Chapter 146
Olivia placed both hands on her hips and looked at him with a slight pout.
“We’re bound by a pact, so if you don’t take care of yourself and something happens to your body, won’t that affect our contract too? Neglecting yourself like this is just…”
As she raised her voice, Olivia suddenly paused and went, “Ah.”
She seemed to realize that she had gone overboard.
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
“O-Of course, I’m saying this out of concern for my pact partner’s well-being, not because of anything else, so don’t misunderstand.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“H-Hurry up and go inside. I told them to prepare medicinal dishes that are good for recovery.”
“…You really didn’t have to go that far.”
“I-I already said it. You’re not only my pact partner, but also the benefactor of our Holy Kingdom. I can’t let anything happen to you.”
Chris chuckled and nodded.
“Alright, then. I’ll graciously accept the kindness—as your pact partner and benefactor.”
As Chris turned his back and walked away, Olivia bit her lower lip tightly.
Truthfully, she had been feeling confused about her emotions toward Christian lately.
Every time she saw him, her heart stirred.
She even wondered if it might be romantic affection.
After all, Christian—aside from being a demon—was clearly a charming person.
And after everything he’d done for her recently, it wouldn’t be strange to fall for him.
But Olivia firmly rejected that possibility.
‘This isn’t love.’
Rather, this was—
“…Oppa.”
Strangely, in that demon’s figure, Olivia saw her older brother.
* * *
While recovering his body, he took on additional tasks.
More precisely, he helped Olivia, the newly appointed Pope, take control of the Holy Kingdom.
To be even more exact, he lent a hand in purging the rotten elements festering in the Holy Kingdom.
‘This is my specialty, after all.’
Chris’s mind was filled with detailed records of the sins committed by the corrupted officials of the Holy Kingdom.
Just like in Miek’s case, many of them had committed crimes severe enough to bring down Gold Cross itself in the future.
He gathered evidence and handed it over to Olivia.
Later, Olivia would use that evidence to excise the rotten parts of the Holy Kingdom.
He was slightly worried, but believed she would handle it well.
‘She’s no longer the powerless Olivia from before.’
She was no longer just an heir.
Olivia was now the Pope, the highest authority in the Holy Kingdom.
Moreover, thanks to her role in preventing the spread of the Black Plague and the descent of the Fallen Star, she had become a hero among the people and earned overwhelming support.
She also possessed a strong resolve to reform the Holy Kingdom from within, so both the Holy Kingdom and Gold Cross would change going forward.
Chris also provided further assistance to ensure Olivia wouldn’t get caught up in the schemes of other powerful nations in Gold Cross.
‘The Holy Kingdom isn’t the only one with weaknesses.’
He made sure to seize the fatal weaknesses of each nation.
They would become weapons Olivia could wield.
But Olivia wasn’t just on the receiving end—she gave Chris an unexpected gift in return.
“What’s this?”
“…Open it.”
Chris unwrapped the cloth and was visibly surprised.
It was a Holy Sword!
Unlike Grunade, it wasn’t defective—it was a proper one.
“It was stored in the Holy Kingdom’s restricted vault. It’s called ‘Ernhilt.’”
“Are you sure it’s okay to hand something like this over?”
“Of course it’s not. But it was in a vault only I, the Pope, can open, so no one will find out. And it’s been left unused for a long time anyway.”
It wasn’t a top-tier Holy Sword.
Those are treated as important national symbols within the Holy Kingdom, so they can’t be taken out.
Still, it was an immensely helpful item for Chris.
“Thanks. I’ll make good use of it.”
Aside from that, Olivia gave one more gift.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t meant for Chris—but in the end, it was a gift for him as well.
She revealed the truth behind the false accusations against the cursed prince Chris.
Without a single lie, she exposed the truth.
That former Pope Pentagel III had conspired against Princess Sistania and Chris, and that neither of them had committed any crime.
“I want to restore my brother’s honor.”
‘…It’s meaningless now.’ No—it wasn’t meaningless.
Though everything had already passed, the false accusations that had haunted him in his previous life were now completely cleared.
More importantly, his mother’s honor had also been restored.
“……”
The public response to the truth of the cursed prince was bigger than expected.
The imperial family of the Karn Empire reacted immediately.
His mother, Princess Sistania, had been the most beloved daughter of the former emperor of Karn, and was the current emperor’s close sister.
Sistania, who had been expelled from the royal genealogy, was instantly reinstated, and Chris was acknowledged as a legitimate member of the Karn imperial bloodline.
