Avaros couldn't believe it; his idiotic and useless daughter, whose only useful feature was being a woman who could be married of, had used her charm to ensnare a terrifying monster that disregarded his authority with no care for consequences, and due to the presence of aforementioned impossibly powerful monster, he couldn't punish her for attacking his favored son.
King's fingers dug into the armrest. At least half of his royal guard was dead, and the worst part about all of this was.
"I can't even punish that monster..." Avaros had many shortcomings, but he knew when he was outmatched; he knew challenging the monster or his foolish daughter, as he was now, would be suicidal.
It pained him that his authority, which he had maintained all his life, was so easily dismantled.
Nobody dared challenge him; after all, he was a king of Valar. He was the leader of the most powerful human country on the continent.
While other countries fell under Demi Human control, he alone kept Valar's full independence despite their agents meddling. While demi-humans were incredibly powerful, they never invaded openly but instead opted for political subterfuge to take over a country peacefully.
The attack on Vitpacar was the first openly hostile move from either side.
"Why did she survive..." He couldn't help but to stress about the failure of his plan.
Many would say that sacrificing a whole legion was beyond foolish, however, an entire legion consisted of trash who couldn't follow an order if their life depended on it.
Not only that, they were costing the same as the First and Second Legions combined due to their inefficiency.
"They would have been worth keeping if Demi-Humans were more aggressive, at least as meat shields." He was sure that he could have pinned the legion's invasion on Aurelia.
'All of my plans... Gone.' He had to think of something, anything.
He could have gotten rid of troublesome 4th legion and Princess of Fools, and yet here he stood. 4th Legion was celebrated as heroes, and Aurelia was sure to gain a reputation, too.
'And the fools captured demi-human slaves...' He wouldn't say it out loud, but if something would provoke an attack of the demi-human empire, it would be the capture of their citizens.
While his people rejoiced at the fact that Demi-Humans were now forced under their rule, that did not give any solace to Avaros.
Pinning the attack on Vitpacar to Aurelia was plausible, or even enslavement. However, slaves were brought to Valar, and so they involved the entire country.
He knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against the Demi-Human empire. If they had sent a single great champion, Valar would have been ash before sun fell.
He wanted to curse Aurelia's existence once again; her mere existence only brought him trouble, and now she would bring the end of Valar.
However, she was outside his reach now due to the monstrous paladin. He knew Vitpacar had at least 3 Great Champions, and yet 4th legion returned.
The only reason he sent them was that they were supposed to die.
'It's all because of that man...' Avaros placed his palms onto his face.
That accursed paladin had ruined everything. Where did such a powerful human appear from?
He had kept track of all powerful individuals in Valar, and yet this one was an enigma.
To call him powerful would be an understatement; he knew it was he who had killed the Champions. Aurelia was too weak, and the 4th legion was too trash to even siege the town.
'He should have just accepted my offer...' It would have been fine; with a powerful entity like that, Paladin Valar would be able to attack Demi-Humans and expand their territory without fear.
"There is no way that whore daughter of mine could charm someone that powerful..." He was in denial, he refused to believe Aurelia was able to charm someone of that caliber.
With a groan, he rose from his throne; he needed fresh air before his mind combusted from stress.
"Cancel any meeting for today. I need to rest," Avaros spoke with a tired voice to his advisors; his mental state was fragile, and he was in no state to handle internal affairs.
War was inevitable now, and not only that, his heir and most beloved son Ayano was targeted by Aurelia's assassins.
How much he hated that girl couldn't be described in words.
She brought shame to royal blood by her continued existence.
He made his way to the exit right of the throne room, which led to the open roof garden. It was decorated with various flowers, and a beautiful garden fountain took the centerpiece.
'My late wife loved this place...' He had never learned to appreciate it while she was alive, but now it brought him solace.
The duty of a king was stressful, and now, with an assassination attempt and a possible Demi Human empire war declaration, it only served to put more weight on his shoulders.
"Chrunus, if you are hearing me. Please grant me a vision so that I may punish that idiotic daughter of mine..." Avaros prayed, while she was untouchable now, that Paladin wouldn't protect her forever.
A scheme, an indirect involvement, a bandit attack- as long as he wasn't involved directly, Paladin shouldn't find out his plans.
However, just as he started to formulate the plan, he ran straight into Aurelia, and she was not alone.
Behind her stood 3 Demi-Humans. Unlike usual Harpies, they had no horns and had pure white wings.
They were clad in full plate armor, and they all radiated an aura of power, an aura belonging to a Champion.
Finally, Chrunus had answered his prayer.
'If they kill her, that will save me a lot of problems.' He did not care if these demi-humans were here to kill Aurelia; on the contrary, they would do him an immense favor by doing so.
"Oh, hello, father," Aurelia's mood visibly soured as she greeted her father coldly.
"Let me introduce you to Ladios, Rayn, and Lucious. They are my guardians." Aurelia smirked as she introduced her Archangel guardians, who bowed in agreement, an act that made Avaros lose consciousness from sheer shock.