TYPnovel Chapter 269
Chapter 269
Chapter 269
18. She Appeared (4K)
As soon as the question was raised, the entire hall fell silent.
The two highest leaders of the Human race remained silent. Sheffy frowned slightly, likewise saying nothing.
Maintaining silence meant they were unwilling to answer.
Sorry.
Although they had stated in advance that some things could be said while others could not be—she had never agreed to that.
There was no option of brushing this question aside. Since Sheffy had come and asked it, she would receive a clear answer.
After all, this matter did not only concern the fate of the Kingdom of Aurus or the Demon Domain.
—it concerned her precious, leisurely daily life even more!
Seeing that the Demon Clan Princess had no intention of backing down or giving up, the royal couple displayed remarkable tacit understanding.
When it was inappropriate for the king to respond first, the queen would always become his spokesperson to probe the other party’s intentions.
“Princess Sheffy, you wish to know these matters… is there some reason?”
“Oh? From the way you put it, it seems not only His Majesty the King, but Her Majesty the Queen also knows something?”
“......”
The Demon Clan Princess was extremely perceptive, comparable to a flawless negotiation master.
This was Maqiya’s swift judgment.
In such a situation, trying to stall for time or steer the topic away was almost impossible.
Using verbal tricks to muddle through also depended on who the opponent was.
In that case… was directly facing the topic the only option left?
Just as Maqiya was still thinking about how to stop Princess Sheffy from pressing further…
A pair of aged yet powerful hands stretched out before her, signaling her to stop.
“Celt?”
“Maqiya, forget it. At this point, wouldn’t it be better to just say everything?”
“Say everything…? Celt, what are you saying! But that person clearly told you not to—hiss.”
Oh?
Your Majesty the Queen, even if you stop halfway and try to cover it up, it won’t work.
Sheffy let out a soft breath, and half of the tension in her heart eased.
Good, there was now a source of information. It seemed the king and queen indeed knew something—this could be confirmed.
Livra’s brief self-reflection facing the wall had ended. She trotted over in small steps and crouched beside the wooden chair Sheffy was sitting on, holding onto the armrest, looking like a clingy little creature leaning on someone affectionately.
As her father and mother seemed to be having a disagreement and were whispering among themselves, she also whispered to Sheffy.
“Miss Shaya, Miss Shaya, how did you know my father and mother had information about the Human God? Even I, who stay with them every day, didn’t know!”
“I guessed.”
“You guessed?!”
“Seriously, what else? You also know Lady Aimeris is called the 【Human God】 by the world. Your father is one of the leaders of the two Human nations—it's not impossible that Aimeris had contact with him, right?”
“That’s true… but still, that’s only a possibility. The chance of there being no connection is even greater. If there wasn’t, wouldn’t Miss Shaya’s guess be wrong?”
“Then it’s wrong. At most it’s a little embarrassing—it's not like I’d lose money. What’s there to be afraid of?”
“Ah…! Amazing! As expected of Miss Shaya, is this the wisdom of life? I’ve learned something!”
Heh, praise all you want. Even when no one praised her, she was already floating in self-satisfaction.
This wasn’t the wisdom of life.
This was wisdom gained from fishing.
—cast a wide net and catch more fish.
She simply used a confident tone, pretending to know the truth, bluffing that the king had been in contact with Aimeris. If there had been no contact, she would just act like she never said it—but if there had been, then wouldn’t that be “hooking a fish”?
Over on the king’s side,
it seemed they had already reached a conclusion.
Judging from the queen’s still worried expression, even though a decision had been made, it was likely a unilateral one by Celt.
Maqiya sighed and spoke with concern.
“Ah… speaking it out, who knows what consequences there may be. Celt… have you really decided to confess everything?”
“Heh, I don’t think it matters anymore. It was something I originally planned to take into the coffin, never to mention for the rest of my life.”
“If that’s the case…!”
“But haven’t I already died once? If not for Princess Sheffy, I would have been in the coffin today. What is there to fear now? Besides, I’ve long been dissatisfied with that so-called god. Just look at how much trouble she and the Holy Theocracy of Coreia have caused us over the years.”
“This…”
That actually… made some sense?
He had already “died once,” so even if he spoke of what he planned to take into the grave, it no longer mattered?
Hmm?
That’s right!
Maqiya pondered for a moment, then suddenly felt enlightened.
When you thought about it, this really did seem like a viable line of reasoning!
Uh… seeing the queen suddenly look relieved because of such a bizarre reason, Sheffy began to understand where Livra’s occasional foolish cuteness came from.
Inheritance was powerful—one’s personality could never escape their roots. This was what you called lineage.
