It Seems the Demon King Has Returned to a World Where Gender Roles Are Reversed - Chapter 52

 Chapter 52 :

“…Hmph.”  

Hazel, upon noticing Anita, frowned.  

She glared, twirling her voluminous brown hair with her fingers, clearly displeased.  

It seemed Anita’s claim about their strained relationship was indeed true.  

“What brings you here?”  

“I didn’t come looking for you, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t concern yourself with me, Lady Anita.”  

A cold response, hardly befitting relatives or family.  

Ignoring Anita’s question, Hazel walked purposefully toward Ragna.  

“…I was looking for you, Lord Ragna.”  

“…”  

“I went to the male knights’ lecture hall, only to find you’d already left. It took quite some time to track you down.”  

Her tone was gentle.  

But the venom hidden within was enough to make anyone shudder.  

Sighing lightly, Ragna responded to Hazel.  

“There doesn’t seem to be any reason for you to concern yourself with someone like me.”  

“Oh, please don’t say that. I haven’t forgotten you for a single moment since that day, Lord Ragna.”  

“Wasn’t that matter settled back then?”  

There was no need to clarify what “that day” referred to. It was the day Seria was reinstated at the military academy.  

On that day, Hazel had disparaged Seria, insisting the academy wouldn’t accept her back. However, in the process, she was publicly humiliated by Ragna’s sharp rebuke. That was the incident Ragna was referring to.  

But Ragna had done nothing wrong.  

It was true that Ragna had come to reinstate Seria on behalf of Karen, who was bedridden due to various circumstances, as a representative of the Steiner family. It was also true that Her Majesty the Queen had entrusted Seria to Karen.  

Thus, Ragna had no fault in what happened that day.  

However, reality doesn’t always align with such clear-cut logic.  

“I see. It’s true that my disgraceful behavior that day is hard to excuse. I misread the situation and made a fool of myself, but…”  

“…”  

“Didn’t you, Lord Ragna, deceive me as well?”  

“…What do you mean?”  

Ragna asked as politely as possible.  

Hazel scoffed and continued.  

“You boldly proclaimed yourself a member of the Steiner family.”  

“…?”  

“I’ve already done my research. Ragna Steiner. Or perhaps I should call you Ragna, the lumberyard worker? A lowly laborer with no parents or connections, taken in by chance by Lady Karen, who acted as your guardian and granted you the Steiner name.”  

“…”  

“Yet, despite such grace, you failed at marriage four times in a row. Not only did you tarnish the Steiner family’s name, but you also dragged the esteemed knight Lady Karen’s reputation through the mud.  And you still have the audacity to call yourself a knight of the Steiner family? Don’t you think that’s rather impudent?”  

*Grit.* Despite her polite tone, Hazel’s face was contorted with contempt and anger.  

Ragna let out a sigh at the sight.  

Hazel’s explanation boiled down to this:  

Imagine someone presenting a dazzling, ornate treasure. Assuming they must be extraordinary for possessing such a treasure, you make concessions for them—only to later discover that the treasure is merely a hollow shell, impressive only on the outside. Naturally, those who made concessions based on the treasure’s perceived value would feel betrayed and furious.  

However, from Ragna’s perspective, this was utterly absurd.  

The “treasure” he presented the Steiner name was never the core issue.  

What mattered was the truth he spoke in that situation. The issue involving Seria and Karen was directly tied to Her Majesty the Queen, and that fact remained unchanged, regardless of whether the “treasure” of the Steiner name was removed from the equation.  

Ragna had merely pointed out that truth.  

Moreover, Hazel was mistaken.  

It was true that Ragna had failed at marriage four times in a row. As a man, his value might be considered rock-bottom.  

But that didn’t mean Ragna himself was the problem.  

The failures in marriage stemmed from issues with the prospective partners, not Ragna.  

Furthermore, in that situation, Ragna had indeed been entrusted by Karen, the current head of the Steiner family, to act as their representative in reinstating Seria at the academy. This was verifiable through Karen’s letter, a fact anyone could easily confirm.  

Yet, despite this, Hazel was unilaterally condemning Ragna and venting her anger.  

And in this situation, there was nothing Ragna could do.  

Ultimately, Ragna sighed and gave up trying to persuade Hazel.  

“…It seems you’re not willing to let this go easily.”  

Discarding his polite tone, Ragna muttered in a cold voice.  

His opponent had already abandoned logical judgment.  

