Ch.223There’s a devil’s spawn inside your head!

# Chapter 223: There’s a Devil Inside Your Head!

I was confused, but not for the reason you might think.

[Event: Pure Expression of Goodwill and Gratitude]

[Commander-in-Chief Jade Samiya Halabi’dus determined that she couldn’t have accomplished this mission without the help of Minister Arto Virtorius Seveli of the Diplomatic Enforcement Department.]

[Therefore, during their diplomatic meeting,]

[She explained the situation to Emperor Artraia Beliard Penash Khan Seveli, the sole sovereign of the Holy Seveli Empire, expressing her desire to repay you somehow.]

[Of course, Emperor Artraia initially interpreted Prosnak’s Commander-in-Chief suddenly mentioning you as a kind of ‘threat,’ and their relationship nearly deteriorated significantly.]

[This happened during the time when Minister Arto Virtorius Seveli was chatting with Prosnak’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.]

…

‘Wow, a 5,700-character wall of text terror.’

An enormous amount of event text completely blocked my view, with an incredible amount of scrolling still remaining.

‘This is seriously hurting my eyes.’

What’s worse, most of the message content seemed deliberately designed to ‘roast’ me.

As similar content kept appearing, I expressed my irritation and continued scrolling down.

After a while…

I finally reached the end of the long scroll and could see the final part of the message.

[…Through this conversation, Commander-in-Chief Samiya and Emperor Artraia realized they had significantly misunderstood each other.]

[Emperor Artraia, in particular, thought Commander Samiya was threatening her, the Empire, and Arto, who was now clearly her subordinate.]

[She was absolutely unwilling to forgive this perceived threat against Arto, with whom she shared deep love…]

[But Commander Samiya, or simply Samiya, had no such intention.]

[Upon hearing Samiya simply expressing gratitude, saying she couldn’t have preserved her own life without Minister Arto’s help, the anger and greed in Artraia’s mind quickly dissipated.]

[After hearing praise for Arto, Artraia felt she could get along very well with Samiya who stood before her.]

…

‘Well, that turned out well.’

It’s certainly better than having leaders fighting and causing chaos. Even though it stemmed from a misunderstanding, the fact that they could get along was definitely a good thing.

Especially since they’re neighboring nations.

One is the galaxy’s strongest military power, and the other is the galaxy’s top political power leading ISTO…

‘Wait, if Prosnak normalizes diplomatic relations as Samiya declared… and joins ISTO, that means we can naturally form a ‘real’ alliance, right?’

After the one-sided alliance during the previous emperor’s era.

And the secret alliance formed when Samiya was an ambassador.

Abolishing those two ambiguous arrangements that provided almost no practical benefits, and officially establishing an alliance between the two nations?

‘This would give me rewards similar to what I twisted my entire body to achieve when aiming for the #1 national ranking… hey, if we play this right, we might even push out the Pioneer Empire and take first place!’

Trying to calculate the results of an alliance between these two nations nearly made my already inadequate brain explode.

But since time was paused anyway, I took plenty of time to think it through thoroughly.

‘This is a golden opportunity.’

Even with my inferior intellect, I could see this would definitely benefit us.

Plus, there was no reason for Prosnak to refuse.

Among the nations belonging to ISTO, there were more than five interstellar empire-level countries.

Excluding us, there’s Ztrakfor, Rixi, Kar-Du, Nurval, Syr-Hod, and Uko’Praknar.

And if we include the smaller nations that operate spaceships despite not being “interstellar empires”…

‘Hmmmm… the Eastern Alliance! No, that’s not it… anyway, this is excellent news!’

After organizing my thoughts while making all sorts of ridiculous expressions during the time pause,

I began to see the two women looking at me not as “predators” as before,

But more like two kittens at a pet daycare staring up at me.

‘I can’t believe they’re giving me such a sweet event.’

Since this was essentially like strapping a booster to my path toward winning the game,

I could feel my resentment toward the 5700-character event message melting away like snow.

