The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 443: “The Next One Will Definitely Be Me…!”

No matter how frustrated Shien felt, his marriage was inevitable, and he didn’t intend to avoid it.

Thanks to this, the royal capital spent these three days in a bustling and noisy atmosphere.

Although some people couldn’t accept this and did some foolish things, such as commoners organizing protests and some reckless young masters sneaking into the Buztout mansion, attempting some mischief, in the end, their fates were often tragic.

The latter, needless to say, their families, not wanting to follow in the footsteps of the Lucica family, wouldn’t take them back. Therefore, they either became Yulin’s dessert, or had their limbs broken and were thrown out, expelled from their families. Their future was bleak.

The former were forcibly suppressed by the Kingdom Knight Order. Because both the righteous cause (marriage to avert disaster) and the reason (Lucy’s willingness) were on the royal family’s side, even many commoners acknowledged this. Only these radical individuals continued to cause trouble, and naturally, there was no need to be polite, using force to control them.

During these three days, despite the noise, the commotion, the constant disputes, and the minor incidents, none of them affected Shien and Lucy’s marriage.

Therefore, under the instructions of the royal family, the palace methodically prepared for the engagement banquet of Lucy, the world’s number one princess, and continuously sent invitations to the dignitaries still in the capital.

The fact that dignitaries from various human countries were gathered in the capital made it convenient for the engagement banquet.

At least, the royal family didn’t have to worry about spending too much time inviting guests from all over the world.

Since everyone was already in the capital, sending out invitations was a breeze.

Even though many noble sons were very unhappy about this engagement banquet, not wanting to see the goddess in their hearts engaged to another man, under the current circumstances, they had to give face to avoid offending the Buztout family.

This might be the grandest engagement banquet in history.

After all, which princess had ever invited dignitaries from all over the human world to her engagement banquet?

If it weren’t for Shien and Lucy’s special statuses, such a grand engagement banquet wouldn’t be possible.

Therefore, many people already believed that this might be the grandest and most prestigious engagement banquet ever, unprecedented and unlikely to be repeated.

Because of this, the royal family also decided to make this engagement banquet a national celebration.

What did this mean?

It meant that on the day of the engagement banquet, all citizens of the Kingdom would have a holiday and participate in banquets held by their local lords.

Ancil, as the king, personally decreed that all cities across the country had to hold a banquet on the day of the engagement banquet to celebrate the engagement of Earl Buztout and Princess Lucy.

And all expenses for the banquets would be reimbursed by the Kingdom to the local nobles.

When this news spread, all the cities in the Kingdom were filled with a festive atmosphere.

In this atmosphere, many opposing voices disappeared. Perhaps this was Ancil’s intention.

This way, even if Shien wanted to back out, he couldn’t, right?

“…If I back out now, not only will Lucy kill me, but the entire Kingdom will as well.”

Shien strongly suspected that this was also one of Ancil’s goals.

This king seemed determined to finalize his marriage with Lucy.

It made sense.

“Now you’re not just a promising rising star in the eyes of the royal family, but an important figure with the support of the Divine Race, the Demon Race, a Demon Lord, and a mysterious expert, and your own strength is also terrifying. Although you destroyed the noble district and even annihilated a Duke, a member of the royal family, right in front of the King, greatly humiliating the royal family and the Kingdom, compared to offending you, Father definitely wants to win you over and tie you to the Kingdom.”

Lucy had said these words with a hint of helplessness, making Shien shrug.

In fact, Shien could also feel that Ancil’s attitude towards him had changed.

Before, Ancil was enthusiastic and optimistic about Shien, but that was all.

But now, Ancil’s attitude towards Shien was more than just enthusiasm and optimism. From time to time, he could see a hint of apprehension and caution.

This was an attitude only shown towards those of equal or higher status.

This showed that Ancil no longer dared to treat Shien casually as he did before.

Lia, Lucy’s older sister, also treated Shien differently now.

Although on the surface, this First Princess of the Kingdom seemed to be the same as before, capable and somewhat playful, Shien felt that every now and then, Lia would look at him with a complicated gaze.

That gaze, filled with bitterness, confusion, melancholy, relief, release, and even a hint of gratitude, often puzzled Shien.

Only later did Shien learn that Lia acted this way because he had killed her fiancé, freeing her from the shackles of that unwanted engagement.

After the Lucica family incident, when Shien saw Lia, her first words were,

“I might not be able to repay this enormous favor in my lifetime, so from now on, your matters are my matters. As long as it’s your matter, if I can help, no matter the cost, I will.”

These words left a deep impression on Shien.

Because later, Lia did help Shien a lot.

Of course, it was still too early to talk about this now.

Currently, Lia had just been freed from her unhappy engagement and was the least influential and powerful member of the royal family, besides the collateral branches.

She still had a long way to go. It would probably be a long time before she could truly help Shien.

As for now, what Lia could do for Shien was to help him and Lucy organize their engagement banquet as best as possible.

Therefore, Lia volunteered and took on the responsibility, becoming the chief organizer and planner of the entire engagement banquet.

All matters related to the banquet were handed over to her, and she handled them efficiently and smoothly.

As a result, Shien, the protagonist of the engagement banquet, spent these three days peacefully, without any disturbances or busyness.

With Lia handling the banquet, Shien didn’t have to worry about anything.

Even for some necessary communication and coordination, Shien had Vivian handle it for him, making Vivian look at him resentfully these past few days.

