Chapter 96
Chapter 96. Inseparable Fate
Well, I’m Zilbagias, the Demon Lord’s Prince, withdrawing to the corner of the room to avoid interrupting the father-daughter time…
The inheritance of light magic was over in an instant.
To call it a final farewell between father and daughter, it was far too brief…
Leila was crying loudly. It was the first time I had seen her so emotionally exposed.
I could only pay my respects to Faravgi. That was all I could do. I couldn’t even pray for his peace anymore…
But Faravgi, I’ve etched your way of life, your brilliant spirit, into my memory. You were prepared to let your soul vanish for your daughter.
You were a splendid father. A proud White Dragon. I too will do my absolute best to protect Leila in your stead.
So… please…!
Even knowing that your soul has vanished, I can’t help but pray.
So please, rest in peace.
‘…Well then, it’s just the beginning now.’
Antendeixis muttered quietly.
That’s right.
This isn’t the end. Rather, you could say it’s just the beginning.
Eventually, Leila wiped her tears and looked up to meet my gaze.
Golden eyes. There’s a solid light dwelling within.
…What a strong gaze this child has developed.
“Leila.”
“Uh…?”
We both opened our mouths at the same moment and exclaimed, “Ah!”
“Please go ahead.”
“No, you go first.”
“No, no, I’ll ask.”
I knelt to match the height of Leila, who was sitting on the floor, encouraging her to speak first.
“…Thank you for everything.”
Leila lowered her head quietly.
“Thank you for calling my father. For allowing him to say goodbye in the end…”
She smiled fleetingly.
“Thank you very much.”
…There’s no need to thank me.
Really, there was nothing else I could do…
“I’m glad you could say it.”
In contrast to my desperate effort to not distort my expression, Leila let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders.
“I hated you.”
With that casually continued confession, my heart nearly stopped. But despite the words, her expression was calm.
“Even though you’ve been so good to me. You’ve shown so much care. I just couldn’t shake the thought of my father being killed, and I didn’t know what to do about it.”
“…That’s only natural. You shouldn’t be troubled by it.”
I barely managed to squeeze those words out.
“It’s not like I’ve treated you kindly. At most, I treated you like a servant… It doesn’t even begin to balance with taking your father’s life!”
“I heard from Garunya. If there hadn’t been any paperwork discrepancies, I would’ve been offered to another Demon Lord.”
Leila looked up at the night sky outside the window.
“So what would’ve happened to me then? …I might have been bullied to death by now…”
She returned her gaze to me with a light chuckle.
“So, I’m thankful. That’s the truth. And on top of that, to have been able to say goodbye to my father, to talk with him just a little…”
Tears began to well up within her eyes again, but she brushed them away vigorously.
“Honestly, even now, I can’t say that I’ve completely moved on. But if I keep sulking, my father would just laugh at me!”
She smiled brightly.
“I… will become a proud Dragon that my father can be proud of!”
…Ah.
She’s no longer just a child to be protected by me.
Standing there was a girl ready to stand on her own two feet and spread her wings—
“So, please, don’t worry anymore.”
…!
I can’t compete with that. What can I say from my position?
“…Understood. Thank you, Leila.”
My heart lifted lightly.
For the first time, I realized just how much pressure I had been carrying.
“…Thank you.”
Thank you truly for trying to forgive someone like me.
…We smiled awkwardly at each other.
It was an unexpectedly pleasant moment, but—unfortunately, we couldn’t remain in this state forever.
“Shall we talk about things? Moving forward.”
I said, tightening my expression, and Leila nodded sincerely, “Yes.”
“Since it’s the floor, make yourself comfortable on the sofa.”
“Ah. Yes, thank you.”
We sat side by side on the sofa, discussing the direction we would take while gazing at the empty bone powder barrier.
“Then let’s discuss the Demon Lord Kingdom.”
“Ah. We’ll destroy it.”
I nodded.
“At the very least, if we defeat the Demon Lord and his successors, this country will collapse on its own. I plan to make the most of my current position.”
“The only ones who know this are…”
“The Antendeixis inside me. Liliana. And you.”
Leila made a funny face at my words.
“Uh… Liliana, is it…?”
“Ah… she may seem like that now.”
I pictured Liliana, who was likely waiting outside the room. …I’m sure I have a strange expression on my face right now, too.
“When I rescued her from the Night Elf prison, I temporarily sealed her memories. Though I’ve released the magic now, she may have chosen to remain in that position…”
As I spoke about how she likely rejects remembering her horrific experiences, Leila looked down with a pained expression.
“…I thought I might be the most unfortunate person in the world, but that was naïve. There are those who suffer even more…”
No, no—surely Liliana’s circumstances were incredibly tragic…
But yours was quite bad too… wasn’t it…?
“Well, it doesn’t do any good to compare suffering…”
“That’s true. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Regardless, if the day comes when she can recover, I want to let her go…”
I locked eyes with Leila.
“In order to do that… she needs to be completely separated from my subordinates, to move independently…”
She seemed to get the idea.
“I see…!”
Leila tightly clenched her fists.
“So it’s my turn, then!”
“Yeah. I’d be happy if you could cooperate when that time comes…”
“Of course!”
Phew. I was worried she might say something like, “I’m aiming to be a proud dragon, so I don’t want to ride.”
“But…”
Suddenly, Leila’s expression clouded.
