But the woman only froze for a moment, and then, as if realizing something, she glanced around at their surroundings.
“Royal Princess, let us return to the teahouse first. This is not a convenient place to speak.”
The woman reached out and grabbed Mowan’s arm.
Mowan pulled her arm back, shaking her off.
“What nonsense are you talking about? I do not know you.”
Seeing the hurt expression on her face, the green-haired woman’s eyes were filled with nothing but pain and confusion.
Mowan eventually softened.
She knew the woman would not believe her clumsy lie.
The woman could recognize her just by the sound of her voice, just as Mowan still recognized her.
“Sigh…”
Mowan began walking toward the teahouse.
Laedel immediately returned to her usual state and followed quickly behind Mowan.
The two of them found another private room and sat down.
Mowan sat with her arms crossed over her chest.
Although she had agreed to talk privately, she still did not give Laedel a friendly look.
“Laedel, I do not care how you found me. Here and now, I solemnly request that you stop following me and never speak to me about anything related to the Demon Race again. I am now a legal citizen of the Holy City of Visa. Whatever happens in the Demon Empire has nothing to do with me.”
Mowan was indeed curious about how Laedel had discovered she was in the Holy City and managed to find her so accurately.
She was also curious about what exactly was happening back with the Demon Race that would cause Laedel to travel so far to the capital of the Human Kingdom to find her.
However, Mowan had a vague feeling that whatever the woman was about to say would inevitably drive her to leave this place.
Compared to the curiosity and nostalgia in her heart, Mowan cared more about whether she could continue to be with Iserin.
“Royal Princess…”
Laedel never expected Mowan to be so cold-hearted.
But on second thought, remembering Mowan’s experiences from three years ago, she felt that Mowan’s indifference was only natural.
“Do not call me Royal Princess!”
Mowan was furious.
She was angry that, deep down, she could not let go of her identity as a princess.
She was angry that while she was trying to cut ties, a member of the Demon Race still came here to call her “Royal Princess.”
“His Majesty the Demon King feels very guilty about the grievances you once suffered. He asked me to apologize to you.”
“Do not say another word. I do not want to hear it.”
Mowan had truly had enough.
She should not have softened her heart and agreed to a private talk with Laedel.
She stood up to leave, but Laedel quickly grabbed Mowan’s arm, looking at her with tearful eyes.
“Royal Princess! His Majesty the Demon King has been severely injured. He can no longer participate in battle. Over these past three years, His Majesty has been working hard to clear the obstacles for you and create an opportunity for you to return home. Now, the time has come.”
“I am not going back!”
Mowan clenched her teeth and glared fiercely at Laedel.
“I said, do not mention anything related to the Demon Race again. I am no longer the Demon Princess.”
Ignoring Mowan’s protest, Laedel began to explain the reason she had sought Mowan out.
“The Elders have been constantly suggesting that His Majesty remarry, but the candidates for the position of Queen they recommend are all their own relatives. His Majesty hates them because they were the ones who drove you out of the Empire back then, so he has refused them all without exception. No matter what, he is unwilling to hand over the future position of Demon King to the descendants of those people.”
“……”
“If you do not return, the Royal Sovereignty will change hands. You will become a member of a collateral branch of the bloodline, and you will never have the chance to ascend the throne again.”
“I do not care!”
Mowan pulled her arm away.
Seeing that the emotional appeal was ineffective, Laedel switched back to formal honorifics and knelt before Mowan.
She was afraid that if she let Mowan go now, she would never find her again.
“Royal Princess, I beg of you. Do you truly wish to hand over the entire Empire to others? To hand it to those old fossils you used to hate the most? If they are allowed to take power, there will be no chance for the revival of the Demon Race.”
“I do not care.”
Mowan stepped toward the door of the private room.
“Royal Princess!”
A heart-wrenching cry came from behind her, and Mowan’s footsteps faltered.
Laedel was not at fault. She should not be so cruel to her.
Mowan took a deep breath and turned to look at her cousin kneeling behind her.
This was the daughter of her mother’s sister.
