Chapter 403
Bella blinked. Her thoughts came to a sudden halt. She couldn’t comprehend the words Tristan had just uttered. All she could do was ask again.
“Wait… what did you just say?”
“…I said I’m the Demon Lord.”
But Bella hadn’t misheard.
“You… are the Demon Lord?”
“Yes.”
“…Oh. Uh. I see. But, what do we do now? Tristan, I’m sorry, but this doesn’t seem like the right timing for a joke…”
“It’s not a joke.”
Bella swallowed hard. His expression wasn’t one of someone joking. He was staring at her with an intensely serious gaze. Yet, Bella couldn’t bring herself to believe him.
“…What are you talking about all of a sudden? You… you being the Demon Lord makes no sense. The Demon Lord is supposed to be a woman…”
“Look at this.”
Tristan pulled out a mirror from his pocket and channeled his magic power into it. The reflected magic from the mirror enveloped his face in light. When the light faded, a woman’s face was revealed. It was a woman with black hair and obsidian eyes, a villainess…
“…Trinity?!”
“Trinity was the form I took using this artifact to change my appearance.”
After saying this, Tristan channeled magic into the mirror again and returned to his original face.
“She is me, and I am her.”
“Liar…”
But Bella couldn’t accept it. She didn’t want to accept it.
“Stop lying to me.”
“Bella…”
“Don’t use some trick like this to deceive me…”
“……”
Tristan let out a deep sigh. As if resigned, he relaxed his body and revealed the ‘despair’ he had been suppressing all along.
“Look closely.”
“…?!”
Bella saw it. The faint, dark, and gloomy aura rising from Tristan. It was something that would make anyone who saw it fall into ‘despair.’ If she wasn’t mistaken, it was proof of him being the Demon Lord. Among the beings of the Otherworld, only the Demon Lord possessed such a thing.
Bella instinctively stepped back. She was overwhelmed by the shock, as if her head had been struck by a hammer, unable to accept this reality.
The Demon Lord Trinity she had met during the northern expedition was the same person as Tristan…
“This can’t be…”
Bella’s mind still refused to understand. She desperately wanted to deny this fact. She frantically searched her memories for evidence that Tristan wasn’t Trinity, for any counterargument.
Then, something came to her mind.
“Wait… back then, when Trinity appeared, you were right beside me, weren’t you?”
Even if he used that mirror to change his appearance, two people couldn’t be in the same place at the same time.
“If you were Trinity, that would be impossible.”
“That was…”
“It wasn’t the Count who was beside you back then, it was me.”
“Blanshe…?”
Blanshe, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
“I borrowed the power of that artifact to pretend to be the Count.”
“You…?”
“Yes… I’m sorry…”
Blanshe couldn’t bring herself to look at Bella. As Bella’s loyal servant, she had been hiding this truth from her. Although it was unavoidable to prevent the controversy of Tristan being the Demon Lord… she couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt.
And it wasn’t just Blanshe who felt guilty. Wendy also found it difficult to speak up.
It was only after seeing their reactions that Bella realized.
“Don’t tell me… you all knew? That Tristan is the Demon Lord?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Blanshe bowed her head. She never intended to hide it from Bella forever. Given the gravity of the situation, she planned to tell Bella once everything was settled and Bella was ready to accept the truth.
But Tristan had revealed the secret without warning. It was too soon. Blanshe wanted to resent Tristan… but she decided against it.
Tristan is a cautious man. He rarely speaks, and when he does, it’s often sharp, but he never says anything he can’t take responsibility for. Perhaps Tristan believed that now was the right time to tell Bella the truth.
In other words, he judged that if not today, there would be no other opportunity.
“Why… why did you become the Demon Lord?”
“I’m sorry.”
Tristan, who rarely apologizes, said he was sorry. Bella understood the weight behind his apology. But regardless of her understanding, her mouth moved on its own.
“Sorry? That’s it? What were you thinking… becoming the Demon Lord!”
“I’m sorry.”
“What am I supposed to say in the social scene now? I said you weren’t a bad person… that you fought at the forefront against the monstrous beasts… and now you’re the Demon Lord…”
“I’m sorry.”
“I swore you weren’t our enemy. I staked my family’s name and my own! So… why!”
“I’m sorry.”
“If you’re so sorry!”
Bella screamed as if in agony and collapsed. She broke down.
“Why… why did you do it… why…”
Bella covered her face with both hands, trying to gather her shattered expression and emotions.
“Why… did you become the Demon Lord…”
But she couldn’t hold back her tears.
Tears flowed from the betrayal of learning that the man she loved was the Demon Lord. But it wasn’t betrayal towards Tristan.
The Izakhel Family is a family that inherits the light. And at the opposite end of the light lies the darkness, where the Demon Lord resides. While it’s not uncommon for ordinary humans to merge with demons, it was something the Izakhel Family could never accept.
The light magic Bella inherited from her ancestors was proof of her oath to fight against evil. If she broke that oath, she would be punished and stripped of the light’s blessing. Not to mention the stain it would leave on the family she was so proud of.
The Izakhel Family and the Demon Lord are like oil and water, destined to fight to the death.
Bella felt betrayed by that fate.
“Answer me. Why did you… become the Demon Lord?”
“Because it was the only way to stop the war between humans and monstrous beasts.”
“Ha… becoming the Demon Lord was the best option?”
“Yes. If I hadn’t become the Demon Lord, the war between humans and monstrous beasts would never have ended.”
Tristan revealed everything he had been hiding. His decision to become the Demon Lord. How he had managed to become the Demon Lord. He explained it all calmly, without any hint of making excuses or fabricating the truth.
“The Count chose to become the Demon Lord for my sake…”
Wendy tearfully defended Tristan.
