Paul

Paul de Beaufort is Elizabeth's spell-born biological son and Clara Winterfeld's brother. Although the Mermaid Country believes that Elizabeth adopted Paul and Clara as orphans, she explicitly says she underwent insemination and gave birth to them. Amelia, whom the public treats as Elizabeth's daughter, is instead Elizabeth's sister's child. The supplied chapters do not name Paul's biological father. Neo Hargraves becomes only his prospective stepfather through Elizabeth, a distinction the pair turn into a running source of hostility. (Chapters 15, 20, 379, and 813–814)

Paul first helps lead the rebellion that tries to kill Elizabeth, but the late history reveals a more complicated motive: he worked with Julie de Beaufort because he believed Elizabeth's death would let Julie reincarnate the family in a peaceful universe. He later becomes an operative inside Apollyon's mansion, helps Elizabeth hide, passes on Ultris's prepared token, and continues gathering intelligence after reconciling with his mother. Heavenly Record matches the spy's Intent to Paul de Beaufort, explicitly confirming continuity with the spell-born child from Mermaid Country. (Chapters 804, 807, and 813–825)

The blonde, golden-eyed Zeus-clan student named Paul in Chapter 542 is a separate, unconnected namesake. No chapter links that student's appearance, Demigod Academy status, violence toward Arthur, or implied power to Paul de Beaufort. Those events are therefore not part of this biography or progression record. (Chapter 542)

Biography

Spell-born childhood and hidden parentage

Paul grows up within Elizabeth's household beside Clara and Amelia. Publicly, Clara and Paul appear to be two adopted orphans while Amelia is treated as the Queen's daughter. Elizabeth knows Paul intimately enough to recognize the behavioral differences when he shapeshifts into Clara, remembering his childhood habit of sneaking into the kitchen for late-night snacks and lying when confronted. That knowledge—not superior perception of the camouflage itself—lets her identify him when stronger guards and even Exalted Demigods cannot see through the disguise. (Chapter 15)

Elizabeth later explains the concealed family structure to Neo. Her husband preferred men, and to protect that secret she underwent insemination, after which she gave birth to Clara and Paul. Amelia is her sister's daughter, placed in Elizabeth's care after the pirate attack. A later vision shows another Spell-born child appear beside Elizabeth and identifies the two as Clara and Paul. These statements make Elizabeth Paul's biological mother and Clara his biological sister; they do not identify Neo, Elizabeth's husband, or any other named man as Paul's biological father. (Chapters 20 and 379)

The early visions of this family are complicated by Neo's later realization that the temporal strands involving Paul and Clara were somehow false or manipulated. The novel does not fully explain the mechanism, but it does not leave Paul's identity uncertain: Heavenly Record examines the returned spy and says his Intent matches Paul de Beaufort, the spell-born child of Elizabeth who attempted to kill her. His late survival is therefore continuity of the original son, not a shadow, alternate-history manifestation, or unrelated bearer of the same name. (Chapters 379 and 813)

Rebellion against the Tyrant Queen

Paul joins Clara's revolt against Elizabeth and helps conceal Clara's responsibility after she kills Neo. He proposes taking the body and claiming that Elizabeth murdered a healer who could not save her, then perfectly assumes Clara's appearance to address the Queen's personal guards. He supports a plan to fake the palace purge with prisoners while evacuating the staff, raises the guards' morale, and lies directly to Elizabeth. His camouflage fools far stronger subordinates, but his mother's familiarity exposes him and turns the deception into an open confrontation. (Chapters 12 and 15)

Even after Elizabeth's pressure breaks his bones, Paul refuses to lower his sword. His opposition is directed at the Queen's perceived tyranny rather than everyone in her household: when rebel guards place a concealed blade behind Amelia, he objects because she is innocent, then persuades her to evacuate by calling her the kingdom's future and promising to try to save their mother. The promise conflicts with his next choice. Chapter 17 says Paul had persuaded Clara to cast the curse, and he approaches the incapacitated Elizabeth with a sword because he would rather kill her himself than watch the curse finish her. (Chapters 16–17)

Neo Hargraves revives before Paul can act and applies Necrotic Touch to his face. The resulting Death Mark drains Paul's lifespan and produces enough pain that Clara abandons the rebellion rather than let him die. Paul calls for his sister and then pleads for his mother, while Clara begs Elizabeth to awaken and transfer the curse to Neo. The transfer saves Elizabeth and kills Neo temporarily. When his mark stops afterward, Paul explains the rebels' killings, false purge, Neo's revival, and curse deception to Elizabeth. She expels both siblings and leaves them with injuries expected to take months to heal. (Chapters 17–21)