In the past, she and Laedel had been as close as sisters.
But in the whirlpool of the power struggle, Laedel could only watch as she was exiled, unable to do anything.
She was also a victim; she was merely a messenger.
“If Father truly did as you say—clearing the obstacles and paving the way to welcome me home—then he would not be so powerless in the face of the Elders’ forced marriage alliances.”
“It is because he was heavily injured. He could only be kept under house arrest in the Royal Palace.”
“And if I go back? What use would it be?”
“As long as you return, as long as you can wear that crown, you are the only heir to the Demon King.”
“You cannot even sort out the complexities of the situation yourself, yet you come here to persuade me to return. Why do you think I would be accepted? Father himself cannot act of his own free will. How could I, who has not returned in three years, gain the recognition of the people? Who in the Royal Palace would still support me?”
“Royal Princess…”
Laedel looked at Mowan helplessly.
“You cannot even explain it yourself, can you? Do not trouble me any longer. I no longer want to be dragged into this mess.”
Laedel lowered her eyes.
After a long silence, she finally looked up again.
“You seem to have grown quite a bit taller. You also seem to have become even more beautiful, Movier.”
“W-What nonsense are you saying!”
To suddenly jump from a serious topic to such a shallow evaluation of her appearance made Mowan both annoyed and secretly relieved.
“I understand. I will go back and convey your wishes to His Majesty the Demon King.”
“Do not tell him any information regarding me. Just tell him I am dead.”
“The Demon King can sense the life or death of his children. His Majesty will not believe my lie.”
“I am indeed dead. Tell him exactly that. His daughter is already dead. There is no longer a demon named Movier in this world. The daughter he is looking for, the heir he is looking for, died three years ago on the day she left the Demon Empire.”
Laedel stared blankly at Mowan.
“What… is your name now?”
“You do not need to know.”
“Alright.”
Laedel stood up, a pale smile on her face.
“I always thought you missed home very much. It seems I was being self-important.”
“I do not. Do not come looking for me again. Do not follow me. Go back to the Demon Empire right now, and never try to find me or bring me back again. I hate my homeland, and I hate all of you demons.”
“I see…”
Laedel nodded.
It was hard to tell if the look in her eyes was one of despair or relief.
Mowan decided not to entangle herself with this person from her past any longer.
“Goodbye, Sister Laedel.”
Opening the door of the private room, Mowan left the teahouse.
She walked around several blocks until she was completely certain that Laedel was not following her before she walked home with peace of mind.
However.
When she was only a dozen steps away from her front door, she stopped again.
Mowan stood frozen before her home.
Laedel’s sorrowful face and her mournful pleas in the tea room flashed through her mind.
Mowan had listened carefully to every word Laedel had said.
She could almost imagine the turbulent situation of the Demon Empire, scene after scene flashing before her eyes.
The people of the Demon Race, whom she had once loved so dearly, were trapped in the dire straits of imperial conflict.
The economy was in a depression, and the people did not have enough to eat.
They possessed military power but had nowhere to expand.
The Demon Race, which had always loved conquest, had no friendly nations.
Not only Visa, but all the other neighboring countries wished for this swaying skyscraper of an empire to collapse.
Compared to the prosperity of Visa, the Demon Empire was like a living hell.
Mowan’s heart stung sharply.
But these deep-seated conflicts had been building for years; every person currently in power in the Demon Race was a snowflake that had contributed to the avalanche.
The decline of the Demon Race was inevitable.
How could she, a single person, turn the tide?
But as long as the tradition of the Descent of the Demon God remained, no neighboring country would dare to invade the Demon Race.
And then, the Demon Race could be reborn through its self-destruction.
*Ring…*
Suddenly, a roar sounded in her ears.
Though she stood under a clear sky, it felt as if thunder was crashing against her head.
Mowan thought of a possibility—the possibility she had never imagined, the possibility she did not even dare to imagine.
Yet, that thought forced its way brutally into Mowan’s mind.
‘If the Demon King does not die, and if the only heir to the Demon King does not die, then would the Descent of the Demon God never come?’