Talking with Celine was no option. If the demon king was inside my body, then he would be manipulating her. Which meant I needed a strategy. But that was something I didn’t have when I was in a castle full of demons.

But still, those demons were made of human sacrifices. The events at the village had proved me what Celine and the Sperlan Kingdom had hid from me for a long time. So each time I killed a demon, one of the Lenians would lose their lives. If that was true, then I was a murderer. My kill count would reach at least a hundred.

I’ve killed a hundred people with my own hands…

I stared at them, unable to comprehend how I could ever raise a sword again.

“Dalos!”

I snapped back to attention. Ekta was standing beside me, and we were sitting in front of the Selian commander. He was looking into me, warily.

I should stop drifting into my thoughts. I had a facade to maintain. The facade of the man I hated the most.

“You were saying?”

The commander cleared his throat. “After the battle at Talobell we caught three soldiers alive. The others were dead, or very injured. We killed the weak ones off, but these three… they’re alive in good shape. My idea was to execute them, but I believe you’ll have better plans for them.”

The doors opened, and a group of soldiers dragged three prisoners, naked and bound in chains. A larger guard at the back kicked their legs, sending them to their knees.

My people…

I couldn’t bear to see them prisoned and humiliated like this. But from the corner of my eyes I could see Ekta watching my reaction. The demoness had been suspicious around me after my decision to not chase after Celine and her armies.

“Leave them to me,” I said, standing from my chair. “I’ll judge them for their crimes. Keep my blade ready. I need to chop their heads off if they are too quick with words.”

That seemed to satisfy both the commander and Ekta. As the others stood to leave, Ekta handed me my blade.

“You need to leave too,” I said, when I saw she planned to stay.

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Me?”

“Any problem?”

“I prefer to stay.”

I could kick her out, show I was her leader. I wanted to tear off whatever the trust I had with her, but to my disappointment Ekta was the only solution I had if I needed to keep my identity secret. She was the only one who knew about my memory loss, and she bit into my lies easily.

“Fine, stay.”

“Now,” I looked at the three Union prisoners. Two men and one woman. One of the men was probably in his sixties, while the other two were young. “State your names and ranks.”

The old man spat at my feet. “Spare the lecture and kill us you bastard!”

They were from Celine’s army. I wasn’t surprised.

“Did you know the demons you killed were made of human souls? Souls of innocents?”

“Innocents?” the woman growled. “They killed my brother you bastard! All of your Lenian mage kind are monsters. Who else would strike a deal with the demons in exchange for their souls? And you are just one of them.”

I sighed. The concept of their hatred was embedded to them very deeply. They were far beyond my reach.

“What if I let you stay one day at the village you attacked?”

“What?” the old man spat.

“WHAT?” Ekta’s voice was louder. When I looked back her eyes were flaring at me. “Have you gone insane?”

“I’m trying to see if they can learn a lesson from what they’ve seen. I’m trying to see if they understand the other side of the war is still human.”

“Fuck you bastard!” the old man rattled his chains, trying to free his grip. “If those villagers souls are what turns into demons, then I refuse to stay a single night with them.”

“My brother’s murders,” the woman followed. “You are telling me to spend a night with my brother’s murderers?”

Ekta stared at me. “Are you still willing to negotiate?”

No, I wasn’t. But I couldn’t let my own people die in front of me. Even if I didn’t raise the sword, Ekta will. But when I looked into the soldier’ eyes I could see the intense hatred burning within them.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Perhaps I couldn’t treat them kindly.

“Take them to the prison. Keep them without food or water. Bring them to me after two days. If their answer hasn’t changed, then I’ll kill them.”

I dropped the sword, and stormed out of the room, not looking back. I heard Ekta yell orders to the guards, but then I heard her footsteps.

“That wasn’t wise,” she began.

“No, it was. Torture won’t do them any good, but if we let them see the other side is human just like them, then they’ll slowly open up about secrets of the Empire.”

“It’s a blind belief.”

“We’ll see in two days.”

Anyone’s ideals break down the moment they are stripped away from their basic needs.

I walked out of the corridor to the open castle hallway. It was my fifth day in the demon king’s castle, and I had gotten a much better idea of his schedule. The large walls of the palace, and the long winding corridors made me homesick, but each night my desire to see my real body kept my sanity.

I needed a way to communicate with people I trusted back at the Union. Talking with Celine was no option, but if I found a way to speak with my two mentors Garlin and Kitara I can find a way to explain it to them.

But even then, I’ll need to know what Kairos is.

The mage’s room was located on the third floor, looking out into the long abandoned mountain range. Some said there used to be a civilization in there, before they gradually moved into the cities below.

