Chapter 159: Deon Hart, the Betrayer of Humanity

“I wish I could wipe every incubus off the face of the earth.”

“Oh, dear.”

Ben clucked his tongue, feigning sympathy.

However, the obvious smirk playing on his lips provoked Ed, and a silent battle of wills began. Deon, who had been watching their antics without amusement, turned his attention to Hien as he approached.

For the first time, the gardener of the Demon King’s castle held a perfectly normal flower in his hand, offering Deon a bright smile.

“A flower from the Human Realm!”

“…Haven’t you only ever shown and given me flowers from the Demon Realm? Why specifically this time?”

“Recently… you’ve been staying in the Demon Realm for an unusually long time. I thought you might miss the Human Realm….”

He wasn’t particularly interested in flowers, but this one was strangely captivating.

Even knowing it drew his eye, he didn’t find it unpleasant. Instead, it gave off a gentle feeling.

This is a flower from the Human Realm?

“Where did you get it?”

“Near the border with the Human Realm, there’s a small, well-maintained mound. This flower was blooming beautifully on top, and it caught my eye….”

“A mound?”

“Yes! And there was a neatly carved stone standing in front of it.”

A grave. The stone is a tombstone.

It was absurd that a human would build a grave near the border, but Hien picking a flower from it was equally absurd. He should at least be thankful that Hien didn’t bring a flower that was ‘placed’ there.

A ‘blooming’ flower is natural, but a ‘placed’ flower is a gift from someone to the deceased.

“…Don’t demons not make graves?”

If so, it’s understandable he wouldn’t know.

He subtly glanced at the other demons watching. As expected, they seemed oblivious, merely observing the situation with blank looks.

Ah, just one person. Ed, who frequently traveled to the Human Realm, had turned pale.

“You dare bring a flower from such a—”

“Hien.”

Once again, Ed’s words were cut short.

Without even reaching out, Deon lowered his gaze, silently examining the flower before raising his eyes to meet Hien’s. The corners of his lips slowly curved upwards into a smile.

“It seems my temper has become quite sharp lately. You even brought a flower from the Human Realm to try and appease me.”

“N-no, that’s not—”

“Thank you.”

“…!”

Even if it’s near a grave, he should feel uneasy, but strangely, even though it bloomed on a grave, he felt no unpleasantness at all.

Hien’s eyes widened at the positive affirmation, freezing in place. Dan approached to take the flower, but just before his fingers could grasp it, Ed swiftly snatched it away.

‘…He really is wary of Dan.’

Come to think of it, Ed’s reaction when Dan was first brought in was quite something.

His face was stricken as he exclaimed, ‘Am I not enough for you?!’

[I know… I know I’m not trustworthy. That’s why you don’t readily believe or entrust me with anything. But… I’ll work harder to earn your trust, so please rely on me more than that human!]

[…Calm yourself.]

Despite having watched him for a considerable time, Deon had never seen such an expression.

Deon glanced between Ed, who carefully held the flower, and Dan, who shrugged and looked down at his empty hands, before turning and walking towards his room.

Ben seemed to have returned to his own room. Two sets of footsteps followed behind him.

Shortly after reaching his door, Deon turned around. He met the gaze of the two strong men awaiting his command, before focusing on Ed and speaking.

“Thank you for accompanying me. You must be tired, so give the flower to Dan and go rest.”

“…!”

Ed’s hands trembled at the obvious dismissal. Afraid the shaking would damage the flower, Dan reached out, as if urging him to hand it over.

Even with this added fuel to the fire, Ed somehow maintained his composure. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he silently passed the flower to Dan and turned away.

“…”

Dan silently watched his retreating figure before following Deon into the room. With a click, he locked the door securely behind them and casually placed the flower in a suitable vase.

“You’re quite harsh, Master.”

“Because I’m a demon.”

Unlike his demeanor outside, his relaxed tone implied an unspoken agreement.

The atmosphere had clearly shifted, even if only slightly, enough to be unsettling, but Dan calmly filled the vase with water.

“He seemed quite devoted. It’s a bit pitiful.”

“Perhaps. But it’s best not to get attached. No matter how devoted he seems to me, he’s still a demon.”

Deon vividly remembered the moment the Demon King tried to save his dying self.

Back then, Ed had clearly tried to dissuade the Demon King.

[Well, this is an interesting opportunity to see your fate. Will you die here, or will you survive?]

[…Lord Demon King.]

A call laced with reluctance, expressing his opposition.

At the time, he was too overwhelmed with processing information to analyze it. But after regaining his senses and recalling the memories, he understood.

Ed valued the cost the Demon King would pay to save the Commander of the 0th Legion’s life more than the life itself.

‘His attitude towards me isn’t a lie, but…’

He serves the ‘Commander of the 0th Legion,’ not ‘Deon Hart.’

Someone absolute, acknowledged by all demons….

“Authority.”

“?”

“That guy doesn’t serve me, he serves my authority. If he stays by my side, he’ll eventually lift the veil and see what’s underneath. What will his reaction be when he realizes the master of the monstrous shadow he so fearfully served is actually just a rabbit?”

It’s better to keep a distance before such an unpleasant incident occurs.

“Master is more like a kitten than a rabbit….”

“?”

“Hmm, no, that was in the past. Now… a snow fox? Do you resemble a snow fox?”

“…What are you talking about?”

Despite Deon’s scornful look, Dan continued to stroke his chin, picturing a fluffy white snow fox. He refocused on Deon as he spoke again.

