Supreme Castle, top floor conference room.
When Shien, Shafney, and Lilith arrived, several figures were already present.
“Finally decided to come?” Sara, sitting at the head of the conference table, looked at them with a displeased expression.
“Lilith!” Millu jumped from her seat and ran towards her friend from the Elven Homeland.
“Hee hee.” Lilith also beamed, being put down by Shien and going to meet her little friend. The Evil God and the Ghost Demon, what a combination.
“Welcome to the Demon Realm, Shien,” Lid greeted, standing on the conference table.
“We meet again, Lid,” Shien smiled at the small, fluffy beast.
Lid, however, wasn’t as cheerful. “It hasn’t been long since we parted ways in the Elven Homeland,” she said, looking at Shien with a mix of wonder and reproach, “I didn’t expect you to be the Hero.”
She hadn’t known his identity back then in the Elven Homeland. Therefore, seeing him again, now as the Hero, it was natural for her to feel emotional.
Shafney went to her seat and sat down. “Big sister knew his identity long ago,” she said, looking at Sara with a smirk.
“It’s not that I didn’t tell you, I just needed to investigate some matters,” Sara shook her head, unfazed by Shafney’s teasing, then looked at Shien, her eyes flickering, “Of course, I also didn’t expect that in just a short time, you’ve already reached our level.”
Shien rolled his eyes at her words.
“Cut the crap,” he said bluntly, “Don’t think you can fool me with your sentimental act.” He wasn’t buying it.
“Fool you?” Sara feigned confusion, “Fool you about what?”
“Still pretending?” Shien walked over and sat down in one of the six seats at the table.
Seeing this, Hartley frowned, and Shafney, Lid, and even Millu were startled, then their expressions turned playful, helpless, and amused, respectively.
Hartley seemed to want to say something, but Sara stopped her. She didn’t seem to mind Shien taking that seat, or perhaps she thought he was qualified, smiling without comment.
But she still addressed his words.
“You’re referring to the engagement with Airi, right?” Sara finally dropped the act.
“You know it,” Shien glanced at her, “I really want to know what you mean by this.”
“What?” Sara asked back, “You don’t want to marry Airi?”
“This…” Shien was momentarily speechless, but he didn’t back down, “Even if I want to marry Airi, that’s for us to decide. Since when does the Demon Race have the right to decide my marriage?”
This was Shien’s only complaint, and one of his reasons for coming to the Demon Realm. He liked Airi and felt he couldn’t live without her, but their relationship had just begun, and the Demon Race unilaterally announced their engagement. Although it seemed advantageous for him, couldn’t he have proposed to Airi himself? A marriage decided by himself and a marriage forced upon him were different.
Moreover, this engagement was clearly a political move to quell the unrest in the Demon Race and the undercurrents among the three races.
Shien naturally had objections to such a politically motivated marriage.
And Sara and the others clearly knew this.
Especially Shafney, who, having developed a preliminary mental connection with Shien, said playfully,
“That’s what he said. What are you going to do, big sister?” Her tone was clearly gloating.
Sara ignored her mischievous younger sister and looked deeply at Shien.
Shien met her gaze unflinchingly.
The atmosphere gradually became heavy.
But soon, it lightened.
“I knew it, you Heroes are all stubborn. Even you, a special Hero, are so headstrong that it’s a headache,” Sara sighed, then said frankly, “I can tell you directly, if Airi hadn’t agreed, we wouldn’t have announced this to the world. Do you understand?”
Shien naturally understood.
This matter had Airi’s consent, or at least her tacit agreement. Otherwise, even for the sake of the Demon Race and the world, she wouldn’t allow herself to be sold off by her sisters as a political tool. She was also a Demon Lord, and although she respected Sara as their leader, she wasn’t her subordinate. Sara couldn’t force her.
Of course, Sara also had her own considerations.
“If it weren’t for your unclear relationship with Airi, I wouldn’t have proposed this engagement to quell the unrest,” she said directly, “I, Sara, the Moon Demon, wouldn’t sacrifice my sister’s marriage for the sake of peace.”
Although she wanted to see harmony and peace between the three races, if the price was her sister’s marriage, she wouldn’t do it, and might even start a war. The Demon Race was the strongest, possessing immense power that even the Goddesses of the God Race couldn’t match. Now, with the Supreme God in seclusion, if a war broke out, the Demon Race wouldn’t be afraid of the God Race and the Human Race. At the very least, Sara, as the renowned strategist of the Demon Race, could come up with other solutions to quell the unrest, although they might not be as direct and effective as the engagement between Shien and Airi.
Therefore, Sara only proposed this marriage alliance after seeing the close relationship between Shien and Airi. She used this to quell the unrest and then proposed the three-race meeting to discuss important matters.
“You should also understand that without Airi’s consent, or at least her tacit agreement, I wouldn’t have been able to implement this so smoothly, right?”
Sara said this seriously to Shien.
Shien was speechless. He could guess that Airi knew about this and had agreed, or at least tacitly agreed.
“But I really didn’t know about this. You announced it unilaterally, without even asking me.”
He was only slightly displeased about this.
“There was no helping it. At that time, the sooner the news was released, the sooner the chaos would be quelled. Otherwise, it would only escalate and become more difficult to control,” Sara said, “If that happened, even in the Human Realm, you wouldn’t have any peace.”
At that time, Shien had already been challenged by the Demon Race, even besieged in the Imperial Capital by their army. If not for the sudden announcement of his engagement to Airi, he might have faced endless trouble. The Human Race would also definitely take action, some wanting to protect him, some wanting to investigate his secrets, and some wanting to exploit his identity and status as the Hero. If that happened, Shien would definitely cause a lot of trouble in the Human Realm.
“Airi probably also considered this when she tacitly agreed to the marriage,” Sara shrugged, “Anyway, your engagement is settled, the only difference is the occasion, time, and circumstances. If you have any objections, then go talk to Airi. You two can resolve this yourselves. If you can’t, then canceling the engagement isn’t impossible either.”
Sara’s words made Shien shut his mouth. Canceling the engagement was impossible, absolutely impossible. If he dared to suggest it, Airi would definitely incinerate him with her dragon breath. He had no objections to the marriage itself, only to the fact that it was unilaterally decided by the Demon Race.
Now that Sara had explained, he wouldn’t pursue the matter further.
However…