[Erzal's Pov]
Walking back to the quarters that I had gotten gifted by that foolish king, things were going extremely well so far. In a matter of a couple of months, I had already gotten complete control of the fool who wears a crown.
Adrian had no chance of resisting my spell, as he was already charmed by my looks even prior to me using it. So now, all I had to do was to continue getting a hold of the capital, making sure to prepare the military power of Kurat for the upcoming war against Mensch.
This was the plan my lord had given me, to corrupt Kurat from the inside, making sure to plant subordinates in all of the important political and military sectors in the country, so as to finally launch a full-out assault against Mensch.
Even though it would have been a lot easier to just decimate the so-called united races with the help of all the demon counts, our lord only had enough power to send over one count at a time, at least until he recovers enough strength.
So until that happens, or until he could transfer another count, I had to make sure to keep everything under complete control, making sure that nothing goes wrong.
Thankfully, the lord had already analyzed the political landscape of Kurat, knowing that the country in itself already had quite the aggressive culture. No one would bat an eye when the savage country goes to war, as it had a ruler who had come to power through force.
*Clack*
Opening my door, I was excited to finally have some time to myself, excited to not have to act like one of those despicable races of Tella. However, what greeted me was not the empty room I had expected, but a masked human sitting in my armchair, seemingly having expected my arrival.
With one of his legs over the other, the white-haired man sat like he had no worries in the world, almost as if this was somehow a completely casual meeting. "Greetings, Ms. I think we need to have a talk. Would you care to join me? It will only take a minute."
Knowing that it would be a bad idea to panic, I gently closed the door behind me and set up a soundproof barrier. There was no way I would let anyone hear about the conversation I was about to have with this mysterious man.
"What do you want? And how did you even get in here?"
Making sure to keep my chest up a bit higher, as there was no human who could resist my womanly charms, I carefully approached him, as I for some reason was unable to feel any mana signature coming from him.
'Is he an assassin sent to kill who the people think is the lover of the king?'
Keeping my calm, I sat down on my huge bed, consciously letting my red dress rise a bit, revealing a bit of my thighs. Even though I had lost a part of my attractiveness as I had to hide my wings and tail, I was sure that there was now something rising in man's pants.
Sadly, he didn't want to humor me by showing how flustered he was, as he just kept on speaking without a reaction, "So, I'm going to cut this short. I think we should help each other out. I know that most of the things that are happening in Kuur are because of you, with the king just being your tool. Also, I know that you want to go to war with Mensch in the future."
He was quite the skillful speaker, revealing his cards in order to force me to converse with him, as it would otherwise lead to my doom. Sadly, if he had known that I was a demon, he might have chosen another path.
So I stood up again, and walked over to the man, leaning over so my cleavage was right in his face, "I'm sorry. But I'm not interested in cooperating with anyone. So, farewell."
"Urgh!"
In a swift movement, I took a step back, having already given him a bit of a sweet moment before his death, and elongated my nails which I then stabbed right into his heart. However...
Instead of his chest splitting open, and blood spewing out, his face just twisted in pain as he continued to speak, "So this is your answer? Well, I'll guess I'll be back tomorrow. Don't worry though, I won't tell anyone about you being a demon and all. Bye!"
*Poff!*
"Cough! Cough!"
'What was that?!'
In a second, the man had completely disappeared, seemingly still completely alive. Remembering the sensation of piercing his heart, I knew that something had been strange. Instead of feeling resistance, it was as if my hand had gone through water or a thick gas.
"This isn't good... This isn't good at all! Fuck!"
I couldn't stop myself from biting my nails in frustration. This was the one thing that couldn't happen, the one thing I couldn't allow to happen. "Shit! How did he know?! And what do I do now?!"
Although I was sure that he was still somewhere in the capital, I couldn't just fly around looking for him, as it wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes before the stupid people in Kuul would see me.
"So do I really just have to wait? Fuck! Shit!"
Having no other choice, I had to wait and hope that he truly would be back tomorrow, hopefully in a good enough mood to carry on with the negotiations, even though I tried to kill him.
****
[James's Pov]
"Jeez! Women truly are scary beings..."
Although I hadn't expected things to go so smoothly that I would just convince her on my first try, I didn't think she would go straight for the kill like that. "Though I have to say... Holy shit what a body..."
It had been incredibly hard to keep calm during our meeting, as she had purposely tried to look as seductive as possible, and her physical features made those actions extremely potent. Even more so as her chest and bottom got even more exaggerated by her skin-tight red dress.
However, a part of me knew that I would never truly fall for her charms, as the only thing my mind could think of at that moment was another girl. A girl that I now had no chance of having a future together with.
There was no way for me to go back, to become the person I had been before all of this started. That ship had departed as soon as my head departed from my head. 'How fucking ironic...'
Life was truly a bitch. As soon as I had found someone that I started to truly feel comfortable with, her father just had to go on and 'kill' me. Somehow, a shotgun wedding felt pretty reasonable in comparison, at least the father supported the reunion in those situations.
"Well, better luck tomorrow then! If my assumption is correct, she is probably pretty stressed out by the fact that someone knows her secret. My guess is that it wouldn't be too good for her if the fact that Kurat is ruled by a demon in the shadows came out to the public."
No matter what, I was sure that I would have a pretty good shot of convincing her to make a deal with me in the coming days, even if I might have to 'die' a couple of times. But now, it was time for some more fun stuff.
==========
"How can all of these hides only be worth 10 grand?! That is less than 500 USD per hide!"
"Take it or leave it. It's not like anyone else will buy from you, not with you looking like that and all."
The fat merchant was truly a bastard, but it wasn't like I truly had a choice. The slums were the only place where I would dare to show my masked face, as I doubted that anyone would care who I was.
The slums themselves were in such a sad state that I doubted that it would be better to live here than in my trusty old cabin.
"Grr! Fine! Give me that damn money!"
*Clang, Clang!*
With a huge smile, knowing he had made the deal of his life, he threw ten coins on the desk, each amounting to 1000 USD.
In Kurat, digital credits were for the rich, not something that those living in the slums would use.
Although I hated seeing the fat, mustache-carrying merchant win, there was no real reason for me to keep arguing with him.
After all, my golden goose was just around the corner, at least if things went as I thought they would.
So I took the money, and walked away, now unable to keep myself from smiling when I thought about what the future had to give.
"Now, let's just find a place to sleep. I have to look my best for the incredibly aggressive beauty tomorrow!"