Before the day drew to a close, just as Liana had sought me out, I felt the need to share a conversation with everyone.
Those who met me in the castle hurriedly lowered their gaze and fled, or their faces turned pale, and they trembled in fear.
It wasn't as if I had a terrifying appearance, apart from the horns.
Perhaps they were afraid of me because they imagined something more than what was visible.
My companions were now planning to stay in the guest rooms within the palace.
After deciding the accommodations for the remaining royal family members, everyone would have proper rooms and dwellings.
I had resolved to become king, but I didn't know what exactly a king had to do. That's why I needed the help of those around me and the support of the previous royal family.
I seized the country without any preparation, declaring that I would be king.
It was bound to be absurd.
As I descended from the tower and entered the area where the guest rooms were, I found Harriet gazing vacantly outside from the terrace of the castle.
Feeling my presence, Harriet looked at me and gasped.
"Ah... Uh, ah... Reinhardt..."
She couldn't be used to seeing me in this demon king form.
"Is this... your true form?"
"Well... you could say that."
I wondered if my true form held any meaning.
Harriet seemed to scrutinize my face as if trying to tear it apart.
"It's like... you seem like you, but... you're different... but not completely different..."
Harriet stared at me, seeming puzzled.
"I don't know. I'll get used to it eventually."
I felt a strange resonance with those words.
It meant that she would always be by my side.
Harriet and I stood side by side on the terrace.
The words I spoke to her weren't very long.
I told her that I tried to save everyone, no matter what happened, and asked her to trust me.
How could she possibly believe such a thing? Compared to my single statement, the things I had done and my true identity must have been difficult to handle.
Moreover, this situation was ultimately my fault.
I didn't know how things would unfold in the long run, but Harriet had practically become humanity's enemy.
"You seem to be lost in thought."
Harriet murmured quietly as she gazed out the window.
It was fine if it was my problem. I could handle the issues I faced and the situations I was in.
However, it was another matter entirely for those who had chosen me to share the pressure inflicted upon me because of my actions.
"Now isn't the time to think about too many things."
Harriet said as she took my hand.
"I don't know what the others think. I only know what I think."
Harriet looked up at me.
"I'm okay. So don't worry about me."
As if to alleviate some of the burden that had been lifted from me, Harriet smiled at me.
Although she must have been worried about the fate of the duchy, Harriet comforted me in this situation.
Thinking about it, Harriet always worried about me when things got serious.
She had done the same during my duel in the early days of our terrible first year together.
Harriet, who had been watching the duel expecting me to be beaten horribly, worried about me when I really did suffer.
She had always been on my side when it mattered most, and sometimes I helped her too.
At some point, I had always been receiving help from Harriet.
"I no longer think I can say that everything will be fine," she said.
Harriet held my hand tightly as she stared silently out the window. The situation was terribly grim, and even in this brief moment of respite, people were still dying.
Not everything could go well. It was already too late for many things.
"Still, there must be something we can do. There must be something only I can do."
Harriet looked at me.
"You too, there must be something only you can do because you are you."
So instead of feeling guilty or sorry, let's find what we can do.
That's what Harriet said.
It was exactly what I was thinking too.
But just knowing that someone else had the exact same thoughts as me provided a strange sort of comfort.
"Thank you."
As the most talented magician, Harriet would find something she could do.
As the Demon King, I needed to find what I could do.
—---
After speaking with Harriet, I went to find Olivia.
"Ah, Reinhardt."
Olivia saw me and immediately embraced me.
"We didn't have time to talk properly with everything going on. I'm so, so relieved you're safe."
"Thank you, sister."
I embraced Olivia as well.
I had thought that Olivia would be on my side even knowing I was the Demon King. But actually seeing her stand by me was a different matter.
Olivia did what she could.
If not for her, I might have been quickly dealt with. In that case, the Gate Incident might not have happened.
In the end, the actions Olivia took bought me a few more days, and those few days led to the Gate Incident unfolding.
But I couldn't blame Olivia. There was no guarantee that the Gate Incident wouldn't have happened if I had died.
Olivia tried to save me and played a decisive role.
There was no reason to blame her for the fact that I survived and the Gate Incident happened because of her as well.
I could only think that it was thanks to Olivia that I had survived and was now able to do something.
I had to think that what I did to save Olivia at great risk led to my survival in this disastrous situation.
Olivia and I sat down on chairs.
"Honestly, I'm truly, truly relieved that you're safe, but I'm against everything that's happened."
