Chương 21: The best character appears 🦊

In the heart of Snowreach lay the vast Icecrown Palace. The walls were made of heavy, white marble, and the many crystalline windows caused the structure to glimmer like a diamond in the snowdrifts. Inside, Ophelia and Dietfried von Orsainvillea sat in a luxurious parlor, drinking. Ophelia hid a grimace as she swirled a glass of dark whiskey. The fumes alone made tears sting the corners of her eyes. It was the exact same horrible swill that Bianca had poured for her in Castle Nighthold. Once - fine. Twice?

Ophelia had no choice but to accept the awful truth. This had been Lady Vyx's preferred choice of beverage. Her gaze slid to the duke. At least the blue-haired man had poured himself a glass of the same disgusting liquid. Though he didn't seem the least bit affected by the taste. She did have one question she was dying to ask the duke. She just couldn't figure out the best way to say it without casting suspicion on herself. Ophelia took a tiny, bracing sip of the whiskey.

"So… the winds tell me you had a strange guest a few days back. Someone gold of hair." The duke paused, frowning deeply.

"You heard about that?"" Archmage," she replied, as though it was all the explanation she needed.

"Right. Your kind never fails to remind me how creepy you can be." He paused.

"He called himself Duke of Ravenfall. I did not recognize the name, but he insisted he was nobility from a different kingdom." Dietfried took a long swallow from his crystal tumbler, then steepled his ridiculously long fingers beneath his chin.

"Moreover, he didn't seem to recognize me at all, even though he was a visitor in my home. He was… interesting." Ophelia blinked.

"Right, but what was he doing here?"

"Who knows?" The duke seemed to brush her off, going back to his thoughts. This thickheaded noble… There was a long silence, broken only by the sound of small chips of hail pinging against the crystal windows.

"The Beast King is dead," said Ophelia with a discreet cough.

"What happens to the Frozen Wastes now? Are you going to take over and expand the Aedris Kingdom?" One of the flavors of Slayer's Requiem setting was the kingdom's underclass of beastmen. She had always assumed it was a station of the setting - the sad beastman refugees in the capital, where they were spat on and discriminated against, as per usual in stories like this. But maybe it was a relatively recent development following the downfall of their tyrant leader.

"No," said the duke simply.

"My adopted daughter will take her rightful place as Queen of the Northern Horde." His what? Ophelia was glad she hadn't been wincing down a sip at that moment because she would've broken character and sprayed the duke with his own expensive whiskey. Dietfried lifted his chin towards the parlor door.

"Speaking of - it seems like we have an eavesdropper. Come in, Yumei." A girl arrived carrying a tray of frosted cookies. Ophelia did a doubletake at the sight of her, her breath catching in her lungs. Yumei had floor-length cherry blossom hair which she'd tied up in a high ponytail, a curtain of bangs falling shyly across her forehead. Her large eyes were the same color as the expensive jade bracelet Ophelia used to wear, a pale almost milky green color, and the ends were accentuated with a hint of rouge.

Delicate scarlet tattoos traced her cheekbones. Thin red robes draped her lithe form, more elegant than anything Ophelia had expected to see in this frozen wasteland. Most intriguingly, two pointed pink fox ears twitched on her head.

"This is my adopted daughter, Yumei," introduced the duke.

"A foxkin?" asked Ophelia with sudden interest. The sound of Ophelia's voice caused those pink ears to twitch. Yumei looked up, shocked, and met her eyes for the briefest second. And then promptly tripped over nothing. The tray of cookies she'd been carrying crashed to the ground. Thin robes rode up milky thighs. A flash of lace appeared. Yumei's cheeks dusted pink and her eyes glowed, and suddenly a multitude of fluffy pink tails sprouted from behind her, hiding her modesty from sight.

Nine, fluffy, cute swishing tails.

"A kitsune-kin," corrected the duke, shooting his daughter a cold look.

"When the Beast King went around subjugating the Frozen Wastes, he massacred the imperial kitsune tribe. A servant managed to escape with their inheriting daughter and sought refuge with me - the one place the Beast King would hesitate to attack." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Yesterday, Ophelia had told Azazel she liked catboys. In fact, the only thing better than a catboy was a catgirl. But there was one thing better than a catgirl. A foxgirl.

Never in Ophelia's dreams did she believe this world possessed a kitsune -girl. How could that demon author hide this from the fandom? Oh my god, I'm so into this.