Julie's promise and the first palace spy

The True Blessed Lands reveal that the rebellion was connected to Julie rather than only local politics. When Paul later confronts Neo, he says the plan was for Elizabeth to die and for Julie to reincarnate their family in another, peaceful universe, away from their violent lives. He blames Neo for interrupting that plan and extending Elizabeth's suffering. Elizabeth confirms that Paul worked with Julie because he wanted her out of a suffocating place and wanted the family to start over, adding that trying to kill her crushed his heart and traumatized him. This explanation establishes motive without absolving his conscious actions. (Chapter 813)

By the time Neo finds Elizabeth again, Paul has changed methods. Elizabeth says he was an accomplice of Julie and Ultris and now lives in Apollyon's mansion as a spy. He is the one who tells her what is happening and helps her hide from Apollyon. He also gives Elizabeth a concealment token that Ultris prepared before his death with instructions that it reach Neo. Chapter 813 clarifies the timeline: Paul had been inside the palace from the beginning, while Veydran joined later. The chapters do not narrate Paul's recruitment or every year of infiltration. (Chapters 804, 807, and 813)

The return therefore reverses the practical consequence of his original plan. As a rebel, Paul tries to end Elizabeth's life so Julie can supposedly move the family elsewhere; as a spy, he risks discovery to keep Elizabeth alive and hidden where she is. His ties to Julie and Ultris remain operational relationships, not new identities or bodies. Nothing indicates that either conspirator's rank belongs to him, and the prepared concealment token is Ultris's provision carried through Paul rather than proof that Paul created its power. (Chapters 804 and 807)

Reconciliation and an abrasive new family

Paul arrives at Elizabeth's Sect already furious that Neo has slept with his mother. Heavenly Record's identification turns the argument into a fight over the old rebellion. Paul manifests a Fighting Spirit described as “seemingly at Second Realm” and insists that Neo ruined a perfect escape for Elizabeth. Elizabeth freezes both men's clash, temporarily freezes Paul's Life Flame, and tells Neo that she has already forgiven her son. She then declares that Neo is going to be Paul's father, while Paul insists he would rather die than accept him. (Chapter 813)

Neo promises not to kill Paul and asks Elizabeth to defrost him, but his apology becomes deliberate provocation: he says Paul can call him Father instead of step-dad and invents the prospect of a little sister until Paul faints from rage. Elizabeth disciplines them both. When Paul enjoys Neo's punishment too openly, she makes him kneel under increased weight because he is a Martial Artist. Her response establishes the relationship's stable shape: she treats Paul as a forgiven son who remains accountable, and treats Neo as an older prospective parent who must stop escalating the rivalry. (Chapters 813–814)

Elizabeth then assigns Neo and Paul to shared teaching, errands, inspections, and supervision. Two years of proximity do not make them affectionate; they argue over methods, organization, and trivial provocations while Elizabeth watches for either to go too far. Paul eventually returns to Apollyon's mansion, officially as a servant and unofficially as the continuing spy. This places his palace work both before Veydran's infiltration and after the two-year Sect interval, rather than compressing every reference into a single undated assignment. (Chapter 814)

Paul remains part of the group's daily life and combat preparation. In a tournament where strength, Technique Spirits, and Authorities are suppressed, he survives among the later competitors through timing, precise footwork, and positioning that redirects Neo and Hades toward one another. Later, he tells Neo that Ultris and Julie found a Forbidden Lands document claiming only the Devil of Cruelty could defeat Order, information Neo uses to infer that they misunderstood an old record. Apollyon's Golden Threads know Paul is the spy and ask why he remains alive, proving the cover is exposed even though Apollyon delays killing him. (Chapters 824–825)

Appearance and personality

Paul's undisguised early form is a boy with green hair and yellow eyes. The narration does not provide a stable adult height, build, clothing style, or later color change. His Trait lets him take another person's appearance closely enough to fool people much stronger than himself; when he impersonates Clara, Elizabeth distinguishes them through posture, habits, and lying behavior rather than by visually penetrating the transformation. Blonde hair and golden eyes belong to the separate Chapter 542 namesake and are not Paul's features. (Chapters 12, 15, and 542)

He is defiant, protective, deceptive, and intensely family-driven. Paul can withstand broken bones rather than submit, organize a rebellion, and live for years within an enemy palace, yet his fiercest choices repeatedly center on Elizabeth and Clara. That devotion is morally dangerous: he persuades Clara to curse their mother because he believes death can free the family, then hates Neo for preventing it. Later he converts the same persistence into espionage. Around Neo, his composure gives way to childish competitiveness, social provocation, and an unwillingness to accept stepfamily authority. (Chapters 12–21 and 804–825)

Powers and limitations

Shapeshifting and camouflage

Paul can shapeshift into a splitting image of Clara and release the false appearance at will. His camouflage is described as perfect enough that even Exalted Demigods cannot see through it, despite Paul himself being only an Awakened Demigod. The disguise imitates appearance, not the target's history, relationships, or rank; Elizabeth catches him because Paul and Clara do not share habits. Neo later suspects Julie's involvement when considering how an Awakened-rank Trait deceived Elizabeth, but the mechanism and formal Trait rank are never confirmed. (Chapters 12, 15, and 813)

