"Alright, let's get over this whole mess once again..."
The tall red-haired freckled nineteen-year-old girl with an upturned nose and evil look in her eyes massaged her forehead and leaned back in her chair.
"How this could even happen? Ah, thank you, Carambola."
She added, putting her hand down and adjusting her position when a silver-haired gentleman came over and left two cups of honey tea in front of her and her conversation partner.
"Drink it while it's hot, Mrs, the honey of the fire bees loses its rejuvenating properties once it gets too cold."
The old butler smiled softly and nodded to the girl, kind of ignoring the other person, before backing off next to the door as if guarding the room against any unwanted visitors.
...actually, there was no 'as if' about his behavior because he was actually guarding the door, as his body was already releasing a white light of the readied skills...
"I can't believe this is actually happening, why are we even talking about it – we should be acting instead!"
The third person in the room finally spoke up – though their loud voice was reaching the volume of a shout rather than a calm conversation that the red-haired girl started.
It was none other than Roan Greed, a nineteen-year-old first prince of the Fruit Salad kingdom.
The blond-haired young man's handsome face perfectly fit one's image of prince charming – even at that moment when the blond prince was nervously tapping his foot and rubbing his hands together, making snapping noises with his knuckles.
"Roan. We are talking about it now so that we could solve this situation without putting Mary and her family in danger. So drink your tea, you look awful. Have you even slept?"
The red-haired girl – who could not be anyone else except Cranberry Pride – frowned and motioned at the dark bags under the prince's eyes, pushing the second teacup closer towards the restless young man.
"How could I have a wink of sleep when Mary got sold out to that brute?!"
Roan growled through his teeth, but nonetheless, he ended up picking the teacup and taking a sip of the steaming beverage.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"...guh...! Mister Carambola, did you put alcohol in this?"
..and he instantly choked and coughed at the unexpected 'kick' that the supposed tea had.
"There's no need to 'add' an alcohol to the honey of the fire bees, my prince – the bees add it to the honey on their own and use it to keep it hot, that's why their beehives are always on fire."
"Ah... so that's why mother never allowed me to drink it when I was younger..."
Roan nodded and took another sip – when he was prepared both for the temperature and the alcohol, he drank the beverage without making a scene.
"..."
Cranberry observed him with a raised brow for a few seconds before picking up her own teacup and downing t in one gulp.
"...haa... First of all, Mary did not get sold out – as a member of the Greed family yourself, you should be aware of how little the lower and middle-tier families have to say when faced with the demand coming from a member of one of the seven main families."
She put the cup back and faced the concerned prince.
"...he's just someone from the branch family..."
Roan scoffed and looked away.
"But he is your mother's cousin, so your uncle. And branch family or not, wasn't he growing in power considerably the past few years? Don't tell me you didn't hear the staff at the guild complain that Durian is 'stealing' promising adventurers right from their noses."
The red-haired girl tilted her head while shrugging and leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table that was separating her from the prince.
"...you're not wrong... the worst part of that is that my mother knew about that guy expanding his influence and didn't do a damn thing about it!"
Roan gritted his teeth, barely able to stop himself from spitting to the side in disgust.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"That's not even the worst part – I know for sure that when a monster that was illegally transported into the kingdom as a gift for that bastard and escaped – my mother went and used her power to cover the whole story up!"
He added, seething with anger.
"That. Exactly that bothers me."
Cranberry pointed her index finger at the blond prince and straightened her back.
"Huh...?"
Roan furrowed his brows and looked at her in confusion.
"Don't 'huh' me. Think about it – If the escaped monster was wreaking havoc, Durian could have denied all responsibility. After all, if the creature was supposed to be a gift, he could always just push all fault at the people who wanted to give it to him and say he never wanted it..."
"Pffft...! That's what concerns you?! Durian is a Greed! I can assure you that none of us had ever rejected a present, for goodness sake!"
Roan snorted and interrupted Cranberry's theory – which earned him a cold glare from the red-haired girl herself and an even colder glare of the silver-haired gentleman by the door.
"...sorry... please continue..."
The blond prince realized his mistake and hurriedly apologized and started sipping on his tea to demonstrate that he will not cut into Cranberry's train of thoughts.
"...haa... I said that Durian could use it as an excuse, not that he wouldn't actually want the so-called present. Anyway..."
The red-haired girl breathed out and continued the explanation.
"Why would he need a monster – didn't his unique magic work only on humans...?"
She added, raising her brow and looking up at the blond prince.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"I'm not sure about the detail – it's just like I told you before, Durian's slave crest magic has two modes. If accepted willingly – it boosts the target EXP gain, increases the speed of leveling up the skills, as well as removing the level cap from the skills, while if the target refuses – as long as their MDF isn't high enough to resist it, it turns them into obedient slaves with little to no free will on their own – in both cases, he gains the access to the skills of his slaves. I have no idea whether that works for monsters or not – but what would be the point anyways? Humans have access to much better skills than monsters."
Roan said with concern, massaging his temples recalling all the details he found out about his uncle's power.
"Well, whether his magic works on the monsters or not, he clearly seems interested in the possibility of controlling them – I can't imagine another reason for him to suddenly get interested in Mary..."
"...!"
"...?"
Cranberry frowned, but then furrowed her brows at Roan when the blond prince fidgeted at her words.
"What?"
She nodded at him to speak up.
"Well.. you know... there is an obvious reason why the old creep could be interested in a young beautiful girl like Mary..."
Roan blushed and explained in an embarrassed voice.
"You..."
Cranberry opened her mouth and was about to respond to that, but then...
/Global event begins
/Calculating...
/Preparation complete
/The roles have been asigned
/You receive a role
Villainess
A series of messages blocked her vision and caused her to forget what was she going to say.
"What in the...?! A GLOBAL EVENT?!"
The blond prince in front of her raised his voice, staring in disbelief at his own messages.
But then, as if the rare phenomenon that was known to change the course of history each time it happened, suddenly starting wasn't enough of a shock...
"Hey, red girl. The global event started, right?"
A small, sword-shaped pendant on the girl's neck vibrated and let out a high-pitched noise that turned into words.
"Since it started, it's okay for you to go to get my master now!"
The sword-shaped pendant didn't even wait for the confirmation and cheered out loud, going as far as to bounce up and release a white light of skill from excitement.
"!!!!!"
Cranberry's jaw dropped and her eyes widened.
Then, she stood up from her seat and looked between the confused Roan and Carambola.
"What are you two staring at! We're going to get my husband!"
She declared and kicked the table out of her way, going for the blond prince and forcing him to stand up.
"You told me before that you know where your mother keeps him! Take me there, now!"
She declared in a domineering voice.
