chapter 74
Aerith laid the ax and gave up revenge.
Then the bitch, who had been hiding behind the throne the whole time, crept out.
“Come on, good job, Kael.”
Princess Aurelia.
yes you are still there
She grinned when she saw that the hatchet Aerith was holding was gone.
“You did it in the end. I believed you would save me and this empire!”
“·················ogue.”
And she was still arrogant.
He was still thinking that he was the center of the world and that everyone would be on his side.
Even doing that to me, Aerith, and the innocent.
“It’s only you. Now then, kill that bitch right now-“
“Shut up, Aurelia.”
“What, what?”
She was taken aback by my words and couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“Cael, are you crazy? How could you give such a haircut to this princess body? Do you even dare cut me off?”
And as if incredulous, he uttered the words with his twisted lips with a smirk.
“You mean, I don’t know who he is, but that damn bitch was the one who ate with the Demon King whom we hard-sealed? If you understand, then kill that bitch!”
look at this year Since when did ‘we’ seal the demon king?
Gerald or two. How much have you been looking at me like a hogu, so even after 5 years have passed, I am still there?
Seriously, even in this current situation, I think I’ll listen to what you have to say.
Ignoring those words, I approached Aurelia, who was crowded.
“what. Don’t kill me right now! And then the Demon Lord out there-”
“Shut up. Aurelia. Before you pluck out that tongue.”
“You, my words again…!!”
Aurelia stares at him with indignation.
I’ve said this before, but I still don’t seem to understand the situation.
“Yeah, what can I say to you for a hundred days?”
“What?”
If you can’t do it with words, you have to let your body know.
thud-
I tripped over her standing feet.
“Hey? you, what are you doing-”
Aurelia screams in embarrassment. But the back story did not follow.
I grabbed her hair that had fallen over and went down to the first floor.
Thump- Thump- Thump-
Aurelia’s screams could be heard whenever there was a crash from behind.
“Ahhh!? Oh, it hurts. 아프다고 이 개새끼야!!”
He complained of pain all the way down the stairs, but he ignored it.
Then I met Aurelia’s maid, who was shaking on the first floor, and her eyes met.
“Are you going to save me?”
The maid flinched at my words.
She took turns looking at me and Aurelia, then averted her gaze to the floor.
“Well, what are you doing? Without stopping this bastard right now!? You want to die four years?”
Aurelia looked at the maid and threatened her, but to no avail.
There was no one there to help her until she left the palace.
Shaking off Aurelia’s struggling hand, she dragged her out and brought her out.
“Wow, Princess?”
“Why does the princess look like that…”
There was still no complete darkness in the square, and dawn was shining.
And there, countless citizens of the Empire were watching from under the podium.
They could not hide their embarrassment as they saw their princesses being dragged out.
But it was the same with Aurelia.
“Uh, why? Citizens are here at a time like this……”
Dimitri and the Imperial Knights on the podium. And the revolutionary army was waiting.
She looked at them with trembling pupils, and then looked up at me with hopeful eyes.
“Stand, I hope you…”
“then. Did you really think I would have come this far without thinking?”
Well, to be precise, Dimitri has been preparing for this.
“······under.”
Aurelia’s hollow laugh at my words. But the two eyes that looked at me were uglyly distorted with anger.
I looked at her like that and smiled the same way.
“Kuk. what’s the matter. Why don’t you whisper in my ear that you love me again?”
However, mine was a joke.
“Cael. Kael. Kael. Kael. Kael. Kael. Kaye El!!”
At the party, he did everything he could to say he loved him.
Now he called my name in a hateful voice and looked at me.
Well, but this is better.
I’d rather get a confession from a gorilla than hear that bitch say I love her.
“You, I will kill you. Kael, I will kill you more wretchedly than anyone else!!”
“Oh is it? Smile more than that, Aurelia. you should laugh People are watching you.”
“You bastard…!!”
I forcibly dragged Aurelia, who was barking, onto the platform.
In the meantime, I resisted to get out, but to no avail.
Because the imperial knights and revolutionary soldiers, who were waiting on the podium, immediately knelt down and arrested her.
