Seraphine's Execution

How could this happen? After everything the story still insists on executing her? Lily hasn't even been revealed as the Saintess yet, where is the trial coming from?

In the moment, I had been too shocked to stop them. I should have just fought them off, grabbed her and fled with her; without the threat of Lily it didn't matter if they found out I was the demon lord. But when I thought about revealing it in front of Seraphine, I was hesitant. It was the one detail I didn't tell her because I didn't want her to be afraid of me. Instead, I let them arrest her and retreated to my dorm room to think of a way to fix this.

"My lord, should we really discuss this matter in front of this peasant girl?"

I had gathered both Rieva and Lily in my room. I didn't know if Lily would be able to help, restricted to the game's options and all, but I should at least keep Valarie informed on what's going on.

"Yes, we should. This is an ally, of sorts." I said to Rieva.

Rieva was still suspicious, but at least she didn't question me. Lily on the other hand didn't react at all. Her body was simply standing next to me, not moving. I assumed she was listening, but the game just struggled to come up with any kind of reaction that would fit the situation.

"Very well, my lord, then as I was saying. With all the information available to me, I had concluded that the legendary Saint, or rather Saintess, would have to be the Mireidyne girl. As discussed, the Saint would have to be among the three together with my lord in the dungeon," she glanced at Lily while saying that. I can't blame her, it must be pretty suspicious for one of the suspects to be present, but we're well past suspicious now.

Rieva continued: "Of those three, the Rozwald kid lacked the magical prowess associated with the saint. Between the two girls, I concluded that the Saint would be the one least inclined to approach my lord." she said.

Since I knew Lily is the Saintess, I never even considered Rieva would arrive at a wrong conclusion...

"And since my lord ordered me to deal with her discreetly, I decided to frame her for a crime and have the humans execute her." Rieva concluded.

I didn't know what to say. This was entirely my fault. Rieva just did what she was told to. Was there any way to salvage this?

"I have a gift for you." Lily spoke for the first time since the beginning of the meeting. Rieva watched in confusion as Lily handed me several gifts.

H - A - V - E - P - L - A - N

Apparently, Valarie had an idea. I asked her to continue.

B - R - E - A - K - G - A - M - E - B - R - E - A - K - F - R - E - E

"Breaking the game? That's what I've been trying to do all along!" I complained. "But the game's story keeps going no matter what I do. It's unstoppable."

"What game are you talking about, my lord?" Rieva was obviously beyond confusion, a brand-new experience for the usually knowledgeable spymaster. I just hushed her and asked Valarie to continue.

A - L - R - E - A - D - Y - B - R - E - A - K - I - N - G

Is she trying to say the game is already breaking? I suppose it is strange that Lily hasn't been reacting, even with Val in control. It's not like the game lets you control every expression or gesture after all, she could have at least done something. I wonder how things look from Val's side, maybe I should trust her.

"So, Val, what do we do?"

F - I - N - A - L - B - L - O - W

It was difficult to interpret what she meant, but I had an idea. We needed something that would completely derail the game, to the point where it cannot recover. There was one way to do that, but it was risky. However, I trusted my sister, and so I told her my idea. She gave me the gifts to spell OK. Rieva had basically given up following our conversation at this point, but said she would follow whatever I decided.

Valarie spelled out one more word for me before we left.

E - S - C - A - P - E

"Seraphine Valtesse von Mireidyne, you stand accused of conspiring against the crown. How do you plead?"

The prosecutor was a tall man with a long grey beard. His robes were embroidered with the crest of the king, and he stood next to the king himself. On the other side of the king stood Alaric.

"Not guilty." Seraphine said. She was unusually cold and composed for her situation.

Before the trial could continue, the doors flung open. Into the room walked a noble with his handmaiden, accompanied by a commoner girl. Seraphine's eyes widened when she recognized me.

"There is no need to continue this trial." I yelled loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "for Seraphine is guilty. Guilty of having associated with the demon lord himself."

Time for the grand finale.

I dropped my human disguise. The guards drew their weapons, the nobles gasped in terror. Within a matter of seconds I grew to the size of three men and my skin turned black, my muscles bulging and sharp claws growing from my hands and feet. The horns on my head were sharp enough to impale any man that dared to come near them. The entire court room was frozen in fear.

"I, the demon lord, have come to take the villainous Seraphine as my wife!"