Tenth day since the injury. My condition had visibly improved.
I could move my lips and gesture with my eyes. A voice would only be a matter of time. The twenty hours I had spent unconscious each day were dropping rapidly. Now I could stay lucid for six hours at a stretch.
The first person I saw when I opened my eyes was Lapis. She stared at me for a long moment, then gave a single nod and summoned the healing priest, as though she had expected this all along.
"Remarkable. It's nearly a miracle."
The elderly priest kept exclaiming in awe.
"If Your Grace the Court Count had been human, you certainly would not have recovered. I have heard rumors about the Demon Lord's body, and indeed…"
"Has His Grace made a full recovery?"
When the priest's words threatened to drag on, Lapis cut him off like a blade. The priest smacked his lips, apparently dissatisfied that he could not express his impressions in suitably elegant and verbose fashion.
"Yes. However, he was unconscious for far too long. It will take considerable time to recover his stamina. From another perspective, the only thing left from here on out is recovery."
"…Thank you."
Lapis clasped both hands together and bowed politely.
I was stunned, and so was the old priest. Lapis was no longer some ordinary demonkin merchant. She was a close aide to the sovereign who wielded real power in the Demon Lord's army. Someone of that standing simply bent at the waist.
"P-please, raise your head. I was born a commoner."
"A life is singular for every person, regardless of high or low station. Status is meaningless to the one who saves and heals that life."
Lapis spoke without raising her bowed head.
"I, Lapis Lazuli. As Chief Minister to His Grace Dantalion, I make this promise: should you ever call for aid, I will lend my full strength, no matter what it may be."
"Heh heh."
The priest laughed, half incredulous and half pleased.
"I am merely a doctor temporarily employed by the government. Rather than thanking me, you should thank the Batavian government — though the government does bear some responsibility for the lax security at the ballroom, so in the end, there is no one who truly deserves your thanks. Please, raise your head."
"My stance has not changed."
Lapis's gentle but persistent pressure forced the priest to raise the white flag. The old man left the room, speaking in a deflated tone.
"They say you can see the ruler through their servants. Having met Lady Lazuli today, I can well imagine how the Demon Lord, Court Count, might be found in the company of the Saint of Bretagne. May the smile of Artemis never cease for you."
For the record, all the conversation up to that point had been conducted in the Ancient Imperial language.
If it were a mage, having the ancient language as basic literacy would be understandable, but Lapis—who came from the lower classes and had lived her life as a merchant—using the ancient language as though it were her mother tongue. How was that even possible? Lapis was far too competent.
Once only the two of them remained, Lapis sat down in the chair beside the bed.
"……."
"……."
Lapis gazed at my face for a long, quiet moment.
Feeling awkward just sitting there, I raised a finger and pointed at the area around Lapis's eyes. Deep dark circles had settled there. Since I had to communicate through gestures, my meaning came across in fragmented bursts.
"Your dark circles are no joke right now."
At that, Lapis heaved a deep sigh.
I'd gone too far. I'd said it out of a certain consideration for her as a woman. She was a little hurt, but then it suddenly hit me—that was the first opinion I had expressed after ten days of hovering between life and death.
Hmm. I really am something else.
"Hey. What the hell kind of woman is your chancellor?"
Barbatos came to visit and started grumbling right away without preamble.
"What about her? What's wrong with Lapis?"
Half a month had passed since I collapsed. During that time, my stamina had recovered considerably, and as long as I kept my voice down, I could hold a fairly normal conversation.
"You wouldn't know, but she had everyone on a pretty tight leash."
Barbatos plopped down into the chair. She crossed her legs and furrowed her brow tightly, clearly displeased about something.
"Hell yeah, when I heard you collapsed, you think I wouldn't come rushing over? And what do I find? That bitch Paimon loitering right outside your door. She's asking to be let in, and your damn minister just plants himself there and absolutely refuses to move."
"Wow."
I let out a light exclamation. So Lapis — a succubus, one of the lowest-ranked demons, and a half-succubus at that, which made her even more despised — had actually stood up to Paimon, the ninth-ranked Demon Lord.
"Well. Our Lapis has got some guts on her."
"And then I jumped in too, asking to be let through? Still no dice. I was getting so annoyed I was about to use my authority. And then the shit she said was just priceless."
'His Excellency Dantalion has collapsed. As such, I am the one responsible for the Dantalion Demon Lord's army.
To disregard my decision is to trample upon the collective will of the Dantalion Demon Lord's army.
If you still do not care, then by all means, pass through here.'
"I couldn't believe my ears."
Barbatos grumbled.
"So you just ignored her?"
"Hmph. If that little shit wanted to play it that way, I said let's take off our ranks and settle this one-on-one."
Barbatos let out a snort.
She reached into the front of her clothing and pulled out a necklace. It was the necklace with two of my left-hand fingers hanging from it.
"I showed her this and told her, 'Listen here, you mangy pink bitch, I'm not here as a Demon Lord right now — I'm here as a woman who's fucked the guy passed out beyond that door hundreds and thousands of times. Whether you're a minister or whatever the fuck, you don't have the right to block a woman's urge to get laid.'"
"Pfft."
What could I even say? That was so perfectly Barbatos.
"Damn, after that, she actually let us in. Can you believe it — me, having to get permission from a lowly demon just to get through? Ugh. I don't know why I've been dragging myself through life all this time, chasing after some glimmer of hope, when I should've just croaked ages ago."
I was grinning from ear to ear.
"Don't hate on Lapis. She's someone I like."
"I'm watching what you do."
Barbatos's gaze shifted.
"So, this is the main question — who's the culprit?"
"......"
"I let the kids loose for a bit to investigate, and they're all whispering that the Consul, that bitch, is the culprit."
