My sudden declaration of defeat.
As soon as I knelt before the Fifth Princess, the banquet hall erupted into chaos.
The gazes that looked at me as if I were a lunatic.
Even the one who had sworn loyalty to me was flustered, as if unable to understand my actions.
The witch’s daughter had brainwashed that professor.
She intended to enchant and control people like her own mother.
We need to investigate immediately whether she has cast an illusion spell.
Such stories were heard from all over the banquet hall.
The growing murmurs.
The one who ended the situation was the Empire’s First Prince, who had already approached behind me.
“Wait a moment, I’d like to speak with you alone.”
A tone that was exceedingly polite.
However, his expression and voice clearly indicated that this was not a suggestion, but a command.
“Well, just a moment. I…”
The Fifth Princess grabbed my sleeve.
She was about to speak, but the Prince stared coldly and unfeelingly at her, sending chills down my spine.
The girl’s small hands trembled.
She released me with a pale face.
“Then let’s move to another place immediately.”
As if nothing had happened, the First Prince suddenly changed his demeanor and smiled faintly at me.
Everyone was trying to make me one of their own.
At least one person should have tried to stop the First Prince from meeting with me alone, but no one could prevent it.
That fact proved who held the greatest power.
I followed the white-haired man as we walked.
Before long, I saw a variety of flowers.
While strolling through the palace gardens, the First Prince asked me, “What were you thinking when you did that? Surely you knew about that child’s origin.”
Until a few months ago, I was an ordinary citizen.
Though I knew nothing about the internal affairs of the royal family, I maintained an appropriate silence.
I was used to it by now.
‘If I stay quiet, the other party will explain themselves, so I just have to wait quietly,’ I thought.
The First Prince continued, “That child is the disgrace of the royal family itself. The daughter of a traitorous woman who dared to betray the Empire and collude with the Kingdom.”
He frowned as he spoke.
Even so, royal family members should remain united, so I wondered why I was so isolated.
It seemed there were complicated circumstances involved.
“That child alone disgraces the royal family’s honor. And you, as the next crown prince, support him?”
A fierce, menacing gaze.
A sharp hostility radiated toward me.
“Understand your place. Did you think you could become something just because you gained your father’s favor?”
His demeanor was truly ominous, but I didn’t feel like breaking down and sobbing.
”I am attending this banquet as the benefactor who saved the Emperor. Killing me here would be a social suicide for the Prince,” I realized.
Not to mention the Emperor’s wrath, how could I handle the notoriety of being known as someone who betrayed the benefactor who saved the royal family?
That was not a threat to kill me, but rather the First Prince’s scheme to intimidate me and make me his subordinate.
”This can be simply declined politely,” I concluded.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I am a teacher. I cannot leave a lost and wandering child alone.”
If no one in the world welcomes that child, at least I should take the child’s side.
I offered that cliché excuse.
With this, the Prince would have understood my intention.
I despised the Prince, but if he was foolish enough to try to kill me for emotional reasons alone, he could never have gained such power and influence in the first place.
”Now, I just have to wait to be demoted as the succession battle wanes. It was supposed to happen…”
Your actions are utterly unpredictable.
I have no idea what your motives are.
What are you trying to achieve? I can’t understand anything.
The Prince’s face grotesquely melted.
The overwhelming pressure made it impossible to breathe.
You are a child destined to overturn the heavens. As expected, I must erase you from the beginning.
Incomprehensible words. However, that voice was somehow familiar.
The existence who called herself Amon during the entrance exam.
Just like then, a primal sense of repulsion overflowed.
”My head is dizzy.”
”My stomach churns wildly.”
”My vision darkens on its own.”
In the increasingly blurry world, the last thing I saw in my pupils was… the trembling girl.
The Empire’s Fifth Princess.
Lucie Leonhart hated herself so much.
She was the ugliest coward in the world.
She knew who the real witch’s child was.
She knew who the man was who was born as a traitor’s child and lived a life of hatred and discrimination.
