C52: DEMON COURT STRIFE

You better tremble in fear the moment you hear my name, for I am the head of the Four Heavenly Kings, Ravillian the Coveted!

I take pride in being the wisest demon in the entire nation. It is through my ingenuity that the Demon King’s army can counter the human race’s repeated invasions.

…Of course, that’s not all.

I am an actual sage. Only a fake sage indulges in their own wisdom. Since I am the real deal, I constantly restrain myself from acting arrogantly. However, my prudence alone is not the only reason why our race can fend off the human army excessively investing on heroes.

What’s even more influential is the power of our current Demon King; Lord Zedan.

He is a great and wise man.

Having seen many Demon Kings at close distance and serving them as the eldest Heavenly King for the past two generations, I can understand the prodigies of this generation even better.

And while this generation is competent, it comes with its own set of problems.

I’m talking about marriage.

There are many people who attempt to butter up to the Demon King for his wisdom and talent. In fact, I’m also one of them. Fortunately, my wife gave birth to a good-looking daughter.

A beautiful girl, just like her mother!

I aspire to make this beloved daughter of mine the next Demon Queen and become the current Demon King’s father-in-law, all the while taking control of the army.

Added to my daughter’s lineage is her beauty just like her mother’s, and brains just like her father’s makes her the most suitable candidate there is for getting the best bridegroom in the entire demon race!

No, I’m not being a doting parent! I’m the wisest demon in this nation! My strategies are top-notch!!!

That’s why, I want to make my daughter his Majesty’s legal wife, however, there’s a strong opponent in the way.

It’s Astres the Wild, another member of the Four Heavenly Kings.

She’s an inexperienced lass, and the fact that she and I share the same rank aggravates me.

What’s even more aggravating is that she’s the Demon King’s apple of the eye.

They’re childhood friends in love with each other and vowed for a future together.

…Well, being childhood friends is a plus. Even I can’t deny that.

But I will not back down now after how far I’ve come!

I’ll surpass the handicap this poses and make my daughter his Majesty’s legal wife no matter what!

Nevertheless, our ruler, Lord Zedan said himself that he loves Astres alone, and does not plan on marrying anyone other than her. He doesn’t want to have any concubines, either.

Not that this is anything new, it’s just unpleasant to my ears because it crushes all hope of making his Majesty like my daughter!

And so, I thought up of a plan. I am the wisest demon in my nation, after all.

They say that there is a princess possessing both beauty and brains from the mermaid race, one of the standard races along with the demon and human races. Upon receiving that information, I had a eureka moment.

The sovereigns of the mermaid and demon race are of equal ranking. If his Majesty were to marry the mermaid kingdom’s princess, he won’t be able to refuse. That being said, his Majesty probably won’t give up on marrying Astres, so one of them would end up being his concubine.

Fools would wonder about the significance of doing such a thing. Remember how his Majesty declared that he won’t take any concubines? Now, if he ends up marrying the mermaid princess, and still insist on wanting to be with Astres, then he’d have no other choice but to take back what he said.

And if his Majesty is all right with having one concubine, another one wouldn’t hurt.

All that’s left is to get my daughter to join in. Be it as a concubine or whatever it may be, as long as my daughter gets espoused to his Majesty, success is mine! That’s my goal.

My charming and good-looking daughter!

Therefore, if the Demon King becomes captivated by my daughter and marries her, Astres and the mermaid princess will no longer matter and she will be promoted to legal wife!

No, I’m not being a doting parent! It’s a solid strategy!!!

Seeing a straight road to victory, I immediately began negotiating with the mermaid kingdom.

Somehow, the humans sniffed this out and also participated in the negotiations, though it matters not. For their arrogant thinking of being the best in the world means they’re clueless as a baby when it comes to diplomatic finesse. They aren’t worthy rivals.

And just when I thought everything is going smoothly, something troublesome happened; the mermaid princess has already married someone else. They say he’s a saint of some sort.

I felt dejected after my plan, which was going smoothly up till now, faced a setback. The stepping stone of pushing Astres aside and making my daughter the next Demon Queen has vanished like dust.

…Wait. It’s too early to give up.

The wisest demon in the entire nation can still make adjustments to a failed plan.

Since I’ve already come this far, how about I turn our negotiations with the mermaid kingdom into a diplomatic problem and put all the blame on Astres so she loses her position?!

…It worked so well even I surprised myself.

The lass went to abduct the mermaid princess according to my orders, without even sensing that she was being lured into a trap. She also failed to accomplish her task!

If she succeeds, she will be blamed for causing diplomatic problems with the mermaid kingdom and will be dismissed from her position.

If she fails, she’ll bear the responsibility of failing to accomplish her task and still be dismissed from her position.

I put together a plan as such that no matter the outcome, it will still cause problems for her. Thankfully, everything turned out to be ideal within my expectations.

Since everything started with my plan of negotiating with the mermaid kingdom about marriage, I anticipated part of the blame would be put on me, but lo and behold, I was able to avoid it.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who found Astres to be an eyesore. The other two Heavenly Kings planned to eliminate her as well.

Thus, began Astres’ descent from being a Heavenly King. We even succeeded as far as expelling her from the Demon King’s army.

Now that Astres is gone, all that’s left to do is marry my daughter to the Demon King!

…Or so I thought, but his Majesty is stuck in the frontlines of war and hasn’t returned to the capital in a long while.

They say that the battlefront is at a stalemate after the Dragon appeared.

Then, after hearing about Astres’ expulsion, he got furious.

“I’ll deal with your punishment after I bring her back.”

His Majesty vanished after declaring those words.

…Huh?

Isn’t this a bad sign?

On top of incurring the anger of his Majesty, his whereabouts are also unknown.

We don’t even know when will the ceasefire with the human army collapse. If the war resumes without his Majesty and one of the Four Heavenly Kings, our army will not hold even for a month!

I, the wisest demon in this nation, predict so!

We’re already in the middle of a dire situation, and yet one Heavenly King still dares rebel!

“With the Demon King absent, now’s the chance for me to dominate the world!”

Don’t give me that crap, read the damn atmosphere here!

If a civil war breaks out at a time like this, the human race will take advantage of it and invade us!!!

I beg you, your Majesty, please come back soon! I admit all my wrongdoings!

Your Majesty!!!

Your Majesty, come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!

…Whether you like it or not, there’s a continuation.

Whilst I was being strangled by my own stupidity, my right-hand man came to discuss something with me.

He’s the son of my old playmate whom he entrusted in my care before he left for the war against the human race.

I raised him on behalf of my late friend, and through my guidance he has become enough of an exceptional fellow to be called my right-hand man. Surely even his late father is pleased with this.

So, that concludes the short introduction about my right-hand man. Now, on to the main question: why is he here?

…Huh?

He wants to marry my daughter?!

They’ve been acquainted with each other for several years now?!

No way!

Even my own daughter barged in and said that she’ll die if she can’t marry him.

…All right, all right.

I thought marrying my daughter to the most influential man in the demon race will make her happy, but it seems I was terribly mistaken.

I didn’t realize the one who can make her happy was with us this entire time.

I am the head of the Four Heavenly Kings, Ravillian the Coveted.

I proclaimed myself to be the wisest demon in this nation, but as it turns out, I’m the dumbest man there is.

Please find it in your heart to forgive me, my right-hand man.

Or should I say, my son.

I leave my daughter in your care.