“Because I was an unreliable hero… because he didn’t want me to fight, the Count chose to become the Demon Lord himself…”
“…That’s so foolish…”
After hearing everything, Bella understood. Why Tristan had become the Demon Lord. Why he had chosen to become the Demon Lord.
Because she understood, Bella couldn’t hide her devastation.
In the end, someone had to become the Demon Lord. Someone had to become the Demon Lord and bring chaos to the Otherworld. But why did it have to be Tristan? Why did it have to be the man she loved?
Bella couldn’t speak for a while. It felt like there was a hole in her chest, and no matter what she said, it would all leak out.
Then, a voice came from above.
“I wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Looking up, Tristan was gazing down at Bella.
“I wasn’t afraid of the jealousy of those who envied me, the threats from the Emperor, or the murderous intent of those who sought my life. Becoming the Demon Lord was no different. Even if I struggled in despair, I never thought it was something to fear.”
His gaze wasn’t filled with arrogance or coldness, but with a heart-wrenching melancholy.
“But Bella… the only thing I was afraid of was the possibility that you might leave me.”
Bella swallowed hard. Tristan was smiling softly.
“I was afraid you might leave me. For me, a tomorrow without you by my side was more terrifying than anything else. The reason I kept this secret from you until now… might have been my selfish desire to keep you by my side, even if just for a little longer.”
“Tristan…”
“You once said that even if I had secrets, you could still love me. When I heard that… I found the courage. The courage to be honest with you…”
Tristan reached out to Bella but hesitated, as if he didn’t have the courage to take her hand.
“Call me a coward if you want. If that’s what it takes to keep you by my side… I don’t mind being called that.”
“…You’re really pathetic.”
Bella staggered but managed to stand up on her own. Her movements were still weak, but she was determined to stand on her own.
“If you say things like that… how can I ever leave your side?”
“Bella…”
“You know what?”
Bella brushed her hair back. Just as Tristan had kept secrets from her, she decided to reveal something she had been hiding from him.
“Tristan, when you fell into hell… I was going to give up my light magic.”
“…What?”
“I asked Michaela to save you… I couldn’t just ask for free, so I offered to give up the blessing of light I possessed. At the time, it was the most valuable thing I had.”
Bella had gone to Michaela to save Tristan, who had fallen into hell. She was willing to pay any price to save him.
“The Izakhel Family is a family that inherits the light. Even now, I take pride in the light magic I possess.”
“I know. But why…”
“Why do you think?”
As if it were obvious… she smiled faintly.
“Because you were that precious to me. Because you were more valuable to me than my pride and dignity.”
At that time, Bella was prepared to give up everything to save Tristan. And she realized.
Ah, I truly love this man…
Bella steeled herself.
If fate, if destiny, is testing this love…
“Michaela.”
“Huh?”
Michaela, who had been yawning at the table, blinked. Bella spoke respectfully to the god who had bestowed the light magic upon her.
“I will give up the light magic.”
“Huh??”
This was the only way Bella could be with Tristan.
Michaela looked puzzled.
“Why??”
“Because I love Tristan.”
There was no hesitation. Bella took Tristan’s hand, who was standing there dumbfounded.
“To love this man… I can give up the blessing of light. I’m sorry, Michaela. I swore to use the light you gave me to drive away all evil in the world, but this man… I can’t defeat him. I can’t fight him… How could I fight him?”
The hand she had held at the edge of hell. How much she had regretted letting go of that hand. How much she had cried. Bella’s grip tightened, as if she would never let go again.
“He’s the person I love… How could I fight someone I love so much…”
Everyone around them looked at Bella in surprise. It wasn’t something she would normally say in front of others. But Bella was determined.
Just as Tristan had risked his life to save her, this time Bella would risk everything to love Tristan.
And Bella’s resolve reached the god. Michaela, who had been silently listening to Bella’s plea, finally spoke.
“Uh… I see. I understand your feelings. But… why give up the light magic?”
“…Huh?”
Michaela looked confused. Bella was also taken aback.
“Well… I’m going to marry that Demon Lord…”
“What… I don’t like you marrying someone like that, but I guess I can’t help it. But what does that have to do with the light magic?”
“I swore to use the light magic to drive away evil, right? The Demon Lord is evil in this world, so…”
“Ah, that’s true. The Demon Lord spreads ‘despair.’ So naturally, anyone who loves the Demon Lord would also fall into corruption.”
“Then…”
“But you haven’t fallen into corruption. Neither have the others.”
It was thanks to Wendy’s personality trait, ‘hope,’ that Tristan’s ‘despair’ had been suppressed… but Bella didn’t know that.
“Tristan is a harmless Demon Lord for now, so it’s fine.”
“Then… the blessing of light I have…”
“You don’t have to give it up. If I were going to strip you of it, I would have done it already. Do you want to give up the light magic?”
“No, no.”
Bella awkwardly averted her gaze. Then her eyes met Tristan’s.
“…What? Do you have a problem with something?”
“…I didn’t say anything.”
A heavy, uncomfortable silence followed.
Bella realized she had been holding his hand all this time.
“…How long are you going to keep holding my hand?”
“…You were the one who grabbed it…”
“Shut up!”
Bella yelled as if she had touched something dirty and let go of Tristan’s hand. Then she noticed the gazes of those around them.
“……”
“……”
Blanshe and Wendy, who had heard all of Bella’s inner thoughts, turned their heads away when they met her gaze. Bella felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole.
“…Hehe… The Princess is quite bold…”
“One more word, Helga.”
“Sorry.”
Bella’s glare was so fierce that even Helga flinched.
“…Everyone, forget everything I just said and did. That’s an order.”
Bella’s shoulders trembled with shame and embarrassment.
“Understood…?”
