Volume 3 Chapter 11 Part 1 (2/2)
The more I think about it, the more it torments me with anxiety, and finally I stand up from my chair.
「Filmina?」
「I’ll go look for him.」
The people start looking at me strangely, and I respond to them with a faint smile before eventually exiting to the hallway. I think that someone tried to stop me from leaving, but I wouldn’t listen.
Because it was the festival time, the vast majority of priests and their servants were out for the moment, and the corridors were empty and tranquil. It wouldn’t be an over exaggeration to say that the temple was too quiet, and the only real sounds that I could hear were the sounds of my own shoes striking against the floor as I ventured towards the room that was assigned for the man to get dressed in. It was then that I heard a silent voice.
「Oh, well, well, if it isn’t Filmina!」
「Your Highness……」
Looking towards the source of that voice, I saw Klanven with his platinum hair neatly trimmed. As he walked over to me, I thought that short hair suited him as much as the long hair, but it made him kind of stand out in this place. Although Klanven didn’t seem that surprised about my stare. He only tilted his head slightly.
「The main event of the festival is about to start soon. What are you doing here, wandering around like that?」
「I just thought that I might pick Edi up and walk to the balcony together.」
「Fufu, oh yeah?」
I could have told him about what was worrying me, since he was there yesterday and he saw the whole thing with his own eyes, but I do believe that his only real reaction would be to smile gently at me, as he always used to do. I wanted to ditch him and go to that man right away, but then I saw his usual smile turning kind of bitter.
「We still have some time left, so how about it? Since you’ve been putting up with my selfishness all this time, I would like to talk to you about the truth. I thought that this is the only way for me to be fair to you after everything you have done for me during this past month.」
「……….. Eh?」
When he said that, I looked at Klanven in surprise. Despite his words, he was just his usual self, with a gentle expression and the warm smile on his lips.
「Wasn’t the true purpose of me assisting you to capture Heathrow’s subordinates?」
「Of course there’s that, but that’s not the only reason.」
Klanven giggled there for a second, but after seeing that I didn’t get it, he leaned closer to me and continued in a hushed voice.
「Several months ago, the magic of your beloved husband, Agedilus Von Lancent, went berserk. Maybe you are familiar with that story?」
「…………!」
I held my breath. How did he know about that?
If he was talking about that man’s magic running berserk, he must have meant the incident that happened five months ago: that time where that man used almost all of his magic against Celves Sin Ronein, an incident during which I was harmed in.
Although I was mostly unconscious during that event, the Princess told me everything afterwards, saying that “I should know about that”. When I first heard about that I couldn’t quite believe it, and I would never think that this topic would ever come back to haunt us again, but here we are.
「Even though this incident was kept strictly confidential, the head of the temple know about it. There were even rumors that Agedilus Von Lancent might even be the new incarnation of the Demon Lord.」
Hearing that, my whole body trembled. What was that thing about a new incarnation?
「S-such a thing is……!」
Looking at my shivering self with slight compassion, Klanven speaks even further.
「This time around, the purpose of this incident was to purge the Heathrow faction of any extremists, but also to see whether or not Agedilius Von Lancent must be considered a serious threat. While I was at it, I also decided to investigate you as well, since you are so close to him, but it was more on a whim than an official order or anything like that.」
I was at a loss as to what to say to those revelations.
If Klanven’s words were true, doesn’t that mean that both that man and I were taken for fools, lead by the nose all this time? Upon realizing that fact I clench my hand into fists so hard that they start to hurt.
Looking down at me, Klanven’s smile was all but gone. He then spoke to me with a kind of voice that I have never heard from him before.
「As far as we know, Agedilus Von Lancent can be either the Hero of Salvation or a dormant Demon Lord. And if there’s even the slightest possibility of him being the latter, it is something that cannot be ignored. Please remember that.」
There was no warmth in that voice of his, no sympathy. He was like a stone-cold machine, only speaking in facts and nothing more.
「 –––– No. No, I don’t think that’s the case.」
I clench my fists so hard that my nails bite into my skin, causing slight traces of blood to drip down my knuckles.
「Edi might not look like it, but he is a very kind person. He’s clumsy, short-tempered, can’t read the mood and is sometimes unbearable, but his kindness is truly real.」
You must have seen it as well, Klanven. How hard he was working for the children at the orphanage.
The man I knew couldn’t be the dormant Demon Lord. He didn’t have what it takes to be considered the next Demon Lord. But if turns out to be true by some cruel trick of fate…… Then I won’t let him become one. And even when I’m gone, there are other people that will stop him from straying from the right path.
Would the Demon Lord be capable of gently holding my trembling hand in times of need? Could the Demon Lord’s eyes be filled with so much kindness? Could the Demon Lord truly pretend to be a good person for so long?