“Besides, I never wanted to keep hiding it for her anyway.”
With those words as the beginning, Celt actually forced himself up with both arms against the bed, trying to sit upright at the edge.
The process was difficult. During it, both Livra and Maqiya tried to help him.
But the stubborn king refused their assistance—perhaps to prove that he was not yet at death’s door and still had strength left.
Seated upright at the bedside, one hand supporting the land, head beneath the heavens—he had lived his life this way, and even now remained the same.
Celt’s gaze was sharp as a torch as he spoke in the posture of a king. The regal aura tempered over decades was indeed extraordinary.
“Princess from the Demon Clan who has come from afar, I have made many judgments in my life. Now I have a feeling. I believe your purpose in asking this question is not to covet Aurus’s lands and resources, nor to plunder the innocent lives of its people, but rather that you hold a grander vision, one not driven by selfish desire. Am I correct?”
Ha.
You call that a “feeling”?
Compared to intuition, it was more like a “confirmation”—or even a “plea.”
At this moment, Sheffy’s gentle nod became the key that unlocked the long-buried secret in the king’s heart, one sealed away for decades, finally seeing the light of day.
“Of course. The so-called elusive existence of ‘gods’ has already posed a latent threat to both our nations. And Your Majesty should understand that even if I learn information about Aimeris, I cannot use it to commit any unjust act against the Kingdom of Aurus. Moreover, our two nations are still in a cooperative relationship—I have no such interest.”
“Haha… Princess, you truly have a sharp tongue. If possible, I would very much like to meet the Demon King and ask how he managed to raise such an outstanding daughter.”
Livra felt miserable—sob, she really wished that when she was present, her father wouldn’t always make such indirect remarks about her being useless.
Everyone present had their own thoughts.
Meanwhile, as the king sorted through his memories, his mind had already drifted back to that winter forty years ago.
“That year was the one before I ascended the throne. It was a cold winter, and also the year I met Maqiya.”
As he began recounting, the king tightly held the queen’s hand.
The two looked at each other and smiled, both reminiscing about those years of warfare and conquest.
Alright, alright.
If you’re going to talk, then talk—must you show off your affection? Where’s your sense of public decency?
“At the Aurus border, ‘Kasfu City,’ now known across the nation as the ‘City of Glory,’ a prosperous metropolis—back then it was merely a remote frontier town, desolate and war-torn.”
“At that time, it was still during the reign of the previous Demon King. The former King of Aurus—my father—was gravely ill. I was entrusted with the royal command in a time of crisis, leading a great army to garrison Kasfu City, where we fought fierce battles against the Demon King’s army. The situation was unfavorable; in direct conflict with them, the Human race had never held the advantage.”
“Maqiya was a noble girl from that region. She was intelligent and quick-witted, and we met within the army. Though she was very young at the time, she managed to devise a plan—having soldiers disguise themselves as demons to provoke the higher races, spreading rumors that once Aurus was defeated, they would turn their blades toward the higher race territories. This forced the wavering higher races to be dragged into the war. Though risky at the time, it was indeed an excellent strategy that resolved an urgent crisis…”
“Alright, alright, I get it! Stop showing off your affection already! Hurry up and tell the story!”
“Originally, things were progressing smoothly. As the second prince, I only sought stability. When Father King fell ill, the Royal Capital’s political situation became chaotic. I only wished to end the war quickly—so long as the higher races joined the battle and forced the Demon Clan to retreat, I would return to the capital with the army, ask Father King to grant me the title of a border prince, marry Maqiya, and live a peaceful life, staying out of all that scheming and intrigue. That was my wish.”
“But things didn’t go as you hoped, right?” Sheffy nodded as she spoke. “It didn’t go that smoothly.”
“Right… otherwise, I wouldn’t have sat in this position for decades.”
Celt’s gaze darkened, as if the flames of war reignited within his eyes, along with the scenes of the higher races withdrawing from the city’s defenses at the most critical moment.
“This war was never finished. Father King passed away in the Royal Capital.”
“My elder brother was the heir to the throne. He feared me. No matter how I reassured him, he only believed that if I won the war and returned with great military merit, I would seize his position and become the rightful new king.”
“But I held a powerful army in my hands. Even if he was wary, he couldn’t openly move against me. The troops stationed in the Royal Capital were too few, and distance limited his control—he had no effective command over the forces at the frontier.”
“He ordered me to relinquish military authority, but at that time, that was absolutely impossible. Replacing a commander in the midst of battle is a grave taboo. The Demon Clan’s forces had not yet retreated—if command were changed at such a moment, it would mean the fall of the nation and its people. If that happened, even the higher races would likely refuse to provide aid.”
