Chapter 172 165: Not Negotiation

"You're going to convince all the other regressors that I am different now."

"Other... regressors...?" Lethe turned toward me at the princess' confused mumblings.

It seemed she didn't know there were other regressors here too.

Well, that was even better. That mean no one had made any contact with her yet.

I wanted to go ahead and fight these people, but using them would be even better. And in the worst-case scenario that the world crawled toward an end anyway, no one would be better tools than those regressors who had already seen it happen once.

Using them was the best of my options.

And well. Once I was done with them, it would be easier to kill someone close by.

Lethe, whom I had told everything about all this, was in my complete support.

Suddenly, she posed a question.

"Hey, bitch. What happened to me in the last life? Did I help Eugene or something?"

"Ah... that..." The princess still seemed greatly shocked by the events. It was natural, but I didn't care. Lethe smacked the table once and the princess had no choice but to sit up straight in fear.

"Y-you were taken away by the demon king... he ate you in return for leaving the Empire alone..."

Lethe was stunned.

"How strange... I was sure you'd have saved me there too."

"No... Eugene Hall wasn't even there. That perverted bitchy bastard couldn't kick a dog for what it's worth."

I was right here. It seemed hate did prevail over fear all around the world.

Before the princess could devolve into a mess, we decided to keep shooting some questions her way.

From what happened after to Lethe to what I used to do. We made sure not to go into any nasty territories that would shake her up even more since we needed her mind intact for now.

Of course, it naturally devolved into talking about which women the previous Eugene used to chase and the type of character he was. Lethe and the princess both slowly became certain that the me now was completely different from before, though the princess was definitely thinking I had grown worse.

When her breathing calmed and her trembling stopped, we spoke up again.

"So, princess. I hope you understand what the deal is."

"What is it...?"

Ok, maybe she wasn't still stable.

"We won't touch a hair on your body, and in return, you're going to run on our every command. Alright?"

The princess stared at me for a few seconds. I turned to Titania and stretched my hand out who then sighed.

"Only once, okay? You learn it and use it yourself next time."

"Got it, just this once."

"W-what is happening...?" the princess said. It felt a little satisfying to see the haughty person turn into a bumbling fool.

"We're going to use an oath from Alfheim. The moment either of us breaks the promise, we'll be punished by Alfheim itself."

"Oath..."

"Yes."

Titania started chanting a spell and a glow surrounded the three of us.

"S-slavery... this is slavery."

"No," I whispered. "It's protection. We're going to protect you from us."

I leaned closer and whispered in her ears. Slowly, softly, not hiding the malice I had been shoving in all this while. "I want to rip you into shreds right now. The pain you caused my Lethe, I am dying to give it back... So please, please break this oath. Okay?"

The princess started trembling incessantly. Tears started dripping from her single eye as her hands quaked to the point one would believe an earthquake had come crashing.

"It's done," Titania's words rescued the princess as I backed away.

That handled the first of things.

I felt trash about using this bitch anyway, so I decided to let Lethe spoil me all day today.

***

Our next destination was in another room in the palace. It seemed that walking away from a party was the natural tendency of this family.

"But, it's up to entertain the chief guest, isn't it?"

I crossed my legs and stared at the person in front of me.

By my side sat Lethe, and facing us, was the Emperor, Aegisthus von Tantalus Atreus.

"I believe so. Then, you're here to be entertained by me?"

"Not really," I answered. The room inside the Imperial Palace seemed to be the Emperor's study. Filled from end to end with papers and valuables, it suited the status that the Imperial Family carried."Sure, there's entertainment too, but we came here to tell you a few things."

"You had to leave your daughter's punishment to us," Lethe continued. "So, we're here to tell you that we'll save her."

The Emperor dropped the quill in his hands.

"Save her... that means..."

"Right. I don't want that bitch as a maid, nor do I care whether that mutt has your blood flowing through her or not."

I wanted to whistle here. Honestly, it was Lethe that was the victim of both this Emperor and his daughter. She was caught up and used in all the plans to mess me up. If anyone deserved to call them a bitch to their face, it was Lethe. No matter how jealous I was, I was also mature.

The Emperor clenched his fists. It seemed his love for his family outweighed his pride as an Emperor.

"I... what do you want in return?"

"Good! You're smart!" I said "Hand over a ton of money and some treasures. Also, invest in my place and the Acacia duchy. Let your intelligence agency go through the Acacia duchy as well."

The Emperor's eyes widened.

"That's not all," Lethe continued for me. "Hand over the diamond and emerald mines in the north, cut our tax, and sign a decree allowing the Acacia military to be expanded."

We were going to wring him dry in return for his daughter's life.

"That... I can do everything, but handing over the treasures from the Royal Armory..."

"Hey, hey! Emperor, sir," I raised my hand and laced my words with sarcasm. "This is not a negotiation. This is a fucking robbery."

The Emperor's eyes widened.

"Shut up and do as we say."

The Emperor remained seated for a while, before letting out a deep sigh.

"You really are one interesting kid."

It was gross to be called interesting by an Emperor. Disgusting.

"Alright. I'll do it all. Other than the treasury and armory, this is not a loss. I've also heard a lot about Apollon." The Emperor sighed and stood up. He stretched his hand toward us, the chains on his wrist dangling around. "Give me some time for arranging the treasures. You won't be disappointed, and if you are, you can feel free to come and pick out something else."

This bastard was annoying me now. That I missed my chance to curse him out due to my wretched maturity already left a scalding blow, and now this wise-cracking asshole was acting as if he was investing in us. There really wasn't an unfavorable deal in that position for people. Even if he lost some political influence, it would gather around the Acacia and stability would be maintained.

Things would have been easier if he didn't have trust in the Acacia family, but it seemed that he knew the duke rather well.

In the end, we shook on it and turned away.

Before we pass by the gates of the room, though, I stopped and turned back.

Yeah, fuck maturity. I would have preferred toppling this empire, but I had to remove the frustration that my Lethe's pain brought me in some way.

"W-what now?"

I rushed over to the Emperor and took a deep breath.

"You fucking son of a bitch! How dare you and your pesky little biowaste of a daughter try to plot against Lethe, huh!?"

I started pouring out all the curses that I knew of. The vocabulary I had gained from Yujin's father showed its efficacy right away.

"I ought to take a fucking mace and shove it up your dead father's ass! And then drag his bones along and fuck you with that very mace, you waste of breathable air!"

For the next hour or so, I kept cussing the fucker and his every generation. Lethe and Titania had devolved into a laughing mess and were rolling on the floor by the end of the session while the Emperor was so stunned his jaw was touching the ground.

I walked away taking all of the Emperor's dignity with me.

Of course, I didn't leave behind the chains he was flaunting either.