< 134. The First >
Thinking about it, it was a remarkably simple problem.
If they had come to retrieve the princess, then just return her.
If they sought to rescue Hildean Kingdom's crown princess...
Then simply release Hildean Kingdom's crown princess.
"If you return to your kingdom, Hildean will have no reason to bare its fangs at me."
Of course, with the thirteenth princess still in custody and the humiliation they'd suffered, it wouldn't vanish entirely.
But it could certainly blunt their momentum in a big way.
To them, the thirteenth princess was a useless invalid anyway. If they rescued the crown princess, they'd likely hold back from escalating further, watch the empire's hero contingent, and deal with things afterward.
In other words, it would absolutely prevent the worst-case scenario of facing two nations at once.
With some luck, it might even sideline Hildean entirely.
"...You're sending me back to the kingdom?"
"Yeah. But we can't just let you go, so we'll make it look like Hillun rescued you..."
Berge frowned. Something felt off about the atmosphere.
His eyes met Ernan's. The usual playful smile in her eyes was gone. The curve of her lips had vanished too.
It was just like...
'The first time we met...'
Ernan Hildean, gazing at the moonlight from the thirteenth princess's detached palace.
She'd started beaming the moment she spotted him, but that expression had always lingered beneath.
'What's this?'
What was the problem?
"Aren't you happy to go back to your kingdom?"
He couldn't understand it.
No matter how much she'd played at being one of the Four Heavenly Kings and helped him diligently, she was still human. A kingdom's princess.
Unless she planned to die in the tower, she'd have to return someday.
"I became one of Your Majesty's Four Heavenly Kings to help you. You asked me to."
"That's true."
He hadn't ordered her to become a Heavenly King. But he had asked her to sow confusion for Hillun Kargil, and thanks to that, capturing the man had been relatively easy.
"I convinced Kaede, and told you about the nobles' secret vaults."
"You did."
"I couldn't prevent the tower's location from leaking, but with Daphne..."
"You helped kill him. I tasked you with his death, and you carried it out perfectly. I'm grateful."
And beyond that, she'd provided countless smaller aids. He'd never imagined a kidnapped princess would prove this useful at first, but now she was indispensable tower personnel.
"And yet you're telling me to go back?"
"Yes."
But that was...
It didn't mean he couldn't send her back to Hildean.
Separate from his gratitude toward her, Berge's top priorities were always the tower and himself.
Keep her here, and she'd die. Send her away, and she might live.
Then he had to choose the latter, no question.
"It's for your sake too."
And from the start, this was the right path for Ernan herself.
Better to return to her kingdom in a heroic rescue than sink with the tower.
"...I've heard 'for your own good' countless times in the kingdom. And not once was it ever truly for me."
"You have promises from me. That I'd grant your requests."
"There are, but..."
"I'll cash them in now. If one isn't enough, I'll use all the ones you've banked."
Drop. Drop.
"I."
She emphasized each word.
"Am not going back."
...What?
Why was it turning out like this?
The meeting was over. Ernan had stormed out of the fifth floor to the fourth, and Berge had ended it abruptly.
It was a plan he'd come up with on the spot, but a solid one.
So he'd assumed Ernan would accept easily.
No matter how cooperative she'd been or how sincere about the Four Heavenly Kings, she was human. Life in a human kingdom had to beat a demon king's tower.
"Just ignoring her and sending her off anyway... won't work, will it."
"Obviously."
Ernan Hildean was more intertwined with this tower than any other human. If she harbored resentment and spilled everything?
Berge's future wouldn't just turn pitch-black—it would be utter void.
A former ally turning traitor was the most terrifying kind.
He had to persuade her somehow, make her return to the kingdom willingly.
"You really kept that human princess too close, Your Majesty."
"Can't deny it. But without her help, we wouldn't have made it this far. You've half-accepted her as tower staff yourself, haven't you?"
"That's true."
He'd tried acting differently from before his regression, but with so many tangled issues, dangers had cropped up more than once or twice.
Without Ernan, things would be far worse now.
Hell, he might already be dead.
"Still, why on earth would a human princess refuse to return to her own kingdom?"
Gordon couldn't comprehend it by his common sense.
"Then does it make sense that she's helping a demon king and calling herself a Heavenly King?"
"...That doesn't either."
"Come up with a good approach. Aren't adjutants supposed to advise and support their demon king?"
"Even so, this is so far beyond normal..."
To Gordon, Ernan Hildean was an incomprehensible existence even after a lifetime together.
"...Fine, set Hildean aside for now. What about Jespain? Even if the third prince is dragging his feet, he'll come eventually. Any way to stop them?"
Hildean wasn't the only one targeting the tower.
"We have one."
"We do?"
"They're already divided anyway."
The first prince, second prince, first imperial princess, and third prince.
The third prince was treating the empire's hero expedition as an extension of the imperial succession struggle, or so he'd said.
Proof the empire was arrogantly underestimating Berge—but all the better.
"Siblings shooting mana cannons at each other and assassinating nonstop in that mad empire. More likely they'll bare their teeth at one another than at Your Majesty this time."
