The Second Son of the Marquis Wants to Laze Around
Chapter 111: Seraphina Wulfhart (4)

Chapter 111: Seraphina Wulfhart (4)

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...

Seraphina narrowed her eyes at the sarcastic remark, glaring at him with irritation. She wanted to argue back, but couldn’t find the words. Mainly because... he wasn’t wrong.

"..."

Then, the boy suddenly brought one hand to his mouth and looked away, as if deep in thought.

"If I had to guess, the reason those oh-so-pious church followers did that could be one of two things..."

Seraphina’s ears twitched as she listened closely, her golden eyes locked on the human. Despite being annoyed, she was curious about what kind of nonsense—or possibly insight—he was about to spew.

"First," Eren said, holding up a finger, "you did something that directly went against the teachings of your beloved goddess. Exactly what they accused you of, basically."

He pointed the finger at her as he said this, like an accusing prosecutor in a courtroom. Seraphina’s brow twitched in irritation. Just being accused was annoying enough—but being blamed again? That really ticked her off.

"Second," he continued, raising another finger, "you did something that unintentionally became a problem. Or maybe you turned into an obstacle they couldn’t ignore."

"And what exactly could that be?" She raised an eyebrow, her voice filled with skepticism.

Eren simply shrugged, completely unfazed. "How should I know? You were their demon lord, not me. I’m just a random rich boy sitting in a chair. But you? You must’ve done something they didn’t like during your final years in power—something that rubbed them the wrong way."

"....."

Hearing that, Seraphina fell silent, her gaze dropping to the cold stone floor of the dungeon. Her ears drooped slightly as she sank into deep thought, replaying memories in her head.

Eren leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs in a casual manner, looking like he had all the time in the world. He gave her a blank, half-lidded stare as he continued, this time in a low murmur.

"From where I see, it feels like that so-called ’neutral’ church played a hand in setting you up. Maybe they framed you for their own goals... and instead of executing you by cutting your head off, they locked you away in this lovely dungeon. poor Naked."

Her body tremble when she heard that last word.

"Why? Because they still needed you alive—for some reason. Maybe some lewd reasons or as a decoration."

His casual tone made Seraphina twitch again, her fist trembling with restrained rage. But Eren didn’t stop. He tilted his head slightly and added one last jab.

"Think carefully. You’re supposed to be smart, right? So why not try using that brain of—"

"SHUT UP!!"

Seraphina suddenly exploded, her voice echoing violently through the underground chamber. A vein popped visibly on her forehead as she glare with a hateful eyes at him.

"I get what you’re trying to say, okay?! So shut your cold, filthy, annoying mouth!"

Despite being yelled at with pure venom, Eren didn’t flinch. He simply blinked, completely unfazed by her outburst. In fact, he seemed amused... and enjoying it.

With the straightest expression in the world, he murmured, "...Your chest isn’t big enough"

"...."

The air went still.

For a moment, Seraphina froze.

Then—

"UGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

....

After letting out all her bottled-up frustration and yelling at Eren—who clearly seemed to enjoy every second of it—Seraphina took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself down. She calmly ignored the infuriating human sitting comfortably before her.

Her golden eyes slowly drifted downward, settling on the ground beneath her. Or more specifically, the massive red magic circle that glowed faintly under her feet—that had bound her in this dungeon for who-knows-how-long.

As her gaze lingered, memories began to stir within her mind. She started tracing back through her past, trying to figure out what might have led to her downfall. What exactly had triggered the church to brand her a traitor, accused her, and ignoring her, while also supporting the rebellion... or using them?

Recalling Eren’s words, she muttered in her mind: The Church of Fulcier has always been neutral. That much was true. The church never involved itself in political struggles, faction wars, or power grabs. Matters outside of divine doctrine were simply beneath their interest. Even if she, a reigning demon lord, had been overthrown or assassinated by rebels or treacherous underlings, they wouldn’t have lifted a finger. They wouldn’t have cared what kind of underhanded tactics were used.

No, instead of interfering, the church would’ve simply held the next trial for selecting the next demon lord, just like they always did. That trial, held once every hundred years, was sacred. Candidates from powerful families would fight and prove their worth. No amount of bribery or backdoor deals could influence the church’s judgment.

