Before Rianna made her appearance to the party. The valet and a footman were frantically helping Mr. Belial through the hallways of the Manor. His mind was reeling as the Dark Elf dropped the news that she knew about his spy network. It was the thing he took pride in most. He had been able to stay ahead of the other nobles by keeping tabs on everyone. But he didn't count on the Dark Elf sniffing them out.

  "This way Mr. Belial. We'll fetch you some water and I'll call for the doctor," the Valet said as he tried to guide the butler down the hallway that lead to his room.

  Belial shook his head as he needed to inform his Lord about the situation. He broke free from the Valet and footman, and staggered into a walk. "No, I must speak to the Duke about the Dark Elf. I have failed him," he muttered and kept going.

  "Mr. Belial! You should not exert yourself. You're struggling to stand as is," the footman pleaded, but the man ignored him.

  He stumbled a few times and bumped into the wall as his legs felt like they were going to give out, but he continued forward. The valet and footman watched the butler and then exchanged gnces with each other.

  "He is a stubborn old fool. He is not going to stop," the Valet said and sighed.

  "Shall we carry him to his room then?" the footman asked.

  "No! I must see his Lordship. We have the dark elf in his home, and he might know how to help the Duchess turn the tides and win the Ladies of the Court over," the butler grunted and forced his body to move forward.

  The valet sighed and rushed over to help Belial. "You're a stubborn old fool, Mr. Belial. I will assist you to see the Duke, but you must allow us to take you to your room after this."

  The butler nodded and let the Valet guide him down the hallway to Aric's study.

  ***

  Aric was sitting at his deck, he was still in a sour mood, especially after he cracked a tooth from gritting his teeth. He was so mad about Rya coming to his Manor that he wished to humiliate her in front of all the other Ladies. But he knew that it was a Ladies only party. It wasn't a social gathering where the men would be present. If he were to jump in to aid his wife then he could ruin their pn. He needed to trust her, but sitting on the sidelines while the enemy was right in front of him. It was difficult. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even hear his butler being led into his study.

  "Milord. Mr. Belial wished to speak to you," the Valet said loudly.

  Aric snapped out of his thoughts and slowly turned to look at his butler.

  'What the hell happened to him? Grr! Belial!? You better have a good reason for disturbing me,' the Duke thought as he was about to give his butler a scolding.

  Belial colpsed on the floor, but the footman and Valet were able to catch him.

  Aric paused as a strange sense of dread started to creep in his mind. Belial has never looked like this before. He was sent to the foyer to deal with the Queen's stupid antics, but what happened to him that caused him to get like this.

  "Belial!? What the hell happened!?" the Duke shouted and got out of his seat and went over to the butler.

  "My Lord. The Dark Elf... She knows about my spiders. I-I don't know if she's bluffing, but the way she said it made it seem like she knew."

  Aric frowned but he held back from shouting. He didn't want the Elves to hear them talking about Belial's spies.

  "Does she know about our pns with Marn? Does she know about the rebellion?" Aric asked in a hushed tone.

  "I don't know... She corrected some information about how it was her who fell in love with the Prince... I cracked in front of her like a fool," the Butler muttered.

  The Duke's face was pale. Not because he cared about whom fell in love with whom, but the fact that the Dark Elf might have discovered the truth about their pns.

  "Damn! We need to accelerate our pn. But I need to see what is going on in the ballroom. Getting the Ladies of the Court to side with my wife is paramount... Belial, get the The Sentinel Sphere," Aric ordered.

  "Yes, My Lord," Belial nodded and struggled to his feet and left the room.

  The Valet and the Footman were just standing around, confused. They had no idea what was going on, nor did they know who this Dark Elf was.

  "Never in my life did I think I would be the one to use The Sentinel Sphere like a coward," Aric mumbled to himself.

  The Sentinel Sphere was an artifact that connected to many smaller Observer Crystals which could show up on the bigger crystal ball, like a security camera system. This artifact was rare in Human society. It was an artifact that was created by the demons in the Faeo continent, which is north west of the Agon Continent. It was a gift he got when he married off his second oldest daughter, Jemma, to a Prince of one of Independent Kingdoms in the north called the Principality of Sokaris. It was more of a city state than a proper Kingdom.

