The days following the pact with Isolde were a masterclass in covert treason. While Genevieve unearthed a forgotten succession law that favored a monarch of "sound mind and popular support" over simple bloodright, and Seraphina's financial machinations caused three of Prince Theron's key mercenary backers to suddenly go bankrupt, Kenji was solidifying his hold on the future queen.
He didn't just meet with her; he possessed her, body and soul. He turned her gilded cage into their personal love nest. Their strategy sessions, held over maps of the kingdom in her private study, would inevitably end with him lifting her onto that same table, scattering the plans for their political conquest to the floor as he enacted a far more primal one. He filled her with his body and his ambition, teaching her the raw pleasure of command and the exquisite bliss of surrender. In his arms, the timid princess was reforged into a woman who not only desired a crown but felt the weight of it as her birthright.
It was during one such afternoon, as Isolde lay gasping in the afterglow of a particularly fierce coupling, her fiery hair a stark contrast against the dark wood of the strategy table, that the world changed.
A frantic, desperate pounding came at the door. A royal guardsman, his face pale with terror and his uniform stained with dust, burst into the room without ceremony.
"Your Highness!" the guard stammered, his eyes wide with horror. "A message from the northern border... it's... it's gone."
"Gone?" Isolde asked, sitting up and pulling a silken robe around her still-flushed body.
"The town of Blackwood Crossing, Your Highness," the man choked out. "It has been wiped from the map. A single survivor reached the garrison an hour ago. He spoke of an army that came from the earth... of a queen wreathed in ash and shadow... and her four commanders."
The news hit the Royal Council like a thunderclap. The kingdom, already destabilized and leaderless, was now facing an invasion from an unknown enemy. The chamber erupted into chaos.
Into that chaos strode Prince Theron, clad in black steel armor, his hand resting on the pommel of his greatsword. "The time for whispers and games is over!" he boomed, his voice silencing the panicked nobles. "While my uncle fades and the council dithers, an army of monsters marches on our lands! The kingdom needs a warrior, not a bureaucrat! I will lead the Royal Army north. We will meet this threat head-on!"
His words were a clarion call to the terrified court. He was offering a simple, violent solution. He was offering them a savior.
That night, Kenji's Triumvirate, now joined by a shaken but resolute Isolde, met in Seraphina's war room.
"Theron is using this crisis to declare himself de facto king," Seraphina said, her voice laced with cold fury. "He'll be a national hero before we can even put Isolde's claim to a vote."
"What do we know of this 'Ashen Queen'?" Annalise asked, her usual serenity replaced by a grim focus.
Genevieve unrolled a series of ancient, forbidden texts. "The lore is sparse. Apocryphal texts speak of Malacora, the Demon Lord of the Ash Wastes. A being of immense power, said to have been sealed away in the Age of Heroes. The texts claim she is served by four generals, her 'Commandments'."
She pointed to four terrifying, yet strangely alluring, illustrations in the book. "Kaelen, the Blade of Ruin, a warrior of unstoppable wrath. Morwen, the Withered Hand, a sorceress of famine and blight. Lyra, the Whispering Plague, a seductress who corrupts the hearts of men. And Nyx, the Silent End, a being of death and shadow."
"They're all... women," Isolde breathed, a note of disbelief in her voice.
Kenji stared at the illustrations, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face. The System, which had been silent, exploded in his mind with a declaration of such epic, world-shattering importance that it made his kingdom-conquering plans seem like a child's game.
[WORLD-CLASS THREAT DETECTED!]
[The seals of the Ashen Wastes have broken. The Demon Lord Malacora and her Four Commandments have returned.]
[NEW CAMPAIGN QUEST ISSUED: THE HAREM WAR]
[Objective: The conquest of a kingdom is meaningless if the world turns to ash. You must defeat the Demon Lord and her generals.]
[SYSTEM DIRECTIVE UPDATE: Conquest is the only true form of victory. To save the world, you must conquer its destroyers.]
[NEW SSS-RANK TARGETS ACQUIRED!]
> Malacora, the Ashen Queen (DEMON LORD)
> Kaelen, the Blade of Ruin (COMMANDMENT OF WAR)
> Morwen, the Withered Hand (COMMANDMENT OF FAMINE)
> Lyra, the Whispering Plague (COMMANDMENT OF PESTILENCE)
> Nyx, the Silent End (COMMANDMENT OF DEATH)
[The ultimate MILF hunt has begun. The fate of the world is now the ultimate prize.]