DSB 134

Biakin in Lebel’s memory was a figure worthy of a crown prince.

There are many types of leaders. If Yutis was the type who exerted his own power and drew people to him, Biakin was the type who recognized the potential and abilities of those around him, placing them in the right positions and managing them effectively.

He probably obtained this through such methods as well.

The beings inhabiting the Middle Realm had maintained their nation by worshipping angels as gods.

Since the chaos wrought by demons had been recorded in history books several times, it wasn’t surprising they had prepared such measures as a countermeasure.

“I will never enter into a contract with you. Give up.”

“I cannot give up either. It’s something I’ve longed for since childhood. Hasn’t the contract with that one already been nullified?”

The one Biakin referred to was Yutis. Lebel didn’t bother to deny Biakin’s words.

“Of course, it wouldn’t matter if you made a contract with the young master again. I just wanted to let you know that I am also an option.”

“Even while you have no intention of releasing me if I won’t accept the contract?”

“If I hadn’t forcibly detained you, wouldn’t you have paid me no mind, Lord Lebel?”

Biakin didn’t care that Lebel offered no response. After spending several days together, he’d already grasped that Lebel was naturally taciturn.

Besides, he knew his invitation method had been a bit rough. Perhaps because of that, he tried his hardest to win favor, but it wasn’t easy.

What was he lacking compared to that human?

Biakin felt his pride hurt, but he believed Lebel would soon realize he was the most suitable contractor for him.

“What do you intend to do with my power after the contract?”

“Isn’t anything possible?”

“A contract isn’t omnipotent. I can only help within the limits this world permits.”

“That’s sufficient. Other demons wouldn’t even say that much.”

He seemed to have added unnecessary words. Biakin’s eyes sparkled as he stared at Lebel.

He won’t let me go.

It wasn’t a simple desire for power. If it were, he would have jumped at the chance when Norman appeared before him. Or perhaps he harbored an immense desire that even Norman couldn’t fulfill.

Indeed, Biakin’s desire was immense. Knowing the being capable of making it possible had appeared before him, he didn’t even think to hide it.

It was surprising Lebel hadn’t noticed it the first time they met.

Biakin, seemingly aware that Lebel was seeing something other than himself, spoke with a small smirk.

“I’ve heard demons grow stronger by feeding on human emotions. Be it desire, rage, or resentment.”

Human negative emotions can serve as fertilizer for the power demons wield. After all, demons are summoned because they’re drawn to such emotions.

“Doesn’t that mean human emotions are just as important as a demon’s individual strength? Then wouldn’t I be more useful to you than that one?”

Lebel let out a hollow laugh. Biakin’s unhidden, endless desire seemed to be his own form of appeal.

“It’s true that human desire gives power to demons, but would a desire like yours matter to me?”

“Of course not. But I’ve heard you seek a life of comfort. You must know that such a life ultimately relies on formidable power.”

When he recalled how Lebel boasted the strongest power in the Demon Realm yet wasn’t particularly living comfortably, it didn’t seem entirely convincing, but there was some truth to it. Far fewer dared to challenge him.

“Sign a contract with me, and no one will dare touch you.”

“You mean neither you nor this empire.”

Biakin smiled, seemingly uninterested in hiding his true intentions.

Lebel clicked his tongue. The reason he was so confident was that even if the Empire had been defeated in the north, the Empire’s name still carried weight anywhere.

Despite being a decaying empire, it had accumulated much over its long reign. The size of the nation, and the people within it, were incomparable to the North.

That was why the North had repelled the Empire’s invasion, occupied only the appropriate territory, and accepted their proposal. Even if the North won the war against the Empire, completely erasing it from the map would be impossible.

“Seeing you act this way, I suppose the emperor knows my true identity too.”

“No.”

No? Signing a contract with him would inevitably reveal his true nature to others sooner or later.

Even without that, if a bride abandoned by the Empire and sold to the North were to return and reside within the Empire again, there wouldn’t be a single person who wouldn’t be curious.

Then again, the emperor is the sort who wouldn’t believe even if he heard Lebel was a demon. He’s that foolish, so perhaps that’s why he’s been excluded from the Crown Prince’s considerations.

“I killed him.”

Biakin spoke with a bright smile. His demeanor was nonchalant, as if it were such a trivial matter he’d almost forgotten to mention it.

