Chapter 102

The black wings quivered slightly, and a piercing dark blade formed from a single black feather swept past Livra like the wind—completely unexpected.

The rapid wind blade severed several strands of inky-black hair beside Livra.

The wind blade continued its previous trajectory and stabbed into the stone wall. The seemingly delicate magic slammed against the surface with a thunderous roar, blasting a smoking, gaping hole in the solid rock.

The terrifying noise and the sensation of the wind blade brushing past her certainly frightened Livra.

To have brushed shoulders with Death like that—no matter how composed one might be, it was impossible to remain completely calm.

Her eyes widened as she instinctively covered her neck with her palm.

No blood. Her head was still there.

When she turned her gaze back to the front, Princess Sheffy’s expression was no longer the same mocking one as at the beginning. Instead, it carried a somewhat complex look, as if a sore spot had been poked.

—She had gambled right.

That was Livra’s judgment.

A shocking statement made with her life as the wager.

There was no time to wipe away the cold sweat forming on her temples out of fear. Holding back the urge to burst into tears, Livra forced herself to continue speaking.

"Princess... Princess Sheffy, just as you said, I haven’t honed myself on the battlefield before. I don’t know the cruelty of war, but someone as battle-hardened as you surely understands…! The battlefield—people die on it every moment!"

"What exactly are you trying to say…?"

"I mean to say... even Princess Sheffy, even someone known as the ‘Princess of Calamity’, the side of you that kills might just be a disguise, and what you truly desire deep inside is peace—a chance for those who step onto the battlefield to survive, isn’t that right…!"

"?"

From her previous experience, Livra quickly covered her head with both hands, bracing for another attack.

In truth, such a gesture was meaningless.

If Sheffy truly wanted to attack her, even if she had three heads and six arms, it wouldn’t help—she would be blown into dust instantly.

And in reality...

Sheffy was completely stunned now.

She couldn't believe that Livra—trembling and clutching her head—had opened her mouth and gotten alarmingly close to the truth.

How did she know...?

Was it a coincidence?

Was there a flaw in my acting?

Or did that idiot Xiarette accidentally spill the secret?

None of that was possible.

Because at this moment, Livra’s condition clearly showed she was terrified to the extreme.

She was taking a reckless gamble, walking on a knife’s edge, believing she might face death at any moment.

Slowly, Livra lowered the arms shielding her face and continued to observe the flaming cage through the gap between her bent elbows.

The flames blazed fiercely, and the scorching fire made the surrounding air intensely hot.

Princess Sheffy sat steadily within it, her expression even more solemn and alert than before.

"Hey... Human princess, I suggest you think carefully about what you’re saying. If you speak recklessly... the consequences could be very serious. If you think you can take a wild guess and happen to hit the mark, then you’d already be dead by now."

"But... but...

I’m not dead right now."

"......"

"Just now, your magic also avoided me. If you wanted to kill me... from the moment I said that first offensive sentence, I... I would’ve already lost my head and died on the spot..."

Ugh… that scared me to death!!

From the day she was born until now, Livra had never spoken under such immense pressure. Thankfully, she had taken care of a personal issue earlier—otherwise, the stone beneath her would definitely not have remained this dry.

When a person reaches their limit, they sometimes become calmer.

Though Livra’s heart pounded wildly from nerves...

Her mind, however, had never been clearer.

"I know... Princess Sheffy doesn’t want others to know about this, but... but I didn’t bring anyone else here today. It’s just the two of us—I can swear it! You’re a Six-Winged Demon, surely you can sense it, right? Outside this place, besides Lady Xiarette and Miss Shaya, there’s no one else!"

"How... did you deduce all this? Was it just blind guessing?"

"Princess Sheffy... is that considered an admission?"

"I’m the one asking the questions here, not you."

"Eep!"

Sure enough, that glare was still terrifying!

But having come this far, Livra felt more confident inside.

She gently lifted her beautiful eyes, the dark circles from staying up all night studying particularly stark under the firelight.

"Last night, I used my royal privilege to access nearly all of the kingdom’s recorded war histories from the Royal City’s archives. Just as I thought... the royal historians documented Princess Sheffy as being extremely brutal—claiming you massacred surrendered soldiers, were bloodthirsty, and committed all sorts of atrocities. But the more they wrote like that... the more I felt it was untrue."

It was true that Livra had never been on a battlefield.

But she had met many kinds of people within the royal palace.

And beyond the towering walls of the Royal City, she had witnessed all kinds of lives, the good and evil in human nature.

People always had two sides.

If someone asked Livra to believe that absolute evil existed in this world, she would only shake her head and say that such a notion was absurd.

Without evil, there would be no good.

Without light, there would be no shadow.

The historians recorded it that way because of their position. Naturally, the enemy commander had to be heavily vilified—to provoke the people’s anger and thus bolster morale.

Livra tilted her head slightly, gazing at the stone ceiling illuminated by the fiery cage.

Surely above that, the sunlight must be dazzling.

"I don’t believe Princess Sheffy is truly as terrible as the records claim... But it’s thanks to the historians’ writings that I realized—I too had fallen into the trap of prejudice and hatred. We’ve always believed whatever they said or wrote, completely ignoring the facts. Or rather... we never even considered the possibility of another truth."

