Chapter 23: Forgiveness

Only Eleanor’s crying echoed through the ruined dining hall.

Sitting helplessly on the Dragon King’s plump belly, Morgan finally decided to pull her torn cloak over her head.

When Arma looked at the head maid and mouthed, “She’s the Saint, right?”, the head maid gave a reluctant nod.

“Morgan? You’re Morgan, right?”

Morgan, wearing a rag over her head, just kept repeating “No,” like something inside her had broken. Arma found the whole thing so amusing she stood back, watching with a laugh, not interrupting.

“Rebecca’s here too, though?”

“Oh no…”

Realizing she had also been found out, the head maid pulled her apron over her head to hide her face.

Between the two women with fabric covering their faces, Arma was turning red from trying to hold back her laughter—she looked like she was about to explode.

Eleanor’s loud wail snapped Charlotte back to her senses, and she ran over to the crying girl.

“Eleanor, are you okay?”

“Ah…”

The Dragon King lay sprawled out, blood dripping from his mouth, tongue lolling out like he was unconscious.

“I’ve never done this before…”

Charlotte gathered her holy power and gently stroked the Dragon King’s massive face.

It had a small effect—the wounds began to show signs of healing. But the clash between holy power and demonic energy started reacting harshly, and little wounds began appearing on Charlotte’s arm.

“It’s okay. I’ve never healed a demon before, but it seems to be working.”

Arma sighed from below as she too was tending to the Dragon King’s wounds. She turned to Morgan, who was frozen under her cloak, and whispered.

“You okay?”

“I haven’t even called her ‘Char’ yet… I haven’t even said it once… I haven’t…”

When the cloak was lifted, Morgan’s eyes were full of jealousy. Arma realized this couldn’t go on—Morgan looked like she’d completely lose it—so she decided to step in herself.

“Hello~”

‘Does she not trust me…? Well, with that first impression, who would…’

Sliding down the Dragon King’s belly, Arma approached Charlotte and began scanning her slowly with her eyes, like she was assessing her.

“Excuse me~?”

“Let’s talk later. This is more important right now.”

Charlotte didn’t even look at her, focused on healing the Dragon King.

Looking at Charlotte’s face, it was clear she was seriously angry.

Morgan started trembling like a child who knew she’d done something really wrong. The head maid didn’t even move, as if her brain had shut down, her apron still covering her face.

“Mmm…”

“Grandpa!!”

The Dragon King groaned and slowly opened his eyes. His huge pupils looked down at Charlotte and Eleanor.

“…Thank you.”

“…Don’t thank me. Thank Eleanor.”

Charlotte stopped healing, her hands trembling with exhaustion. Blood trickled down her arms from the small cuts.

“Charlotte…!”

Seeing Charlotte’s wounds, Morgan rushed over but immediately shrank back at the cold look in Charlotte’s eyes.

‘What do I do? What do I do? She definitely knows everything now…’

Tears welled up in Morgan’s eyes. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of a way to get out of this situation.

“I’ll explain everything…”

In the end, Morgan lowered her head and began to cry, surrendering. She couldn’t stand the thought of being hated any more than she already was.

“…Come with me.”

“Rebecca, you come too.”

“Ah…”

Even Rebecca, who had her apron over her head, was summoned. Arma quietly followed behind them, not wanting to miss a thing.

“Char… Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Eleanor, it’s more mental than physical right now.”

“Hic.”

Morgan let out a wheeze, clearly hit with guilt.

Eleanor held Charlotte’s arm in concern, but Charlotte wasn’t upset about the pain. What hurt was that Morgan and Rebecca had lied to her.

“I’ll go talk with them. Stay here with Grandpa, okay?”

“Yes… You have to treat those wounds later, okay…?”

As Morgan was leaving the room, her eyes met Eleanor’s. Morgan glared, but Rebecca gave her a shove from behind.

“Don’t act all pitiful. Move it!”

“But…!”

“No buts! We’re going to get scolded, remember?!”

“Ugh…!”

“Hurry up! I’ve never seen the Saint that angry!”

Morgan still glared at Eleanor, but Eleanor had no idea why she was being looked at like that.

“Wait… So Morgan is the Demon King, and Rebecca is a succubus working under her?”

“…Yes…”

“Are you messing with me…?”

“It’s really true…”

Morgan confessed with a trembling voice, unable to lift her head.

