Volume 3, Chapter 4-3 – If Their Life or Death Is Unknown, They’re Dead

Stella pushed open the doors of the Lionheart Society once again.

After a month away, the clubroom seemed to have changed slightly.

It wasn’t that the Lionheart Society had gained or lost any members. Stella hadn’t opened recruitment last time, and besides, the twelve members they already had were more than enough for her to deal with.

The so-called change was purely in the atmosphere.

Not long ago, the Lionheart Society had been filled with all kinds of impassioned debates about making demonkind great again, along with Dorothy’s incendiary recitations.

Now, all of that had vanished.

The instant Stella stepped into the Lionheart Society, everyone’s gaze turned toward her.

There was none of the fanaticism from a month ago in those eleven pairs of eyes.

Instead, they watched her with the look of people observing and waiting, their gazes even carrying a certain sense of scrutiny.

Stella stood where she was. For a moment, she felt like a lamb that had accidentally wandered into a pride of lions.

Even though she was the leader of those lions.

“President.”

Patolize stood at the very front of the crowd.

The succubus Prefect of Lilith School, now the second-in-command of the Lionheart Society, stood with her arms crossed. Her emerald-green hair fell over her shoulders as she gazed at Stella with a complicated expression.

“President, everyone has been waiting for you.”

“Mm… Sorry, I slept too long.” Stella blinked and instinctively asked. “Did anything happen while I was gone?”

“It’s nothing new.” Patolize paused. “It’s about Prophet Weekly… President, we’ve already heard. You are now… the legitimate heir of the Valentine family.”

“So everyone wants an explanation from you,” Patolize continued. “When you first founded the Lionheart Society, you did so under the banner of criticizing the Electors. When we joined, it was because we believed in that ideal too.”

She paused.

“But now… you yourself have become the legitimate heir of an Elector.”

“We can’t accept that so easily.”

Patolize had always firmly believed in Stella’s ideals.

But ultimately, the foundation of the Lionheart Society had been the impassioned words of an SSS+ student, not those of the current Valentine heir.

There was a contradiction between the two.

Patolize was genuinely worried that Stella had chosen betrayal.

She didn’t think Stella was the kind of ungrateful or faithless person who would sell out her most loyal followers and friends out of jealousy or fear.

But…

The trust Patolize had handed over in the past now frightened her, because in the end, what betrayal wounded and destroyed was trust itself.

‘Ah…’

‘So that’s what this is about.’

Stella wasn’t surprised at all.

But she truly couldn’t think of any good explanation.

Because Patolize was right.

When she had first founded the Lionheart Society, she really had run her mouth about things like “make demonkind great again” and “overthrow the rotten Electors.”

The problem was that back then, she had just been a mongrel demon with the surname Darkfallen. She could say whatever she wanted, since nobody would take it seriously anyway.

But now?

The Valentine heir.

The legitimate successor to one of the Seven Electors.

The person who had once stood onstage passionately denouncing the Electors had now suddenly become the legitimate heir of one.

Stella tried putting herself in their shoes.

If she were a member of the Lionheart Society and looked at herself now…

No matter how she looked at it, she looked like a traitor.

Though in a certain sense, being a saintess spy was even worse than being a traitor.

Still, considering how much her circumstances had changed, it was perfectly reasonable for the members of the Lionheart Society to scrutinize her.

Anyone who suddenly discovered that the leader they followed had become a traitor would have their faith collapse on the spot.

“…So you want me to give you an explanation?” Stella asked softly.

Patolize nodded.

Everyone looked at her.

Read оո ΚаtReαⅾinɡСafе

Waiting for her.

Stella thought for a moment.

How was she supposed to explain it?

Say Vivian wasn’t really her mother?

Say this so-called heir status was entirely something Vivian had decided on her own?

Say she had absolutely no desire to become the Valentine heir, and only wanted to finish her mission, go home, and collect her pension?

The problem was, who would believe her?

Would any idiot actually believe that?

Sometimes Stella simply couldn’t understand what was going on. The more truthful something she said was, the faker it sounded, and the harder it became for anyone to believe her.

It was ridiculous.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Stella’s mind, and once it appeared, she couldn’t suppress it anymore.

‘Right!’

‘Since everyone already saw me as a traitor, why not go all the way and use this chance to disband the Lionheart Society?’

The Lionheart Society had always been a headache.

Patolize had forced her into creating it in the first place, and Stella had wanted to dissolve it from the very beginning. Then so many things happened that, through one accident after another, it had dragged on until now.

‘Isn’t this the perfect opportunity?’

Betrayal.

Nothing could destroy the faith of a heretical organization more thoroughly than its leader defecting.

All she had to do was boldly confess to her crimes, let the members angrily withdraw from the club, and then the Lionheart Society could dissolve right here and now.

Perfect.

No sooner had she thought of it than she acted.

Stella straightened her back and faced everyone present. Her gaze was open and unapologetic, without the slightest trace of guilt, making her look cold and confident.

Her character right now…

Was a schemer!

