Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 702

Empress Harriet strolled quietly around the imperial palace with Priscilla after leaving the Spring Palace.

Priscilla’s intense nature played a role, but the real issue stemmed from Amelia’s relentless bullying since they were young.

“If she despises me and Mom so much, why doesn’t she just stay in the Temple dormitory or live with her mom in the Holy Empire?” Priscilla wondered aloud.

Amelia always claimed she couldn’t bear to see them, yet she chose to remain at the Spring Palace. If she truly wanted to avoid them, she had plenty of options to live elsewhere. Priscilla could only conclude that Amelia stayed at the Spring Palace just to torment her. Nothing more, nothing less.

While her daughter grumbled, the Archmage quietly gazed at the distant sky.

“Priscilla.”

“What?”

“Do you remember when Rune first came?”

Her daughter’s voice softened. “Yeah.”

Prince Rune was known as the Archmage’s son, but in reality, he was an illegitimate child brought into the family by the Emperor. But the Archmage had embraced Rune as her own son without hesitation.

At that time, Priscilla had been seven. Since the palace was unfamiliar to him, and he needed to adjust to its ways, Empress Harriet took care of the four-year-old Rune every day.

“I’m glad you adored Rune, but really, were you never upset?”

“...”

Priscilla had been taken aback by the sudden arrival of a sibling, yet she had adored him from the very beginning. He was simply too lovable to resent.

But had there truly never been a moment when she’d felt upset? Watching her mother constantly following Rune around, showering him with care and attention, did she never feel an unpleasant twinge?

“... I think I did, a little bit.”

“In what way?”

Priscilla glanced up at her mother, her eyes filled with a truth she hesitated to voice. It was something she didn’t want to admit, but she couldn’t ignore it either. It was a feeling that resembled sorrow.

“It felt like... Mom was taken away from me.”

“I see.”

Empress Harriet gently ruffled her young daughter’s hair, offering a faint, reassuring smile. “Thank you for enduring it all this time.”

Priscilla’s cheeks flushed at the unexpected acknowledgement. “But what does that have to do with Amelia?”

She couldn’t see the connection between her jealousy of Rune and Amelia.

As Priscilla pouted, Harriet gently knelt down to meet her daughter’s gaze. “When the Holy Empress had Amelia, she was overwhelmed with responsibilities and couldn’t raise her herself.”

“...”

“So, for a while, I took care of Amelia.”

Priscilla’s eyes widened in realization as her mother’s words sank in.

As the Holy Empress of the Holy Empire, Olivia was burdened with numerous duties, including mediating religious disputes across regions.

Feeling threatened and overwhelmed by her responsibilities, Olivia found herself unable to properly raise a child. So, she had decided that Amelia be raised in the safest place she knew: the imperial palace, rather than the main temple of the Holy Empire.

“In truth, Amelia has two mothers: the Holy Empress and me,” Harriet explained.

“...”

“When Amelia turned three, I became pregnant with you,” she continued, gently caressing Priscilla’s cheek with a sorrowful expression. “And after you were born, the Holy Empress was less busy, and took Amelia back to the Holy Empire.”

Priscilla watched her mother recall the past with a deep sadness, and she felt an indescribable heaviness grow within her own heart.

“It’s not your fault, Priscilla. But to Amelia, it must have felt like you took her mother away.”

Olivia longed to be with the daughter she hadn’t been able to raise herself, while after giving birth to Priscilla, Harriet couldn’t bear to be apart. But from Amelia’s perspective, it seemed like she was suddenly being torn away from the mother who had raised her. In her young mind, it seemed as though Priscilla had taken her mother away.

From a long time before she could even remember, Priscilla had been tormented by Amelia for these reasons. It wasn’t Priscilla’s fault, but Amelia couldn’t help but harbor resentment toward her. She was still too young to let go of those feelings.

“Then why does she call you a witch?” Priscilla asked.

“... She says it because she’s upset,” Harriet replied softly. “Not because she hates me... but because she loves me too much.”

Mocking Harriet was a way to make her look at her. It was the only way to forcefully draw her attention.