“You are a ‘human’ who clings to the Demon Realm by relying on my ‘authority.’ If my authority becomes a mere illusion….”

“I know, Master. I’ll die.”

“You will certainly die.”

Despite the chilling statement, Dan grinned.

“You make it so difficult to say that we’re in this together, so please help me wholeheartedly.”

“…”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing right now.”

He placed the vase on the windowsill.

He understood that Dan couldn’t fully trust him. In their previous conversation, Deon had openly targeted him, calling him ‘the person who ruined my life.’ How could he trust him?

He had followed that with ‘the person who will help me achieve my goal, and the goal itself,’ but that wasn’t enough for Deon Hart to trust ‘Dan’ as an individual.

Ultimately, Deon Hart decided to trust the ‘situation’ instead of trusting ‘Dan.’

The situation where Dan was obsessed with his ‘goal.’ The situation where Dan gained safety under Deon Hart’s status and authority in the Demon Realm. The situation where Dan would also face death if Deon Hart were to fall.

“I’ll leave the flower here. Although it’s the Demon Realm, so putting it by the window is probably pointless.”

“…Don’t get attached to the demons for no reason.”

“Yes, yes. You’re being too sensitive, even if I did say I felt a little sorry for him.”

“Pity is also a feeling close to goodwill.”

When divided into like and dislike, at least it’s not ‘dislike.’

“That will soon become affection, and affection is the foundation for building intimacy. Intimacy will loosen one’s guard, and a loosened guard will even loosen tightly closed lips.”

“…Understood, I’ll be careful in the future. More importantly, even if you’re lying on the bed, take off your coat. Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

“Yeah.”

“…Take it off.”

***

“Master, it’s still chilly, please wear this.”

Dan draped a coat over him and fastened it securely. Not to be outdone, Ed took Deon’s hand, saying his hands might get cold, and slipped black gloves onto them.

Deon stood between them, silently accepting all of this, but when they tried to wrap a scarf around his neck, he firmly refused and turned to pick up the black robe that was the symbol of the Commander of the 0th Legion.

The color of the robe suddenly caught his eye, and he chuckled.

‘The coat, the gloves, even the scarf they were trying to put on me were all black.’

Did they want to so publicly announce that Deon Hart was on the side of the Demon Realm?

He wasn’t their dress-up doll. Deon glared at the two people bickering over who would help him put on his robe and began to put it on himself.

“Master, are you going to… put it on yourself?”

“Why?”

“Well, Master’s… clothes tend to be a bit….”

“You wear them messily. …Is that what they call human charm?”

Ed, perhaps wanting to smooth things over after keeping his distance, quickly interjected as his eyes met Deon’s.

But it was too late. Human charm? That’s the best he could come up with to smooth things over?

‘I wear my clothes messily?’

Deon looked down at the robe he had already put on. Perfect. Well, it was just a robe that you draped over yourself and tied, so what could be the problem?

“Master, let me put it on for you again. So please don’t create any more strange wrinkles….”

Correction. It wasn’t perfect after all. Apparently, even putting on a simple robe could be problematic.

‘I wanted to dress you neatly since today is an important day,’ Dan lamented inwardly, quickly approaching to redo Deon’s robe. As he watched Dan’s actions, Deon tilted his head and asked.

“Am I really that bad at dressing myself?”

“In all my life, I’ve never seen clothes this wrinkled. If I hadn’t seen you putting it on from the beginning, I would have thought someone intentionally crumpled your clothes like a ball and caused a fuss.”

“Your words are rude. How on earth do you serve Demon-nim?”

“So you don’t think so?”

“…Humans call that human charm.”

…Is it really that bad?

Ed avoided eye contact, seemingly stung by his own words. Dan openly sneered.

“Human charm? What a ridiculous excuse….”

“…What’s the problem? It doesn’t seem wrong. I heard that being too perfect can create distance or aversion, so having flaws like this is also necessary.”

At this point, Deon felt the need for serious self-reflection and delved into his memories about clothing, ignoring the bickering duo.

‘…Come to think of it, I haven’t really dressed myself much.’

Even when he did, someone would always come along and fix his attire later.

Even during the Eight Years’ War, the mad dogs would fix his clothes. Occasionally, they would declare it beyond repair, completely undo his attire, and dress him from scratch. And of course, there would be nagging to please wear underwear.

‘I wonder what those guys are doing now….’

Deon briefly thought of the Killer Knights before refocusing on Dan, who had finished adjusting his robe. He then noticed the Demon King waiting patiently for him a short distance away and started walking.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Your clothes look a little wrinkled. Are you sure you’re alright? Today is an important day. You can change if you want.”

“…I’m fine.”

“Well, alright then.”

The Demon King grinned and turned to lead the way. After following him for a while, they stopped in front of a room in the Demon King’s castle.

Click. He opened the door. A gust of cool air rushed out, hitting Deon’s face, but he barely registered it, his eyes widening slightly at the scene before him.

“…Oh.”

“How is it? Not bad, right?”

Not bad was an understatement.

A wide-open window revealing a clear view of the three moons. The extravagant interior of the room, complete with a luxurious executive desk and chair, all set against this backdrop.

“We could have just stood anywhere… it’s not that important, and I don’t have that much to say, so there wasn’t really a need to go to this much trouble….”

“Not that important? Of course it’s important. Today is the day you stand before everyone for the first time, isn’t it?”

More accurately, it would be the day Deon Hart stood before everyone as a traitor to humanity.

The day Deon Hart, as a representative of the Demon Realm, would use his words to divide the allied Human Realm.