An awkward silence hung between the two of us.
Soldiers retreating in formation trudged past us on all sides. Only Marbas and I remained rooted to the spot like boulders jutting from a streambed, our horses' hooves frozen in place.
"Hm. Hmm."
Marbas, for some reason, wasn't looking at me straight on but rather at a slight angle. The tilt of his head and the look in his eyes were unmistakably waiting for my reaction. He had blurted it out under the momentum of the moment, but now he was carefully watching to see how I would respond.
Our gazes crossed and slipped past each other several times. With each pass, a new color seeped into the awkward air. Something soft... yet ticklish... and weirdly, inexplicably girlish...
Wait.
Hold on just a second.
What the hell is this? This atmosphere—like tentacle mucus slowly oozing up to drape every nerve cell in my body in pink—is this what I think it is?!
Marbas, why can you never look me straight in the eye? Look at me. No—don't avert your gaze... Legion Commander, sir? Hello? Hey, you slippery old geezer? Sebastokrator...?
Suddenly, the worst-case scenario materialized in my mind.
Marbas's current Affinity was sitting at 50. So... because his Affinity was at 50... his feelings toward me weren't simply friendly—they were something weirder. In this era, there was even a custom of taking young same-sex lovers as adopted sons...
*'No way in hell!'*
Something inside me screamed.
Yet frustratingly, I had trained myself to remain rational no matter how chaotic the situation became. Even as my master was caught in the thick of a storm of chaos, the rational selves within me persisted.
The fragments of my selves discussed the situation coldly.
*'Don't tell me the adopted-son event was the condition to unlock the Affinity cap.'*
*'That was the blind spot.'*
*'If we conquer Marbas too, then combined with Barbatos and Paimon—that's a triple crown play, right?'*
*'A maid in the Empire's palace witnessed the whole thing. Shocking Report: 360 Days Straight.'*
Every last one of my advisers was a damn worthless piece of trash. Rather than trying to conquer the world with scum like them, it would be far more beneficial to hand over the imperial regency to Sitri.
"……."
"……."
With every passing second, the air around us grew more bizarre. An unfathomable blend of embarrassment and hesitation was brewing—I couldn't tell where it came from or where it was going. It was absolutely unbearable. This kind of atmosphere was poison to me! I truly loathed it. Even calling it hatred wouldn't be enough.
Fumbling around here would only make me look pathetic. Right. I'd deploy my iron-clad shamelessness—the kind that could casually chew through three centimeters of armor plating. I composed my expression calmly and spoke.
"M-Marbas, my lord. Adoption—what exactly do you mean by that?"
—I failed to respond calmly and stuttered over my words.
The atmosphere didn't settle. If anything, it got even more charged, like popcorn going off.
I'd blown it. I was done for. This was eerily reminiscent of the air when I'd first gone on a blind date in high school and tried talking to a girl from the girls' school. A catastrophic disaster.
"I mean it exactly as I said. You become my adopted son."
"But…forgive my presumption, my lord, but I'm far too old to become anyone's son."
"I don't mind."
Marbas spoke with complete seriousness.
"Dantalion. What matters is you as a person."
"……."
Even with such a passionate confession, all it did was put me in a difficult spot!
I felt as if I'd turned into a stunned mudfish, my lips flapping uselessly. My brain had overheated so badly that I couldn't figure out how to form words. I could only let my tongue move however it wanted.
"Well, the bond between parent and child is something that should be discussed after both sides have gotten to know each other thoroughly, wouldn't you agree? Between Your Highness and myself, isn't it still a bit too early?"
"What a pity."
Marbas's tone was noticeably disappointed.
"I believe that you and I have truly shared our hearts, beyond the bounds of birth and age. Is there any reason we cannot be bound by an even stronger bond?"
"Ah… well, you see… yes, that's true…."
Don't agree with him, you idiot!
A flustered voice squeezed out of me of its own accord, like some bashful virgin. Good lord. I genuinely questioned whether that was really my voice. I had toyed with the hearts of countless female Demon Lords and even captured Sitri's affections — and yet here I was, falling apart in front of a member of the same sex… a man vastly older than me… not just ten or twenty years my senior, but someone thousands of years older!
"Dantalion."
Marbas leaned his face close to mine. I was so startled I nearly hiccupped.
"Y-yes?"
"I have sworn never to lie to myself, even if I deceive others. I mean regarding my own convictions. Regarding what I truly think and feel. Swearing upon the name of Marbas — I am making this proposal with absolute sincerity. Do you understand?"
Marbas's low, deep voice rang out from right in front of me. His ash-gray eyes gleamed with utmost earnestness.
Th-this was the handsome middle-aged man who had enjoyed unwavering popularity among the women of the Demon Realm for over a thousand years? I'd heard he received fanatical adoration from ladies and matrons alike, but even from a man's perspective, he had aged splendidly…
His eyebrows and beard were clearly groomed with meticulous daily care. They were trimmed to just the right length, with sharp precision. His wrinkles had folded naturally. Rather than folds brought on by age, they felt as though countless emotions had accumulated, one layer upon another, until their sheer weight had pressed those lines into being. Yes. There was depth to him. Even his cologne was pleasantly subtle…
'No. This isn't the right reaction!'
I clung desperately to my sanity. Depth? What the hell good is depth!
