Chapter 41

"Is Your Majesty alright with this?" One of the maids speaks to me as she takes off the dress.

"Yes... tell the others not to touch Zephyra," I think calmly about her rejection, the Turquoise color is probably manipulation, I think about this because Zephyra’s father also had this color.

But Zephyra was foolish if she thinks I will be manipulated just because I love her, I will make her regret rejecting me, she made me love her and now I will have her by any means, even if I have to dismember her and chain her in the basement of this castle.

I think calmly, I don’t need to be hasty, I have better ways to make Zephyra suffer before I take her for myself.

Soon the maids take off my clothes and put on the new clothes for the meeting.

"Your Majesty, what do we do with this dress?" The maid asks doubtfully whether to keep it or destroy it.

"We’ll keep it as a memento... and it’s good to have something for Zephyra to remember the mistake she made," someday I will wear this dress again to present myself in front of Zephyra so that she realizes the mistake she made that night.

The calmness I feel about this is surprising, I don’t need to act differently, I know perfectly well what I need to do to make Zephyra my and it will all be done at this meeting.

Soon I leave the room and go to the meeting room, it’s quite large and I see that Varion is already here, he has that same Turquoise color, although I don’t yet know what the Cyan and Gold colors are, I know that Turquoise is manipulation.

’Does this parasite think he’ll get something out of this meeting? I’ll make them pay for this humiliation’ I prepared so much for this declaration and Zephyra humiliated me, I’m not someone who forgets, even though I love her, I’ll make her suffer for it.

Soon I go to my chair and sit down, I signal Varion to start.

"So Your Majesty, I believe the right terms would be, 10 tons of ore every 6 months in exchange for protection, so 500 elite demons are sent for our protection along with the necessary technical support."

"So we can send the soldiers through the mountain path, and have them stay within the village perimeter for... any additions, Your Majesty?" I make a signal to get his attention, Elena and Thalor soon look at me as if they’re thinking about what I’m going to do.

"I’ve decided to change the terms of this deal," I say looking directly at him.

"Y-Yes... well, I guess a few small changes wouldn’t be a problem, Your Majesty. So what are these changes?"

"From now on, the shipment must be 60 tons every 3 months," I say while he looks shocked.

"W-WHAT... p-pardon the disrespect, Your Majesty, but this is an outrage, an absurd amount in such a short time..."

"I haven’t finished speaking, Varion." I look at him with the clear intention of killing him, he trembles with fear and falls silent.

"Also, I will reduce the soldiers to 250."

"B-But then we won’t have enough protection..."

"Varion, tell me how many of these soldiers you use?"

"A-All of them, Your Majesty."

"Now tell me, of these 500 elite soldiers, how many of them have the job of actually protecting the village?"

"9%... B-But even so..."

"Varion, they are soldiers, not your servants to be used in agriculture, smithing, and housekeeping. Do you think I don’t know how you use these soldiers?" I’ve read several reports and know that he uses my soldiers for his own comfort.

"O-Okay, but why such a large amount of ore in such a short time... m-my daughter won’t be able to meet this goal, it’s too high, Your Majesty, the amount of mana spent on this quantity in such a short time won’t leave her with any rest."

"Varion... 10 tons of common ore is nothing but trash. Don’t forget, your family only lives thanks to the demons. If you want my protection, your daughter must at least be able to meet this quota."

"If you want my protection, your daughter must do 60 tons of ore every 3 months, or else... we’ll see how long your family lasts without my help." He doesn’t know the foolishness his daughter has done, and I will use this to have total advantage.

"But even so, this is an absurdity, Your Majesty, this value is too large for my daughter to fulfill."

"I have another option, Varion." I say with a smile.

"Y-Yes, what is it, Your Majesty?"

"Give me your daughter..." He seems not to understand what I said.

"These are your options: pay me with 60 tons of ore in 3 months, or give me your daughter in exchange for protection," I say in an authoritative tone, leaving no room for further negotiation. I know he won’t do that, after all, this negotiation is to protect her, it wouldn’t make sense for him to hand her over to me.

I see his hands tightening on the table, cracking it slightly, while his color is a deep Crimson, indicating his extreme rage in this situation, but he maintains his composure. It would be bad for him to do something.

"U-Understood, Y-Your Majesty... can you at least maintain the barrier of our village without an additional cost?" He asks with a trembling voice, barely containing his rage.

"Of course I can. Then how about we sign the contract now?" I hand him the papers he must sign. I notice his hands trembling with hatred at having such an unfair contract for Zephyra.

"Y-Your Majesty, this clause here... and this other one," he says while looking at one of the clauses in our contract.