"So we widen the rift and make them fight."
"Yes. With the third prince allied to Your Highness, the possibilities multiply. Of course, we can't fully trust humans."
"Understood."
The third prince was still an imperial prince, prioritizing the empire.
"Contact the Golden Moon Merchant Guild. Tell them to hand over everything on the empire and the imperial family. Not a scrap left out. Exploit it all to drive them further apart."
"Yes, sir."
"And the third prince, I'll handle separately..."
Knock knock.
Someone rapped at the door. "Come in," and Elena peeked her head around.
"...Your Majesty. Could we talk for a moment?"
"What's up?"
"It's about my sister."
"Then I'll take my leave."
At Berge's glance, Gordon returned to his office. Ernan—no, Elena sat down.
"Speak. Why does Ernan hate going back to the kingdom so much?"
She'd shown hints before, sure. But outright refusing like this? No.
Elena still couldn't control her body's mana on her own, so she had to stay for survival's sake. But Ernan didn't.
"Do you know the World Tree's Child magic?"
"I do."
"That's where it starts."
Elena's words continued.
Hildean's king chased past glories.
The Hildean that had once been an empire, dominating the continent.
In an age where one powerhouse could turn the tide of battle, the king obsessed over creating even stronger royals.
Not himself, but his children—to lead the kingdom's revival, sweeping all before them.
Thus, he engraved the World Tree's Child magic onto his wives and offspring.
Countless mothers and infants died. But amid the mountain of corpses, fruit ripened.
That fruit was Ernan Hildean.
The king's obsession, born from the king, naturally infected the nobles.
If it had been mere affection, it might have been bearable.
But to sweeten the prodigy born of exceptional talent, Hildean poured in every resource.
From birth to now, Ernan had never known true freedom.
Behind her summoning mid-tier spirits as a child and her prophesied brilliant future lay relentless abuse.
"And it wasn't limited to my sister."
The World Tree's Child magic had birthed more than one royal. Many more died, but some survived.
Some weakened by side effects, others gained power fitting the spell's purpose.
Yes, Ernan's overwhelming talent overshadowed them, but royals born with their own strengths existed.
They endured similar ordeals.
"But sister's talent was so dominant."
Naturally, Father's favoritism was blatant too.
"They... envied her."
"Jealousy, huh."
"Yes."
An obvious tale. Same process, same abuse—yet one soared while they stagnated.
Endless praise and affection showered on her, constant comparisons.
Of course they'd see her unkindly.
Thus, Ernan Hildean gradually isolated amid envy and jealousy. The foolish king ignored it entirely.
No one who treated children as children would have done something as mad as the World Tree's Child.
"And you were the only one who approached her?"
"Yes, that's right."
So that's why she was in the thirteenth princess's detached palace.
Anyway, summing it up:
Ernan Hildean the human was a princess crushed daily—physically and mentally—by immense expectations and obsessions from the king and nobles above, envy and jealousy from siblings and their circles below.
"Hard to grasp."
"Which part?"
"If the weak envy and resent you, just kill them all."
"...Uh. For us humans..."
"I know. Joking."
"...Pardon?"
Elena blinked wide-eyed.
"So it's simple in the end."
"Simple?"
"Yeah."
Berge nodded.
"If the king and nobles hound and obsess, rise to a position they can't touch."
"If siblings envy and resent, become someone they can't even envy."
Elena tilted her head, not following.
"...Is there such a thing?"
"Not many. Only one per nation."
"...No way."
"Yeah, that 'no way' is right."
Make her untouchably arrogant.
Ernan Hildean.
"Make her queen, and it's all solved, right?"
"Uh..."
'One of the demon king's Four Heavenly Kings, the Dark Spirit Summoner, has come to claim the throne.'
For some reason, Elena pictured her masked big sister approaching Father.
No way that'd actually happen.
Ernan crouched on the artificial mountain she'd made, tossing a pebble into the trickling stream.
- Didn't you say you'd return someday?
"I did."
- Then why? Still sick of the demon king...?
"Aren't you tired of it?"
- What? You're human—you can't live in a demon king's tower forever.
- As crown princess, you have to go back to the kingdom.
"I know. I'm not saying I won't ever go back."
Yes, someday she would.
She'd even told Nairuniel that, without a hint of lie.
"I know it's partly my fault this time."
If she'd acted sooner, maybe the tower's location wouldn't have leaked.
No, if she'd known, she'd have handled Korzen Kingdom somehow.
- So what is it? The condition you think lets you return.
"...King."
- You're already a Heavenly King.
"What nonsense."
- Not?
"Heavenly King is great, sure. But I mean spirits."
- ...Spirit King?
- Summoning a king was your goal?
Ernan nodded silently.
"Every spirit summoner's dream."
- But it appears once a millennium, if that.
- Though with you, not impossible. You're twenty-four, right?
"Yes."
She was already twenty-four—no, she'd contracted last year, so at twenty-three, she'd summoned the upper spirit Nairuniel.
Unprecedented.
Never before, never again. Overcoming the World Tree's Child ordeal, born with immense talent, shattering the barrier of the mana-scarce demon king's tower—she'd grown explosively.
