CHAPTER 437: PLAYING THE VILLAIN

"Matriarch... I shamed you in front of everyone. I’ve disgraced the royal family and our whole planet. Please, punish me."

As soon as all the foreigners left, the second prince — a tall, strong guy covered in blue scales, named Skaarl — suddenly stepped forward and knelt down in shame.

After that, the other princes and princesses were overwhelmed by guilt and embarrassment and bowed as well. Even though Darian had restored their honor during that confrontation, their earlier behavior had been way too humiliating.

Before, they all thought they were superior just because they were princes and princesses with strong dragon blood running through their veins. But now, they had learned how cruel reality could be.

They’d been living in a dream of their own making. Truly strong people don’t rely on bloodlines or being born in a powerful place. Darian was the perfect example of that. And they, who’d been given everything, had ended up embarrassing themselves.

Tetoya, especially, was gritting her teeth, her eyes red. Everyone waited for punishment.

But to everyone’s surprise, Painita only gave them a gentle smile.

"You all did very well. Don’t worry, I’m quite pleased."

"Matriarch...!"

All the princes and princesses were stunned. In all their memories, the Matriarch had always been extremely strict and harsh with them.

When she chose them, she had been very clear — she asked each one if that was truly what they wanted. Becoming princes and princesses had been their own decision.

Ordinary people could still live strong lives and make their own choices. But princes and princesses existed for their planet — they had to be perfect, or as close to it as possible. First, they fought for the chance to become the next ruler; later, they served as Elders. They would never again have full freedom over what they did from one day to the next.

They had all been defeated that day — a huge humiliation for their planet’s pride. Yet instead of punishing them, the Matriarch was comforting them? They were completely bewildered. Some even wondered if she was just saying the opposite of what she truly felt.

Painita slowly stood and walked toward them, helping each one up personally. There was a rare smile on her face.

In the end, she said softly, "Don’t be so dramatic. I didn’t choose you as my children because I expected perfection, but because you seemed like good people inside."

"Everyone saw those idiots from the other planet. The moment they were contradicted or lost miserably, they acted like childish fools, making excuses. But you... you accepted defeat and acknowledged your weaknesses."

"You have no idea how many geniuses I’ve seen in my life... Do you know how many are still alive today? None. Almost all of them died before reaching nine rings. And I, who was just slightly above average, made it this far. Only those who can accept they’re not perfect, admit their mistakes, apologize when needed, and never stop improving... only those people truly go far."

"Matriarch..." the princes’ and princesses’ eyes turned red.

"Even I make mistakes... after all, the prince I chose betrayed us... I already found out about it."

She spoke with pain in her voice. The Emperor had found out and immediately took care of the traitor, hiding it from her as best he could. But secrets can’t stay buried forever. Sometimes, even good people get corrupted. She knew that — and accepted her mistake, choosing to pay more attention to the details from now on.

"Anyway... a temporary defeat means nothing. Use that shame as fuel. That’s what really matters. Now, kids, get up — the banquet’s barely started! Tonight, I’m drinking with you all until we pass out, hahaha!" Painita finished with a satisfied laugh.

The princes and princesses were touched, though still embarrassed. They all returned to their seats, and the Emperor finally ordered the food and drinks to be served.

Darian quietly put away the two Supreme Artifacts those idiots had brought, without hesitation. Then he just sat back, ate a little, and watched everything silently...

After a while, his eyes grew distant, his senses drawn toward a familiar connection somewhere nearby.

Painita turned to Darian and smiled slightly. She was sure he was thinking about Niara. That daughter of hers had attended other banquets before — and every time, people were terrified by her monstrous appetite.

It didn’t take long before the princes and princesses approached Darian, introducing themselves formally. They all thanked him for his help, but he simply nodded, saying they were all one family. Everyone smiled, without a shred of doubt in his words. It was only a matter of time before he became part of the royal family officially.

Skaarl also formally apologized for his soldiers’ behavior when Darian had tested his strength in the city. He swore he’d learned his lesson from that banquet.

Before, all the princes and princesses had chosen their soldiers based only on strength and bloodline. But now, after realizing that even the Matriarch hadn’t chosen her children based on talent alone, they understood what truly mattered.

Even Tetoya finally understood why Darian had scared off her soldiers right from the start. Arrogant fools who thought they were above everyone else — no matter how strong — needed to be driven away before they poisoned the rest. That kind of person always ended up dying alone and stupidly somewhere else. It was better to make sure they didn’t drag anyone down with them.

From that day on, all the princes and princesses decided to do a serious purge among their soldiers and choose their future companions much more carefully.

After that, the state banquet basically turned into a family meal, with everyone chatting casually — and Darian at the center of attention. No one wanted to talk about serious stuff while eating and drinking freely.

...

By the end of it all, as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon, everyone started heading home.

When Darian stood up, a mental message reached him.

’Darian, since you’re a general of the royal family, I have a mission for you. Tomorrow, pay a visit to the Merchant Guild.’

