PoV Duchess Beverly Greenwald
The hills before the dirt fortresses of the Beast-kin were where I lay. I could feel the eyes of those beasts watching me as I stood in silence. I could have been captured or attacked where I was standing, and the Empire would have little recourse. I was dangerously close to the fortifications of the Beast-kin Nation, and I knew at least one A-ranker was watching me at this point.
I sat with a firm expression as I kept my mana to a minimum. I was basically a black figure in the world of mana. Only those close by with certain power would even be able to feel it. I was almost like an E Ranker at this point, with how low my mana felt like to the world around me, and I sat waiting for the beast bitch that I called for this meeting.
Then it happened, the world opened up a little in the distance, and my eyes narrowed as I saw a silver-clad beast-kin that I had been negotiating with for these past months. It had been just over half a year of negotiations with her. I had to admit, she was clever in her machinations and delivery. She had been keeping me on the back foot and negotiating out of traps I set for her.
My mind wandered to the thing hiding in those pants for a second, and I felt my cheeks flush. God Doorknocker was under those weird pants that she wore and hid the god of a dick that she called Doorknocker.
I shook my head of those thoughts as she walked down the hill. I felt the eyes of that A ranker suddenly double, and I knew two A rankers at this moment were watching me. I could even feel protectiveness from those eyes, and I knew if I attacked Chelsea Loveknot, I would be attacked by two A-rankers before I could even finish my first attack.
It was obvious that Chelsea Loveknot was a very important woman, no matter how you saw her. Her long silver hair was even longer than you would think, as it fanned out and reached the back of her ankles, but never seemed to touch the ground. It was gorgeous, thick, womanly hair that seemed to have a mind of its own.
"Duchess," Chelsea Loveknot said as she walked forward with a soft smile and looked me up and down slowly. "Nice to see you away from defending eyes, your message surprised me all those months ago, and now," She said, her voice soft, "I have to admit, it has me intrigued."
For a moment, I wanted to sneer. Did she think it was every day you got a meeting like this with another nation's A-ranker, let alone the top of their military? Of course, you were interested. Probably frothing at the mouth like a beast, thinking about what I wanted.
I froze my thoughts and cooled down, as I did not like the reasons that I was here. I felt a noose around my neck back in the Empire camp, and I knew what was coming. The Emperor wanted all captured living forces returned and wanted me to finish the negotiations. One of the reasons I was having this Secret meeting was because I did not understand just how bad things were back in the capital till recently.
The Crown Princess was with the Child.
A Beast-kin Child.
And she fucking refused to get rid of it.
The Emperor was livid and was pinning the blame on me.
Things were bad to say the least, and I felt the noose around my neck. If it were not for the fact that I was still negotiating with the Beast-kin Nation, I would be captured and brought back to the Capital and imprisoned in my own residence to act as a deterrent till I passed away. The very thought of doing nothing all day and sitting there cultivating with no power pissed me off to no end and so.
"I am here for various reasons," I replied blandly as I struggled to get control of my emotions. It was getting harder and harder to do so recently. Ever since I started to negotiate with the Beast-kin Nation, my life had gone to shit. My Army would be taken away from me. I would lose my General title, and my subordinates were all circling me like beasts looking to take pounds of flesh off.
The worst part of it was that the Beast-kin Nation was also protecting me because they went along with my negotiations. No one wanted to be in my position, so the position, as long as it existed, kept me safe.
"Oh?" Chelsea Loveknot replied with a smile and came closer, and started to weave her mana into a soundless barrier and started to cover the area so that no one could see any mana waves inside, "Add yours, so no one can tell what we are saying," Chelsea added, and I froze for a brief moment.
Then I added my own and hated the fact that I followed her order like I had back in the tent. But once it was set up, she covered up my much more subtle mana, making it look like she created the barrier from a distance, and I felt myself loosen up. "Now," Chelsea said, "Tell me the reason we are meeting up in a clandestine place without any extra coverage for you," She asked, cutting to the heart of the matter without anything extra, and I internally winced.
"I need out of the Empire after negotiations," I told her bluntly to gauge her reaction, and she smiled.
"Now that is interesting, I knew I would enjoy this meeting," Chelsea chuckled, "Want more time with God Doorknocker?"
Her question threw me off kilter, and I felt my pussy moisten. I bit my lip, "My need to leave the Empire and my want for God Doorknocker are two different things." I said my voice was heated, and she grinned.
"So it is more than just getting fucked senseless by your God, then," Chelsea mocked, and she shook her head, "Sorry, you were a fantastic partner and I enjoyed you and your body. So let us get serious, if you want to defect to the Beast-kin Nation, I can assist." I was stunned at how simple she was making it, and my eyes narrowed. I could think of hundreds of reasons why she should reject letting an A rank from another nation come, and she chuckled suddenly. "I can tell you're confused by my reply to your need." She said, and I nodded.
"I could do many things, like attack your Cities before your elders could respond," I told her.
"True, but I don't think you will," Chelsea said and chuckled, "You might think of us as nothing more than beasts, but you have Honor, even if it is the Honor of a battlefield. You seem to be having a problem with your own people, though. I have been noticing an increase in disrespect from the other negotiators from your side, not toward me," She paused for a moment, "But toward you, their lead negotator over the past few months. It was subtle at first, but" She shrugged, "Not my problem, that is yours."