"Actually, speaking of that stranger - Yumei, didn't that man say something to you?" said the duke. Yumei quickly stood up, brushing herself off. [Shaman - Level 450]"Just a few words, papa," said Yumei. She waved her hand and the tray of cookies vanished. She seemed to pointedly not be looking Ophelia's way, though the flush had receded from her cheeks.

"He wanted to know my age, and if I would be interested in some of the peaches from his orchards." Does Azazel only have one line?? The duke snorted derisively.

"You were right, Vyx. It seems the mysterious duke did have ulterior motives. A suitor. Men are filthy creatures, Yumei. They only have one thing on their minds. I'd sleep better if you fancied women instead." This time, Ophelia was taking a sip of whiskey, and had to cast a bit of magic to teleport the liquid from her throat into a nearby houseplant before she could choke and make a scene. That's rather progressive, Dietfried. I think.

The kitsune sat on a chaise, and pulled out a thin, exquisitely crafted jade pipe. It seemed to light on its own, hazy smoke curling from the end. Ophelia guessed that smoking ran in the family.

"Yumei will make a decent queen," said Dietfried.

"She's already Level 450, and she's barely forty years old—" For the third time, Ophelia almost choked. Forty? Yumei was forty? A wave of despondency swept over Ophelia— Wait. Since Lady Vyx was several centuries old, would that make her the creeper? What was forty years in comparison to that? Even though Ophelia would be the younger one, the public wouldn't know that - they would just see an Archmage hanging out with a young and nubile forty year old… Whatever.

Stop creating romantic fantasies of someone you haven't said a single word to. You can't be this pathetic, girl. A knock echoed from the parlor door. A maid dressed in frilly black and white appeared.

"My lord, an emissary from Shiversberg has arrived at the gates. They request an urgent meeting." Dietfried sighed and stood up.

"I better see them before they get too cold out there. God knows no one from Shiversberg has any sense of temperature regulation." He got to the door and shot the two of them a look.

"Ladies. Please don't start plotting world domination while I'm away." As soon as the door shut, Yumei stood up frantically.

"Lady Archmage," Yumei hissed.

"I think the Demon Lord Azazel's been possessed!"

"..." Ophelia's two brain cells tried to rub together. Right. Lady Vyx and Azazel had been scheming together to open a Hellgate in the kingdom's capital. Was Yumei another conspirator? Was that why Azazel had been at the duke's palace? And… maybe the reason why Yumei had fallen over wasn't because she was naturally clumsy, but shocked by Lady Vyx's sudden appearance in her home? The very threatening Level 1000 Archmage?

"What makes you think that?" drawled Ophelia as sweat prickled her lower back. Yumei began to pace the floor, sipping her jade pipe. When she blew out, the white smoke formed rabbits that hopped away until they dissipated.

"Halfway through Lord Azazel's visit, he suddenly seemed to not recognize me. He lost his way repeatedly in the palace - and even ran into my father." The girl's tails began to swish in anxiety. She bit her lower lip.

"Lady Archmage, I had nothing to do with it. I didn't hypnotize him - I promise. Please don't kill my father! I'm willing to do anything!" Oh. Maybe Yumei wasn't a conspirator. Had they been threatening her with her father's life? To two old schemers, the future Queen of the Northern Horde would make for a decent chess piece.

"Quiet," said Ophelia, and thankfully the girl stopped rambling.

"I'm already aware of Azazel's change in behavior. It's… a demon… thing." Jade green eyes blinked at her.

"My lady?" And thankfully, Ophelia was a great liar.

"Not many people know this, but the underworld is in flux. Azazel has been… deeply affected by the shifting energies." Yumei frowned slightly.

"I see…" Ophelia's thumb brushed over her rings, turning them back and forth and as she tried to think of a way to extricate herself out of this situation without setting off alarm bells.

"To be honest, I've known of Azazel's strangeness for a while. I was able to take advantage of his current state to get the thing I wanted from him. Now, I no longer need him, and I no longer have any reason to support him." A thousand thoughts seemed to spin through Yumei's mind.

"So, does this mean that I no longer have to serve Lord Azazel? I'm free? My father's life…" Ophelia had no idea what lies Azazel had told this girl. Unless Azazel could call down gods, or gather multiple Level 1000s together, no one would be killing the Duke of the North. But whatever Azazel had said - she seemed to have believed them.

"Yes," confirmed Ophelia.

"You're free to become queen in peace. I won't be standing in your way." Yumei looked down.

"To be honest, Lady Archmage, I don't have much interest in being a ruler. That's just what my father wants me to be."

"Oh? Then what do you want?"

"Don't laugh, but…" Her eyes took on a deeper shade of green.

"I'd really love to open my own gambling den!"