Chapter 239: Battle for the Throne
"So that’s what happened, huh... Grace, looks like things got complicated over there." Marie spoke, running her hand over her chin thoughtfully. She looked really cute as I explained in detail everything that happened at the trial.
"Grace, do you really believe that Evelyn killed the Demon King?" Marie asked curiously, while I thought about it.
"...Sort of." I’m not so sure because there are so many inconsistencies, but I’ve never forgotten that story Evelyn told about The Fox, the Chicken, and the Sucker. That story is really what creates this doubt.
Because he’s already shown he has the strategic mindset of someone who could do it, but she seemed so... broken... especially after Syl’Vyr testified in that way that harmed her.
"And you, Marie, do you think it was really Evelyn who killed the Demon King?" I asked, wanting to know what my wife’s opinion on this was.
"No, Evelyn is too pathetic to think of that... now Esther... would possibly be a better choice, but Esther is one of the closest to the throne, it wouldn’t make sense for her to risk the throne like that."
"So there’s no way to really know."
’Oh right... there’s Esther...’ Esther is also slightly disturbing, she’s had a strange mentality since she got married, it’s so strange that even I notice how "clingy" she seems with Evelyn.
She literally isolates Evelyn from everything in the nobility. Evelyn has never gone to any noble party, gathering, or social event; actually, Evelyn hardly ever appears in anything.
Esther completely blocks that and usually gives the excuse that "My wife can’t come today" but Esther never gives concrete reasons. I always thought it was Evelyn not wanting to go.
But considering everything, it’s more plausible that Esther doesn’t even tell her about invitations to noble gatherings.
"Marie, you don’t seem sad that your father died."
"...We don’t have time to grieve when we’re at war with the angels, and now without a Demon King we’ve lost one of the central pillars of our forces."
"Of course, that doesn’t stop the demons from winning this war since normally the Demon King doesn’t even engage in combat with common troops, only with strong individuals, but it demoralizes our morale and boosts the angels’ morale."
"Besides, the Demon King might be my father, but it’s not like we were close. I barely saw him day to day, and you could write every time we interacted on a small piece of paper!"
"And unfortunately, after we got married, I found out who my family is, and they’re not important or influential people; they’re so low in the nobility they’re practically commoners."
"I guess I was unlucky. Esther comes from a powerful military family, and even Evelyn comes from an absurdly rich family! And I came from people who are almost commoners with no power... plus my mother seems pretty opportunistic." When she says this, I remember our wedding.
Her mother’s gaze really was greedy. It seems common for demons not to have strong family ties, at least for those competing for the throne, since they’re separated from all the family drama, influence, and actions.
"But forget that!! Thank you for coming! And thank you for the gift!" Marie jumps into my arms and kisses my cheek with a sweet smile. I smile back at her, she’s so cute.
"It was nothing hehehe!" I grab her waist, hugging her.
’Evelyn...’ I think about that girl. I have no way of knowing if she killed her father or not, but one thing I do know: she’s a sad girl. I went out of my way to learn more about all the candidates for the throne.
And she had one of the worst pasts, even worse than Marie’s past, and even now that she’s grown up, she’s still treated like a failure, and finally her marriage, an act that should be of pure love and affection.
But with her, it seems so dense and bad. I’ve seen some of Evelyn’s romantic interactions with Esther, and they’re wrong. Even by demon standards, it’s a relationship like a bottomless pit.
It’s destructive, chaotic, and above all, toxic. It’s a total opposite of my relationship with Marie. Even though Marie curses me and sometimes uses magic on me, it’s more because she’s a Tsundere, and it’s usually nothing serious, really.
"Marie, I have a question. I never understood how demons choose the new Demon King. The competition for the throne always seemed confusing to me. How is it supposed to work?" I asked curiously.
"Hmmm... the truth is, it’s not us who choose the Demon King, but the title chooses us. It’s similar to the title of Heroine you have. You didn’t gain it from someone; it chose you."
