Lister sat in place, although he appeared calm on the surface, he was already sweating profusely behind his back.
The reason he was attracted to monster girls was because he was essentially a modern soul from an era of information explosion and differentiation. Being a bit of an XP freak was nothing.
But for the general public here, whose level of cognition was roughly equivalent to the late Middle Ages, the Demon Lord falling in love with a human was like Saladin falling in love with a Crusader, or Allah and God shaking hands and making peace together. It was simply too outrageous!
At this moment, meeting Priscilla's deep gaze towards him, Lister was already sweating profusely.
"Ah... Demon Lord, I beg to oppose this marriage."
However, after a brief silence, the first to express an opinion was Cinderella, who had previously shown some fear of the Demon Lord.
She leaned on the chair without any regard, resting her head, and looked at Lister with those pupils emitting an eerie purple light.
In that gaze, there was not much kindness.
"If you want to keep a pet, I have nothing to say. But as a mate, a human... is too unqualified."
Cinderella's tone at this time had put aside the previous giggling component and now sounded calm and penetrating, showing her qualifications to represent the opinions of the succubi.
"Priscilla-sama, although I'm very reluctant, I share the same opinion as Cinderella this time. A human does not have the qualifications to stand by your side and serve you."
Following that, the vampire representative Elizabeth also stood up, slightly nodding to Priscilla, paying respects with vampire etiquette.
"I am very grateful for your previous help to the vampires, but... for the sake of the entire Demon Realm, I do not support your decision this time."
After saying this, Elizabeth directly returned to her seat, not even willing to cast her gaze towards Lister.
After all, for the proud vampires... humans had no use other than blood food and servants.
"I have no objection."
"I reserve my opinion for now, Demon Lord."
Goodrey and Akarin then expressed their views. As one of the loyal supporters, Goodrey always unconditionally supported Priscilla's decisions. The old lion-headed man Akarin, on the other hand, was much more tactful. He could see that Priscilla's choice to announce this matter at the representatives conference meant that she had definitely made up her mind. Directly opposing this new Demon Lord would definitely not have any effect.
Even if he wanted to remonstrate, it should be done in private.
"..."
Priscilla looked around at the four representatives seated below, pondered for a moment, and then calmly spoke:
"Everyone, I am not discussing this matter with you, but merely announcing this decision. This time, my will will not change because of your opinions."
After saying this, Priscilla glanced at Lister, as if trying to find the motivation to continue from him.
"Who my spouse is, this is something only I can decide. Moreover, he is my suitable mate... other than him, I cannot possibly have any other choice. This matter ends here and is not to be discussed further."
"You are a dragon, not a dragon person..."
Cinderella muttered softly below, but was glanced at by Priscilla's scarlet dragon eyes and immediately shrank her neck and shut up.
With the Demon Lord's words to this extent, it meant there was no room for turning back. The old beastman Akarin silently shook his head, and Elizabeth also made no indication. Cinderella, on the other hand, had returned to her previous carefree attitude, but how she and the succubi behind her really thought... who knew?
After forcibly suppressing everyone's opinions, Priscilla secretly held Lister's hand under the table, then continued:
"Next, proceed to the next item on the conference agenda."
...
After the entire conference ended, Lister fell into a state of daze.
He originally thought he was captured to be a human form of Paru in the Demon Realm, but unexpectedly, he was the pressured husband.
What was going on? You were doing just fine as the Demon Lord, why did you have to snatch a human to be your husband?
As for the suitable mate Priscilla mentioned, to be honest, Lister still didn't quite believe it until now and felt it was just Priscilla's excuse.
Just like humans wouldn't FQ with gorillas, how could there be such reproduction-based pheromones between different species?
Wait... Lister remembered a miserable Komodo dragon from his previous life. Maybe it wasn't impossible...
So Priscilla, you're an Indian in the Demon Realm, huh?
Although he thought this way in his heart, in fact, apart from shock and confusion, Lister did not have any psychological resistance.
Perhaps for other humans, these monster girls with various appearances were no different from monsters; but in Lister's eyes, they actually had beautiful features equal to or even surpassing humans.
But before this, he had always clearly believed that he liked monster girls, but that didn't mean monster girls liked him.
Humans considered monsters to be monsters, and vice versa, monsters also regarded humans as enemies or blood food.
He was the one who fell in love with monsters, and he was the abnormal one. He had this self-awareness.
So, even though he often fantasized in his mind about marrying a fluffy monster girl or something, he himself also understood that it was almost impossible.
But now the situation was that a human with a problematic mind might have encountered a dragon girl with an equally problematic mind.
Was this a good thing or a bad thing?
Lister couldn't quite tell.
He once stood behind Aurola, looking at the land of Saint Viliana through the mist.
In the past ten years or so, he also understood that the so-called feelings and ideals were the most unreliable things.
They would wear away with the passage of time, gradually change and become corrupt after repeated events. In the end, when looking back, whether it was people or things, they had long become unrecognizable.
In the advent of "Elf Medicine" and "Magitech Electrical Devices" and Aurola's bloody path to ascension, he had seen too many times people who had turned against each other and fought with weapons due to intertwined interests.
Aurola was also such an example... wasn't she?
The so-called fickleness of the human heart was probably like this.
Therefore, Lister felt confused about Priscilla's proposal this time.
Five years ago, he and "Crimson Claw" were a pair of strangers who met by chance. They met based on pure intentions and finally parted ways for their own reasons.
And now, he and Priscilla were the former shadow of Saint Viliana and the current Demon Lord of the Demon Realm. The lines intersecting between the two were no longer as simple as they were at the beginning.
If this was just a frank encounter connecting the past and the present, then Lister believed he could face it with a smile.
But it just so happened to involve feelings and promises again... Lister felt that even if he liked monster girls so much, he couldn't naturally accept it.
It wasn't that he thought Priscilla must have ulterior motives towards him, but rather that he didn't quite understand... why she would choose him.
...