Chapter 52

"Hello Duke Lionel D’Auberon, it’s a pleasure to see you. I’m Pandora Aegis Oblivion, daughter of Grand Duke Veritus von Lügenberg, and I’m also the fifth-rank noble who owns this carriage," I say calmly with a smile.

"G-Grand Duchess..." He’s shocked to see me. I calmly walk up to him, making eye contact.

"I heard some... things about what you said, but I’m sure it must be some kind of misunderstanding, don’t you think?" He trembles with nervousness and avoids making eye contact.

’Damn coward.’

"Shogo, come here," I order, and Shogo comes running to me and assumes the position of my maid, standing three steps behind me.

"Correct me if I’m wrong, but... did you say you wanted my personal maid... for yourself?"

"T-That was just..." His color turns slightly purple.

"Look at me now." He forces himself to look into my eyes.

"Do I look like someone who apologizes to others?" It’s too much audacity for this brat of a son of a bitch to spew all that crap without knowing who he’s messing with.

"O-Oh, n-no, Grand Duchess, it was just a mistake, I-I didn’t know it was your carriage."

"...Didn’t know, huh? And yet you still tried to blame me for this accident, insulted my maids, insulted my family name, threatened me, and worst of all, wanted to take something that’s mine?" My anger boils just thinking about it.

This won’t go unpunished; I’ll make that brat suffer. I know he’ll be in the same class as me at the academy.

"I-It wasn’t like that, I just..." He tries to explain desperately.

"Are you saying I’m lying?"

"So in addition to making me waste time, you’re also calling me a liar? It seems the Auberon duchy has forgotten its place." People start gathering and watching the commotion.

Whispering and murmuring, they all recognize who we are. Kaelith wouldn’t make a bloody mess over something like this; she would kill him discreetly. Kaelith only kills in front of everyone when the insult is directed at the Demon King, which in this case is me.

So I won’t kill him in front of everyone either. I need to make him pay dearly for this humiliation, and the best way is at the academy.

"G-Grand Duchess, please forgive me, the fault of the accident was my coachman’s, I will punish him for it. I sincerely apologize for my disrespect, can we just forget this small incident?"

Now he’s trying to shift the blame. He’s a miserable little rat, typical of these arrogant scums. When they find someone better, they have no courage. I can’t believe this worm has the same title as Celeste.

"Kneel."

"H-Huh?" He makes a sound of doubt. I walk to my carriage and sit on the step, crossing my legs, and order:

"Kneel and kiss my feet."

To make up for this waste of time, I’m going to humiliate him in front of all these commoners. I know how people are this news will spread like wildfire through the kingdom, and he’ll become a laughingstock.

"T-That’s an exaggeration for such a small incident, G-Grand Duchess, it was just..."

I interrupt him.

"You threatened to exterminate the Grand Duke’s family in this kingdom. I’m being very benevolent by not judging you for the crime of high treason against the kingdom." The laws are severe. It doesn’t matter that they’re dukes; my family could execute them. Besides, even if we executed this worm in front of us, no one would care.

He’s just a useless person who lives off his father’s authority. We could even back the duke into a corner and force him to become a vassal of my family, but where’s the fun in that? This insolent one wouldn’t suffer for trying to steal something from me.

He trembles with fear at the mention of execution. He knows his father can’t protect him from me. My father has more authority than the king himself, whether it’s over trade routes, commerce, imports and exports, or military power in everything, my father surpasses the others, after all, our family is older than the royal family.

And although they think my father only refused to be king because it wasn’t convenient and other things, that’s not quite the case. The fact is, the royal family has a secret: the royal vault can only be opened by a member of the royal family with pure blood.

And to maintain this "purity," the main branch basically always breeds through incest, which is why my father didn’t want to be king. He wouldn’t have access to the vault, and if he married a member of the royal family, the purity of the lineage would be destroyed, and his descendants wouldn’t be able to open the vault.

We demons know that something valuable is inside that vault, which is why it’s more worthwhile to force the royal family to somehow get what’s inside it instead of trying to steal it or force them to take it out.

The demons have already tried to force a member of the royal family to open it, but they discovered that it can only be opened if that is the person’s true desire. Basically, the door won’t open if the person is being coerced or magically manipulated.