She paused slightly, and before she realized it, she had already gathered the courage to face Sheffy directly and continued speaking.

"Following that line of thought, I went through the war records where Princess Sheffy led the troops. In those records, the casualty numbers on both sides were extremely exaggerated... In some cases, the reported casualties even exceeded the size of the entire army! It’s obviously overblown!"

"I realized then, the one thing they couldn’t falsify was the army’s structure. The remaining troop numbers and equipment after each battle had to be fully transparent to the royal family—there was no way that could be falsified or concealed."

"So I requested another set of army organization records from my father. I returned to my chambers and began comparing the historians’ recorded timelines with the military’s actual resource and personnel losses."

"And then, I discovered something truly—truly beyond belief."

Sheffy slightly widened her eyes.

By now, she had more or less guessed what Livra was going to say.

But she was still shocked...

Because after all these years, no one had ever thought to compare the authenticity of that data.

After all, what people see in war is hatred, is death—they don’t see survival, nor the truth hidden behind the fog.

In Livra’s eyes shimmered a touch of solace and a glimmer of gratitude.

It was gratitude on behalf of the kingdom’s soldiers. Gratitude for every surviving family.

"I discovered... in any battle led by Princess Sheffy, the casualties on both sides were significantly lower than in other battles. Isn’t that strange? You’re clearly the strongest force in the Demon King’s army, capable of summoning calamities with a wave of your hand. You should be the one inflicting the most destruction and deaths—and yet, the result was always something like ‘soldiers witnessed the calamity and never dared to return to the battlefield again’. If it had only happened once or twice, I’d call it luck. But if there are over a dozen... several dozen battles like this, Princess Sheffy... don’t you think that’s suspicious?"

"......"

The world called you evil.

Yet I glimpsed a trace of gentleness between the lines.

If such a tragic misunderstanding existed in this world... that would be the true nightmare.

"Princess Sheffy... even while bearing infamy, you still chose to halt the war through such self-sacrifice. I’m afraid your imprisonment here... was intentional, wasn’t it? Merely to serve as the weight that holds back the flames of war. Such a sacrifice—there has never been one like it in all of history."

"I may be weak, but I understand that someone gentle and strong shouldn’t be met with malice by the world."

"Princess Sheffy... I know what I’m saying may sound arrogant and presumptuous, but if we worked together, there might be the slightest chance to make our nation a better place—where the people can live in peace and contentment. You wouldn’t have to endure humiliation in such a dim place anymore."

"If such a chance really existed... would you be willing to step out of this cage and try with me?"

This time, it was finally Livra’s turn to question Sheffy.

And that question pierced through the ages, across battlefields echoing with galloping hooves.

It was as if Livra had walked slowly to the front lines of the Demon King’s army.

To the one who stood at the forefront of countless soldiers—fierce in appearance yet gentle in heart—racking her brain to think of ways to spare more survivors: the Princess of Calamity.

The Emerald Princess bowed slightly with a soft smile and gently spoke.

That’s enough now.

Thank you, proud and gentle princess.

19. It must be done!

This... this was quite a surprise for Sheffy?

In truth, she hadn’t held much hope for Livra.

Sheffy had thought Livra came today merely to talk about things like "the greater trends of the world" or "mutual benefits of both sides"—the usual empty rhetoric. She had even prepared herself for a long, drawn-out debate.

But... she hardly got a chance to speak at all.

Because deep within her, something strange stirred—so much so that even speaking became difficult.

From the past to the present, the only one who ever truly "understood" her—who stood from her perspective and spoke for her—had always been Xiarette.

A bond forged over two lifetimes and honed through the trials of life and death—far more meaningful than any vow sworn upon mountains and seas.

Originally, Sheffy believed that aside from Xiarette, there would never be a second person who could say such things.

And yet...

【Insight】

Even with the Eyes of True Sight, no shadow of falsehood could be seen.

The Livra who was slowly extending her hand toward her—the words she had just spoken contained not a shred of deceit. They were not for the benefit of the nation, nor were they driven by any form of obligation.

She truly only felt admiration and compassion—for what she understood to be Sheffy’s efforts to pause the war.

Mmm… and also, Livra, this girl who looked so plain at first glance—turns out there’s a bit of substance to that chest after all?!

Sheffy politely deactivated her Visual Magic, which pierced illusions. She did not take the hand Livra had extended toward her.

Instead, she gave a slight shake of the Demon-Sealing Bracelet shackled to her wrist, gazed upward at the flames of the cage burning above, and let out a chuckle.

"Hehe… that was quite the speech. Honestly, it was very good."

"Princess Sheffy…? You mean..."

"Hey, let me ask you—your name is Livra, right?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Then guess for yourself—do you think I’ll accept what you just said, or reject it?"

Livra’s outstretched hand trembled slightly in midair.

For a moment, she didn’t know how best to respond to Princess Sheffy’s sudden question.

If she reached her hand out any farther, it would touch the flames of the cage.

Standing on the edge of life and death—Livra had already stood at that cliff’s edge many times today.

Is Princess Sheffy agreeing with me and testing my sincerity…?

Or is she rejecting my opinion and has already decided to kill me?

Actually, it didn’t matter anymore.

Livra had come this far—showered with love and pampering, yet never having accomplished anything truly worthy of her status as a princess. She had always been the one protected, the one others placed their hopes on.

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