Awakened Demigod abilities

As an Awakened Demigod, Paul can wield a sword, endure severe pressure, and survive injuries Elizabeth calculates will require months to heal. His rank does not protect him from Neo's Necrotic Touch: the Death Mark drains his lifespan and could kill him within a week, while the pain immediately makes him dependent on Clara's intervention. Paul also carries an artifact linked to his sister that signals danger to one sibling when the other is threatened. No name, rank, or broader capability is supplied for that artifact. (Chapters 15–18 and 21)

Martial Arts and Fighting Spirit

In the True Blessed Lands, Paul releases a Technique Spirit identified as a Fighting Spirit, “seemingly at Second Realm.” He reinforces his body and attacks Neo with it, and Elizabeth later explicitly calls him a Martial Artist when adjusting his punishment. The “seemingly” qualifier is the only direct assessment of his realm and is retained rather than promoted into an unqualified certainty. No Common, Rare, Exquisite, Legendary, or higher quality rank is stated for the Fighting Spirit. (Chapters 813–814)

Combat skill, espionage, and limits

Paul's suppressed tournament performance shows tactical skill independent of supernatural output. With strength and powers equalized, he reads positioning, uses precise footwork, avoids direct pressure, and encourages stronger opponents to collide. His longer-lasting advantage is espionage: he survives as an official servant inside Apollyon's mansion, communicates warnings to Elizabeth, carries Ultris's preparations, and reports historical intelligence. The work is compromised by Chapter 825 because Apollyon's Golden Threads openly know he is the spy; his survival depends on Apollyon's choice to delay, not an impenetrable cover. (Chapters 804–825)

Power progression

Relationships

Elizabeth

Elizabeth is Paul's biological mother, not his adoptive guardian. He opposes her reign and knowingly helps arrange her death, yet his pleas during the Death Mark crisis and later explanation show that he never becomes emotionally indifferent to her. Elizabeth eventually forgives the motive without denying the harm and trusts him as her protector inside Apollyon's palace. She also disciplines his ongoing hostility toward Neo, treating survival, forgiveness, and accountability as compatible parts of their renewed relationship. (Chapters 15–21, 804, and 813–814)

Clara Winterfeld and Amelia

Clara is Paul's biological sister and the sibling whose curse enables the rebellion. Paul protects her identity, follows her leadership, and also persuades her to take the central fatal action. Clara abandons the uprising to save him from Neo's Death Mark. Amelia is instead their cousin and foster-family relation: Paul protects her from rebel guards and calls her the kingdom's future, while Elizabeth's public presentation makes Amelia appear to be his sister. In the True Blessed Lands, Clara is living normally in another universe and is not part of Paul's spy work. (Chapters 12, 16–20, and 814)

Neo Hargraves

Neo first treats Paul as leverage, torturing him until Clara saves Elizabeth. Their reunion exposes the rebellion's hidden motive but does not produce easy peace. Elizabeth's decision to make Neo Paul's future father converts murderous conflict into a sustained stepfamily rivalry; Neo himself explicitly jokes that Paul can call him Father rather than step-dad. They remain antagonistic through two years of work and later training, yet Paul repeatedly gives Neo intelligence essential to their common struggle. No evidence makes Neo Paul's biological father. (Chapters 17–21 and 813–825)

Julie de Beaufort and Ultris

Paul says Julie promised to reincarnate the family in a peaceful universe after Elizabeth's death, and Elizabeth confirms that this promise motivated his old conspiracy. Later he becomes part of the surviving network associated with Julie and Ultris. Ultris entrusts him with a concealment token for Neo and information related to their search for the Devil of Cruelty. Paul's account establishes collaboration, but not shared rank, inherited identity, or certainty that every part of Julie's promised outcome would have occurred. (Chapters 804, 807, 813, and 825)

Apollyon and Veydran

Paul serves openly in Apollyon's mansion while spying against him. He precedes Veydran in the palace and helps Elizabeth hide before the later operative joins, though both eventually serve the same resistance. Apollyon's Golden Threads explicitly identify Paul as the spy and question why he has not been killed. The cover is therefore no longer secure by Chapter 825, and his continued life reflects Apollyon's decision to wait rather than Paul's successful concealment from Fate. (Chapters 804, 813–814, and 825)

Items

Paul and Clara possess an unnamed paired warning artifact that alerts one when the other's life is in danger. Much later, Paul holds and forwards a wooden concealment token prepared by Ultris before death; Elizabeth passes it onward to Neo according to Paul's instruction. The token belongs to Ultris's contingency and is not evidence that Paul created or personally mastered its concealment power. (Chapters 17 and 807)