The Demon King is unfathomable

Chapter 473 It wasn't just the Holy Maiden who heard the divine oracle; the Grand Duke heard it too.

Prince Colin's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a great deal of weight.

The music flowing through the reception room seemed to be cut off by an invisible hand. The servants carrying silver trays slowed their pace, holding their breath and falling silent.

Edward Campbell's smile froze, and a look of surprise appeared in his eyes, as if he hadn't expected that Prince Colin, who had been chatting amicably just a moment ago, would turn on him.

He looked into Colin's eyes and saw that the gentle warmth of spring had vanished from those deep purple eyes, replaced by heartbreak and despair.

It was as if I had really done something heinous.

Edward didn't understand why he suddenly attacked him. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but they were as tangled as a ball of yarn that he couldn't untangle.

What does he mean?
Does this refer to the territorial dispute between the Duchy of Campbell and the Kingdom of Lane?

But how is this possible? !
The conflict between the Duke and the King was not something that was openly discussed, and even Eileen knew very little about it, at most only having some awareness of it.

At least nominally, the Northern Rescue Army of the Principality of Campbell was dispatched to save its compatriots in the Dusk Province!
He never claimed any title for any piece of land in Twilight Province; he simply wanted to provide employment opportunities for farmers who had lost their land and could not adapt to urbanization in Twilight Province.

But if it wasn't a land dispute... then what could it be?

Edward couldn't understand it. Could it be that this prince and the king of the Kingdom of Ryan were old friends, and that the prince was here on behalf of the king to reprimand him?

No man had ever stirred so many thoughts in Edward's mind in an instant, leaving him momentarily speechless.

Luo Yan didn't give him much time to overthink, but went straight to the point, bringing his wandering thoughts back to his sister.

"Please forgive my bluntness, Your Highness Edward, but aren't you being a little too harsh on your sister?"

younger sister……

Ah...so that's it.

Edward's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, suddenly fell back to the ground, and the sweat that had just crawled out of his back disappeared without him even realizing it.

Luo Yan met the flustered gaze directly and continued speaking in a serious tone.

“I just returned from the front lines. I witnessed the devastation outside Twilight City. It couldn’t be described as war; it was a living hell! Cultist altars, avatars of chaotic evil spirits, and endless swarms of rats… I still can’t forget the stench of sulfur and rotting flesh! Why did you put Eileen in such a place?”

"She is your closest relative! Even if she is the holder of the Utawarerumono and carries the expectations of many of you, please don't forget her—"

"Enough, Your Highness Colin!" Edward interrupted him, gripping his shoulders with both hands, a look of sorrow and helplessness on his handsome face.

Luo Yan could tell just by looking at his expression.

After the initial suspense, the Grand Duke's acting skills improved. Although he was still far from being as good as himself, he was enough to fool those knights who were blinded by love.

Obvious.

In the mind of this grand duke, he had become a person blinded by love, with his mind completely focused on his sister.

This isn't criticism at all; it's clearly a good thing!

The Duchy of Campbell needed an ally, and Edward had been considering how to get himself on board; now the opportunity had presented itself.

Luo Yan could sense that he was so excited he wanted to jump for joy, but he insisted on putting on a helpless expression and pretending to be the weaker party.

This really put him in a difficult position.

“Your Majesty…” The butler stepped forward, trying to ease the tension between the two, but was shooed out the door by a look from Edward.

Not just a housekeeper.

Edward dismissed the servants in the reception room and the pianist with a glance, leaving only the two people standing at the door in the large reception room and corridor.

Luo Yan looked at him questioningly, but Edward didn't explain. He simply patted Luo Yan's shoulder lightly and then let go.

“Let’s sit down and talk, Your Highness Colin.”

His voice was somewhat hoarse, as if he carried the weight of the entire Thunder City on his shoulders, burdened by too many unavoidable and helpless grievances.

Luo Yan made a "taken the bait" expression, shut his mouth and didn't say anything, then followed him to sit down on the sofa in the reception room.

Edward picked up the crystal bottle on the table and poured him a glass of amber-colored wine, then poured one for himself as well.

At this moment, the person sitting here seems not to be a king of a duchy, but an elder brother burdened with immense pressure.

"This matter... is far more complicated than you imagine."

“This is not an excuse,” Luo Yan picked up his wine glass but did not drink it. Instead, he stared straight at him and continued, “I don’t have a sister, but even if I did, I would never take advantage of her kindness to complete my plan when I knew there was danger involved.”

