First Meeting

"Eli, Thank you for coming here without early notice."

"It was not a problem, Isaac. What can I do for you?"

"This world is an Otome world, right?"

"That is right."

"Have you finished the game?"

"No, not yet. The game has five arcs. The Civil Wars Arc is happening right now. The next one is the Rebuilding Arc that will happen after the first arcs. The third one is called the Holy War Arcs. The fourth one is called the Calamity Arcs, and the last one is called Unification Arcs."

Holy shit. Is that really an Otome Game arc? It was more like a JRPG arc.

"Can you explain all of them to me?"

"Sure. The first arc is like its name suggests. It was a stage where we as a player needed to help the love interest attain the throne."

"Wait a second. Only one love interest? This is a reverse harem game, right?"

"Yes. Technically we can only get one love interest, but we can still get the other love interest affection and make them a 'close friend.' You know the kind of friend that is too close for comfort?"

"Ah, that kind of friend. I see."

"Yes. Anyway, in this arc, the player needs to help their love interest gather supplies, armory, and gold. Not only that, but the player also can get an acquaintance with the mage from the Tower of Magic. After playing for some time, the love interest will give the player a territory to rule according to their performance."

"I see."

"There are three main endings in this arc—good, Normal, and Bad ending. A good ending will be reached when the player collects enough resources to support the love interest and also does not let the necessary character die in the civil war. The normal one ending is when you lose more than two essential characters in the civil war, and the bad ending is when your love interest dies in battle."

"What about the other arcs?"

"The Rebuilding arc is the stage where the player helps the love interest rebuild the Holy Light Empire. The Holy War Arc is the stage where the church in the Holy Light Empire decides to declare a Crusade against the barbarian to the north and the south. The next one is the Calamity arc. This is the last time I played this game. I never finished this arc because of my busy schedule."

"I see."

"Is there a reason why you ask me this? I don't mind you asking this question, but can you tell the reason why you ask this question?"

I look at Eli right in the eyes and say.

"I want to ask you if you know about the Lazuli Kingdom."

"The kingdom in the northern continent?"

"That is right."

"Well, I don't really know about this kingdom, but I remember that they have trees that can ward off evil, and this wood coming from these trees will be really useful in the Calamity Arc."

"What kind of property do these woods have?"

"At first glance, this wood only has fire resistance and good durability, but in the future, the mage from Tower of Magic successfully discovers the true property of this wood. It can block a Hell Flame."

"What is a Hell Flame?"

"Hell Flame is a powerful fire that comes from the underworld. It can burn anything, and anyone in an instant and only leaves ashes. The only one that can block this flame is the power of the angel and this wood. After knowing the hidden property of this wood, the Tower of Magic began to buy this wood in bulk. The king of Lazuli's kingdom, knowing this, decided to increase the price of the woods. It cost one hundred golds for ten kilos worth of wood."

"That is a massive amount of money."

"Because of this, the Lazuli kingdom became the richest kingdom in the Northern Continent."

"Do you think it is a good idea to ally with them?"

"The Lazuli Kingdom?"

"Yes. Do you think it is a good idea to create an alliance between Lionheart Duchy and the Lazuli Kingdom?"

I can see her begin to think about what I just said. This alliance will have a side effect if we create an alliance between Lionheart Duchy and the Lazuli Kingdom. If we agree with this alliance, the southern noble will disapprove and tell how displeased they are. The reason? The Lazuli Kingdom is small. Lazuli's kingdom was not even as big as my territory before I became a Duke.

The plus side? I don't know. If what Eli said is correct, I can get a huge amount of income from selling the woods from the Lazuli kingdom in the future. Other than that? Nothing. Military alliance? The Lazuli Kingdom only has more or less two hundred thousand people inside its kingdom. That is small. Meaning that the Lazuli Kingdom military might is not good.

Trading? Other than their timber, there is nothing they can sell to us.

"I think… I think you should agree with their alliance offer."

"Oh?"

"I know it is a bad decision right now. There is no profit you can get from this alliance. However, I still think you should agree to be their ally."

I smile gently at Eli's explanation. I know the reason why she said that. She wants to help them. She knows that there is a famine around the world, and she wants to help as many people as she can, even though they are people that she did not know.

"Very well. We will agree to become their ally and help them in this hard time."

"J-Just like that?"

"Lucina and I were already talking about this matter, and she also thought that we should help them."

"I-I see."

"Now, come on. I want you to help Lucina in preparing the feast welcoming the people from the Lazuli Kingdom."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Raina Lazuli POV|

As my father and I get off the carriage, we are greeted by a group of people. The first one that speaks to me is a young man wearing elegant clothing. It was a black suit with a pin of the Lionheart family symbol on his chest area.

Isaac Lionheart is a handsome man. I'm guessing his height is around 183 to 190 cm, and he has a body packed with muscle. Not a bulky kind of muscle like many sailors in her home but rather a muscle a swordmaster has. Isaac has silver hair that shines a little when the sunlight touches it.

His eyes, oh his eyes…. His blue eyes that shine with power and wisdom make me shudder a little. Combined with the aura he projects, he looks like a judge looking at you and seeing all your secrets.

To his left is a beautiful young woman. She is not tall but not short either. She stood around 160 to 165 cm. I think she is the tallest dwarf I have ever encountered and read. She has long silky brown hair that flows past her shoulder. She has brown eyes that match her hair. She is Lucina Lionheart nee MacGrath. The lady of the Lionheart Family.

If Isaac has the aura of a Judge, then Lucina has the aura of a Berserker. Her aura is wild and cannot be tamed, but Lucina can tame them for some reason. Her aura is like an aura of a protective mother bear that is ready to maul anyone that dares to threaten her child and beloved.

To his left, another young woman is standing next to Isaac. From the rumor I hear, this is Isaac's mistress. Elizabeth Ainsworth von Lionheart. The Ex-Princess of Vulux Kingdom. I also hear from the people in the Black Sea Watch that she is a hard-working woman.

She is the one that introduced the new way of farming to the people in the Lionheart Duchy. Not only that, she is the reason why people begin to use paper instead of parchment in this area. Because of her mind, Lionheart Duchy became the world's main supplier of paper.

"Welcome to Sea Dragon Castle, Lord Lazuli"