"It was merely a temporary loss of consciousness due to the poison."
"Mm."
Laura, the War Minister, frowned with evident concern.
It was a moment caught between two impulses—whether to be glad at the news that Dantalion was unharmed, or to be angry that he had once again pushed himself too far. Before long, Laura de Farnese approached Dantalion—approached Dantalion's doll—and let out a sigh.
"..."
Ivar Lodbrok felt as though someone were wringing her heart. That was how much her chest ached. Ivar remembered what Dantalion had whispered in a low voice on that night, a month ago, when she had finally crumbled.
*Use Laura as a test subject.*
A cold voice.
The tone was as though every shred of human feeling had been severed, and Ivar felt a bottomless sorrow.
*You want me to use the War Minister as a test subject?*
*Yes, Ivar. We are testing how far your acting will hold. Laura is without question the woman who loves me the most. Just as you do.*
*...*
Ivar understood Dantalion's intent.
*You mean that if I succeed in deceiving the War Minister, I can easily deceive anyone else as well. If the War Minister cannot see through the doll's true nature, it proves my puppetry is flawless.*
*That is correct.*
*And if I fail?*
Ivar asked.
The tone was somewhat provocative. What happens if your plan falls apart? To be more honest, Ivar desperately wanted this script to fail. Let it fail. Rather than an eternity of suffering, it would be better to simply reach the breaking point.
Dantalion answered immediately.
*Kill Laura.*
*...*
*Laura would never accept the fact that I am dead. She is a strong woman, but that strength does not come from within herself. It comes from the fact that I exist. The fact that I am by her side. Only with that can Laura stand tall.*
Dantalion turned to look at the window.
His gaze did not rest on the world outside, but rather on the glass pane through which moonlight was seeping in, pale and thin. Outside, a moth was tapping—tapping—quietly against the glass. The moth could not understand why, even though the light was on the inside, it could not get in.
*If I disappear, Laura is finished. She will go mad with vengeance. She won't even know what she is avenging—she will simply rage against the world, cursing everything. And then, at some point, she will suddenly realize that I am truly gone, and she will kill herself.*
Dantalion watched the moth's futile assault in silence. The moth seemed to realize at last that though it could peer inside, it could not break through, and it fluttered its wings and flew off somewhere. Only then did Dantalion avert his gaze.
*I do not wish for that kind of ending. Peacefully. So quickly that Laura herself will not even notice.*
*...*
Ivar could only nod.
The moment of the test Dantalion had foretold was now upon her. Laura approached the bed and looked down at the doll that bore a striking resemblance to her liege. Watching her from behind, Ivar carefully felt the dagger she had tucked away inside her garment.
*Please notice.*
Ivar pressed her hand to her chest and wished with desperate fervor. Reflected in her pupils was the back of Laura de Farnese. The nape of her pale neck was exposed to Ivar, utterly defenseless. If Ivar drove the dagger down, a human body like Laura de Farnese's would collapse without even time to scream.
*Please notice.*
Ivar murmured to herself. Is he not the man you love? Did you not love him so blindly that you would give him everything? That love cannot be so feeble that you would mistake a doll for him. No matter how identical they look, no matter how expressionless the figure lying there—you must sense that something is wrong.
And let it end here.
Ivar intended to kill Laura and then immediately take her own life. If her acting could not fool Laura, it would be impossible to deceive the other Demon Lords—Gamigin and Sitri. Dantalion's plan would fail, rendered null and void...
That would be the best outcome.
The only possible best ending that remained for Ivar Lodbrok.
The cot in the tent. Laura reached out toward the doll. Had she noticed? Had she sensed something amiss? Ivar watched Laura, her heart pounding.
"Oh dear."
From the lips of Laura de Farnese came a tender reproof.
"The problem with you, my lord, is that you always push yourself too far."
She smiled gently and stroked the doll's forehead. Just as one would caress a beloved lover, Laura gazed down at the doll and whispered.
"..."
Ivar Lodbrok returned her right hand—still resting against her chest—to her side. She covered it with her left hand, hiding the faint tremor. Ivar did not know whether she should be glad that she had succeeded or sad that she had failed.
Before long, Ivar found the right way to frame it. Dantalion had won. But she— Ivar Lodbrok—had lost. Had that not always been the case? Ivar tried to produce a bitter, self-deprecating smile, but the only expression she could manage was one of pain.
"War Minister. I have something urgent to discuss."
"Hm? What is it?"
Ivar Lodbrok proceeded with the next test.
The moment Dantalion died, the Demon Lord's Castle began to collapse. The mana that held the castle's structure together dispersed in all directions. With that, the integrity of the entire fortress shifted, and it came crashing down in massive sections.
If it was going to collapse anyway, now was the opportunity. That was what Dantalion had said.
*The moment I die, Lapis is planning to trigger an explosion from the inside. It doesn't need to be a large one. She only needs to destroy the key structural supports holding up the Demon Lord's Castle.*
*The Minister of State of Farnese will...*
*During the war, the Republic sent a special forces unit. The people who provided the internal layout of the castle were Daisy and Luke. That explanation covers how the special forces were able to strike the Demon Lord's Castle precisely.*
They would provide a plausible reason for the Demon Lord's Castle's collapse.