It was shocking. Honestly, Charlotte’s brain just froze. She couldn’t even process what was going on.

Morgan and Rebecca are demons? And Morgan… Morgan is the Demon King? The one I—I killed?

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true~ This cute girl here is our Demon King~”

“…Who are you?”

“I’m Arma, Blood King of the East. Nice to meet you, Saint of the Aria Order!”

She’d never heard the name before—but the East was uncharted for humans anyway.

The woman with purple hair winked and grinned, petting Morgan’s head like she was a cute pet. It made Charlotte uncomfortable.

“…How am I supposed to accept this?”

“Why take it so seriously? So what if the girl you like turns out to be a demon?”

Morgan’s face turned red as she hit Arma’s stomach. Rebecca just stared at the ceiling, as if exhausted by all this.

Still… if it weren’t for the fact that I killed her, I might be grateful she followed me so eagerly.

‘She let herself be killed… and I didn’t even know…’

Thinking of the title “Demon King” brought back what the Dragon King had told her.

“If you were the Demon King… why did you let me… kill you?”

‘…Just treat me the same as before…’

Seeing Morgan about to cry again as Charlotte spoke formally, something twisted in her chest. They’d only known each other for a few months… but it seemed she’d already been charmed.

“So why did you let us kill you?”

“There wasn’t any special reason…”

Morgan hesitated, then started explaining.

“I’ll tell you everything… I want you to hear our story…”

“…Alright.”

Charlotte couldn’t say no when she saw the tears in Morgan’s eyes.

“First… I should explain the Demon Realm.”

Rebecca pulled out a piece of paper and began drawing a map of the Demon Realm. The drawing was childish, shaky, and cute.

“You drew this yourself?”

“I’m actually really good at my job.”

“Looks good…”

Rebecca puffed up proudly at the praise—seemed like she really enjoyed being complimented for her work.

[map showing names like “Fafnir the Dragon”, “Blood King”, “Sea King”, “Arma”, “Demon King – Danger zone!”, etc.]

“This is our current Demon Realm. All our forces are tied up dealing with the monster overflow in the East.”

It was cute. A tiny sailboat below ‘Sea King Lamia’ was a charming detail.

“But what’s been more annoying are the heroes the Empire keeps sending every year.”

Morgan sighed deeply as if just thinking about it exhausted her.

“I’ve died before too. After that, humans didn’t bother us for a hundred years.”

“I got hired around that time too.”

“Hiring Rebecca back then was a mistake.”

“Excuse me?”

Rebecca nodded as if reminiscing. Last recorded human subjugation campaign was 500 years ago… how old are they?

Morgan seemed to read Charlotte’s thoughts and explained.

“Most demons live long lives. We’re really different from humans.”

“Then how old are you and Rebecca?”

“It’s rude to ask a lady’s age, Saint.”

Rebecca smiled, but it was the same empty smile she always gave at the academy when she was annoyed. So… she was angry inside.

“Humans were never much of a threat to us. Even if they made noise, we never really cared. Time is always on our side.”

“We do admire the environment in the Human Realm, but our Demon King has no interest in conquering it.”

“Yeah. We’re tired of the scheming. It’s easier to ignore humans. They’re weak, but so annoyingly persistent. I let myself die because the heroes kept getting in the way of us defending the East.”

So that’s why she let herself be killed. But then… why didn’t she stop the demons coming through the giant forest into the Human Realm?

“Then… why didn’t you stop the demons going into the Empire?”

“…I didn’t ignore it.”

“It’s because I wasn’t strong enough. I was so focused on the East, I couldn’t manage the West…”

Charlotte recalled the barren Western Demon Realm. The harsh environment. Demons attacking them with rusted weapons. The Demon King’s army she had fought wore proper armor, making her doubt the King’s rule.

“We have only two choices: conquer the Human Realm, or push back the monsters in the East.”

“Because of the Demon Realm’s environment?”

“Yes. But I chose the East.”

“Why?”

“Because monsters in the East reproduce at terrifying speed. If we don’t stop them, they’ll spill into the Human Realm—even if we abandon the Demon Realm.”

So… even if it wasn’t out of goodwill, the Demon Realm had acted as a shield for the Human Realm.

“But we spent too much time focused there.”

“Old man!”

“Did I say something wrong?”