“Subordinates, so that means… someday, it will lead to betrayal, right? Viene and Garunya too.”
I felt like I was hit in a vital spot and for a moment, I found it hard to breathe.
“…That’s how it will be.”
I gritted my teeth and admitted it.
“…In my past life, my father was killed by Emelgias, the Fourth Demon Lord, and my mother by the Night Elves.”
Now, Leila gasped.
“And the Night Elven spy network is corroding the alliance district like termites, sowing seeds of discord and chaos. I intend to make both the Demon Race and the Night Elves pay for it…”
I deliberately didn’t hide my emotions.
However, I lacked the courage to look straight into Leila’s face while I spoke; I could only keenly sense her gaze directed at me from the side.
“Viene has been kind to me since I was young. But… that doesn’t change the situation…”
And then there’s Garunya…
“…I have no idea what to do with her. At this point, I feel pitiful for myself…”
I will kill the Demon Lord. Eradicate his successors as well. The Night Elves will face their rewards, and I’ll find a way to destroy the Dark Portal. The Demon Lord Kingdom will collapse.
But… when it comes to the Beastmen, I can easily imagine what kind of fate awaits them once they lose the protection of the Demon Kingdom… yet still…
“I don’t know what to do…”
When I nervously looked at Leila’s face, she wore an expression evident with concern.
“…If you had just said, ‘I don’t care about those guys,’ I would have probably felt a bit scared.”
She, too, timidly placed her hand on my shoulder.
A warm, gentle pressure.
A small hand, that of Leila.
“…But beyond that, it seems even she doesn’t know what she should say.”
That’s right. If the answers came easily, it wouldn’t be such a struggle…
“Let’s put that issue off for now.”
I continued talking, even though I was aware I was just postponing things.
“My policy is basically this: to make the most of my position as a Prince and defeat the Demon Lord Kingdom. If possible, I’d like to let Liliana escape and provide some information as well. It seems the Night Elf spy network hasn’t infiltrated the Forest Elf country yet…”
Even if they disguise themselves as humans, they ironically can’t masquerade as Forest Elves. Their magical resistance and sunlight tolerance would give them away immediately.
“…What about the Dragons?”
Leila asked, a bit nervously.
“…It’s a bit of a complicated matter. This was a pretense for my mother regarding my favorable treatment of you—”
“…Your mother?”
“Ah, I mean, the Duchess Platiphia.”
I quickly realized what I had said and covered my mouth. Whoops… I’m Alexander right now!
“The upper Demon Races, including Platiphia, are wary of a Dragon rebellion. So—”
I explained to her about the “pretense” of winning over the former White Dragon faction under Leila’s leadership.
“The White Dragon faction…”
Leila seemed unsure about it, chewing on the term with a vague expression.
“…Even when I was in the Dragon Cave… there were dragons who didn’t take part in the harassment and only observed from afar.”
With kind yet distant eyes.
“…Looking back, I suppose they felt that way.”
Her tone sounded so detached that it left me unsure of how to respond.
“To be honest… it sounds a bit funny to declare I’ll become a ‘splendid dragon’ after saying that.”
Leila shrank her shoulders apologetically.
“Since I’ve been living in this form for so long, I don’t really feel like I’m a dragon! My father and mother are different… but the dragons in the cave feel more like a different species to me…”
…What the heck.
Orphen… just what were you thinking…
“I… still don’t wish to hate anyone. That’s truly… a painful thing.”
Placing her hand over her heart, Leila spoke.
“However, even with that, I probably wouldn’t care what happens to the Dark Dragons…”
Leila hesitated.
“More than that, I’m worried about my father’s brethren who escaped abroad.”
Forget about the dragons in the cave, then.
“Of course, I don’t want the ones who didn’t treat me too harshly to get hurt for no reason…”
“I see. I haven’t thought about specific details yet. However… I will most likely incite the Dark Dragons to clash with the Demon Race.”
When I said that confidently, Leila nodded, “Yes.”
Her gaze was serious and devoid of any hint of mockery towards the Dark Dragons.
Dark Dragons… you’ve cut off your own potential with your own hands.
I hope you’re not regretting it.
“That’s about it. I still have things I want to talk about, but they’ll start getting suspicious soon.”
I glanced at the door, concerned.
“For now, keep this a secret about me.”
“Of course.”
Leila nodded, gripping my hands tightly.
“When you can fly… we might be able to talk secretly in the sky.”
“I learned how to fly from my father. So I think I’ll probably be able to fly soon!”
For Leila, that was a rather strong assertion.
So she learned even that…!!
“That’s great…!”
Really, that’s great…!!
“Oh, but I need to explain this to Platiphia.”
“? Explain what?”
“Uh, I need to somehow prove that you can be completely trusted… because Platiphia is worried that you might betray me.”
“Ah…”
She nodded knowingly, as if she understood why.
“How do you plan to prove it?”
“I thought about teaching you logical reasoning, discussing the future of the Dragon Race, and tying you into my political interests to win you over to my side—at least in front of Platiphia.”
But that method would take time…
Of course, even if Leila could fly, I wouldn’t mind waiting longer until I could ride with her.
“…So, we need some kind of reason that would ensure your ladyship would believe I would never betray you, right?”
“Exactly. …Do you have any ideas?”
I asked Leila, who appeared to be deep in thought, just in case.
“Let’s say we become mates.”
“Whaaaa!?”
I burst out laughing at the completely unexpected suggestion.