Darian turned toward Painita, who was standing at a distance. ’Are you sure about that? If I go there, that place might end up demolished.’

’I leave that decision to you,’ she replied calmly, then turned and walked away.

Darian snorted, already understanding perfectly what she meant.

With the banquet over, Zelkov was taken away by his mother. She promised to properly teach him how to use his saber technique — but this time, she’d do it based on the path he wanted to follow, not by forcing goals or ambitions that reflected her own desires.

Zelkov wanted to learn to fight and defend himself — not to become some overpowered monster capable of killing whoever he wanted. He’d even chosen a blessing focused entirely on defense. His goal was to be capable and rule wisely, not to wage war.

So, Darian and Tetoya headed back alone to the mansion. But Tetoya was oddly quiet as they walked.

"Why aren’t you talking? That’s not like you," Darian asked calmly.

She just huffed without answering.

"Your will got crushed after one little setback?" Darian continued.

Tetoya gave a bitter smile. "I’d like to say it didn’t, but that was definitely a heavy blow for me. Even if I never thought of myself as unbeatable, I still believed fighting was my specialty — that it’d be hard to find someone close to my level who could completely outclass me. But now? I feel like a frog at the bottom of a well. I’m still so naïve."

That battle really had shaken her. Being defeated so easily by someone with just six rings was something she’d never even imagined possible.

Before, she had great confidence in herself and even challenged Darian almost daily — even after seeing his potential during the city attack.

But he always refused, precisely because he didn’t want to hurt her pride. That princess was arrogant and proud, sure, but she wasn’t a bad person. Now, she realized how naïve and ridiculous she must’ve looked in his eyes, and felt so embarrassed she could barely look at him.

"I am... no, are all the princes and princesses really that naïve and ridiculous?" Tetoya murmured as they walked slowly through the city, bathed in dawn light.

"Yeah, you’re all pretty naïve."

"You! Even if that’s true, you didn’t have to say it so bluntly!" Tetoya snapped immediately.

"Oh? You want me to comfort you instead? Honestly, with your personality, this little hit’s nothing," Darian said with a small grin.

"How would you know? We lost the royal family’s face... even though the Matriarch said otherwise..."

Darian replied calmly, "Your loss was completely within her expectations. So there’s no need to feel guilty. There isn’t a single coward among you, and that’s something to praise. When the Matriarch complimented you all, she meant it."

"Really?" Tetoya asked, taking a deep breath.

"Of course. If my guess is right, the next step is going to be hellish training for all of you. The Matriarch wanted you to lose — it was all a show for the other side."

Darian thought back to the subtle hints he’d noticed during the banquet. It made a lot of sense.

"They wanted us to lose on purpose... wait, what? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, noticing him rolling his eyes at her.

"If you still can’t figure that out, you should give up on becoming Empress," Darian snorted. "Obviously, the Matriarch was deliberately putting on a weak front to trick her enemies and lure them into a trap. The whole point is to set up a favorable situation — to wipe out all of Runedell’s enemies at once. When that planet attacks, Vadise will be the righteous side when striking back. That way, they won’t have any trouble with the other immortals."

"You’re saying the whole thing was staged? No way. How could we possibly fake our real power?" Tetoya said, frowning.

"Foolish girl, you lost to the other side because you lack combat experience. But at the same time, every prince and princess has sealing marks on their bodies."

Hearing that, Tetoya’s eyes widened. "Impossible! If there were seals, we’d know!"

"When you became a princess, didn’t the Matriarch personally help you absorb more draconic bloodline and assist with the process?" Darian said — and Tetoya froze, eyes even wider.

"I noticed it because I’ve seen Niara’s power and energy fluctuations many times. Your draconic bloodlines are strangely restricted. Anyway... remember Lihan and Tizal, when I forced them to fight using their transformation? Same principle. You’re limited to about one-third of your power. Considering that, you’re actually quite strong. Once the Matriarch removes those seals, you’ll be like dragons freed from their cages."

During those banquet battles, no matter how fiercely the princes and princesses fought, they couldn’t unleash the purest draconic energy within them. Not all of them, anyway — Zelkov had been the only one capable of breaking part of the seal on his own.

"If what you’re saying is true, that’s great. When those idiots attack us, thinking we’re weak, we’ll catch them off guard and crush them!" Tetoya said, clearly excited by the thought.

Because of the spies inside the Merchant Guild, people on the planet had started calling the Emperor a fool and the Matriarch naïve. They were spreading lies to lower the morale of the people while slowly digging their claws in deeper.

That had already been happening even before Darian’s arrival. So Painita’s plan had been crafted to end it all in one strike. She used the chaos Darian caused to push things ahead sooner.

The two finally returned to the princess’s mansion.

The next morning, someone came to deliver a new status plaque to Darian.

"It’s a test plaque to become a Supreme General!" Tetoya said in surprise. "But what’s your test?"

Darian sighed. "They want me to play the villain... fine, for my wife, I’ll do it."