“Originally, I thought my brother would weigh the situation carefully. Even if he had concerns, he would wait until the war ended.”
“But how could I have known…”
“That he would be so utterly without a bottom line.”
While Celt was fighting in blood-soaked battles, he could never have imagined that his elder brother—who remained in the Royal Capital temporarily wielding royal authority—would, after the higher races had provided aid and the war had turned favorable, unilaterally announce the cession of 【Kasfu City】 and its surrounding towns to the Demon Domain as a bargaining chip to end the war, and have the news spread rapidly across the nation.
The moment the news broke, the soldiers stationed in 【Kasfu City】 under Celt’s command were struck as if by lightning. They learned that the city they had defended with their lives for months had already been handed over by the royal family. Fury spread through the ranks; they instantly lost the will to continue defending the city, utterly disillusioned with the leadership. Morale collapsed into chaos.
No matter how much Celt called out to them, he could not restore their resolve in a short time—unless he resolved to raise the banner of rebellion and point his blade toward the Royal Capital.
But unless absolutely necessary… how could he commit such a treasonous act? His elder brother was the rightful heir appointed by Father King, and he himself had no such ambition.
The higher races were enraged. They had come specifically to assist in defending the city, only for Aurus to announce that it had already been handed over. This was a direct affront to them. In response, they decided to let Aurus suffer—withdrawn their supporting forces and no longer concerned themselves with the war.
“To sacrifice the nation’s interests just to secure one’s throne… even if such a person became king, the country wouldn’t last long.” This was Sheffy’s judgment. In her previous life, history had been the only subject she excelled in, and she understood the lesson of using history as a mirror.
Wasn’t that the truth.
Celt gave a bitter smile, clenching his fist, as if even now he wished to beat that wretched elder brother of his.
“But that wasn’t even the worst part. My brother acted recklessly—he believed that by ceding 【Kasfu City】, I would gain no military merit, and the Demon Domain would be satisfied with the land and withdraw. But he underestimated the Demon Clan’s greed… ah, no—Princess Sheffy, my apologies, that phrasing was inappropriate.”
“It’s fine. The Demon Clan of that time is not the Demon Clan of now—they can’t be treated as the same.”
“Mm, thank you for your understanding. In any case, the Demon Clan did not withdraw over such minor concessions. After taking over 【Kasfu City】, they even attempted to press forward in one push toward the Royal Capital, bringing their army to the city gates to force my brother into making further concessions. At that point… he finally panicked.”
Maqiya gently supported her husband’s shoulder, full of concern. Only she knew how helpless Celt had been back then.
Celt let out a heavy sigh, gathered his thoughts, and continued.
“Ah! From the border to the Royal Capital, only the army I led in retreat still retained the strength to defend the capital. At that moment, my elder brother issued a death order—commanding me not to retreat another step, to use every means necessary to hold back the Demon Clan’s assault. Even if it meant mutual destruction, we were to defend to the death until he could once again request aid from the higher races.”
“But giving orders is easy—carrying them out is another matter entirely. The army I led had just experienced the betrayal of abandoning the city; morale was nonexistent. The Demon Clan’s great army was pressing in, my brother had offended the higher races, and they refused all requests for assistance. It was a dire crisis, plagued by both internal and external troubles…”
In such a desperate situation,
even Celt began to harbor thoughts of rebellion.
He considered simply going all in—turning his forces around and marching straight for the Royal Capital, to wake that elder brother who had been blinded by the throne!
But the Demon Clan was still advancing. If internal conflict were added at such a time, it would only make matters worse—the nation would be utterly doomed.
That night, upon the war-scorched plains, Maqiya held Celt as they wept for a long time. In the end, the two embraced with smiles.
They had already prepared themselves to die.
If they could neither retreat nor advance, then they might as well die gloriously in battle. Even if they could not leave their names in history, they would at least be wrapped in horsehide in death.
To this day, Maqiya still remembered the young Celt, tears streaming down his face, pointing his sword at the heavens as he roared that sorrowful cry—
【I really am unwilling to accept this…! I never thought it would end like this… I’m sorry, Maqiya—it was I who dragged you into this…】
It seemed like a tragedy destined to end in death.
Within Celt’s lowered eyes, a golden glint suddenly flashed.
This was not something he saw now.
Rather, it was from that wasteland, at that moment of despair—when dazzling golden light burst forth, echoes resounding all around.
“At that time, she appeared.”
【Unwilling? Heh, why submit to fate? Becoming king yourself—isn’t that just fine?】
【Fate is such a dull thing. Only by defying it does it gain even a hint of amusement. Don’t you think so?】
【Boy, remember my name well.】
【I have come to help you become the King of Aurus.】