Hi guys! Emperor 93 here!
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***(Cordelia's POV)***
The situation has become... strange.
After defeating the demon Arzined, Lilith sat at the table and with a smile proposed to spend time by having a chat. Surely there is a lot to talk about, but... after seeing the one-sided slaughter from earlier, all of us have grown the fear that if we were to say something wrong or too much, we could end up in mush. The explosions and noises we heard in the background certainly didn’t help.
The atmosphere wasn't heavy but certainly strange and Lilith had noticed it, so she wasn't saying a word waiting for all of us to get used to it.
“Ah! How about a tea...... although most of you might not drink it... forgive me. Ahaha!" she chuckled embarrassedly.
Most likely, she said it to try to lighten this strange atmosphere. Let's see if I can help you with your intent
“Unfortunately, the necessary tools are in the kitchen. Fufufu" I said with a chuckle "After all, your infusions are delicious."
"I’m flattered to hear that."
The conversation stopped there... and the strange atmosphere became awkward. Someone help us out! I screamed inside myself.
"E-excuse me."
Hearing his voice, I noticed that Acrisio had approached Lilith and with red cheeks pulled a hem of her skirt. Seeing him, Lilith turned to him
"Have something to say?" she asked softly
"T-thanks for defeating, t-the demon and saving... aunt Bassilla." he said, looking away
"Fufufu. You're welcome.” She giggled, stroking his head
"A-are those real?" Acrisio asked, looking up
Gasp! For some reason, that question worried us. What are you referring to Acrisio?!
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lilith asked surprised and then followed his gaze which was fixed on her horns “Aaah. Do you want to touch them?"
“C-can I?
"Of course... come closer."
When Acrisius approached, Lilith took him in her arms to make it easier for him to touch her horns. Acrisius was surprised as soon as he touches them and then a moonbeam hit the horns giving them a shade similar to the crystal of aragonite.
"Uaooo!" he exclaimed fascinated
"Fufufu. Do you like them?"
"Yup. They are smooth, warm, and shine like a colored crystal!"
"Thanks. It makes me happy to know."
When she gave that answer, she looked at my nephew affectionately and her lips formed a very sweet smile. It's beautiful... That kind expression made me do that thought, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see that all those present had been enchanted by that kind expression. With his face completely red, my nephew looked away and from the agitation, he continued to move his gaze between Lilith and the floor.
"C-can I stay in your arms a-a little longer?"
"Fufufu. As long as you want... you look tired after all."
“T-t-tired? N-no... I-I'm not..." in embarrassment, Acrisio leaned against Lilith's chest to hide his crimson face
“Ara ara. Ufufu."
How cute... this was my thought and you could read it on the expression of Lilith. What a young man who is my nephew. He just got his second crush.
“Here we are ♪
Riding the sky ♪
Painting the night with sun ♪
(...)
Burn the page for me ♪
I cannot erase the time of sleep ♪
I cannot be loved so set me free ♪
I canot deliver your love ♪
or cares your soul so ♪
turn that page for me~♪
(...)”
Almost cradling him, Lilith moved slowly and began to sing what looked like a lullaby. I didn’t recognize the words, but the song filled the greenhouse despite the terrifying noises of the background battle. Lilith's voice was sweet, crystalline, and affectionate... like her hand when stroking my nephew's hair.
With each note, I saw that Acrisio looked at her bewitched but little by little his eyelids struggled to stay open, and he abandoned himself to that sweet song and then fell asleep permanently, soon after even the song ended.
Smiling, Lilith stood up and entrusted Acrisio to Leila, amazed that she had managed to put her son to sleep so easily as he was usually too energetic.
"There we are~" she said in a low voice handing my nephew to his mother who had regained some of her mobility "Your son will become a good man."
"T-thanks." Leila answered surprised "Coming from the Demon Queen means a lot."
"I am no longer the Demon Queen." she began by returning to her seat "I'm just a woman who wishes to be a good wife and a mother." she admitted, massaging herself just under her belly
"Uh? Are you pregnant?!" asked Bassilla to that action
"Unfortunately not yet." she said whit a disappointed tone and shaking her head "We’ve been trying since we got married..."
"I'm sorry."
