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  Draudillon Oriculus POV

  She stomped through the pace with energetic and agitated steps, her shadow in the form of the prime minister as always behind her. Her bad mood, which could be seen even from afar, was not unusual. However, she seemed to have reached a new low today. Not only had she received another report about a vilge being destroyed by beast men, but she also had to meet with the leader of the local adamantite team, Cristal Tear.

  If there was one thing she hated more than the Beast men, it was this human. Cerabrate was his name, and the only reason he hadn't left the Dragon Kingdom with his adventure team long ago was because he was interested in her body. No, not her normal form; the bastard's interest was particurly focused on her childlike form. Under normal circumstances, she would never have entertained his interest, but the dire military situation and attacks by the Beastmen forced her to do so.

  She stopped when she reached a door; her march had led her to her private sleeping chamber. She gnced behind her and looked into the dead eyes of the minister who had followed her here. Just like her, he didn't seem to be feeling well either; there were thick, bck circles under his eyes that could only have been caused by sleeplessness and stress.

  "Thank you for accompanying me this far. I'd like to retire to my room now. Please don't disturb me until tomorrow." she said.

  "As you command, your highness," the minister replied in a tired tone and turned around only to stumble with weary steps in the opposite direction

  Finally, she entered her royal bedroom alone and went straight to the table, on which there was still an almost full bottle of wine. Now armed with the bottle, she fell onto the bed and let out an exhausted sigh.

  "Haaaa, it seems I have to give him what he wants soon, if I want him to continue defending this kingdom against the beast men" she sighed

  if only there were another solution

  But she knew this was unlikely. Her kingdom's strength was depleted, as were its resources and the meager morale that some of her soldiers still seemed to possess for some reason. Wild magic, something that should have been her trump card, was also too costly to use. The legacy of a true dragon lord, and yet she was unable to use it properly...

  Ha, what a joke

  She took another sip from the wine bottle and y exhausted on her back. It would take some time for the alcohol to take effect, and yet she already longed for the sweet indifference that would come with the intoxication. Too many problems and too few realistic solutions. If only she could find her grandfather...

  Her grandfather, the Brightness Dragon lord, was certainly powerful and capable of repelling the Beast men. But not only was his whereabouts unknown to her, his help was also unlikely. Slowly, she felt the alcohol taking effect; she felt warmer, and a pleasant sense of disorientation began to spread through her mind. This was the right thing to do: all these concerns; she would forget them, at least for tonight. Even if the force of waking up in the morning would only hit her even harder.

  Just as she was about to take another sip, her door opened unexpectedly without knocking, and a familiar face poked its head in. Even in her current state, she was still able to recognize the person. His face would have been quite beautiful if it weren't for those dead eyes that spoke of absolute hopelessness and the dark circles that sunk deep beneath his eyes. Sometimes she felt sorry for him for that, but not today.

  "Prime Minister, what are you doing here? Didn't I order you that I wanted to be left alone for today?" she cried out enraged.

  "I am very sorry your highness, but it seems there is something that requires your immediate attention." the minister defended himself

  "Hah, finee speak theen" she slurred already being affected by the alcohol

  But instead of answering, the minister went straight to her, grabbed the wine bottle and snatched it from her small hand. His unusual reaction frightened her so much that she immediately sobered up and sat up abruptly in bed. She watched the man suspiciously as he slowly stepped back, pced the bottle on the table and then started to close the curtains.

  "Minister? What is the meaning of this?" she asked suspiciously.

  "Forgive me, Your Highness. I am aware that my behavior is extremely unusual, but I need you sober." he answered still turned with his back to her.

  Slowly she climbed out of bed, careful not to lose sight of the man. Something was wrong. Sure, he looked like the Prime Minister, and he acted like him too, with a few exceptions of course. But what really bugged her was this sense of wrongness when she looked at him.

  Had something happened to him?

  "Please sit down, Your Majesty, as I just said, we have a lot to discuss" cimed the minister and gestured to the comfortable armchair next to the table, her gaze slowly drifting longingly to the wine bottle on top. She sat down, and at that moment the minister's monotonous face was split by a huge smile. It looked inhuman and fake, and completely out of step with his otherwise distant and calm demeanor.

  "Who...who are you? You are not the prime ministers. Where is he and what do you want?" she asked nervously.

  "Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I had to get inTO tHe pAce unNoticed, didn't I? The fake minister spoke only for his voice to break mid-sentence and change tone.

  The intruder slowly approached her and extended his hand as if to touch her. Even though there were still at least two meters between them, she instinctively backed away. But what happened next shocked her even more: his human hand deformed, and his fingers grew longer and paler. When she looked into his face, she could just see how it, too, seemed to deform like wax. His eyes and mouth disappeared, repced by three bck holes.

  When the figure was finally finished transforming, there was no longer the young, beautiful but rather tired-looking minister standing before her, but a pale monster without hair, ears, only four slender fingers at each hand, and three bck holes as mouth and eyes. She had to suppress a scream when the creature did not stop in front of her but continued towards her and sat down on the chair next to her.

  "Usually people ask me questions if I appear like this, as have you. What was it again that you wanted to ask me?"

  "Who the hell are you?” she asked, her voice ced with fear

  "Ahhh, yes of course. A cssic one. Then allow me to introduce myself: I am Zelon the thousand faces, member of the seven deadly sins, representing the sin of greed." spoke her mysterious evening visitor, fluttering his hand and funting a rge yellow ring with a strange symbol on one of his fingers.

  "The seven deadly sins..I have heard something about that, wasn't there something in the capital...?" she remembered.

  "That is correct even if it is not important right now. My nightly visit is for a compleat different reason" added pale creature.

  "And what could that be?" she asked suspiciously

  "Well, consider yourself lucky. After careful consideration, I deemed the situation profitable enough to intervene personally. In other words I am willing to help this pitiful kingdom of yours, for a price of course." said the creature in a greedy voice.

  Considering he is the sin of greed I suppose it won't be cheap she though

  "How much do you want?" she finally asked.

  "Ohh, not much this kingdom will do" spoke the deadly sin in a casual tone as if it hadn't just revealed something unbelievable

  "Do not look so surprised, you know exactly how dire the situation is without my help your kingdom will probably crumble in the next few years. This of course affects the price for my help, you know how it is."

  "I don't know..." She tried to intervene

  "In fact, I'd even say that I'll be at a disadvantage in this deal. For saving a completely devastated kingdom, I'll get... well, a devastated kingdom. Right now, you're nothing more to me than an investment. If I save you, your citizens will live, they'll reproduce, they'll work, and they'll die. Sooner or ter, all of this will be reflected in the city's coffers, from which I will, of course, receive my fair share. You will continue to rule, of course, while keeping an ear to my voice the whole time, and everyone will be happy. However, for now, it will be nothing more than a huge expense. For me. Hence, my disadvantage." interrupted her guest

  "That is a huge decision I dont think..." she started to stumble over her own words completely taken off-guard

  "Do not force yourself, I don't need your answer now. Sleep over it. I will return in a few days and ask you again. I am sure we will soon enter a profitable partnership but until then..." responded her visitor and did a short but polite bow only for him to vanish in a bright light.

  She looked at the spot where her nighttime visitor had just been standing. If she hadn't known about magic, she'd be sure she'd imagined it all. Her gaze slid across the room until it fell on the wine bottle. She took a cautious step forward and reached out her hand, only to stop mid-step.

  NO, not today.

  She had some thinking to do.

  AnnouncementHope you're not disappointed. The next chapter will probably cover the worker attack on the tomb. See you guys soon.