Tales of a Seductress

TOAD – Chapter 73

I stepped out into the same clearing. With various lanterns and light related spells pointed in my direction, for a moment I thought I was still within the trials. However, this was a return to the fantasy world. I had left that other world behind a long time ago. It no longer had anything to do with me.

This world was real. I was certain of that. It wasn’t one of those situations where I woke up from a dream only to realize that I was still trapped within. My skills allowed me to see through illusions, and even if I might struggle to tell if I was in an illusion, I could always tell when I wasn’t in one if that made any sense.

“What is the meaning of this?” I heard a dissatisfied voice speak.

Those words seemed to open a floodgate of muttering and confusion. Some people were shaking their heads while looking at me disapprovingly, while others only look flummoxed. I was used to public attention, and even the kind of attention that left me embarrassed, so I face everyone without issue.

“What is it?”

“You’ve returned far too quickly.” Tigon frowned. “This is incorrect.”

“Huh? Too quick? How long had I been gone?” I asked.

“You only appeared to be gone about ten seconds.” Sammuel cut in, seeming slightly amused by everything that was going on.

“Seconds? I could have sworn I was in there for days.”

“You went through all the trials in a matter of days?” Oberon asked, approaching me cautiously. “It took me days before I emerged from the trial, and I perceived years within the trial area.”

‘Years!” My eyes widened, and then I glared at Oberon. “You didn’t tell me anything like that!”

“If I had told you the cost of entering, would you have still attempted?” Oberon asked.

“You…” I felt rather irritated by what he was saying, but I supposed it made sense.

These trials likely put you into a life of your mind’s creation. Those who were content and never strived for anything would be lulled into a place of comfort. They’d be trapped there for years. The ambitious would eventually become unsatisfied with the arrangement. They’d have to give up their perfect life to strive the reach their ambitions.

I didn’t leave so quickly because of my ambitions, but because of my high resistance to illusions. The illusion inside this world broke. I had been kicking myself over how long the illusion had kept me trapped. Yet, in the end, this powerful trial that had even taken the Demon King days to overcome broke after fifteen seconds with me. That sounded about right. I was very good and breaking things.

“She couldn’t have possibly taken the trial!” Tigon snapped. “We should come up with another.”

“What?” I blinked. “That wasn’t in the agreement! I went and I came back. I passed your dumb trial, not that you didn’t try to make that impossible.”

Tigon looked taken aback. “What are you trying to accuse me of?”

“Are you going to deny it? You were there. You tried to keep me from leaving. The next time you’re going to cheat, you could try changing your face or something.”

“C-cheat?” He seemed genuinely upset. “Why would I have to do anything like that? You dare accuse me of interfering with the trial.”

“You were there!” I held out my hands. “Don’t act like you weren’t involved.”

“The people that appear within your trial are taken from your memories,” Oberon spoke up, a strange look on his face. “They often are people who had made some kind of impact on your life. Friends, past lovers… this kind of thing. Were there people there you recognized?”

I opened my mouth and then shut it again. Min and Jenai had both been there as well. However, Min was working at least a little with Tigon, and could have been an illusion set up by him. As for Jenai, she was enslaved to me, so her presence didn’t cause me any questions.”

“There might have been,” I spoke in a pouty voice. “However, he didn’t act like the others. He referred to… this… this place, he acted like he was trying to keep me there.”

“I can tell you little about the world beyond the trial, but it is built out of your mind. Anything he said would have come from your mind attempting to trick and convince you.” Oberon explained and then raised his voice. “However, this does confirm one thing. Aria did go through the trials. She had mentioned things she shouldn’t have known about unless she had been in them.”

“You could have told her those things in advance!” Tigon spoke up angrily. “This is unprecedented.”

“What?” I shot him a disapproving look. “Were you planning on denying me my right?”

“Your right?” Tigon made an irritating space. “You overstep yourself, woman!”

He took a step forward, his lip curled in disgust and anger. I stared him back down, even though he towered over me by a head. He wasn’t nearly as tall as Oberon, so it didn’t hurt my neck to look up at him. More than that, I had already seen him naked, so I wouldn’t be intimidated by a guy I had already seen all of. He was suggesting that was only an illusion in my mind. Was my mind able to make something physically accurate?

“You overstep yourself, Tigon. You should address me as queen.”

My eyes couldn’t help but flicker up and down his body. His look faltered slightly, and he frowned, taking a step away from me before meeting my gaze with a glare of his own.

“You aren’t queen yet, and even if you were, I wouldn’t need to bow down to you.”

“I will be queen, and even if I’m not, you’ll bow to me eventually.”

His face grew flush with rage, but Oberon spoke up first. “Whatever arguments you both make, you gave deference in this matter toward Sammuel. He is the one who will ultimately call it.”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Everyone turned to the old man, who gave a soft chuckle and was completely undisturbed despite all of the high-ranking people staring at him. Somehow, his word had become the final word on this matter, and such a word would completely change the nature of the kingdom.

”Elder,” Tigon’s tone shifted to a differential one. “Give me just twenty-four hours with the trial door and this woman. She must have used some kind of device, artifact, or skill to tamper with its function. I will discover how she cheated to subvert the trial.”

“Oh, please.” I snorted. “You mean, give you twenty-four hours to fabricate some excuse about why I can’t be queen.”

Several of the listeners gasped in shock, and Tigon’s expression grew darker. Our conversation was being listened to by everyone present, but while Tigon raged, I remained cool and collected.

