use the copy the Queendom of Hausel made.”
“—The demon king can’t be killed by something like that.”
“Exactly. That will prove the holy king isn’t fit to hold the sword. He’ll lose his legitimacy as a ruler. And that includes the fact he wasn’t able to stop the principal consort. We’ll expose him as a weak king who can’t defend his kingdom. Then we’ll make it look as though Lady Sahra has restored the holy sword a second time, at which point you’ll wield the real one, seal both the fiend dragon and the demon king—and the legend will live again.”
Legend. That word thrills Ares to the depths of his heart.
“We should hold the ceremony in the harem. If we allow the scope to increase any further, we’ll end up with too many victims, and that would come back to bite us.”
“What do you mean?”
“The greater the damage, the more certain it is that people will blame the new king later on. It’s best to limit your stage to the harem in the first place, so that the only victims will be the former holy king’s relics. The only one to lose everything will be the previous king: It will be clear poetic justice.”
Ares nods; that makes sense. Even if sacrificing innocents was a necessary evil, too much of that would probably make things tiresome later.
“The preparations are all in place. If there’s any cause for concern— Yes, I suppose it would be the demon king. Even if he can’t use magic, let’s hit him three or four times and weaken him.”
As Isaac makes this proposal, he’s wearing a very refreshing smile.
Ares nods. “Good idea. I’ll let you handle that.”
“Just leave it to me, sir. I swear I’ll make a success of it.”
And on the day it succeeds, I’ll be the one seated on the throne.
Suppressing the exultation welling up from deep inside him, Ares nods again, emphatically.
Lovely golden hair and gentle green eyes. When he smiles lightly, his features are sweet and elegant. He looks exactly like a prince from a story or a picture book. He actually is a prince, as a matter of fact, which makes her feel very nervous indeed.
“Thank you very much for your invitation, Damsel Sahra.”
Being called a damsel is quite novel to her, and she’s flustered. “Oh, n-no. I-I’m sorry for asking you to come here. I wanted to hear more stories of other lands…”
“Gladly. After all, I have nothing to occupy me at the moment.”
Still nervous, she encourages him to take a seat. Has she used the proper words? She hasn’t made any strange movements, has she? Her guest is Cedric Jean Ellmeyer, second prince of Imperial Ellmeyer, and the more polished his behavior is, the more awkward she feels.
When she moves to sit down as well, the man who’s waiting behind the prince promptly comes around and pulls out her chair for her. She thanks him, and he tells her not to worry about it. He’s wearing a very serious expression. Then he straightens up, standing tall, and unlike the guards at the door, there’s a dignity in his bearing that can’t be missed. Apparently, he is what’s known as a knight. There is no such profession in the Kingdom of Ashmael. He behaves quite differently from their guards and soldiers.
People like these really exist… I feel like a princess. Come to think of it, even that man…
She recalls a certain guard. She hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him, either, probably for the same reason: He was different from the men she knows. When she heard he’d become Roxane’s guard, she’d been disappointed and angry at the same time. It would never do to envy Roxane.
However, Roxane is in prison now, and there are rumors that her guard is in fact the demon king. It’s a good thing she didn’t go near him. The Daughter of God can’t be involved with anything nefarious like that—although if he sought her help, that would be a different matter.
The Daughter…of God.
The thought sends an anxious twinge through her heart. Pretending she hasn’t noticed it, she smiles.
It should be fine. It will be; both Ares and Baal said so.
Sahra is the Daughter of God. There’s nothing to fear.
“Oh, Prince Cedric, your tea… Wh-what are Serena and Lilia doing?”
“—Lilia?”
“Y-yes. She’s a girl who came to work for me just recently… Um, is something the matter?”
For a moment, she thinks Cedric looks stern, and her voice turns timid. However, his kind expression promptly returns. Sahra’s sure her eyes must have been deceiving her.
“No, I was just a little startled. She shares a name with my fiancée.”
“My… Your fiancée? Um, is she not with you?”
“No. This is a covert visit, and it would have been dangerous.”
“So you’ve been separated… That must be hard.”
“No.” Cedric shakes his head; his eyes are sad. “There’s something I must do. I’m told you will also be performing an important ritual soon, Damsel Sahra.”