If anyone in Alein contracted a Spirit King, it'd be Ernan Hildean.
Nairuniel guaranteed it.
- So, what then? Summon a king and...?
"Smash the kingdom."
- ...Huh?
"Kidding. Just, at that level, no more chains from the kingdom."
Ernan grinned mischievously.
- But then you don't need the demon king's tower specifically, right?
- Sure, missing your flirty moments with the demon king would suck—a little, no, a lot—but...
"Wipe your drool."
- Eep. Anyway, no need to tie yourself to the tower. Back then, you couldn't escape the palace, but now...
"Right. It was like that before."
- Not anymore?
"Now... just a bit."
Silly as it sounded, she'd grown attached to the tower.
The dwarf hero yelling about supreme firepower.
The odd elf who dropped by occasionally.
The magic kingdom princess making chimeras.
Her sister slowly regaining health and vitality.
The seemingly strict but duty-bound dark elf.
And the scary, imperfect-yet-vulnerable demon king who'd reached out to her in her darkest moments.
She'd come to like them all.
Human connections she'd never felt in the kingdom or palace—pure joy.
She didn't want to leave this tower.
That was it. A den of evil to some, but meaningful to her.
Hostile to heroes, to humans?
So what. Humans fought each other anyway. The king's goal was her rebuilding Hildean as an empire.
A future stained in kin's blood was fated from the start.
Better to play Heavenly King in the demon king's tower, feigning madness—a hundred times preferable.
"Especially His Majesty..."
"Me?"
"...When did you get here?"
Ernan clamped her mouth shut. When had Berge sat beside her so casually?
"Demon King Academy teaches perfect stealth first thing upon enrollment."
"To kidnap me?"
"Royals count, technically."
Berge settled comfortably next to her.
"You're human."
"But a Heavenly King."
"Not even my kin."
"Need more proof?"
"Proof is never enough."
"You really want me gone to Hildean that badly?"
She met his eyes squarely, resolute.
"Don't go, and the tower falls. I don't have the power to stop them yet."
"...You have me."
"If you were hundreds strong, maybe. Pipe dream."
"No guarantee Hildean backs off if I go. You crushed their pride."
"That's your job to fix."
"Kick me from the Heavenly Kings and exile me from the tower, then dump it on me again?"
"Who said anything about kicking you out?"
"......"
"You're tower personnel already. Doesn't change wherever you go. Heavenly King too. Once a Heavenly King, always."
"Really?"
"Think I'd scrap it? You made it."
"You hate that stuff. Thought you'd ditch it the second I left."
"......"
He couldn't deny it. He'd considered it once. Not anymore.
"The demon king I know wouldn't say cringy lines like that without reason. You overheard everything?"
"Yeah."
"Spirit King too?"
"Not denying."
"Does that factor in?"
"Heavily."
"So straightforward."
Just like him, though. Ernan chuckled.
Berge calmly drew out a necklace.
"What's that?"
"Communication necklace."
One Roger had made for elves venturing out on missions.
"Go back, get in trouble, come again. I'll take you anytime."
"Weird thing for a demon king to say to a princess."
"Among humans I've met, you're the strangest. A kingdom ruled by your like should be fun."
"What do you mean?"
"Heard the gist. Simple fix for it all: become queen. No one commands you then."
"You can make that happen?"
A brief silence. In it, Ernan grasped everything he meant.
"Hillun Kargil is my subordinate."
Leading searches with Daphne, his fame had soared higher.
Hildean's national hero. His prestige alone was immense power.
"Rescue you, and even more so. You two together? No one touches you."
"But that's it, right? The rest is on me?"
"You catch on quick—love that."
"What's that supposed to be."
"No need to be queen outright. Just gain power even a king can't touch."
What differed from queen? Especially for the designated next ruler.
"Build that, return to the tower—sounds entertaining."
"Bring a Spirit King too, and you'd love it more?"
"Probably."
Ernan giggled. Her gloom lifted a touch.
She knew it, dirt and all: refuse, and this fun place vanished.
"Next princess you kidnap? Make her big, super physical specs."
"Why?"
"Last slot's Hell Giant, right?"
"No, I asked why assume I'm kidnapping a princess."
"Not?"
"...Fair point."
Princesses over princes anyway.
"Your sister?"
"Elena's a mage."
"No need for giant specifically."
"Hm, true."
Ernan nodded.
"Still, stick to basics first. Abandon early if we can't save later, but not yet."
"...I'll try."
"Good. Then I'll honor your request too, Your Majesty."
She stood, brushing dirt from her rear.
"I'm going. Can't let this tower I like vanish."
"Smart choice."
"But."
Ernan smiled playfully, stepping close.
"What're you doing?"
"I'm first."
"Huh?"
Her eyes sparkled under the mana lamp.
Excited breath whispered.
"The one you first reached for."
"The one who first took your hand."
First princess.
In other words.
"Don't forget me, or else."
"Promises are made to keep."
Got it?
Her desire-filled gaze fixed on Berge.
His head nodded, unbidden.