It’s gotten quite complicated!
“Kyaaaaaaaah!!”
Those nearby screamed as they watched Carla’s Flame Javelin pierce Crown Prince Elvan. The screams made those who understood what had happened panic, and just as it seemed like further chaos would erupt, someone stopped it.
“Everyone, calm down!”
Amidst the confused uproar, the voice reached everyone’s ears with striking clarity, and everyone who turned to look cried out.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
It was Elvan, who they thought had died, who had stopped everyone. The Flame Javelin is a level 3 fire magic spell, and if cast by a skilled mage, it has the power to instantly char a human being. But Elvan only pressed his hand against his scorched chest, and while looking pained, he remained conscious, reaching out a trembling hand to Carla.
“Why are you doing this, Carla…? Aren’t we betrothed?”
In response to those words, Carla deepened her smile even further, and the moment she reached out her hand to Elvan’s outstretched hand, the Temple Knights in the mansion, sensing Carla’s Mana and Intimidation, burst into the hall.
“What’s happened!?”
“What is this!?”
The Temple Knights rushed to Elvan, used High Heal, and stood in front of him as if to protect him.
“Carla-sama has lost her mind!”
When Countess Sandora’s daughter raised her voice there, the Temple Knights were immediately convinced and unhesitatingly pointed their spears at Carla.
“So, it was true after all!”
For several weeks, the Temple Knights had been having “dreams” that seemed like divine revelations. A white woman who appeared in the dream declared that a girl possessed by a demon was targeting the royal family. At first, they were skeptical, but after interacting with the Saint, they asked her about the meaning of the dream, and by believing in the Saint, they gradually came to believe that the “revelation” was the voice of God.
The same was true for the young people here, including Countess Sandora’s daughter. They had spoken with “His Highness the Crown Prince, who was wise and generous” and who had even addressed people like them at the academy, and they had come to trust him more than anyone else.
They revered him so much that they even saw him in their “dreams,” and like their families, who were followers of the Holy Church, they never doubted his words or actions.
The person they admired appeared in the “form” they admired, and by seeing it in a “dream” and being affirmed by the Saint, it became “truth” for them.
“Carla… this is regrettable. To think you would be possessed by a demon.”
Elvan, already healed without a single wound, drew the sword hanging at his waist.
The Temple Knights momentarily gasped at the Demon Sword’s eerie appearance, as if made of bone, but they stepped forward to become Elvan’s shield, believing that whatever “he” did must be right.
“Everyone, capture Carla! Don’t let your guard down!”
“Understood!”
The mansion was already surrounded by Priest Knights who believed in the “revelation,” and some of the knights, realizing that something had happened inside, stormed into the mansion. They, too, recognized Carla, against whom Elvan was pointing his sword, as the enemy of the “revelation” and surrounded her.
“Attack!!”
At Elvan’s command, the Temple Knights brandished their spears at Carla.
The Temple Knights’ mission is to destroy those who are enemies of God. Even if the person possessed by the demon in the dream was the Crown Prince’s fiancée, they would not show any mercy.
The Temple Knights are not brainwashed; they are ordinary human beings with their own will.
One day, they were suddenly told to protect a girl as a “Saint.” The people of the Temple initially looked at her with suspicion, but the moment they saw her, their doubts vanished, and now they believed in her as a true Saint.
The same went for Crown Prince Elvan. They hadn’t heard good rumors about him compared to Her Highness the Princess, but when they actually met him, he was the wise prince that the people “ideally” wanted.
The “charm” of the Saint and the “ideal” of the royal family. And by the “revelation” of the “dream,” they believed it of their own will.
That’s why they, as decent human beings, would have hesitated to kill a minor girl, even if she was possessed by a demon. At the very least, they would have frowned.
But the moment they saw Carla, the moment they saw Elvan’s figure and heard his voice, the sense of elation that affirmed everything heightened, and they swung their spears at Carla, a girl who was not yet an adult, with the genuine intention to kill her as if it were natural.
If the opponent had been an ordinary person, it would have ended there. The Temple Knights thought so too.
Whether noble or commoner, anyone living in this country knows that there is no point in going against the framework of the nation. All that awaits them if they resist is destruction. Even if they were possessed by a demon, they thought, as a matter of common sense, that unless they were a madman who would antagonize the entire nation, they would not resist in vain.
“—Acid Cloud—”
“…Gyaaaaaaaaah!”
At that moment, mist swirled around Carla, and several knights who charged into it had their entire bodies burned by the acid, collapsing while emitting a strange odor.