Finally, Priscilla began to understand why Amelia, who always acted like she despised her mother, would end up crying in her arms.

“So don’t take what Amelia says about me too seriously. Amelia doesn’t hate me.”

In the end, Priscilla realized why Amelia chose to stay at the Spring Palace and why she didn’t live in the Holy Empire or the Temple dormitory. She didn’t want to be apart.

“I don’t know. Even if I want to get along, she always starts it, so I don’t know what to do.”

“...”

Harriet could only manage a sad smile. After all, understanding the reason for the resentment did not mean it could be resolved.

“Besides, whenever you and the Holy Empress meet, you always end up fighting too,” Priscilla said pointedly.

Harriet’s expression turned awkward. After all, it was indeed true. Though they respected each other from a distance, their face-to-face meetings always seemed to devolve into bickering. Unlike Amelia and Priscilla, they never resorted to physical fights, but they had a contentious relationship, and it seemed like their daughters had inherited it from them.

“I-I... suppose you’re not wrong...”

“You’re telling us to get along when you can’t even manage it yourselves?”

“Uh, um... I’ll try to get along too!” Harriet said, her voice growing whiny. “That’s fair then, right? I want to get along, but the Holy Empress always acts like that. What can I do?”

“That’s exactly what I said!” Priscilla replied. “But you still insisted that I should get along no matter what.”

“... You, you...” Harriet stammered.

“Besides, how are you even going to get along with the Holy Empress? Do you even know?” Priscilla pressed.

Harriet’s face flushed with frustration, and she began to tremble. “Ugh, you really take after your father, never losing an argument!”

“What!?” Priscilla exclaimed, finally reaching her breaking point.

Just like her daughter, Harriet erupted in exasperation.

***

At that moment, Holy Empress Olivia sat with her daughter in the garden of the Spring Palace.

“Are you doing okay?” she asked gently.

“Yes,” Amelia replied hesitantly, though she shifted uneasily beside her mother.

Olivia observed her daughter quietly, noting her restlessness.

“Are you guys still fighting?” she inquired, her voice soft but knowing.

Amelia understood who her mother was referring to.

“... W-well, she starts it...” she mumbled.

“Really?” Olivia probed, though her tone remained understanding.

At her mother’s perceptive question, Amelia eventually lowered her head.

“Why do you dislike Priscilla so much?” Olivia asked.

Amelia remained silent, unable to find the words. But she didn’t need to speak; Olivia already understood. She knew why Amelia harbored such resentment.

Ultimately, Olivia realized it was her own fault for not being there during Amelia’s childhood when she needed her most. She couldn’t bring herself to scold her daughter.

When Amelia first returned to the Holy Empire, she cried every day, longing to see her mother. She begged to be taken to her. And so, the Holy Empress reluctantly had to bring Amelia to the Spring Palace from time to time. Whenever that happened, the same scene would always play out.

Empress Harriet, cradling the infant Priscilla, could only look on helplessly as Amelia refused to return to the Holy Empire, while Olivia looked on in dismay. With each unwanted separation, Amelia grew convinced that Priscilla was to blame for everything. She began to believe that if Priscilla had not appeared, none of it would have happened.

“Priscilla is your family. Even if you can’t treat her with love, you shouldn’t torment her.”

“She’s not my family.”

“...”

“We only share the same father. Why should she be my family?”

Olivia managed a bitter smile. “I see. So that’s how you see it...”

Amelia did not even think of Priscilla as her own family. Instead, all she did was envy Priscilla. Priscilla was the true daughter of the Archmage, and that was what Amelia longed to be.

—“Is it because I’m not your real daughter? Now that you have your true daughter, do you not care for me anymore?”’

—“No, Amelia... No... I’m sorry. I’m sorry... But if you do this... If I do this... the Holy Empress will be sad... Amelia...”

Olivia remembered a time when she had seen Amelia from afar, crying in Harriet’s arms, her sobs echoing like screams. Harriet had been overwhelmed and eventually broke down in tears herself, while Olivia stood helplessly at a distance. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Even then, Amelia never called Olivia “Mother.” It was as if the word simply couldn’t escape her lips. Even when Amelia managed to say it, her face would twist awkwardly, as if she herself found the words strange.

