TOAD – Chapter 63


    I left the waiting room I was stashed away and discard in and then headed for the main area. It wasn’t hard to find, as it was the area where the music wasing from. Multiple string instruments were creating a pseudo-ssical feel to the whole affair. That was reinforced by the borate dresses and suits being worn by the guests. Before anyone could see me, I lifted a hood that was a part of my dress. Most of my dresses had hoods attached to them, as it had been necessary to hide my appearance from time to time.


    The hood didn’t make me invisible, but it would keep me from being seen by an entire crowd. Only those facing me directly would be able to get a good look at my appearance. Even when I was being reckless, I wasn’t foolish enough to walk into a room with my face exposed. Of course, the dress I was wearing showed off my body too and might lead to more attention. Even shaped by my seductress ss, I had always been somewhat slim. Since being used as a baby maker though, my body had fleshed out considerably. I had an hourss figure now, with arger chest and wider hips. My ass was the type that countless rappers would sing about. Even without my face on disy, I knew I’d draw attention.


    I moved fairly unnoticed, but that was because I wasn’ting from the direction of the guests. I had been taken the back way, and the only people I saw were servants. Most of them were too busy with the affair to take notice of me. Those that did only looked long enough to see that I was a guest, and made sure to disappear as quickly as possible. The servants seemed to have a healthy fear of offending the nobles and high society that would make up this event.


    With my level, I was considerably more skilled in most areas. This included my movements. That’s why I was able to time it so that I caught up with a servant in front of me just as they opened the door. As they stepped in, I stepped passed them, causing them to nearly jump. I plucked a ss of wine off the te and smiled at them. The servant inadvertently took a look into my hood.


    “A-ah!” His eyes widened in a transfixed manner.


    “Thank you.” I rose the ss to my lips and sipped, then turned and continued.


    The servant remained frozen, staring at my behind for several moments before he finally shook himself and went back to work. It was only a brief look, and I did have the restrictions around my neck. I could also sense that the waiter was a rather high level, at leastpared to mostmoners. It seemed like everyone present was least in the second ss. This was probably a requirement. Lower leveled riffraff would have been suffocated by the high status of those attending such an event. High society coincided well with high levels.


    The room beyond was quite colorful, and not simply because of the dress. Although they collectively were referred to as demons, every demon came from a line of half-human, half-monster. As they bred more humans into their family, their monstrous features would gradually decrease and they would appear more human. Those that were in the high society would be the ones who had the purest blood and thus contained the most monstrous features.


    As a result, the room was filled with an assortment of skin colors, horns, hooves, and various other parts that showed this was undoubtedly a gathering of demons, not humans. Other than their physical appearances though, they held themselves exactly like their human counterparts. That was to say they kept their backs straight and spoke in small groups, passing small talk as they schemed against each other. It did remind me of Nidia, although without the sexual undercurrent that had infected that country with their sex parties.


    The room was seemingly split up into three sections. The first section was filled with tables, which was likely where the banquet was going to be held. The second section mostly had people standing and talking. It was the area for people to talk business. The final section was a dance floor. There were one or two partners on the floor. A woman would drag her reluctant husband out to dance as the string-instrument band yed. I teetered between the talking groups and the dance floor. I liked the physicality of the dance floor, but a little dirty talk didn’t hurt either.


    “King Oberon really should do something about the humans. It’s about time that we kicked them off of our continent.” I heard a man with goat horns snort as I neared his group.


    “He needs to resolve the issue with the blood purity first. My third cousin was recently born, and he didn’t even have gills!” A slightly bluish man who likely came from some kind of fish monster responded.


    “I’d say that Oberon hasn’t done anything in a long time. If he doesn’t wish to lead this country, other families would happily take the job.” A vampire added.


    “Someone like Lord Tigon?” The fish man raised an eyebrow.


    “Be careful what you say out loud.” The horned man chuckled. “Those words could be misconstrued as treason.”


    “We wouldn’t want that!” The vampire responded although he wore a grin and the other two men sounded amused as well.


    “Tsk… disgraceful, isn’t it?”


    It wasn’t until a voice spoke next to me that I realized I hadn’t been moving and had instead been listening in on their conversation. I wasn’t the only one. I tilted my head to see a tall and muscr man. His eyes were slitted like a snake, and he had traces of scales on his neck.


    “What is?” I asked innocently.


    “There was a time not too long ago where such men wouldn’t dare say such things in the open. There was once a great deal of respect and fear for Demon Lord Oberon. Now, young nobles openly mock him. Lord Tigon has done a good job dividing the court into two sides.”


    “And which side are you on?” I asked, smirking slightly.


    His shoulders rxed slightly, and a small smile formed on his lips. “At the moment, I seem to be by your side.”


    “You should be careful. My side is a dangerous ce to be.”


    “What man doesn’t love a sense of danger.” He openly smiled, turning to me. “I thought I knew everyone in the capital, but I don’t believe we’ve met.”


    “I arrived rather recently,” I responded. “And I don’t get out much.”