“Don't worry Lady Cordelia. As far as I know, we are the first human-demon couple to ever get married. Besides, we demons are not as prolific as humans."
There have been many precedents of married couples whose races are different and very often the cause is political marriages. Our nation is one of those since many nobles, mainly the ducal houses, have married a member of the elven or beastmen nobility to strengthen the ties between the various kingdoms. The descendants of these unions often have different physical or magical racial traits: for example, Ridel inherited the magic talent of the tris-grandmother who was a member of the elf race or her daughter Ella who was born with slightly pointed ears.
"Well, I wish you good luck... also because I'm sure your child will be lucky to have you as a mother." my mother added
"Ara. You flatter me, your majesty."
"No, no, no, I'm serious." the queen said smiling "That lullaby was loving and reassuring."
"Oh... thank you... but I have to confess something..." Lilith began "Graeval sang this song to me when I was still convalescing."
"Oh my..." my mother exclaimed surprised
"After my defeat by Jack, I had terrible nightmares for some time and when I woke up I always ended up losing control of my mana." She looked at her right hand with affection "Worried for me and after calming me down, Graeval would take my hand and start singing this lullaby. Every time he did that, I always had such beautiful dreams, I never wanted to wake up."
"Who would have thought that?"
"Fufu. But he kind of ruined it when I asked him to teach it to me."
"What do you mean?" Leila asked interested "I wouldn't mind learning it if it helps to make him fall asleep so quickly."
"He told me that the song is nothing more than a means to allow his powers to help calm down the turbulent memories that caused the nightmares I had."
"He destroyed the beauty of that lullaby."
“Ahaha. Right?" Lilith chuckled embarrassedly. “But I like the song and I was only interested in the lyrics. Then I was able to recreate the same ability described by Graeval using mana as well."
"Uh? And how did you do it?!" Atia asked interestedly
"Synchronization of mana."
To avoid too many tedious details, it seems that when she tried to learn that skill she found that based on the feelings you have, the flow of mana is also affected. To use this calming effect of the lullaby, three factors must be respected: physical contact, eye contact, and confidence with the target. If these three conditions are met, the user can synchronize his mana flow with that of the other, calming the flow and implementing an unconscious soporific action.
With this quick exchange started by a thank you from my nephew, the atmosphere lightened becoming very friendly. From there, we began to talk about a bit of everything but we never went into detail. Finally, sensing that the atmosphere was now suitable, I began to ask a serious question... the same one I wanted to ask her before
"Lady Lilith... Why?"
"Why... 'why' what lady Cordelia?" she asked, pretending to not understand
"Why did you confront that... monster? Why didn’t you let him do whatever he wanted?"
"...... I thought I said it aloud but... the minor reason is that he was the enemy of all women, but above all, it is because he made my long-awaited honeymoon end badly."
"......"
“*Sigh* Doesn't seem the answer you was expecting. All right, I'll be honest." she sighed and then looked at us all “I will not forgive you and I cannot forgive you for what you have done to my race. However, if I held on to my grudge and thirst for revenge, I would not be able to enjoy my married life. I got over it, but that doesn't mean I don't feel any resentment."
"...I understand." I stated after a short pause "So... the demon protected by Guardian... no, by Graeval that my husband tried to kill-"
"It was me." Lilith said dryly "And it's always thanks to me if you're not a widow now."
"...... Was he that mad?"
"Graeval... is very good at suppressing his feelings and also tried to end it peacefully by trying to trade the lives you and lady Sarity owe him for mine. He tried everything until the last. Unfortunately, the foolish sense of justice that has been instilled in your husband and your fellow wives has not led them to follow reason even after they have experienced firsthand what it means to face my husband. Added to the fact that they ruined the end of a wonderful evening to celebrate our wedding anniversary, Graeval was furious and has reduced my attackers to the brink of death.
I guess you understand why I stopped him from killing them... right?"
If she hadn’t, their lives could have been turned into hell because surely neither the kingdom nor the church would have been apart if they had realized that the party that seriously... hurt the Demon Queen, had suddenly disappeared.
They're putting up with a ruthless logic that allows them to live in peace... but most likely, they're trampling their true feelings in doing so. And all this, just to be able to be together... if we were in their situation, would Jack be able to do it? Would I be able to?