Seemingly unsurprised by his thoughts, Edward chuckled self-deprecatingly, took a sip of the amber-colored liquor, and said...

"It's true that I appointed her as the commander of the Northern Rescue Army, but do you think I wanted her to go?"

Luo Yan disagreed.

"Is there anyone who can order you around?"

"no!"

Edward responded readily.

"This requires no one's orders; it is an inherent duty of the Campbell family! The only one to blame is my father for handing the sword to her. If I had taken that sword, I would have gone there without hesitation to fulfill the mission that Saint Sith has entrusted to us! It is true that I entrusted her with a great responsibility, but even without my orders, she would have gone anyway!"

That's absolutely true.

Luo Yan had no doubt that if Edward inherited the "Light of Praise," he would use its power without reservation, just like Irene.

This guy is an ambitious man, but not a cowardly coward. While the nobles indulge in pleasure and the merchants chase after money, only Edward Campbell can truly be called a "patriot," after all, this duchy really is his.

Everyone else was just there for the fun of it.

"But even so—"

Edward interrupted him, sighing as he spoke.

"Your Highness Colin, let me tell you a story."

Luo Yan looked at him.

"You tell me."

"To understand all this, you must first understand the situation of our Campbell family."

Staring at the amber liquid in his glass, Edward collected his thoughts for a moment, then slowly began to tell the story that had been passed down for thousands of years.

"For thousands of years, our Campbell family has guarded the southern border of the kingdom and expanded the land south of the Wanren Mountains. Our castle is built on the entrance to the labyrinth. Part of our ramparts are made from the bones of our ancestors, and another part from the bones of the cultists of the God of Machines. It is no exaggeration to say that our family has shed more blood for this kingdom than some nobles in the capital have drunk wine."

His voice was calm, yet it carried a suppressed resentment.

"However—what did we get in return? No glory, no trust, only the endless suspicion and distrust of the Devalo family!"

Edward chuckled self-deprecatingly, a smile full of cold irony, as if mocking the king's foolishness and the fate of the Campbell family.

"In their eyes, we are not a strong shield protecting the kingdom, but a fierce tiger kept by their side. They always want to lock us in a cage and pull out our claws, simply because our achievements are too dazzling and because we have won the love of our people!"

Luo Yan listened in silence the whole time.

At that moment, he frowned at just the right time and asked in a hesitant voice.

"How could this be? The king would actually suspect a vassal who has achieved great military exploits?"

This is a very apt question. What Edward longs for most right now is the "relaxation" and "integrity" that the Imperial Prince possesses from the heart of the civilized world.

Or--

ignorance.

"Possibly? Ha! That's exactly what's happening to us right now!"

Edward suddenly stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Colin, seemingly unwilling to let him see his "pain".

Luo Yan was very familiar with it.

Long, long ago, when his acting skills were not so refined, he would use a blank expression to hide his lack of knowledge about how to act with genuine emotion.

Over time, he developed the ability to keep a tight rein on himself.

"...The king has never trusted us, and even wishes he could suddenly send a flood to sweep our homes and our glory into the swirling sea! This suspicion may be just an undercurrent in times of peace, but when real disaster strikes, it becomes the deadliest poison!"

"When chaos raged through the Twilight Province, when the flames of the Green Forest Army's rebellion burned every inch of the land, when tens of thousands of his people died in famine and war, what was our King doing? He chose to act as if nothing had happened!"

Edward's voice was low, but gradually rose in pitch, like a torrent that had been holding back for a long time before finally erupting.

"Because in his eyes, it was nothing more than a 'controllable wildfire'! It could burn away that damned weeds and make his pasture even more fertile!"

Luo Yan's face immediately showed a shocked expression.

"You mean... His Majesty deliberately set this fire?!"

“I have no evidence, but he proved everything with his actions.” Edward slowly turned around, his face filled with long-simmering grief and indignation. “Time and time again, we petitioned the capital, presenting the most urgent military intelligence and requesting troops to aid our compatriots… but all of it went unanswered!”

"I can even guess what he'll say in the end. It'll be those treacherous villains who shielded him from those letters again. He, who knows everything, has become an old man who can be deceived by everyone!"

"He's the worst!"

He returned to Colin's side, sitting opposite the Imperial Prince, leaning forward, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at him. "I had no choice, Your Highness Colin! My sister and I had no choice! Perhaps you will coldly say that it is the King's land, and if he wants to burn his own mountain, let him burn it... But that is still our land, we drink from the same flowing river, at least half of the Campbell's blood is from the Lane, and half of the Lane's blood belongs to us!"

