The Villainous Son Loves His Mother - Chapter 11

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It’s a cliché way to put it, but the Demon King—the one who took over the body of Hain Sera Astaire—was unbelievably strong.
Just awakening as a Hero wasn’t nearly enough. I fought through countless life-and-death battles, grew stronger again and again, and still it wasn’t enough.
If I hadn’t had my reliable companions, I wouldn’t be standing here today.
But defeating such a powerful Demon King inevitably came at a cost

I lost friends, family, and my lover—I lost many things precious to me.
Still, when we finally brought down the Demon King, I truly believed we’d done it. That the world would finally know peace.
But reality proved different.
At first, both people and nations praised us.
They honored the companions who had fallen along the way.
While this couldn’t heal the wound of losing Serena, my beloved, it offered some solace.

But everyone quickly grew accustomed to it.
Accustomed to peace.

I still don’t fully understand how it happened, but from some point onward, the three of us were placed under surveillance by the Gaines Empire.
I could understand why they might feel threatened by individuals wielding such immense power, enough to defeat the Demon King.
Whether I agreed with it or not was another matter.
Unpleasant days dragged on until that day finally came.

Amy was the first to be killed.
She was poisoned at a certain banquet.

Next was Galdem.
Someone had apparently told Galdem who killed Amy, and he went to a specific location to avenge her, only to fall into a trap and be killed himself.

The Empire explained that they had been monitoring us because remnants of the Demon King’s Army were operating in our vicinity.
They claimed that these remnants were responsible for both Amy’s and Galdem’s deaths.
I believed them and set out to crush the Demon King’s remnants, determined to avenge my two friends.
Even so, remnants of the Demon King’s Army cleverly hid and fled, making it impossible to wipe them out completely.
As these days dragged on, even the seemingly invincible power of the Hero began to wane. Finally, the Gaines Empire and the remnants of the Demon King’s Army reached a truce.

The reason given was that the endless war, even after the Demon King’s defeat, had bred widespread war-weariness.
After the truce, Demons were to be treated as Demi-Humans.

How could anyone accept this?
So I protested, I rebelled, and before I knew it, I had become an enemy to both humans and Demi-Humans.
Now, not only Demons but humans too were my enemies.
But with my strength fading, it was only a matter of time before I was defeated.
Wounded in a minor skirmish, I crawled into the forest and took refuge in a hollow tree. As I watched my bl00d slowly trickle away, I pondered:
What went wrong? Whose fault was this?
But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t find the answer.
And so, wishing I could do it all over again, I died.

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What happens when someone dies?
I’d wondered about it as a child, but I never imagined I’d find out firsthand.
When I woke up, I was still myself, but time had been rewound.
I didn’t understand why or how.
But I was thrilled to have been given this chance.

My child’s body felt foreign, and it was agony until I regained some control over it. Still, when I saw my parents alive again, tears welled up in my eyes.
My parents had been killed in the great invasion when the Demon King’s army returned in full force.
I pondered how to make the most of this opportunity.
I came up with all kinds of plans, but after trial and error, the one that remained was this: to make sure Hain Sera Aster doesn’t become the vessel for the Demon King.
While the Demon King searched for another vessel, I would destroy his soul.
A soulless Demon King without a vessel could be defeated even by me alone

Though I wasn’t at the peak of my power, I could still draw upon a significant portion of my strength as a Hero.
That’s why I decided to start by getting closer to Hein.
The reason the Demon King was able to possess Hein was that his soul was already leaning toward darkness.
The Demon King can only take over a body that harbors an evil soul—that’s something we learned on our journey

But there were two major obstacles.
First, Hein himself was an incredibly unpleasant person.
And second, I hadn’t fully realized just how much I despised him.
The moment I saw Hein’s face on that first day of school, I felt the bl00d rush to my head.
When I witnessed him treating Serena coldly, I couldn’t stop myself from intervening.
As a result, Hein probably hated me now.

Or so I thought.

Then I realized that “this world” was quite different from my memories.
Hein, who had been so tyrannical, violent, and vicious, was now strangely subdued. He even used polite language with the teachers.
While some basic aspects of his personality remained the same, he was fundamentally different from the Hein I knew.
Nevertheless, my course of action remained unchanged.
Whether I liked it or not, I had to become close to Hein, crush the seeds of evil within him, and eliminate any opportunity for the Demon King to take root.

Then, before the world could recognize the Demon King’s existence, I would destroy his soul.

I would accomplish all of this as quietly as possible.
If I succeeded, the world would never become aware of the Hero’s overwhelming power, and Serena, Amy, and Galdem would never have to die.
Even if the enemy turns out to be human, they won’t be able to perceive a Hero’s party, so there won’t be any reason to see us as a threat.

The same goes for the demons.

If the Demon King disappears before anyone even realizes he was there, there’ll be no grudge left behind.
This seemed like a truly excellent plan, but I soon realized it was far more difficult than I’d imagined.
I just couldn’t seem to get along with Hein at all.
This morning was no different…

“Hey!!! Good morning, Hein!!!! Great weather today, huh!”

I tried to cover up my annoyance with a loud, cheerful greeting, hoping he wouldn’t notice my irritation.

“……”

Hein glanced at me with the same disdainful look he’d give a pebble and ignored me completely.
At least he wasn’t cursing me out every time our eyes met like before, but deep down, nothing had changed!

Hein really is a jerk after all!!