The Dragon King was suddenly leaning against the door. He still looked weak.

Arma watched him anxiously.

“Thanks for the healing. Holy power is something else.”

“…It was nothing.”

He patted Charlotte’s shoulder. For some reason, it made her think of her own grandfather.

Since arriving here, her thoughts had changed. Especially after learning Morgan and Rebecca were demons.

Seeing them now… it really felt like it was time to change how she saw demons.

So she decided to tell Morgan everything about the past 3 years—about all the unnecessary killing she’d done.

“Morgan… I killed so many demons over the last three years.”

“…I’m not going to say I had no choice.”

It was a long story. She had to pause many times just to stay calm. But she didn’t want to run away. She looked straight into Morgan’s eyes.

She told the story of the first demon she killed. The demon who had begged for life despite being injured—and how she had still killed him. And how she killed the Demon King.

Morgan looked angry partway through, but when Charlotte spoke of killing her, Morgan’s eyes softened with understanding.

“Never mind.”

Morgan, Rebecca, Arma, and even the Dragon King all listened quietly to her story.

“…Even knowing this, can you forgive me? I was the one who killed your people when they begged for life.”

She expected disappointment. She was a murderer, not a saint. Even if they killed her now, she’d accept it.

But their reaction was completely different.

“Isn’t that the hero’s fault? Why’d you spare someone aiming for your back? If that were my subordinate, I’d—ugh!”

“Watch your language, Blood King. Still, is that this cycle’s hero? That Garra guy got torn up by someone like him?”

“From now on, Garra is out as Sea King.”

“Lamia too. No more Sea King title for her. Losing with a hundred sea serpents? What a disgrace.”

It was a storm of reactions. They were especially harsh on the Sea King and the hero. Rebecca’s anger toward Lamia seemed personal.

“Humans and demons think too differently. Don’t worry. Sparing enemies on the battlefield makes no sense anyway.”

“Saint, don’t beat yourself up over it. In the Demon Realm, strength is justice. Our Demon King is strong, so she rules.”

“…was strong.”

“What was that?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

They were so different. Why? Why didn’t they curse her? If she had killed humans, they’d be calling her a murderer.

“That kind of guilt is a human weakness.”

“I agree with Grandpa Fafnir. Is it because humans barely live 100 years?”

“That’s… harsh.”

What Charlotte had been struggling with… was nothing to them. She let out a hollow laugh.

“Saint Charlotte.”

Morgan stood up and approached her.

“As the Demon King, I forgive your sins. So please… don’t suffer anymore. It wasn’t your fault.”

The Demon King forgave the Saint.

Saints were supposed to be pure, sinless.

But as a human, she was never clean. Everyone sinned.

So people came to the cathedral to beg for forgiveness.

They begged her to forgive their sins.

They thought she was pure, but her body was stained with guilt.

A saint standing on the corpses of others.

They begged a murderer to forgive them.

Who could forgive her?

Only the cold, silent statue gave her forgiveness.

No matter how much she pleaded.

No matter how much she screamed.

Only the unmoving statue forgave her.

But now… for the first time…

Someone truly forgave her.

The Demon King’s forgiveness… was warm.

“…Why are you acting all cool now?”

“You’re getting a pay cut!!!”

Charlotte laughed at Morgan and Rebecca’s banter. Morgan laughed too, like she’d finally seen what she’d been waiting for.

Later, she had many more conversations with the others.

Even the Dragon King took time to talk. He was surprisingly affectionate. His love for his granddaughter was almost scary.

Rebecca tattled on Morgan, saying she had a hard time cleaning up Morgan’s messes at the academy. She even pretended to cry in front of Charlotte. Their relationship seemed more like friends than boss and subordinate.

Arma gave her tips on how to beat up people like Alec—people who only respond to brute force.

After all that, Charlotte knew she couldn’t delay any longer.

“Phew… Morgan, send me back to the Human Realm.”

“…No.”

“What?”

Morgan smiled sweetly and denied her request.

“You found out my secret. How could I let you go? I’ll let you write letters saying you’re alive, though.”

“You’re going to the Demon King’s castle. I’ve already prepared your room. It’s the prettiest one there, right?”

Rebecca nodded quietly beside her, giving Charlotte a sympathetic look like: “Yeah… you’re not getting out of this.”

“…What…?”