Of course! I’m obviously not at fault here!
“But Your Majesty—” Nefradia tried to butt in again.
Give it a rest, you old hag!
“I know.” The king cut her off, frustration evident in his tone. “That is all on the assumption that Zilbagias here is telling the truth. I understand that.” He gave a small sigh. “Zilbagias, I will have to punish you for the crime of slaying your older brother,” he declared, expression as hard as a statue.
...What?!
“Why?! I’m the victim here!”
“I understand that. And I have reason to believe you are probably telling the truth. But the only ones who can verify your claims are your own retainers. Even the dragons were killed...” The Demon King gritted his teeth. “A testimony from only one side holds no weight. You could make up as much or as little as you wanted. If you had spared Emergias, even just a hair from death, things would be different. But...!” His shoulders dropped. “I cannot let you go without punishment. It would set a terrible precedent.”
“Precedent?! For who?!”
You gotta be kidding me! I didn’t know what kind of punishment we were talking about, but with how grim he was and how much Nefradia was smirking over there in the corner, I knew it had to be nothing good!
“Where is the justice in punishing someone for fighting in self-defense?!”
“It is just,” the king replied solemnly. “It is forbidden for those in line for the throne to directly fight among each other until the succession war begins. There is a little room to account for extenuating circumstances, but even so, both parties are to be found equally guilty. That is how it has been since the time of the first Demon King.”
Apparently during the reign of the first Demon King, it had become common for those in line for succession to use false accusations as a pretense to justify attempting to kill each other before the start of the succession war. It became so frequent and violent that it had effectively devolved into a civil war.
“Right now, Aiogias and Rubifya are both on edge,” the king explained, folding his hands on his desk. “Both have sent messengers back to their homelands, telling their families to prepare for battle. With Emergias out of the picture, the balance in power between them has shifted dramatically. However, both of them are waiting to see how the situation will unfold.” He stared at me, eyes suddenly devoid of emotion. “If I were to show you leniency here, the others would view any potential punishment as bearable, surely resulting in fights breaking out. And not just between Aiogias and Rubifya. Every archduke in the kingdom would jump at the opportunity to crush their rivals as soon as possible. Any hope to keep the situation under control would be long gone.”
“I don’t understand. Why does that make me deserving of punishment?” I objected, speaking slowly to try and stay calm. “I did everything I could to avoid the worst possible outcome. And still, Emergias attacked me. There was no avoiding this outcome save for tucking my tail and fleeing. My research didn’t allow me to simply run away, and neither did my honor!” But by the end, I couldn’t mask the emotion in my voice. “If you are so worried about my older siblings fighting, why don’t you just disarm them?!”
“A law that is never enforced may as well not exist. Power with no authority is meaningless, but so is authority with no power. I strongly share my father’s sentiments about forbidding fighting before succession begins in earnest. Despite already declaring that those who break that rule will be met with punishment, this still happened. It is no different from spitting in my face.” I could practically hear the bones in his hands creaking as he clenched his fingers. “Ignoring this is simply not an option.”
So he had to make an example of me?! I got what he was saying, but still!
“Emergias was the one spitting in your face, not me!” I glanced over at Nefradia, but she wasn’t at all bothered by me impugning her son’s character. She was grinning from ear to ear. Why was I being subjected to this crap from some old hag?!
“I understand what you’re getting at and where you’re coming from. But for the sake of the kingdom, my authority must be shown to be absolute.”
“Then what?! I should have just let him kill me?!”
“If he had”—the king made another pained expression—“I would have punished him harshly. Very, very harshly.”
Oh, come on! This has gotta be some kind of joke! I was furious to the point of being speechless.
Meanwhile, the king gave me an apologetic look before flipping through some papers on his desk. “Taking into account both past precedent and the extenuating circumstances, fifty years of house arrest seems appropriate for the crime of fratricide.”
Um...what? Fifty...years? I wouldn’t be allowed to take a single step outside my room for fifty years? As a demon, I could easily live to be two hundred years old. But a fifty-year sentence was still incredibly lengthy! Fifty years being forbidden from going into battle?! I wouldn’t be able to gain any power from Taboo at all!
“Of course, I will do everything I can to make it bearable for you. If you’d like, I could even provide a large room in my palace to serve as your quarters. Or if there is anywhere else in the castle you would prefer, I can make that your private quarters instead. Perhaps the full fifty years will not need to be served. A pardon after thirty years seems reasonable. I can also take measures to account for the loss the Rage family will incur. If you are worried about the details, I can put everything in writing. So please, Zilbagias.” The king looked up at me, almost pleading. “Could you bear this punishment? For the kingdom?” If he hadn’t been king, I imagine he would have been bowing.
There was a long silence as I stared back at him. “And if I refuse?”
I couldn’t care less about all that shit. It took everything I had to keep my right hand from reaching for Adamas.
“It is as I said before.” The king’s face turned hard once again. “My authority must be shown to be absolute.”
Screw all of this! As I am now, no way could I beat the Demon King! Dammit, dammit, dammit! And now I would have to wait and sit on my hands for what? Thirty years?! Me?! For the sake of the demonic kingdom?!
“Honestly, you are too kind, Your Majesty.” While I struggled to keep a lid on my boiling rage, Nefradia spoke up to stoke my anger further. “But I believe there is something rather important you seem to have forgotten,” she said with a wide grin.
What the hell do you want? I’m not in the mood. Keep it up and I’ll pick a fight with you too.
“Surely the seventh prince has a right to choose his own fate? There is always the option of another ordeal...”
The Demon King scowled, as if resentful she had brought it up at all.
“Another ordeal...?” As much as it pained me to entertain Nefradia’s diversion, I couldn’t ignore her waving it in my face like that.
Nefradia shot a meaningful look at the king.
“What she is saying is...there is another choice for you. An ordeal you could undertake. However, all others who have done so never returned alive.” The king finally resigned himself. “Zilbagias, you have two choices. Fifty years of house arrest, or one year in exile.”
Exile...? What’s that?
“For one year, you will be stripped of all status and authority in the demonic kingdom, and expelled from its borders. If you can survive all on your own without any aid from the kingdom, your crime will be forgiven,” Nefradia all but whispered. “Sounds easy, don’t you think? After all, it’s just for a single year.”
“Outside the kingdom. You mean...in the Alliance...?”
“Yes. All you have to do is survive.” Nefradia laughed wickedly.
It took all I had not to visibly tremble. In other words...if I chose exile, the demonic kingdom would completely leave me alone...and I could just walk into the Alliance?!
Hell yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!
“I, Seventh Demon Prince Zilbagias Rage, choose exile!” I declared emphatically.
Nefradia looked like she had just conquered the world, while the Demon King’s head dropped into his hands in despair.