“Oh? So this is the Ninth Princess of the Saint Luo Empire?”
Alef stood in front of Stella, sizing her up from head to toe.
“Via, this is…?” Stella looked confused.
“This is one of my subordinates, a member of the royal court, and commander of the advance force—Alef,” Via explained. “Right now, many of my operations in the Saint Luo Empire rely on Alef’s support. He’s also a demonkin, though he’s currently operating here under a human identity.”
“So you’re Mr. Alef? Hello.” Stella greeted him politely.
“The Ninth Princess knows of me?” Alef was slightly surprised.
“Yes. Mr. Alef is quite famous in the southern part of the Saint Luo Empire. Of course I’ve heard of you. I just didn’t expect… that you would be a demonkin.”
“You’re too kind, Ninth Princess.”
Alef smiled.
Through careful observation, he noticed that Stella and Via stood quite close, and Via showed no wariness toward her. It seemed the Demon King and the Ninth Princess of the Saint Luo Empire really did have a friendly relationship. The Demon King’s earlier words hadn’t been a lie.
At that thought, he felt much more at ease. The feasibility of their plan was very high.
“Demon King, could you briefly explain the current situation?”
“Thanks to Albion, I managed to intercept the Saint Luo Empire’s army.” Via raised her hand and gently patted the head of the silver-haired loli standing behind her.
At the moment, Albion was very focused on munching on a large pancake. She only glanced up at Via once before lowering her head again and continuing to chew.
“It went pretty much as we expected. The Saint Luo Empire’s army forcibly took Stella away, trying to escort her to the capital. After I snatched her back from them, I returned here.”
“I see. Ninth Princess, do you know under what pretext the empire took you away?” Alef asked, puzzled.
“On the surface, they claimed it was the Emperor’s order to gather all members of the imperial family to the capital. But in reality, this is all the doing of my elder brother—the First Prince Soren. He’s only borrowing our father’s name. What he really wants is to control everyone who poses a threat to his claim to the throne.”
“Was there anyone who defied the order?”
“Yes,” Stella nodded. “There were some who refused to obey. But according to what the soldiers said, all those who resisted were eliminated by the army on the spot.”
“Looks like this is a straightforward open plot,” Alef remarked.
“Exactly. Those who resist get suppressed by the army. Those who don’t resist and get taken back to the capital face one of two outcomes: if they’re a big enough threat, he finds an excuse to pin a crime on them and executes them immediately. If they’re not much of a threat, they get kept in the capital as decorative display pieces—allowed to live a little longer until Soren’s position on the throne is completely secure, then eliminated.”
“You really understand the First Prince well, Ninth Princess.”
“Soren has always been like this. He hates leaving behind loose ends.” Although Stella rarely interacted with Soren, the rumors in the palace and the few times she had met him were enough for her to be certain of the kind of person he was.
However, because of Gustav’s suppression, Soren had never been able to gain real power and show this side of himself. Now that he had seized control, he had completely dropped the act and was carrying out the purge without delay.
“Stella, if things are as you described, then your father is probably in grave danger,” Via warned.
“I know.”
Stella’s expression grew complicated.
Even though Gustav was her father, after her mother died, he hadn’t come to see her even once. That had completely destroyed the last bit of hope she had for him. This was something her father had brought upon himself. He had no one else to blame.
From Stella’s tone, Via could roughly tell that Stella’s relationship with Gustav was not good—quite bad, in fact. Becoming the Emperor of the Saint Luo Empire was something she was serious about. Via didn’t press further. She only needed to know that Stella wanted it.
“Stella, come here. I need to discuss something important with you first.”
“Something important?”
Stella looked at Via’s expression and noticed the atmosphere in the room had turned serious. She immediately became fully alert. Following Alef’s guidance, she sat down across from Via.
On Via’s side stood Alef and Albion.
The two sides faced each other, representing demonkin and humans respectively.
“Stella, although I did promise you before that I would help you become the Emperor of the Saint Luo Empire, that doesn’t mean my aid comes without conditions.”
Via began laying out her terms.
“The current me is the Demon King, and I represent the interests of all demonkin. I can’t just let the entire Desolate Fallen Continent pay the price because of my personal whim. You should understand that, right?”
“I understand.”
Stella took a deep breath.
She knew clearly that this was no longer casual banter between friends. This was a serious negotiation of interests between adults.
“Via, I do need help from others to become the Emperor of the Saint Luo Empire.”
“I won’t doubt your determination.”
“Via, you’re the Demon King. If you help me become the Emperor of the Saint Luo Empire, what do you want in return from the human world?”
“Mm. First, I hope that demonkin and humans can establish normal diplomatic relations. We should end the narrative of racial hatred going forward and stop war from being the main theme between our two races.”
“Ending the war… That’s possible, but I don’t think it can happen that quickly.”
“Of course. I understand. This will indeed take time to gradually fade. Establishing diplomatic relations is just the most basic requirement. Second, we need humans to invest in the Desolate Fallen Continent—to help the demonkin establish magic stone mines and send professional personnel to teach the demonkin the extraction techniques hand-in-hand.”
“This…?”
Stella’s eyes widened.
This was basically teaching the demonkin how to make money.
“Stella, our Desolate Fallen Continent has many mineral veins. If we can mine them, then as allies, we can offer more favorable prices when selling to humans. Humans will benefit from this as well.” Via paused. “If mining can solve many of the demonkin’s survival problems, then once they can eat their fill, they will naturally give up on the idea of raiding. The human world can also become much more stable.”
“Mm…”
Stella quickly analyzed the situation Via had described.
If she helped the demonkin establish mining operations after becoming emperor, would she be seen as a traitor to humanity?
But helping the demonkin would also benefit humans. Completely resolving the conflict between the two races—wouldn’t that also be an achievement that benefits future generations?
After thinking for a while, she finally made her decision.
“Via, I accept your conditions. For now, let me represent the humans and form an alliance with the demonkin you represent.”