Lets talk about the Marigold Kingdom’s nobility. There are about 28 houses that can call themselves nobles in the kingdom. These houses are all descendants of brave generals who fought with the king from a century ago to save the country.

Among the 28 houses, there are of course a difference in status. There were the lower houses and the higher houses. There were 18 lower houses, and 10 higher houses. The 10 higher houses are the highest ranking members of the kingdom outside of the royal family.

However, they also had a hierarchy among them. The houses all had ranks assigned to them, following how much influence they had over the country, as well as how much resources they had among them.

Naturally, the rankings changes over the years, however one house has always remained on top. And that’s the Brooks.

It was currently late at night, and the current head of the Brooks House, had a rather unexpected guest.

“Yo, Brooks. I came to visit you.”

Rory said while sitting in the chair in Brooks office.

“Lord Rory.”

Brooks was naturally surprised to see him.

“What brings you here?”

He composed himself and asked.

“Nothing much, it’s just that I just realized that we haven’t had the chance to talk since we first met. I mean, you were never there when I was at Liam’s despite your daughters spending a lot of time there.”

Rory said.

“My apologies. I have been quite busy lately. I hope you can understand?”

Brooks replied.

“If you’re busy you’re busy. There’s no need to worry about it.”

Rory smiled.

“Besides, it’s not your fault that Liam ordered you to stay out of my sight as a precaution for angering me.”

“….You knew.”

Brooks said.

“I’m 157 years old. There’s not many things that can fool me anymore.”

Rory laughed.

“Liam was overthinking things. I don’t really hold on to grudges.”

“You don’t?”

Rory shook his head.

“I prefer to settle them as quickly as possible.”

He replied.

“The only way I’ll hold on to them is unless I can’t do anything about them.”

He said.

“You were simply doing your job. I won’t begrudge you for that. I might kill you, but not grudge you.”

Brooks gulped when he heard that.

“T-Then what can I do for you, Milord?”

Brooks tone got even more polite.

“No need to be tense. I’m sure your daughters have already informed you of what path this country is about to go down. I made Liam bring them to tonight’s dinner party, for that specific reason.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard about it.”

Brook said with a nod.

“So, what do you think about it? Are you dissatisfied?”

“I would be lying if I wasn’t. However, if the king and Queen agrees, it’s not my place to say anything.”

Brooks said.

“I see.”

Rory nodded as if he confirmed something.

“I’ll be honest with you, Brooks. I want you to stick with Liam, despite him not competing for the throne anymore.”

“I was planning on doing just that.”

Brooks replied.

“No, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying to you.”

Rory said.

“I want you to stand by him and the royal family.”

Brooks suddenly looked like he figured out what Rory meant.

“You mean, you want me to betray the other noble houses?”

Rory nodded.

“I can’t do that! The noble houses have always placed their trust into my house for years! I can’t betray them!”

“Even if it will guarantee the survival of your daughters and house?”

Rory asked.

“W-What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb. You should’ve already realized how things will go from now on, since the princes have united all while discarding their supporters.”

Rory said.

“This country that was already at the peak of tension will finally erupt into a surge of madness and chaos.”

Rory smiled.

“Just like I wanted it to.”

“Y-You, you’re trying to destroy this country?!”

Brooks shouted.

Rory shook his head.

“No, I’m trying to save it.”

He said.

“This country’s core has grown rotten, so for it to be saved the core must be disposed of and a new core takes its place.”

“Y-You, you’re insane. Do you know what you’re going to do this country?”

Rory smirked.

“More than you.”

Brooks felt weak in his knees as he stared at Rory in shock.

‘Can someone really be this evil? Is it really that easy to condemn an entire population to death, and with a smile at that?’

He thought to himself.

“Your title really fits you, Devil King.”

He said after a while.

“It looks like you no longer see as a human.”

Rory said with an amused expression.

“Do you even see yourself as human?”

Brooks asked.

“Me?”

Rory suddenly started to laugh.

“Of course, I’m human.”

He said.

“I lie, I cheat, I love, I hate, I’m willing to do anything to satisfy my greed, and most of all, I’m selfish.”

He showed a gentle smile.

“If that’s not humanity, then I don’t know what is.”

“………”

Brooks remained silent in front of Rory’s twisted perception of humanity. He started to wonder if the thing in front of him was even real.

Unfortunately, it was. It was real, and it had his fate in his hand.

“So, what is your decision, Brooks?”