While I was doing that though, I felt a very powerful explosion, and afterward, the earth began to tremble as if there was a powerful earthquake going on that started to explode all the glass in the greenhouse and woke up Acrisio who had slept until now.
"Oh my!" Lilith said getting up worried "[Whirlwind]"
Once the spell was cast, a tornado gently picked up all my family and the guards still paralyzed and almost looked like a sedan, led us out of the greenhouse and onto the outer boundary wall.
"What happen?!" my father asked worriedly
"It looks like he went from a warm-up mode of earlier to light exercise mode," Lilith said pointing to the castle.
***(Sarity's POV)***
20 minutes before the start of the earthquake
It was going to be a fun and relaxing evening... up to a point at least. When I had completed my magical training, the education that was imposed on me made me aware that the parties and banquets held by the nobles are aimed at building relationships and ties so that they can be exploited for political purposes. Now, I’m a commoner and I’ve never been interested in these complicated things... though I should have.
Anyway, aside from all this hassle, it was a way to break up everyday life... to do something different and especially together as a family. My godchildren remained in the house we bought here in the capital and were entrusted to a nanny.
The party started well and continued smoothly despite the absence of Graeval left all of us in awe, but knowing his propensity to avoid the party if not out of duty, I kind of expected it. However...
“Jack! Move from there!"
"Kuh!"
by an inch, my husband avoided being struck by that monstrosity.
That "thing" just a while ago was a man... son of a famous noble patron, his name was Robert Patterver.
On a few occasions, I exchanged a few words of convenience because of my position, but it bothered me how his eyes always fell on my breasts. I'll be honest... I won't miss him, but this monstrous version of him is even more annoying than the original.
Thanks to the sacrifice of some royal guards, we were able to buy enough time to evacuate all the guests... or almost.
For some reason, the Queen of Yedal, Her Majesty Shael Qilana Leomyar u'Yedal, stood aside and watched us fight as if we were a mere attraction. The Elven envoy who had accompanied her, ambassador Folmer Torkian, tried over and over again to dissuade her from leaving but she made ears of merchants and said “I have never seen the hero and his wives fight, the party that managed to kill the Demon Lord."
Although in reality the Demon Lord is a woman and she is married to Graeval.
Although I wanted to make that clarification, I just kept it in my head and focused on the fight. It wasn’t difficult per se, but the skin of that mutant is absurdly hard, and both my husband and Emilyn are having trouble dealing damage. The only thing that works well is magic, but we can’t rely on it much because we’ll end up being targets for the monster.
Whenever Ridel or I used a magical attack on him, it seemed natural for him to come upon us forcing us to move to avoid getting hit.
"Damn! It's causing too much trouble!" Jack exclaimed seeing that despite the numerous injuries the mutant continued to move as if nothing had happened
"What is creating problems is you dear!" Emily exclaimed moving to his side "Why do you insist on not fighting him seriously!"
"He was still a man before-"
"Precisely Jack 'was'." Ridel stated as she prepared to cast another spell. “Robert Patterver is already dead. That is nothing more than a monster that has changed his body and has taken possession of it."
"Sarity... can he still be saved?"
"[Light Heal]" I said shaking my head
I understand my husband's intention to save as many lives as possible, but... 'sadly' Robert Patterver is dead.
What? I hate narcissistic womanizers like him. While it is true that there is some personal resentment, what I have said is true. Whatever happened to him, first it killed the narcissistic idiot and then changed the body into that monstrosity. I will be the Saint, but I cannot bring the dead back to life.
"Tsk. Okay then, I won't hold back!"
"GRAAAH!"
*Zack!**Splash!*
At the same time that he made that roar of pain, I saw that the monster's left arm had been severed, causing gushes of blood to flow from the wound, and subsequently, a red tail hit the mutant in the face making him retreat a few meters.
"How do you have a problem with this half-sock stupid student!"
"Teacher?! What are you doing here?"
"Do you believe that no one would not notice the mess of your fight?" she asked approaching us, "Damn it. After all that destruction you caused in the gardens, I thought you’d already killed him."
"Uh? What destruction are you talking about?" I asked confused "We have never moved from here."
“Haa?! What are you raving about?!" Ishgat asked slightly surprised. "While I was flying here, the garden was in a pitiful state amidst burns, craters, and collapsed walls. And you’re the only ones fighting."
