The demon stared at the princess, ignoring the conversation currently taking place between Devilis, who was opposing Ronald's accusations, and the Marquis, who insisted he knew no Sir Demitrik. The demon's thoughts flooded Snow White's mind, invading her:
"We're wasting our time. We already know the culprits; I've seen them, and they know I'm not mortal. I can find and stop them easily, now that Morpheus is out of the picture."
Snow White looked at him, mentally replying, confident Astrael would hear her:
"I know, but we still don't know who planned the attacks in the forest, and Sorton Quentin is surely involved with some foreign noble from the border... it's a very fragile situation. The foreign nobles present in the Marquis's residence cannot be held back for long, and if there is hostility between them, we must find out now, before war breaks out."
"If war breaks out, all it takes is subduing the opposing country!"
"Human lives are at stake, Astrael."
"You know this is not my concern. Whining humans..."
At the time, no one knew that Sir Demitrik was none other than Roland Ohniz, the foreign noble in league with Sorton Quentin; the man the Marquis called an ally had actually lied about many things: first, he lacked the support of the foreign crown, and his true and sole objective had always been to attack the royal family of Arran to carry out Morpheus's orders.
When the demon ordered him to capture the royal blood of Arran, he immediately set to work, leaving his homeland for the neighboring kingdom and launching the operation with his sect. The mission hadn't been easy, but within a year, he'd managed to induct several Arran nobles into the cult of the Heirs and exploit the belligerent marquis to further his goals. Quentin Sorton would have been the perfect scapegoat if everything went south; he wasn't interested in starting a war to conquer more territory, he simply wanted to fulfill Morpheus's wishes, which promised eternal life and all the riches he could think of. After all, power only mattered if you had the years to wield it, and money was more enjoyable to spend if you could do so over a long period of time and without worrying about the future. Ohniz's plan had led him to unleash the demon against the princess, only to discover its failure.
Consequently, he'd begun a collaboration with Marquis Sorton and other nobles, and everything would have gone perfectly had it not been for one small mistake: ignoring the presence of another powerful demon in Arran, one who was in league with the queen.
If only he'd known. He could have devised a new plan, ensuring that the foreign nobles were injured during the contest, that the queen was officially executed in that province, all to spark war and chaos... his beloved chaos. Morpheus thought he had stopped Astrael when he showed up at the sect's secret meeting and ordered Ohniz to act immediately, capture the princess, and kill the queen. Ronald didn't know why the demon wanted the princess, but he didn't care. He would follow his master anywhere and do anything for him. But now the demon was gone, and Ronald Ohniz was on the run, without the support of his master and his followers, wounded or captured by the guards who were hot on their trail. He was agitated, his thoughts were confused, and he was sweating, but he managed to summon some clarity to think of an alternative plan to save his own skin.
If he were caught, he would make sure to ruin the queen!
And so when he was actually stopped an hour before his escape, he allowed himself to be arrested and taken to the mansion of Marquis Sorton Quentin without resistance. He knew that even if the Marquis saw him, he wouldn't confess anything, lest he give himself away. He wasn't afraid of revealing his double identity, especially not to Sorton. He was finished, too. However, he had a visceral fear of encountering the demon who had stopped and made his master disappear.
Morpheus was a very powerful demonic creature in the Nordic lands, so what other demon had been capable of stopping him? Killing him? Making him disappear from the Earth? Who could possess such great power and at the same time support the queen as if she were his ally? Demons harbored a profound hatred for humans and made deals only if they got something in return that satisfied their needs and desires. What had Grimhilde of Arran offered? Souls? At that moment it didn't matter, he would put his plan into action and once and for all bring chaos to the other humans...