The Former Assassin Becomes a Noble Lady

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“Sister…?”

It wasn’t just my sister who recognized me. Sure, the only thing different about the Demon King’s appearance was a single horn missing, but I could tell for certain.

From the way she looked at me, from the voice calling my name, I felt a sense of nostalgia. How could I not recognize her, now that I was her younger brother?

“Yeah, my lovely little brother. It’s been so long….”

-Don’t be ridiculous, you little brat!

But the touching family reunion was short-lived. Like swatting away a bug, the Demon King’s booming voice echoed throughout the hall, one that was filled with rage the likes of which I had never seen before.

Normally, it would be impossible for my sister, who had been deep in slumber beneath the layers of consciousness, to wake up. But thanks to the horn being cut off, contrary to the Demon King’s assurances, she could finally awaken from her dream.

But the Demon King was the Demon King. No matter how miraculous this event was, regaining control of her body was another matter; it was still the Demon King who was moving the body.

The rightful owner of the body was undoubtedly my sister, but the Demon King’s soul had already taken firm root within her. In fact, through the ritual of resurrection, her body could be considered closer to that of a demon than a human.

Perhaps it was the pride that was wounded from having momentarily lost control, but the Demon King swung the sword with a furious expression. I managed to evade the attack lightly, thanks to already having slipped out of that grip.

“How dare you think of competing with me! Look well! You shall witness the hero falling right before your eyes!”

Clang!

From the shadow stretched long by the moonlight, sharp spikes began to rise. It was clear that losing a horn had weakened the Demon King, but I wasn’t in great shape myself either. I narrowly avoided being skewered, but the spikes that grazed me left painful wounds on my skin.

However, perhaps the Demon King had a different plan in mind; spikes began shooting out one after another from the shadow, as if waiting for this very moment. They grazed my arms, legs, and body completely. It was a sort of snare of my lineage, a prison in its own right.

“O hero, alongside your long-awaited comrades, I shall bury you all in one day! Did you see hope? Hope exists solely for despair! Now, despair in the face of your unavoidable fate!”

The Demon King thrust the sword deeply into the ground, then raised both hands and began to mumble.

“Listen, this is my cry to the world. Look, this is my hatred towards the world.”

Soon, a spear materialized at the tips of the Demon King’s fingers. The longer the incantation stretched, the longer the spear grew, and the darker the magic emanating from it became.

The moment that spear pierces down, it was unnecessary to even calculate the horrible fate that awaited me and everything around me.

Thus, I had to block the Demon King’s spell immediately, but the spikes that bound me seemed to be a special device that I simply couldn’t shake off.

“And so, the end shall come… kuhh!?”

However, before finishing the incantation, the Demon King suddenly paused, stopping mid-mumble.

“How dare you! You think you can compete with me, you little brat!”

The disrupted concentration caused the dark spear to scatter like a mirage. However, the Demon King was not in a state to care about a broken spell. There was no need to ask who the “little brat” referred to; it was undoubtedly ‘Elysia Frentz’, my sister.

The furious voice of the Demon King was like the growl of a beast—it was boiling with an unfathomable hatred gathered over countless years directed solely towards one girl.

Even I, who had lived as an assassin, experiencing the world’s evils and despair through multiple regressions, felt a chill down my spine at the magnitude of that hatred.

For Elysia, who had grown up sheltered and had never encountered evil, this was an inconceivably unreasonable hatred. Moreover, because of the souls occupying the same body, Elysia had to absorb the Demon King’s dark feelings without any filter.

There was no way a fragile girl who had barely lived for less than ten years could withstand thousands of years of malice.

Yet, oddly enough, though I had failed at magic and was still bound by the spikes, the Demon King wasn’t simply using the sword to stab down.

Instead, that other hand, empty and trembling as if it were engaged in a contest against itself, slowly began to rise. It passed her face and went over her head.

Then, she firmly gripped the only remaining horn. There was no doubt about her intention, and the Demon King exclaimed in a startled voice.

“This is insane! How can you…!”

The Demon King struggled to resist until the very end, but she couldn’t finish her last shout. Instead, what echoed from her mouth was not the Demon King’s voice, but my sister’s.

“Zeno…. Don’t you dare torment my brother!”

With a crunch, as her grip twisted, the horn she held completely broke.

Once that last horn shattered, the dark magic enveloping the surroundings dispersed and scattered.

