"Why does it seem like I know him?"
A demon among the crowd whispered with a frown of confusion.
He couldn't be sure, but he felt like he had seen an image of the guy with black hair and purple eyes somewhere.
But his words caused the demons around him to turn toward him.
"Wut?"
The demon asked as his frown deepened when he noticed the strange expressions on their faces.
It was as if they were looking at an idiot.
"Did you live under a rock or something?"
A demon sneered as he looked at the demon in question, causing his frown to deepen.
"Not under a rock, but yes, I never actually came out of my house."
But he still accepted that he was an introvert who never came out of his house.
"Sigh...." X3
The demons around him sighed before one of them spoke up.
"That guy is the waste of the Ashenfang family.
He was supposed to be the next king, but him being as useless as he is, all he could do was hide behind his maternal grandfather."
That demon jeered as he looked at Rohrg mockingly.
His voice was barely a whisper, and there were many other demons talking about something like this, but Rohrg, who was walking out of the crowd, heard it all.
'Just you wait...'
The demons in the crowd didn't know that their faces were already imprinted inside the protagonist's mind, and as vengeful as he was, Rohrg wasn't going to let them slide.
'For now, however....'
Rohrg, taking a deep breath, went on his knees as soon as he neared the throne that Alex was sitting on.
He was kneeling a step behind the position where the demon generals were standing right now, hoping that he could get cover behind them.
The demon generals, however, just moved out of the way.
"Take a seat."
Alex's voice resounded throughout the hall, causing the murmurs to go silent.
His eyes were focused on Rohrg, but everyone could tell whom he was talking to.
"As you wish, my lord." X3
The three demon generals spoke in unison before they stepped up toward their respective thrones.
Unlike any other empire, here calling the demon lord, who was the emperor of the demon empire, 'your majesty' was not a tradition.
Everyone in the demon empire was supposed to call the demon lord 'lord'.
But the thing was that there would be no other lord in the demon empire.
No one is supposed to be lord over anyone; even the archdukes can't be called lord by their subordinates or slaves.
The Demon Empire had only one being that could rule over every being in the Demon Empire, the demon lord. He was the one and only lord, the lord of their lives, the lord of their wills, and the lord of their bodies.
Others were either sires or masters.
But let's leave it at that.
So, what could he possibly call me out for?'
He was frowning inwardly as he pondered the reason Alex could've asked him to come here—his mind was working in overdrive, but he couldn't think of anything.
The dramatic pauses that Alex took didn't help as well; they only added to the pressure.
"So, Rohrg Ashenfang, I want you to state the first and only order I have passed down until now."
*Badump**Badump**Badump*...
Alex's purr along with his eyes, which were looking deep inside Rohrg's soul, caused the guy's heartbeat to rise at an unpredictable rate.
'How did he know!'
His eyes quivered, and his fists clenched. For the first time since the start of the program, he felt fear.
If he was found out to have gone against the demon lord's words, he, just like his grandfather, would be blamed for treason.
He knew the disadvantages of the broadcast, and that was also the reason for him doing it.
But now he could see his plans backfiring on him.
He racked his brain, thinking of a way out of this situation.
His lips, however, still moved, doing what Alex had asked him to do.
"The coronation ceremony must not be broadcasted."
Rohrg's words echoed through the hall as the demons frowned in confusion, while Rohrg looked up into Alex's eyes.
'What's going on?'
This was the only question in their heads.
Even the wise ones were at a loss, but there was one person in the crowd who understood what was going on.
'He really did it...'
Grum muttered inwardly as his eyes grew worried while staring at Rohrg.
His gaze then shifted to his granddaughter, Lilia, and he couldn't help but grind his teeth.
He knew for sure what would happen if Rohrg were to be proven guilty; he was old, so he knew many things, and one of them was a line even he used to say—'death to the traitors.
He glanced at Rohrg once again before his eyes grew determined.
He loved his grandchildren from the bottom of his heart, so much so that he was willing to go against the whole empire just to save them when death was the only thing that was written for them.
So, how could he sit still when one of his grandchildren was sentenced to death?
But for now, he waited.
From what he observed in the last few months, he could tell that, for some reason, his grandson had grown manipulative and scheming.
His every move had a counterplan ready.
He just hoped the same for today.
'Or else...'
He clenched his fists, resolute to not let Rohrg die today, no matter what.
As for what was actually going to happen, only time could tell...
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*Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *