“Letting this cursed child be the one? It’s unimaginable and terrifying.” The guests exchanged words, revealing the reasons for ignoring Polon. It wasn’t due to some strange illness but rather the inheritance of an incomplete hero, earning him the mocking title of the cursed child.
“So, in the hero performance in a few days, it is said that everything is ready…” A certain noble hushed his voice, not completing the sentence. This was a top-secret plan among the royal family members, and everyone was an accomplice.
Standing on the corridor outside the banquet hall, Polon pretended not to know about the attitudes and whispers inside. For a long time, he had known that he ‘shouldn’t hear or see anything.’ However, those things were not important to Polon. What truly mattered was that the Demon King had come to his country, and he was still powerless to protect anyone.
Clutching the last “hope” in his hand, Polon gritted his teeth and murmured, “Please return the power of the hero to me, Ellyad.”
—
The Clown Dances on the Guillotine
—
Silently, Polon leaned against the door of the room, eavesdropping on the continuous noise emanating from inside, clearly discerning the voices of the black-haired demon and the elven girl. He concealed the small bottle in his hand, the aquamarine liquid shimmering within.
How should he make his move?
When should he strike?
How could he make the other hero, who shared the power of the goddess, ingest the poison in his hand?
Would killing the other hero make him a complete hero?
In doing so, would his strange ailment, hidden from the sight of his father and mother, finally be cured?
A myriad of thoughts overwhelmed him, but Polon could no longer retreat. He wanted to exist decisively before everyone and use this power to protect humanity, not defying the destiny bestowed upon him by the goddess Elena.
Someone suddenly approached the door, prompting Polon to quickly hide behind a distant pillar. To his surprise, the one opening the door was the black-haired demon.
After glancing outside for a moment, the demon muttered, “Is it just my imagination?” before closing the door and returning to the room.
“Did he spot me?” Cold sweat beaded on Polon’s forehead as the sense of guilt for premeditated wrongdoing made his heart race.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He curled up, hesitant to make a sound. After a while, the door opened again, once more revealing the same demon. However, this time, he bid the room goodnight, indicating he was returning to his own quarters. Polon breathed a sigh of relief temporarily.
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—
“Good morning, Ellyad, the beloved child of the Goddess Elena.” Early in the morning, Polon entered Ell’s room, thinking that at such an early hour, the other person might not be awake yet. However, Polon miscalculated.
Although Ell had an expressionless face, his spirits and complexion were good. After grooming himself, he leaned against the window, gazing at the lively crowd on the street. The tail end of his gray scarf dangled behind him.
“Your Highness, good morning.” Ellyad, not well-versed in royal etiquette, greeted with a simple bow.
“No need for formalities. I came here to tell you that there was a small mishap in the kitchen this morning, and the time for breakfast will be considerably delayed. So, I brought some snacks to tide you over.” A momentary pang of guilt and fear crossed Polon’s mind, but he couldn’t back down now. The small empty bottle in his pocket served as a reminder.
‘I’m doing this for the people, for all of humanity, and for myself!’ He suppressed his trembling hand and placed the golden tray on the small table.
“Ah.” Seeing what was on the tray, Ellyad exclaimed softly, and Polon nervously asked, “W-What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I’m just delighted to see what Your Highness brought. I really like this.” Ellyad finally showed some happy expressions, looking at the red apples on the tray.
“Oh, right! I remember you seemed to enjoy apple-flavored snacks yesterday, so I had the servants prepare this as a pre-meal appetizer.” Polon had a vivid memory of Ell selectively choosing apple-themed desserts at the dining table yesterday, so he boldly assumed that Volt wouldn’t refuse apples.
“Thank you, then I won’t hold back.” Ellyad didn’t suspect anything and picked up the topmost apple, taking a hearty bite.
—
Ellyad’s body slumped on the edge of the bed, the half-eaten apple placed on the small table.
Polon placed his fingers in front of Ell’s nose, carefully measuring his pulse. Finally, he expelled all the fear he had held in his lungs, collapsing weakly to the floor, muttering to himself, “…It’s over, it’s all over.”
Despite applying all the poison to the apple Ellyad had eaten, he hadn’t died. Although Ell had lost consciousness shortly afterward, he was still alive.
His breathing and pulse were so faint that they were almost imperceptible, but he was undeniably alive.
The plan to fake Ellyad’s death by food poisoning, a method commonly used when poisoning royal food, had failed. If Ell woke up without succumbing to the poison, Polon’s criminal intent could be exposed. On the other hand, if Ellyad didn’t wake up and continued sleeping, it was only a matter of time before someone discovered, making it nearly impossible to find a reasonable way and opportunity to kill him. The other half of the hero’s power would effectively be locked within Ellyad.
Both of Polon’s hands and feet were still trembling, and he had no idea what to do. His mind was in such chaos that he felt on the verge of insanity.
Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind.
“Ahhhh!” Polon let out a horrified scream.
“It’s you, after all. What did you do to Ell?” Thrett switched his grip, grabbing Polon’s collar from the front and lifting him to eye level, glaring at him.