She knew that her first older brother, who ultimately went mad, had sold his body and soul to a demon.
There was no other choice.
”From now on, you are the witch’s daughter.”
After the demon with her brother’s face said that, her world turned upside down overnight.
Everyone went completely mad.
Her mother had even completely forgotten about Lucie.
All those she loved were taken away by that demon.
The demon who usurped her place toyed with her family as if they were mere puppets.
All the once harmonious sibling relationships had crumbled.
With the absurd tyranny, public sentiment grew increasingly hostile.
Her father was cursed and was growing weaker by the day.
A man she met by chance lifted her father’s curse.
Although such an event occurred, nothing had truly changed in the end.
”Riyan… I need to be cautious,” muttered the demon, deciding to call the new professor someday to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, her family was still unknowingly heading towards destruction.
”I have to tell someone, I have to find a way to inform them,” she thought, lacking the courage.
The substitute to replace the professor who had been brutally killing people to create ‘puppets.’
She couldn’t forget the madness of the palace servants who, smiling, tore off their own arms to offer as sacrifices.
Perhaps she too might end up like that.
Thinking such thoughts made her freeze.
She pitifully dismissed the idea, wondering why only she wasn’t affected by the demon’s brainwashing.
If only she could forget everything, she thought, her mind would be at peace.
”Call in that professor. After all the great achievements, it would be fitting to honor him as Emperor,” the demon muttered, summoning the new professor to the palace.
The professor was surely going to die today.
Feeling guilty, believing everything was her cowardice, the girl tried to avoid encountering the man as much as possible, but it was impossible.
”I pledge my eternal loyalty to you,” Riyan approached Lucie first.
The girl had her rightful place usurped by the demon and didn’t even have a proper faction.
Yet, somehow, he was approaching her.
Seeing this, Lucie held onto a small hope.
The man had indeed lifted her father’s curse, hadn’t he?
Perhaps he saw through the entire situation and realized that only she hadn’t succumbed to the brainwashing, and he offered to help solve all the problems.
With that thought, Lucie chased after Riyan.
But… it wasn’t so.
The conversation between them, no matter how much she listened, it seemed Riyan hadn’t noticed the other person’s true identity.
Her guesses were completely off, and the only remaining risk was that her stalking would be discovered, arousing the demon’s unnecessary suspicion.
In such a situation, she knew what she had to do.
She knew she was cowardly, ugly, and terrible, but dying was too frightening.
‘This time, I can just close my eyes again,’ She could cover her eyes and run away from the things that scared her…
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I am a teacher. I cannot leave a lost and wandering child alone,” a voice echoed.
Even though she didn’t know about the demon, she heard the reason why he offered his loyalty to her.
”If everyone in the world hates her, at least I should be on the child’s side,” the reason was unbelievably simple.
Wrapping up someone as hated as her might also bring harm to herself, but she couldn’t understand why the man would protect her for such a trivial reason.
”That alone is enough reason to risk his life,” but the professor replied, ”Does helping someone really require a grand reason? I just wanted to help because I wanted to.”
…Her legs moved on their own.
Even though her hands were trembling, her steps didn’t stop.
If she acted recklessly, only more people would die.
If she closed her eyes and ran away again, she could survive.
Knowing that, the girl was still moving toward the demon.
She couldn’t help but move forward.
Only that man tried to hold her abandoned by everyone in the world.
To make her, who was crying alone, smile, he willingly risked his own life.
How could she run away alone, leaving such a person behind?
”Your opponent is not that person, but me!” the young girl’s helpless cry.
It was surely a resolve with no meaning.
However, in response, the ground trembled.
The power that was supposed to manifest years later by the protagonist was being accelerated by a twisted cause and effect.
A pure white light dyed the world.
A man stood tall within the massive light.
The Empire’s Celestial God reached out to Lucie.
Soon, a brilliant emblem was engraved on her forehead.
”I will no longer, I will never run away again.”
…The cowardly girl became a hero like that.