  The Principality of Sokaris was an odd pce, even by the standards of the Northern Continent. They prioritized having big harems in that part. The more women you can keep, the higher your status. It was a py for Prince Ethan Wisper to aim for his father's throne once he passes on. He needed women of higher stock to beat his other brothers. So, the more women he had from noble houses, the more power he had.

  The Sentinel Sphere was one of his prized artifacts. Even though the artifact was created by the Demons, Prince Ethan loved to use it to spy on his brothers. And when the opportunity to get a daughter from a Duke came up, he took it. All the Duke wanted in return was the Sentinel Sphere and weapons.

  Weapons was easy for him to part with due to the insane amount of demon and human weapons that were stockpiled up in underground fortresses that have been abandoned eons ago. Back during the first Divine Wars from the followers of the Chaos Deities and the worshipers of the Virtuous Gods. His small little Kingdom was in the mountainous areas in the far north called the Yatan Range and it wasn't too far from the Yoden ocean. It was the front line when the Angles and the humans from the Neso Continent, the stronghold of the Gods of Virtue, were trying to punish the humans of Agon for siding with the Demons.

  Even after all these years. Forgotten fortresses and citadels were still filled with the armaments from that time. But the Sentinel Sphere was an item that was hard to find, much less create. This was a prize that Ethan reluctantly gave up just to get his hands on a Duke's daughter. Very few established Kingdoms to the south were willing to let their daughters get swept up and become concubines, so getting his hands on a Duke's daughter was a godsend for the Prince and gave him an edge to unify his brothers' city-states into a true kingdom. It was too bad that Jemma had a strong personality that liked to question him. But he was good at correcting women with strong personalities.

  As for the Duke, he got what he needed back then, and used this Sentinel Sphere to get the drop on Mirror Lords who were reluctant to accept his gracious offers. Belial was the one who used it when Aric would invite some of the Lords to the Revelia's estate to negotiate. The Lords were unaware that the Duke's men were watching them through the Orb. And the Duke was able to seem like he was all-knowing, and that made the Mirror Lords very wary about how much he knew.

  Now Aric was the one using the Sentinel Sphere to peek in on the party. It didn't give him pleasure that he was the one acting like a coward. Sure he would use unhanded means to gain power. But he didn't like being the one doing the spying. He rather be in the same room with his enemies and have his men feed information to him in real time. To intimate them.

  But the current situation was one he had never thought would happen. He didn't, or should he say he didn't have all the means to intimidate the damn Dark Elf. She was too smart and powerful to confront her head on without having some sort of leverage. He was also worried about her nack to get people to side with her. So his pn was simple, make sure his wife had the upper hand in the coming-of-age party, and if the dark elf's influence was growing too fast, he'll have to stop her. He rather kill her but that was easier said than done. He's never seen someone who was more powerful and unrelenting than her. And that's saying something. He's been around many powerful people. But she was a whole nother level.

  After a minute, Belial came back to Aric's study with the box that contained the Sentinel Sphere. Belial seemed to calm himself enough to walk normally again, but his complexion still looked a little pale. "My Lord... Do you wish for me to go to the party?"

  "No. I need you here. If I see an opportunity to strike at the Dark Elf, I want you to take over observing her while I confront her," said the Duke.

  "Understood. But it's there something more we can do to her?" asked Belial.

  Aric took the orb and opened the lid. The blue orb floated out and began to rotate slowly. The image of ballroom came into view as most of the Observer crystals were strategically pced in the chandeliers. There were only three pces where they weren't, and those were the main entrances and the balcony. "Unfortunately no. You know as much as I do, she can't be defeated by normal means. Her reputation is the only thing we can strike at. If we can make her seem untrustworthy, then we'll be able to sway more people."

  Belial sighed as he wished he could be of more use to his lordship. But Aric was right, her reputation was the only angle they had.

  "It feels like we are at the mercy of a goddess...," muttered Belial.

  Aric looked over his shoulder at his butler, "Tsk!... A Goddess?... She's nothing without her magic. She is nothing but a powerless, weak, and pathetic excuse for a lifeform that we could have disposed of months ago. If I had one fifth of her power then I could have taken over all these surrounding Kingdoms and made my Empire."

  Belial nodded along as he truly believed that. If Aric had a fraction of her power, all his enemies would have been gone a long time ago. But the fates continued to get in their way.

  The Duke continued, "She mortal like all of us... It's just finding out what her weakness is. Everyone has a weakness... even her. We just have to find it. And I will."

