Chapter 195 A Lesson In The Art Of Deception.

Priscilla stood at the balcony of her office and looked down at the kingdom below her whole chewing her thumbnail nervously. The marketplace was right outside her castle and she allowed her eyes to roam over all the people selling and buying different goods down there. This used to be the motivation that allowed her to keep working hard to protect this kingdom, but now she could only think about how these idiots didn't know anything about how dangerous things were for them right now. Any moment from now, they could all be dead and they were busy buying and selling like fools.

Her brows were furrowed deep in thought as she thought about what just happened over the last month. Priscilla could now say with certainty that summoning a hero was the biggest mistake of her life! A stupid mistake that she should have never made! If only she knew things would end up like this, she would have spent those mana stones on something else instead! It would have been better to just throw those mana stones into a hole than to waste all that time and energy on a fucking hero!

What sort of hero loses against two maids!? It wasn't even the demon lord himself, just two fucking maids!

Priscilla heard what happened to the caravan that was traveling with Quinn. Not only did most of them die to the two maids, but the rest of them also ended up killing each other because some sort of demon magic was used to make them see each other as enemies!

Priscilla shivered as she thought about the mental image of a spell that can make people kill each other that easily. What sort of evil magic is capable of doing something so demented to people? Making allies see each other as enemies. I don't ever want to stand in front of whoever was responsible for such a thing!

And the worst part of it all was the fact that Priscilla lost both her Hero as well as her Grand Commander in one fucking night! Those two maids just fucking killed her entire army! The scout that went out to search for the missing caravan came back and told Priscilla that the Grand Commander she sent to help the hero was dead and that his head had been smashed into an unrecognizable paste! If not for his large sword that was lying beside him, then they definitely wouldn't have recognized his body at all!

Priscilla groaned into her hand and leaned against the railing in front of her. She was completely out of ideas for what to do about Floid. What the hell am I going to do now? I don't have a hero, and neither do I have all my Grand Commanders. Out of all my Commanders, I only have two of them remaining in the kingdom. There is no way that would be enough to stop the demon lord when he attacks! I knew I shouldn't have sent out Darius. I should have told him to stay in the kingdom so he wouldn't die so pointlessly.

And that was another problem that Priscilla had to deal with! The kingdom of Uta was very large and although most of the kingdom was being protected by the barrier that covered it, Priscilla knew that it was only a matter of time before the barrier stopped being effective. Barriers don't last forever and there is no way to power a barrier forever. Right now, the only reason why the barrier hasn't gone down is because of the priests that have been helping to power it using their Mana. But the priests were getting weaker with every passing day and it was only a matter of time before they can no longer power the barrier! Should I try to recruit some more magic users from the adventurers guild? But I need people with a specific magic signature to power the barrier. I can't just use anyone!

Priscilla was out of ideas on what to do and she could no longer think clearly without getting a headache. This was supposed to be an easy victory for her. The person that she was fighting against was only Foid! It was just the same Floid that she already killed once! Floid used to be so silent and solitary when they were all in the same party before he became a demon lord and it was easy for Priscilla to kill him before! So why did he suddenly become so dangerous!?

When Floid was playing the Rivalle game, he was not able to talk to the other characters unless it was through the dialogue boxes that give him options to say one thing or the other. So from Priscilla's perspective, Floid used to be a very silent and straightforward person and she could easily predict what he would do in the past. But that wasn't the same anymore. Floid was no longer harmless at all and Priscilla was lost about what to do. She needed help.

The voice of Al, Priscilla's personal assistant, echoed through the door suddenly and Priscilla turned around once she heard it.

"Your majesty, your 4:00 appointment is here,"

Priscilla rose a brow as she tried to remember who she had an appointment with at this time. Her mind was clouded with thoughts of how to handle Floid and she completely forgot she had an appointment. Wasn't there someone that the head priest asked me to meet with today? Oh, yes! The woman that arrived in Uta recently. The one that everyone has been talking about recently. What was her name again? Ophis, right?

"Madam Ophis."

Priscilla spoke up as she saw Ophis entering the room and she waved her hand towards a chair at the side for Ophis to take a seat. Ophis nodded her head gratefully and she walked towards the seat regally and sat down. Priscilla watched Ophis take a seat and she couldn't stop herself from being impressed by how Ophis carried herself. Ophis wasn't even a member of royalty, but she walks and acts just like one!