    “Is that so?” He looked down at me curiously. “Even so, a beauty like you I would recognize with only a single view. You see, my eyesight is very good.”


    I brought out my hand, and he took it and kissed the back of it. It had been a long time since I got to act the part of thedy, but it slipped back on like an old glove. When every action a person took was an act, switching characters was simply a matter of course.


    “I’m afraid my… father has kept me locked up. This is the first-time daddy is letting me out in public.”


    Of course, the daddy I was talking about was Oberon. I didn’t mind calling him daddy, now and if he ever finally took me into the bedroom. It wasn’t the first time I treated a king like my daddy. Either way, I couldn’t exactly say I had no family, now could I?


    Even after kissing my hand, he continued to hold it as he looked down at me a bit like a predator might look at prey. “He’s a cruel man, denying the world your beauty.”


    “I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone here. You are?”


    I did know who he was. I hadn’t spent thest three days studying for nothing. However, why would I reveal that to him? Men liked to talk when you gave them the opportunity, and they liked exining things to women even more.


    “I am Lord Snyder, of the Naga family. In the capital, we’re the 3^rdmost powerful family.”


    I listened with interest, but I already knew that. Oberon had the strongest family, but that family only consisted of himself. Perhaps his ce on the throne would be more secure if he had a family line to speak of. The records didn’t say how a single man without the support of a family came to power, but it was one of the things I was most curious about after all of my delvings through the power structure of this country.


    The house of dir, the vampiric house that Lord Tigon was a part of was the second strongest family. Although all the families were officially allied, it was pretty clear that the house of dir was only a few steps from open rebellion against Oberon. You couldn’t me them. The hero appeared and changed the course of the war. They lost all of thends they had conquered and the dragon god had perished. Since then, Lord Oberon did nothing to strike back. Instead, he sat on his hands and waited as the power he had spent countless years creating splintered apart.


    After the dir family, it was the Naga family. The Naga family seemed rather neutral in this conflict between Oberon and dir. At least, they hadn’t dered a side thus far. Some thought they were just biding their time before making a move themselves. Others thought they were just waiting for the winner. That meant that this Lord Snyder was feeling me out. He was trying to figure out what side I was on, which is why he made such ament in the Demon King’s defense. Had I tried to defend those men, I’d be on Lord Tigon’s side. If I had openly agreed with him, I’d be on Oberon’s side. Well, two can y this game.


    “You speak as if we are in the capital.” I mused. “I thought the capital was where the demon king’s castle is?”


    “The capital is where the seat of power is.” Lord Snyder sighed, his expression turning mncholy as he gazed off. “And frankly, I’m not confident it’s the with the demon king anymore.”


    “I don’t know about such things.” I shrugged. “Daddy told me that I shouldn’t worry about such politics.”


    He looked back at me, a small smile returning to his lips. “I’m having trouble cing you with a family. Are you from an extended family? I don’t see any markings that hint at your lineage. You are quite beautiful. Are you perhaps a Nymph?”


    “Well, I’m not a human, if that is what you’re asking.” I grinned. “Then again, I haven’t decided what kind of demon I am yet.”


    I was undeniably a demon. It didn’t matter what anyone said. Not only was my job a demon queen, but I had mothered more demon lines than anyone dead or living. If a 1^stgeneration demon was revered and respected as the progenitor of a species, then wasn’t their mom the matriarch? In that case, I was the matriarch to a dozen demon lines.


    “She certainly isn’t.” A voice stated as they walked toward us.


    “Elf hero.” Lord Snyder spoke stiffly.


    “Min…” I couldn’t help but breathe out.


    Min hade to this event as well. My mind which had been full of thoughts of toying with this man before I suddenly went out the door as soon as I saw him. He was wearing all white, a military uniform that gave him an extremely elegant aura. He wore a sword at his waist and held himself with an air of confidence that it was difficult to connect with my little elf ve. There wasn’t an ounce of innocence or femininity left. He was extremely handsome.


    “You two know each other?” Lord Snyder asked, looking uncertain.


    Elves weren’t technically demons, but they weren’t humans either. That put them in a grey area where neither side knew exactly what to do with them. However, Min had undoubtedly sided with the humans, which was enough to make any demon ufortable.


    “We do.” He nodded. “Although only for a few months.”


    Those words stung slightly, but they were truthful. At that point, I had been in that world for over a year. If I added up all the time I had traveled with Min, it was only a few months. Then there were the years of my life before I had even gotten here, which felt like many eternities ago. Simply put, Min and I had never really known each other for long. Our closeness had alwayse from necessity. The man before me was practically a strangerpared to the Min I once knew.


    Yet, every time I faced him, I felt all of my confidence leave me. My certainty, my control, it all went out the window with a single look. As if to punctuate my difort, the musicians just finished theirst song, leaving a moment of awkward silence.


    “Wh-what do you want?” I asked, hugging myself.


    He smiled and presented his palm. “May I have this next dance?”


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