"The difference is that certain ’actions’ make the title more likely to choose you. Additionally, the title usually chooses hereditarily, through the children of the previous Demon King."
"The actions that increase the chance of the title choosing us vary. The first are ’measurable merits,’ which is what we do currently: war merits, intellectual merits like the books Esther wrote, industrial merits like some of Lucien’s inventions."
"Agricultural merits like some of the farming methods I created, etc! These measurable merits are like an indicator of how competent you are for the title."
"But the title doesn’t just measure merits; it also measures power, and above all, victory over those above you. In other words, if we all fight for the throne, the winner could end up gaining the title, although it wouldn’t be guaranteed."
"And there are several other things. Usually, the succession happens every certain amount of time, where the old Demon King loses the title, and it’s passed to the new Demon King. Race also influences."
"That’s why the Demon King gets involved with women of different races to have different children. By the way, if the Demon King has no children, the title goes to a random demon that suits it."
"Although even if the Demon King has children, there’s a tiny chance the title could go to a lineage other than the Demon King’s, though this has never happened before and is very rare, because the title will only do this if everyone in the Demon King’s lineage is unsuitable."
"And usually, the title will look for someone closely or slightly distantly related to the old Demon King, but who still has magical familiarity in some way."
"By the way, the title gives a warning to the Demon King when it’s almost time for him to give up the post, so there’s no exact duration for someone to rule. It could be for 1000 years, or 200 years, or 10 years, and it could even be for just 1 year, maybe even less, although no one has ever led for less than 100 years."
’I see, it’s quite complex...’ I became very interested in this succession method, and it really seems like what matters most is winning the title, which will come with advantages just like my title gives me some advantages.
"Wait, you said if you all fought, you could—" When I say this, my eyes widen in shock. Marie stares at me confused.
"Something wrong?"
"Marie!! If you all fight, it could accelerate gaining the title, and now there’s no Demon King to hold the title, it means any of you six could forcibly start a fight among yourselves for the title, right?!" I said, bothered by this.
"What? Of course not, that would be... ridiculous... and w-wait... really..." Marie has the same shock as me. This method of literally fighting for the title isn’t the best method.
Because obviously someone less qualified could win the title just because they beat others who fought until they were too exhausted to react to someone who saved their strength.
So this method is "unfair" and that’s why I bet most wouldn’t think of it, but if I thought of it, any of the others could think and try it. Besides, this method allows those with almost zero chance of getting the throne to actually get it.
Like Evelyn, Augustus, or the current Laplace, who are the three with almost zero chance of having the Demon King title, but who could win the title in a fight.
"H-Hahaha Grace, no one would do that, don’t worry. Who would be stupid enough to try something like that? You’d have to be VERY idiotic to start that crazy fight!! If I, Lucien, or Esther fought, we’d cause so much damage to the area that it would literally affect the continent’s ecosystem!"
"Why would anyone start such a destructive fight?" Marie rolled her eyes, while I thought about that perspective. Really, such a chaotic fight that only causes destruction would be bad.
...
...
...
"Evelyn, how are you feeling?"
"...My ass hurts..." I said, sitting uncomfortably in the chair. Esther brought me to her mansion, and honestly, she took 1 day to come back after leaving the room, so I spent an entire day with that big dildo penetrating me non-stop while the vibrators buzzed. It was so exhausting.
"Hehehe I imagine so... but you seem thoughtful, and you have a very... demonic look." She spoke, staring into my eyes.
"Esther, I want to start a fight among all the candidates for the throne." When I said this, Esther’s eyes widened.
"What did you say..."
"I want us all to literally fight for the throne."
"...H-Hahaha Evelyn, are you serious?" Esther asked while I stirred my coffee cup with a spoon.
"Esther, I loved being stuck in that bed at your mercy. I wanted so badly to scream at you, complain to you, hate you for it... but... I couldn’t..." I bit my lips until they bled, a bad habit I’ve been having recently.
