Chapter 439: Damian’s Ambition
Alice sat at the edge of her bed with her hands resting loosely against her thighs, staring through the enormous window that occupied nearly an entire side of her room.
The capital stretched beneath her in the distance, its countless lights scattered across the darkness like stars that had fallen from the sky.
Under different circumstances, the view would have been beautiful. Tonight, she barely noticed it. Her expression remained dispirited, her eyes carrying the kind of sadness that came from being forced to accept something she had never wanted.
Eventually, Alice released a long, exhausted sigh and rose from the bed. She crossed the room slowly, pushed open the door leading toward the balcony and stepped forward. She stopped almost immediately.
Someone was standing outside.
Damian stood at the very edge of the terrace with his back partially turned toward her, his black and purple robes fluttering violently beneath the strong night wind. Three pairs of enormous black angelic wings were slowly folding into his back, each feather disappearing into his body as though the wings had never existed. His long black hair moved wildly around his face, and for several seconds Alice simply stared at him.
Then she released another heavy sigh. Without saying anything, Alice turned around.
She intended to return to her room.
"This is the first time I’ve come across someone who hates me." Damian’s voice stopped her. He turned his head slightly, watching her with narrowed eyes.
"Shouldn’t I at least know why?"
Alice froze.
Her brows tightened as she slowly turned back toward him. For a moment, she simply stared at Damian, seemingly debating whether answering him would make anything better. Eventually, she lowered her head and bowed respectfully.
"I dare not resent you, Sire." Her voice was dull and lifeless.
Damian’s eyes narrowed further.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
"I don’t know what Lin Qui did to your family, but you do know I’m not him, right?" Damian asked, his tone becoming more serious.
Alice raised her head.
She studied him for several seconds with a contemplative expression, as though she were deciding whether arguing with the Prince of Lust was worth the consequences. Her fingers tightened slightly against the fabric of her clothes before she finally spoke.
"Sire, Lin Qui stripped my family of its choice, just like you stripped us of our choice tonight and involved us in a war. You even dragged me into a marriage without asking whether this is what we wanted."
Damian’s eyes widened slightly. He hadn’t considered it from that angle.
To him, the situation had been straightforward. He needed allies, the Shaki Clan was useful, Alice was a Demigod and her father was already willing to cooperate. Bringing her into his household strengthened the alliance and gave him another powerful family to rely upon.
But Alice wasn’t looking at it through the eyes of a ruler. She was looking at it as the person whose life had been rearranged without permission.
Still, Damian wasn’t about to accept her resentment as though she were the only person in Velmora who had been denied a choice.
"And you think I wished for this life?" he countered, a cold gleam appearing in his eyes. "I was a normal human who wanted a wife, three kids and a peaceful life where I could watch them grow like any other human. Now here I am, fighting demons, angels and everything else this ridiculous world throws at me while desperately struggling to regain control of something that should already be mine."
Alice’s expression shifted slightly as Damian stepped forward. For a brief moment, the distance between them seemed to disappear.
Swoosh!
One instant he was several meters away. The next, he stood directly in front of her.
Alice instinctively flinched and took half a step backward. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him, suddenly reminded of the vast difference between them. She was a Demigod herself, yet Damian’s movements had been so abrupt that her body had reacted before her mind could understand what had happened.
Damian stared down at her.
"No one here chose this life. We all woke up one day and simply understood that we have a role to play. I picked your family because you have a role to play in my rise. Get used to it."
Alice’s lips parted slightly. Before she could respond, Damian’s figure vanished.
Swoosh!
The sudden absence of his presence left the balcony strangely empty. Alice stood there without moving, her hair blowing across her face as she stared into the darkness where he had been only moments ago.
She didn’t know what irritated her more. The fact that Damian had dismissed her feelings so easily, or the fact that she couldn’t completely deny what he had said.
She remained outside for several seconds before glancing around the balcony, almost unconsciously checking whether he was still nearby. Seeing nothing, Alice finally returned to her room. She stepped inside, shut the balcony doors and locked them before leaning against them for a moment with her eyes closed.
On an entirely different floor of the palace, Damian’s figure descended onto his own balcony, his robes settling around him as his feet touched the stone. Rah was already waiting near the railing with a goblet of wine in her hand, her expression dreamy as she looked toward the night sky.
She turned toward him and immediately smiled.
"Let me guess, she chased you off?" Rah asked as she extended the goblet toward him.
Damian took it without answering. He emptied the contents in one gulp before handing the cup back.
"She’s pissed because I didn’t give her a choice." Damian complained. "Like any of us got a choice. Look at you. You were kidnapped, ransomed and then forced to join my side, and we’re both happy."
Rah laughed and punched his shoulder playfully.
"You can’t say it like that."
"But that’s how it happened." Damian laughed as well.
Rah stepped into his arms, and Damian naturally embraced her. The tension that had remained in his shoulders since his conversation with Alice eased slightly as he rested his chin near the top of her head.
Rah eventually lifted her face to look at him. Her smile faded into something more thoughtful.
"I really can’t understand what you’re trying to do." She admitted.
Damian looked down at her.
Rah knew about the political situation, the assassination attempt and the growing hostility between Damian and the older factions, but she hadn’t known that Damian intended to make Alice his concubine. She suspected the decision had been made almost immediately after Damian discovered that Alice was a Demigod.
There was no romance behind it. It was politics.
"By creating the Royal Police, I got on my in laws’ nerves. Then the assassination attempt and the troop recall gave the Minister of War and the Grand Chancellor even more reason to want my head." Damian’s expression became more serious. "I need to gather as many allies as possible and create the foundation for my own power base. I can’t afford to let these Baron Clans remain neutral."
Rah slowly nodded. That much made sense.
Every woman he brought into his household represented another family, another network of influence and, in several cases, another Demigod who could eventually become part of his faction. In a court where strength and political support were intertwined, Damian couldn’t afford to stand alone.
Rah tilted her head slightly.
"That means we’re going to pay the Blood Demons a visit too?"
Damian nodded firmly.
"Of course."
He released Rah and stepped toward the railing, looking out over the sleeping capital.
"With my wives, I’ll have the Viscount families in my palm too. That means the only families that really need to be clipped of their wings are Amon’s faction and the Grand Chancellor’s."
Rah watched him carefully as Damian slowly raised one hand and looked down at his fist and his fingers curled. A crimson flash passed through his eyes.
The path ahead was still filled with enemies. He had inherited a throne surrounded by people who didn’t want him sitting on it, inherited enemies who were willing to kill him before he could even be crowned and inherited a realm whose true power had been deliberately kept out of his reach. But for the first time since arriving in Velmora, Damian could finally see the shape of his own faction beginning to form.
"I can win this race to become the Demon Lord." His voice carried absolute certainty. "I’m certain of it."