After all, how could I maintain negative feelings when it was presenting me with a shortcut to victory?

‘I’m sorryyyyy!’

With that thought, I was about to release the time pause and immediately kneel before the two women when…

‘Wait, I think there’s more content left.’

Suddenly realizing there was still a slight scroll remaining in the message, I quickly noticed it.

‘What now?’

With a mix of curiosity about what bizarre content might be included this time, I scrolled down.

But at that moment…

[And after their “official” diplomatic meeting concluded,]

[During an “unofficial” meeting in a secret area of the imperial palace,]

[Artraia realized that Samiya also harbored very passionate feelings toward Minister Arto.]

‘…What?’

The content that followed made my head spin momentarily,

But the remaining message simply made me continue scrolling down.

[Since Artraia was already overflowing with love for Arto, normally when Samiya revealed such feelings,]

[A hopeless catfight might have ensued…]

[But surprisingly, Artraia, with her superintelligence that far surpasses yours, identified numerous benefits that could be gained by forming a marriage alliance using Samiya.]

[Additionally, she discovered that Samiya’s feelings weren’t just smooth talk… they were genuinely sincere.]

[After hours of heartfelt conversation, Artraia concluded that it would be acceptable to include Samiya in her relationship with Arto.]

[Of course, this included Artraia’s rational side as an “adult of the imperial family.”]

[Specifically, given that the Seveli imperial family has almost no remaining “royal blood,” she judged it better to appropriately spread the “imperial seed.”]

[Linked event in progress…]

After scrolling all the way to the end and seeing the “Linked event in progress” notification,

And confirming the content written in the message,

I realized that our Artraia had essentially sold me to Samiya.

Moreover, Artraia’s choice was far too significant to be simply called the magnanimous act of a primary spouse.

It was essentially establishing a “marriage alliance” with the Prosnak Federation, aiming to secure a position stronger than a simple alliance.

While other countries might subtly interfere with a simple alliance,

With this kind of marriage alliance…

‘We can just say, “They fell in love naturally, and we’re just taking advantage of that situation, okay?”‘

This way, they could easily gloss over the political aspects.

‘Impressive, Artraia… abandoning your possessiveness and offering me as a sacrifice to gain Prosnak.’

I nodded inwardly at Artraia’s display of iron-blooded leadership and tried to release the time pause.

Or rather, I attempted to.

[Time Pause Released]

[Time Pause]

‘???’

As soon as I released it, time automatically paused again, and a new event message appeared before my eyes…

[Event: She Sold You Out]

[According to Artraia’s judgment, you were supposed to spend tonight with Samiya for the sake of a “friendly” relationship with Prosnak.]

[However, Samiya stated that she couldn’t be the only one to benefit from Artraia’s consideration.]

[Artraia also decided to participate, excited by the prospect of experiencing a new “play” she hadn’t tried before.]

[Goodwill between the Holy Seveli Empire and Prosnak Federation +100 (Valid only while Artraia and Samiya exist as leaders of their respective nations, and while Minister Arto survives)]

[Emergency Quest: V2, P1]

[Face both leaders and survive until they are satisfied.]

[Reward: Fatigue recovery, +100 goodwill from each leader, slight increase in probability of positive events occurring]

[Time Pause Released]

‘…What.’

As soon as I finished reading that bizarre event message, the time pause was automatically released.

-Slurp.

Hearing a sound like a predator licking its lips near my ear, I naturally turned to look.

I saw them licking their lips while staring at me…

The two women who had seemed like kittens just moments ago now felt like the most terrifying beings imaginable.

Seeing this, I quietly placed the document I was holding carefully on the floor.

Then, trying to maintain the most rational attitude possible, I quietly spoke.

“…Just spare my life, Artraia.”

——————————————–

And I, who had prided myself on my rational and cool attitude, masculine dignity, and manly voice, found myself reduced to a young, vulnerable child being mercilessly toyed with about 5 hours later.