Chapter 254

The Schemer’s End

※From Salas Lilium’s perspective .

For a moment, I thought Prince Rodd noticed me, but it seemed that was a needless concern .

I was currently in a forest a bit away from the imperial castle .

From there I used a magic artifact to watch the Demon Queen’s fight .

Originally this magic artifact was a prototype developed by the Empire to allow anybody and everybody to use teleportation magic .

It was meant to open a door, a Gate if you will, allowing people to easily go to and from distant lands . However, the plans were abandoned .

It’s not as though the project ended in complete failure, but opening a large Gate required magic gems of high purity and an immense―almost demon-like amount of magical energy . As an extra, the burden would break all of the magic gems involved . It was clear that the cost was too high .

Previously, I had used this to assist the former queen, Lishe, in her attempt to assassinate Rei Taylor .

It was only because I had magic gems from the Demon Queen’s prized stash and Rates, a being who held abnormally large amounts of magical power, that I was able to execute a large scale teleport at that time .

However, I need not make use of it in such a luxurious way .

Just a few centimetres―if I could open a Gate that could carry my gaze, that would suffice .

These artifacts were very rare so they weren’t something I could use repeatedly, but now was the time .

Now, while that loathsome Rei Taylor and Claire François were fighting the Demon Queen .

While their attention was concentrated on the Demon Queen, I decided that I would steal what was most important to them .

That of course, would be their daughters .

They had decided to raise orphans with whom they had no blood relations . To me it was nothing more than playing house, but to them it appeared there was nothing more precious .

They had stolen everything from me, so now, I would steal from them .

After the ill-fated revolution, I had been thrown into prison .

Having lost the Empire’s backing, I offered my diplomatic expertise to avoid capital punishment . However, that terrible lifestyle could not even be compared to the one that I had lived prior .

It was as though I had been returned to the circumstances in which I was born .

Though I was originally a noble, we were at the very bottom . In the worst case we would’ve been even worse off than the Orso family . We were on the verge of collapse .

While we did have nobility, it was only in name .

My father drowned himself in alcohol, and though my mother constantly lamented our situation, she made no attempt to improve it . It was that kind of home .

A realization came to my young mind .

Were I to remain in this household, I would only rot .

I had to find some way to break free .

What I did was very simple .

I studied .

While the Royal Academy at that time was still but a social venue for the nobility, if one strongly desired knowledge, there was no better place .

Even while subjecting myself to the cold glares of high rank nobles, I fervently studied, graduating at the top of my class .

After graduating, my abilities secured my position as a bureaucrat .

At that time, the Kingdom’s governing body was largely corrupt . There were very few nobles who could properly accomplish their duties .

Even there, I was treated coldly, but as I was getting work done, I was never ostracized .

You could say that I was simply being used .

With the high ranking nobles who had abandoned themselves to leisure always in the corner of my eye, my days where work chased me both day and night continued .

I had long abandoned my family .

My father and mother occasionally begged for money, but I ignored it all .

A household such as this, that would not even better my reputation, at best just served as proof that I was in fact a noble .

Eventually my family had stopped contacting me . Shortly after, it came to my knowledge that my parents had commit suicide .

Without feeling anything, I inherited what was left to me .

My family had a large outstanding debt .

In order to pay it all back, I again threw myself into my work .

These days were without hope .

My turning point came when the previous king, Rousseau took the throne .

Rousseau, who had become king at a young age, prioritized function over form . He established policies that benefited the competent regardless of their social standing .

It had seemed like a pipe dream, but Rousseau appointed me .

I had outmaneuvered the nobles who had once looked down on me, taking charge of Rousseau’s practical affairs .

This is also when I met Lulu and Lishe, who would later become queens .

Because the two were exceedingly high ranking nobles, almost all of the men around were of lower rank than they were .

Perhaps because of that, neither of them discriminated against me .

Instead, they properly assessed my abilities .

Though it was a past that I wished to distance myself from, I had developed a romantic interest for the two . Yes, I had come to know something useless and pointless as love .

Even after Lulu had become the queen, we continued our rendezvous .

Having gained her backing, I aggressively forwarded my position .

The beginning of my collapse was caused by Lulu’s pregnancy, with my child .

This child, clearly different in appearance from the eldest prince Rodd, was named Sein .

I had resolved myself to face ruin .

Regardless of how much Rousseau advocated a meritocracy, I doubt that he would let this go .

To cling to as best a position that I could, I recorded my conversations with Lulu, grasping for a weakness I could exploit .