"…"
"Finding out that you were the Demon King was truly shocking... but now that I know, I just can't understand."
It was bound to be that way.
"You have no reason to protect humans. Although this happened in the end, you tried to prevent it. And coming all the way to this distant southern country and seizing it overnight is impressive, but... even if you can handle this Gate Incident, what's next?"
I couldn't help but understand what Olivia was trying to say.
What would happen after everything was resolved?
"In the end, the fact that we're the root cause of the Gate Incident doesn't change. No matter what you do to save humans, they'll hate us. And to control the confused public sentiment, the empire will declare the Demon King as the root of all evil, and it's not like they'd be wrong."
Since Eleris activated Akasha, it wasn't exactly a smear campaign for the empire to say we were the cause of the Gate Incident.
"The empire won't admit that none of this would have happened if they had believed you even a little, and they have no reason to. They will inevitably direct all the blame at us."
"Of course."
"In the end, the Empire and the humans will blame you for all of this and try to kill you. No one will know how many people we tried to save, or that you never really wanted any of this. No one will understand, and no one will even try to acknowledge it. Just because you're the Demon King. With just those two words, they'll bury the truth."
Olivia sighs.
"Let's not do anything. The southern island countries won't be affected by the Gate incident. So, let's just leave the matters of the continent and the humans behind. Let's live quietly among ourselves. We don't really need to be like a king. It's just going to be bothersome. So, let's take our people and live somewhere quiet. I don't see why you have to risk your life for something that will never be recognized by anyone."
Olivia, a human, tells me to turn away from humans.
Since I am the cause of the Gate incident, everything I do will never be acknowledged by any human.
Once the Gate incident is resolved, the Empire will target me.
They will stabilize the political situation with hatred toward the Demon King, promoting unity and solidarity among humans.
All of this is too obvious, and it's clear that such things will happen without much thought.
These are things I know even without Olivia telling me.
That's why Olivia suggests we live quietly.
"If it had been for someone's recognition or acknowledgment, I wouldn't have started in the first place."
I had a choice.
To do something, or not to do something.
It was Sarkegaar's idea to enter the temple, but I could have just lived quietly within it.
I didn't do that. I tried to do something and achieve something.
But in the end, all of that led to the Gate incident.
So now, should I turn away from everything and do nothing?
I can't do that.
Since I chose to do something, if the result of my actions is the Gate incident, then I must do something else in response.
It's not for someone's acknowledgment.
No, and it's not that no one acknowledges me.
"Besides, those who need to know the truth, do. That's enough."
At least there are people who know my intentions were not malicious.
Though I will inevitably face countless misunderstandings and hatred, those who need to know, do.
Even if the Empire directs all its arrows of blame at me, at least they can't deny that my intentions were pure. If not, they wouldn't have immediately revealed the only solution to the Gate incident.
Still, the Empire will make me the scapegoat and the target of all hatred.
But they know that my intentions cannot be denied.
That's enough.
"And if I hadn't done anything in the first place, I wouldn't have become so close to you, right?"
"..."
"Not everything was bad. There were good things, too. Definitely."
Just because a massive negative outcome has occurred doesn't mean everything I've done so far has led to this situation.
Harriet, Liana, and Olivia chose to believe in me and follow me.
Not everything was bad.
If I hadn't done anything because it wasn't necessary, I wouldn't have had a reason to save Olivia in the first place.
As a result of risking danger to save Olivia, I was able to survive.
"So, the things I'm about to do, the things I don't need to do, they won't all necessarily turn out badly for me. There could be good things, and this could turn out to be a good thing for me later on. Like when you saved me, sister. That kind of good thing."
"..."
Olivia seemed at a loss for words at my statement, silently staring at me.
"I didn't think you'd listen to what I have to say. You always do things your own way. You saved me on your own accord, and you've done all sorts of things like that. I doubt my words would have any effect on you."
Olivia smiled at me.
"From now on, no matter what you or I do, there'll be no secrets between us, right?"
"Of course."
Satisfied with my response, Olivia grinned brightly.
If the Gate incident comes to a close, a clash with the Empire may be inevitable.
It could bring about a future that inflicts devastating damage on humanity or, on the other hand, a future where I die even more miserably.
Olivia, Liana, and Harriet.
Everyone who helped me could also die in a wretched state.
I won't let such a future come to pass.
I won't cower in fear, imagining that my attempt to do something will end in failure, just because I failed once before when I tried to do something.
Whether I do nothing or try to do something, the world will hate me.
If that's the case, at the very least, I will try to do something.
