Chapter 83: Contractual Legitimacy

"...W-What do you want from me? You accepted far too easily that there’s no way to prove anything... do you intend to extort me so rumors don’t spread and tarnish my image? Sell this to my brothers?" Victoria questions, realizing she might have some room to negotiate as Yomo puts the book away, hiding it back in his clothes.

"..." Yomo approaches Victoria and then grabs her hand, shoving her against the terrace railing. The movement is invasive, catching Victoria off guard and making her body shrink back in discomfort.

"!!?" Victoria is confused while she’s held against the terrace, not even able to imagine what Yomo thinks of her.

"I have a good proposal for you, Princess Victoria. I have something I want very much, and I can give you something you want very much, and your personality is favorable for a deal." Yomo squeezes Victoria’s hands, making her groan in pain as finger marks begin to appear.

But Victoria doesn’t scream for help, because she has no room for that—rumors would be bad for her.

In the end, Yomo thought long about brainwashing the princess and dominating the Kingdom of Ortyr easily, but realized that with deals and support from malicious people like Victoria, he could obtain something he desires while appearing to obey Nio’s request.

"Okay... I’m all ears... what’s your proposal?" With Victoria’s more restrained speech, Yomo’s reaction is a victorious smile. He releases her and takes a step back.

"I already know what you want. You need legitimacy to claim the throne, don’t you? For that legitimacy, you would need to either marry the king or bear his child, but that isn’t possible because of the Theocracy, and he’s already somewhat old to have children—you don’t even know if he still can, even if you tried."

"So what if I gave you that legitimacy?" Yomo proposes the solution to Victoria’s problems, which makes her truly give him her fullest attention.

"...How?" Victoria questions, wanting to know how this mysterious noble could help her.

"I could get the New Saint of the Theocracy to agree to officiate your marriage." Yomo’s proposal is far too tempting, sweet as the whispers of a seductive demon.

"...How would you do that? And what do you want in return?" Victoria obviously doesn’t immediately trust such a proposal, especially since it involves the Theocracy itself.

"I know the new saint. It’s easy for me to arrange this. However, what I want is help... I have a ’master,’ someone I want to drag through the mud. This someone is problematic." Yomo doesn’t name who it is, only using something neutral like master, which Victoria notices but doesn’t comment on.

"This master gave me a task here in the Kingdom of Ortyr. If I have your help, I can pretend I completed this assignment, but I still don’t have a way to do what I want. I need support involving National Ranks and powerful artifacts." Yomo knows there’s no way to beat Nio, so he seeks means to either strengthen himself or weaken her—what ends up being more realistic is weakening Nio.

"..." Victoria notices that Yomo revealed small cracks in his mysteries just to show he is "trustworthy," and Yomo’s proposal is something Victoria could actually accomplish if she becomes the true queen.

"I see... you went after my past just for this? To humiliate me, demoralize me, and then propose giving me what I want in exchange for help? As if I wouldn’t hold resentment toward you?"

"I’m meticulous, since I have a rather paranoid master. I’m willing to accept some help if I can have what I want, and there’s no one better than someone like you. I know you would place gains above a little psychological pain." Obviously, Yomo is already prepared to brainwash her if she refuses, so Victoria’s refusal ends up being—without her knowing—an extremely dangerous choice.

"...And what proof do I have that you would help me? Even if for me to help you, you’d have to help me first, there’s nothing... reliable in your proposal."

"I’ll give you this record book—the same one that was the spark for our sweet nighttime conversation." Yomo offers to give up his "greatest" weapon in this negotiation for Victoria to destroy, which genuinely catches Victoria off guard.

"That... seems like adequate proof..." The chance to destroy this problem that came from the past makes Victoria’s eyes shine.

"I must admit you’re frightening, taking advantage of my vulnerabilities like this. I’m truly wounded." Victoria gives a somewhat unsettling smile despite the slight tremor in her arms as she relives her traumas so explicitly.

"Do we have a deal? If you refuse, that’s fine—I can go to one of your brothers and offer them this book in exchange for an agreement." Yomo delivers the final "blow" to the deal, adding a touch of urgency.

"That won’t be necessary... do you want something as proof of my... loyalty to this agreement?" Victoria decides to offer something as well, accepting the deal. Just as Yomo will hand over the book, Victoria needs to prove she will actually cooperate.

"Ah yes, there’s something that interests me. What do you know about the [System]? I knew it before, but it was a different version. It seems more... unique now. I’d like information about it, if possible old books and records that trace back to the past. Even though I’ve tried to find them, most are with the royalty."

"...I don’t know what you mean, since the System has never changed, but the Status is something we’re born with from the very beginning. It displays some of our attributes, level, information, and—"

"Where does it come from? What gave it to humanity? What’s the source that keeps it functioning? Who administers it? How does it obtain that information that appears on the screen? That’s what I want to know. I don’t need to know what’s already explicit in it, Princess. If you want to help me with this, find books like I mentioned before." Yomo’s tone is full of contempt for what Victoria mentioned.

"..."

"I see you don’t know. At least it was a good attempt." Yomo walks to the door, unlocking it. He pulls the book from his clothes and tosses it to Victoria, who almost drops it.

"You can keep it... and I accept your invitation to a party. We’ll talk there about how this will be done in more proper terms... I also need to pull some strings so the new saint gives you what you want." Yomo decides to take advantage of what Nio gave him to obtain this help that he’ll use against Nio.

"...I’ll send an invitation to your mansion... Lady Yomo." Despite the discomfort, Victoria prefers to obtain the help rather than pay attention to the awful feeling in her body.