He was already dead, so it was all meaningless—but still, Chris was now counted among the heirs to the throne of the Karn Empire.
‘It’s about time I left.’
Recovery had taken longer than expected, forcing him to stay.
His body wasn’t fully healed yet, but he couldn’t delay any further—it was time to go.
But before that—
There was one last place he needed to visit.
Late at night, Chris stepped out of his room.
He headed to a remote cemetery on the outskirts of the Holy Kingdom.
A place where sinners were buried.
Where his mother lay.
‘A greeting is the least I can do.’
Though they had been separated when he was young, Chris never forgot, no matter how long ago it was.
He vividly remembered how his mother held him in her arms back then.
He placed the anemones he had brought in front of the grave.
‘Now that it’s all over, may you rest in peace.’
Just as he was about to turn away—
“Anemones were Princess Sistania’s most beloved flower, weren’t they?”
“!!”
A soft voice.
A chill ran down Chris’s spine.
‘…I didn’t sense anyone approaching?’
He slowly turned his head to find a slender woman in light armor standing there.
Her outward appearance placed her in her late twenties, maybe.
The aura she gave off wasn’t strong—
—but that was only because it was being completely suppressed.
Chris knew exactly who she was.
He swallowed dryly.
‘That’s Aslan, the Lightblade, Vice-Captain of the Karn Empire’s Imperial Guard.’
A knight of seven stars!
One of the Karn Empire’s elite had shown up.
Her youthful appearance was only due to powerful mana suppressing aging—her real age was much older.
‘Why is she here?’
Tension began to rise, but Chris quickly shook his head.
She hadn’t come to target him.
More than anything, he knew Aslan well.
She wasn’t someone who would treat a demon with immediate hostility.
She was one of the few lights left in the corrupt, crumbling Union.
“It seems you know who I am. I didn’t expect the young lord of the Dark Demonic House to recognize me.”
“If a demon doesn’t know the Lightblade of the Karn Empire, then he has no right to call himself one.”
But that wasn’t the real reason.
In his previous life, Chris and Aslan had shared a deep connection.
‘She was my loyal retainer during the Age of Ruin.’
A retainer.
It sounded awkward, but it was true.
Before he had joined the Hero’s party, Chris had briefly led a major power on the brink of collapse.
Of course, he had taken on the role secretly, concealing his identity—openly revealing himself as the leader would have only made him a target for assassination.
‘That’s why the Hero’s party never knew I was once the leader of that faction. I kept it a secret.’
At the time, the one who had supported him was Aslan.
She even gave her life for him.
When the major power Chris led was utterly destroyed—
If Aslan hadn’t bought time with her life, Chris would never have survived.
Though the connection from his previous life stirred a sense of nostalgia, Chris kept his emotions hidden.
‘She must’ve come to see my mother. I heard she and my mother were close. She used to be my mother’s bodyguard, didn’t she?’
As if confirming his assumption, Aslan turned her gaze away from Chris and placed a single flower at the grave.
It was an anemone as well.
After a brief moment of silence, Aslan did something unexpected.
She bowed her head to Chris.
“Thank you.”
“!!”
“I heard that you revealed the truth. Thanks to you, I can finally bring peace to the one who was most precious to me.”
Even so, for a seven-star knight of the Union to bow her head to a demon...
Aslan’s surprising behavior didn’t end there.
“If there’s anything you wish for, I will repay you in any way I can within reason.”
“…Are you serious? I’m a demon.”
“Of course, others may criticize me for it. But I believe it’s far worse to ignore a debt of gratitude. That said, I hope you’ll understand that due to my position, I may not be able to grant any unreasonable request.”
It was a startling statement.
But this was just how Aslan was.
The Lightblade who judged others fairly without prejudice.
‘That’s why, despite her strength, her standing within the Karn Empire isn’t great.’
Chris thought for a moment.
‘A request, huh… What should I ask for?’
It was too good a chance to let pass.
‘The best would be to make her my ally.’
Not now, perhaps—
—but the time would come when he would have to act within the Karn Empire as well.
The Karn Empire was one of the two most influential powers in the Union alongside the Holy Empire.
‘Still, I can’t just bluntly ask her to become my ally. She wouldn’t accept it.’
Chris quickly came up with a good idea.
‘Ah, this could work. I just need to do something that earns her trust.’
Any relationship of cooperation is built on trust.
If he could get Aslan to trust him, she would naturally become his ally.
And conveniently, there was something just right for that.
“When you return to the Karn Empire, please keep a close eye on the Crown Prince.”
“!!”
