"Understood, Your Majesty. I suppose the next item I must call to your attention is the annual Conference of the Lords. Do you believe that we would do best to alter it in any which way?" One of the king's most trusted retainers posed a question as he regarded his lord from the other side of an absurdly large stack of paper.
"Let us alter the schedule and have it occur earlier than originally planned." King Reiyd Glorio Alyssia responded as he continued reading through the many documents sitting atop his desk. "Have Marquis Relga and Margrave Delogue arrested immediately if they so brazenly dare to attend. And if they do not, then march our men upon their gates and have them captured as rebels."
"Of course, Your Majesty. I will have all the preparations put in order immediately," replied the retainer. "What shall we do about the food situation? Though the rebel threat has passed, Alshir's citizens are still in the midst of a crisis."
"Take any funds you require from the royal family's exchequer." The king paused for a moment. "No, I rescind that command. This entire affair was ultimately a result of my incompetence. Take the funds from my personal coffers instead. Purchase food from any merchants that have it in stock and distribute it to the citizens alongside what has been confiscated by the army. Do ensure that you compensate any merchants who have suffered losses as a result of this fiasco. You may sell the castle's furniture should you find that my personal wealth proves insufficient."
The king continued to read his documents after making the order but he soon felt that something was amiss and raised his head. Upon doing so, he found the retainer, his confidant and most trusted friend, regarding him with a grin. He was a long time friend, and he had been in the king's service for longer than he had sat upon the throne. Their longstanding, trusting relationship meant that the man bore many an important duty.
Over half the king's supporters had either been killed or imprisoned when his son took over the castle by force. Reiyd was all but certain that his best friend had met an untimely demise. But much to his delight, the man had escaped his captors. Hearing the news had caused the king to think that there was happiness to be found even in misfortune.
It turned out that the king's confidant had done more than just evade capture. The church's paladins had informed him that the man had remained on the run and stayed out of the eyes of the army in order to evade capture whilst also working towards the king's benefit. It was he that had contacted the church and convinced every other group present that allying with the king was to their benefit. It was he that provided the holy knights with a detailed account of the events that had occurred within the castle's walls. And it was he that had effectively put together all the necessary pieces to arrange for the king's rescue.
"What is it?" asked Reiyd.
"Nothing much," replied his confidant. "I just happened to notice that you seem to be faring much better now. And I am quite glad to see it."
His words caused King Reiyd to smile wryly.
"I did not have much of a choice. Do you not see this pile of documents? It would only have grown if I did not recover."
"Looking at you as you are now, Your Majesty, I can say with certainty that it is more than just that. You seem to be filled with energy, as you once were in our younger days. As someone that has served you for quite a number of years, I daresay that the aura about you fills me with nostalgia."
"Hmmm…"
Reiyd brought a hand to his chin as he entertained a thought about his newfound energy's origin. He was all but certain that it was thanks to none other than him.
"Your Majesty?"
"Do not mind it, I merely happened to spend a moment lost in thought," said the king. "I believe that was all we wished to discuss today. I would like you to begin without any further delay."
"Right away, Your Majesty."
King Reiyd paused for a moment after watching his confidant leave. He used the breather to contemplate his recent experiences, to contemplate thoughts of the man that had appeared before him in the final moments of his imprisonment.
The demon was quite the mysterious young man. He could very well have waited until after saving the king to reveal his identity. Doing so would have placed the king in his debt immediately and therefore allow him an advantage in negotiations. But he didn't. He had taken a more straightforward approach and revealed both his identity and his goal immediately upon entering the stage.
Humans and demons had a long history of war, one filled with strife and mutual resentment. The two groups continued to engage in combat to this day; small skirmishes could be found wherever they met. Discrimination and prejudice had only grown stronger in recent years. There had been an uprise in the number of radicals who preached a doctrine of human supremacy. And as a result, humans came to antagonize more than just the demons. They were now equally at odds with beastkin and demihumans.
Reiyd's imprisonment was, in a sense, linked to the aforementioned conflict. He wasn't killed the moment he was captured because the party responsible had wanted him to divulge his knowledge of the country's forbidden spell. The Kingdom of Allysia was founded in the distant past. As a nation that had survived many crises, it naturally had countermeasures in place. And the forbidden spell was one of its final lines of defense, one known only by members of the royal family. That was the reason the foul prison guard had interrogated him and attacked his daughter. It was all to make him crack. To get him to divulge his country's most protected secret.
