S-Rank Harem: I Became My Character with Extra Control Skill

”Not at all. You are mistaken,” Lise responded immediately, losing her playful tone.

”A blank contract means that I am at his absolute disposal and will. If my master loses that energy tomorrow, or if he simply wishes to never feed me again and let me starve to death, there is absolutely nothing I can do to rebel. I have no will of my own against him. Is that not enough for you to know, demon girl?”

Lise said, aiming her piercing eyes at Beatrice with a much more serious and cold tone.

Ryan processed the immense forced loyalty he had just acquired. It was a perfect tactical advantage, without blind spots or risk of betrayal.

So, even though he was not entirely sure it was all true, he turned his gaze toward Ivis. Upon noticing his look, she simply nodded, confirming that everything the lustful dragoness had said was true.

Then he looked at Ophelia, and obtained the same nod of approval. There were no more doubts.

”Alright, I agree to these terms. I am counting on you from now on, Lise,” Ryan declared, accepting her submission.

”As you command, my beloved master,” Lise made a deep bow. ”Is there anything you want me to do for you right now? Ask me for anything and I will do it without hesitation. Whoever you want murdered in this castle, I will do exactly that.”

”Such disgusting devotion, I honestly have a hard time recognizing you, Lise,” Ivis intervened, rolling her eyes at the wind dragoness’s pathetic behavior.

”For now, I do not need you to kill anyone else,” Ryan continued, ignoring Ivis and fully assuming his new role as supreme leader. ”You will have to be a messenger for me. You will fly and report directly to the demon king Rohan that his dear daughter is currently in my hands.”

Ryan looked out the window toward the distant domains, formulating his impending political strategy.

”You will tell him that I saved her from a certain death, but I do not intend to hand her back for free as an act of charity. There is something very specific in those lands of the demon king Rohan that I want to have; if his daughter is truly that important, I propose he comes to negotiate with me.”

Ryan’s words echoed through the silent throne room with overwhelming weight. No one present, not even his closest tactical squad, had the slightest idea about the little demon Ryan had rescued from the lower cells and left under the strict care of one of the elven soldiers in the rearguard of the invasion.

The girls in his group began looking at each other in evident confusion. Helen raised an eyebrow at Beatrice, Karol looked at Mirian, but they all shook their heads in silence, trying to identify who among them secretly knew what Ryan was talking about. No one had answers.

Ophelia, processing the magnitude of that information, took a quick step forward.

”What did you say?” Ophelia asked, widening her red eyes. ”Do you perhaps have the demon king Rohan’s missing daughter in your power?”

”Yes,” Ryan answered with total calmness. ”Rigal had her as a secret prisoner in one of the outer towers.”

”Eh! That little girl was really hidden here all this time?” Ophelia questioned, bringing a hand to her chin. ”Wow, I certainly did not expect that. I even thought she would be dead by now.”

”But I am tired of standing,” Ryan murmured, turning his gaze to the mage girl of the group. ”Karol.”

Karol smiled immediately, grasping her leader’s intention.

”Leave everything to me,” she said with total confidence.

The blue-haired mage walked a couple of steps toward a clear area of the hall, raised her magical staff, and struck the base hard against the floor, embedding it in the hard stone. With her free hands, she channeled her immense mana and held her Earth Twin relic’s gem.

A dense glow illuminated her hands. The shattered floor beneath her feet began to tremble and mold as if it were simple clay. In a matter of seconds, she summoned and raised from the castle’s foundations an immensely long, perfectly polished solid earth table, surrounded by thick stone chairs attached to the floor.

Words of amazement quickly spread among the women present, not because Karol had used earth magic itself, but because of the ingenious way she applied it.

Ryan did not waste time. He walked with firm steps and sat heavily at the main head of the enormous stone table, taking the place of undeniable power in the room. The rest of the chairs remained free, waiting to be occupied.

And then, a silent, natural, and highly martial hierarchy began to form on its own, demonstrating the level of loyalty the group had developed.

Mirian walked with her bow in hand and sat directly in the first chair to Ryan’s right. Karol pulled her staff from the floor and took the first chair to the left.

Following them, Alicia adjusted her posture and sat next to Mirian, while Irina, the elven princess, took a seat next to Karol.

And without absolutely anyone ordering or suggesting it to them, Beatrice stood right behind Ryan’s left shoulder, crossing her hands in front of her. Helen did exactly the same, standing behind her leader’s right shoulder. Both women took on the role of Ryan’s personal bodyguards, watching every movement at the table.

’They really understand their place,’ Ryan thought to himself, feeling immense pride in his group’s flawless formation.

Ophelia observed the humans’ organization and walked to the other end of the table. The demon queen sat right at the end, facing Ryan from the position of an allied monarch. Ivis walked behind her queen and sat in the chair adjacent to Ophelia.

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Lise cautiously took a seat beside Irina, deliberately leaving two empty chairs between herself and the elf.

The improvised meeting’s perfect order was interrupted by a pitiful sound.

”Hm...”

The sharp whimpers of Chloe, who was barely waking up from her second faint, echoed from her dark corner behind the stone column.

Ryan shifted his cold green gaze toward the sound.

Almost immediately, responding to her leader’s attention, Karol pointed her hand toward the column. Chloe’s body began to float magically in the air, lifted by a subtle current of gravitational mana.

”What shall we do with this woman?” Karol asked aloud as she levitated her across the hall, bringing the terrified Chloe floating right toward the stone table.

Karol cut the magic flow, dropping her carelessly and letting her fall roughly right in front of the chair where Lise was sitting.

The hard thud against the floor made the girl snap completely awake. When Chloe looked up, her face pale and almost blue with panic, she found herself surrounded by the lethal gazes of the most powerful rulers of those lands.

She looked at everyone present in pure astonishment, not understanding at what moment the bloody battlefield had turned into a civilized meeting room.

”Should we kill her once and for all?” Helen asked with total coldness, looking at the prisoner from her guard position.

”You forced her to fly through the skies, brought her all the way here, and you do not have a single drop of empathy for her?” Mirian questioned, frowning and looking at the swordswoman.

”Shut up. Is she an enemy or not?” Helen added, defending her pragmatic and lethal point of view.

Upon hearing her death sentence being debated so casually at the table, tears of despair began to well up in the holy knight’s eyes.

”I am definitely going to die today...” Chloe murmured, curling into a little ball in the chair.

Ryan rested his elbows on the hard stone table, interlaced his gloved fingers, and stared at the crying prisoner.

”No,” Ryan declared. His voice carried such weight and authority that it immediately silenced any further debate. It was an absolute order that brooked no objection from Helen or anyone else in the room.

He kept his cold green eyes locked onto the terrified church girl’s soul.

”For now, you will be the demon king Rohan’s daughter’s personal nanny.”