There was no one to help her.
“Hey, what’s going on with this? Why is the princess…”
“Do I need help? But Prince Dimitri is there too.”
Citizens still did not understand the situation while watching the scene.
At that time, when they were just staring at me, as soon as I stood in front of the podium, all eyes there turned to me.
“Hello, proud citizens of the Empire.”
Five years, a long time if it is really long, a short time if it is short.
But the relationship of that day ends with today.
“This is the warrior Kael.”
My introduction once again caused a stir among the crowd.
At that moment, the citizens who realized my existence screamed and opened their eyes.
“Ka, Kael? If it’s Kael… are you talking about that warrior Kael-sama?”
“Uh, why is he here now? Didn’t you retire and leave the Empire?”
“No, more than that, the Hero sealed the Demon King together with the Princess! But why the Princess…”
A voice mixed with confusion and doubt came from all over the place.
well, just do it A hero who disappeared suddenly appeared after 5 years. also in this way.
“I’m here to tell everyone here the truth about the day that the Demon King was sealed five years ago.”
However, as I continued to speak, the noisy atmosphere gradually calmed down.
And soon, the citizens kept their mouths shut and waited for my words.
“Five years ago, I went on a journey with my colleagues to seal the Demon King.”
yes, colleague.
Serine.
Ashua.
merry.
Gerald.
And, Aurelia.
I thought of those names one by one in my mind.
The day I first met them.
The day I completed the quest and adjusted the equipment with the reward.
A day when we all gathered together in a tent and slept outdoors.
In addition to that, the day you achieved your first victory over the Demon King, the day you risked your life to clear the dungeon. The day the officers were destroyed.
And finally, until the day when the Demon King was sealed.
I remember everything.
But that’s…
It was all fake days.
“However, I am here to reveal that Princess Aurelia and my colleagues here are not the heroes who sealed the Demon King.”
Therefore, I revealed all the false glory, the facts that had been buried for five years.
“They didn’t do any damage to the Demon King, and they didn’t do anything to help seal the Demon King from the first day they started to the moment they sealed it.”
Aurelia looked at me with excitement.
But there was no need to raise his gaze.
It’s a self-evident fact that you weren’t of any help.
Conversely, the citizens blinked and were speechless.
It was as if his two ears did not understand what he had just heard.
But unfortunately, it’s not over yet.
“And on the day I returned from sealing the demon lord’s army, they gave me a few gold coins and retrieved the holy sword and disqualified me as a warrior. And I had to leave this capital as if I was exiled.”
– Well done, Kael. It’s good to just look back.
A word that Aurelia gave me that day.
And the act he committed with a face that did not feel any remorse.
I remembered one of them and brushed it all off.
“All these facts that I am now revealing are the full story of what happened at that time, which was glorious for the Empire and for mankind.”
“·················ogue.”
And soon there was an uncomfortable silence in the square.
Even though there was an endless crowd, no one could speak.
He just blinked with a blank expression on his face, as if he had just dreamed.
“……Now, what are you talking about?”
After a while, someone barely opened his mouth.
“I think that means that the princess betrayed the hero…”
“Then… is everything we know so far a lie?”
And someone else spoke up,
“Hey, but the princess was like that. It was all thanks to the princess that sealed the Demon King.”
“Yeah… it sure was. It is, but…”
“Well, then, who is right?”
Soon, the questionable voices spread like a virus,
Aurelia’s expression, looking at it, began to wrinkle little by little.
Then he looked at the confused citizens and spoke to me.
“Cael, can you handle this?”
“uh. So don’t worry about me, don’t worry about yours.”
“Fufu, you filthy bastard. Do you think you’ve become something because they support you as a hero?”
“Yeah, you have to be consistent with that attitude until the very end. So that no one can sympathize with you.”
“pup······.”
We talked without looking at each other.
In the process, Aurelia could not bear it and began to swear, but there was no sign of nervousness or anxiety.
Do you still think you can win?
She shouted at the confused citizens.
“What are you doing?!”
“Wow, Princess!?”
