Chapter 4: Duke Crinoel Garcia

Knock. Knock. "Come in" The butler came in with a stack of documents which were placed on his table.

"Oh and a letter arrived personally from the Crown Prince and one official one"The butler said handing two envelops to him.

"What's the occasion" He asked as he looked up from his paperwork.

"It's his majesties birthday in two weeks"

"Already? Prepare an appropriate present and bring it to my office when it's ready."

"Yes, Duke"

The butler shut the door as the recipient opened the formal letter.

Duke Crinoel Garcia is invited to the Crown Prince's Birthday. The Venue will be held at the imperial castle.

He looked at his over loaded table and sighed as he had no choice to attend as it was the Crown Prince, Future Emperor's Birthday. 

His invasion plans would be slowed down a bit.

He went down stairs and noticed a not so unexpected visitor sneak past his guards and into the mansion through the window.

Though the person was wearing a black cloak over their face he could tell who it was from the moment the person was able to pass the mansion's defences.

"Hiyaa~" The male voice said happily as he threw the cape away revealing his red hair and grey eyes.

"Sneaking into the mansion of a Duke could get you executed as you would be seen as an assailant"

"You say that every time I quietly come here. You always lecture me about keeping things quiet but now that I do it you're all angry" The red head said as he pouted and sat comfortably on the couch.

"So how's the search?" Crinoel said as he too sat on the opposite couch.

"Asking about the search before even asking how I've been and thanking that I made it back alive! Typical, Duke, just typical"

"What do you want me to do? Throw a welcome back party?" Crinoel replied coldly. "Harim, I'm dead serious"

Harim tilted his head then tapped his chin "Well the search was obviously unsuccessful. If it actually was I bet you WOULD throw a welcome back party"

"What about getting access from that bastard to the men of Perluntan?" Crinoel asked as anger was visible on his face thinking about the person he referred to as 'that bastard'.

"Well 'that bastard' said, and I quote "Unless the Duke gets married, no let me reduce it, until he will gets a fiancée, who is a girl that her family isn't active in the social world and their rank is lower than Marquis and higher than Baron and is actually beneficial then I will give you full access to the men"

"You do an awfully good job in quoting what someone says" Crinoel said sarcastically.

"Thanks~"

"Anyways, to what percentage of success was your mission?"

"I'll say a big fat 0%. Because we didn't gain the men. The barrier seems to be growing stonger along with the 'Lord of Nightmares'. The commoners are getting angrier as they're all sick and are unwilling to let us use their town as an army's base camp. And more importantly, it seems mages are now extinct in the world.

Though you and your sister have magic, you can't be really counted as mages. Neither me or that guy so I'm sure they don't exist anymore"

The barrier of Ulenov was growing stronger which meant the 'Lord of Nightmares', was acquiring more power.

The commoners getting sicker meant the demons were mixing more and more with people and had become more powerful as the town was protected with magic but they were able to bypass it.

And for the invasion of Ulenov, the town had to be used as the back line so they wouldn't get disconnected from the human world.

With no contact with people out of Ulenov, the person would run mad or probably just die in the mix of a thousand demons.

And for him to enter Ulenov or even gain a chance to face the demon king, he would need a mage a magic user.

Though he was a magic user, it didn't make him a mage. A mage had the power to create a magic circle which held so many hidden powers. 

A mage was the most important thing in this whole plan. He needed to find one.

He would give in to almost any demand that wouldn't draw back his plans.

He apparently also needed to find a fiancée. A girl who's family was lower than a Marquis and higher than a baron.

Which left either a viscount or count's daughter. But almost all count and viscounts were active in the social world.

Only those with family issues and disgrace for children were neutral.

And how beneficial could a Count or Viscount's daughter be?

"So I guess my new mission is to find you a fiancée?" Harim asked as he hummed amusingly.

"Apparently it is"

"Yay, I'm going to play matchmaker~"

"Get out of here and continue your job" Crinoel said as he stood up tiredly.

"Yes boss" Harim said as he jumped out of the window in an exaggerated manner and rolled into the bushes.

"Ulenov. Ulenov. Ulenov" He had so many reasons why he wanted to enter Ulenov.

To help the people? No, he didn't care about them.

He had a reason that whispered in his heart every night.

He hadn't dressed up to extravagantly as he would stay shortly.

All conversations made were brief and of importance. The Crown Prince had made his appearance and left so it was his time to leave. Plans wouldn't make themselves.

He walked to his dressing room to check a few things.

He hadn't noticed anybody's presence. His high senses could tell if someone was there or was coming.

No one had ever sneaked up on him throughout his whole life.

Much less a young lady in between nineteen and twenty.

He was pushed down like all the stamina he had was just an illusion and felt his body become numb as chains appeared out of nowhere and bounded him.

He was surrounded by a strange symbol on the ground that he had never seen he was a little boy.

'A…magic circle?!'

"It's a bit to unexpected for us to meet like this but I shall introduce myself as a humble mage who is graced with your presence.

Erionella Josephine Renowarin, is my name daughter, of Count Renowarin. It is a pleasure to meet you, Duke" The lady said as she smiled brightly and stared directly into his golden eyes.