Even if a demon lord candidate tried to suck up to the church or curry favor for their heir to win—nothing would change. The Church of Fulcier upheld one rule: Only the strongest shall lead.

Of course, cheating during the trials wasn’t exactly unheard of. But even then, the church wouldn’t bat an eye. If you could cheat and still win, then that was considered strength too.

So then... what exactly did I do wrong? Seraphina frowned, her brows tightening as she dug through her memories.

She focused, trying to remember the last time she had any contact with the church or its members before the rebellion happened. There had to be something—some small detail she missed.

She used to visit the church for only two reasons. The first was ceremonial: to pray and pay her respects to the Goddess Fulcier. It was a tradition that every demon lord was required to follow annually. Even though Seraphina herself wasn’t exactly a devout believer, she never once skipped the ritual or made a fuss about it.

The second reason was more practical.

’Whenever I needed to check or update my Signet status... to see how much I’ve grown stronger,’ she thought, her fox-wolf ears twitching faintly.

’That’s right. I’d go to see if I unlocked any new abilities or—!’

Suddenly, her thoughts stopped. Her yellow eyes widened in realization, and she froze in place. Eren, ever observant, noticed the shift in her expression.

She remembered now. The last time she visited the church to update her Signet, she did receive a new skill. It had a strange name—something she couldn’t even understand what it meant—and came with no description or detail. That in itself was bizarre.

Normally, when an Awakener received a new skill, it would be clearly listed on the Signet status, complete with detailed effects and conditions. But this one didn’t display anything. Just a name. A weird, cryptic name with no explanation.

At the time, she had brushed it off, thinking it was some kind of glitch or a useless placeholder.

Could it have been important...? she thought, eyes narrowing. She also recalled the priests’ reaction when she asked them about it. They looked stunned—no, confused and stunned. Like they didn’t know whether to panic or pretend nothing happened.

Eren leaned forward with a knowing look on his face and said with a slight smirk, "So, did you figure it out?"

Seraphina turned her head up at him, face calm but eyes guarded. She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "No. I can’t think of any reason why the church would turn against me."

She was lying, of course. Eren could tell just from the change in her expression earlier, but he didn’t press the issue.

"I see," he replied simply.

With that, he stood up from his summoning chair and casually dismissed it back into his inventory. A simple flick of his hand, and the plastic monocle chair vanished from view.

He turned to face her once more, silent for a beat. The main reason he came to this artificial trial dungeon in the first place was to meet her in person—the former demon lord Seraphina.

And that was because he needed three specific things from her.

First, he wanted information. Real, detailed knowledge about the demon race and their history, especially surrounding the Divine War. In the game’s timeline, she was eventually freed by the protagonist and became one of his powerful but troublesome companions. She had a sharp tongue, a prideful attitude, and zero respect for authority—so working with her was like trying to tame a flaming cat.

Even the other Hero’s companions didn’t like her much because of her prideful and mischievous attitude.

Still, she offered incredible insight. She might know secrets even the kingdom’s royal archives didn’t have. Through her, Eren can learn alot from her about the demon race, like, how they were able to become so strong during the third war that they even forced the three remaining race to unite against them.

Because this information was lacking in every history archives in the kingdom and Libraries, even the secret ones that are hidden. And Useless would required spending ridiculous amounts of SP just to access vague historical records, most of which were fragmented or lost to time.

Second, Eren suspected something was off about the demon church that imprisoned her. If they truly saw her as a threat, why not just execute her during the last trial like they claimed? Why bother sealing her away?

Useless had once informed Eren that each Demon Lord was only allowed to rule for a total of one hundred years. That was the system—unbreakable, or so it seemed. And yet, Seraphina had already ruled for over seventy years before being forcefully removed. If that was the case... why not simply wait for the remaining thirty to pass naturally?

Unless—Eren thought, narrowing his eyes slightly—it wasn’t about time. It was about something else entirely. Something she might’ve discovered if they let her be. Something the church didn’t want her—or anyone—to find out.

It was as if they feared her. Feared what she might uncover if left alone just a little longer.

And then there was the third reason he came here.

The most personal one...

"I’ll help you," Eren suddenly declared, his voice steady as he looked at Seraphina without hesitation.

Seraphina blinked, caught off guard by the sudden offer. Her ears twitched slightly.

"...What?"

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