298
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 298
Imperial Year 234, January 1.
Before the dawn of the new year, Aurora walked along the lake path. Aurora looked back. Two Ascension Knights were following closely behind, as if monitoring her. Aurora glared at the Ascension Knights and said,
"Please let me be alone at least until dawn breaks."
"It's Count's orders. I'm sorry, but we cannot do that."
Aurora clenched her fists tightly and said,
"This might be the last time I look at the sun, do you really have to go this far?"
"We apologize, Lady Aurora."
The Ascension Knights were as cold and dry as wooden blocks. Machines without a trace of sympathy.
"Then at least stay far enough away so you don't bother me. Can't you do even that?"
The two Ascension Knights briefly made eye contact and then let out a small sigh.
"Understood. But we will intervene immediately if we notice anything suspicious."
As the Ascension Knights kept a reasonable distance, Aurora felt slightly more at ease.
Aurora looked at the sky. The bluish night just before dawn. Morning stars hung high in the sky. Aurora bit her lips, holding back tears that threatened to burst forth.
She couldn't let her resolve weaken now. Wasn't this already a decision she had made? Aurora sat down on a wooden bench placed in the middle of the walkway. The morning dew had settled on the bench, making it slightly damp and cold, but Aurora savored even that unpleasant sensation deeply.
"Why are you doing this?"
Aurora was startled by the unfamiliar voice coming from beside her. Turning her head, she saw a green-eyed girl wearing a pointed hat.
"You...!"
"Don't act strange. The knights will notice."
"When, no, how did you get here? Surely the Ascension Knights... Huh?"
Aurora looked toward the Ascension Knights. They were only watching Aurora from a distance, not approaching.
"I cast a sensory distortion spell around us. They won't notice unless you act too strangely."
"Is that so...?"
"More importantly, I'd like an answer to my question. Why are you doing this?"
"...What are you referring to?"
"Do I need to be more direct? Why did you side with Count Vex?"
"Rather than siding with Count Vex, I'm dueling with Lady Gloria as Lady Olivia's teacher..."
Raven spoke in a tone mixing languor and irritation.
"I didn't come here to listen to such an obvious answer."
Aurora looked into Raven's clear eyes. They were frightening eyes that seemed to pierce through Aurora's heart.
"...I cannot tell you."
"Are you sure you won't regret it?"
"Pardon?"
"This is your last chance to explain why you've chosen to side with Count Vex, even at the risk of your life. Are you really not going to tell me?"
"..."
Aurora's eyes turned toward the rippling lakeside. Not a single star was reflected in the lake. Aurora barely held back her tears and opened her lips.
"Can you really read other people's minds, Lady Raven?"
"I don't read minds, but I can read what state you're in."
"Then how do I seem to you now?"
Raven read the magic waves flowing from Aurora's body.
"You seem afraid. Yesterday and today as well."
The rippling lakeside calmed, and the lake captured the night sky. The morning star twinkled in the lake, emitting a distinct light. As if enchanted by that beautiful starlight, Aurora began to recite her life.
"I'm not as good as others think, Lady Raven. Rather, I'm a hypocrite."
"A hypocrite?"
"It may sound strange coming from my own mouth, but I received many compliments about my beauty since childhood. In short, I lived a life surrounded by adoration."
Moreover, Aurora possessed talent with aura. Though born a commoner, she was the daughter of a rather skilled knight, which allowed her to receive sword training from a young age and become a knight at the relatively young age of 20.
Upon becoming a knight, Aurora was given an epithet: the most beautiful knight in the world. With sparkling silver hair, deep blue eyes, fair skin, a straight nose, and a slender jawline.
Furthermore, she passed the knight qualification exam with the highest score, making her nationally renowned as a knight with both beauty and skill. As Aurora gained fame, numerous nobles competed to recruit her as their knight.
The nobles' reasons for wanting Aurora were obvious. More than her swordsmanship, they needed the image of the world's most beautiful knight.
Aurora didn't necessarily view the nobles' desires negatively. The prospect of living comfortably and safely while earning substantial money was appealing, but above all, Aurora greatly enjoyed receiving favorable attention from others. Thus, Aurora spent over five years as a point of pride for various nobles without ever wielding a sword.
"However, at some point, rumors began circulating among the noble ladies that I was living as a courtesan for the nobility. After all, I was a knight who frequented parties rather than battlefields, selling my smile, and wearing ornate but tactically useless armor."
When Aurora first heard these rumors, she was furious, but when nobles began making advances toward her, she realized the truth. She was no longer the world's most beautiful knight but had become a courtesan serving various nobles.
"Once, I was even offered enough money to last a lifetime if I would become someone's concubine. That's when I realized that I was no longer regarded as the world's most beautiful knight."
Money was no longer of great importance to Aurora. What mattered to her was public perception. To shed the image of a courtesan, Aurora contemplated what she should do and consequently began seeking out battlefields as befitting a knight.
"I purchased good armor, hired excellent swordsmanship instructors, and sought out only honorable knight orders and battlefields. Despite this, I couldn't shake off the tarnished image of a courtesan."
While contemplating how to escape this humiliating perception, Aurora noticed volunteers caring for orphans.
More precisely, she noticed the flurry of camera flashes directed at these volunteers. Aurora instinctively leapt into those flashes. Days later, when images of her smiling while distributing food to children appeared in newspapers, Aurora felt a chill run down her spine. Yes, this was it. She had found a way to escape the image of an elite courtesan for nobles. It was by helping the unfortunate.
Subsequently, Aurora began assisting orphans who had lost their parents due to war. She personally distributed food and purchased clothes for the children. She recruited journalists to write favorable articles about her and established a charity organization bearing her name.