“This man is no longer a warrior. He’s just a demon who harmed the royal family and slaughtered the heroes! Valiant citizens of the Empire. This person right now-”
“You’re going to get there, sister.”
At that moment, someone next to her interrupted her speech.
Prince Dimitri. He walked past the captive Aurelia and stood next to me.
The fact that he, the prince, stood beside me instead of her, gave my words a lot of strength, and the citizens who were actually trying to save the princess stood still in confusion.
And then he looked down at her and said it was sad.
“I am sorry. sister.”
“Dimitri!! I hope you are!”
“I couldn’t watch anymore. It’s not enough that my sister took the lives of innocent people, but the fact that she framed Kael-nim and the saint and tried to get over there.”
“Hey, are you finally getting along with that guy and betraying me?! I’m sure I’m committing a felony-“
“Yes, I would rather stop my sister even if I use that stigma. That’s what I’ve been waiting for for years.”
“What…….”
At that moment, Aurelia trembled with a sense of betrayal.
Based on the reaction, Mary didn’t tell me that Dimitri and I were in the same place.
If that’s the case, even after 5 years, we’d still have a bad relationship.
But thanks to that, the stage was set.
Because the prince stood by me, my words became credible.
Aurelia opened her mouth in embarrassment, and the citizens were even more confused about which statement was true.
“Now is probably the right time.”
click-
I opened the log artifact that I had brought from the village.
Then it was floated in the air on a big screen and the picture was revealed.
“Uh, huh?”
“The man kneeling over there. no way-“
The photo contained the results of the last battle between Lucia and Aurelia’s army,
Those who saw it couldn’t keep their mouths shut.
“……Princess Princess?”
“Surely, the woman the princess is praying for over there. Aren’t you a demon?”
There, Aurelia was on her knees and was stomped on the back of the head by Lucia and prayed.
“Oh, no…”
Aurelia looked at the picture and muttered in embarrassment, but no one listened.
Because everyone was stunned and captivated by the photo.
“Am I really a princess?”
“Well, it can’t be, is it? The princess is the hero who sealed the demon king. But only to such a female demon.”
“But… the person in that picture is a princess no matter how you look at it…”
“that······.”
And seeing that shameful figure, no one could easily draw a conclusion.
Well, I guess.
I heard that Aurelia lied to the Demon King as a demon who was large enough to reach the clouds for the sake of her fame.
Since no one actually witnessed Lucia and survived, the lie must have worked very nicely.
However, I never dreamed that it would become a self-inflicted watermelon.
Thanks to this, she will now appear as if she is praying with her head stomped on by an ordinary demon.
Citizens wouldn’t even be able to imagine that Lucia in that picture was the Demon King.
“Wow, Princess. Please say something.”
“I wonder if the hero really sealed the seal alone? Were all the words of the princess and the other heroes a lie?”
“Princess. Why are you only kneeling at a demon like that? Did you really beg for your life!?”
“Princess!! Please tell me!”
“Princess Aurelia!!”
The resentment of the demons of mankind was deeper than anyone else.
So, seeing that Aurelia begging for her life from that hateful demon, and even seeing Aurelia pray like that, people’s trust began to break.
Aurelia did not respond to the pouring protests of the citizens.
Instead, he bit his lip and trembled.
“Lord, I will kill you. As long as you get out of here, I’ll kill everyone, everyone.”
It looks like he’s still a bit out of his mind.
Do you really think you can get out of here?
She murmured with her head bowed, then looked at me with her raised eyes.
“Fufu. Was it just that?”
“what. This year.”
“It’s just… is that your trump card? Do you think you can bring me down with just that one picture?”
“But why? Well, is there any hole to get out of?”
Or can I make a mouse hole for you? I think you can sort it out.
But in spite of my kindness, Aurelia growled and shouted.
“Shut up. Do you dare tease me? Do you know how many nobles are following me here alone? If you gather all the people in the provinces, there’s no need to catch Dimitri with you!”
“Oh, is it? I saw you when you came here, did you just pack up and run away? I don’t know if you’ll ever come back with your words.”