Diere, Lumia, and Melika continued their training as usual, even training harder than before for some reason, as if stimulated by something.

Leisha and Lasha were nowhere to be seen, acting mysteriously, no one knew where they went.

Shien, enjoying his leisure, spent his days playing with Lilith at home or coaxing Airi, making Lilith increasingly clingy to him, and Airi finally stopped being angry and let Shien go.

However, for some reason, Airi said,

“I’ll attend the engagement banquet.”

Hearing these words, Shien thought that this little girl was still angry and planned to ruin his engagement banquet.

Airi never attended any banquets.

According to her, she wasn’t interested in such things, didn’t want to participate, and even found them annoying.

Rather than attending some banquet, Airi would rather stay home and sleep.

Shien understood Airi, which was why he thought she wanted to ruin his engagement banquet.

Airi seemed to see through Shien’s thoughts.

But she expressed her disdain.

“Don’t worry, that Kingdom’s treasure is barely worthy of being your concubine, so I won’t cause any trouble.”

After saying that, Airi left.

Shien was stunned for a long time.

It couldn’t be helped.

“…I’m marrying an official wife, not a concubine…”

He increasingly felt that this little girl might cause trouble that day.

He decided to leave Lilith in Airi’s care on the day of the engagement banquet.

With Lilith clinging to her and watching her, she probably wouldn’t be able to do anything significant.

Shien didn’t know that the one he should be truly worried about wasn’t Airi, but someone else.

“Damn it, I was the one who came first, I was the one who came first…!”

In a corner of the Divine Realm, Nien, knowing the whole story, was going crazy.

If she wasn’t worried about being discovered by Nadue, Nien would have summoned Shien, locked him up for a few days, and directly ruined the engagement banquet.

Her Hero was actually about to get married. This made Nien both unhappy and on the verge of tears.

“The next one will definitely be me…!”

The delusional goddess continued to mutter her oath.

At the same time, within the Divine Race and the Demon Race, some people were also making moves regarding this engagement banquet.

It was conceivable that the day of the engagement banquet would be very lively.

However, the day before the engagement banquet, Shien received a visitor.

“What brings you here, Prince Harvis?”

In the reception hall of the Buztout mansion, Shien appeared and teased Harvis, who was brought in by a maid.

The visitor was Harvis, accompanied by Rockto.

Rockto, following behind Harvis like a loyal guard, looked at Shien with a somewhat complicated gaze.

Clearly, Shien’s previously displayed strength and the power behind him had impressed even this somewhat aloof strongest expert of the Empire.

Harvis, on the other hand, still had his usual gentle smile, unchanged.

“Congratulations on winning the beauty’s hand and your upcoming engagement to the Kingdom’s treasure, Viscount Buztout.” Harvis said, “No, I should address you as Earl Buztout now, right?”

“My title hasn’t been officially promoted yet, so I’m still a viscount.” Shien curled his lip. “Even if I’m promoted to Earl, it’s still nothing in front of an Imperial Prince. You don’t have to flatter me, Your Highness.”

“Flatter?” Harvis chuckled. “Nowadays, who would still think of Earl Buztout as a mere Viscount or Earl?”

With the support of the Divine Race and the Demon Race, and the strength he had displayed, even the entire human race was wary of Shien, let alone a mere Imperial Prince like him.

Harvis wasn’t flattering him, but simply stating the truth.

Ever since Shien revealed his strength, Harvis had already foreseen that this adventurer-turned-noble would soar to great heights.

Whether it was in terms of strength, status, or ability, Shien would far surpass him.

Harvis, with this self-awareness, wouldn’t put on airs as an Imperial Prince in front of Shien.

“Alright, Your Highness, you’re not here to flatter me and curry favor with me like those nobles lining up at the gate, are you?” Shien said directly, not bothering with pleasantries. “What? Is the Raifurut family planning something?”

Shien hadn’t forgotten that he needed to help Diere deal with the Raifurut family’s elite assassination squad.

Shien had done many things these past few days, but this was the one he was most concerned about.

Because this was something that could actually threaten the people around him.

If possible, Shien really wanted to eliminate them as soon as possible.

If they were already making a move, then Shien could act.

Thinking of this, Shien perked up.

However, at this moment, Harvis sighed.

“Indeed, the Raifurut family has made a move.” Harvis said, “However, this move might not be what we want to see.”

“Not what we want to see?” Shien was slightly taken aback.

Harvis didn’t keep him in suspense.

“I received some news.” Harvis looked at Shien. “It seems the Raifurut family’s elite assassination squad is preparing to withdraw from the capital.”

“What?” Shien was surprised. “Withdraw from the capital?”

“That’s right.” Harvis said helplessly. “Not only the elite assassination squad, but even Wolram is planning to return to the Empire. It seems they’ve decided to give up on targeting Diere Elvenbein.”

“This…” Shien was puzzled.

Why did they suddenly give up?

Shien, thinking this way, didn’t know that his display of strength not only deterred the small fry, but also his enemies.

Harvis said,

“It’s not hard to understand why the Raifurut family gave up on this operation.”

“Because they’ve witnessed your true strength, the power behind you, and have become wary.”

“In other words, they weighed the pros and cons and ultimately felt that they had no chance against Diere Elvenbein, who is under your protection.”

“This should be the reason why they abandoned this operation, right?”