Chapter 53

Tremble at the sound of my name.

I am Ravilian, the foremost of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King, known as 'Greed'.

I pride myself on being the wisest in the demon world.

The repeated invasions by the human tribes can be repelled by our Demon King's army only because of my wisdom.

...Well, of course, it's not just that.

I am a true sage.

A false sage is one who is intoxicated by their own wisdom.

I am a true sage, so I always exercise self-restraint to avoid becoming arrogant.

The reason our demon race can stand up to the human army, which keeps sending heroes, is not solely due to my wisdom.

The greatest factor is the power of the current Demon King, Zedan.

He is a great leader.

I have served the previous and the one before that Demon King as the eldest of the Four Heavenly Kings, and because I have seen so many Demon Kings up close, I can appreciate the greatness and talent of the current one even more.

However, there are also problems that arise because the current generation is capable.

The most significant of these is the marriage issue.

Because the current Demon King is capable, there are many who try to get close to him to secure their position.

I am one of them.

Fortunately, my wife has given me a beautiful daughter.

She is beautiful.

She looks like her mother, so she is beautiful!!

My ambition is to make my daughter the Demon King's queen and become the Demon King's father-in-law, thereby wielding real power in the Demon King's army.

My daughter, who not only has my bloodline but also resembles her mother in beauty and me in wisdom, is worthy of the best groom in the demon race!

I am not a doting parent!

I am the wisest in the demon race! My situation analysis is top-notch!!

Therefore, I want the Demon King Zedan to make my daughter his main wife, but a strong obstacle has appeared.

Astaris, the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings 'Delusion'.

It is hateful that a young girl, still a child, is considered my equal.

What is even more hateful is that this girl is the Demon King's favorite.

They are childhood friends. That's why they are in love and have pledged their future to each other.

...Well, the childhood friend attribute is indeed strong.

I can understand it as a man.

However, I cannot back down here and let the court struggle go on!

I will overcome the disadvantage and make my daughter the Demon King's main wife no matter what!!

However, my lord Zedan seems to favor the young girl Astaris greatly and has even declared that he will not take any other wife besides her.

The Demon King will not even take a concubine.

While there have been examples of this in the past, this is very unfortunate for me.

My daughter's hope to receive the Demon King's favor is completely cut off!

So I thought.

Because I am the wisest in the demon race.

There is a mermaid princess, one of the basic races on par with the demon and human races, who is both talented and beautiful.

Upon obtaining this information, I had an idea.

The king of the mermaids is on par with the Demon King.

If the Demon King were to marry the mermaid princess, he could not refuse.

However, since the Demon King will not give up on marrying Astaris, it will likely end up with one of them being a concubine.

A fool would think, "What's the point of doing such a thing?"

However, the Demon King has publicly declared that he will not take a concubine. If he marries the mermaid princess, he will have to retract his previous statement if he does not give up on marrying Astaris.

The Demon King, concubines allowed.

And more than two concubines are also allowed.

There are many ways to insert my daughter into the mix. That is my goal.

As long as my daughter becomes the Demon King's wife in any form, it will be a victory for me!

My daughter is charming and beautiful!

Therefore, once she is married, the Demon King will be captivated by her, and she will surely be promoted to the main wife, surpassing Astaris and the mermaid princess!

I am not a doting parent!!

It is a solid situation analysis!!

With the path to victory in sight, I immediately began negotiating with the mermaid kingdom.

The humans somehow got wind of it and joined the negotiations, but they are arrogant and think they are the best in the world, so their diplomatic skills are at a child's level.

They are no match as competitors.

Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, a problem arose.

The mermaid princess had already married someone unknown.

I was disappointed that the plan, which had been going well, was derailed.

The foundation for making my daughter the Demon King's queen was about to disappear.

...No, wait, it's too early to give up.

A true sage can repair a derailed plan and turn it into a new secret strategy.

In this case, I will turn the negotiations with the mermaid kingdom into a diplomatic quagmire and make Astaris take all the blame, leading to her downfall!

...It went surprisingly well.

The young girl Astaris, unaware that she was being set up, followed my instructions and went to kidnap the mermaid princess.

And she failed spectacularly!!

If she had succeeded, I would have held her responsible for causing diplomatic issues with the mermaid kingdom and led to her downfall.

If she failed, I would have held her responsible for the failure and led to her downfall.

No matter which way it went, it would have been a problem, but it turned out to be the best result within my expectations.

Since the marriage negotiations with the mermaid kingdom were my idea, I thought I would also be held responsible, but I managed to avoid it gracefully.

It seems I was not the only one who found the young girl Astaris annoying, as the other Four Heavenly Kings also joined in to get rid of her.

As a result, Astaris was successfully dismissed from the Four Heavenly Kings and expelled from the Demon King's army.

With Astaris successfully exiled as planned, all that was left was to intensify the efforts to marry off my daughter!

...Or so I thought, but the Demon King, who had been away on the front lines for a long time, finally returned to the demon capital.

It seems the front lines were at a stalemate due to the chaos caused by a dragon.

Upon learning of Astaris' exile, he was furious.

He declared, "I will punish you after I bring her back," and disappeared.

Wait.

Isn't this dangerous?

Not only have we angered the Demon King, but he is now missing.

The uneasy truce with the human army could collapse at any time.

If the battle resumes with the Demon King and one of the Four Heavenly Kings missing, our Demon King's army will collapse in a month!

This is the prediction of the wisest in the demon race!

Moreover, in such a dire situation, one of the other Four Heavenly Kings is trying to rebel!

"This is the best time to take over while the Demon King is absent!" No, read the room!

If an internal conflict breaks out now, the humans will take advantage of it and attack!!

While I am doing my best to resolve the situation, please come back, Demon King!

It was my fault for plotting and scheming!

Demon King!!

Demon King, come back!!

＊ ＊ ＊

...By the way.

While I was strangling myself with my own foolishness, one of my trusted subordinates came to me with a request.

He is the son of my childhood friend, entrusted to me to raise when his father died in battle against the humans.

I have trained and raised him, and he has grown into a talented individual, now my right-hand man.

My deceased friend must be very proud of him in the afterlife.

So, why did my trusted subordinate suddenly become so formal?

...What?

He wants to marry my daughter!?

They have been dating for years!?

No way!?

My daughter even burst in and said, "I will die if I can't marry him!"

...I see. I see.

I thought that marrying my daughter to the most powerful and influential demon would make her happy, but it was a big mistake.

I never realized that the man who could make my daughter happy was so close.

I am Ravilian, the foremost of the Four Heavenly Kings, known as 'Greed'.

I claimed to be the wisest in the demon race, but it seems I was the greatest fool.

Please don't apologize, my right-hand man.

No, my son.

Take care of my daughter.