That was when the demon had shown up. Normally, if one was to appear and offer salvation in such a scenario, the king would suspect that they wanted something, that they had a goal. And he would have asked the demon's had he not caught a glimpse of the man's eyes as he healed Reiyd's daughter. Though the young man had been wearing a mask, Reiyd had recognized the look in his gaze as one filled with kindness.
Seeing him like that made it very difficult for Reiyd to see him as a minion of the demonic legion that viewed the human race under a lens of hostility. The king instead chose to see the demon as just another young man, one that happened to have a soft spot for children. He chose to hear him out instead of dismissing his words. He chose to believe.
And in the end, his choices had proven correct.
The country would likely have fallen at the hands of those that wanted to see it in ruins had he not interfered. And even more harm would have come to Reiyd's daughter. There was a chance that she would have been forever left with physical and mental scars alike, that she might have been hurt too badly to ever smile again.
Likewise, King Reiyd would also have been left with scars in his heart. Because he never would have known what had truly happened to his son. The monarch's mind would have remained clouded with doubt and disappointment until the moment he breathed his last.
He felt a near endless amount of gratitude towards him, both as a king, and as a father. But of course, gratitude wasn't all that there was. It wasn't as if Reiyd thought nothing of demons as a whole. As the man that had manipulated Prince Riutt was a demon, he couldn't possibly claim that he felt no hate for demonkind.
That said, the king felt as if all the time he had spent disliking demons may very well soon come to an end. For there was another place he could direct his wrath. The demon that had manipulated his son had worn an enchanted pendant. Upon analyzing it, his court's mages had reported that it was most likely a product manufactured by a major power to Allysia's southeast: the Rogarde Empire.
The Rogarde Empire was regarded as one of the most influential and powerful countries that lay to the continent's south. It was a human country, one headed by an emperor with a thirst for conquest. He had already engaged in many a war, and those that bordered him considered him a great threat. The question that Reiyd bore in mind was as follows: Why would a demon possess a magically enchanted item created by humans?
He understood that it was possible that the demon had simply taken it from a corpse or extorted its owner. But it was just as possible that it was something a human had willingly given the demon.
There was a chance that the empire had begun to work hand in hand with demons.
Allysia was a large country. It was powerful enough to ward off the empire's attempts at invasion because their militaries were at an equilibrium. However, that would no longer continue to be the case should the kingdom collapse from the inside out. Reiyd knew that the empire would happily gobble up his territory if the equilibrium collapsed.
Similarly, the demons would also love to see Allysia fall. The magic items that Reiyd's country produced were crucial to the Anti-Demon Alliance and its operations. If it were to fall, then the demons would no longer feel nearly as much pressure from humanity's forces. Just like the empire, they too would only see benefit from his country's demise.
The imperials, like most other human nations, were also supposed to be at war with the demons. Reiyd found it difficult to imagine the two working together under the table. But it was his duty to bear the weight of an entire country on his shoulders; he had to consider the worst-case scenario.
He needed to prepare a means of defense, a means adequate enough to protect those that inhabited his country from those who wished it harm.
"Acquainting myself with him was truly quite a stroke of luck," Reiyd muttered.
The future looked grim. Meeting such a kind hearted and powerful individual just as danger appeared on the horizon was, to the king, nothing short of a godsend. Because it provided him with ease of mind. He knew now that his daughter would be safe even if the worst came to pass.
All he had to do was send her his way. He knew for a fact that Iryll wouldn't be turned away, that the demon lord would take her in and protect her. Of course, Reiyd knew that such an act was precisely what it meant to take advantage of the other man's goodwill. And it did make him feel rather guilty, but it was the only way he knew to keep her safe.
Fortunately, his daughter seemed to have taken quite favourably to him as well. He was sure that, if she were to take up residence with him, she would be able to spend her days in blissful peace.
And that was all he wanted. The only thing he desired was for his daughter to grow up happy and healthy.
"I pray that he and I may remain good neighbors to one another from now on…"