I see my brothers and the demon king entering, the atmosphere is strange among everyone, normally something more intimate would be expected since we are all family.
But the atmosphere is cold, oppressive and unpleasant, because unlike a human family, everyone here are demons in a deadly competition for the throne, and our father the demon king is a dangerous and powerful being, naturally the strongest demon of the present day.
Soon each one sits in a place while the demon king takes the most prominent spot at the table, and I am right next to him, which is somewhat exciting.
Although he is a bit crazy and has put his children to kill each other for his position, he is still one of the most enigmatic characters in the game along with Esther.
"I'm glad everyone's here, so I believe we can start this little banquet," Lysaon speaks to everyone in an almost mechanical tone, he's still wearing that black armor.
In the game, he never took it off, so no one knows what his true appearance is, unfortunately he is not a romantic target, so information about him is very scarce.
'Everyone is so quiet...' Everyone is "afraid" of Lysaon, the thing is, everyone here has the same thought, the demon king is dangerous and angering him is a death sentence.
But that's where they're wrong, in fact, although Lysaon is a complete insult to what a father should be, he is still a good guy who has greatly improved the kingdom's situation and takes good care of his subordinates.
And the best part is, I'm the only one who knows he likes bold people, so I need to be bold to get what I want from him, this is also the reason why he hated talking to the child Evelyn.
Evelyn was very reserved, made small requests and had nothing that caught his attention, something Lysaon doesn't like, Lysaon wants his children to be bold, not arrogant, but determined and imposing.
'In short, I need to make a serious and bold request, make it clear that I will also fight for the throne' This is the only chance to show Lysaon that I'm not a waste like he thinks.
Everyone at the table begins their meals in silence, no one wants to be here, but no one can disobey our father's words, soon I see several maids entering and standing by to fulfill any request.
"Daddy, the meal is delicious," I start a conversation with Lysaon, who just looks at me briefly as if my being the first to speak was a surprise, but I just smile at him as I elegantly cut a piece of steak.
"It's noteworthy that the maids did a good job," he responds to me in that way, for many his serious tone would basically be an indication that he doesn't care and wants to end the conversation.
But as an obsessed fan of the game, I understand, he's giving credit to the cooks who prepared the food, what he lacks in being a good father, he has in being a good ruler.
I look at Esther, who just eats her meal with incredible elegance, watching her cut the food is like watching a work of art, she is undeniably amazing.
'Tsk, tsk, tsk, why did this beautiful girl have to be a damn genocidal?' I think with disappointment, she is one of the most fascinating characters in the game, but also one of the most detestable.
She systematically bullied Evelyn and other siblings, using her ability so that no one discovered she was the culprit, she also caused the deaths of servants, small-scale destructions and other things just because something didn't please her.
In the game, Grace discovers that Esther made a high-ranking nobleman commit suicide after pressuring him in such a Machiavellian way for months that made him go crazy and paranoid with everything, and the reason for this? Simple, he spilled wine on her favorite dress.
In the end, no one ever knew she was the culprit until Grace found something that helped reveal it.
Of course, as a child she was a pest, but she stopped with it as she grew up and saw the need to hide her powers since they would make her a target.
"..." Esther looks at me, her red eyes and black scleras are absurdly beautiful, it's like a ruby inlaid in a beautiful black jewel, but what's beautiful is also frightening.
I avert my gaze as a reflex of cowardice from the past, I don't want to displease Esther, she may have reduced her misdeeds, but never stopped them, in the end we are all demons and kindness is a rare thing.
"Daddy, I want a gift," I say to change the focus while the table completely freezes, a maid even seems to drop something on the floor out of nervousness since I didn't ask, I said it clearly as if he was going to give it to me.
"Is that so?" He looks at me with his bright red eyes, it's kind of disturbing that even to eat he uses a helmet, his gaze makes my bones shiver as I avoid trembling with fear.
My hands grip the table as a reflex, no matter if he's not really that bad, the fact is that he is bizarrely scary.
"That's right, I want a gift," I tell him asserting it while Marie looks at me as if I'm a stupid and unpleasant animal while the other siblings seem bothered by me.
"And why do you think I should give you something?" He puts the fork on the table and looks at me.
"It's simply because I deserve it, you owe me a valuable gift, I'm tired of just receiving junk, there have already been 18 birthdays and now I want something that is as incredible as I am," I speak with a narcissism I didn't want.
"...And why do you think you are worthy of receiving something valuable from me?" He asks me now with interest.
