The Princess Unmasked

"How…?"

Darius and Beatrice could only stare in shock. The holy power X had just unleashed in this courtroom was not something that could be waved aside as ordinary.

There were rumors he could use Aura and mana. And now he's wielding holy power on top of that?

The legend of the Hero who commanded all three powers rose unbidden in Darius's mind. He had no idea how to process what he was seeing. The Hero had already been chosen — it was Leon. There could not be two Heroes in this world.

This is insane. This is not something I can handle.

Darius let out a long, silent sigh. Events that defied common sense never brought him anything but headaches. Of one thing, however, he was now certain.

X is definitely not a demon worshipper. I was a fool for entertaining that suspicion even for a second.

If Darius's reaction amounted to little more than a new migraine, Beatrice's mind was on the verge of exploding.

You're a demon… aren't you?

A demon wielding holy power. The situation was absurd. This was no parlor trick of the kind the Holy Kingdom's demons employed — this was the genuine article, the real force of holy power.

Demons cannot use holy power!

That fundamental axiom was about to collapse. And that was not even Beatrice's only crisis.

"I received this miracle as a servant of the Goddess. Do you truly believe evil could take root in someone like me, Brother Andersen?"

X turned the brilliantly shining holy power on Andersen for all to see. The priest flinched under that light, confronted by a sight he could scarcely believe.

"A demon worshipper could never have manifested a miracle like this. And so I have proven that I am no such thing."

"I cannot believe this. How…?"

"Whether you believe it or not is hardly relevant. What matters is the Goddess's will."

"You…! Watch that reckless tongue…!"

"The one who should watch his words is you, Andersen."

He dropped the title of Brother entirely, and his voice went cold.

"You swore a covenant in exchange for faith. So I will ask you again. Consider this the Goddess's final mercy and patience."

X's gaze shifted to Beatrice, whose face had gone rigid.

"Are you certain you did not misread the Demonic Contract?"

"…"

Andersen's silence stretched long. Behind all of this stood the Pope's command: cooperate with Beatrice and expand the Holy Kingdom's influence within the Empire as far as it would go. The trial Beatrice had brought before them was a convenient means of shrinking Darius's standing. If they could establish a single precedent — that the Empire alone was incapable of stopping demon worshippers — the Holy Kingdom would have every justification to send troops onto imperial soil under the banner of purging them. All they had needed to do was pin every demon-related incident to date on this student named X.

"The trial the Goddess has laid upon me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is truly harsh."

Far from expanding the Holy Kingdom's influence, they now stood on the brink of losing what little they still had. Andersen had no way out. In the end, he had no choice but to decide.

"It's possible I may have been mistaken…"

"Ah — before that, there's a matter we ought to address."

X cut in just as the admission was about to leave the priest's mouth.

"Everyone here has been fixated on a single question: whether I am a demon worshipper or not. While we're on the subject, let's settle this properly."

"What are you talking about…?"

"If I am not a demon worshipper, then who orchestrated the Demon Mansion incident and the demonic assault on the Academy? If we let that question slide, we would be playing directly into a demon's hands, would we not?"

The courtroom stirred. The citizens found themselves recalling a question they should have asked long ago. But even if they asked it — what then? As that same thought passed through every mind in the hall, a single person among them struggled to keep a surge of murderous intent from showing on her face.

"What does Your Highness the Princess think? Who do you suppose the culprit is? Who do you believe is the demon?"

Beatrice was no longer smiling. X wore a twisted smile in her place.

"During the Demon Mansion incident, I fought with everything I had to stop the nobles from undergoing Demonification, and in the end I reached the one behind it all. There I met a demon named Andras, and from that demon I learned the full truth of every incident. I saw her face quite clearly."

"…X."

"Come to think of it, I hear Her Highness originally wielded holy power — and then, at some point, began using only magic. From Brother Andersen's perspective, that must be a rather unsettling state of affairs."

"X…!"