  The footman and valet were still in the room and never seen these sides of Belial or Aric before. They never were involved in the Duke's schemes.

  "B-But shouldn't we be grateful that the Dark Elf hasn't used her powers to the fullest?" The footman nervously said.

  Aric head snapped to the two other men in his study. He was so lost in thought that he forgot about them. 'Goddess be damned! I'm losing my edge! No! It must be the Dark Elf's doing!'

  He needed to get his act together. He needed to be the mastermind behind the curtain and not have his own servants questioning him.

  The Duke gred at them, "Do you wish to be apart of the rebellion to save our kingdom? To stand up for your rightful ruler?!?"

  The valet and footman started sweating under the gre and bowed their heads in respect.

  "Of course! We serve you, my Lord," they said at the same time.

  "Then shut up and do what I ask. If I want your opinion, then I will give it to you," Aric said as he turned back to the floating artifact.

  They both nodded and remained quiet as the Duke began watching the party. They wished they never said anything and wanted to sneak out, but knew better than to make a noise.

  The two men watched as an image and sounds came from Sentinel Sphere. The Duke rotated the sphere until he found Rya talking to Tayna, Nieren, Dalia, and Eine. He smirked as he watched the Dark Elf talk.

  "She seems happy," The footman mumbled to the valet.

  The valet nodded. "Yeah, she is," he agreed.

  Belial's ears twitched and his eyes narrowed.

  The Duke's gre was fierce as he turned around and growled, "Shut up!"

  The footman and valet stiffened and bowed again.

  Aric focused on the group of women, "Now let's see what they are saying." Aric channeled his Mana into the floating sphere and rotating his hand as if he was turning a dial. Voices filled the room and they switched from person to person as the Duke looked for Rya.

  Aric started getting annoyed as he kept rotating his hand back and forth as he struggled to home in on her.

  'Come on, come on, where are you,' he thought as he focused on Rya's face.

  Belial grimaced as he watched him Master fumbling.

  "What is wrong with this thing?!" The Duke excimed.

  "I-I'm sorry my lord, but that area of the ballroom is harder to focus the sound with this many people talking," the Butler said.

  "Why didn't we put the Observer Crystal in the chandeliers in the corners of the ballroom!?" The Duke shouted.

  "We only had ten of them, my Lord. And three of them are in the ballroom alone... You insisted we have five of them on the perimeter of the estate and the st two in the dining hall," Belial stated.

  The Duke groaned and shook his head. Of all the times, his paranoia would come to bite him in the ass. 'Dammit! Of all the times—'

  While Aric was still fuming and thinking about how he could have prevented this. He heard the voices coming through when he frantically twisted the "dial." He heard Rianna and Leandra voices coming through load and clear.

  "Huh?" He rotated the sphere until he had a Bird's eye view of the Queen and his wife. They were talking and their voices were clear.

  ***

  "Leandra..." Rianna said in a ft tone as she stared down Leandra. But the duchess wasn't intimidated.

  Leandra took a sip of her wine and set her gss on the tray of a passing server.

  "Sister-in-w." She curtsied slightly, keeping her eyes locked with Rianna's. "You really didn't have to offer my daughter a coming-of-age ball. We are more then capable of—"

  "Oh nonsense, Leandra." The Queen waved her off. "It is customary for the Queen to give a coming-of-age party to her niece... I should have done it years ago for your three oldest. I've been a terrible aunt to them, but that stops now."

  Rianna's tone was soft, but she gave the Duchess a pointed look. Leandra knew that this was a threat.

  Leandra took another sip of her wine, looking over the rim of her gss at Rianna.

  "Well, it would be rude to refuse such a generous offer from the Queen." Leandra gave her a smile, but her eyes were hard.

  The two stared at each other as the battle lines of political warfare was about to begin.

  ***

  'Huh? My lousy sister-in-w is trying to interfere with the arrangements we have to marry Lydia off! That cunning little bitch!' The duke's blood boiled as he listened to Rianna and Leandra talk.

  'She must know that the arranged marriages of our daughters have saved us from ruin. I wondered when to day would come! But I've been ready... Rianna must be stopped!' the Duke thought as his focus was on the Queen. He would pivot back to Rya if she came in range of the spygss. But for now he was focusing on Rianna and her entourage versus his wife's.