The prison of spikes holding me was easily shattered with minimal effort.

“Zeno! Are you hurt anywhere? Wait! You’re bleeding here!”

My sister rushed over to me, starting to examine my body. Perhaps she could not fully endure the pain of a horn breaking, almost as if it were a limb of her own, as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

But she didn’t whine about her pain. Instead, she looked pained for me, whose wounds were merely drops of blood, oozing from where the spikes had scraped me.

The sight was so absurd that I couldn’t help but smile. I could feel my sister’s love for me. A love so great it could overcome even the hatred of thousands of years.

*

The Demon King fell. To be precise, the Demon King’s soul still remained within my sister’s body. However, with both horns, symbols of her identity as a demon, completely broken, it was impossible for the Demon King to regain control of her body.

Some might not understand, but persuading those who doubted was my last remaining task.

As the Demon King crumbled, the situation rapidly reached a conclusion without any other variables.

The demons outside the castle, sensing that the Demon King had been defeated as her magic scattered, showed their backs and fled. Meanwhile, my friends fighting downstairs easily overthrew the corpses once Luna joined the fray.

Now, the Demon King’s castle was completely left empty, having lost its master. As Frecia, who had been resting in her cat form to restore her magic, finally used up all her power to drop a meteor, the castle, barely holding its shape, crumbled entirely.

Gathered before the ruins, my friends watched in shock, first at my sister beside me and then again at the cross-section of her severed horn.

Fortunately, there was no immediate draw of swords directed at my sister. They simply looked at me as if waiting for an explanation.

Right. It was time to confess.

I found it harder to speak than when I had confessed about regressing. In fact, it felt more difficult than then.

“Actually….”

And the truth flowed from my mouth, piece by piece, starting with the fact that my adventure began from a lie.

I was Zeno Frentz, and originally, I was a male.

My friends would surely be disappointed in me. They might look at me with disdain, calling me a pervert. If I wanted to, I could lie and hide it for the rest of my life, but my friends deserved to know the truth.

“I’m sorry for lying all this time. You must be really disappointed. If it will ease your anger, feel free to hit me as much as you want.”

I shouted towards my friends, bowing deeply. I couldn’t bear to see their expressions. I wished I could cover my ears, but that was impossible.

“Uh…. So should I call you L… I mean, Zeno…? Anyway! You’re saying Elysia was a guy?”

“If Elysia is a guy…. It’s only natural he’d like girls….”

“Thus, that’s why during that time….”

I had committed countless sins. While my friends acted bravely in their actions as fellow girls, the situation would surely differ if I was male.

Every night, I slept snuggled up in the same bed with girls, changed clothes in the same room as girls, and sometimes even bathed with them while completely undressed. I even had several girls!

…I was a total pervert.

I couldn’t lift my head. More than facing the Demon King, I was more afraid that my friends would leave me, disappointed in me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I don’t really mind. It might even be better?”

“I already knew….”

However, what I heard was not what I expected. When I looked up at my friends’ faces in shock, they truly seemed unbothered.

What is this? A Tian Shan family? Tears threatened to fall from the kindness of my friends. They comforted me, telling little lies that it was nothing.

With a sudden jerk!

Just as I was moved, my sister who had been silently watching suddenly pulled me close and wrapped her arms around me.

“Sister? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“No, I just…. I felt a sort of impurity toward Zeno….”

I looked up at her while being embraced, but my sister did not even look at me as she scanned the surroundings with great vigilance.

I couldn’t pinpoint anywhere in particular that felt impure in this situation, but I didn’t argue. I was simply too overwhelmed with joy to feel my sister’s embrace once more.

“Ahem, cough! We can’t stay here forever; let’s head back now.”

As Selian, who seemed a bit flustered, cleared her throat, she pointed out that it was indeed time to go back.

It truly had been a long journey. There had been many sad moments, many painful moments, and numerous times I had wished to give up.

But I did not give up.

It was not out of a sense of responsibility as a hero, nor was it out of vengeance against demons, nor was it for wealth or fame.

Simply,

Because my friends were by my side.

They stood by me when I faltered, never letting go of my hand until I had made it this far.

Yes. Forever together from now on.

This time, I took Selian’s hand with gratitude.

I smiled warmly at her, who turned around, puzzled.

Surely, it was a brighter smile than usual.