Almost everyone around Priscilla has told her one thing or the other about Ophis. Priscilla knows about the many men that were trying their best to woo Ophis into becoming their wife and Priscilla also knew that one of her Grand Commanders was in love with Ophis. That was the only reason why Priscilla agreed to this meeting when she received the request from her head priest. Priscilla wanted to see exactly who this Ophis was! Ophis came into Uta and caused a huge wave all of a sudden and Priscilla was curious about her.

"M-My queen, do you need me for anything else?"

Al spoke up from in front of Priscilla and Priscilla turned to see him staring at Ophis with a strange look in his eyes. Priscilla scoffed. So even Al wasn't immune to her beauty? This is the first time that Priscilla was seeing the shy and timid Al staring at a woman so openly. She waved him away while walking towards her own seat.

"No, Al. I don't need you for anything. In fact, don't disturb me for at least an hour. You may leave,"

Al nodded his head hesitantly and Priscilla noticed how stiff he was as he walked out. It was obvious he didn't really want to leave! Priscilla couldn't stop the small laugh that escaped her mouth. The thought of Al being in love was just so funny to her!

Ka-cha!

Once the door to the room closed, Priscilla hummed and then sat in her chair while talking to Ophis.

"I hope he wasn't too much trouble for you while bringing you here. My attendant can be a handful sometimes,"

Ophis gave Priscilla a small polite smile and Priscilla couldn't stop the small pang of jealousy that filtered through her heart at that moment. Ophis was truly one of the most beautiful women Priscilla has ever seen! No wonder most of the men are losing their minds over her.

"Of course not, my queen. He was an interesting guide. He didn't even bother me for a conversation for too long and I am truly grateful to him for that,"

He was probably just too shy to ask you to talk to him. Priscilla shook her head with a small smile once she thought this. There is no way that Al would have the courage to talk to a woman like Ophis. Priscilla was sure that Al was just too shy.

"Well, I suppose that is good enough. So please, tell me why you asked for this audience. When my head priest came to me earlier and told me that you wanted to see me, I was hesitant to agree. There aren't many people that would dare to ask for an audience with me. But I still agreed because I wanted to see the person that has been causing so much turmoil in my kingdom so far,"

Priscilla gave Ophis a pointed stare and waited for Ophis to say something about why she was there. She expected Ophis to smile or laugh while asking for something silly, but she was surprised when Ophis became mellow. Ophis spoke in a low voice.

"The reason I came to see you is actually because of the attention I have been receiving recently. I do not mean to seem like a prude, but the attention I have been receiving has affected my daily life in a lot of ways. I have received many confessions of love from men and whenever I turn them down, some of them would try to turn to violence,"

This was actually not true. Ophis has never been threatened by any man in Uta, but Priscilla didn't need to know that! Ophis was crafting her words and expression in a way that would give her a perfect edge in the coming conversation and Priscilla knew nothing about what Ophis was planning!

Priscilla gained a pinched expression on her forehead as she heard what Ophis said and Ophis continued once she saw this. As a woman, Ophis knew that Priscilla would be affected by what she said next.

"But that is not even the worst of it, the worst of it comes from the head priest and the Grand Commander themselves. Their form of attention is the worst out of all the others. The head priest tries to touch me at every chance he gets and the Grand Commander once came to my house late at night after drinking to try and enter my room. I was lucky to not get molested by him that night. It scares me whenever things like this happen. I can't fight against men like them and that was why I came to you to ask for your help. I know this isn't something I should bring to a queen, but no one but you can handle those men. Please, help me."

Ophis wrapped her hands around herself in the middle of her speech and she bent over to make herself seem smaller. It was a masterful performance that would have put a Hollywood superstar to shame! Every word and intonation came out in a way that would make anyone pity Ophis and Ophis was happy when she saw the beginning of anger appearing on Priscilla's face!

This was too fucking easy.

Everything that Ophis said about the priest and Grand Commander just now was true. The head priest was always trying to touch her whenever he sees her and Ophis was already tired of that shit, and the Grand Commander was always trying to come to Ophis' house late at night. Ophis was just lucky that she lived in a crowded neighborhood because she has no idea what that bastard would have done to her by now if she lived in an area that was deserted. He would have probably tried to **** her!

Even though this was all for the sake of the mission and Ophis was ready to go to any length to make sure she didn't disappoint her lord, she wasn't willing to give her body to that fucking bastard just for the mission. She would rather kill herself than do something like that!