This was an absolute requirement for concealing Dantalion's death. Fortunately, the Demon Lord's Castle was situated deep underground. With the collapsed ruins burying the subterranean levels, it would be difficult to detect whether mana lingered there or not.
And this was also the second test.
*If the Farnese War Minister felt even a trace of suspicion.*
After Laura vanished, Ivar entered the tent and thought.
*She might realize something from the fact that the Demon Lord's Castle has collapsed. Lord Dantalion is acting strangely, and the Demon Lord's Castle has also collapsed. If so, there is only one logical conclusion.*
Conversely, if Laura witnessed the collapse of the Demon Lord's Castle and still did not realize it—
It would mean that Ivar's puppetry was so perfect that Laura could not even begin to entertain the thought that 'Dantalion has died.'
Ivar waited calmly for Laura to return. Only when Laura had realized nothing—only then could Ivar finally hold the conviction that no one, no matter who, would see through her puppetry.
"..."
It was an agonizing wait. Ivar took out her pocket watch several times to check the hour. Five minutes, fifteen minutes, thirty minutes. She deliberately fixed her eyes on the watch as much as possible. She tried her hardest not to think about anything.
Because otherwise she would surely recall that Dantalion lay dead beneath that bed.
"..."
Ivar could bear it no longer and stepped out of the tent.
A short while later, Laura de Farnese returned at the head of her personal guard. The instant Ivar saw her expression, she knew the script had 'succeeded.' Laura was clearly anxious, but there was not the slightest hint of suspicion or reproach directed at Ivar.
*Good. Very good.*
Ivar felt her heart freeze rapidly.
The heart of a girl whom Dantalion had discovered and nurtured.
The petals of the flower that had only just begun to bloom fell away, and the face of the ruler who had driven Ivar for thousands of years raised its head. A voice slowly rose—one that not only ridiculed the Demon Lords, but despised the entire world that had elevated such Demon Lords to power.
*Go ahead—try to see through my performance. If my puppetry is so flawless that none of you can detect it, that only proves your love for Lord Dantalion was equally shallow.*
Ivar opened her mouth.
"War Minister. His Lordship has regained consciousness."
"My lord!"
"Though he has recovered, he is still very weak."
Ivar felt herself acting with effortless ease.
It was the very sensation she had grown accustomed to not so long ago. Ivar had been manipulating five or six personas simultaneously. At one time she had served as the resident representative of the Kunkuska Trading Company, and at another as a promising candidate among the company's senior staff. Until now, no one had seen through Ivar's masks.
Except for Dantalion.
Ivar Lodbrok led Laura inside the tent. As though she had heard Laura's footsteps and roused herself, Ivar maneuvered the doll into speaking.
"Laura? I can hear Laura's footsteps..."
"Yes, my lord. Your Laura is here."
Laura, the War Minister, was completely deceived by Ivar's puppetry.
"My lord is an idiot. You always try to muddle through with brute force, so of course you ended up collapsed again. They say a fool never changes no matter how close he gets to death—and it seems my lord will remain a fool for all eternity."
"That's harsh. I did try my best, you know. I drank three whole bottles of poison... The fact that I came back alive means I've already fulfilled every duty."
"My lord has never fulfilled a single duty in his entire life. Truly."
"Perhaps so. Haha..."
The more Laura held back her tears and spoke to the doll—
The more the doll responded in character as Dantalion, the colder Ivar's heart grew. In a sudden flash, the world before her seemed to recede to an infinite distance. An overwhelming sense of alienation washed over her.
*What is she looking at?*
Ivar gazed at Laura.
*What was it that I ever saw?*
Perhaps Dantalion could have answered. But too much time had passed to throw out that question. She could no longer look up at Dantalion and hope for an answer.
*For that girl, it is no different from still having Lord Dantalion.*
Ivar clenched her teeth.
She felt she could not forgive this.
Dantalion's downfall had not been caused by Ivar alone. Laura de Farnese. That human woman had also taken part in his ruin. No—Laura could more than anyone be called the greatest culprit of all.
*Then why must I alone bear the responsibility? Why did Your Lordship grant that girl a peaceful remaining life? Because I learned puppetry? Because I can act and she cannot?*
It was unjust.
Absolutely unbearable.
So she broke it.
Ivar skillfully mimicked Dantalion's mannerisms, driving Laura's mind into a corner. It was easy. Dantalion had subtly, repeatedly let slip remarks that praised Elisabeth. Laura sank deeper and deeper into anguish.
Laura spoke as though the words were being torn from her.
"But... my lord has the girl. Even if the worst were to happen, the girl is more than capable of responding. My lord... perhaps there was no need to prepare for the possibility of our defeat, was there?"
"We must prepare for the worst-case scenario."
Ivar laughed coldly to herself.
"I simply cannot overlook the possibility that I am wrong. Indeed—for instance, a dragon might suddenly descend from the sky to aid Elisabeth."
"..."
Laura's composure crumbled.
She tried desperately to compose her face, but it was no use. The trembling of her breath, the quivering corner of her lips, and above all, the pallor of her complexion—all of it laid bare her psychological state.
Ivar could feel that deep despair throughout her entire body. And she spoke to herself.
*Taste this hell as well.*