The crowd filled with demons, drow, duergar and other Underworld races cheered as Alphegor raised his hand towards them in greeting. Morrigan stood a little bit behind him, on his right, while Viana stood on his left. All of her sisters stood on the large stage, each one dressed in similar kimono-styled attire with a dragon motif. However, each one wore a different color.

Viana's robe was dark blue with gold, while Deziara's who stood right next to Morrigan wore a purple robe with a black dragon. Morrigan was surprised that the tailors managed to find a different yet suiting color for each princess without any repetition among them.

"The princesses look so amazing!"

"Nobody could ever match our beautiful princesses."

"Is the crown princess really the smallest one?"

"She looks a lot like Queen Eirwen."

The crowd was chattering excitedly, their eyes darting from one princess to the next, often lingering on Morrigan. She did her best to hold her head high and retain the polite, serene smile that she had been practicing together with Lady Lily. Her hands felt clammy as she held them together in front of her, thankfully hidden under the long sleeves of her black attire.

Just remain calm, Morrigan. All you have to do now is remain pretty and smile.

"People of the Demon Kingdom and dear guests. It is with great honor that I announce the start of our dearly beloved Nachtstern Festival. As the descendant of the first Nacthstern King, I promise that the glory of the Underworld shall never fall!" Alphegor called out in his booming voice and the crowd went absolutely wild, cheering and hollering.

Morrigan glanced at the surroundings, her breath hitching as she saw people everywhere. They were in the center of Linberor Market Square, the same place Azrael had snuck her and Deziara out when they were small. All of the stalls had been cleared away to make place for the grand stage, illuminated by floating orbs and decorated to resemble the giant body of a dragon with crystalline scales that reflected the light, bringing as much attention to the stage as possible.

The surrounding square also had strings of bright lanterns going over the houses, held up by some sort of invisible magic. Meanwhile, the nearby streets were adorned with wingless dragon decorations, as well as anything that would give homage to demons and the royal family.

"This time just like during every Festival before now, each and every one of you will be able to enter the glorious and noble Nachtstern Festival Competition. This year in addition to the usual monetary prize, as well as a favor from your King, you'll be competing for this," Alphegor pulled out a box from within his robes and opened it, showing the Burmese Ruby to the crowd. "As a show of goodwill, our guests from the Fallen Kingdom have given this Burmese Ruby as a prize to the winner of the Competition."

The crowd gasped, and people began muttering among themselves.

"A Burmese Ruby? Isn't that the rare gem that grants you any power you wish?"

"I heard it can grant any wish?"

"Why would the fallen give us such a gift?"

"Who cares? I want that ruby!"

Cautiousness quickly grew into excitement, and then one after the next, people began shouting that they wanted to participate.

Is it alright if all of these people participate? How would the logistics of that work? But then again, this is not the first time the Festival has happened. Surely there must be measures to contain the amount of participants.

"Since the prize pool is larger this year, then the entrance fee has also been increased. But fret not for every noble who holds the title of Marquess or higher in the Demon Kingdom and every delegation from our foreign visitors is allowed one free entry," Alphegor explained, and the crowd replied with an approving sort of muttering. Some appeared annoyed, as they most likely couldn't afford the price.

"Now then to start off the sign-ups and encourage new participants to join, I shall announce that three of my daughters will also be joining the Competition this time," Alphegor said, a confident smile appearing on his lips, and the demons in the crowd went wild again.

"Princesses will participate?"

"Does that mean we might get a chance to meet and talk to them if we join?"

"That is a prize in its own right!"

Morrigan tried to remain calm, but she felt a heavy knot form in her stomach.

I wonder if they'd still be excited if they knew that I was the one participating. Watching a child compete probably wouldn't be very fun.

"The first one to participate is my eldest daughter – Viana!" Alphegor said and the crowd gave an excited cheer as she stepped forward and smiled at them.

"Next is my second youngest – Deziara," the King continued, and the ovation continued as she confidently walked forward, appearing ready to take on the world.

"And finally the Crown Princess – Morrigan!" Alphegor's smile grew just a little bit larger, and Morrigan stepped forward. She put as much grace as she could in each step and then nodded her head slightly at the crowd, just as Lady Lily had instructed her to do.

There was dead silence for a moment, and Morrigan's heart clenched. But then a roar of applause and cheers followed.

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"The Crown Princess is participating despite being so young."

"Our princess is so smart!"

"Now I want to participate even more!"

The crowd, mostly demons, praised the princesses for a while longer until finally all three of them bowed their heads and stepped back to stand behind Alphegor.

"Now I shall ask for our foreign visitors to present their champions to us so we could all take a look at them. Let's begin with the Drow Kingdom!" Alphegor continued, and a smaller portion of the crowd cheered. One part of it was a bit rowdier than the rest, and Morrigan looked at them to see the drow delegation cheering.

She took the chance to carefully observe the drow. Largely they looked much like elves – with beautiful, slender features and long pointed ears. But their skin clearly had not seen daylight, ranging from light gray to grayish blue and even to deep, dark purple. They also had a certain air of arrogance around them although it wasn't as pronounced as with some pureblooded demons Morrigan had met.

A tall, but muscular drow man with dark blue skin and black hair came out of their ranks and went up to the stage, bowing before Alphegor. He looked physically strong and his gaze was sharp and focused.

