Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 431

Ellen and Charlotte returned to the capital.

Ellen wondered aloud what they should do with Radia Schmidt’s body, but Charlotte insisted they had to bring it back with them as evidence.

Finding a missing Temple student at the ancient castle of Epiacs was a very serious issue, and so it had to be considered evidence, whatever the real truth behind it may be.

They procured a wooden coffin at an intermediate stop and placed Radia Schmidt’s body inside, then returned to the capital.

It didn’t take long for them to return to the capital from the harsh, frozen land up north.

Ellen drew curious gazes as she dragged the coffin along behind her, but neither of them were in a state to care about how others looked at them.

“Reinhart went to investigate the lich’s tomb. That’s all I know.”

Ellen nodded in response to Charlotte’s words.

Even with everything swirling around him, Reinhart had gone to the Dark Land with Harriet and the empire’s elite to investigate the murders that had happened in the imperial palace.

Ellen and Charlotte didn’t know what Reinhart’s true goals were.

As they dragged the coffin towards the imperial palace, Charlotte suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“...”

Ellen stared at her intently, quietly observing Charlotte’s face, which was twisted with sadness and pain.

“Ellen...”

“Yes?”

“I... I can’t do it.”

Charlotte’s voice was trembling fiercely with despair.

“I can’t... This... T-this... With my own hands... I can’t... I can’t do it anymore...”

Charlotte knew that the truth she would discover would shatter her, and she no longer had the courage to take another step forward.

She felt the need to know, to dig deeper, but the truth seemed so terrifyingly overwhelming that Charlotte did not feel like she could do anything more to reach it.

Both of them could sense it, but intuition alone would not be enough to solve anything.

They needed to uncover the truth and find concrete evidence in order to be sure.

Ellen watched Charlotte quietly.

“Okay,” Ellen finally said.

“...”

Charlotte couldn’t go any further on her one.

Ellen was just as afraid, and she understood Charlotte’s fear and the feeling of wanting to sit down but knowing that doing so would mean ultimately collapsing, so she couldn’t blame Charlotte.

Ellen was also afraid of digging deeper into the truth of this matter.

She had no intention of stopping, but Charlotte couldn’t bear to see the almost-uncovered truth with her own eyes.

“Let’s go to Vertus.”

They needed another power.

***

Vertus was busy with the murder-theft incident that occurred within the imperial palace.

The empire’s elite had left on an expedition to the lich’s tomb, but it was uncertain whether there was truly of any value there.

Therefore, searches were still being conducted within the imperial palace, throughout the capital, and at Rother Dwin’s residence.

Since there might have been some trickery around the tomes Rother Dwin left behind, the investigators were being extremely cautious in retrieving it.

The emperor was busy with this matter, and the prince was also doing what he needed to do.

Therefore, he couldn’t help but be annoyed by the request for an audience from his half-sibling, who seemed to have gone somewhere far over the weekend.

He was already busy to death and had no time to discuss personal matters or continue a finished battle of nerves.

But Vertus sensed something unusual when he heard that Charlotte hadn’t come alone but was accompanied by Ellen Artorius, and that they had brought a coffin containing an unidentified body with them to the Winter Palace.

When he saw their thick winter coats, which were inappropriate for the season, he was convinced that they had brought somethings serious to his doorstep.

Vertus, who was tired and irritable. sat them down and asked them to get to the point.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Charlotte remained silent, and Ellen too.

Instead of speaking, Charlotte took a quill from the table and began to write something on paper.

Vertus noticed that Charlotte’s hand was trembling violently as she wrote.

“... What’s up with you?”

“...”

Despite Vertus’s puzzled question, Charlotte remained silent, keeping her head down as she continued to write.

Why write something that could be said?

Because it contained the possibility of a truth too miserable and terrifying to speak aloud.

Her handwriting was messy because of the severe trembling, but it was still legible. Ellen stared silently out the window.

There was no time, but Vertus quietly waited for Charlotte to finish writing whatever she was writing.

For a half-sibling who hated showing weakness more than death, doing something like that meant it was something very important.

“... Here.”

Charlotte handed over the piece of paper, which was densely filled with writing.

Vertus began to read it slowly.

Despite the messy handwriting, the message still contained a clear summary of what Charlotte had learned so far.

She detailed everything, from past events in which Charlotte had sensed some inkling of the Demon King’s whereabouts, to the matters involving Elena, the exchanging of letters, the disappearance and pursuit, the Leverier Lanche attack, and the matters concerning Olivia and Adriana.

She also included what had happened in their visit to the ancient castle of Epiacs, the incident with the statues, and the attack by Radia Schmidt, and the fact that the coffin they had brought with them contained the body of the missing Radia Schmidt.

Each of these events seemed separate, but they pointed to one target.

Reinhart.

[There is a very high possibility that Reinhart is related to the Demon King.]

The horribly-distorted handwriting reflected how devastated Charlotte was feeling to have to write all of it out on her own.

Regardless of the concrete evidence that was laid out and the basis for making that final statement, that final sentence itself was shocking enough to leave Vertus speechless. His first words after a long silence were completely expected.

“That’s nonsense,” Vertus finally said.

“I wish... I wish it were. I really wish it were... I... truly... truly...”

In front of Vertus, Charlotte’s hands lay on her lap, her head bowed.

Vertus looked on, wide-eyed, as tears fell from her face onto those hands.

Vertus was shocked by the fact that Charlotte was crying in front of him, something even more unexpected than the accusations she had laid out in writing.

“I... I tried... t-to do it... b-but... I c-can’t do it anymore... I was h-hoping...... y-you could... do it... If you... do it...”

If Reinhart were truly related to the Demon King, that fact would shock the imperial family and the empire as a whole. However, it would mean that whoever brought this to light would be recognized as having uncovered a serious threat to the empire.