Lebel’s eyebrows twitched.

‘Not “he’s dead,” but “I killed him.”‘

Lebel felt no familial affection for the emperor. But Biakin was different. The emperor was his father.

Yet, even as he said he had killed him, he seemed to feel no remorse.

“Considering the disrespect Father showed to you, Lord Lebel, it’s only natural.”

Lebel sneered at the act of trying to score points by revealing he had killed the emperor.

Then Lebel realized the number of attendants in the palace where he was staying was excessively small.

Even if he was called the Foolish Prince, no servant in the imperial palace failed to recognize him. Yet those attending Lebel showed no reaction, they simply served him diligently.

That was because they couldn’t think for themselves. The servants Lebel encountered were all lifeless, resembling the imperial soldiers used in this war.

That is to say, they were dead. They were nothing more than the corpses of dead humans, moving only by someone else’s command.

There was no guarantee Norman hadn’t extended his hand to the imperial palace as well. Moreover, Biakin had admitted with his own mouth that he had killed the emperor.

If he could kill the emperor, how lightly must he have regarded the lives of the people within the imperial palace?

Lebel asked, testing the waters.

“So you killed them all?”

“Were they not those who were rude to you, Lord Lebel? They weren’t worth reconsidering.”

It seemed the troops that appeared on the battlefield, the humans who died there, and the souls of those who died in the imperial palace were gathered together and used as sacrifices to summon himself.

‘Scraping and clawing to gather them all, so I couldn’t help but be summoned. He’s a man with remarkable determination.’

He certainly was the kind of man demons would love.

“It was my hope that you might find even a little comfort in the imperial palace. And if you grew attached to this place, you would choose me.”

But he felt no sorrow that the emperor was dead, nor that the humans who had been rude to him were dead.

“Well, that pleases me.”

“Thank you. It was worth the killing.”

If he spoke like that, not only the attendants who stayed in the imperial palace, but even the nobles who discussed the empire’s major affairs wouldn’t have been spared.

Those nobles must have agreed with the opinion to send Lebel to the North. Perhaps there was also a desire to vent Biakin’s own anger.

After all, sending Lebel north as a bride meant missing the chance to make a contract. And would humans who knew he’d made a pact with a demon really support him? They’d obviously oppose him, so he’d taken action beforehand.

“Because of what Father did, I lost something precious. I never intended to send Lebel anywhere else.”

This is news to Lebel. So there was a reason he used Lebel for the demon summoning after all. Ah, if he had known Lebel since childhood, he must have realized much earlier that their names were the same.

“Since he ignored my opinion, it was only natural he paid the price. Ah, but he did get one thing right.”

Lebel’s confused gaze turned to Biakin.

“For obtaining the marriage contract. It was that document that allowed us to summon you in the first place.”

It was starting to make sense. Why Biakin had insisted the contract with Yutis was forced and had been severed. And the true reason they could summon Lebel.

While a demon’s name is important in summoning, blood holds an even stronger power.

The marriage contract the previous emperor presented was a magical contract; Lebel had sealed it with his blood to signify his consent to marry Yutis.

Should he have stopped them from sealing it recklessly back then? But everyone assumed Lebel was refusing the marriage, so they acted coercively.

They never imagined a needle prick would draw blood.

Since a human-written contract bears both name and blood, it does indeed take on some form of a contract.

Thus, when the marriage vow was written and he was acknowledged as a partner, the mating ritual was likely performed without his consent.

At that time, Lebel couldn’t even properly wield demonic energy, nor did he possess any power to resist.

The mating ritual was closer to a solemn vow than a mere contract between human and demon.

Having come to the Middle Realm, he had no choice but to follow the laws humans had made. After all, his physical form was human.

‘Something unbreakable, even without being bound by a contract made by humans.’

That was why he hadn’t reacted to the absurd claim that the contract had been severed. Because it wasn’t just any contract, but a mate bond.

And now, the contract had been layered with another by a god. Once sworn before a god, it was beyond the power of humans to alter.

In a way, it was the Celestial God’s meddling. Human love is like reeds, so fragile. It was likely meant to keep Yutis from running away.

Well, even if Yutis said he hated it now, Lebel had no intention of letting him go.