Logout Error: My NPCs Now Worship Me

In a secluded solar within the Royal Palace of Lyria, Princess Lilliana moved the pieces on her Cyvasse board. Each piece was exquisitely carved from ivory and obsidian, a gift from a foreign dignitary long ago. To an observer, it looked like a simple game. To Lilliana, it was practice.

She was not beautiful in the classical, fairy-tale sense. Her features were sharp rather than soft, her eyes a cool, intelligent grey that missed nothing. Her beauty was in her intensity, in the visible workings of her keen, analytical mind. While other noble ladies practiced the lute or embroidery, Lilliana studied history, economics, and the art of war.

Her father, the King, entered the room, looking even more weary than usual. "Lilliana," he said, his voice heavy. "A reply has come from the east."

Lilliana didn't look up from her board. She moved an obsidian Dragon piece, capturing an ivory Elephant. "He has granted the audience, then." It wasn't a question.

The King sighed, slumping into a chair opposite her. "He has. You are to go to Oakhaven. Child, are you certain about this? To bind yourself to... to that thing? There is no telling what it is beneath that armor. It may not even be human."

"It doesn't matter what it is, Father," Lilliana said calmly, her gaze still fixed on the game. "It matters what it controls. And it controls our continued existence. You see it as a demon. I see it as the new, dominant power on the continent. History teaches us one thing: adapt to the new power, or be crushed by it."

"This is not adaptation! This is surrender! Your surrender!" the King insisted, his voice cracking with emotion. "I have already sacrificed the kingdom's pride. I will not sacrifice my own daughter."

Lilliana finally looked up, and her cool grey eyes met her father's. There was no fear in them. Only a resolute, almost frightening calm.

"You misunderstand, Father. This is not a sacrifice. It is a gambit," she said. "We have lost the war of swords. I intend to win the war of whispers. As a mere vassal princess, I am irrelevant. But as his Queen, his consort... I will have a voice. I will have influence. I can guide his hand, ensuring that what remains of Elysia prospers under his rule, rather than being ground into dust."

"Guide his hand?" the King scoffed. "He is a god or a demon! What influence could a mortal woman possibly have over such a being?"

"Every god needs a high priestess," Lilliana countered smoothly. "Every king needs a queen. He may be a being of immense power, but he is new to our world. He does not understand the nuances of our politics, the web of allegiances and rivalries between the kingdoms. I do. I can be his eyes and ears. I can make myself indispensable. Utility is the only currency a being like that will respect."

She moved another piece, a delicate ivory Maiden, sliding it into a position that threatened the obsidian King. "He thinks he is the only one playing a game. He will soon learn otherwise."

Her father stared at her, a mixture of awe and terror in his eyes. He had always known his daughter was brilliant, but this was a level of cold, calculated ambition he had never seen. She was not afraid of the monster that had broken their kingdom. She saw it as an opportunity, a stepping stone to a new kind of power.

"He... he has followers," the King warned, remembering the tales of the monstrous guardians. "Beings of immense power themselves. They will see you as a rival."

"Of course they will," Lilliana said with a thin smile. "The court of a new god will be a viper's nest of jealousy and ambition. That is where I will thrive. They have power, yes. But I have something they do not."

"And what is that?"

"Legitimacy," she stated. "They are his monsters, his servants. I will be his Queen, a recognized royal by the laws of men. The people will see me, a human, at his side. It will soften his image, make his rule more palatable. It is a role none of them can fill. It is my unique value."

The King was speechless. His daughter had analyzed the entire situation with a chilling clarity that bordered on the inhuman. She had already planned her moves, her counter-moves, and her path to victory.

"So be it," he finally whispered, defeated. "Go to Oakhaven. Play your game, daughter. I pray to a goddess I no longer believe in that you do not get burned."

Lilliana gave a slight nod. "Worry not, Father. I have no intention of getting burned. I intend to learn how to control the fire."

The Journey to Oakhaven

The journey was a stark contrast to her father's. Lilliana's carriage was not somber; it was a mobile office. She spent the entire trip poring over maps, ledgers, and every scrap of information her spies had gathered about the new Dominion of Nexus and the "Night of Shattered Jade."

She did not bring a heavy guard. She brought only Sir Kaelan, whom she trusted for his pragmatism, and a handful of her sharpest, most loyal handmaidens, who were also her personal agents.

As they entered the former eastern territories, Lilliana observed the changes with a keen eye. The roads were better maintained. The villages were cleaner. The people, while still wary, had a spark of something new in their eyes. It wasn't happiness. It was security. The fear of goblin raids and bandits was gone, replaced by the fear of a single, all-powerful entity who, so far, seemed content to leave them alone as long as the tithes were paid.

"He brings order," Sir Kaelan noted grimly, riding alongside her carriage. "A harsh, terrifying order, but order nonetheless."

"Order is the foundation of power," Lilliana replied from her window. "And he is building his foundation very, very quickly."

When they arrived in Oakhaven, she was impressed. The city was a fortress, its new walls humming with magical energy. The people moved with purpose. The "Church of the Silent Sovereign" was not a grand cathedral, but a simple, open-air forum where priests recounted the miracles of their lord and scribes recorded the grievances of the people, promising that the Sovereign's justice, though slow, was absolute.

Lilliana was led not to a guest house, but to a newly constructed, elegant manor near the central plaza. It was lavish, comfortable, and clearly designed to be a gilded cage. She knew she was being watched from the moment she arrived.

Her audience was scheduled for the following day. She spent the evening in quiet contemplation, not praying, but rehearsing. She went over her proposal, her arguments, her contingencies. She knew that the next day, she would not be speaking to a man. She would be making a business proposition to a force of nature.

The next morning, she dressed not in the flowing, elaborate gowns of a princess, but in a simple, elegant, and practical dress of deep blue velvet, the color of the Elysian royal house. It was a statement: she was here as a representative of her lineage, not as a decorative bride.

She walked to the plaza, her heart beating a steady, controlled rhythm. Sir Kaelan followed a few paces behind, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, a silent, grim protector.

The plaza was empty save for the obsidian throne. The air was still and heavy. Lilliana walked to the center of the plaza and stood before the empty seat of power, waiting. She did not fidget. She did not look around. She stood with a poise and patience that would have impressed a statue.

A [Gate] opened.

Kaelus stepped through.

The sheer force of his presence was far more potent up close than she could have ever imagined. It was a physical pressure, a cosmic weight that threatened to force her to her knees. Her every instinct screamed at her to run, to bow, to submit.

She did none of those things.

With an iron will that stunned even herself, she forced her body to remain upright. She met the two silver points of light in that terrifying, shifting void of a helm, and she performed a perfect, formal, and respectful curtsy. Not the bow of a servant, but the curtsy of one royal meeting another.

"Sovereign Lord Kaelus," she said, her voice clear, steady, and utterly devoid of fear. "I am Princess Lilliana of the House of Elysia. I thank you for granting me this audience. I have come to you with a proposal that I believe will be of great mutual benefit."

She rose, her cool grey eyes locked on his. She had made her opening move. The game had begun.