Just as Vertus had seized all the initiative in the race for imperial succession by eliminating the Revolutionary Forces, Charlotte could use this piece of evidence to re-enter the battle for succession.

However, Charlotte, who had uncovered this significant piece of evidence, was handing it over to Vertus.

She was even pleading with him to follow it through to the end.

The truth that she believed lay at the end of all her suspicions was so painful that she feared she would destroy herself if she uncovered it all with her own hands, and so she was approaching Vertus.

She was already broken.

Ellen, who was quietly looking out the window, gently wrapped an arm around Charlotte’s shoulders.

Though her expression remained blank, Ellen, who had undertaken this investigation with Charlotte, likely felt the same as her.

Ellen was not emotionless. She was in a daze.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Vertus looked back and forth between Charlotte and Ellen.

A broken half-sibling, and a dazed classmate.

And Reinhart.

As he watched Charlotte sobbing, Vertus tucked the paper into his pocket.

‘Reinhart is related to the Demon King...’

If it were true, what would actually happen?

If it were true, there was no time to worry about trivial things such as the murders within the imperial palace.

Vertus sat there, watching the half-sibling he’d once hated so much so that he’d wanted her dead, now completely broken and sobbing in front of him.

If all she had presented were true, what kind of betrayal would Charlotte de Gradias feel?

She had been used over and over again, only to be used and left alone in the end, betrayed by everything she’d sought solace in.

“Don’t cry, sister,” he said to her. He meant it this time, saying it with more sincerity than he had ever said it before.

“...”

“I’ll take care of it.”

***

Charlotte returned to the Spring Palace while Ellen remained with Vertus.

Vertus, along with Ellen, opened the coffin, which was being guarded by the Winter Palace’s security forces.

“Did you confirm her identity?”

“She has been confirmed to be Radia Schmidt, the missing Temple graduate.”

“I see.”

Although Ellen had vouched for it, they had to confirm it, and the verification had been completed.

Radia Schmidt, the missing graduate student from the Temple’s Royal Class, had been presumed dead in the Nameless Monastery attack but had subsequently been found at the ancient castle of Epiacs, the northernmost castle on the continent.

Radia Schmidt, for unknown reasons, had attacked Ellen and Charlotte de Gradias and had been killed by Ellen Artorius during the battle.

And in that strange building in Epiacs that housed what looked like a pantheon, there was a statue of a mage who was presumed to have hidden the Demon King away.

Furthermore, the day before the Demon King’s attack on the Nameless Monastery knights, Reinhart had visited Elena’s scroll shop with Radia Schmidt.

All the necessary information had been meticulously written down by Charlotte.

The conclusion was that Reinhart was suspicious.

Since the previous and unpleasant cross-dressing incident, Vertus had been trying very hard not to think about Reinhart intentionally.

He had given up trying to understand Reinhart’s actions, because it was something he simply could not comprehend.

‘This is driving me crazy. If Reinhart is really related to the Demon King, then what was that cross-dressing stunt all about?!’

As his thoughts began to drift in that direction again, Vertus bit his tongue gently to regain his focus.

‘Ultimately, that cross-dressing incident...’

As much as he hated to think about it, Vertus couldn’t deny that it was also a clue.

Charlotte and Ellen didn’t know that the next step in investigating Reinhart, the step that they were too afraid to take, had already been undertaken by Vertus before.

What Vertus had found out before was easy to overlook since he hadn’t been suspicious of Reinhart before, but as soon as the suspicions around Reinhart were uncovered, he could not ignore it any longer.

‘He only registered his identity last year.’

While his subordinate had been right to say that many beggars lived without registering their identity, it was undoubtedly suspicious given what Reinhart was being suspected of.

Reinhart had suddenly appeared in the capital the previous year. He hadn’t existed, at least until two years ago.

There was another clue from that incident. Reinhart had said that the silver-haired girl that Vertus had encountered that day was him.

What reason would there be to confess to such a bizarre act with his own mouth? It had only led to Vertus and Reinhart to feel extremely awkward each time they crossed paths.

There had been no real need to say it. Yet Reinhart had blurted out that truth so readily when he’d heard that Vertus was planning to launch an investigation to find his supposed sibling.

Vertus didn’t know why Reinhart had cross-dressed, but the important thing was that Reinhart had confessed to something he should never have admitted to with his own mouth.

‘Was he afraid of the investigation itself?’ Vertus thought.

He’d confessed before Vertus could dig into the situation and discover something dangerous, perhaps fearing that Vertus might discover something he shouldn’t.

Enduring embarrassment and risking death were entirely different matters.

Reinhart had participated in a cross-dressing contest for reasons unknown, but as soon as he heard that Vertus was going to investigate under the assumption that the girl might be Reinhart’s sibling, he had confessed the truth.

This meant that investigating Reinhart would lead him to discover something that Reinhart did not want to be known.

“Compare the date of the registration of Reinhart’s identity and the date that Charlotte returned to the capital, and bring that information to me,” Vertus ordered.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“And Ellen.”

“Yes.”

“There’s a place called the Rotary Club in the southern region of the capital. Do you know it?”

“... Yes, I know it.”

At Vertus’s question, Ellen nodded.

“Take some people and go there to inquire—no, interrogate them about Reinhart. Bring all of them in if necessary.”

“... Alright.”

Ellen slowly nodded and left the imperial palace, leading the people Vertus had selected for her.

Vertus quietly watched Ellen’s departing figure.

Was Reinhart really someone who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere? And when had he suddenly appeared?

Who exactly was Reinhart?

Vertus wanted to know.

The image of Charlotte sobbing miserably wouldn’t leave Vertus’s mind.