## Chapter 211 – District 5 (8)
Of course, Heart and Charlotte were the only ones who questioned Spade’s presence there. Ryu and Asel naturally assumed he was just one of Clara’s subordinates. Perhaps sensing their gazes, Clara took Spade’s hand, brought him forward, and cheerfully said,
“Ah, Spade? He’s usually not like this, but he suddenly said he wanted to come with me, so I brought him along. Now, you should say hello.”
Spade bowed politely to Asel and Charlotte, giving a respectful first greeting.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Spade, the one who manages the mountain in District 5. I’m extremely pleased to meet Asel-nim like this.”
No one dislikes such a courteous first impression, and Asel was no exception. She quickly smiled and accepted Spade’s greeting.
“Yes, I look forward to working with you too. To think such a sharp person is a lieutenant… I’m jealous.”
Clara smiled happily and replied,
“Asel has Charlotte, doesn’t she?”
“Charlotte only nags me, so sometimes I don’t know who the Demon King is.”
Behind the two laughing and talking, Charlotte quietly observed Spade. The energy she felt was ordinary. She couldn’t sense any impure intentions, so she briefly wondered if Heart had made a mistake.
‘That guy is really the traitor?’
Even to Charlotte, who prided herself on her ability to read people, Spade didn’t seem malicious. She couldn’t understand it even more because she felt the same affection in Spade’s eyes when he occasionally looked at Clara as Heart did.
Clara stroked Heart’s head, who was standing still and staring at Spade, and said,
“You two were classmates, right? Feel free to chat.”
Unaware of Heart’s confused feelings, Clara left the two of them there and went with Asel, Charlotte, and Ryu. As soon as they were alone in the entrance, Heart immediately asked,
“Why are you here? You never even come down from the mountain usually?”
Spade nonchalantly stepped inside and said,
“Someone keeps digging into my past.”
Sharp eyes behind his glasses glared at Heart before letting out a deep sigh.
“It wasn’t a pleasant experience. That’s why I live in the mountains, to avoid those kinds of gazes.”
Heart approached Spade and spoke again, her voice sounding somewhat desperate.
“I just wanted it to be my mistake. Why are you saying that? Are you really….”
As if crushing Heart’s hopes, Spade said in a colder voice than ever before,
“You’re right about what you’re thinking.”
Spade’s words, which were no different from a confession, distorted Heart’s expression. Lips stained with anger and sadness slowly opened. The accumulated and suppressed emotions rose to her throat, and the moment they came out, they burst out louder than she intended.
“Why?! Have you forgotten what Clara-nim means to us?!”
Spade covered her ears as if annoyed, then held a finger horizontally to her lips.
“Be quiet. You’re not planning to confess everything here, are you? I believe you’re not that thoughtless.”
After finishing her words, she wiped her glasses and continued speaking with an indifferent expression. There was not a trace of guilt on her face for betraying them. Heart was speechless at her natural attitude, as if it were as natural as breathing.
“And don’t misunderstand. My feelings for Clara-nim haven’t changed.”
“Then why….”
Spade put her glasses back on, completely wiped the smile off her face, and spoke softly with a face more expressionless than a doll.
“Heart, you, who are particularly loved by Clara-nim, will never understand what this feeling is, even if you spend your whole life trying.”
It was a quiet voice, but it contained the most intense emotion of all the words she had spoken so far.
“It’s not too late now. You’re the only friend I’ve ever trusted. I can’t just let you go like this.”
“No, it’s too late.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Spade swung her hand vertically. A greatsword, which had appeared from nowhere, cut through the air and rushed towards the top of Heart’s head. Without a hint of surprise, Heart grabbed the blade of the greatsword with her hand and clenched her teeth.
“Is this your answer?”
Spade, despite wielding a sword larger than her own body with one hand, didn’t change her expression and simply put more strength into the hand holding the sword. Rather, it was Heart who was gradually being pushed back.
Her legs slowly lost strength, and her body began to lean downwards. If she continued to apply force like this, she could cut Heart’s body in half. But Spade didn’t do that. She simply raised her sword again and looked down at Heart, who was breathing heavily. Seeing that even her will to fight back had been broken, Spade turned around and said without looking back.