Rory asked ignored his uncomfortable expression.

“Will you be a human that put his morals and loyalty first, or will you be a human that will walk over the corpses of his comrades all for the survival of those dearest to him.”

Rory stretched his hand out.

“Either way, your choice will be a foolish one that will condemn you to death. However, you’ll be able to pick if it will be a physical one or a moral one.”

A diabolic smile appeared on Rory’s face.

“Come on, show me what it means to be human.”

The Rory before Brooks eyes looked like a devil tempting humanity to sin, waiting to reap their souls for his own entertainment.

‘Oh, heavens. Just what is the monster that you’ve delivered at my doorstep.”

Brooks mumbled.

He then took a deep breath before saying-

“Fine. I will swear sole loyalty to the royal family and cut all ties with the other houses.”

He said.

Rory smiled when he heard his answer.

“What a human-like choice.”

He stood up and placed his hand on Brooks’s shoulder.

“Don’t look so glum. I promise you that you won’t regret it. You might never be happy or sleep well at night, but at least your family will be able to smile another day.”

He drew his mouth closer to Brooks’s ear.

“Isn’t that what’s important?”

He then walked past him and opened the office door.

“Oh, don’t worry about your daughters. I’ll be sure to make their love come true. Who knows? They might become queens in the future if Liam becomes king.”

After saying that, Rory left the office and closed the door behind him.

“Ah…..”

Brooks immediately fell to his knees as if he had lost all of his strength.

“……….”

He looked at his hands and could suddenly see them stained with blood.

“Ahhh!”

He screamed and clenched his head while crying.

He couldn’t forgive himself. Despite being the leader of the nobles, he immediately cut them loose to save himself and his family. Even though he wasn’t a saint, he was someone who valued loyalty. So him betraying his comrades was the greatest sin he could ever commit.

Without anyone telling him, Brooks knew that he was broken. He was played with and broken by Rory, but in the end he couldn’t resist his temptations. He had willing sold his soul to the devil.

“Oh, heavens! What kind of monster has you’ve delivered at my doorsteps?! Why must you torture me so?!”

He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Meanwhile, Rory was walking down the halls of the Brooks residence with a smile on his face.

“I told you didn’t I, Brooks? I always settle my grudges.”

He showed a devilish grin.

“And I also lie and cheat.”

He soon faded away in the darkness.

“Enjoy drowning in guilt, human.”

The next few days, news of the three princes putting aside their differences reached the ears of their backers. As expected, they all were shocked. Shock however became panic and anger.

“Put aside their differences? What about us?!”

“They did something like that without consulting us?!”

“Who do they take us for?!”

“We made them! How dare they do this to us?!”

“Give back all the time and effort we invested!”

Various angry comments came from all three camps. They grew even more enraged when their efforts to contact the princes were unsuccessful. They quickly realized that they were cruelly abandoned by those they nurtured for so long.

Outrage came from all three camps that were once at each other’s throat.

“That snake Brooks isn’t willing to see us either!”

“It looks like he sold us out and joined the royal family!”

A group of nobles discussed.

“This is unacceptable! He must pay for this! Not only him, the royal family as well!”

All three factions started to hate the royal family. In their eyes, they were all taken for fools and were used by them. They hated them for that, but most of all they hated the fact that the royal family was stubbornly holding onto all the power in the kingdom. To them, that was absolutely unforgivable.

“They can’t get away with this!”

“They were sucking us dry, while laughing at our faces!”

“That’s unforgivable!”

Some soldiers were talking. They no longer admired the Scorpion Queen and her son who stabbed them in the back. They started to hate them.

At the Sacred church, Father Timothy and Dex both looked displeased.

“I believe this is all the Devil King’s doing. He probably figured out our objective and is trying to stand in our way.”

Said Timothy.

“He’s pitting the whole country against the royal family, he must be confident that he can win.”

Dex said.

“If he’s challenging us, then let’s show him that we aren’t people he can easily walk over.”

Timothy said.

“The dignity of the church can not be walked over no matter what.”

Dex said.

“I believe a crusade is in order.”

He said. Timothy nodded.

“Let’s contact the nobles and military, I’m sure they’ll be willing to join us in prosecuting that family of sinners.”

He said.

“This might be what the Devil King wanted, but this is the perfect time to teach him where he stands in the world.”

Timothy smiled.

“I’ll inform the elders. Marigold Kingdom is in need of a cleansing.”

The two smiled.

“Deus Lo Vout”