Note: There’s no chapter 101.
“…That concludes the report. The demon attacking the capital was felled by the princess… I mean, the swordmaster.”
The minister’s report echoed loudly in the otherwise quiet conference room.
I look left and right to see how the executive staff is reacting, and see they are split in two.
Unconcerned, and baffled.
Most are the former, not showing much interest in the death of White Rose.
They only show interest when it suits them.
My lover, the crown prince Ghise, is the latter.
According to the princess, White Rose and Ghise were cooperating, so he must be in shock that the alliance has been broken.
That’s nice. That’s what you get for trusting a woman like that and not me.
If he learns from this and starts relying on the saintess, I will be very happy…
“Hey, what about that black-haired guy that was mentioned in the story?”
“He’s a friend of the princess. The princess said she would look after him herself, and took him away.”
“Tch! She beat me to the punch! Bring him to me as soon as he recovers.”
“Y-yes! I will inform my subordinates.”
The princess’ friend…
I don’t know who it is, but there’s a good chance she told him who I am.
I want to deal with him with as little provocation as possible, so I don’t want to leave this to Ghise.
“Prince Ghise, I would like to meet him as well.”
“No.”
“Ah?”
“This is between me and him. You don’t need to concern yourself.”
What’s he on about? I really don’t get it.
Ghise’s rejection really pisses me off.
But losing my temper here is not very saintess-like, so I need to be firm.
“Prince Ghise, this is a national problem. What kind of saintess would let someone who brought down a demon go unthanked?”
“Tch! You’re sounding more and more like Iris…”
He doesn’t argue, and sits back down with a bitter expression.
That childish reaction of his makes me sigh a little.
The Emeraude religion has existed since long ago, but in present times, it has degraded into a tool for statesmen to display their power.
However, that is not exclusive to the Emeraude religion. No matter how wonderful the teachings are, as time passes, they are warped to people’s convenience, and in the end, are something else entirely.
That is a flaw of people.
People are quick to die. They can’t live as long as us demons.
If someone stood at the top for a long time like the demon king, the teachings of the time would be passed down directly, without changing too much.
Granted, that’s not as interesting… Also, it might not fit the world’s sense of values as it changes.
In any case, everything that has a form disappears eventually. All things must pass.
The demon king’s army was gone a hundred years ago, and I learned that then.
As one of its leaders, I was great, and respected by those under me. But then the hero appeared, and everything went wrong.
Through power that felt like a calamity, my army was shattered, and even the castle was attacked by the hero.
That was when we fought, and when I realized I couldn’t win no matter what, I immediately ran away.
But demons’ sense of values say this is no good.
For us, power is everything, and that thinking has not changed in millennia.
No matter how good a reason sounds, once a demon runs from an enemy, they are not to be trusted. It’s a stain that remains there for all our lives.
I lost everything because I ran. My subordinates, my honor, my wealth, my trust, my heart, my pride.
‘There’s no way I can beat a hero! Bam☆’
I didn’t say that, but all of a sudden, it became known that I did.
It was the worst humiliation. But if you were to ask me if I want to go against humans, I would say no.
After fighting the hero, I realized demons can’t beat people.
Even the demon king, who thought she was the strongest, fell easily before the hero.
People have too many ways to kill demons.
Demons are tough and haughty.
Humans are frail and crafty.
If these two do battle, the latter always comes out on top. There is no way to break this formula.
After all, demons’ sense of values hasn’t changed a bit in millennia.
When faced with an enemy, we face them head on and crush them.
We have some tricks, but our hearts are bound by having to fight in a way that establishes dominance.
We demons don’t hide our magic energy. To us, this is the most easy to understand form of status.
Hiding it means telling others you are weak.
Most demons are too proud, and detest such petty tricks.
But humans have no problem hiding their magic energy, and once they decide to kill you, they attack with all they have.
White Rose, who died today, was actually stronger than that, but somewhere in her heart, she looked down on humans.
That was why that opening in her heart was used to easily put her down.
I can’t say much, since I didn’t see the fight, but from what I heard, that was most likely how it went.
I lost all my sense of values as a demon. All I can do is hide my true self for as long as I can.
I don’t care if other demons ridicule me. The present has already destroyed them, if they continue clinging to those values. This is what I believe.
Thankfully, if I pretend to be a human, I can lead a fun life. It’s not like when I was one of the four pillars of the demon king’s army, but life here is fun.
Being beloved as a saintess fills my prideful heart.
After losing everything, I found a place for me again.
Now that White Rose is dead, no one except the princess knows who I am.
If I win her over, I can continue living as a saintess.
And as I speculate like this, a knight rushes into the conference room.
“W-we have trouble Prince Ghise! We have word that the former saintess Iris is in the capital!”
“W-what!?”
Ghise stands up with surprise.
Iris being back right now gives me a bad feeling and anxiety.
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