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Neron gave a slight bow and replied, "I believe they went ahead to prepare the chambers that Marquis Cedric has arranged for you and the princess."

"I see…" Vritra muttered, taking a sip of his wine.

"Young Master, may I ask you something personal, if you don\'t mind?"

"I do mind."

"..."

"Sigh~ it was a joke. Go ahead and ask."

"You\'ve been around a lot of women lately. While I don\'t have the right to comment on your choices or your… urges, I do think it\'s important to ask how you plan on handling this with Lady Lilith and your father, Lord Rohan."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Ghislaine and Esmeralda. Neither of them is from the Hell Continent, especially Esmeralda, who is human. For her own safety, I hope you don\'t intend to take her back with you. Ghislaine, too, is a problem. She\'s a mud-blood, and you know how things are for people like her in our land. It won\'t be safe for her either."

The term "mud-blood" was often used in the ancient continents to insult those born from the union of an ancient god and an ordinary human.

If an ancient god wanted to marry a human, that person had to come from the Shritnar Kingdom or be a respected figure, like a saintess, prince, princess, or even a king or queen.

In Ghislaine\'s case, being the illegitimate child of a noble family was enough for her to be shunned by the society of ancient gods.

People like her weren\'t even allowed to step foot on the Hell or Heaven Continent. However, since Ghislaine was under the protection of God Vritra, no one dared to speak badly about her, let alone touch her.

"Not safe? What nonsense are you talking about, Neron? I\'m a Fiendcelestial. There are few who can match my power, and you think I can\'t keep my women safe? Do you doubt my strength?"

Vritra gave the elderly man a side-eye.

"Of course not, Young Master!"

Neron immediately took his head down.

"I\'ve seen your strength firsthand when you defeated me. But I also know the strength of Lady Lilith, and Lord Rohan\'s particular fondness for her. If she finds out you\'re building a harem, I don\'t think she\'ll take it lightly."

Neron\'s words were true, and it only made Vritra roll his eyes in frustration.

In the story, God Vritra was feared across the continents, yet somehow, he couldn\'t handle his overbearing and violent wife.

To the transmigrator, it was too stupid to make any sense.

『It makes no sense at all. I\'ve thought it over several times, and I still don\'t understand why Lilith is such a challenge for Vritra or why he has such a soft spot for her.

『In my previous life, I had no luck with romance, but honestly, that\'s probably for the best. I don\'t even remember trying to be in a relationship… I worked most of my life.

『If you show a woman too much of your weak side, she\'ll be tempted to see if she can push you to show more, and once you do, it\'s over. I\'ve seen enough celebrities sign divorce papers and lose most of their fortune to women.

… Sigh~ It should never be like that.

『Show a woman your soft side, sure, but there better be layers of steel under it. After all, a serpent may see what you show, but it only strikes at what you surrender.』

Just thinking about this part of Vritra\'s story made him shake his head in disgust.

"Don\'t worry. I have the means to handle Lilith. If she gets out of hand, I\'ll put her back in her place."

"If only you could do the same with Lord Rohan…"

"What did you say?"

"You must realize by now that Lord Rohan cares more for Lady Lilith than he does for you, if you can even call what he feels for you \'care.\' He barely allowed you to keep Ghislaine as your assistant, despite her mud-blood status, and while he\'s approved your marriage to Princess Luciana, I doubt he\'ll be as lenient when it comes to Esmeralda and Lady Katherine, unless you plan on killing them after."

To Neron, none of the women flocking around his young lord mattered.

『All I care about is his safety…』

He would do anything, even sacrifice anyone, to ensure Vritra stayed safe from Demon King Rohan.

That was his goal—simple, but only in words.

However, Vritra didn\'t see it that way.

"Neron?"

"Yes, young lord."

"Shut up for the rest of today…"

"Fair enough."

Even the butler realized he had taken things a bit too far with everything he had said, so he decided it was best to give his mouth a rest.

━ ━ ━ ━

Moments later…

Vritra was introduced to Marquis Edmond Wilt Redwood by Luciana, who was clearly excited to have her husband meet this nobleman.

Edmond had short, dark red hair, bright red eyes, and a muscular build that made it seem like he could rip through his noble clothes with one flex. He had a strong, square jaw and a thick neck beard matching his hair.

The marquis gave a slight, but humble bow as he introduced himself to Vritra.

"As you know, God Vritra, I lead House Redwood and serve as one of the marquises supporting Lord Cedric in building this prosperous city. My main role is to assist him in training and managing the military. House Redwood values strength, honor, and tradition, and we take great pride in defending our homeland and upholding our long-standing customs."

Unlike the other nobles Vritra had met, Marquis Edmond was different.

He seemed eager to impress, but unlike the others who did so out of fear, Edmond appeared to genuinely want to. Maybe he had a goal in mind, and making a good impression on an ancient god was his way to achieve it.

Vritra had an immediate foresight of this.

『Hrmm… he doesn\'t seem as scared as the others. His approach is clever—he\'s managing not to look desperate to get on my good side, but he\'s not too casual about it either. It feels natural.

『What makes him even smarter is how he decided to approach Luciana first, knowing he could use her to get closer to me. He must\'ve already won her over, which means he can use her as a way to gain my favor.

『I used to do this a lot as a salaryman—gaining influence by proxy, using a trusted intermediary to get what you want.

… Uh-huhhh

『You\'re a smart boy, Edmond.』

But that wasn\'t the only thing that set him apart.

Unlike the others, Edmond knew Vritra would eventually visit Gladius City. Any functional ambassador of a great nation would want to see the most prosperous vassal state.

Edmond had prepared in advance, and this was surely just the beginning of his plans.

But what exactly was his goal?

『It\'s simple…』

Vritra chuckled inwardly.

『Edmond… is a minor villain in the story.』

But that wasn\'t the only thing Vritra knew.

『He\'s the father of Rosemarie Althea Redwood, the second heroine of this story. But more importantly, he\'s a scumbag. He\'s also one of the main reasons I\'m here, besides my actual mission.

『I don\'t know much about the heroine since I can\'t access her character profile, but her last name sounded familiar, so I connected it to House Redwood in this city. Now I know she\'s the typical Daughter of the Villain heroine trope, which gives me a lot of what I need to know to go after his daughter.

『I\'ll gather all the information I can from him, complete my original mission here, and then head to Kaalen Tower City to add her to my collection.』

Vritra nodded in acknowledgment of Edmond\'s introduction and offered him a handshake.

『The ego of minor villain…』

Unlike the others, Edmond didn\'t hesitate or reject touching the immortal skin of an ancient god. Instead, he confidently took Vritra\'s hand, and they shook hands.

… Hm?

Luciana was surprised by this, but oddly enough, Vritra seemed pleased rather than irritated.

Edmond\'s grip was firm and confident.

『Vritra… you\'re just the spoiled son of a powerful figure from the Hell Continent. I started out with nothing, but look at where I am now. People in power rely on the fear they inspire to stay secure, but when they face someone who isn\'t afraid of them, they\'re bound to fail. I\'m going to use you to climb to power, and you won\'t see it coming…』

Truly, the man was self-assured.

But the same could be said for the dark prince.

『Edmond, oh Edmond… I can\'t wait to see the look on your face when I knock that big ego of yours down a peg. You\'ll finally understand why it\'s wiser to grasp the tail of a lion… than to reach for the hand of a god.』