"The world is such a coincidental place. A princess who can no longer use ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠holy power, and a demon who looks exactly like her, whom I happened to see at the mansion. A shame that things in this world don't always work out so neatly."

"X—!!!"

The hall went silent. Not a single person drew breath. There was no one present who failed to understand what X had just said. They understood it too well — well enough that they did not want to believe it.

"The princess is a demon?"

The citizens' minds locked up at the accusation that the figure they had revered like a saintess was a demon. What X had just done went beyond ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blasphemy. A commoner had dared to call a member of the imperial family a demon. This was a clear capital offense — one that did not even require a trial.

"…"

And yet Milia, the Sword of the Empire, remained quietly silent.

"Can you prove that blasphemous claim?"

It was the nobles who found their voices first.

"The princess is the mastermind behind every incident, and is in fact a demon? If you cannot prove it, I hardly need to tell you what your end will look like, do I?"

"How dare someone of such low birth — not even a noble — smear the imperial bloodline with infamy! What more is there to see? Immediate execution is the only proper course…!"

The nobles were of one mind. X's accusation had no evidence behind it. So they would defend the princess here and earn her favor. The goodwill of the imperial family was never a cheap commodity.

In the meantime, Beatrice finished her own calculations and opened her mouth.

"X. Do you truly believe that displaying a miracle of the Goddess makes every word out of your mouth valid? How foolish. This trial is meaningless. So are your words. You will be executed for the crime of insulting the imperial family. There will be no mercy of any kind…"

"Who gave you permission?"

It was Darius who cut her off. He fixed Beatrice with a look of ice.

"For a charge of insulting the imperial family to apply, proof comes first. Execute him without a chance to prove his claim? Where do you get that authority?"

"Prince. Are you saying you'll let this pass?"

"Don't twist my words. I'm giving him a chance to prove it."

This time, he looked at X with a faintly uneasy gaze.

"X. You have a way to prove it, I assume?"

"Of course."

X nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Then he played the card he had been saving all this time.

"Your Highness — that ring on your index finger. Would you mind taking it off? It's hardly a difficult request. I'm sure you'll oblige us quickly. Like this."

He ostentatiously slipped the Soul Trap Ring from his own finger.

Beatrice raised her voice, straining to keep the explosion inside her from showing.

"How dare a worthless lowborn like you presume to insult the imperial family!! Did you actually believe that standing in this courtroom erased the gulf between my station and your wretched, worm-like existence!! What are you all waiting for!! Cut off his head this instant!!!"

The princess's refined roar shook the courtroom. The citizens' eyes flew wide.

"Th-those words… from the princess's mouth…"

The wellspring of Beatrice's popularity had always been her equal regard for all people, regardless of station. Noble or commoner, she treated everyone the same — and it was that bearing that had won their faith and their loyalty. Now, from those same lips, came words that shattered that faith to pieces.

"Have you all gone deaf?! Kill that worm right now!!"

Nobody moved. They simply watched her desperate outburst, stunned into stillness.

"Are my words not getting through?! You miserable pieces of trash…"

"Princess Beatrice."

The crown prince who had watched her unravel opened his mouth.

"Remove the ring. That is an order."

Milia and the soldiers drew their swords. What stood before them now was not a princess. It was a demon on the verge of being unmasked.

Beatrice bit down on her lip. Only now did she understand the intent behind every word X had spoken.

He was targeting me from the very beginning.

The truth he had laid out — a truth the citizens could neither relate to nor easily prove — had been aimed at Darius. The only person in this hall capable of judging truth from falsehood was Darius. By keeping him listening, X had made the crown prince throw his weight behind him.

He planned every last detail. From start to finish.

She had believed he had aphasia — that he would be incapable of speaking in his own defense at all. Then, out of nowhere, he had opened his mouth. Because of that, the discord she had stirred up among the citizens through agitation had rapidly died away. If anything, having both citizens and nobles gathered in one place had become a shackle: the title of "princess" now bound her by the throat.