"As I have already told you-"
"GRAUH!"
The mutant had stood up and charged head down towards us. With his remaining arm, he punched Ishgat who blocked it with one hand as if nothing had happened.
"Later you will tell me how you managed to reduce the garden to that state, now let's finish this hassle."
"""""Yessir!"""""
We instinctively answered in chorus.
Lady Ishgat pushed the mutant away and taking advantage of the opening generated by that action, my husband and Emilyn took the opportunity to load
"[Purity Blade]" I recited
Jack and Emilyn sank the blades I had enchanted into the mutant's leg, penetrating with ease. As we thought. Magic-based attacks are very effective.
On its knees, Lady Ishgat cut off its other arm before the monster could even react.
"[Fire Lance]"
"[Holly Javelin]"
In unison, Ridel and I cast our offensive spells hitting the monster in the heart and stomach.
"GRAA-!"
*Zack!*
My husband didn’t let it scream in pain and cut off his head. The eyes wide open on the other parts of the body opened wide and then the light of life faded from their iris. It was over.
As we breathed a sigh of relief, I heard someone clapping in the background and when I turned to the place where that applause came from, I saw that it was her Majesty Shael approaching us with a satisfied expression, followed by lord Torkien who was watching her with an expression of renunciation
“Splendid. It was an exemplary fight."
"We do not deserve these words, your Majesty." Jack said with a slight bow
“No, no. You have been truly incredible. You restrained the beast by allowing everyone present to evacuate and now you have even defeated it. But remember... your hesitation could prove fatal someday."
Queen Shael was scolding Jack for continuing to delay the mutant’s execution. After all, as a human before he turned into a monster, Jack hoped to somehow 'heal' Robert Patterver.
"I will keep your advice in my heart, your majesty." he stated and then turned to the throne "Let us go to Cordelia and the others. I am worried."
We all nodded to that statement and lent ourselves to join the royal family that awaited us at the greenhouse.
"Wait for a minute young man." Ishgat stopped us "You still haven’t told me how you destroyed the garden."
"Teacher, we must go immediately, and above all, we didn't move from here."
"Huh? Are you serious?" she asked and then looked at the queen who nodded as if to confirm my husband's statement "But if it wasn't you, then-"
*KABOOOM*
With that deafening explosion, the wall behind the throne exploded, throwing rubble everywhere and creating a huge cloud of dust. At the same time that there was that dust a figure appeared at high speed going to crash on one of the columns.
Alarmed, we were preparing for another possible confrontation, but when I looked at the figure that had stuck in the column, I was baffled: under the guise of Guardian, Graeval was there with the armor and the cloak full of blood.
"Ouch! That hurt. Hm?" he said with a metallic voice and then turned to us "Oh, good evening! How are you?"
Thanks for the chapter. I still wondered how it would have been any different if Graeval just killed the Hero party and moved somewhere else. If they were worried about being found out. Wiping out anyone that might bring them trouble would do the trick. I mean it's not like these Kingdoms are the only one on the planet. There are other continents and Kingdoms that have no relationship to the ones here. Plus there is no way they could defeat these two. So running for their lives is not really an issue. But I guess we wouldn't have gotten the character development we have now.
Still sucks that the hero party always gets away with it. Most stories that has them as antagonist, or committing genocide for the sake of "Peace", always gives them a redemption of sorts. A free pass if you will just because, well it's the hero party. I am not saying this against you author. It's just something that I have noticed with stories that have someone facing against the "Hero party". I mean the hero is only a hero to the race that has them on their side. To every other race, they are an abomination. I mean look at this hero, he didn't want to kill this guy, possibly endangering other people, because he was human. What if he was a werebeast, or dryad, or something that wasn't an elf or a human, would he have hesitated? He sure didn't when they were killing other races.
Anyhow, end of my rant lol. I understand you did it for the sake of the story. I am just getting a little tired of seeing the "hero party" almost always get away with a slap of the wrist whenever the protagonist faces against them. I am probably over-reacting. More than likely. But would love to hear from you about this, as it pertains to the story. Do you think it would have really affected them as much if they have wiped the "hero party" considering Graeval's and Lilith power? How would the other empires react? Would anyone know or suspect Graeval? For all I know it would have simply have looked as if a powerful demon killed them, but they would have no idea who it was.