"I-I’m losing to my instincts... I-I can’t hate you anymore even though you’re doing these injustices to me... I’m not stupid, I’ve already realized I’m losing my chances for the throne."
"You said you’d make me so addicted to you that I’d never try to kill you for the throne, and you were right. If I wait for the title’s choice, which will be in about 2 years or so, I won’t be able to participate fairly anymore..."
"That’s why I say here and now that I want to start this fight, and according to demonic rules, everyone must immediately stop what they’re doing and present themselves for the fight, which must be scheduled at most 1 month after everyone has gathered to allow preparation time."
"Evelyn..." Esther looked at me with pure hatred. She, who had the greatest chances for the throne, just lost that chance and will have to conquer it in battle by defeating all the others.
"I’m not going to passively wait for you to crush all my hard work, Esther... you opened my eyes. Keeping me trapped in that bed, giving me pleasure, made me realize that if not now, I won’t be able to truly challenge you anymore." I stood up and took off my gloves, throwing one in Esther’s face.
"..."
CRACK
"You... damn... are you really destroying all my hard work?" She asked in a disturbed manner, breaking the cup she was holding, finally feeling what it’s like to lose something she worked for, a sensation she probably never felt before.
"...The throne will be mine, Esther. You love me too much to let anyone kill me, and I love you too, but I don’t have the strength, so I’ll wait for you to finish everyone off, and when you’re exhausted, I’ll defeat you."
"You fucking coward, don’t fuck with me!! Are you really going to destroy 10 years of hard work I had?!! Do you know how much effort I put into getting the throne?! It was more than 10 fucking years working on everything I could for this!!" She seemed really hurt.
"Yes, just like you said you’d destroy my dreams... I love you, Esther, so please win against everyone for me, and get weak enough for me to steal the throne from you." I smiled gently at her, my tail twitching with adrenaline.
"I have 30 thousand standard model puppets and Eve, they are my powers so I’ll be able to use them in combat. Esther, I will crush you before you crush me, and when I become queen, you won’t be able to carry out your plans as easily as you do now." I picked up my cup and drank it all in one gulp.
"I’m going to sleep, Esther. My whole body aches, and you’ll be very busy informing everyone about the fight... oh, and don’t even think about tricking me and not telling the others."
"It’s a rule for the throne and you can’t break it." I went to the door, seeing her irritated look, understanding that I’m willing to do such madness just to win.
"...Sleep well, beloved wife..." She said with that tone of someone who genuinely wants me to sleep well despite the anger she feels. She took a deep breath, calming herself, and gave a fake smile, looking more like the Esther of the past despite the emotional turmoil I saw in her eyes.
"Thank you, I hope you rest well too, love." I closed the door and leaned against a wall, looking at my hands, realizing that I had truly become like a demon, and I feel... empty... I don’t feel joy or sadness, just this emptiness of someone who abandoned their humanity for a goal.
’I must strengthen Eve as much as possible...’ Esther will protect me from all the others, because she’s obsessed with me, and Esther has great chances of winning this and leaving only me and her, but even if she can actually win this, she’ll be exhausted, and an exhausted Esther can lose to me.
I’m not proud of this. I don’t feel happiness for relying on such a cowardly and dirty method, and I feel like a filthy woman for using Esther’s love to win, but if Esther doesn’t care about saying she’ll destroy my desire, then I shouldn’t care anymore about playing by everyone else’s rules.
Even though I know making everyone fight is madness, because they could die and it could affect hundreds, thousands, and even millions of lives, but the plan is realistic, and I’d say I have about 40% to 60% chance of succeeding with it.
And that’s better than the chance I have of continuing as things are. I’ll bet everything on this even though I know it’s a choice driven only by rationalized desperation.
"I’m so selfish... I’m sorry... Ayaka." I said my past life’s name, asking forgiveness from the human version of me that died, the version of me that received a name meaning "flower full of colors" from my parents, but who is now a flower that has completely faded.