"N-No need for that, G-Grand Duchess, I’ll do it." He speaks somewhat desperately, his androgynous features contorting in humiliation. If he didn’t have short hair and was wearing different clothes, I could be mistaken about his gender.

He kneels and crawls to me on the ground, his body trembling with fear and humiliation, while a cruel smile appears on my face. This dark satisfaction is wonderful.

Seeing a spoiled rich boy humiliating himself before me is great. He soon begins to kiss my shoe. After a brief kiss, he tries to move away.

"Who said you could stop?" He freezes at my words.

"You not only made me waste time, but you also wanted something that belongs to me... Lick the soles of my shoes, and maybe I’ll consider forgetting this."

I’ll never forget this. I’ll humiliate him somehow.

His color is a mix of purple and red, showing disgust. He holds my foot and begins to lick the soles of my shoes. My smile grows wider as the entire audience watches in shock.

A duke licking someone else’s shoes in public I’m sure it’s a marvelous sight for some and a surprising one for others.

He gently holds my foot, of course, not daring to even scratch me. So all he can do is accept it silently. If he hadn’t been so arrogant, I would have let it pass.

And it’s for things like this that one should be careful about what they say. Without knowing anything, he created an enemy he can’t defeat, simply because he spoke too much without knowing his place.

"I-Is this enough, G-Grand Duchess?"

If it were Celeste here, she would prefer to die rather than do this, after all, she has the courage to even defy Kaelith and try to kill her constantly without denying it.

I uncross my legs and kick his chin, knocking him backward.

’Besides looking like a weak girl/boy, he’s weak for real, a true failure.’

This failure doesn’t even have a physique worthy of note. I bet he’s never even lifted anything heavier than books.

"Yes, it’s enough. I’ve wasted too much time already. Maid, send the repair bill to the Auberon Duke along with a warning... Come, Shogo."

I get up from the carriage step and get in, ignoring the murmurs and whispers. I hold Shogo and hug her; I won’t let that spoiled brat take what’s mine.

Shogo seems happy with the hug. I sit on the carriage seat and place Shogo on my lap.

Now all I do is wait for the maid to repair the carriage with magic. Since we’ve already drawn attention, there’s no reason to avoid using magic now. Besides, I’m in a hurry and don’t have the patience to wait for someone to come and fix it just because of a stupid noble etiquette.

Soon the maid uses magic to repair everything, and we’re back on the road, leaving the duke behind.

"...Maid, is there any magic for gender change or a potion? Even an item would do." I don’t want to go back to being a man; I don’t see the need for it, but I know a good use for it.

"Yes, Grand Duchess, there are some rare magics for that, so the recommendation would be to speak to the great demon alchemist. He can make a potion for that."

"Shogo, look at me." Shogo tilts her head up to make eye contact, it’s so cute, so adorable.

"Shogo, you like women, don’t you?" She nods in agreement. It’s obvious that as a tentacle monster, she would prefer women.

"The Duke was kind of cute, wasn’t he? He’s androgynous, so you can imagine him as a woman."

She agrees.

"Ha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I burst out laughing at the idea. Shogo tilts her head, not understanding.

"Shogo, do you want that woman as your food source?" I don’t even need to see the duke as a man anymore. I’ll make him a woman and give him as a gift to Shogo. Is there a better revenge? He wanted Shogo, so I’ll make him Shogo’s pet.

Shogo nods her head, her eyes shining with excitement. Shogo doesn’t need it to necessarily be me who’s the food. She’s still young, so if we tried to give her someone as food, she would kill them.

But when she grows up a bit, she’ll realize that it’s not good to kill the prey and that it’s better to keep the prey alive and break their mind with constant sex.

It will be wonderful to transform that arrogant piece of shit into Shogo’s whore. I hug Shogo tighter.

"But don’t even think about starting to like her, okay? She’ll be your food, not your partner. If you want a partner, you’ll have to choose someone I approve of."

I can’t believe I’m treating her like my daughter. What a turnaround.

I’ll humiliate him at the academy, make him suffer, and then give him to Shogo when I’m satisfied.

"Maid, send the request to Elena and explain the reason and how everything happened... Tell her there’s no rush, as I still have to play with this arrogant duke before giving him to Shogo."

I stop talking and keep hugging Shogo, watching the landscape. We’ll soon arrive at the academy, where my plans will start to unfold.