The Author's POV

The room's atmosphere became oppressive, suffocating all those within.

The butler on the side and another demon present in the room brandished their weapons and pointed them toward the human seated opposite the Duchess.

Under the pressure that surrounded them, perspiration began to form on the sides of their faces. This was despite the fact that they were all within the Duke realm.

Priscilla wasn't in a much better state, and her eyes shook under the tremendous pressure.

"P-prince rank…h.how is this possible?"

There was an undisguised shock in her voice. Never did she imagine that the hooded figure would turn out to be a Prince ranked entity. An entity that stood at the very peak of existence.

'No, although it's close to Prince rank, it's still just a little bit off...'

It was still far superior to her strength.

A bone-chilling voice echoed throughout the room as his mouth parted open.

"…Your misunderstanding started from the very moment you thought I cared about such matters."

Hearing the voice, shivers ran down her back. The gaze with which he looked at her made her feel insignificant.

Just a couple of words from him, and everything changed. Originally, she was planning on using the information to have him join her side. In her eyes, he was an existence that she could make use of.

Plus, since they had already settled their debt, they owed each other nothing.

...It was a pity that she had kicked an iron plate.

He wasn't someone who could be controlled. Priscilla came to understand this the hard way.

She took a deep breath while gripping the armrest of her chair tightly. By the second breath, her gaze became calm again, and she met his eyes.

"Alright, then. Let me hear what you're here for."

She accepted the situation rather quickly. She didn't have much of a choice. With her grandfather, not present due to the matters regarding the World Decree, she had no way to get out of the situation.

She'd gain nothing from fighting against them.

"Good. It looks like you're easy to talk to."

The human smiled. The tension that had been suffocating the room dissipated almost as rapidly as it had arisen, and as soon as it did, she experienced an immediate sense of relief.

He then crossed his legs.

"I won't waste much of your time. I want to cooperate with you."

"Cooperate?"

"Yes. Cooperate."

He put further emphasis on the word 'cooperate', as if trying to show that he wasn't trying to take advantage of her.

'Tsk, let's hear this out.'

Of course, Priscilla didn't really put much thought into his words. She was a demon, and she naturally understood that there was no such thing as true 'cooperation'. One side always tended to lose out, and given what had happened before, she didn't believe for one second that he was actually going to propose a fair deal.

"The cooperation is rather simple."

The man grasped the edges of his hood, slowly lowering it to reveal his face. Jet black hair, deep blue eyes, and pale skin. In that moment, Priscilla finally managed to see what lay behind the hood.

'As expected, he's a human.'

her shock. It was almost unheard of

He continued.

exchange for helping you, I want you to help

"Helping me?

to take a moment to digest his words. An odd look

How exactly are you planning on

was by no means capable of fighting against

worry about

for some reason that Priscilla was unable to explain,

Somewhat.

infectious, she was not

her and leaned forward, pressing her elbows against her thighs while keeping

believe you. What

"Nectar."

was a simple word. Yet, the moment that those words escaped

'...As expected.'

same

nectar

"…This fucking."

curse escaped her mouth, and she let slip her true personality. She leaned against the sofa, covering her face

probed a

do

"Enough for four people."

"…Aooo."

such a sound. However, at that precise moment, she

normal state of mind, she would've been too

me at this point! Do you have any idea just how

beginning of each of her sentences,

one person, but three more people? Just

Nectar.

that was almost as rare as the purest devil fruit that

the devil fruit, it still had

material was extremely valuable to demons, whose actions were

yelling in the room. He didn't finally open them up again until five minutes had passed

"Are you done?"

his tone

mouth, she closed it back again and sat down. She

"Good."

formed on the man's face. His smile made Priscilla feel mildly irritated, but she somehow managed to suppress her inner

He continued.

the Nectar, I'm also very well aware of how much the upcoming batch of devil fruits

and Priscilla felt her

step above the rest, and in exchange, you give

"That, but…"

"But, what?"

"But."

Muttering another 'but' her mouth promptly shut, and her back sank into the

true, then it might really be worth a

didn't

of what her

kill me,

best if she found a way to protect her core. In case

was whether he had the capability of achieving what

failed and the

A risk.