Aslan’s expression stiffened.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I can’t go into detail, but our Dark Demonic House received a troubling piece of intel. I’ve been wondering what to do about it, and since I happened to run into you, I decided to pass it on.”
Chris added casually,
“Even if I’m a demon, I can’t just ignore a disaster I see coming.”
He wasn’t lying when he said disaster.
A major incident would soon erupt in the Karn Empire.
He had no way of intervening, so he had left it be—but if he could borrow Aslan’s strength, things might change.
“……”
Aslan fell silent.
She looked conflicted, not knowing how to take it.
Chris shrugged nonchalantly.
“It’s not an unreasonable request, is it? As a member of the royal guard, watching over the Crown Prince should be part of your duties anyway.”
“…That’s true.”
“You’d simply be doing your job. And if you were to ‘coincidentally’ discover something troubling, then you’d be acting in accordance with your duty.”
Aslan shook her head.
“You really are different from other demons, Lord Chris.”
“……”
“In any case, understood. I’ll keep an eye on him as you said.”
Good.
Given Aslan’s capabilities, she should be able to prevent the worst-case scenario.
And in the process, he’d be able to earn her trust as well.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
Chris could feel Aslan’s gaze following his back, but he didn’t look back and simply returned to his lodgings.
‘Ugh, I’m dying. I only walked back and forth a bit, so why does it feel this bad?’
His condition was worse than expected.
‘Well, I did endure the backlash from the destruction of a Celestial Seat with my body. If this keeps up, I might be suffering from internal injuries for months. That’s serious.’
Chris looked grim.
To others, just a few months might not seem long.
But it was different for him.
For Chris, a few months was enough time to perform countless miracles.
‘More importantly, once I return to the Dark Demonic House, the second trial will begin right away. If I’m in this condition, it’ll definitely be a problem.’
Chris recalled the contents of the second trial.
Since the succession trials had a long-standing tradition, their format was already set.
The second trial, by nature, was significantly easier than the first.
To the extent that those who passed the first trial almost never failed the second.
‘But that’s only for normal successors. I’m different.’
Typically, those who challenged the Dark Demonic House’s succession trials had already reached at least 6-star.
Chris, on the other hand, had just barely reached 5-star. In terms of pure achievement as a demon, he was only at high 4-star.
For reference, it would be a mistake to think, “He’s still only high 4-star?” His progress had come in just about a year and a half since his regression.
Considering how even prodigies were praised for reaching 4-star before turning twenty after training from infancy, it was clear just how fast Chris had grown.
‘Still, compared to previous successors who’ve taken the trials, my level is far lower.’
That meant the relative difficulty of the second trial, compared to others before him, would naturally feel much higher.
‘Given my current state, the second trial might even feel harder than the first.’
And now his physical condition was poor on top of that—an obvious disadvantage.
‘Once I return, I need to prioritize recovery as quickly as possible.’
Thankfully, he had the secret techniques of the renowned House of Medical Saint.
If he brewed a few elixirs, he should be able to shorten the recovery time.
‘Now, which elixir would be the most… effec…’
While lost in thought, he slowly drifted off to sleep.
His poor condition had drained his stamina too quickly.
Silence settled in, and a calm moonlight lit the room.
Something unexpected happened.
Sss—
A faint mist spread across the room, and a figure began to take shape.
It was unbelievable.
Normally, Chris’s senses were so keen that no matter how deeply asleep he was from exhaustion, he would always notice someone approaching.
Even if the person completely concealed their presence, it would be the same.
But the figure who appeared now wasn’t even making an effort to hide her presence—yet Chris didn’t sense a thing.
There was a reason.
Just then, the moonlight slipped through the clouds and illuminated the figure’s face.
It was a girl with a stunning appearance.
She looked just shy of adulthood, still carrying the youthful features of a girl, but her beauty was so breathtaking it seemed to still the very air around her.
Her pale white skin and delicate facial features gave her the impression of an exquisite sculpture carved by the heavens themselves—elegant and noble beyond compare.
Her shoulder-length blood-red hair shimmered as it swayed, and her violet eyes were captivating beyond words.
The slightly parted red lips revealed sharp fangs within, making it clear the girl was a vampire.
But she wasn’t just any vampire.
Etched on her forehead was the Blood Cross.
It was the mark of royalty among the Truebloods, the highest caste of vampires—a symbol of dominion.
The Vampire Princess.
The Grand Duchess of the Bloodsword Demonic House, Idrinne, had appeared.
She would later come to be known as the Blood-Drenched Demon King.