“Gah!?”
Carla, who stomped on the throat of a still-breathing knight with her heel and tilted her head with a blank expression as if she didn’t think she had killed anyone, muttered in a small voice.
“…Is it thought guidance?”
Those who surrounded her gasped at Carla’s quiet contemplation.
“How could you!”
“So you’ve finally revealed your true form, you witch!”
Countess Sandora’s daughter and the others also revealed their hatred for Carla and began chanting offensive magic.
They are acting of their own will, to the very end.
However, various factors up until now seeped into the depths of their hearts like poison, and even the noble students, who had never killed anyone, were moved by emotions that made them want to kill Carla.
The fear of Carla disappeared from everyone surrounding her as if it had been numbed, and only murderous intent filled the place.
“Carla… stop resisting. Don’t you love me anymore?”
Finally, Elvan spoke to Carla with a sorrowful “face.”
His pained voice and appearance made those around him realize his sadness. Hearing that voice would even pluck away the will to resist, and they would be tormented by guilt for resisting him.
And Carla too—
“I love El-sama.”
Carla replied to Elvan with a faint smile amidst this murderous intent.
Had Carla repented? As a noblewoman and the Crown Prince’s fiancée, those words were natural, and in a sense, they were the words that everyone had idealized.
But the air froze at Carla’s cheerful—chilling—smile.
“I love my older brother and my father too. That’s why I killed my older brother first.”
In a moment of silence as if time had stopped, Carla, chuckling, spread her arms and twirled around on the spot as if dancing.
“My father, who used me as a magic experiment and abandoned me when I was three years old… My older brother, who tried to use me as a magic target when I was five years old after I was abandoned… My older brother, who was so proud of his magic, was so pitiful and so adorable that I ended up killing him.”
As if remembering that time, Carla made a melting face and pressed her cheek with her hand.
“El-sama was adorable when I first met him… To think that a child like him, who seems to be in a flower garden, is the Crown Prince, so pitiful and adorable…”
Carla slowly looked around at the stiffened people and finally turned her eyes to Elvan.
“I thought I would love you to your guts and defile you.”
At the utter darkness in those eyes, someone raised their voice as if to shake off the fear.
“—Kill herrrrr!!”
The Temple Knights swung their spears at her heart as if to shake off their fear. At the same time, the nobles unleashed fire and wind magic.
“—Lightning—”
Carla’s Lightning pierced the leading knight, and the vast Mana that penetrated him repelled the low-level magic and attacked the noble boys and girls.
Crackle!!
“…Your Highness!”
But what stopped it was Elvan, wielding his Demon Sword. The nobles and Temple Knights raised their voices at the sight of the Crown Prince they idealized, and he turned his sword to Carla with a serious expression.
“I won’t let you harm the people. Carla… I’ll be your opponent!”
“Fufu.”
Carla turned only the corners of her mouth into a smile as if mocking him and gathered Mana in both hands.
“—Fireball—”
The released Fireball hurtled straight towards Elvan.
“Haaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Elvan matched it, slashing with his Demon Sword, and the Fireball, split in two, blasted both sides of the wall.
Screams echoed, and as a noble boy was engulfed in flames, Elvan, having slashed away the aftereffects of the flames with his Demon Sword at an indiscernible speed, slashed again, and Carla floated up, leaping from the broken wall into the garden.
“Chase her!!”
Elvan shouted, and the Temple Knights, having self-healed, went outside. However, the noble boys and girls, having witnessed Carla’s terror anew, looked at each other as if remembering their fear.
“It’s alright! I will protect you!”
“…Ye, yes!”
The nobles, hearing Elvan’s voice, wore blank expressions as if they had seen a “Dream” for a moment, then, as if forgetting their fear, followed the knights outside.
Outside, the battle between the Temple Knights who had surrounded the mansion and Carla had begun. As Carla released Fireballs towards them, Elvan jumped out.
“I won’t let you!!”
As the Demon Sword slashed away the Fireballs, Carla, floating in the air, smiled and produced several Fireballs in both hands as if by magic.
“How about this?”
Saying so, Carla scattered the Fireballs instead of throwing them. The power of each one might not have been as great as a single, individually released Fireball, but even so, if they hit directly, they would incinerate a person, armor and all.
“Haaah!!”
But even those were slashed away by Elvan, who once again moved at an indiscernible speed with his Demon Sword. A portion of the slashed Fireballs blasted the outer wall of the mansion, engulfing several knights, and Elvan’s slash finally grazed Carla.