Ekta waited outside the room. That seemed to be a tradition followed in Dalos’s castle. She didn’t walk in unless I invited her. And I didn’t want to invite her.

“I researched your spell Dalos,” Malek said, standing as I approached. He was scribbling some incoherent wordings on paper. “I’m sorry to say I have found nothing worth.”

If I had the chance I would have slapped the mage in the face. Every time I tried to find a way out of the situation it bit me back like a serpent.

“Isn’t Kairos one of my tattoos?” I asked, pulling the sleeve of my dress and showing my tattooed arm. “Could it be hidden in here?”

“Our magic is activated based on sound,” the mage said as he folded his hands. “What’s written in your body are the twenty letters of the ancient tongue. You have a spell for each of them. I’ve studied all twenty, and for the ancient letter ‘Ka’ the only spell that exists is Kamura - a spell that is used to bind a person to your need. Even then it is a very complex spell to study. Why do you require it so much?”

I bit my lip. “I just needed to know.”

When I turned to leave, he spoke again. “Dalos, remember our goal. It is to see the fall of the Sperlan Empire. Don’t divert your attention to anything else.”

I turned to look at him. His eyes were on me, frowning, scrutinizing every tiny detail.

“I know what I should do,” I lied, turning and heading to leave.

Ekta was waiting for me outside, and she marched along with me as we moved through the hall.

“Why haven’t we told anyone about my memory erasure yet?” I asked as we approached the garden.

“Because you’ll lose whatever the political power you have. Your agency is what binds all of them together. If they know your memory is gone they will no longer believe in your strength, and that will crumble us from the inside.”

That could work for me. I could watch the demon king’s forces kill each other and then escape to the Empire.

But where?

If I could contact my mentor Garlin, I might stand a chance…

“There’s one more news,” Ekta said.

“Which is?”

“You received a letter.”

“From who?”

“It’s in your room.”

I looked at her. She looked annoyed.

Letters for the demon king. Could it be the spy from the army?

I was supposed to visit the battleground to see a group of soldiers train, but my curiosity took me back to my room. Ekta followed me closely.

When I opened the door I found a letter lying on the bed. A black raven sat perched on the window sill, cocking its head as I arrived.

“So I can receive messages via birds?” I asked, picking up the letter.

“Malek can. You used to send letters to her with the help of his magic.”

“What do you mean her-” I paled once I flipped the letter and saw the red logo with the two lions.

The Province of Attera.

But how?

“T-this is a letter from Princess- I mean, Queen Liliana.”

The emperor’s wife had died a few years ago, making the Liliana, the queen’s daughter, the new Queen of Attera province. At first Attera had dispatched soldiers for my armies, but since the last year I had lost communication with the queen, and the province had been discouraging during the war. They still welcomed our soldiers to their kingdom, they still opened their doors for diplomatic conversations, but they never dispatched soldiers when we requested for them, even when the demon king had invaded some territories of her province.

But as I gripped the letter with the royal seal, I realized the bitter truth.

The queen had been communicating with the demon lord. All behind the Empire’s back. But why? She was the daughter of the Emperor.

I fell back to the bed, slowly peeling off the letter like a man who was sent poison.

How many people are going to betray me? First Celine hid me the truth about the murders, now the queen is proved to exchange letters with the demon king.

I pulled out the letter with shaking hands.

Lord Dalos,

I will be hosting a ball on the third of Morrow Month, and I would be VERY glad if you could attend the event. I will keep the gold as well as the armor ready. Please be kind enough not to hurt anyone.

Yours faithful,

Lilliana

I crushed the letter on my hand fast enough for Ekta to flinch. Anger seeped through my veins. It was clear as the sky is blue the queen never communicated with Dalos willingly.

Please be kind enough not to hurt anyone…what does she mean by that?

He had forced her to submission. But for what?

“How did I start this letter exchange with the queen?”

Ekta slouched on a wall. Now that her shock had faded she seemed disinterested in the conversation. “You rarely spoke about your deals with the queen. But one year ago you came back to us and said the queen agreed to remain neutral when it came to the war. She even sends us weapons and armor now and then. I think you have her in your palm. You told her something, or blackmailed her, and now she’s been your ally for a long time.”

Blackmailed her?

If I wasn’t in the demon king’s body I would have ripped him to shreds. Of all the people he could manipulate he had to manipulate Lilliana? But why didn’t she even speak to me about this? I visited her castle many times last year. She did seem disinterested with any conversation I had, perhaps it was because of the troubles with the demon king.

There was only one way to find out. The queen never knew about the body swap. I just had to act the role and see what I did for myself.

And if the bastard had ever hurt her I didn’t even know what I would do to him.