"This clause indicates that if you want additional help, you’ll have to pay more, and that other one there says that if you fail to meet your quota, there will be a punishment. And this third clause here says that in case of debt, I can make your daughter my slave," I say to him, taking advantage of his desperation. Seeing these colors fills me with satisfaction.

"DEMON KING, THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" He hits the table, standing up from the chair with a voice full of rage.

"Varion, look how you speak to me. Who needs help is you, not me. Your minimum contribution doesn’t matter to me at all. Do you think I care about your daughter? If you don’t pay, she’ll become my slave... just make sure you pay everything on time, understand? Now sit down and sign this contract already, I have more things to do, and if you take too long, I’ll give up on this contract and expel you from here."

"..." He remains silent. He knows that he doesn’t depend on me, but the other way around, so he decides to give up, after all, as long as he pays on time, Zephyra won’t become a slave.

He signs the contract while his color is a variation of dark purple and crimson. Soon he leaves, the negotiation should have lasted longer, but he knows that I won’t change my mind in any way.

When he leaves the room, the conversation between us begins, with Calypso being the first to ask.

"Your Majesty, could you explain the reason for increasing the amount and reducing the time? Even 60 tons is almost nothing for us."

A cruel smile appears on my face.

"I’m just... playing a little with my rebellious girl..."

"Elena, reduce the strength of the dragon village’s barrier by 80%." I said I would maintain this barrier, but I never said I would maintain it at the same strength.

"Your Majesty, if you do that, the attacks on that village will increase by 16 times, and 250 soldiers won’t be enough to protect them."

"Exactly, and that’s what I want." I’ve already put sharks and wolves in Zephyra’s shadow, so she’s safe.

"You know, from what I’ve seen, alchemists have a limit to what they can do, and that limit depends on mana. So I’ll force Zephyra to exhaustion as much as possible."

"By increasing the amount and reducing the time, I’ll force her to work without rest, and by reducing the security, I’ll force Varion to renegotiate for more troops. Then I’ll make the amount of ore increase even more, making her increasingly tired and exhausted."

"Combining the work with the attacks, there will come a time when Zephyra will be unable to maintain the necessary amount, and when she is exhausted, tired, and hopeless, I will punish her village for failing to pay."

"I’ll kill everyone except Zephyra, I’ll make Zephyra watch the death of the village. I’ll kill them all as soon as they can no longer pay. In the end, thanks to the contract, I have a real reason to kill them."

"Hehehe, I’ll make her regret rejecting me. I’ll destroy everything she has, and in the end, I’ll capture her as a slave to pay her debts."

"This way, I’ll take everything from her and force her to see that I’m the only thing she has, since she didn’t want to be my partner, she’ll be my slave. I’ll make her suffer for humiliating me."

"And Varion won’t be able to borrow from anyone because he’s been doing business with the demons for millennia."

"Your Majesty, is this because of the bouquet? After all, there were other ways to do this."

"...Yes, it’s because of the bouquet. I’ve never put so much effort into a gift before, and she broke it without thinking about my feelings. I put 70% of my mana into that bouquet and worked hard to make it perfect."

"Now I’ll make her suffer from constant lack of mana." I’ve already reached this type of exhaustion, and it’s horrible, so I’ll make her constantly without mana. The suffering this will cause will be terrible, the only flaw in this is that I won’t be able to see her personally suffering from lack of mana.

I’ll make her life a living hell until the moment I turn her into mine. I’ll show her that I always get what I want. I’ll take away everything she has, her mana, her home, her safety, her village, her family, her freedom, and her dignity. I won’t leave her with anything but despair.

And when she’s mired in the deepest despair, I’ll throw her even deeper. I’ll chain her in this castle forever, I’ll never let her escape from me. She’ll regret the day she made me love her.

"Your Majesty, you can be as scary as you are cute. That’s quite cruel to the one you love," Freya says with a little smile.

"Cruel? Nah, this is still little. I’ll do much worse to her in the future. I’ll make her my little doll, she’ll do everything and act the way I want. Her clothes and outfits, even what she’ll eat, will be defined by me."

I’ve already thought about how wonderful it will be to serve a dish made from her father’s head, or maybe make her devour her father’s raw meat. I’ll love seeing her cry as she forces herself to eat to prevent anything else bad from happening to her.

Elena shudders a little, remembering what happened to her, and it’s cute to see how, although she trembles, it’s not from fear, but because she’s excited by the memory.

"Now that this boring meeting is over, shall we go make the preparations for me to go to the human realm?" I say with a smile. In the end, I know how to wait. I’ll let Zephyra suffer as much as I can while she sinks into an impossible debt to pay.