“Ugh. With just one thing like that, do you think they will believe you!? If you say that you were a team and rigged to bring me down—”
“Ah, well, calm down. I never thought I would be able to convince citizens with that kind of evidence.”
“What?”
If it was a problem that could be solved with just one picture, I would have joined hands with Dimitri as soon as I came here and showed you that picture first.
What have you been struggling with until now?
Now it was necessary to create this dramatic situation. That way, people will believe it too.
And as at the end of four years, where is the evidence that I caught the Demon King by myself in the first place and that you betrayed me?
I can’t even bring the Demon Lord Lucia here.
The accomplices, Ashua and Gerald, are dead, and Mary is imprisoned underground.
But that’s it. Still, there are people who remain.
“Isn’t it?”
I said that and looked back.
Then, as if waiting, she stood next to me, and Aurelia’s expression distorted to the fullest when she saw it.
“Hello, Aurelia. We met earlier, don’t you remember?”
“Serine…!”
“Obviously, did I say how about calling you master at this age? fu fu fu. Why don’t you play with me again?”
After saying that, Serin looked down at Aurelia and smirked.
Aurelia conciliated Serine while wearing a disgraceful expression.
“Seri, wait a minute, Serin. I don’t know what happened to you with Kael, but if you take my side, trade and export to the Empire and your country will come first—”
“iced coffee. That’s it now. That kind of thing has gotten better now.”
“·······What?”
“It’s much more comfortable in the attic on the second floor than living with a princess or a hero. Of course, I don’t know about you!”
Serin said that and made a proud expression on her face.
By the way, how dare you say that you will live in our house from now on. right next to me too.
“Hehehe. Did I do well?”
Ah, yes… that’s it, so let’s get started.
When I gestured like that, Serin nodded as if she knew.
“Huh, huh. Hello everyone. This is the warrior Serin.”
This time, when Serin appeared, the citizens put on a bewildered expression.
That’s because she, who had been missing for several months, appeared here without notice.
Thanks to her, everyone pays attention to her next words with a nervous expression-
“yes! Right!”
“···········?”
“Everyone was like that in that year!!”
A question mark appeared in everyone’s head.
“The sealing of the Demon King was all done by the hero Kael-sama here. Stupid bitch here with me. And everything else didn’t help. Would it have been a hindrance?”
“··································································································· What are you doing now?”
It was so absurd that the words came out without me knowing.
No, this hikikomori has been locked up in the room all this time, so her brain is backwards.
Who makes a speech like that?
Thanks to this, all the citizens were looking at each other with puzzled faces.
“Well, uh… if other heroes testified, I don’t think there’s any doubt about this.”
“Even so, it’s hard to believe. I hope that the demon king seal was accomplished by the warrior Kael alone.”
“I mean… No, by the way, was Serin-sama that kind of image originally?”
“D, I heard it. He was something more dignified and cool.”
The citizens who spoke up to that point looked at Serin again with dazed expressions.
Either way, she was still busy talking about her own words.
“So, everything that Kael-sama and the Prince of the Empire have told you so far is true. So, I will take responsibility for that and quit being a hero.”
“yes? Three, Serene. what is that-”
“And I will serve by Kael-sama’s side and make atonement in the sense of giving up my status as a princess and reflecting on the rest of my life.”
Citizens were shocked by the shock declaration that followed.
No, I didn’t need the last words.
Thanks to this, some men in the city looked at me with envy.
Hey, don’t look at me like that. That’s just a good looking fur. Don’t get caught on the cover.
“Anyway, here it is!”
While everyone was confused, Serin finished it lively by herself.
Then, without hesitation, he slipped between Dimitri and me and smiled brightly.
“Hehehehe.”
Well, thanks to that, the airflow completely started to flow this way.
Lucia’s photo. The guarantee of Prince Dimitri. And the confession of Serin, who was an accomplice with Aurelia.
Now there was no doubt which side was true.
“I, it’s all lies…”
And no one believed in Aurelia’s movements any more.
Now there is only one left.
Princess Aurelia, it was her confession.