“This is the last time we’ll talk like this. I just came here to tell you that. Now that I’ve reached the truth, there’s no need to hide it anymore.”
“Wait, just a moment!”
Heart chased after her as she went outside, but Spade had already disappeared. All that remained in the place where she had disappeared were white scales on the floor. Heart clenched the scales Spade had left behind in her hand and opened her mouth as if resentful.
“Knowing what District 5 is like…!”
Heart shook her head and steeled her resolve.
She couldn’t catch up to her now by regretting or thinking. She had to discuss it with Charlotte and find a way to bring Spade back.
Heart returned to the kitchen and quietly watched the three of them eating the food she had prepared.
The peaceful scene made her feel complicated, as if what had just happened was a lie. Clara looked around, tilted her head as if puzzled, and asked Heart,
“Where’s Spade?”
At Clara’s question, she forced a smile that was more awkward than usual and tried to answer.
“Ah, she said she was leaving now that she’d seen my face.”
“Really? I wish she had eaten with us.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Clara got up from her seat, strode over, and quickly approached Heart. Heart was flustered and took a step back, but she couldn’t retreat because Clara gently grabbed her shoulder.
“By the way, is something wrong?”
“N-nothing in particular.”
Clara wiped the smile she always wore off her face and asked again with a worried expression.
“Lying isn’t good.”
“Clara-nim?”
“I’m always watching my children closely, so I can tell right away if something’s wrong. I can tell right away that your smile is different from usual. So, if something’s wrong, you can always lean on me.”
Clara’s words made Heart, who had been worrying alone, feel like a fool. She bit her lip and barely held back her tears, making a big decision.
“Clara-nim. If a traitor comes out among us Beholders, what are you going to do…?”
At Heart’s words, which had completely erased even her usual playful tone, Clara seemed shocked for a moment.
“A traitor?”
Clara endlessly repeated those words and fell into thought. Just imagining that the lieutenants she had personally poured affection into had betrayed her made Clara suffer from a gut-wrenching pain that she couldn’t bear.
She also knew. She knew that Heart wasn’t saying this for no reason, and that her condition had been strange since she met Spade. She had a kind smile, but she was by no means stupid.
As someone in the position of the Demon King, she had to make a decision when the time came. After a long period of contemplation, Clara gave Heart an answer.
“If something like that really happens, I can’t let you get your hands dirty. It’s something I… have to do.”
Asel, who had been enjoying her meal without a care, couldn’t follow the conversation between Heart and Clara, which had suddenly started. Asel got up from her seat and approached Clara.
“What are you talking about?”
Clara quickly wiped away a drop of tear that had formed in her eyes and said,
“Asel… I’m sorry, but I think I’ll have to leave here soon. I can’t involve you in my family affairs.”
Asel answered Clara’s words without hesitation.
“I can’t do that.”
Even if she saw someone in trouble in front of her, even if it was her friend, she couldn’t just pass by. That didn’t fit the image of the monarch she was drawing. If she couldn’t lend a helping hand to the person in front of her right now, how could she give faith to the people who followed her?
“Charlotte, are you okay with this?”
Charlotte smiled faintly, as if she had expected Asel to move like that.
“I was going to do that even if you didn’t say anything.”
Clara approached Asel with a flustered expression.
“W-wait a minute… you don’t have to do that.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster for us to help you than for you to deal with the lieutenants yourself? And we like it here, so we don’t want to leave this early.”
“Asel….”
Clara bit her lip and nodded with a different expression than before.
“Then shall I accept your favor? I’ll definitely repay this debt later.”
Clara then looked towards Heart and asked,
“Heart, who else knows about this?”
“Right now, it’s just the Demon King and the people here.”
“Okay, let’s keep it a secret from the other kids. We don’t know what might happen.”
“I think the same way. I’ll definitely take care of Spade with my own hands….”
Ryu couldn’t follow the entire flow of the conversation, but he could sense that something unusual had happened. But something was strange. Normally, he could easily understand something like this, but? The sound was getting fainter, and he even felt a little dizzy.
“Asel-nim… I….”
Ryu couldn’t finish his words and collapsed to the floor. The last thing he heard in his ears was the voices of Asel and Charlotte, but even that was fading away.
