Dungeon Defense (WN)

* * *

“Please do not make me do something like that again! I am serious!”

This was the first nagging I heard the moment I regained consciousness.

I asked how many days I was unconscious and was told three. I jokingly said that that wasn’t much compared to before, but Jeremi glared daggers at me.

“Do you know how difficult it has been for me? I thought my eyes would pop out trying to treat that disciple of mine, the minister, and Your Highness.”

Jeremi placed her hand against her forehead as she recalled her dreaded experience.

“The three of you were also half-dead……which did not make things easier.”

“Yes, yes. You did well. Are the other two okay?”

“Your Highness was in the worst condition. No one could possibly compare to your near-death state. Your teeth were all chipped and your muscles were a mess. You only managed to survive because you are a Demon Lord.”

According to Jeremi, she had to use all of the precious and rare herbs, which she had been treasuring, to treat the three of us.

Treating the wounds wasn’t a problem. The issue was trying to treat our bodies in a way that left behind no scars. Getting rid of scars on bodies riddled with wounds was no different from carrying out surgery.

Candles were lit to prevent tetanus, while surgical tools and various potions were utilized to restore the skin. The surgery would get complicated if the wounds closed, so she had to hastily restructure our flesh while also carrying out our treatment. Jeremi had to work for three days straight.

She performed surgeries by herself for forty hours. Her stress was understandable. What else could I do? I behaved like a patient and quietly listened to Jeremi’s complaints.

“Scars are like medals for men, right? That is why I treated Your Highness last.”

“Wait, but I’m still a Demon Lord…….”

“If you’re a lord, then please act like one.”

Jeremi lashed out at me with a face filled with exhaustion.

“Hence that is why I intentionally left two scars.”

“Ugh.”

Jeremi was probably asking me to reflect on myself.

“I thought that I responded to the situation rather well. Did I not?”

“Well, as a ruler, that was the best response, but as a person, that was the worst.”

Jeremi took out a pipe and started to smoke some unknown herb.

“Oh, give me one too.”

“Don’t even dream about smoking until your wounds are healed.”

What a wicked woman.

“Are you aware that the Chancellor of State Affairs is currently abstaining from food and water? She hasn’t eaten anything for the past three days. But that’s on the better end. The Military Affairs Minister has been staring blankly at the air like some lunatic. That disciple of mine……seemed perfectly fine, but she’s always been an abnormal case.”

In other words, my Demon Lord Castle was like a wake.

I bluntly responded with an, “Is that so?”. Jeremi gave me a blank look.

“You have done well. You can go back and get some rest now.”

“Do you not fear death, Your Highness?”

“……I never expected to be asked that by an assassin.”

I stared at the ceiling.

“I do fear it. However, I was certain that I wouldn’t die.”

“You are seriously uncontrollable.”

Jeremi shook her head. She then proceeded to pack her surgery tools and candles before leaving the room. I didn’t forget to tell her to bring Lapis to me.

Shortly later, Lapis entered my room. Before I could give her any form of greeting, Lapis immediately groveled.

“Lapis, come here.”

Lapis kept her head down as she stood back up. She approached a few steps before promptly groveling again. Her stubbornness was palpable as she refused to look me in the face. I smiled bitterly.

“Closer.”

A childish battle of nerves unfolded. Lapis would approach whenever I told her to get closer, but she would grovel again after only a few steps. This repeated over and over again until Lapis finally arrived in front of me.

“Closer.”

“…….”

Lapis ended up standing right next to my bed. I couldn’t see her expression because she was lowering her head, but it didn’t matter. I could easily tell what she was thinking. She clearly thought that all of this was her responsibility.

Why didn’t she stop Laura beforehand? Why didn’t she save Daisy? If she had taken care of matters a little sooner, then her lord wouldn’t have had to get injured.

However, she couldn’t apologize. She couldn’t say that she was sorry. All because she understood what resolve I made to shoulder that punishment.

Do not inquire further into this incident. This is my responsibility. I allocated the punishment with this intent in mind.

If Lapis apologizes to me here, then she would be taking that responsibility from me. She would be denying my resolve and wounds.

That’s why Lapis knew that she shouldn’t. Even if she felt tormented by guilt, she couldn’t utter an apology in order to respect my will.

Hence why I silently held her hand. I could feel the bony back of her hand. She had been abstaining from food and water for the past few days, right?

“Sorry, Lapis.”

“…….”

“Sorry.”

I don’t apologize to people. That’s because apologies come from two-way relationships.

It’s my fault. I’m sorry. Forgive me. Give me another chance. I won’t do it again. In other words, these words hold the expectation of ‘continuing’ to stay together…….

The apology and forgiveness dynamics cannot be established if the other party is dead. This is obviously because you cannot spend your future together with someone who’s already dead.

You cannot apologize or be forgiven. Apologizing in this situation would only be a verbal expression. No one can live my life in my stead. Similarly, no one can die in another person’s stead and apologize. This was extremely obvious…….

The sole exception to this rule is Lapis.

She gave me the chance to succeed, helped me, plotted with me a way to make the continent fall into despair, and continued to stay with me afterward.

A long silence flowed by. Lapis raised her head.