A schemer who had calculated everything from the very beginning.

The more she tried to conceal it, the more obvious it would become. Emotion would be the bait, infiltration the support, all to achieve the goal she had wanted from the start.

“An explanation?”

Stella chuckled softly and arrogantly lifted her chin.

“Fine, since you asked,” she said leisurely as she adjusted the lace on her cuff. “Then I’ll tell you directly.”

Patolize frowned slightly.

“You guessed correctly.” Stella’s lips curled upward. “My goal from the very beginning was to become the legitimate heir of the Valentine family.”

“…”

Several people exchanged glances and fell silent. The sound of the wind seemed to seep into the room like water, flooding the silence.

Exactly.

This was precisely the effect she wanted.

The scene she had dreamed of.

Stella applauded inwardly.

Keep going. Push harder. Finish them off!

“As an illegitimate daughter, wouldn’t I naturally want to take back everything that should have belonged to me?”

“The Elector’s seat, the authority of the Valentine family. Everything had already been part of my plan before I ever created the Lionheart Society.”

Stella continued.

“The Lionheart Society? It was merely one piece of the plan.”

After saying that, Stella raised her chin and waited for the storm to arrive.

Come on.

Get angry.

Condemn me.

Then, disband.

Rеaⅾ oո КαtReаⅾiոɡСafe

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Stella waited.

Clap, clap, clap.

A lazy round of applause sounded.

“Brilliant… Just as I guessed, Stella.”

Remedios’ voice came from the side.

Stella turned her head.

She saw Remedios walking out of the lounge, her platinum-blonde hair lifting slightly in the breeze.

Beside her, Dorothy was happily spinning in place, the bells at the ends of her hair jingling.

“Mom, long time no see!” Dorothy greeted her cheerfully.

Before Stella could react, something tightened around her waist.

Dorothy threw herself into Stella’s arms, affectionately rubbing her cheek against Stella’s waist.

Stella didn’t know whether she should push her away or hug her.

“D-Dorothy…” she said stiffly. “We’re discussing something serious right now…”

“Something serious?”

Dorothy tilted her head and blinked in confusion.

“Mom being the Valentine heir isn’t a big deal,” she said as though it were only natural. “No matter who Mom is, whether you’re Darkfallen, Valentine, or even the Queen of Eternal Night who wants to destroy the world…”

“As long as it’s something Mom wants to do, Dorothy will help.”

‘Stop talking.’

‘Please, stop talking.’

‘I feel even more like the leader of a cult now!’

Remedios walked over to Stella and stopped beside her.

Her gaze swept across the eleven people present before finally settling on Patolize.

“I’ve been waiting all this time,” Remedios said softly. “Waiting for Stella to reveal the truth herself.”

Patolize frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

Remedios turned slightly and looked at Stella.

“I have a question. If it’s only us, can we really change the Abyss?”

“Criticize the Electors, overthrow their rotten rule, make demonkind great again… It all sounds incredibly stirring, but what about in reality?”

“In the Abyss, bloodline is power.”

“We’re just a group of succubi who are still in school and haven’t even graduated yet. What right do we have to shake those Elector houses that have existed for thousands of years?”

“Yes. Over the past month, we’ve been thinking about this constantly too. After the Lionheart Society was founded, we really were excited, and we really were happy, but once we calmed down, we had no idea where to even begin.”

Patolize nodded.

“During the month President was gone, we increasingly felt that… maybe the Lionheart Society really was just something we created in the heat of the moment. We have no pillar, no core, no real power capable of changing the Abyss.”

“Then… have you ever considered one question?” Remedios paused. “If an illegitimate daughter wants to reclaim her right of inheritance, how far does she need to go?”

No one answered.

“She needs enough strength.”

Remedios raised one finger.

“She needs enough prestige.”

A second finger.

“She needs enough followers.”

A third finger.

Remedios lowered her hand.

“Then what did Stella do?”

“She defeated Cheryl Valentine in the training arena, successfully proving her strength to the entire school.”

“Then she founded the Lionheart Society. A club built around the creed of making demonkind great again.”

Rеad οn КаtRеαⅾіոɡСαfe

“And what was the most brilliant part?”

“The most brilliant part was that this banner attracted precisely those who were dissatisfied with the current situation and longed for change. In other words, the people most likely to follow her in the future, and the people most likely to become the core of her faction.”

“And I saw through you long ago, Stella.” Remedios turned toward Stella and spoke with smug satisfaction.

In truth, every conspiracy was that simple.

At least, Remedios trusted Stella deeply.

All those logically inconsistent words, all those attempts to patch one lie with another, all those unreasonable concealments, all those deceptions where she feigned reluctance while secretly inviting others to pursue her, all of them came down to one simple truth.

Stella was a succubus who dreamed of becoming the Queen of Eternal Night.

Stella opened her mouth but said nothing.

She didn’t want to brush it off, so naturally she remained silent. Tugging at the corner of her lips was already the extent of her politeness.