“If I don’t let Eileen go, if I, as her brother, order her to stay, the entire Twilight Province will be reduced to ashes, and tens of millions of lives will become sacrifices to Chaos and the King! Perhaps the Empire has never cared about us, but we cannot stand by and watch our innocent compatriots die!”

Luo Yan remained silent for a long time, his expression shifting from shock to confusion, then to realization... and finally culminating in a heavy sigh.

He spoke slowly, his voice tinged with bitterness and difficulty.

"So... Princess Eileen only led her troops to the rescue after the king refused to send troops?"

"Yes!"

Edward answered without hesitation, his tone resolute.

"The governor sent us a letter requesting aid, and I have written to His Majesty Theodore more than once, reminding him to be wary of the rampant refugees in his territory. But as you saw outside Thunder City, the hordes of refugees nearly overwhelmed us! Even for our own sake, we had no choice but to send troops north!"

When he said these words, he seemed to have completely forgotten that not all of those refugees came from the Twilight Province; a considerable number of them were serfs who had been driven away by Barons Guts.

even--

Even the very act of sending troops to Twilight Province was at least partly motivated by a desire to divert attention from the internal conflicts that had been piling up outside Thunder City.

However, this is not important.

If a group of people who are starving themselves can claim to save the world, then the Duke of Campbell can certainly send troops to solve the problem of feeding his neighbors.

Luo Yan knew what he wanted to do, and that he had come to give him courage.

After listening to that impassioned speech, the prince of the empire slowly stood up from the sofa.

A hint of guilt flashed across his handsome face, which quickly turned into self-reproach.

Under Edward's astonished gaze, Prince Colin bowed deeply to the Grand Duke as an apology.

“Your Highness Edward, please accept my sincere apology. I… I misunderstood you.”

Edward looked at him in surprise, then gave an embarrassed smile and coughed lightly.

"No...you're not wrong about me. As you said, I am indeed an irresponsible older brother. I only regret that I don't have the ability. If I were stronger, perhaps I wouldn't have had to make my sister risk her life for the Campbell family."

He might have been genuinely a little embarrassed, but Luo Yan wasn't at all. His voice was as sincere as ever, even tinged with a hint of emotion.

"It's not just this."

After a pause, he continued.

"Before I came here, I heard some unfounded rumors that Campbell sent troops to Twilight Province for those fertile lands that had been abandoned after the war... I almost believed those slanderous people and mistakenly thought that you had put Princess Eileen in such a dangerous situation for your own selfish desires. I apologize to you for my previous rudeness and narrow-mindedness!"

Edward immediately stood up and stepped forward, taking Colin's arm with a kind smile on his face, as if he hadn't cared about any offense he had just suffered.

“Your Highness, please don’t say that. I am grateful to you for your concern for Eileen’s safety. As for those slanderous words… I’m used to them. Let them say whatever they want.”

Unexpectedly, those rumors actually reached Colin's ears.

He wondered why this prince had suddenly turned against him at this time. It turned out that while he was trying to undermine the king, the king had already secretly reached out to him, spreading rumors of discord to Prince Colin's ears.

This Theodore—

We must not let our guard down.

A ruthless glint flashed in Edward's eyes; the urge to teach the Devallo family a lesson had never been stronger.

He cleared his throat and spoke in a righteous and stern voice.

“I swear to Saint Sith, I, Edward Campbell, have never coveted the title of king! Everything I have done has been for the sake of the people of the Duchy of Campbell and the Kingdom of Lane. Steward Sclair’s words are nothing but lies used by the king to cover up his incompetence and cold-bloodedness!”

Eileen's older brother has indeed improved a lot; every word he said is true, although it doesn't mean it literally.

Luo Yan admired his progress in his heart, but his face still showed sympathy for the Campbell family and anger towards the Ryan royal family.

He sat back down on the sofa, picked up the untouched wine glass, drank it down in one gulp, and then slammed it down on the table.

His fists were clenched, as if he could not contain his rage.

"Your righteousness moves me, but it also makes me even more disgusted with Theoden de Valou's incompetence and cruelty! What has he taken the sacred mission entrusted to him by Saint Seis for? A shield of hypocrisy and cowardice? His people are suffering in the flames, his heroes are guarding his land, while he sleeps on his throne, plotting to make them kill each other, inciting the common people to kill their nobles, and then using the court to settle scores with the peasants. Now he even slanders their heroes!"

