DSB 101

“My wife, are you going to say it now?”

Yutis looked around. Not only Damian, but also Iol and Mahan were nearby.

“They’re both people we can trust. And since we’re together so often, they’d find out sooner or later anyway.”

“…I will follow my wife’s will.”

Damian noticed the strange current flowing between Yutis and Lebel. His eyebrows twitched.

“What are you two…?”

“I will first correct a misunderstanding.”

“…Go on.”

Lebel was serious, unlike his usual self.

How often would the person in front of him get serious? Damian couldn’t even imagine what he’d say.

And it also was a familiar expression. Whenever Lebel looked like that, the moment he opened his mouth, words beyond imagination always came out.

Damian waited for his words, determined not to be too surprised. But an extraordinary statement burst from Lebel’s mouth.

“There are many things, but the most important one is that I am a demon.”

Lebel spoke confidently as he lifted the corners of his mouth. Damian’s eyes widened as he saw the red pupils, which glowed with a sinister light.

“……!”

He had been about to shout for him to stop talking nonsense, but the moment he saw those eyes, the words got stuck in his throat and his mouth just gaped. Instead, someone else raised their voice.

“Now, Young Madam, what are you saying? A demon? Someone as gentle as Young Madam couldn’t possibly be a demon!”

…Gentle?

Even Mahan, who prided himself on having stayed by Lebel’s side longer than anyone else, had never thought that Lebel was a demon.

There had been very occasional moments when he seemed inhuman, but Mahan had thought it was just due to a lack of common sense.

“Young Master Yutis, please say something as well…”

When Yutis said nothing, Mahan’s voice gradually grew smaller. A brief silence settled over the room.

Then Damian’s lips moved.

“Explain it in detail.”

Lebel slowly traced back through the past.

“Originally, this body had no soul. That’s why they called it a fool. But then I possessed it.”

“…Everyone was shocked when the Foolish Prince suddenly started speaking properly. Don’t tell me…”

“Yes. That was the day I possessed it. It was also the day Yutis came to see me.”

Damian pressed his interlaced fingers to his forehead. He said nothing. His eyes, hidden beneath his hands, were trembling. Mahan and Iol were just as confused.

“Then, Young Madam… was it because you were a demon that you knew so much about demonic beasts and could use magic?”

“Yes.”

He had thought Lebel was a mysterious person, and now he finally knew why.

Damian exhaled and lifted his head.

“It can’t be a lie, right?”

“What reason would I have to lie?”

Damian furrowed his brow. In fact, the moment he heard the word demon, he had strangely become convinced it was true.

‘He’s too confident.’

That wasn’t the attitude of someone telling a lie. Standing face to face with that demon made cold sweat break out. That was only natural, since Damian had never really liked Lebel.

Demons were evil, and they were harmful. They were beings that brought harm to human lives. The temples were already making large scale preparations to hunt demons now that their presence was known.

So unless someone had gone mad, there was no reason to claim to be a demon in a situation like this.

He wondered if he had lost his mind for believing such an absurd claim, but when he looked at the confident Lebel and the silent Yutis, he could tell it was the truth.

Judging by Yutis’s quiet attitude, he seemed to have already known Lebel’s true identity.

“Madam.”

“…Iol.”

“What does it matter what kind of being Young Madam is? Right now, Young Madam is a person of the North, and the one who will become the madam of the Hestro family.”

Lebel was surprised to see Iol responding so calmly. It seemed humans didn’t talk about experience for nothing.

Damian stared quietly at Iol, then sighed.

“…I know.”

Huh? Just like that?

“You believe it?”

“Should I not have believed it?”

“If you didn’t believe it, I would’ve proven it another way.”

“…Forget it.”

Damian said this with a sigh as he covered his eyes with his hand, he apparently didn’t want to know.

Lebel looked at the three of them. Each reaction was different. They were flustered, and somewhat afraid, but they quickly calmed down.

It was as if they were convinced that the demon called Lebel wouldn’t harm them. It was similar to Yutis.

Even so, wasn’t it right to question him further? Lebel couldn’t understand how they could believe it so easily. Had humans always been this lenient toward demons?

[It’s all because Lord Lebel is amazing!]

That doesn’t seem likely….

At that moment, Damian spoke in a severe tone, as if issuing a warning.

“Never go around saying you’re a demon outside. If it becomes known that you’re a demon, our family won’t come out unharmed either.”