Remedios looked at everyone present as she continued her speech.

“If she had started by recruiting followers under the banner of being the legitimate Valentine heir, what kind of people could she have attracted?”

“Opportunists who curry favor with the powerful? Ambitious schemers greedy for authority? If those people can follow her today for that reason, then tomorrow they can betray her for the same reason.”

“But what about the people Stella recruited as a reformer?”

“They are people who truly believe in making demonkind great again, people willing to fight to change the Abyss.”

“And after you guessed that Stella was the legitimate Valentine heir, what do you think the next step was?” Remedios chuckled softly.

“I see… I understand now…”

Patolize’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

“If we want to change the Abyss, a group of students standing outside shouting slogans will never accomplish anything.”

“The only workable method is to change it from within, from the top, from the very heart of power.”

Several members beside her exchanged looks and muttered among themselves.

“No wonder…”

“If you put it that way, it really does make sense…”

“Why didn’t I think of that before…”

“Exactly.” Miss Book Demon clapped her hands. “Criticizing the Electors and becoming an Elector were never contradictory.”

“The former is the method, while the latter is the path. A critic can only stand outside and curse them, but an heir can sit inside and change things.”

Remedios looked at Stella, genuine admiration in her voice.

“You planned all of this from the very beginning, didn’t you, Stella?”

“From the moment you defeated Cheryl, from the moment you founded the Lionheart Society, perhaps even… from the moment you enrolled.”

“And all this time, you’ve been waiting, using people, deceiving them, moving them with emotion, one link after another, carefully preparing the cards in your hand and calculating everything required to achieve your objective, even factoring your own life into the equation.”

“Waiting until your prestige was high enough, waiting until you had enough followers, waiting until the time was ripe, then, as the Valentine heir, you would take us with you and walk inside.”

“Walk into the Eternal Night Corridor. Walk into the Nexus Council. Walk into the Electors’ round table.”

“Then, from the inside, pry the entire Abyss apart.”

“And by then, the Lionheart Society would long since have ceased to be a group of students playing around. It would have become a true force capable of shaking the Abyss!”

Remedios confidently lifted her chin.

“Am I right, Stella?”

Stella’s mind went completely blank.

‘Right?’

‘Right, my ass!’

‘I had only been trying to disband the club just now!’

‘I had only been trying to play the role of a traitor and make the members angrily quit!’

‘Why was Remedios able to take that confession full of holes and imagine an entire plan so grand, so meticulous, so…’

‘So convincing that it actually sounded real?!’

‘Change the Abyss from the top down?’

‘Pry open the Electors’ round table from within?’

‘Me?’

‘Stella von Einzbern, a human saintess who only wanted to finish her mission, go home, and collect her pension?’

‘Seriously?’

Reаd оո ΚаtRеαⅾiոgСafe

“President.” Patolize stepped forward, her voice trembling slightly. “So… all of this is true? From the very beginning, you had already calculated every possibility?”

Stella opened her mouth. Her instinct was to deny it, but Patolize didn’t give her the chance to speak.

“I was worrying unnecessarily,” Patolize said. “You don’t need to answer. Remedios has already explained everything clearly.”

“Ever since you enrolled, you’ve been paving the road for us.”

“Defeating Cheryl was to prove your strength.”

“Creating the Lionheart Society was to select your companions.”

“Becoming the heir was to gain the qualification.”

A layer of mist rose in Patolize’s emerald eyes.

“And we… a group of people who knew nothing, were actually doubting you just now. We were even waiting for you to give us an explanation.”

“I’m sorry, President.”

She lowered her head deeply.

Then came the second.

The third.

All them lowered their heads in unison.

Stella stared at them.

‘No, why are you all apologizing?!’

‘I am the one who should be apologizing!’

‘I only want to disband the club!!’

‘Aaaaahhhh!!!’

“President.”

Patolize raised her head, her eyes filled with unprecedented determination.

“Please give us your orders.”

“Orders?”

“Yes,” Patolize said. “You’ve already secured your position as the legitimate Valentine heir, and you’ve already taken the hardest first step.”

“Then what comes next? What should we do? Where should we go? What should we prepare for you?”

The other members gradually raised their heads as well.

Each pair of eyes was brighter than the last.

No one knew who shouted first.

Then the entire clubroom erupted.

“Give us your orders, President!”

“We’re ready!”

“The Eternal Night Corridor? The Nexus Council? The Electors’ round table? Wherever you tell us to go, we’ll go!”

“Even if you want to attack the Holy City, we’ll follow you!”

The corner of Stella’s eye twitched.

‘Attack the Holy City?’

‘Why did that sound so familiar?’

‘Mm…’

‘The Primordial Doctrine had said the same thing.’

‘Why did the entire world want me to fight my way into the Holy City?’

Stella stared blankly at Remedios, only to receive a look from the latter that clearly said, ‘I understand you.’

‘…My good sister, you’ve really screwed me over.’

Translator Note

HAHAHAHAHAHA Remedios is such a fun girl despite being a bookworm xD