A Peacock Husband of Five Princesses by day, a Noble Assassin by Night
Chapter 114 114: The Queen recalls the Second Princess

Transforming back into himself, Kael returned to his room. He didn't drink anymore and threw himself on the bed, as all those depressing feelings he had been having so far had been gone and replaced with pleasant ones. Now, he just wants to have a nice sleep.

But, just as he shut his eyes, his mind briefly flickered to the Queen, who believes that his era of fighting is over.

She is the one who probably knows about his secrets more than anyone else in the world.

Should he go and tell her this news? Kael wondered for a moment before shaking away those thoughts.

After all, it has two problems.

One, he doesn't know how she would react to demonic transformation.

Two, she gave him the retirement funds, 1 million gold coins.

If he tells her, he should have to return the money.

He had served the Queen for so long. Could he now take what was offered and build something for himself instead, and keep it a secret from the Queen? And continues to use his demonic powers in the dark, doing the same job as Assassin K but under a new, different identity, one that doesn't work for Queen or take money from her, for the missions. Instead, one that really does the social service like a proper vigilante.

"Hmm… Nah, I should think like a businessman. How about this? I intend to create a guild of shadow assassins, and the Queen wants me to train my successor. Why can't I just combine both?" Kael's eyes lit up as an idea popped up in his head. "Let's keep the money for the shipyard operations or just as savings, and pitch the idea to the Queen about creating the guild, using the palace's money. They work for the Queen, but their identities will be kept secret and only known to me. One of these secretive assassins will be me in the demonic form. I had to cover my transformation. So, I might as well design a demonic attire, with a mask and fake horns and all, just like the Clowns of Ark have. Hmm… but not right away, though. I need to become stronger as Kael Moonstone, first of all, and show the Queen that I'm not just about knowledge that is left of me. I can be much more. Yes, the tamer path will help me pass that hurdle, and my demonic power can be used to fuel the tamer path in taming the beasts."

***

Meanwhile, in the Queen's Chamber, the Queen also couldn't sleep.

"What to do… what to do…"

She was pacing nervously in her room, her hands clenched and unclenched, a habit that had emerged from the strain she experienced as the ruler.

She had spent years carefully crafting her rule, ensuring the stability of the Queendom through diplomacy, control, and the ever-present, shadowy deterrent of K.

But now, with K gone and no longer available to keep the balance, she felt quite pressured.

If she couldn't manage this and take a wrong step, she would be left exposed to rebellion. Power struggles would ignite across the Queendom, and she would have no way to control the fallout.

She couldn't let that happen.

With a deep breath, the Queen's resolve hardened as she stopped walking at last.

She knew what she had to do, and it was a move she had hoped never to make. "There was only one person I could rely on now to stabilize the situation. Only that troublesome daughter of mine can help me out."

She instantly took out her communication scroll. Her fingers lingered on it for a moment before she sent out the message. "Athena, this is an imperial order, and you will not ignore it. You are hereby ordered to return to the imperial city and take the post of Imperial Commander and lead the Royal Knights. Your current position will be filled by your second rank."

While the Imperial Commander is not an official appointment, but a temporary one that will grant one the command of the Royal Knights, when one gets appointed, it gives them the same powers as the Supreme Commander of the Army. Usually, the position comes into play when the Queen has the intention to impose martial law.

And right now, she intends to do it, for a month or two, until she finds a suitable candidate to replace Kael.

Once the message was sent away, she slumped into the chair, her eyes on the ceiling, as a long sigh escaped her mouth. "Ugh… just when I was about to retire and live in peace, I had to face this headache…"

***

The next morning;

Kael woke with a low groan, the weight of exhaustion still clinging to his limbs.

Aches pulsed through his muscles—deep, unfamiliar aches that made him feel like he had been crushed beneath a mountain.

It wasn't a feeling he experienced often anymore. Even with all his battles, his body had long adapted to combat, strengthened by years of training and magic.

But this? This was different.

"It's just a minor side effect," came the smooth, ever-bored voice of Cleo in his head. "You used the demon heart's power. Your human body's not exactly qualified to handle the remnants of a Demon King's essence… especially now that you lost your mana core. If not for your primordial dark energy, your body would have long broken down the moment you returned from demonic transformation last night."

Kael sighed, dragging a hand across his face. "Wonderful. The future's really shaping up with waves in the sea," he muttered. He pushed himself upright, letting the blanket fall from his shoulders, only to stop mid-motion as he noticed someone lying beside him on the bed.

For a moment, he thought it was Laura, but then, as he pulled away the blanket, he saw it was his sister. "Mia? When did she sneak into my room, much less into my bed?"

Cleo responded in his head with a chuckle. "Did you forget that you are now a normal person? Unless you use your demonic powers, your senses are as dull as a plainfolk."

"Ugh… that's painful…" Kael couldn't help but hang down in helplessness.

Back before she vanished, in fact, ever since their parents were dead, they shared the bed like this almost every night.

But that was before marriage.

Now that Kael was married, he was accustomed to either waking up alone or the presence of one of his wives by his side.

It felt a bit awkward now to see his sister beside him, on the same bed.

And yet, seeing Mia now—resting safely and looking healthier than he remembered—it filled his heart with something warm.

He didn't wake her. Instead, he stood up carefully, grabbed a change of clothes, and headed to the bathroom.

The shower was warm, and as the water cascaded down his battered body, the tension slowly eased from his muscles.

Kael leaned forward, resting his head against the wall, letting the steam soak into his pores.

When was the last time he'd taken a shower like this?

Not just to clean up after a fight, not just to rinse blood off his skin, but to simply feel the water?

He never thought of showers as a comfort—they were just a daily routine to maintain cleanliness.

Yet now, it felt like something special.

Maybe it is because he is now a plainfolk and experiencing the same thing as plainfolks do.

As his mind became clear, his thoughts became sharper. That's when a realization struck him.

If he wanted to truly understand the demonic energy inside him—if he hoped to tame the power threatening to eat away at him—there was only one person he could think of.

The woman who planted the demon heart within his chest.

The one who brought him back from death.

The one who had once destroyed the resurrected Monarch of Darkness with her own hands.

And the one who took him as her disciple, even though he still put a condition.

The Necromancer.

Kael exhaled slowly, the water still running down his face.

"While I was thankful, I don't think I'm comfortable enough to even meet her, not to mention thank her and formally become her disciple. What she did to me back then was still fresh in my head. I still need more time," he murmured, eyes still closed.

After getting dressed, Kael stepped out of his chambers, quietly shutting the door behind him so as not to disturb his sleeping sister. Outside, the two royal guards standing post straightened at his appearance, saluting sharply.

"Lord Moonstone," one of them greeted.

Kael gave a brief nod. "Pass a message to any of the princesses who are not currently occupied or away from the palace—tell them I wish to meet them in the royal gardens. If anyone is free, I'd like to speak to them all together."

The guards nodded in acknowledgment and moved to carry out his request.

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