"Obviously it's because I will soon be the future Queen Demon and you're just an old man who should let go of the throne..." When I say that, I freeze with fear, that wasn't how I was going to make my request.
'Shit, what the fuck was that!? How could I call the Demon King an old man? DAMN EVELYN!!!' These are Evelyn's thoughts, for Evelyn, the Demon King is just an old man who should have already left power.
Basically, Evelyn had resentment towards her father who never cared for her, Evelyn practically had to beg for crumbs of affection in childhood, and this generated a negative view of her own father.
"..." The silence is disturbing as I still maintain eye contact with him, chest puffed out with a courage I don't have, externally I seem to be doing well.
But I'm not doing so well, my legs are shaking, my heart is racing and I feel immense dread, he may not be so bad, but he's still a demon and demons are quite cruel creatures.
If I've gone too far, he'll punish me and that punishment can be so bad that it will be "Game Over" for me.
"...Ha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" He bursts out laughing as the atmosphere seems to calm down for a moment.
"Old man, huh? No one has ever had the audacity to call me that, so are you saying here in front of me and your siblings that you will fight for the throne?" He asks in an amused tone.
"That's right, I, Evelyn Ashcroft, will actively fight for the throne," It may seem stupid to say this in front of my siblings who also want the throne, but I need to gain Lysaon's favoritism.
"Great, so what do you want from your old father?" He asks, playing along.
"I need a [Golden Mace] from the angel continent and a [Mana Core] from the human kingdom, the core must be at least Rank B and preferably Rank A, that's the gift I want," I say two of the things necessary for Evelyn's ability to evolve.
"Really rare things, but that have practically no real use if you don't know how to use them...but okay, consider this a gift after all these years, I'll grant your request," He says only that and goes back to eating.
I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding, while noticing the knuckles of my fingers are white from gripping the table so hard.
Quickly, everyone goes back to eating their meals in silence while I'm satisfied that I'm going to receive these two items.
The [Golden Mace] is essential to give my body and my ability the "experience" needed to force an evolution, and the [Rank B Monster Core] will give me the energy I need to succeed.
[Golden Mace] An angelic item from the angel continent, this fruit resembles an apple with the highlight being its beautiful golden hue, it has the ability to force the evolution of certain things, but with a high failure rate.
[Monster Core] It is a sphere that is generated from the magic of a monster after death, the Rank of the core indicates how much magic it has, when consumed, all this magic is temporarily passed on to the one who ate it, which grants a power increase based on the Rank of the core, but if you can't handle the core's magic, you can end up dead.
"By the way, Evelyn, I believe you didn't have access to areas like the library, from now on you can enter the same areas as your siblings since you wish to actively fight for the throne," Lysaon says as he gets up and starts to leave.
"Thank you, dear daddy," I say to him as Esther gets up to leave as well, others follow suit, leaving since this banquet is something that only happens at the demon king's desire, without him here, no one cares about the food.
So only Marie and I are left at the table full of food, which I think is wonderful, it's full of food and I'm starving.
"Hmph, it seems that even a failure like you can get lucky breaks, your luck that the Father was in a good mood," Marie speaks to me in an arrogant tone and a disdainful look.
"..." I look at her thinking about how to resolve this, Marie has a quite simple motivation, but the most important one for her, Marie wants to be the Demon King to break her curse.
Because in the past she killed her best friend because of her curse, which made her creation attack her, her friend stepped in front of the attack to protect her and died.
Marie felt so much guilt and anger at this limitation that she decided to fight tooth and nail so that something like this would never happen again, it's a somewhat selfish motivation, but it's logical and consistent with her past.
So me entering the competition in this way has deeply irritated her, after all, the "failure" of the family now wants to fight for something she wants.
"I will be the next Demon Queen, so stay quiet in your place, you little runt," I speak against my will, my mouth seemed to move on its own, which makes both me and Marie widen our eyes.
'Shit...I'm screwed if she takes this to heart.' I'm still weak, I have no chance at all, and although my siblings can't just kill each other, Marie will still remember this.
There are obvious rules, if not, everyone would have already started killing each other, but the rules have their loopholes to make it clear that if you really try, we can make each other's lives hell.
Soon a small screen appears in front of me indicating useful things, but that don't help me at the moment.
[Lysaon Favorability +2 (Total = +2/100)
Marie Favorability -5 (Total = -7/100)]
The system makes it clear, Lysaon's favorability is positive, but Marie's just became negative, strangely, Lysaon, who had no route in the game, has now gained favorability, showing that for some reason he has a route now.
"..." Meanwhile, we stare at each other while Marie seems ready to attack me.