Lilly, bloodied and bruised, summoned the last vestiges of her strength to crawl towards Nitish. Her body was trembling, aching from the merciless beating she had endured at the hands of the enraged merfolk. She looked up at Nitish, her eyes filled with a mix of pain, anger, and disbelief.
"Tell me," she whispered, her voice barely audible, "from when did you know about my betrayal and plan?"
Nitish couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the situation. Here she was, the master manipulator, now broken and defeated, seeking answers from the very person she had sought to deceive.
"I knew from the very beginning," Nitish replied with a grin. "It was never your trap, Lilly. It was mine from the start."
Her eyes widened, her mind struggling to comprehend his words. How could he have known? How could she have fallen into his trap so easily?
"You were always a pawn to me, Lilly," Nitish continued, his voice laced with a mixture of amusement and triumph. "A means to build an army I could trust."
She felt a surge of anger rising within her, but it was quickly overshadowed by a sense of defeat. All her cunning and manipulation had amounted to nothing in front of his masterful game.
Lilly stood there, stunned and speechless, as Nitish revealed the truth behind the web of deceit that had been spun around her. Her carefully laid trap had backfired, and now she found herself entangled in the very net she thought she had skillfully woven.
"Why are you laughing?" Lilly demanded, her anger barely contained.
Nitish chuckled, looking at her with a mixture of amusement and pity. "It was never your trap, Lilly," he replied calmly. "It was mine from the start—the unescapable net that I weaved."
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "What do you mean?" she stammered.
Nitish took a step closer, his eyes locked with hers. "From the moment we met, I saw potential in you," he began, his voice measured. "Not as a lover or partner, but as a pawn—a means to build an army I could trust."
Lilly's heart sank, realizing that she had been nothing more than a tool to him. She had thought she was using him to gain power, but in reality, he had been using her all along.
"I was betrayed back on Earth by someone I thought was close to me," Nitish continued, his tone tinged with bitterness. "I learned the hard way that I needed a loyal and trusted army to take revenge on those who wronged me. When I came to this new world, I knew I had to be smart and cunning."
He paused for a moment, and Lilly could see the flicker of pain in his eyes. "At first, I thought of using my skill on the monsters I encountered," he admitted. "But it didn't work. Then, I met you, and I saw an opportunity. I decided to use my skill on you to ensure your absolute loyalty."
"You manipulated me!" Lilly exclaimed, her voice trembling with anger and hurt.
"Yes, I did," Nitish admitted without hesitation. "I manipulated you to believe that what you were doing was right, to believe that we were in love. But in reality, I was pulling the strings, knowing your every move, using the information I gathered from the assassins you sent after me."
Lilly felt a mixture of rage and shame. She had prided herself on being a skilled manipulator, but Nitish had outmaneuvered her at every turn.
Nitish knew he had to build a trusted army or use his skill to control people to ensure absolute loyalty. However, when he tried to use his skill on the monsters in the new world, it did not work. So, he decided to test his skill on the first person he met in this world—Lilly. He found her beautiful and intriguing, and the more he learned about her, the more he considered taking her back to Earth to seek revenge on those who had betrayed him.
To gather information, Nitish spared some of the assassins sent to kill him, using them to extract crucial details about the underwater kingdom and its people. Surprisingly, his skill worked on Lilly, leading her to believe that they were in love and that she was in control. In reality, Nitish was the mastermind all along, subtly manipulating her actions to fit his plans.
He had a vision of building a powerful kingdom with loyal allies, not just mindless pawns. His goal was to create a united realm where trust, loyalty, and respect prevailed. Now, as the truth unfolded, Lilly was left feeling stunned and vulnerable, realizing that she had been played by the very person she had sought to deceive. Nitish's cunning and intelligence had outwitted her at every turn, leaving her no choice but to face the consequences of her actions.
After the shocking revelation, Nitish wasted no time in asserting his newfound authority. He had Lilly thrown into a cold, damp dungeon, stripped of her heirship, and her title was stripped off. The once-powerful princess now found herself at the mercy of the very person she had sought to manipulate.
Emerging from the throne room, Nitish called upon the entire army, who were now mere slaves under his command. They gathered before their new king, uncertain and apprehensive about what the future held under his rule. Nitish's gaze swept across the crowd, his eyes filled with a potent mix of determination and power.
"Now, let me make something crystal clear," Nitish's voice rang out, commanding the attention of everyone present. "Supporting me is not optional; it is your only choice. I have a unique skill, one that grants me control over you, and I will use it if necessary."
The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances, their fear palpable. They had heard rumors of Nitish's power, but now they were witnessing it firsthand, and it left them trembling with trepidation.
To demonstrate his point, Nitish swiftly drew a small dagger from his side and made a shallow cut on his left arm. The crowd gasped in horror as they watched him bleed, but their shock escalated when they, too, experienced the pain of his wound as if it were their own.
"Now, do you understand?" Nitish asked, his eyes locked on the soldiers. "If I am harmed, you will suffer a hundredfold. So, protect me at all costs, and I promise you will be rewarded handsomely."
He let the weight of his words sink in as he assessed the reactions of his new army. The fear was evident in their eyes, but so was the spark of loyalty that he intended to nurture.
"Now, for our first task as a united kingdom," Nitish declared. "We will conquer the beastmen tribe that lies by the sea. They may seem fierce, but with your loyalty and my strategic prowess, victory is assured."