“Ah, that’s something I’ll take care of…”

“Don’t.”

“……”

Damian spoke firmly, as if he had never been sweating or trembling earlier.

“Understood.”

Damian looked at Lebel with an unconvinced expression, then fixed his gaze on Yutis.

“Yutis, did you know from the beginning?”

“I only found out recently as well.”

“…You said you defeated a demon, so did you receive Lebel’s help?”

“No. Yutis bravely drove the demon away himself.”

Lebel was proud of Yutis, saying, “Isn’t that great?” Yutis awkwardly scratched his cheek and looked embarrassed.

That image also plays a significant role in Damian’s trust in Lebel. He believed that his love and care for Yutis is genuine.

“Then what about the demon summoning? If you’re a demon, why summon another demon by using you?”

“They didn’t recognize me.”

“…Then they could summon one using someone else.”

“No. The target they want to summon has already appeared, so they won’t.”

“What? Who is it?”

“Me.”

Lebel pointed at himself.

Why would they want this guy who only said things that made one’s head hurt?

“The demon who targeted my wife might come back again.”

He even said they would come back.

When Damian made a face that showed he couldn’t understand at all, Karon jumped up onto the table as if he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

[Lord Lebel is an idol among demons and someone they respect! That means he’s someone so great that you wouldn’t even dare look at him! Do you understand that??]

He shouted loudly enough for it to ring in everyone’s ears.

“…Are you a demon too?”

[That is correct.]

Damian easily inferred the true identity of the demonic beast that had been following Lebel so persistently, Karon, who never left his side for even a moment.

Two demons, said to be capable of destroying entire nations, were calmly sitting right in front of his eyes.

“By the way, the demonic beasts that went to the Empire…”

“Don’t tell me you did that…”

“Karon did it.”

Damian closed his mouth. He knew Lebel had the ability to control demonic beasts, so he had naturally assumed Lebel was responsible, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Lebel tilted his head slightly as he turned over Damian’s earlier outburst in his mind. He had revealed his identity, but why had Damian singled him out as the culprit?

[That human emperor dared to look down on Lord Lebel, so of course he deserved severe punishment. You’re the same! When Lord Lebel came to the castle, you should’ve welcomed him, but instead you tried to drive him out?!]

Damian laughed hollowly, as if his soul had left his body, then muttered.

“But something feels strange. Karon only aimed for the Emperor’s neck. I think Norman probably intervened along the way. But in the end, people of the Empire are dying, so there’s no reason for us to help.”

Norman was probably killing humans to become stronger. And whether those people lived or died had nothing to do with him.

Damian opened and closed his mouth, unable to find words. He realized that they were truly demons when he was how calm the two of them were about war and people dying.

“For now… since you’re both demons, keep your distance from Priest Illa. You know this already, but Priest Illa reported the appearance of a demon to the temples. Each temple serves a different god, but their duty is to eradicate evil. All temples will move to destroy demons. And if you’re a demon, they’ll treat you as an enemy…”

“Illa also knows my identity.”

“Wha-what did you say!! Wait a moment… how did that even… can priests identify demons…? There’s been talk since ancient times that demons are weak to priests…”

“That only applies to weak demons.”

Damian stared blankly at Lebel. That meant every demon humans had faced so far had been a weak one.

“Don’t worry. I get along well with angels. There isn’t anyone who would be hostile toward me to begin with.”

Lebel said with a bright smile, but Damian’s expression became even more distorted.

A demon close with angels? Even a passing dog wouldn’t believe that.

“It’s true.”

Only Michael hurled threats about killing him, so Lebel thought he got along reasonably well with other angels. Even during the time when the war between the Celestial Realm and the Demon Realm was active, he had spared many angels instead of killing them.

Because of that, few angels were hostile toward Lebel. He never expected that those good deeds from back then would help him now.

“Why would a demon be close with angels… and where did the gods go, and why are we talking about angels…”

“The one people worship as a god is an angel, my wife said so.”

At Yutis’s explanation, Damian shook his head. He wasn’t asking because he wanted an explanation.

Damian let out a low groan. He felt like he had learned secrets he never should’ve known, and never wanted to know.

“…Is that everything? If there’s more you need to say, say it quickly. I’m confident I won’t be shocked.”

Then, Lebel and Yutis exchanged glances. Damian’s heart, barely calmed, started pounding again.

Now he was starting to feel afraid in a different way.