They had spent Amelia’s crucial formative years apart, and there was a gap between them that Olivia couldn’t bridge. Therefore, despite being mother and daughter, Amelia found Olivia difficult to understand, and Olivia felt the same about Amelia. It wasn’t what either of them had wanted, but it was just how things turned out.

When Amelia expressed her desire to go to the Temple and live in the capital, Olivia reluctantly agreed, knowing deep down that her true wish was to stay at the Spring Palace.

Once Amelia grew old enough to understand the circumstances, she felt a sense of guilt toward Olivia. That was why she froze whenever Olivia visited. Their relationship was filled with nothing but guilt and apologies.

However, Olivia never scolded or reprimanded Amelia. Even though she wanted to grow closer to her daughter, she couldn’t fill the space that someone else had occupied. And Amelia still refused to see her sister as family, harboring only resentment, even though she understood her sister wasn’t truly to blame.

Olivia looked down at her daughter’s stiff expression and offered a sad smile. “Honestly, even if you had stayed with me in the Holy Empire all this time, I doubt things would be any better than they are now,” she said.

“... Sorry?”

“Just saying.”

Olivia quietly gazed up at the sky.

Circumstances had forced Olivia to leave her daughter with Harriet. But would everything have been alright if she hadn’t?

Olivia often pondered this question, and she was leaning toward doubt.

“You know the Archmage is the youngest daughter of the Grand Duchess of the Duchy of Saint-Ouen, right?”

“... Sorry? Ah... Yes. I heard she’s from a well-known noble family...”

“And what about my background?”

“...”

Amelia found herself unable to respond to her mother’s question. It wasn’t that she was unaware; she simply couldn’t bring herself to voice it.

“You know that I was an orphan.”

“...”

“Even though my foster father adopted me when I was young, he wasn’t much of a parent. He saw me as a means to achieve something great. I was always under pressure to meet his expectations. To be kind, gentle, and exceptional.”

“...”

“It felt like I was living a life that wasn’t truly mine.”

Amelia couldn’t quite grasp why her mother was sharing this with her.

“So, you see, I don’t really know what a warm family is, or how a parent should really treat their children right.”

Olivia laughed with a hint of childlike innocence.

“So even if you’d spent your childhood with me, there’s no guarantee it would have been good,” she mused. “I might have been really mean or failed to do what I was supposed to, and you might have ended up disliking me even more than you do now.”

“I-I don’t... dislike the Holy Empress...” Amelia stammered.

“Really? That’s a relief,” Olivia replied with another chuckle. “Maybe it was for the best that we lived apart, and why things turned out this way.”

Amelia found herself momentarily captivated by the Holy Empress’s face. Despite being the most challenging person she had to face in her life, Amelia often thought her mother might be the most beautiful person in the world.

“But you know, unlike me, who was an orphan, the Archmage was the youngest daughter of a very prestigious noble family,” Olivia began, her voice tinged with a hint of longing.

“She had a good father, a kind mother, and three brothers who adored her,” she continued softly. “They say she was a very arrogant and rude little girl back then... But you see, she knows. She knows what good parents are like. She understands how good parents behave, what a good mother is.

“I studied and tried to learn what good parenting was, but I never really figured it out. But she just knows. She was probably a much better mother than I could ever be. That’s probably why, when you came to live with me, you cried and begged to go back for days.”

As Olivia’s sorrowful words hung in the air, tears welled up in Amelia’s eyes. “I’m sorry...”

Those days of tears were a dagger lodged in Olivia’s heart, and Amelia was now old enough to understand that. She could see that her mother had done nothing wrong. Now that she was reflecting on her words and actions, she couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“No,” Olivia said to her daughter, “it just means the Archmage cherished and loved you deeply. I’m grateful for that, not resentful.”