Edward was shocked.

Although he had thought of some grand speeches, he hadn't considered this aspect. But Colin's suggestion instantly opened up his mind.

So there's another layer of interpretation to this!
The stirring in his soul was no less intense than when he read the phrase "every man is a priest" in the New Testament.

At that moment, Edward Campbell seemed to hear a divine revelation—

'The court is the king's accomplice.'

Before the Imperial Prince could finish speaking, Prince Colin spoke in an almost trembling voice.

“I cannot forgive him! Such a king… he is utterly unworthy of the Campbell family’s loyalty! He himself is a disgrace to the empire!”

Having said that, he looked intently at Edward and, just as Edward had hoped, issued a declaration from an imperial prince.

It was even better than he had expected!
“Your Highness Edward, from this day forward, I and the Colin family I represent will become the Campbell family’s most steadfast ally!”

"The problems of Twilight Province are our problems. Whether you need political support or material assistance, we will provide you with help without reservation!"

"This is not just for Princess Eileen, but also for the honor and justice in my heart! I am even willing to go to the Holy City again for you and bring your story to the Senate!"

Edward leaned forward excitedly and grasped Colin's hand tightly.

"Your Highness Colin! On behalf of the Campbell and the Ryan people, I thank you for your generosity. I never expected that the Empire would still have a nobleman like you who upholds justice! Your friendship is the most precious gift the Campbell family has ever received! With your support, perhaps we can truly solve this problem once and for all!"

"Oh?" Luo Yan raised an eyebrow and said with interest, "It seems you already have a plan. Can you tell me about it?"

"Of course!"

Edward stared intently at him.

"The reason why the Twilight Province was repeatedly engulfed in flames is ultimately because the king was powerless to control that land, yet unwilling to relinquish his power. As a result, he could only leave the people there weak and impoverished, artificially creating hunger and chaos, which ultimately gave Chaos an opportunity to take hold!"

"The only way to save them is to help them break free from the king's control and let the people there live as prosperous a life as Thunder City!"

“Stripping someone of their noble title is not an easy thing to do…” Colin’s face showed just the right amount of suspicion.

Edward continued speaking without stopping.

"Strip me of the title of king? Ha, they always slander me like that, but in all honesty, I have never thought of it!"

He paused, a glint in his eyes, and then unveiled the idea that had been brewing within his team of advisors for a long time.

“We don’t need to take away his title, but we need to take away his power and give it to the person who is truly qualified to wield it.”

Luo Yan looked at him and said.

Could you be more specific?

Edward nodded, lowering his voice and no longer concealing his ambition.

"My plan is that from now on, the governor of Twilight Province will no longer be appointed by the king, but will be jointly nominated by all the nobles in the province, and selected from among a lord or even a commoner without a fief!"

"His Majesty the King can retain his title and tax authority, but the governing power, military power, and even independent diplomatic power of Twilight Province must be in the hands of Twilight Province's own people! This is the successful experience of Thunder City, and it can be completely replicated in them!"

This statement seems like a compromise, but in reality, it is not a compromise at all.

Since the Devalu family is so afraid that Twilight Province will become the Duchy of Twilight, let them live with that constant fear.

For them, it might be a relief!
Perhaps in the first two years, the Twilight Province will symbolically contribute some taxes, but in the end, what will be handed over will definitely be a loss-making account.

The kind-hearted Prince Colin wore a thoughtful expression, seemingly genuinely considering the feasibility of the plan.

Just as Edward had predicted, those eyes gradually brightened, and they made no attempt to hide their admiration for him.

"What a brilliant idea... Go ahead and do it, Your Highness, I will do my best to support your plan!"

Seeing Prince Colin get up from the sofa again, Edward stood up as well and held his hands tightly.

Thank you for your support!

The shrewd chess player was watching his "chess pieces" with satisfaction, but little did he know that a skilled hunter often appears as the prey.

As the ambitious "chess player" moved to the crucial position, Luo Yan couldn't help but smile.

Campbell's ancestors probably never imagined that their descendants, at the instigation of the Demon King, would point their swords at their king.

But then again.

If they knew how the Devalo family treated their children like a dirty rag...

Even if they knew, they would probably just tacitly approve of it all.

　I've been dragged to participate in an event by Dian Niang these past two days, so I'll try my best to keep updating!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)