"You are right, I had everything going well for a while," I told her my frustration overflowing, "Let us say that while I have been negotating the first peace terms the Empire ever was forced into, people have been speaking to the Emperor and-" I bit my lip and started to tast blood as I felt my frustration of the past several months, "If I stay in the Empire after negotations then, I will be captured and imprisoned back in the captial and i have decided against that fate."
"There is a spark, though, something that brought you to this point," Chelsea said, cutting to it.
"How far are your spies into our land?" I asked, stunned by her insistence that there was more.
"Because, if it was just whispers into the Emperor's ears, you would not be imprisoned, probably," She quickly added the last word, "At least that is what I think, although who knows, you know the Emperor more than me. No, if you are feeling that you might not be safe now and forced this meeting haphazardly, that means something new is going on."
"One of your fucking beast-kin impregnated the fucking Crown Princess," I cursed, my voice full of unsaid curses, even after a curse, and she looked at me with a small smile.
"Oh, well, I guess that is a thing. I wonder if we can pull the child out of the Empire with our Slave release trade," Chelsea said, thought out loud. Or at least it looked that way to me, and I looked at her, stunned, and I felt a headache hit me.
"She is the Crown Princess, not a slave, so her child would not be a slave," I replied, and she chuckled.
"Who knows what the Emperor might do, might make her an adjasent profession allowing us to take her from the Empire," Chelsea replied, and I shook my head.
"Doesn't matter, what matters is, I need out and a place where I will not be hunted down till death. Which is the Beast-kin Nation, the Theocracy, those fucking crazy isolationists, or," I paused, "The Demon lands might take me in. I have killed too many in too many nations to flee to them, one of the few nations I have not killed in is the Beast-kin Nation, surprisingly," I added that last line, and Chelsea chuckled.
"Not directly at least," Chelsea slowly said clearly in thought and nodded, "Hmm, I do have a place I can put you. I even have a job for you if you want one. One that will be a little like the military, but not with the power that the Military the Empire holds. It would have a lot of Softer power. In some ways, after decades, you would have more power than you held," Chelsea said, making me frown.
Soft power?
What was soft power?
I was not even expecting a job; I was looking for a place where I would not be bound to a house. But I was always someone who did something. I would go insane if I did nothing but cultivate like many of my peers did. I have no idea how they disconnected themselves from the world around them.
"Soft power?" I asked in a clear voice, conveying that I did not understand.
"Oh, you never heard that term before?" Chelsea asked, raising an eyebrow.
That silver eyebrow seemed to annoy me for pointing out my ignorance, "I would not have asked if I understood Chelsea."
"Fair," Chelsea replied with a smile, shaking her head. "Sorry for the obvious question, I did not mean to insult you," she apologized, to my surprise. She was clearly in the more powerful position, but she stepped back and looked as if she was in thought. "There are basically two types of power that power can be categorized into. Hard power, and Soft power," Chelsea explained, and I frowned. "Hard power is Military power and the Cultivation of our bodies. I must listen to an A ranker because they can blast me to death, which is a form of Hard power. You have the bigger stick, so you can just kill me if I don't listen. That is Hard power, understand?" She asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, I get it, same with a bigger military, if you have a larger military, you can just kill them," I replied in thought.
"Exactly, hard power is basically a form of power that is the means of getting someone to do what you want because you can kill them if they don't listen," Chelsea said, "Which means, Soft power is the opposite of that. It is the power you hold to get people to do what you want without the threat of violence."
I frowned and looked at her, "So you mean to say you would put me in a position where I could cultivate Soft power in the Beast-kin Nation?" I asked.
"Exactly, I would put you in a place that an A ranker would deserve, which would allow you to grow. You would not be in a place of absolute power, and there will be others in similar areas you would have to share power with in the future, but it would not just be you fleeing the Empire. You would thrive in the Beast-kin nation." Chelsea finished, and I frowned.
Fuck that was tempting. I thought about the power that I had here in the Empire, and it was a Hard power under that description. People would die if I pointed at them and chose to do something they did not like. They would fight back and die for it, and so I was used to just getting what I wanted.
This would be an annoying but necessary change, though, if I were going to leave the Empire. I might be able to do the same and cultivate soft power in the Empire, but it would take a century before my "failures" would be forgiven. Maybe the Crown Princess might not even forgive me. I might have to wait two generations of Emperors.
This was a golden road out of the Empire, which was more than I was expecting.
The problem with defecting to another nation was the lack of trust you received. In the past, A-rankers were just sent over to do something in the next war. The Empire had actually done it before, which was how it got a strong foothold. It was something that had many nations on edge, whether the defection was real or not, and so the defection was something that put you forever in a place of distrust from all sides.
You left your home nation for another. Why would they trust you not to do the same to them?
It was a harsh truth, but I wanted my freedom. My freedom to move around in the area where I lived, and if I wanted to, I had to leave the Empire. Suppose I were also able to do something, then. "What is the job?" I asked my voice low.
"Hmmm, so you are interested?" Chelsea asked with a small smirk.
"I would not have asked if I wasn't," I replied, my voice cold.
"Education," Chelsea suddenly said, stunning me. "I want you to educate the children of the next generation. I will not be keeping the strict standards you grew up in, in the military, but I want you to show educate a generation of children to see what an organized Military is," Chelsea said, my eyes wide, "A force to be reckoned with. How you teach that is up to you," Chelsea smirked, "Will you help us leave our barbarian ways, Duchess Greenwald?" She asked.
That question left me stunned, and I opened and closed my mouth, not knowing what to say.
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