I smiled faintly.
Barbatos didn't know the inner details of the case. He was viewing the situation purely from an outsider's perspective. In other words, it was safe to say that Barbatos's thoughts essentially reflected the common opinion held by any third party.
Right now, the political and social circles were in an uproar over this ambush.
It was the point when I had become a celebrity thanks to the winter diplomatic war. The assassination attempt had erupted right when my name recognition was at its absolute peak. Whether I would die or survive, who the culprit was, how far the incident's repercussions would spread — there were countless topics to discuss.
The delegations of every nation fiercely criticized the Batavia Republic.
A bomber and an assassin had infiltrated a gathering of prominent figures. And the assassin's identity still hadn't been uncovered. No one would be able to trust the Republic's capabilities after that. Quite a few delegations had simply returned to their home countries.
With this, the likelihood of a republican congress being convened had dropped to near zero — at least, it wouldn't be something the Batavia Republic would host. Paimon had failed.
If Batavia was off the table, then the only remaining republic on the continent was the Habsburg Republic, but that was even more impossible. Consul Elizabeth herself was being suspected as the assassin or the mastermind behind the assassination. Moreover, among the republicans, there were quite a few who viewed Elizabeth as a dictator...
Everything was going according to plan.
Only the last puzzle piece was needed.
"Barbatos."
"Yeah?"
"This incident — let's bury it as it is."
At that, Barbatos's expression warped grotesquely.
"...Let me ask first. Why?"
"We said this before. Our Demon Lord Army still isn't ready to march on a continental conquest — not for another fifty years. If we blow this incident up, it'll turn into a war. So......"
"So that bitch really did do it."
Barbatos let out a low growl.
"If the culprit was some nobody, there'd be no reason for it to escalate to war. The culprit has to be someone you can only get revenge on through war. Right? Huh?"
"No."
"Then who the hell stabbed you?!"
In that instant, the entire room shook with the force of the building.
Barbatos's golden eyes became bloodshot with killing intent. A suffocating wave of demonic power — enough to make even me, a Demon Lord, stiffen — billowed darkly from her body. The air in the room trembled before Barbatos in terror.
Ah, this is exactly why I didn't tell Barbatos......
Look. Suppose I were to tell her I stabbed myself. Barbatos would undoubtedly ask why.
And I'd have no choice but to honestly say it was to stop Paimon. To Barbatos, of all people — the one who hates Paimon more than anyone else in the world. How do you think she'd react?
This was the same Barbatos who lost her mind over losing a single finger. This time, it would unquestionably spark a civil war.
But I don't want to lie to Barbatos, so dodging the question is my best option.
"Barbatos, calm down and listen to me. I have a favor to ask of you."
"A favor......?"
"That's right. A favor. Listen closely. From now on, I need you to put on a bit of an act."
The plan is this.
After leaving my room, Barbatos storms back to the Habsburg Empire in a towering rage. Then, Barbatos begins mobilizing her armies as though she's about to invade some nation at any moment.
Meanwhile, I publicly declare that I will reveal the culprit's identity. And with that declaration, I make it carry the implication that war is on the horizon.
Seeing that, people will truly believe the culprit was Consul Elizabeth. They'll tremble in fear, thinking war is about to erupt once more. The entire continent will be engulfed in tension.
At that moment, the Saint pays me a visit.
My meeting with the Saint is conducted in private. Only the record that the two of us met is made public—what we actually discussed is never disclosed. The private audience merely needs to drag on for more than half a day.
Right after that, I make another public declaration.
That, having been moved by the Saint's sincere desire for the continent's peace, I will not reveal the identity of the one who orchestrated the assassination.
Tensions that had escalated to the brink of war are dramatically resolved. The entire continent will praise Bretagne's Saint. And by riding that wave, I too can pretend to sincerely advocate for the laughable slogan of "continental peace."
The Longrui Saint, who cried out for peace to the very end despite being targeted by assassination.
And the Demon Lord, who, despite also being assassinated, was moved by the Saint and defused the war.
Our images are perfectly cleansed.
"Barbatos. We talked before, remember? We agreed there wouldn't be any wars for the next fifty years. With this, we can easily stall for a full fifty."
"……."
"You pretend to be the warmonger. And I'll pretend to be the dove. Every time something happens on the continent, we'll make it look like we're at odds with each other. And in the end, we'll put on a show of me holding you back."
People are fickle.
When someone advocates for peace without any apparent reason, people rarely believe them. And if that someone belongs to the lineage of a Demon Lord who has waged wars for thousands of years, they believe it even less.
To dispel such suspicion, a performance is necessary. By putting the Saint front and center, fabricating an assassin who never actually existed, we can create the façade of a "Demon Lord who advocates for peace."
If I were to name Elisabeth as the culprit, it would devolve into a battle of evidence. We obviously have none on our side. Even if some magic that compels the truth were to be brought under scrutiny, we'd be doomed to fail.
But conversely, if I leave Elisabeth unnamed—paradoxically, suspicion continues to linger.
The culprit is Elisabeth. However, thanks to the compassion of the peace-loving Saint and the Demon Lord, the matter was quietly swept under the rug. That is the scenario that takes shape.
Barbatos listened to my story in silence.
Then she abruptly asked.
"Dantalion. You're not deliberately withholding the culprit's name for my sake and the Plains Faction's sake, are you?"
"Of course."
I'm only keeping silent for my own sake, nothing more.
As if that explanation satisfied her, Barbatos let out a sigh.
"Fine. I'll play along with your act this time… but next time, you'd better tell me the truth."
I gave her a sly smile.
Once you and Paimon get along better, I'll tell you.
Though I doubt that day will ever come.