Chapter 21. Rose(3-END)

Naturally, being a true stalker, I wouldn't give up after discovering where Rose/Lilith was raised.

With the assistance of the kind-hearted bartender, whose communication skills were at an impressive level of LV.99 (?), Prince Lysander successfully tracked down a man who operated solo as a bandit, resorting to theft to sustain himself. At times, he took on jobs to transport illegal goods or engage in activities that demanded concealing his clients' identities.

Upon receiving a generous amount of shimmering gold, the bandit's eyes sparkled as he recalled a time long ago when he was hired by a client to escort a young red-haired girl named Rose to an orphanage.

He divulged that his client was a servant belonging to a distinguished noble family. Noting the emblem of a horse-drawn carriage on the servant, the bandit was convinced it bore the crest of the Duke family.

When asked why the bandit still remembered, he explained that it was his only client who had instructed him to take a girl to an orphanage, with substantial payment for the task.

However, it wasn't just this revelation that darkened Prince Lysander's expression. Just before bidding farewell and expressing gratitude to the bandit, he suddenly remembered that he could have taken the girl to the slave trade market instead of the orphanage.

Yet, the bandit, displaying a remaining shred of sympathy and humanity, rejected this option and chose to bring the girl to the orphanage.

Deeply impacted by the emblem described by the bandit, Prince Lysander's journey led him to the southern side of the central Clover City. There, his gaze fixed upon the emblem displayed on the wall of the magnificent, expansive house that now loomed before him. Prince Lysander started to feel bored now, his anger itching to be unleashed on this family.

Being not the main character, dabbling in cowardly acts once in a while wasn't entirely out of place, even though he had been blessed by all six spirits of magic in this world.

The blessing of the spirits was a special event allowing characters to wield a particular magic type and cast its most potent spell matching the spirit's blessing, all without the need for years of rigorous training in physical and mental disciplines.

Unbeknownst to him, Prince Lysander had stealthily taken the lead over the main characters who were on the brink of receiving the spirit's blessing for their imminent battle against the Dragon in one of the Demon city's dungeons during their third year at the academy.

Moreover, while both John and Sharon would only be granted one type of spirit magic, Prince Lysander possessed all six. Oddly enough, although the spirits were meant to aid in his survival, he could easily evade death by simply adjusting his position.

...

Putting that aside, after standing in front of the house for quite some time, Prince Lysander strolled in nonchalantly and approached a middle-aged man showing signs of aging. The old man's face, twisted in disgust as he looked at Prince Lysander (perhaps due to the manipulation of his appearance resembling a street urchin), prompted Prince Lysander to swiftly absorb the man's memories.

The power of darkness. Truly chilling.

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What Prince Lysander can do is already at a level equivalent to the magic of the demon king or queen.

Or at least that's what he learned from a set of forbidden books given for free by a mysterious vendor on a narrow street near the central market. This mysterious vendor appears multiple times in John's story as he pursues the hidden character route, the demon queen, or if it's Sharon who is also on the path to become the demon king. Through this enigmatic seller, the main characters can delve into the secret books containing dark magic rituals and a list of dark spells. It is through this means that the main characters can evolve into servants of the demon king or queen until they unite. Yay, a happy secret ending awaits us.

The power of manipulation is one of the abilities of the demon king or queen to command humans or other monsters to obey them. Strangely, these demons do not appear as wicked as the humans in existence. Despite their terrifying powers, the way they treat the main characters is rather romantic, perhaps due to the nature of this dating sim game. This results in characters who are not overly annoying but somewhat similar to each other.

Upon seizing the memories of the old man, Prince Lysander discovered that the man was Lilith's father. He had abandoned his own daughter because of Lilith's special blood.

One night, Lilith, also known as Little Rose, wandered while asleep and killed all the servants in the house in a single night. She even came close to killing her own mother— who tried to overlook the incident and accept her daughter as she was— but her father insisted on getting rid of Lilith due to Rose's perceived defects.

You're familiar with the story trope: a noble child with a flaw, despite their perfect appearance, will often end up imprisoned, killed, or in this case, exiled or simply cast out.

Prince Lysander abandoned his intention to kill the bewildered old man in front of him; after restoring his memories, he departed. However, it appears that Lilith had visited the house before, as one of the old man's memories depicted a scene where he was in an anxious state, with items scattered in the morning and the bodies of all his guards strewn inside the residence, yet none of his possessions were missing.

This signifies that Lilith herself already knows her true family but has chosen not to pursue it further.

Strange—well, not so strange, upon reflection.

Perhaps, deep down, Lilith feels that she is betraying her DNA by leaving her past behind and decides not to seek revenge.

Or perhaps she lacks the strength to seek vengeance?

The answer has become clear, with Lilith's anger blatantly evident on her face that night.

Prince Lysander stopped dwelling on the events and chose to sleep after calming Rina and making sure she returned to her room without detecting any intruders entering the palace. This time, the palace was secure from intruders.

But was it truly secure?

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In the dead of night, Lilith stealthily returned to Prince Lysander's room easily, her sword ablaze with fire.

Standing beside the bed where Prince Lysander lay deeply asleep, her eyes stared blankly at his face as she whisper,

"You cursed devil's spawn."

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To Be Continue ?