Carla healed the wound on her white leg, visible from her torn skirt, with magic, then licked her own blood from her fingertip.
“You’re doing something quite inhuman.”
As far as Carla knew, only that “girl” could do such a thing. That girl was also human, and there was no reason why Elvan, also human, couldn’t do it.
However, for him to acquire the power that the girl had risked her life to gain while fighting strong enemies in just a few months was truly “inhuman.”
While that was happening, people from the surrounding noble houses began to appear, noticing the sounds of battle and the raging flames, and Elvan, noticing them, raised his voice.
“Everyone! I am Elvan! I am here to subjugate Count Leicester’s daughter, a minion of the devil. Those who have justice, take up your swords!”
Perhaps his name had an effect, as in a few seconds, private soldiers from the surrounding mansions came rushing out.
Some participated purely out of a sense of duty in response to His Highness the Crown Prince’s call. Others reluctantly sent out troops due to pressure from other houses. Still others moved with calculation, aiming to curry favor with the Crown Prince. Whatever the reasons, nearly fifty soldiers and magicians who believed in “him” set out to subjugate Carla.
As a noble living in the kingdom, Carla would want to avoid becoming a criminal subject to subjugation. If she didn’t have a calculating side despite her madness, Carla would no longer be in this world.
However, the expression on Carla’s face was just the same cold, scornful smile she had from the beginning.
“The audience has gathered nicely.”
Countless arrows and attack magic were released towards Carla floating in the air. Carla used level 4 wind magic [Storm] to evade the rain-like attacks.
However, in that state, Carla could not move. At that moment, Elvan, accumulating even more Mana in his Demon Sword, flew into the air and released all his Mana as he swung down.
“Vanish!!”
Elvan roared, and a crimson light overflowed from the sword.
Even with the difference in the color of the light and the sword, the figure was very similar to Elvan, strengthened to the maximum, which could only be seen in multiple playthroughs of the Otome Game.
“Uooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”
The light sword released by Elvan and Carla’s [Storm] collided, scattering intense sparks of Mana. During that time, attack magic was released at Carla from the surroundings, shaving away the Mana of the [Storm], and finally, the equilibrium was broken, blowing Carla away to the mansion, and the blow of the light sword pulverized the mansion along with her.
As the intense sound of destruction and the raging aftereffects of Mana subsided, cheers erupted from the surroundings at the sight of Elvan standing on the rubble, raising his Demon Sword.
“As expected of His Highness the Crown Prince!”
As Miss Sandora, the Count’s daughter, called out from among the nobles who rushed to him first, Elvan lowered his eyes slightly and bowed his head to her.
“Although it was to defeat that thing, I have destroyed your mansion.”
“What are you saying! If my father sees His Highness’s heroic figure, he will laugh and forgive you!”
Elvan smiled at her words and thrust the bone Demon Sword, almost devoid of Mana, into the rubble. Seeing that, the young noble boys and girls also climbed the mountain of rubble, kicking it with bizarre eyes as if they were still not awake from a Dream.
“Witch, that’s what you deserve!”
“The gods were watching after all!”
“It seems that you were no match for His Highness’s grown power!”
“As expected, the next king is Hero Elvan-sama!”
Saying so, they kicked the rubble where Carla was buried and praised Elvan as a Hero. Elated by the scene unfolding before their eyes, their enthusiasm was about to spread to the surroundings when—
『—If El-sama had really grown, I would have cherished him—』
“――――!?”
Don!!
With an earth-shaking roar like an earthquake, a giant Lightning bolt rising from the rubble to the sky struck Elvan, and countless black thorns pierced the cracked Elvan as if he were a mere creation.
Receiving the aftereffects, the student nobles who were there were scorched from their cells and disappeared.
“—っ!”
Miss Sandora thought at the end in the pain of disappearing.
What was that? What was the “strange demon” that had shed its skin and revealed its appearance from what they had believed to be the Crown Prince?
To the mocking “voice” of the black-haired girl who appeared from the rubble, covered in black thorns, piercing the demon with thorns, she realized that she had been wrong from the beginning.
“The real El-sama would never smile at me.”
Next time, the battle with the demon will be settled… I hope.
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Reservations for the second volume have started! As a bonus, we’ve added a story about Carla’s childhood when she became Carla.
Wakasa Kobato-sensei’s comic adaptation will also start on August 30th!
Please see “Activity Report” or “Twitter” for details.
The cover of the second volume and the comic adaptation art have been released.
Thank you for your comments, typo reports, and bookmarks.