“Oh yes.”
“A delicate woman like you… God is very cruel sometimes.”
Cedric’s sympathy makes her feel better. “No. This is my duty.”
“If there’s anything I can do, please tell me. You will be risking your life, after all.”
Her eyes widen. Then her mind catches up and begins to race— What?
Cedric lowers his eyes, as if he’s seen something heartrending. “I heard that the holy sword will be restored in exchange for your own life force.”
Her heart thumps heavily. No one told her about this.
“However, if the fiend dragon truly revives, there are bound to be victims…particularly if the demon king is conspiring with it. We need the holy sword, no matter what. I wish our Maid of the Sacred Sword had been genuine, but…as you know, she became the demon king’s pawn.”
Yes. And so there is no one but Sahra who can raise the holy sword that will exorcise the fiend dragon and the demon king, and save the world. That’s why everyone treasures her. Sahra is the one and only savior.
“However, the idea that you’ll lose your life as a result… It’s a truly heartless affair.”
Except she’s never heard that before. Not from Ares, and not from Baal.
It’s a lie… If I repair the holy sword…I’ll die…?
But would a second prince who’d defected from a neighboring country have any reason to tell such a lie?
Of course; it must be some sort of mistake… If I ask Ares, I’m sure he’ll laugh and say I’m being silly…
Hardly remembering either the conversation or the flavor of the tea, Sahra leaves the room, making her way down the corridor on unsteady feet. At a turn in the hallway, she stops. Some of the attendants are having a casual conversation.
“—Did you hear about Lady Roxane?”
“Yes. They say she won’t admit to her crime…”
If she is the Daughter of God, she bears commensurate obligations. Those were the words of someone whose attitude toward Sahra hadn’t changed, no matter how the people around them flattered her.
“General Ares has decided to use torture.”
“I imagine she’ll be executed soon… The general can’t abide dishonesty.”
“Know your place. You and I live in different worlds.”
Ares is going to torture Miss Roxane to death…?
Sahra’s world really is different from Roxane’s. She had always thought the other woman lived in a world that was sordid and dirty and unkind.
But it occurs to her, belatedly, that Roxane’s former fiancé and Sahra’s husband are the same man.
“—Was that satisfactory?”
Stripping off his sweet princely mask, Cedric checks with his fiancée, who’s been waiting in the corridor. They’ve only just been reunited, and she offers him her usual charming smile. “Thank you, Cedric and Marcus. I couldn’t have said it better myself, I think.”
“…Is it true? If she repairs the holy sword, will she, um… Will she really die?”
“It’s true. Awful, isn’t it? No one told her. Poor Lady Sahra…”
She knits her brows as if she pities the girl, but Cedric doesn’t miss the fact there’s a smile on her lips.
Their reunion hadn’t been the least bit moving. The second prince of Ellmeyer had arrived on a secret visit in order to discuss how willing Ashmael might be in supporting a bid to overthrow the demon king, and when he’d been welcomed into General Ares’s mansion, they’d run right into each other. There hadn’t been time to mentally prepare.
Cedric and Marcus had been so startled they couldn’t even process the situation. Before they could say anything, Lilia had smiled, said, “Perfect timing!”, and arranged for a tea party with Sahra. They haven’t even had a chance to fill each other in on their respective circumstances.
Even so, when Lilia said “Hurry!” he’d set all of that aside and done what she told him. He’d been whipped like this ever since they’d first met.
“But Cedric, ‘If anything happens, you can flee to Ellmeyer’? I didn’t ask you to tell her that.”
Still, if he only did whatever Lilia told him, he wouldn’t be able to keep her. His wife would lose interest in him. That’s what his brother had told him.
“If they really are forcing her to be the Daughter of God when she doesn’t know anything, we’ll need to take her under our protection. Can those arrangements be made, Marcus?”
“Yes. I know a few people I can ask, but… Are you sure?”
“It’s fine. My brother wouldn’t tell us to just hand her over to the Queendom of Hausel, either.”
She’ll probably be an important witness, capable of testifying to Ashmael’s crimes. Either that, or a thread they can follow to unravel the Queendom’s plot, which may very well be responsible for everything.