I do not want to meet that guy face to face. I feel like he would have no qualms about putting a sword through my chest.

After the drow, Alphegor summoned the duergar champion who looked just like a dwarf, except he had no hair and his skin was dark gray. He was even shorter than Gunna, making his walk somewhat wobbly like one of those short-legged cats or dachshunds. Morrigan couldn't even spot the duergar delegation as they were no doubt hidden by the taller people in the crowd.

She also didn't see the delegation of deep gnomes, who were even shorter than the duergar and much more fragile-looking to boot. Some snickering could have been heard from the crowd as the trembling deep gnome champion knelt before Alphegor.

These guys don't really belong here. Others will eat them alive. Even I look more menacing than them.

"Next – would the vampire delegation please present their champion?" Alphegor announced, and Morrigan barely managed to keep her cool.

How did I miss the fact that vampires have a whole country of their own? I had heard of them being mentioned before, but to think they had their own territory. I knew that studying geography would be more important than politics.

A seductive woman with long white hair and bright red eyes stepped confidently onto the stage and curtsied before Alphegor while giving him the most charismatic smile. A shiver ran through Morrigan's spine and she noticed a similar reaction from Viana and Deziara, who scrunched up their noses at the vampire woman.

"I'll be sure to prove my strength to you, Your Majesty," she purred and seductively walked off the stage, every man in the crowd following her retreating form. Everyone besides Alphegor who thankfully didn't appear to be smitten by her charms.

If Father were to gain interest in vampires… The horror. I have to make sure that woman doesn't get near him.

She gave a knowing look to Deziara, who appeared to have thought about the same thing. Looking at Viana, who was mercilessly glaring at the vampire woman, it was clear that she was also not thrilled.

Looking at the group of vampires together, Morrigan realized how eerie they actually were. All of them had skin as white as paper and bright red eyes. Demons also could manifest such features, however when there was a whole group of people with those bloodthirsty eyes, Morrigan couldn't help but feel unnerved.

"And now infernals, please present your champion," Alphegor said, and Morrigan perked up. She had never seen an infernal before. They were supposed to be people made out of fire and magma and despite seeing the many renditions of them in books, she could never fully imagine a live person like that.

Morrigan also didn't notice anyone matching that description in the crowd, but that didn't surprise her as the huge amount of people could easily hide individuals. Not to mention that the assortment of demons in the crowd was so varied that it was hard to tell apart who was a lesser demon and who was a member of a different race entirely.

At one point the crowd shifted, and Morrigan saw a flame peak above some heads. It moved closer and closer, and she discerned a humanoid shape with flame burning instead of hair and eyes glowing like the inside of a burning furnace. She watched in awe as the infernal came onto the stage, looking just like books had described him.

It's like fire has become alive. Amazing! I wonder if there are other races like this guy only for other elements. Would a water elemental be made entirely of water? But then again humans are already 70% water, so perhaps they look somewhat like jellyfish. Those are 95% water. I bet it would be fun to paint a jellyfish person with all the reflections and transparency.

While Morrigan's thoughts wandered to her next painting possibilities, the infernal bowed before Alphegor and muttered something in a barely audible voice. It sounded very gruff and was hard to understand, reminding her of an angry fire crackling. Alphegor nodded in response to the infernal and then asked for the fallen to present their champion.

Their Prime Minister appeared rather smug, sitting along with other fallen while his wife looked somewhat uncertain.

I wonder who the fallen champion will be. The ability to fly will surely give them a great advantage in physical tasks.

Everyone watched and waited for their champion, but for the longest time, it seemed like nobody was coming. Then suddenly, Galandir clambered onto the stage and bowed before Alphegor.

"I am here to represent the Fallen Kingdom, Your Majesty," the boy said, and there was an echo of gasps in the crowd, followed by confused mutterings.

"That boy is not a fallen. He is not even from the Underworld."

"Why he looks no older than the Crown Princess!"

"How shameless! They're sending a child to fight their battles. Only the fallen would resort to something so disgraceful."

But Heinspiel didn't appear even a little bothered by these mutterings. In fact, his smile widened as he listened to the accusations.

"Explain yourself, child. How can you represent the fallen when you are not a fallen yourself?" the King asked, his stern voice silencing the crowd in an instant.

"While I am not fallen myself, I serve the fallen. And as Your Majesty is well aware the Fallen Kingdom is home to many races. My masters just wish to show our Kingdom's open-mindedness to other people," the boy replied, his voice steady and composed.

Just let it slide, Father. It's not such a big deal. Certainly, it's scummy that they send a slave to a competition that is supposed to be a prestigious event. But it's not the boy's fault.

Alphegor squinted his eyes at the boy, then for a moment his eyes locked with Morrigan's. The King must have sensed her thoughts somehow, or perhaps he saw it in her face, as his expression relaxed.

"I shall allow it. It would be a shame if the Crown Princess were the only child participating, wouldn't it?" Alphegor announced, and the crowd cheered. Their attention returned to Morrigan who smiled, trying to keep her composure under their watchful gazes.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Galandir bowed and then quickly disappeared into the crowd.

I wonder what the fallen are really plotting by signing up Galandir, who is a slave, to the competition. Surely it wasn't just because they wanted to annoy Alphegor and the demons a little bit. Isn't their goal to keep their ruby to themselves? Do they believe that Galandir can win?