The sky here is perpetually shrouded in gloom. In the distance, phoenixes screech as they fly by, leaving deathly ripples in their wake.

Amid the endless plains, a tall and ominous castle stands solitary and stark. For ten miles in every direction, not a single intelligent demonic creature can be seen.

This is the castle of Rothgar, one of the five Abyssal Dukes of the Demon Realm. No one dares to approach.

Suddenly, the silence shatters. A teleportation array, glowing with faint purple light, unfolds above the castle.

Two figures, locked in an embrace, materialize within the array.

No sooner have the man and woman appeared than dozens of black flames surge upward, arrowing towards them with lethal intent.

The horned man barely moves his shoulder before the thin wings behind him swiftly enfold the pair. The black flames strike the delicate membrane of the wings, only to be deflected and dissipated.

"Hey, Roth, is this how you welcome me?" The man unfurls his wings and shouts down indignantly.

A tall figure with massive, leathery wings flies out of the castle. His long black hair streams in the wind, and his head is crowned with black, curved horns. His face, both handsome and sinister, is pale and cold. Narrow eyes squint in displeasure, and his ruby-like eyes gleam with mockery. He grins, baring his white teeth.

"Balan, since when have I ever welcomed you?"

"Ah, we've been friends for thousands of years. No need to be such an asshole," Balan replies, undeterred by Rothgar's attitude. "I'm getting married. I came to personally deliver the invitation!"

With a flick of his wrist, a meticulously crafted invitation lands in Rothgar's hand.

Rothgar holds the invitation between two fingers, his gaze shifting to the woman Balan is holding.

With one glance, he knows she is human.

The human woman has rich golden hair and delicate, beautiful features. Her expression is that of a timid deer in the woods. At this moment, she clings tightly to Balan's waist, as if afraid of falling.

Rothgar is a demon. In fact, all five Abyssal Dukes of the Demon Realm crawled up from the abyss. And demons are natural-born racists, looking down on other races, especially the frail humans, whom they see as the epitome of filth, incompetence, and deceit.

Every time Rothgar meets Balan, he never misses a chance to mock him. But over the millennia, he has indeed come to regard Balan as a friend. Hearing now that he is getting married, and to a human woman no less, he thinks his friend must be joking.

"Are you insane? Humans are so filthy you wouldn’t even want to touch them, and you want to marry one?"

"Hey, don't say that in front of my future wife. Catherine is different. She’s as pure and beautiful as a unicorn. I've fallen in love with her." Balan stops Rothgar and then looks down at his future wife, lifting her chin and kissing her tenderly.

Catherine blushes, wrapping her arms around Balan's neck, her expression dazed with love.

Rothgar frowns deeply, wanting to rid himself of the unsightly couple before him.

Out of consideration for his friend's feelings, Balan quickly ends the kiss and looks at Rothgar, his mood greatly improved.

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"Roth, I used to be obsessed with sensory pleasures, thinking they were the best thing in the world. But now I realize the taste of love is the sweetest. You shouldn't stay cooped up in your castle all the time. Why not go out and experience the wonders of love?"

Rothgar snorts coldly. "Love? Your love is with a human, a deceitful and lowly creature? Balan, you're a disgrace to demons. I foresee you'll ruin yourself over a human woman."

"Don't be so harsh, Roth," Balan protested. "Yes, there are deceitful and annoying humans, but there are also gentle lambs like Catherine."

As he spoke, he looked down and gave Catherine a tender, affectionate smile.

The blush on the petite Catherine's face had not faded, and her emerald eyes reflected Balan's handsome face.

Rothgar couldn't stand it any longer. He averted his gaze in disgust and said coldly, "Do as you please. I won't attend your wedding."

Black flames ignited in his hand, instantly incinerating the invitation.

Before Rothgar could fly back to the castle, Balan quickly said, "Roth, let's make a bet."

Rothgar paused and looked at Balan, a hint of interest appearing in his blood-red eyes. "What kind of bet?"

Balan said, "You look down on human women, thinking they're all vain, right? Before the wedding, you have six months. If you can get a hundred human women to agree to marry you within that time, you win. But if you fail, you have to attend my wedding."

"And if I win, you'll kill your love?" Rothgar sneered. Though he found the bet amusing, he couldn't deny it sparked a bit of competitive spirit in him.

Catherine shrank back upon hearing Rothgar's words.

Balan quickly comforted her, giving Rothgar a glare before saying, "If you win, I'll give you the Abyssal Tree Seed I recently acquired."

Rothgar's eyes changed. If his interest was only piqued before, now he was determined. He had been searching for Abyssal Tree Seeds for thousands of years and had only found two so far. He had to get Balan's seed!

"Deal," Rothgar said, lifting an eyebrow and curling his lips. "For the next six months, you can keep it safe for me."

Balan, seeing Rothgar agree, didn't mind his attitude of already considering the Abyssal Tree Seed his own. He added maliciously, "But you can't force them to agree to marry you, nor can you abduct them to the Demon Realm. You must use your charm to win their hearts in the human world!"

"Human women are so trivial; I won't need to force them," Rothgar agreed without hesitation.

"Then I'll look forward to your good news," Balan said with a grin, activating the teleportation array. He gave Rothgar a meaningful look before happily teleporting away with Catherine.

Only after the teleportation array's light had faded did Catherine quietly ask Balan, "What if he wins?"

Her voice was soft and gentle, like silk brushing against skin, making Balan's heart flutter. This was why he didn't allow her to speak in front of others—such a voice was for him alone.

Balan hurriedly carried her back to their bedroom, replying distractedly, "He'll definitely lose. With his foul mouth, he can't even say a kind word. What woman would agree to marry him?"

"But..."

"Shh, don't talk about him anymore. I'll get jealous. Say my name, baby."

"...Ba-Balan..."

Meanwhile, Rothgar returned to his castle, retracted his thin wings, and walked through the empty, cold corridors to the underground.

Rothgar knew that Balan had used the Abyssal Tree Seed as a bet partly because Balan didn't care about it as much as he did, and partly because Balan believed he would surely lose.

As a friend of thousands of years, Balan had repeatedly said that even if Rotgar genuinely fell in love with a lady, he wouldn't be able to woo her because he couldn't say a single kind word, capable only of turning love into hatred with his sharp tongue.

But even Balan didn't know that his innate skill "Possession" would give him some of the target's memories when used.

Each Abyssal Duke had an innate skill, a gift from the Abyss when they crawled out of it.

Rothgar's innate skill, "Possession," allowed him to phase his body, residing within intelligent creatures in a form similar to a soul, perfectly controlling their bodies. This was the part Balan knew. What Balan didn't know was that Rothgar could also randomly acquire some of the target's memories.

Thus, the bet with Balan seemed all too simple to Rothgar. He just needed to find a playboy and use his memories to win the hearts of human women. Human women were vain and greedy; this bet was as good as won!