Aurora was no longer a courtesan. She had become the morning star angel, heralding the dawn of a new day in the lives of orphans shrouded in darkness.
However, the problem was that charity organizations consume money like hungry hippos. At some point, Aurora's once-abundant finances became precarious. When she first experienced financial strain, she felt suffocated.
Yet she couldn't abandon the beautiful epithet of ‘morning star’ due to financial concerns. Typically, when funds become scarce, one either dissolves the charity or lives frugally, but Aurora chose neither. What she needed was a benevolent image, not a life that was poor but virtuous.
"I pretended to distribute food to orphans while embezzling it. I told nobles I was building homes for children, but used that money to repair my armor and buy clothes for myself."
Stealing became easier after the first time. Aurora gradually expanded her operation, embezzling donated money and goods to finance other business ventures.
Meanwhile, she rationalized her actions to herself. Once the situation improves slightly, I'll genuinely spend money on the orphans. The reason I lacked funds was the absence of a stable business. Once the business stabilizes, I'll truly help the orphans. My armor is damaged now. I'll help the orphans after repairing my armor.
-You said you built houses for orphans, but when we checked, there were none?
-You claimed to have purchased bread for orphans, but which bakery supplied it?
Aurora's deception was eventually exposed. It was the Royder Order that uncovered her lies. The Royder Order meticulously documented all the money Aurora had embezzled and the lies she had told, then used this to blackmail her.
-What do you think will happen if Lady Aurora's lies are exposed?
-Do you think the nobles who invested in Lady Aurora will remain quiet?
Aurora was helpless in the face of this unprecedented ruthless threat. She was even shocked and dazed to learn that the person making the threat was a Cardinal of the Royder Order.
Afterward, Aurora became a mascot for the Royder Order, being pushed around here and there. Despite not being a believer of the Royder Order, she appeared at important Order events and preached about how wonderful the Royder Order was.
The Royder Order, after exploiting Aurora's image thoroughly, delivered an ultimatum to her when people's reactions to Aurora began to wane.
"The Cardinals of the Royder Order told me to decide what should be written on my tombstone. Whether I would remain as Aurora the Morning Star, or be remembered as Aurora the Great Swindler."
"So what did you do?"
"I am afraid of dying. Of course, I am only human after all. But I am more afraid of people pointing fingers at me, calling me a swindler or a filthy woman."
The sun began to rise over the distant horizon. Tears flowing down Aurora's cheeks glistened in the sunlight.
"I am truly sorry to Master Caesar and Lady Gloria. But I have no choice. I want to protect my name."
"So that's why you drank the poison?"
Aurora nodded slightly.
"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. If I could turn back time, I would never do such a thing again."
"What thing? Creating a charity? Or embezzling funds?"
Aurora took out a small photograph from inside her garment. It showed Aurora and children playing together with bright smiles.
"When I first played tag and 'red light,green light' with the children, I was incredibly happy."
Aurora's tears dropped onto the photograph.
"I have tasted food prepared by the world's greatest chefs, but nothing was as delicious as the hard bread I ate sitting closely together with the children."
"I started volunteering out of selfishness and self-satisfaction, but that doesn't mean the moments I spent with the children were difficult. Rather, they were happy and joyful. These feelings are real."
Aurora hugged the photograph tightly and sobbed loudly.
"It's just... Because I'm a bad person... A selfish person. I shouldn't have done such a terrible thing. If I had known it would come to this, I would have given the children bread even one more time... I would have made them even one more set of clothes they could wear... That's all I regret."
Raven didn't know how to comfort someone who was crying. And she couldn't empathize with Aurora's feelings.
A human who would choose death rather than face the fear of destroying an image built over a lifetime. Yet who regrets not being able to hug and care for the children even one more time.
She didn't know how to judge this contradictory human. There was only one thing Raven could do.
"Take it."
Raven handed Aurora a vial of medicine.
"...What is this?"
"The antidote to Dinon's Tears that you consumed."
"What?"
Raven stood up from her seat.
"Caesar told me to give it to you."
"What...? He knew that I drank poison?"
"Yes. I don't know what Caesar was thinking when he told me to give this to you. But one thing is certain—this is the last chance he's giving you."
Aurora rose from her seat. Sensing something unusual, the Ascension Knights began to approach.
"Let me give you one piece of advice: I've never seen anyone who rejected Caesar's outstretched hand end up well, and I've never seen anyone who took his hand go wrong."
"What am I supposed to do?"
Raven pulled out her wand.
"Just do what you need to do."
"What I need to do...?"
"Yes. Duel with Gloria. Fight with your absolute best."
"But if I win, Master Caesar will be in trouble."
"Do you really think you can defeat Gloria?"
As the Ascension Knights approached, Raven waved her wand.
"Don't let your guard down and give it your all."
As Raven disappeared, the Ascension Knights approached Aurora.
"What are you doing, Lady Aurora? It appeared as though you were speaking with someone."
Aurora tucked the vial of medicine she was holding into her sleeve.
"...I think I'm hearing things because of the poison."
"You shouldn't say such things carelessly. There may be listening ears around."
"Yes, I'll be more careful."
"Then let's go now. Time is up."
Aurora nodded and looked down at the photograph once more. She saw herself smiling brightly with the children. When was the last time she had smiled so brightly?
To be honest, when asked if she could trust Caesar, Aurora did not know. Raven was also difficult to trust. But humans always tend to focus on the magnitude of the reward rather than the probability.
'One more time...'
Aurora put the photograph back inside her garment. It felt as though her heart, which had stopped, was beating again.
'I want to smile like this one more time.'