She had come to him purely to vent her emotions.  

No amount of reasoned argument would make her understand.  

It would be like running in circles on a hamster wheel.  

In the end, Ragna had two choices:  

One was to apologize and accept her venting to defuse the situation.  

The other was to stand his ground and confront her head-on, despite her audacity in turning the tables on him.  

Both options had their pros and cons.  

To navigate the situation smoothly, enduring the humiliation might be the better choice.  

But Ragna thought differently.  

“…Hmph.”  

With a light breath, Ragna began to channel the mana within his body, preparing for combat.  

Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Hazel’s mask-like smile vanished, replaced by a menacing expression.  

In an instant, a hostile aura filled the air.  

Apologizing and letting her vent might allow him to escape the situation smoothly for now.  

But that would only be a temporary fix.  

Hazel was different from Anita or Liliana.  

Or rather, it was more accurate to say that Anita and Liliana differed from ordinary women like Hazel.  

Hazel, like most women, viewed men as insignificant.  

As such, she couldn’t accept that an insignificant man had stood up to her and humiliated her.  

Her anger was likely immense.  

She might let it slide if he knelt now, but no one could predict what would happen afterward.  

On the first day of school, during precious break time, she had gone out of her way to track him down.  

Someone this obsessed wouldn’t easily forgive her target.  

In that case, it was better to settle things decisively, by any means necessary even force.  

“…”  

“…”  

Their gazes locked, no words exchanged.  

But the tense air crackled with the sense that something was about to happen.  

“Settling things” and Ragna’s resolve were not weak-willed notions.  

It wasn’t about wagging his tail to escape the situation.  

It was about tying up loose ends definitively, ensuring she wouldn’t bother him again even if it meant settling things with fists.  

---

As the atmosphere grew hostile, not only Hazel but also her subordinates reacted.  

They, too, frowned, assuming stances and building their momentum.  

A three-to-one situation.  

Since he couldn’t let Seria get dragged into this, Ragna had no choice but to face them alone. Even so, the odds were against him, and he grimaced. Just then, Anita stepped forward, waving her hands.  

“Wait, wait. Calm down, both of you.”  

“…”  

“…”  

Trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere, Anita sighed while waving her hands. Scratching her head, she continued,  

“Surely you two aren’t planning to start a fistfight here, are you? I don’t even understand what’s going on here.”  

“This isn’t your concern, Anita. I’d appreciate it if you stayed out of it,” Hazel replied, her tone as cold as ever.  

Then, a scoff came from beside Anita.  

“Hmph, ‘just stay out of it’… in this situation? I wonder if that’s really something the first-year student council representative, who’s supposed to be a role model for students, should be saying.”  

The speaker was none other than Liliana, who looked at Hazel with a mocking expression.  

“…”  

Hazel’s face twisted, clearly displeased by Liliana’s words. Her subordinates beside her also gritted their teeth in anger.  

“…I told you, this has nothing to do with you. This is between me and Lord Ragna. There’s no reason for you to interfere.”

“Well, you’re not wrong there…” Anita said, her expression somewhat unconvinced.  

She glanced at the person standing beside her, then sighed.  

“…Fine, maybe Liliana and I aren’t involved in this. But aren’t you forgetting something important?”  

“…?”  

“You keep saying this is between you and Ragna, but you’re overlooking someone else who’s connected to that incident.”  

At that moment—  

*Boom!* A loud crash echoed from the ground.  

All eyes turned toward the source of the sound.  

Even Ragna, who had been keeping his gaze fixed on Hazel, was no exception.  

At the center of everyone’s attention stood the source of the noise, glaring at Hazel with sharp eyes.  

Gleaming green eyes.  

And, perhaps it was his imagination, but her red hair seemed to swell slightly.  

The source of the noise was Seria.  

“…Ah.”  

Liliana nodded as if she understood. Anita, with a smile, spoke up.  

“Liliana and I don’t know exactly what happened back then. We only heard about it later from Seria. So, yeah, you’re right we’re not involved, so we shouldn’t interfere.”  

“…”  

“But what about her? Seria… or rather, Seria Branzberg, was also part of that incident. What are you going to do if she steps in like this, Hazel Granstig? Are you going to tell her to stay out of it too?”  

“…”  

Speechless, Hazel grimaced and glared at Seria.  

But Seria’s furious expression outmatched hers, her aura swelling like a bomb about to explode.  

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Translated by Reversalnovel.web.id