She looked more haggard than usual, but it was still Lapis in front of me. Her blue eyes that always stared at people clearly, although expressionlessly. They were eyes that I truly liked.

“……I will make sure that something like this never happens again.”

“Yeah. I also won’t resort to this kind of method again.”

“That is a promise, Your Highness.”

I gladly accepted that promise.

* * *

I recovered from my injuries comparatively faster than usual and got out of bed.

The Saintess will get suspicious if I don’t show myself for too long. Not only her. I have the attention of the continent on me. They may have not been found yet, but there are numerous spies planted throughout my territory.

Weird rumors would formulate if I stay confined at home for too long. It was especially bad since I left during the festival. In other words, everyone was watching as I left. There was a risk that groundless rumors might be created.

I couldn’t stay bedridden even if I was hurt. This was the fate of humans.

Jeremi latched on to me rather persistently.

“Are you truly okay? Truly?”

“Ah, I’m all better now. Would I lie to you?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

An immediate response.

A lord who was barely trusted by his vassals was standing right here.

“I’ll immediately tell you if something weird happens, so let me go for now. Okay?”

I eventually managed to persuade Jeremi.

……To be honest, I still couldn’t feel my back yet.

It felt like all of the nerves on my back had died as it was the only place I could barely feel. I experimented by stabbing a sharp needle in my back, but it only felt like a blunt fingernail.

My body itself had recovered, so this was probably a psychological problem. Mental disabilities are quite an issue.

I’m not sure if this is an aftereffect, but I sometimes wake up feeling the same intense pain I felt while getting whipped. That pain would sometimes fuse together with my nightmares. Those moments were terrible.

The usual three hours of sleep I’d get had shrunken further as I now got about four to five hours of sleep every two days. But that was still enough. I may have never thanked myself before, but I’ve been thanking my body dozens of times every day.

After going to the village town hall to show off to my people that I was still alive and well, I went to visit Daisy. Naturally, Daisy was resting in her room and not that accursed underground prison.

Daisy turned to glance at me once I opened the door and entered her room.

She then went back to reading her book. She didn’t get up even though her Lord had visited her. A cheeky slave as usual.

“Are you still resting? What a lazy child.”

“Unlike you, Father, I am but a normal human.”

Daisy responded without looking away from her book.

“My entire body is still sore, so I cannot muster the strength to welcome you properly. I hope for your understanding.”

“There’s no way a normal child would read a book like this.”

I smirked as I took the book from Daisy’s hands. <Rules for the Direction of the Mind (Regula ad directionem ingeni)> was written on the cover in the Ancient Imperium language. Daisy narrowed her eyes and glared at me after her book was suddenly taken away from her.

“Please return the book. I was at an interesting part.”

“Don’t misunderstand. I did not shoulder the punishment for your sake.”

My words were completely spontaneous, but it was still enough to make Daisy shut her mouth.

“If I forgive the Military Affairs Minister’s actions, then you would simply become a pitiful victim. Victims are those in the right. I simply did not wish to let you take the position of the right.”

“……I know.”

Daisy let out a light sigh.

“How could I not know your intentions, Father?”

“Then why were you reading? Do not try to trick my eyes. Reading when by yourself is simply reading, but reading when someone has visited you is escapism.”

I smirked.

“You are finding it difficult to face me properly. That is why you tried to avoid me. You must feel indebted to me. Tell me if I am wrong.”

“Humans do not only have heads. They have hearts as well.”

Daisy scowled.

“Even if I know what you are thinking, Father, how could I possibly erase my human heart as well?”

“Your logic is so trifling that it is laughable. In other words, you are still lacking. I am not telling you to remove your human heart. I am telling you to not reveal it to others!”

I threw the book to the ground and shouted.

“There are two reasons why people reveal their hearts to others. One is to show off your strength and the other is to ask for sympathy. People who show off their strength thoughtlessly will create needless enemies, and people who ask for sympathy end up pitying themselves. Either way, both options are only done by clowns! Is that what you intend to become?”

“…….”

Daisy clenched her teeth. She didn’t refute my words, so I was probably right. I raised the corners of my mouth.

“I heard that you cut ties with your family. I do feel a little sorry for you. I will at least praise the fact that you were able to hide this from me for two years.”

“…….”

This was the second praise I had ever given her, but she didn’t seem pleased by it at all. As usual, what an uncute child. I teasingly tapped Daisy’s forehead before turning around.

“The Military Affairs Minister will come to apologize to you. Do not forgive her.”

I could feel Daisy’s confusion from behind me.

“Why is that? Is she not one of your precious concubines?”

“I do not have a concubine. Laura did temporarily become weaker because of me; however, that does not change the fact that she is still a great individual who does not have to apologize to others to be allowed to live. Laura is strong.”

I started to walk away after saying these words.

“And she has to become stronger.”

Thud, I closed the door behind me.

My next destination was Laura’s bedroom.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Jeremi and Daisy really are endearing in their own way. The dynamic between Daisy and Dant is always interesting to see cause you really can’t tell whether Daisy despises Dant or not. Uh, not much else to say. I enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter is worrying since we now have to see how Dant handles Laura after all this…

Welp, in any case, I got another big translation project at work for my New Year’s Eve present 🙂 I get to work hard into 2023! Woo! End me.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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