The Asura's Strategy, Underwear Maiden

The whispering in the throne room grew louder and louder.

The more the nobles shared secret information among themselves, the angrier Prince Lumis became. Fury was clear on his face, veins throbbed on his forehead, and he breathed heavily like a beast in winter.

Prince Vritra remained calm, looking down while drinking his tea, his expression unchanged. He showed neither joy nor annoyance, though he found the whole spectacle amusing.

Having come from another world, the Asura knew that protagonists were often favored by "plot armor".

To him, most protagonists were idiots who would be dead without the protection of the plot.

He wanted Prince Lumis to feel that pain.

Prince Vritra stood up from the head table and walked over to Princess Luciana while maintaining steady eye contact.

There was fear deeply written in her beautiful eyes that were like bright, blue gemstones.

However, she seemed more at ease this time.

There would be no penalties from the system.

"The only person I feel sorry for here is Princess Luciana. She shouldn't be treated merely as an object of desire, but that's exactly how the so-called righteous Prince Lumis sees her. It's quite unfair and disrespectful to treat such an exquisitely beautiful woman so poorly."

Vritra spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. He then took Princess Luciana's soft, smooth hand in his and stared deeply into her eyes.

Unsure of what to say or do, she looked away as Vritra gently felt caressed her slender hand.

More of her sweet, sweet fragrance wafted into the air and caressed the Asura's nostrils.

Never had he seen such an attractive human woman.

If she were from his world, no model could match her beauty.

Everything about her was perfect, from the curves of her body to the size of her breasts. He imagined that if her nipples were to harden, they might press through the fabric of her clothing.

… Ahh~

Her breasts looked so full, they were like overstuffed sacks of meat──perhaps even bigger than his head.

[Luciana thinks you're a hypocrite: -20 Affection Points!]

Vritra understood why she felt this way, so he couldn't really complain. He was behaving similarly to Prince Lumis, but in a more personal manner.

However, no one would dare challenge him.

Still, Vritra knew it was better to approach this developing scenario with tenderness and care rather than the dominance and overwhelming force typical of an Asura.

"Princess Luciana…"

He gently squeezed her hand, making her body jerk slightly.

"Please, try to be at ease with me… I am no monster."

Hearing the Asura royal speak so gently and seeing the warmth in his eyes, Princess Luciana began to relax more and more, as if she were ice slowly melting away.

[Luciana is a bit more at ease around you: +10 Affection Points!]

[Luciana finds you eyes attractive: +15 Affection Points!]

[Luciana is confused about you: +5 Affection Points!]

This was exactly what Prince Vritra wanted. His outward smile looked angelic, but the one hidden behind his mask was like a salivating, starving devil ready to claim a sinner's soul.

『Perfect. Everything is in place: the third scenario, the king and nobles' doubts, gaining some affection points from the "heroine" Princess Luciana, and, most importantly… Lumis's five-star hatred.』

Quickly but coolly, Prince Vritra glanced to the side and saw Prince Lumis, who was glaring with hatred as he watched Vritra with the beauty he believed was his "fated" woman.

"Y-, You… you bastard!"

Lumis felt a sharp pain in his chest as shock struck him.

"RAAAAAAAH!!"

The "hero" shouted as loudly as he could.

He didn't care about the consequences anymore; he was completely fed up. No more was he going to tolerate being made a fool by this Asura for another second.

────BOOOOOOM!

An explosive burst of magic energy erupted from him as he summoned a golden sword of light.

"VRITRA! YOU WOULD DARE TOUCH HER?!"

He then charged at Prince Vritra and Princess Luciana with incredible speed, moving faster than the eye could follow.

For a moment, it felt like time had stopped completely.

Nothing was moving…

Not the shocked nobles, the frightened Luciana, or even Lumis, who was speeding towards them like lightning.

This was how it felt to Prince Vritra.

"With five-star hatred, anyone can easily be provoked…"

He floated his teacup away and gently placed it on an immobile Ghislaine's lap.

Then, Vritra clasped his hands behind his back and walked over to the frozen Deva prince.

Looking at him, Vritra could think of a hundred ways to end the life of this retarded prince, but he chose not to──not out of mercy, but to serve his own purpose.

In the end, this was all part of his plan.

"Now that you've pushed Prince Lumis to the point where he's foolishly attacked you, you're going to make sure he ends up dead, yes? No one will think poorly of you for defending yourself, and my prince's death will just be an inevitable result and a warning to anyone else who dares to challenge you."

Old Ymnes, the only other person who could move in this slow, dragging time, sat and stared at Prince Vritra with a face that could paralyze anyone with fear.

However, Prince Vritra wasn't bothered.

He smiled calmly and gave a halfhearted clap for the old man's analysis.

"Hohoho, that isn't a very smart analysis, old man. But it's an analysis nonetheless."

Without saying anything else, Prince Vritra walked back to where he had been standing. He put a hand on Princess Luciana's shoulder and gave Old Ymnes a nasty grin.

"Don't act like you know what my plans are, you limp-dick lump of prehistoric fossil skeet."

Time resumed its normal pace, and Prince Vritra quickly put on a panicked expression.

"LUCIANA, GET BACK!"

He pushed Luciana aside and took the full impact of Prince Lumis's sword of light, which slashed gnarly gash across his chest, causing Vritra's blood to spray everywhere.

『Heh, excellent!』

Prince Vritra dramatically coughed up blood and collapsed.

"P-, PRINCE VRITRA!"

"AAHHHHHHHH!!"

"TH-, THE PRINCE!"

The sword of light in Prince Lumis's hand dissolved into particles, and he took several fearful steps back. Shock and fear overwhelmed him, leaving him paralyzed.

"N-, No… he was supposed to…"

He looked at his hands and saw they were stained with Vritra's thick blood.

"MY PRINCE!"

Ghislaine rushed from her chair and knelt beside the badly wounded prince to check his injuries. With tears in her eyes, she shot a hateful glare at Prince Lumis and gritted her teeth in fury.

"You bastard! Why did you have to go this far?!"

That was a question Prince Lumis couldn't answer.

Everyone stared at him.

Some nobles had disgust in their eyes, while others felt nothing but hatred for a Deva who could so easily spill blood over an offense.

It was the height of cruelty.

During this moment, Prince Vritra sneakily opened one eye and glanced at Princess Luciana, who was just within his line of sight. Seeing the horrified look on her face, he knew the job was done.

『Hah, sometimes I surprise myself.』

Prince Vritra closed his eye again, stuck out his tongue, and pretended to stop breathing.

━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━

Some days passed.

During this period, Prince Vritra chose to shut down his heart and go into his own form of hibernation.

He had no awareness of his surroundings during this period.

However, it didn't make him open to danger in any sense.

Why? Because when he woke up, he saw a woman dressed in a generic maid attire and kneeling over him with her luscious, naked thighs spread out on either side of his body.

… Haaunnn~♡

She held up her dress and showed him her soaked underwear and the sticky juice that was slowly crawling down her sweaty, inner thighs.

The heat blowing off her private area was immense, the smell was strong and arousing.

She stared down at Prince Vritra with a very erotic face.

"Hehe, finally, God Vritra has awakened. Does the sight of this humble slave's underwear satisfy him? Don't you want to suck on me a little~?"

The prince was not shocked.

『Tch, this must be Neron's doing…』