Though I understand your misgivings about the situation at hand, imagine Graeval wiped out the hero party.
After they went to the trouble of building themselves a happy life in a village with a restaurant, friends and acquaintances over the span of a few years, they would have to move to another country and start anew.
That means building up social relations from the ground up again as well as having to start up a new restaurant or another sort of business if they want to continue their happy life in peace.
That said they can not move to the demon country because not only would Graeval be potentially be uncovered but Lilith could probably be relatively easily spotted, meaning there would no peaceful life to be had there.
That means their only options would be to move to the countries allainced with the humans, which in turn has the same dangers of being discovered again and since he wiped out his enemies once, why not again?
So this repeats again and again and again....I think you see where this goes?
If Graeval already gets so frustrated from being annoyed from comparably minor inconveniences what would he do when the frustration from starting over builds up?
So the option that most likely leads to the life Graeval and Lilith wish for is to keep their current place and show that they are not to be messed with. Which he did by brutally reducing the hero party to nothingness and then healing them up again so they have a nice little experience to remember him by for all their life.
Granted, it would probably still have been best to move to another country since the hero party comes from the humans and in another country there may be less of a chance for this situation to occur and it would probably be better for Lilith, since I suppose most of her resentment lies with the humans, but then again, it's the viallage Graeval grew up in, the point of starting over still applies (only the restaurant would not have been build or not been so successful) aaaaaand the author would have to radically reimagine the plot for his story
@Khalydor You bring some valid points that I forgot to take into consideration. I also agree with Graeval and Lilith not staying in that country. It's the place that is home to the people that wiped out her entire family, and here she is serving them tea and cookies (Although most of this was already covered in their fight. Though there is no full closure yet).
Most sane people would have probably left after being discovered (at least I would like to think so). But then again, we wouldn't be having the situation we have at hand. It would have not being an interesting plot if they just up and left and never bothered with the hero party.
Sigh....
It's just that, here we have a man with enough power to build a place where his wife will not have to worry about being the daughter of the Demon Lord, yet he does not. I understand his ethos of having a peaceful life...but buddy, you married the daughter of the Demon Lord. Peace is the least of your worries now (as he is now starting to see lol).
I don't fault the author for this...I wouldn't say inconsistency, more like alternative path to the story. I think that's the right term. People make mistakes and Graeval sure as hell made a big one here. It surprises me how he never stopped to think that maybe his wife might not have fully gotten over the whole massacre of her people (unless this was already discussed in a previous chapter and I am just forgetting about it). To my knowledge, it was only brought up during their fight. He never seemed to have made any attempts to check if, I don't know, "Hey babe, you cool if we stay in the country that killed your whole family, and have the hero party over every now and then?"
I guess, I am just a little sad that Lilith is never getting any retribution (at least so far in the story). Now she has to tolerate the people that killed everyone she ones held dear and just have to live with it. Let me tell you, that's f*cking rough. The fact that the people who killed her loved ones will never ask her for forgiveness is even worst (Not just the hero party, the goddess as well). I think out of all the characters thus far, besides the demon girl that was used as a s*x slave by her own brother, Lilith has it the worst. Heck at least the slave girl got justice when they killed her brother. Lilith will never be able to do that against the people responsible for the death of her previous life (metaphorically speaking). She is probably the most tragic character in this whole story. And in my opinion, the strongest (mentally).
@Onewithlego Yeah well, you're not completely wrong (I just have to correct you the fact that Lilith IS the Demon Queen). Furthermore, that painful choice to remain in that Kingdom is because it is the only one quite tolerant with demons as I quote from the previous chapter:
Before the start of the hostilities, King Edward tried a diplomatic approach with my kingdom also because Thirus, despite being a human kingdom, is very tolerant towards other races and even before the foundation of Deshotia its inhabitants, albeit rare, were very open to us demons.
it is a painful choice but at the same time the most painless compared to moving to other countries. At least based on the knowledge we have of other nations at the moment.
@Khalydor You really understand the main reason why it is more convenient for them to stay there.
I also remember that the Saint and the Hero are important figures in that world and their death would cause an effect similar to the "witch hunt".