“You dare…” He snapped.

 “The agreement was that I walked through the door and returned.” I continued over him. “I returned. Even if I had some skill, that was merely part of my ability and not something I could help.”

“She admits it!” Tigon’s eyes flashed.

“Would you fault a man his strength? His stats? His willpower?” I flipped my hair dismissively. “You can’t even describe the trial, yet you want to insist that I didn’t take it. Your own Demon King has verified that I’ve seen the trial. Everything else is trivial, and if you want to continue with such outrageous claims, one wouldn’t go amiss to think you were being disloyal.”

There were some mutterings among those listening in. Some seemed to be in support of my words, while others were meeting them with disapproval. It was probably a good litmus test for the differences between those loyal to the king and those loyal to Tigon. The camp loyal to Tigon had far more members, but even they couldn’t cut in and defend him at that moment.

“You call me disloyal! Everything I do, I do for the kingdom.” He growled.

“Yeah, but who’s kingdom?” I sniffed.

“Enough!” Oberon roared, causing everyone’s hearts to miss a beat.

I shrugged and took a step to Oberon’s side, casually grabbing and holding onto his arm. “I defer to Sammuel’s judgment, as always.”

Tigon looked like he had a vein nearly popping out of his forehead, but if he said anything else at that point, he would lose all credibility. “I… also differ to Sammuel’s judgment, of course!”

He spoke like he was chewing on something distasteful, but he still managed to get it out.

Sammuel had listened to both of us openly, the small smile on his face unceasing. Once every eye was on him, he took his hand to his chin as if he was thinking things through.

“It stands to reason that you both make good points. A trial is meant to be taken, and when speaking of something as important as the rise of the demon queen who will be the demon king’s closest confidant, many things should be considered. On the other hand, the conditions of this trial, as well as its historical presence, has always been up for debate.”

As he agreed with Tigon, I shifted a bit uncomfortably. I had believed he’d agree with me, or I wouldn’t have deferred to him, yet he seemed to be milking his decision out quite a bit. Tigon was even starting to look a bit hopeful. When he switched to talking about me, I just wanted to shout at him to get it over with.

“Just make your decision.” Oberon seemed to have had enough as well, as his voice was polite but firm.

Sammuel glanced Oberon’s way and gave a nod and a smile. “I believe that the conditions as set by the demon council were met. Oberon has the right to marry Aria. If he so chooses, she will be the next Demon Queen.”

With those words, there were cries of surprise, shock, excitement, and despair. Oberon didn’t seem to react on the surface, but because I was holding him, I felt his muscles loosen a bit as he relaxed. He had been stressing over me. On the other side, Tigon looked like he had just eaten a spoon full of crap, and it was an expression I rather liked to see on his face.

“We are done here,” Oberon announced, pulling me with him. “Come.”

“Come, what?” I asked, grinning.

“Don’t push it. You’re not queen until we’re married.”

“Husband hasn’t changed his mind, has he?” I asked teasingly, pressing my chest against his arm.

“I have not.” His voice was spoken with such conviction, even I felt a bit moved.

“Then, let us enjoy each other.”

“In time.” He began to pull me into a private carriage on the road.

I was able to see one last look at Tigon. He was looking our way with no expression on his face while several of his subordinates were trying to suck up to him. I had a feeling he was going to be more trouble in the future. For the moment, though, I didn’t need to worry about him.

As we began to pull away from the nondescript place at the side of the road, I realized I’d have trouble finding this place again even if I could see it. When the curtains shut closed, I quickly lost any sense of direction. With a sigh, I pulled away from the window and leaned against the Demon King’s strong and muscular arm.

“How did you defeat the trial so quickly?” He asked.

“Hmm? Are you doubting me as well?” I asked innocently. “Isn’t this my great ambition…”

“You… understand what the trial aims to test.” He sounded surprised.

“Yes, it tempts you with the seven sins. It attempts to quell your ambition and drive. It wants you caught up for the remainder of your life in its deceitful web of intrigue.”

“That’s an interesting way of explaining it. I don’t believe you were so driven by a higher purpose that you escaped though.”

“Husband, you wound me…”

“Aria…” He looked at me disapprovingly.

After just gaining his approval, I felt a bit bad at losing it so quickly and sighed. “My mastery over illusions can’t be compared. You said that the world in there was real, but you were mistaken. In the end, it is merely another illusion.”

“I see…” He responded slowly, his eyes lost in thought. “What of Tigon?”

“What of him? He was in there. He tried to keep me in there, tried to keep me from fighting.” I responded.

I was not going to tell him I fucked Tigon while in there. There were some things even I didn’t dare to speak about. I was afraid Oberon would want details, but he was already shaking his head.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant when you fought with him. Your words were especially vicious. The thing I hate the most about nobility is having to engage in exhausting dialogue. Even when strength reigns supreme, some use their tongue to confuse and befuddle. This is one of the reasons Tigon has grown so powerful. He has a way with words… until today. I have never seen him eat his words so many times in so short a time.”

“That?” I blinked. “Ah, I was on the debate team in high school… ah… I mean… let’s just say I’m a cunning linguist.”

“Hmmm…” He responded. “That was amusing though. Quite amusing.”

I couldn’t help at look up at Oberon, and I was sure I saw a sight few could ever say they had seen. Oberon was chuckling lighting up with a smile on his face. In some ways, it was more terrifying than when he frowned, but to me, he looked beautiful.