The prince looked awkwardly between the two before he asked “Are you… sure? My sister…”

Before the prince could continue, Alaric spoke up “The princess is a beauty indeed, she is very fit to become a duchess. Unfortunately, Illic’s elder brothers have already married, but the eldest son of the northern duchy is young and around the age of the princess. I reckon they are a good fit, and in all honesty, I heard some rumours about the eldest, he seemed to be infatuated with the princess and the duke wouldn’t be averse to it either.”

I really dislike this prince, in the books, the game and even in real life, he just seems like a pest. Oh, a righteous guy of high standing, but he doesn’t support his close friend with coming out to his crush, nor is he hindering him. He could have stopped it before the crush became more than that, but naaah the prince thinks it’s funny and that it would be fleeting. He does this while he full well knows his sister has had a crush on Illic for quite some time. Did he want to make a reveal of “You had your eyes all over your crush, when the perfect bride is right next to you, fawning over you for years”? So disgusting.

I hope Onaia just bears his children and then kills him, the kingdom would then still be under the royal family of Laya, but all their children well be demonkin of the seer tribe, whose head is the third head of house violet. The lineage of the royal family will be devoured by the demon-genes and transform it fully. Oianon would rather have their lineage led by House Violet, my house, than the royal family of a nobody kingdom, having to fight for their existence alone.

He knows that this was my scheme the moment I proposed it, since he isn’t averse to it, it just means that as long as the third branch of the house, the seer lineage, is independent, they won’t complain. One has to give up some things to gain the most.

The prince still looks awkward, but he acknowledges that it wouldn’t do well to talk about it now, so he just accepts defeat, but from the way he looks, it’s clear he doesn’t think the war is lost. It’s like I jinxed it, he’s probably thinking of schemes to separate us and make Illic spent some time with the princess, as a way to ‘ensure’ he really doesn’t have any ideas about her. Bah!

At this moment, the guard knocked on the door before he opened it and said “I was informed that the king be announced in just a moment.”

The prince nodded and we all stood up, leaving the room to be ready for the announcement, which came just a few seconds later.

“His majesty, King od Laya and our Queen!”

A golden-haired and eyed man of middle age entered the room with a woman of greying blonde hair and dim blue eyes, she seemed to be nearing the later stages of life. Although it seemed like it was a king and his mother, all presents knew that the queen was quite a few years younger than the king, he had just maintained his appearance because of his strength.

Everyone bowed as they said, “We greet the light of the kingdom, shining brightly above us all!”

Yeah yeah, more light-affinity stuff. The kingdom is really aligned to this affinity, not only because of the royal family, but because there were many mines and natural treasures aligned with this talent. In the future, Onaia will probably get rid of all that so she can spread her demon domain, it will change the environment over time, making it better for demons to live here.

The normal citizen would also change from having more light-type affinities to demon-type affinities, especially mind and illusion-affinity will be more prevalent. This will be a chance for the kingdom to advance later on.

There were no demonkin present on the southern continent, which is a risk but also an opportunity for prosperity. The continents each have their own Origin, and since there are no demonkin that have built a lasting lineage, that means the Origin will be resistant towards it, but it also means that whoever manages to pierce through that veil would be the first true lineage on this piece of land, which is a somewhat unofficial claim on the land.

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With that, at least no other demon lineage would try to interfere with your plans, as long as they aren’t stronger than the Seer Tribe, and although there are stronger tribes, they have already their own lineages on different continents, and the central continent also houses many more.

This situation wasn’t rare, smaller continents have fewer spaces for alignments, and the natural ones are usually strongly presented, a sneak into the affairs are usually difficult. Alaric… is basically betraying the human race of the southern continent, by offering a whole kingdom away.

At first the kingdom will only have its royal family composed of demonkin, but with time, they would summon their subservient clans and tribes, possession will easier and sacrificial rituals will kill many survivors. Like a parasite, the demonkin on the southern continent will come to be.

Since the peak of the kingdom itself was corrupted, the whole transformation can be hidden for quite some time, and when other kingdoms realise what’s happening, they won’t have any chance other than closing their borders, which will push the human population of the kingdom closer towards the demonkin, making them mate together as their children also become demons, till one day, there are no humans in the kingdom, at least no native.

That, of course, is the ideal situation. But many complications will come along the way, the only reassurance is that the stronger countries are too far away from the kingdom, while all neighbouring ones are weaker. The stronger ones wouldn’t risk sending their troops away for so far away, their enemies might take advantage of that, and the humans aren’t the only inhabitants of the southern continent. As long as the demons stay somewhat hidden and low-key, there won’t be any issues with becoming a permanent resident of the continent.

Gosh I am thinking so far ahead, and fantasising things, and the king is still not finished with his speech. The prince won’t tell the king about our engagement, so we can’t even announce it just yet. It’s fine, I will find a chance to talk to him. Although the princess has a crush of Illic, she had never married him. The king of this country never agreed to her since he could see that Illic had eyes on another person, and he didn’t want his daughter to suffer. Additionally, the status of Illic was somewhat low, making the queen agree with the king’s decisions.

Finally, the king was finished with his speech, we once again bowed till he sat down on his throne and told the musicians to play some music. I walk to Onaia with Illic in tow, the prince found talked a bit with other high nobles, this would be the start of the celebration, which was basically a ‘go’ for the political stage.

Everyone tried to make connections, and I did a bit too, as I moved around with Onaia and tell her a few details about the people we pass by or greet, details I know from the game and the books “Do you see that man there? He’s a count, but in secret, he owns a part of the black-market of the kingdom. He hides most of it but leaks a bit now and then to make him seem a low player, he also donates some of it to the crown to make it seem like he’s just tapping in there for information and not for profit.

Oh, and that person, right? He’s an earl, but he’s so much into alcohol and women, many think it’s because of a special power, and he always presents it like he needs to do so for his special magic, of course he is no lust-demon, nor does he have any similar magic.

He suffered a grievous injury in the last war over a decade ago, he left hidden injuries when he healed it, and the backlash later when he tried to advance nearly broke all his circles. They barely hang by, so he hides that under the ruse of special magic and stuff like that, you could easily kill him or hostage him if you heal him.

That viscount…” I talk more and more about all those, Illic behind me impressed about my political expertise, but it is only to be expected. This is a kingdom of a book, and the prince is one of the main characters, obviously I would know a lot about it, even minor things.

Lastly, I look at a particular poor-looking person, well poor for a noble. As I look, I tell Onaia “She will be your main contestant, Hinny something, I forgot her last time.” I didn’t but I just didn’t care to mention it, putting her stupid name in my mouth had left a foul taste already.

“She has a very high affinity for light and is somewhat of a talented mage. She is also somewhat of the prince’s ideal type, so it would be difficult to enter your schemes. Tell me, Onaia, what should we do with people like her?”