Though I thought it was a pointless struggle, I had to avoid becoming like those damned parents of mine .

Curiously, Rousseau did not censure me .

Sein was accepted as the second prince and I had become the Kingdom’s prime minister .

Was it possible that Rousseau was still in the dark?

No, some of his glances toward Sein held sadness, so he had surely realized .

However, he was a coward who would not put that to words .

This was when I questioned whether this man was fit to be king .

I had obtained the position of prime minister .

At this point, I may as well aim even higher .

With that in mind, I secretly made contact with the Kingdom’s enemy, Naa .

In exchange for making the Kingdom one of Naa’s vassal states, the Empress promised that I’d have authority over it .

Everything had been going so well .

With just a little to go, I would become a country’s king .

It was then that Rei Taylor and Claire François took my blood, sweat, and tears returning them to absolutely nothing .

Those two divulged my secret dealings with the Empire and as though that wasn’t enough, they ended the aristocracy, completely changing the country’s political environment .

With my ambitions to lead the country’s new government crushed, I was incarcerated .

It was all their fault .

Having lost everything, I swore vengeance on them . .

Relying on Lishe I managed to break out . However, the Empire had long abandoned me .

It was the Demon Queen who had taken me in .

The Demon Queen asked for my cooperation to kill Rei Taylor and Claire François .

Though the Demon Queen was terrifying, our interests aligned so I accepted .

If I could enact vengeance on those two, I no longer cared .

The fact that she was the spitting image of Rei Taylor irked me, but I endured, resolving to one day make use of her .

However, both Rei and Claire were tenacious .

The assassination that I used Lishe to orchestrate, and the kidnapping that I had prepared Lana for since before my incarceration, they had overcome both of those .

My hatred only continued to grow . With no place for it to go, it rampaged violently within me .

And now, I faced my greatest opportunity .

Directing my attention at the girl named Mei, through my Gate, I very subtly woke her .

“Mm…?”

The girl’s eyes faintly opened .

Through the Gate, I fixed my gaze on them .

“Now, Mei or whoever . You will now serve as my hands and feet . ”

“…”

The girl’s eyes seemed to melt and dim .

It was the effect of my suggestions .

I had become convinced of my success .

In spite of that―

“Salas, that’s as far as you go . ”

“!?”

From the girl’s mouth, I heard a voice that couldn’t have come from a child .

That voice was one that I knew .

“Dor François!?”

“Both my daughter and granddaughters are currently standing up to destiny itself . They don’t have the time to get mixed up with someone as insignificant as you . ”

“What was that…!”

I wracked my confused mind to think .

What, just what was happening?

“From now on, we’ll have you roam through an unending dream until you die . Whether you curse everything or regret your actions, do as you like . However, the rest of your days will be spent in that dream . ”

“Wait, Dor!”

“You may have something that you want to say, however, this message is but a recording . I no longer have the ability to stop this . ”

“Wait… please wait!”

“Farewell, Salas . Go on and wait for me in hell . ”

As the voice cut off, my field of view completely changed .

When I came to, a rundown mansion was in front of me .

It was a familiar sight .

This was where I was born and raised .

“What… is this…?”

Taking a look around, there were several eyes peering at me from the shadows .

“Father… Mother… Baron Thompson and Earl Yale…! Lily, and Lana too…!”

Beginning with my parents, all of the people that I had cut down to further myself began appearing . They all peered at me from the shadow of the pillars or from the other side of the window .

“Don’t look…! Don’t look at me…! I’m different from all of you! I refuse to let things end here!”

Unable to bear the weight of the resentment I felt from their gaze, I broke into a run .

I ran, and ran, until I thought I’d be okay, but then realized .

I was still in front of my childhood home .

“S-save me!”

As I shamelessly begged for salvation, I continued to run .

No matter how long, or in which direction I ran, in the end I found myself in front of the same mansion .

And again, I’d be under the scrutiny of those eyes .

The scene only repeated itself .

“…End… just… end it already!!”

Suddenly the mansion disappeared and I was surrounded in a pitch black void .

Not knowing where I was, not even knowing what ground I stood upon, I was encased in a total ignorant darkness .

“What the… what the hell is this place…”

I desperately sought help, but no voice replied .

This space, where not even sounds seemed to reverberate, what in the world was it?

Dor had said that I’d be trapped here until I died .

A place like this… would be where I met my end?

“No… I don’t want an end like this…! Someone! Someone save me! Uwaaaahh!!”

Though I continually screamed within the darkness, ultimately, the hand of salvation never came .