Demon-kind were very sensitive to negative emotions and malice. Thrett had sensed a faint “malice” outside the door last night. Although he had decided not to get involved, he hadn’t expected that malice to be directed at Ellyad.
“I, I, I…” Polon was being choked to the point where he couldn’t breathe, let alone offer any defense.
“Poison, right?” Thrett glanced at Ellyad on the bed, confirming that he had no external injuries, and deduced the possibility.
“I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Polon squirmed, trying to break free from Thrett’s grip on his collar, but he was suspended in the air, completely helpless in front of Thrett.
“The antidote?!” Deliberately tightening his grip on the collar, Thrett caused Polon to cough in pain. Even if he wanted to answer, he couldn’t utter a single word.
“No…t…ha…ve…” Polon managed to squeeze out two words, but he was already turning blue from the lack of oxygen, almost losing consciousness.
Only then did Thrett release his grip, and Polon’s young body fell heavily to the ground. The small bottle fell out of his pocket.
Approaching, Thrett picked up the bottle and asked, “Was it filled with this?”
Lying on the ground, Polon struggled to breathe before answering, “Y-yes, it was filled with that.”
After getting the answer, Trete suddenly crushed the small bottle. The tiny sharp glass shards pierced into his palm, and bright red blood immediately welled up.
“Ah!” Polon, completely unaware of Thrett’s intentions, could only retreat in fear, dragging his limp legs.
The small bottle still had a residual liquid, and from it, one could sense the magical aura, indicating it was a sleep magic cast by a demon. Thrett deduced that the poison in the bottle was mixed with a large amount of sleep magic, causing the victim to fall into a state of pseudo-death without actually dying. However, the duration of the sleep could be extremely long, possibly leading to death during the prolonged slumber.
“It turns out it’s just poison mixed with magic.” Thrett opened his palm again, and there was no wound on it. The glass shards miraculously fell off.
Unable to believe his eyes, Polon had never heard of demons having such astonishing healing abilities. He was left dumbfounded by the scene before him.
Ignoring the frightened Polon, Thrett calmly sat on the edge of the bed. “This makes the antidote simple.”
As Polon wondered how Thrett planned to make an antidote with such simplicity, he witnessed Thrett leaning down and kissing the unconscious Ellyad on the bed.
Any magic was futile before the Demon King, and undoing a mere sleep spell was effortless for him.
“Huh!” However, Polon, unaware of the reasoning behind this, widened his eyes, shocked beyond words. Regardless of their genders, the fact that they belonged to different races made this antidote method quite bizarre. Moreover, considering that Polon had stolen the bottle from the royal court’s magical pharmacist the night before, he had no idea about its ingredients. How could Thrett so easily determine the antidote method?
Thrett quickly lifted his head. Although Ellyad didn’t wake up immediately, his chest showed distinct signs of breathing. Thrett effortlessly dispelled the sleep magic.
Polon stared in disbelief at Thrett. However, Thrett abruptly grabbed Polon from the ground.
“Now it’s time to settle the score with you,” his red and purple heterochromatic eyes emanated a compelling aura, not filled with anger but with a dominating presence.
Holding Polon up to his face, Thrett warned, “You’d better not entertain any thoughts of harming Ell again. Otherwise, next time, I’ll make this dull country your burial ground.”
“What are you?” A severe chill ran down Polon’s spine. Suspended in mid-air, he trembled more than he did when confronting Ziyuan the previous night. Polon couldn’t fathom why this demon was more terrifying than the Demon King.
“Aren’t I just a fake contract demon?” Thrett sneered, tossing Polon aside. He added, “Stop dreaming that killing Ell will make you a complete hero. I can assure you that your delusion will never come true, not in a million years.”
“What gives you the right to say that!” Polon screamed, rising from the ground with all his strength. This was the only sentence he absolutely refused to hear.
“I have the power to kill you with just a glance,” Thrett arrogantly replied, a proud smile on his face as his gaze pierced into Polon’s eyes.
Polon fell silent instantly. He forcefully shook his head, breaking free from Thrett’s gaze, and rushed out of Ellyad’s room.
“He’s definitely not an ordinary demon,” staggering and running as fast as he could, Polon was already pushing himself to the limit. Just that momentary gaze made him feel as if his body had been pierced by a sharp blade. The immense sense of fear besieged his wildly pounding heart, making him succumb to the demon in front of him.
I was starting to pity this guy Pollon… well not anymore 😅
Polon you idiot, you’re the fake!!! Well deserved
I wonder who stole Ell’s wings…. and how to return them?
I found a bug,
“Aren’t you just a fake contract demon” -> “aren’t I just a fake contract demon”
I hate English pronouns 😭 let me fix it..
I finally caught up after some binge reading! At first I disliked Polon, then thought he was pitiful, and now I hate him again! I can’t wait till Thrett is revealed as the real Demon King, cuz that scene with Ziyuan gave me second-hand embarrassment 🙈
Thank you for the chapter (=ↀωↀ=)
<3