"Ha."

Beatrice let out a hollow laugh. Come to think of it, X had not even been a demon. She could not understand how he had deceived her. She had calculated every move, accounted for every possibility — but this went so far beyond common sense it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was almost laughable.

A human had impersonated a demon and fooled an actual demon?

"You… you're the most demonic one of all."

Her finger touched the Soul Trap Ring.

"You played me so well with that silver tongue of yours."

Slowly, the Soul Trap Ring slid from her finger.

"From the moment we first met until now."

And then the ring was gone.

"Time for proof."

The instant it left her hand, X loosed a shaft of holy light at Beatrice. It was a tiny light — so faint it would not even have had any healing effect. At best, it might have served to light the path ahead. The moment it touched her—

Everyone understood. Beatrice was the demon Andras.

"X!!!!!!!!!"

"Lady Milia!! The ring!!!"

Through Andras's enraged scream, X's shout reached the Sword of the Empire. She was not one to miss its meaning.

"The princess was truly a demon…!"

Milia closed on Andras at a speed beyond human perception and seized the Soul Trap Ring in a single motion.

"Damn it!!!!!"

Even Andras could not respond instantly against a 7-Star warrior. And Milia, in turn, could not cut Andras down — not after the words that followed from X.

"You must not kill the princess!! Subdue her by any means necessary!!!"

"You don't ask for much…!"

X's goal was to eliminate Andras, not to sacrifice Beatrice. For that, her body had to remain intact.

"I'll kill every last one of you!!!!!"

Andras flew into a frenzy and unleashed her demonic power.

A deep, grinding rumble filled the air. In an instant, gravity-warping magic unfurled in every direction, and at the same time a powerful barrier wrapped around her body, shielding her. Gravity magic was no threat to a 7-Star warrior like Milia — but it was more than enough to plunge the ordinary citizens into terror.

"Kyaaaaah!!!"

"Th-the princess was a demon!!!"

The citizens panicked, scattering in a blind rush to flee. But when a crowd moves without order in a confined space, disaster is never far behind. Stray spells hurtled toward the masses. If even one of them detonated, dozens would die. That much was certain.

"Do what you must."

But it did not happen. The tap of a staff against the floor rang out once — and translucent barriers sheathed every gravity spell spreading through the air. The spells detonated inside those shells, and not a scrap of mana leaked out before they dissipated entirely.

X realized the caster was a middle-aged gentleman in a fedora, standing among the nobles.

Who the hell is that, to neutralize that many spells in a single instant?

Thanks to him, civilian casualties had been averted. X was curious about the man's identity, but Andras came first. If Milia could just subdue her, this would be over.

"You think I'll go quietly…!?"

Andras pulled a spell scroll from her clothes. There was no need to think long about what it was.

"Spatial teleportation…!"

Midway through Milia's sword cutting into the barrier, the teleportation scroll tore and activated. Blue particles of mana engulfed Andras's body, and she screamed at X in a voice steeped in pure malice.

By the time Milia's sword split the barrier, only that cursed shout remained.

"Damn it…!"

Milia ground her teeth at the fact that she had lost the princess. For the Sword of the Empire, it was a humiliation. From X's perspective, though, Andras's response had simply been fast.

The moment she opened her demonic power, she instantly used 6th-Circle magic. I didn't expect that.

Binding Andras would have been the best possible scenario. Unfortunately, it had failed — but it was not a serious problem.

She won't be able to return to the Holy Kingdom anyway. She'll be hunted relentlessly inside the Empire, and if she does go back, a horrific punishment is waiting for her. Knowing Andras's personality, she'll go to ground in the Empire and make her move on the day of the assault.

It was not the best outcome. But it was resolved all the same. X's trial no longer meant anything. The fact that the princess had been a demon would spread across the Empire with startling speed. With a scandal this enormous, whatever became of X was neither here nor there.

"X. We need to talk."

Now all that remained was talking down a crown prince whose face and neck had gone red with fury.