King Henry Giraut Regnier's POV

The fireplace crackled and my eyes hurt from staring at the fire for too long. Or maybe it was because I was too tired of the sudden events happening today.

Or was it because I'm getting old?

The ring on my index finger glinted, the gold bands reflected the light coming from the fire. The sapphire embedded within tiny golden chains was of deep color almost turning black when angled right.

I was sitting in my study after meeting with the advisers and officials, considering that a demon had gotten inside the Royal Rex Hall.

How did that happen?

I made sure that there were knights on duty at every corner so that the twins' celebration would go smoothly. Heck, I even ordered the old Earl of Griffith to check every item going inside the hall.

A demon at the twins' baptism ceremony. Who guided it across security, walking in almost as if it was invisible?

A curse.

At first, when Edward sent the letter stating his divinity was sealed because of Lucifer's attack, I thought it was just an effect that the attack had on him. After all, when divinity and demonic collide, bad and unexpected things would happen. You could never guess what came after.

Considering the attack was so powerful, it was only a small sacrifice Edward had made - his divinity instead of his life in exchange for defeating Lucifer.

Lucifer! It was Lucifer, for God's sake. The Demon King! The Prince of Darkness...

Yes, Edward is strong. But Lucifer was stronger.

It was a miracle that Edward Redgrave defeated him. But who would have thought that Lucifer would take one last laugh even after he died?

To curse the bloodline of the one who killed him. A real demon indeed.

The Redgrave House was already doomed. And to think that I myself gave away my only daughter to a cursed man.

Others worshipped Edward and the Redgrave House since he was the world's hero. Unfortunately, I used that to my advantage.

Seeing Lillian caring about him and watching both of their interactions and expressions when they were together, I could not help but plan their marriage to uphold the glory of Glarios Kingdom.

Why? It was for the future of this nation, to plan against the hidden currents. But...

A mistake. It was all a mistake. I made the wrong move.

Lillian even gave birth to his children. I feel so guilty...

I only saw the twins after a long time since I was so busy planning against what was to come. When I carefully looked at the children, my excitement from seeing them disappeared.

The twins were not normal.

The girl had a different aura than most babies. No... a different aura than most people, even compared to those with divinity. I could not truly explain it. Her eyes had a piercing gaze that no child should have.

The boy, on the other hand, I could see Lillian's own divinity enshrouding him, but I could definitely distinguish through the facade. A demonic power was flowing inside of him.

Imagine my shock when I recognized the demonic powers in my own grandchild.

What the hell happened? This is preposterous!

A demon?

Kill the child? For his fate was already fixed?

He'll not survive. If he grows up, he'll only suffer. Worse, he may transmute into a demon.

But seeing Lillian's gaunt face, with tears in her eyes, she was begging me to save them.

It was my fault. If I didn't push them into this marriage, Lillian would not experience this misery.

I stared at the twins thinking about the options. Save them or not? What to do?

I felt that if someone looked closely at them, say, someone with a strong divinity, they would know something was wrong. They were the hero's children, and everyone would watch them with close attention.

Do they have a chance to survive?

Do I give them that chance?

Catching sight of Lillian's divinity that was flowing into the boy, I realized the choice she had to make. She had already made a decision and she was determined to see it through.

So, I bestowed them the royal name. I had no choice but to break tradition.

The next day, when I learned the truth from Lillian, the problems all came crashing down. I almost cried.

Edward was cursed! And I didn't see nor sense it at all! Even with Gormal? What about the Grand Priest? Did he know?

What to do with Edward? I could not see the curse in him, and he seemed fine to me. I thought his divinity was the only problem but that was not it at all. I put him on a pedestal, and everyone thinks he's still the same hero as before. Lucifer's curse still runs through him and maybe, it's just a matter of time until Edward...

Lucifer... you are indeed the bane of humanity.

My head hurt even more. I need to do something before it worsens. It's time.

Edward was still fine, and the children were already born. I gave the twins the royal name somehow. I could only distance myself away so others would not notice anything. The ring artifact Gormal... could recognize its successors...

If only I knew the truth earlier. I could have avoided this. But it was too late...

However, I was just so busy these past few months. I traveled all over Glarios so I could enhance and improve the borders and the strategic sites.

Both the Noria and Rishan Empires would be having new emperors in the near future. As would Glarios Kingdom since I would be passing my throne to Alfred.

And even the Sundin Kingdom would have a new tribal chief.

New leaders meant a new generation. And this era would be a peaceful one.

It was only three years after the demons were defeated, yet I could see the change. I could feel what was going to happen.

When there were still the Demon Hierarchies, all of us were united. A common enemy we were all fighting. But all of that had changed.

These new leaders were molded in fights, battles, and wars against demons. They are strong. I saw all of them earlier...

They will be restless and definitely ambitious, hoping to achieve something.

With peace, conflict runs amok.

And when troubles are deep, war approaches.

This was the inevitable truth. And it would come for us.