She smiled down at her. “Do you think you were the only one who cried? She cried a lot too. When I saw her tears, it felt like I was taking someone else’s daughter away. Anyway, it just means she truly loved you like her own daughter. I’m very grateful to her. She must have cherished you so much that now our daughter treats her real mom worse than a stranger. Right?”

At those playful words, Amelia’s eyes filled with tears.

Olivia had often imagined how life might have been if she had raised her daughter from the beginning, but now the thought seemed almost absurd. She had come to the conclusion that, given her own lack of understanding about what made a good parent, things might have turned out even worse if she had been the one to raise her.

“I-I’m sorry... I’m sorry. I was... I was wrong...”

Amelia wept, realizing how she had inflicted the deepest pain on her mother. Olivia observed her daughter quietly, knowing that Amelia’s awareness of her mistakes was enough for her.

When it came to tears, she never mentioned that she cried more than Amelia or the Archmage. She had cried in solitude, where no one could witness her vulnerability, and she knew sharing that truth would not bring happiness to anyone.

“I’m not trying to scold you, Amelia,” she said gently.

“...”

“I’m not saying I’m upset either. I haven’t exactly been fair to you, have I?”

Olivia glanced up at the sky, searching for answers.

“Are you grateful to the Archmage?”

Amelia stayed quiet.

“You should be grateful,” Olivia continued.

“I-I am grateful...” Amelia finally replied.

Even when Amelia threw tantrums, called her a witch, and spread rumors about her, Harriet only smiled sadly, powerless to change anything. On the days when Amelia’s anger boiled over, Harriet would quietly visit Priscilla at night, gently stroking her hair until she drifted off to sleep.

But it was never enough for Amelia. It still felt unfair. So Amelia continued to throw tantrums, and despite the torment she inflicted on her daughter, Harriet never truly scolded or reprimanded her.

Amelia knew she should have been grateful for that. She was aware. But somehow, that awareness never turned into actions or words.

“The Archmage cherished you so much, even though you weren’t her real daughter. Isn’t that right?”

“... Yes.”

If Priscilla wasn’t her family, as Amelia claimed, then the Archmage couldn’t be her family either. But even though Harriet wasn’t her real mother, she still loved her like her own daughter.

“Then, Amelia. Instead of returning the love you received from the Archmage to her, you should pass it on to Priscilla.”

“...”

‘Instead of trying to repay the Archmage directly for the abundant love you were given, show your gratitude by loving her daughter as if she were your own sister.’

“Then she’ll love you even more than she does now.”

“...”

‘If you do that, she will love you more. She will not respond to you with a sad, reluctant smile, but with genuine happiness. She’ll love you more.’

Olivia, the Holy Empress, felt a deep pain as she said all this, but she hid her true feelings, smiling playfully as she ruffled her daughter’s hair.

“I’m not asking you to love me; rather, I’m telling you what you should do if you want your pretend mom to love you. Are you going to refuse?”

Amelia wiped her eyes. She could see the sorrow behind Olivia’s playful question. She wasn’t making a demand to love her because she was her real mother. It was a simple request, a plea, to let the woman Amelia saw as her mother love her.

In the end, Amelia understood that despite the limited time they’d spent together, her mother loved her deeply.

“I’m s-sorry... I’m sorry... I will do that from now on...” Amelia whispered, struggling to find her voice.

“I’ll do as you say, Mo... Mother...”

Hearing that, Olivia beamed with satisfaction. “That’s my girl.”

Amelia remained silent as Olivia pulled her into a gentle hug.

“But remember,” Olivia continued, “if you don’t set boundaries now, Priscilla might take advantage of you later. Just like someone else we know.”

She gave a knowing smile. “So don’t let her get too comfortable. You’re the older sister, and you deserve to be treated as such. Understand?”

The Holy Empress’s advice, delivered with a playful grin, left Amelia feeling a bit bewildered.

“Huh...?”

“Be nice to her most of the time, but if she steps out of line, make sure she knows her place. There should be a clear hierarchy.”

Amelia couldn’t quite tell if her mother was suggesting she be aggressive or not.

“Got it?”

“U-uh, yeah... Yes...”

Amelia was aware of her own quirks, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that her mother was truly peculiar.