The carriage leaving the Demon King’s Castle gradually faded into the distance, its wheels rolling over the muddy, rutted road.
Inside the carriage, Duke Olé leisurely sat back with his legs crossed.
Although leaving here was tinged with regret and unwillingness, it was still the best possible outcome amid the worst scenarios. Naturally, he smiled brightly.
The interior was extravagantly decorated, with red as the dominant color. The two sat facing each other, but the atmosphere was off—awkward, even laced with murderous intent.
To break the silence, Olé unconsciously glanced out the window as the scenery passed by.
Then he withdrew his gaze and spoke slowly to the silver-haired, blue-eyed girl before him—the very man’s man from the past, the bravest of heroes, Gerard.
“It’s about time to talk, Your Majesty Gerard. I congratulate you on coming back to life. What are your thoughts?”
Clearly, she had no thoughts—only murderous intent.
As for why Duke Olé didn’t kill her—was he not afraid of retaliation? Of course, he was afraid of death, but compared to the empire’s safety and reclaiming Emilia, that fear was insignificant. Life was meant for dreams, and risks weren’t worth mentioning. Hesitation only caused greater loss.
The moment he learned that this woman who looked strikingly like Emilia was actually Gerard, he hatched a bold plan—a chance to kill two birds with one stone… a truly wonderful prospect.
He intended to use Gerard’s current female body advantage to alleviate or resolve the empire’s crisis. After all, Emilia was like a goddess to the empire. Her return would undoubtedly bring the fractured empire together, at least temporarily.
Even if unity was impossible, her presence would still have some effect. Although these were just guesses, they weren’t far off.
His hope was to have Gerard impersonate Emilia to return to the empire as a symbol to stabilize the situation.
Then, after resolving the empire’s crisis, he could use Gerard’s current advantage to deceive Sieg, which should be doable.
By doing so, he could drive a wedge between them, learn from this failure, and come back wiser.
He had some ideas but not many.
Anyway… later, he could use sweet words to trick Lady Emilia back.
That was roughly the plan.
The detailed arrangements would come later since Duke Olé wasn’t a genius who could figure everything out at once. He needed time and patience to plan carefully to avoid mistakes.
The only problem now was persuading Gerard to cooperate. Otherwise, it was all for nothing—and that was no easy task.
How to put it… he and His Majesty had a bond forged from the heart—literally life and death.
But that was no excuse to back down. For Lady Emilia, he would become a master of heartfelt talks.
“Your Majesty Gerard, it’s time to speak. If you remain silent, we can solve nothing. Who knows? Maybe we even have some common ground to discuss.”
Seeing the girl remain silent, looking utterly disheartened, Olé could only continue smiling and coaxing her.
Even after his words, she leaned back listlessly on the cushion, like a dreamless, defeated otaku who had given up even struggling.
She was utterly hopeless and didn’t want to say much more.
She hadn’t expected to be captured so soon after barely escaping death.
And the captor? The very one who had tried to kill her—Olé.
Closing her beautiful eyes, a clear tear trickled down.
Damn it, it really looked like she was doomed.
“Sorry, Emilia… I can’t atone for you anymore.”
Wait, something was off.
Why hadn’t he killed her?
This doubt made her completely bewildered.
Her small mind couldn’t figure it out, so she finally asked, her tone sharp.
“What do you want? Why haven’t you killed me?”
“Because I still need you, Your Majesty Gerard. And you need me too. We need each other, nothing more. Any other questions?”
Duke Olé answered with tact, trying to pull her into an alliance and avoid sensitive topics.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t about to be fooled and stared at him, shouting.
Distrust dripped from her words.
Whatever had happened between them was better left unsaid—they both knew the truth.
Was he really trying to fool her? Did he think she was that stupid?
“You bastard! You deceived me for so long. I trusted you before, and now you say these things? Do you think I’m that easy to fool? Olé, I’ll never trust you again. Do what you want—kill me or tear me apart. Just consider it bad luck I came back to life in your hands.”
Now she had given up.
Struggling was pointless.
It was unclear whether Olé was serious or just speaking meaningfully, though most likely he wasn’t serious.
After all, a man who truly loved Emilia wouldn’t be smiling.
“Fine then, since that’s the case, Your Majesty Gerard, I’ll have to make you my outlet. You know how much I adore Lady Emilia. You look exactly like her, so it’s hard for me to resist a woman like you.”
“Stop, stop! Are you crazy? I’m a man! A man! And besides, I have a wife.”
Gerard’s rejection was clear as she curled up, taking a protective stance, her face twisted with disgust and disbelief.
Though he appeared somewhat decent, he was actually a shameless pervert.
Hearing this, she wished she could just disappear on the spot.
Better to keep one’s purity in this world.
“I’m joking, just joking, Your Majesty Gerard. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”
It was obvious Olé wasn’t the type to cheat or lose control.
He was only teasing and trying to intimidate a little.
After all, in his eyes, there was only one woman—Emilia, who was so stunning that no one else could fit into his life.
He hoped she would calm down so they could discuss serious matters.
Pausing, he gave a half-smile.
“Your Majesty, our goals are the same. There may have been misunderstandings that led to your death—I apologize for that. Now, we just need to recognize your value. It’s beyond imagination. After all, you want to bring Emilia back, right? And reclaim your own power. If I can help, I swear I will.”
“You…”
Gerard had wanted to refute, but when she heard that Emilia could be brought back, her head still lost in confusion, she tentatively asked.
She was touched to the core.
She needed the power of the hero, wanted Emilia back, and above all, wanted to live…
“Oh? Interesting. Tell me more. Maybe I can forgive and forget.”
“Alright, Your Majesty Gerard, I need you to disguise yourself as Emilia and return to the empire to stabilize the situation. Only then can we proceed with the next steps. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure everyone in this chaotic empire knows…”
The two talked freely in the carriage about the future.
In truth, each harbored their own schemes.
Their cooperation was merely superficial—both driven by their connection to one deeply sinful woman: Emilia.