I liked women. Even if I conceded a hundred times over — even if I gave a full hundred steps — Sitri was already the absolute limit. I had no desire to embrace an actual man!
"L-Lord Marbas."
"I trust you. Ah yes. Trust, trust—"
Marbas sent me a soulful gaze.
If I rejected Marbas now, my Affinity with him might plummet. His influence over the Neutral Faction would decrease along with it. But that was fine. As a human — no, as a Demon Lord — there was something precious I had to protect…
I swallowed hard.
This was it. Tell him you're sorry, Dantalion. Do it bravely, decisively. So that no regrets linger in the future. Tell him you cannot accept his feelings.
"I-I'm terribly sorry, but I—!"
"—You, of all people, are the one destined to become the next Emperor of the Habsburg Empire."
…..
A frozen silence stretched on.
I blinked.
"…I beg your pardon? Emperor?"
"As you yourself know, I have become the Imperial Father. I am recognized as a member of the imperial family. The Consul of the Republic abandoned the Habsburg surname, so in truth, aside from Rudolf, I am the only member of the imperial bloodline remaining."
At first, I couldn't understand what Marbas was talking about at all. His solemn voice tapped lightly against my skull like a knock at a door. Slowly, my mind — shrouded in hot steam — began to return.
"If I were to take you in as my adopted son, Dantalion, you would be reborn as the sole heir to the Habsburg throne on the entire continent."
"A-ah. So that's what you're asking me…"
In short, Marbas had devised a clever workaround.
The Empire currently had no official heir. Every last member of the imperial family had been killed, so naturally, that was the case. If I entered as Marbas's adopted son, I could at minimum lay claim to a minimal right of succession.
I let out a sigh of relief so deep the ground could have swallowed me.
"Whew. And here I was not even knowing what kind of conversation this was going to be."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"It's nothing."
I would carry this misunderstanding with me to my grave.
I sorted through the situation from every angle. This time, I finally composed my expression properly.
"Your Majesty. It is certainly an intriguing plan. However, the human race will not sit idly by and watch a Demon Lord ascend to the imperial throne."
"If you are crowned as Co-Emperor, that should suffice."
Marbas answered immediately.
"Find a suitable human woman to take as your wife. Have your wife crowned as Empress, and you shall serve as her consort. Your wife will remain a nominal Empress."
"...!"
So there was a way — becoming the consort of a female Emperor.
Bring in a princess of decent standing from any kingdom. There were plenty of nations eager to establish ties with the Empire. Then use Barbatos's dark magic to brainwash the imported princess, turning her into a perfect puppet Empress....
My mind raced. A minute passed before I carefully opened my lips.
"That's... possible. Yes. It seems possible."
"You have earned the trust of all three factions within the Demon Lord's army. If you ascend to the Emperor's throne, there may be some minor grumbling, but there won't be any major pushback."
Rudolf von Habsburg would have to die eventually. He couldn't be controlled as a corpse forever.
I had said I would wait until Consul Elizabeth and the great Queen Bathory died, but that same logic applied to our own Empire. If Emperor Rudolf didn't die of old age, humans would inevitably grow suspicious of us.
Who would succeed Rudolf on the throne? That was the problem.
Even if Barbatos ascended, even if Paimon ascended, even if Marbas ascended — problems would arise. The Demon Lord's army would very likely be plunged into civil war. Vassago and Gamigin were entirely out of the question. They lacked the balance needed to hold the entire Demon Lord's army together...
"Dantalion. If not you, there is no one else fit to ascend to the Emperor's throne."
That was why Marbas had chosen me as the alternative.
I had earned the trust of all three factions to some degree, and above all, I had won the favor of each faction's leaders. I stood in a position to stabilize and steer the Empire.
It was interesting. This was a future map that was one hundred and eighty degrees different from the plan I had drawn up.
I had planned to hide in the shadows of the Empire and manipulate the factions from behind the curtain. Marbas, on the other hand, was arguing that I needed to step into the spotlight. It could be called the ultimate forced choice: a shadow ruler, or the Emperor above all men? The darkness, or the light?
"You said it yourself earlier. An organization without a proper system to support it will eventually collapse. Dantalion, the most critical system within an Empire is the matter of succession. An Empire without a guaranteed successor is nothing but a house of cards."
"..."
It was a valid point. What would happen once Emperor Rudolf's reign ended? It was a problem I hadn't yet considered...
"…Lord Marbas. I—"
"I know. It must be a sudden proposal."
Marbas nodded.
"I wish to give you ample time. A year, ten years—think on it as long as you wish. We still have quite a bit of time left."
Marbas pulled on the reins. His warhorse let out a soft whinny and raised its hooves. I followed his lead, slowly urging my own mount forward.
"But remember this, Dantalion. The time remaining to us is by no means eternal. Only those who prepare in advance can dominate the age. And as far as this matter goes, you are the only one who can prepare ahead."
"…"
I gave a cautious nod.
To become the husband of the Empress.
There would be no need to bring in royalty from another nation. The Saint could be used as well. In principle, a Saint could not marry, but she could simply relinquish her position as Saint and then hold the ceremony as husband and wife.
The union of a Saint and a Demon Lord—the entire continent would celebrate. Politically, it would guarantee immense power.
Would it be more advantageous to remain in the shadows, or to command everything from the light? I kept turning the matter over in my mind as I rode on….