“…I’d expect no less of you, Cedric. I hadn’t thought that far!”
And so he doesn’t mind playing along with this woman’s farce, or the contrived smile she turns on him. “Right. That’s our job. Don’t worry about a thing; you can just leave it all to us.”
As he tells her that, he’s careful to keep looking her straight in the eye. Lilia gazes back at him as if she’s seeing something that doesn’t make sense. She looks at him that way a lot lately.
Lilia hasn’t picked up on it.
The joy a man feels when he manages to make a woman who seems to know everything look at him that way.
“…It sounds like they’ll hold the ceremony tomorrow. What will you and Marcus do, Cedric?”
“I’m not sure. What do you want to do, Marcus?”
“Well, obviously, Lilia’s—”
Cedric gives his straitlaced, unsubtle friend a good hard kick in the shin.
Looking at Marcus, who’s now crouching in the hall, Lilia giggles. “Well, there are things I need to do, so I’ll be going. Give it your best, you two.”
“What are you going to do, Lilia?”
“It’s a secret between girls. I can’t tell you.” Giving him a precious wink, Lilia sets off down the corridor, stepping lightly.
“H-hey, Lilia, wait. We need to talk— Why aren’t you going after her, Cedric?” Marcus, who’s finally raised his head, looks at him accusingly.
Cedric sighs. “This is what’s wrong with you.”
“What?”
“Just try telling her point-blank that you’re going to guard her, then follow her. She’ll lose you before you know it.” Marcus must have experienced that before; he falls silent. “If you’re going to keep an eye on her, be discreet.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a great idea, either… Besides, what do you mean, ‘keep an eye on her’?”
“Quiet down. If we call it ‘keeping an eye on her,’ my brother will let it slide. Hurry up and figure out when to say what you mean and when to use tact. If you’ve understood, then go after Lilia. You’re going to lose her.”
“—No.” Getting to his feet, Marcus shakes his head firmly. “I’m your knight. I’ll prioritize your safety.”
“…Huh?”
“I can’t say it all that well, but…I think I had that wrong at first. If I’d kept my head a little better, you might still be crown prince.”
The unexpected confession startles Cedric.
“Lester and the others say all sorts of things…but ultimately, the demon king let us go free because you bent the knee. I may be your friend and I may have known you for ages, but I’m also your knight. I shouldn’t have let my liege lord feel compelled to do that.”
“It’s nothing to worry about. You know being crown prince was…too much for me.”
“Yes, but I also know how hard you worked. And that Aileen didn’t pick up on what you really meant… I’m the only one who knew. I’m the only one who had the chance to do something about it.”
They’ve lost that relationship with their childhood friend forever. This is the first time he’s heard Marcus’s regrets.
“Looking at General Ares makes me think that ‘being right’ is terrifying. It lets you do awful things without minding a bit… Just like what we did to Aileen.”
I’m not the one who’s being awful. The other person is forcing me to do this. That mindset makes it easy for people to cross unthinkable lines.
“There’s no point in saying that now, though. I don’t intend to repair my relationship with Aileen. It’s not something she could forgive anyway. And it’s probably best not to apologize… At least for another three years or so.”
“Why three years?”
“You know why. She’s the type who insists she feels no pain even when she falls down and hurts herself. If we apologize, she’ll just say it doesn’t bother her and brush us off.”
Cedric is right. It’s probably inappropriate, but Marcus laughs.
“Besides, Aileen wouldn’t accept an apology that’s just talk in the first place. She definitely holds us in contempt right now. She’d scoff and say nobodies like us couldn’t possibly hurt her, and that would be the end of it. In that case, we should start by doing our job properly.”
“You’ve put…a lot of thought into this.” Marcus is impressed, and yet the remark earns him a ferocious glare.
“…I can’t become emperor anymore, you know.”
“Probably not. You don’t seem like you even want to.”
“They may use us, then throw us away.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
In that case, there’s nothing more to say, and Marcus’s inflexibility isn’t anything new.
“Then don’t mention this conversation in front of my brother. You really will end up being reborn as an instrument.”
