"I can't believe I finally manage to see Princess White's face! I'm so blessed!" The first demon said to their friend.

"Princess White is so pretty!"

"Princess White! Please look over here!" They cheered as they waved for my attention.

The crowd was calling out my name as I passed by them. I mentally sighed in despair as my guards shielded me from the excited crowd. How did I get into this situation in the first place you might ask? Because of Demon Lord Ariel of course!

Aren't princesses always locked away in their castle? Their role is to just sit there, relax, and look pretty until someone comes in to rescue them, right?

Eh?

That doesn't sound right to you? You must not have played enough video games then.

I can give you some recommendations if you want. M rio is a classic! Legend of Zeld is another great one!

What? You don't care? It's your loss.

Anyways, back to my tragic story.

So originally, my plan for when we arrived at the demon capital was to chill, eat, and train for months on end as Ariel does the real work in the background. I was horrible with politics and dealing with people, so I was just going to stay behind in Balto's mansion while Ariel handles everything. My role was to provide her with my threads and more recently, report to her any important information received from my cute mini-mes.

Well, that was supposed to be the plan, but unfortunately, it seems that the situation of the demons was more dire than we thought.

The demon lord only exists to defend the demons against their enemies. The royal family exists to help with the survival of the species.

It seems that when the previous hero and demon lord allied together to take down D, the humans thought it was the perfect time to attack the demon realm since their army was bigger than the demons. Even though they received heavy causalities, the human army were successful in eliminating the demon royal family and destroying many of the farms before they retreated. The damage was so severe that its effects were still felt even a decade later.

Since there was a vacant spot for the throne for a decade, why didn't anyone go for it?

Because of the responsibility of course!

None of the nobles wanted the responsibility of the whole demon realm when they were already overwhelmed with taking care of their own territories. The number of headaches and stomach ulcers might never end if they chose to rise to the throne!

While a commoner can technically take over the throne, they would have to know what they were doing. The public's voice is very important after all. They won't hesitate to revolt if the new king was doing a bad job and wasn't listening to their needs. The king would have to built his reputation slowly to get the public to go along with his plans unlike if it was a noble who took over.

That's why it wasn't too surprising to discover the rebellion against Ariel. Even though she hasn't enforced a draft, people weren't thrilled to see the new Demon Lord building an army when the population was suffering from famine, drought, and illnesses. If she wanted to appease the masses, she would have to address these issues somehow and how going to war will benefit them.

What's an easy way to fix this? Having someone close to her become the next royalty and make them deal with it of course!

Ariel proposed the idea of making me a distant relative of the royal family that went into hiding during the war. I recently became an adult and can properly take over the responsibilities of the royal family. Of course, I tried to object and asked why she couldn't do it herself or use one of her puppet taratects.

Heh, a puppet taratect as a puppet 's pretty funny…*cough cough* anyways!

Heck, Vampy or Mera would be a better choice than me!...okay, maybe not Vampy and her extreme attitude but there are definitely other options!

Ariel countered by saying that she couldn't be a Demon Lord and a royal. The demon realm agreed in making two branches of power, one for ruling the armies and the other was ruling the people. If the demon realm was at war with another nation, one person will not be able to devote their time for the people due to being too busy with the war. That would be unfair for the people since they would need more help with their regular work since many of their loved ones would be fighting in the war.

It would also help with the Demon Lord's image to see a royal walking alongside her as an equal since the last war really hurt their agriculture. It seems that the Demon Lord's image is currently being seen in a negative light since the previous guy was the one who started the war against humans.

Man, why does her reasoning have to sound so well thought out?

Ariel then shot down the rest of my choices by saying these three words. "Earn your keep!"

Err, what are you talking about miss Demon Lord? I am the reconnaissance team at your service 24/7! I think I should get overtime pay since my spiders are always on the lookout for any suspicious behavior.

Ariel turned serious and said that me being cooped up in Balto's mansion and having Fiel and Riel as my bodyguards has already given people the image that I was an important person. It wasn't too much of a stretch to call me a royal also.

Damn it, damn it, damn it! Talk about bad luck!

This was one of the few times that I cursed at myself for being an introvert. I wouldn't be in this situation if I followed the Demon Lord around like Ael and Mera after I learned how to handle my powers.

Now I have to see a bunch of people two times a week and help them with their issues.

What do I mean by that?

Well apparently, as royalty, I must listen to the people's concern.

Two times a week, we would have an hour where the people can come into the castle and tell me their problems. They mostly talked about the famine which luckily, I had a plan on how to tackle that issue. Since I have dimensional mage craft, I have been teleporting to the Great Garam Forest, killing some monsters, and grabbing different types of fruits for them.

I had to bring Wrath or Vampy along to see if the item was poisonous or not. Apparently raising the public's poison resistance without telling them might not be a good idea Vampy said.

I'm not sure what she means by that.

It sounds perfectly logical.

What if someone comes in and poison their water supply for example? I'm helping them prepare for the worst! They should be thankful honestly.

I mentally sighed at the complexity of people's emotions.

Apparently getting them food, suggesting things like using fertilizer for their land, and healing their sick really boosted my popularity.

Nowadays, it feels like whenever I see any demons, they would bow their head and thank me whole heartedly. Some have been giving me gifts whenever they visit the castle.

For some reason, I am feeling a sense of déjà vu.

Meh, whatever.

I pushed that thought out of my mind as I looked at Wrath while he calmly pushed the crowd back.

Oni-kun, why couldn't you have appeared earlier in our lives? We could have made you deal with this nonsense! He talks politely, has a good personality, and a strong sense of justice. It would have been perfect! Too bad, a lot of demons knew that he was originally a goblin that evolved into an oni and killed the humans who enslaved him. If he tries to bid for the throne now, people would take it in a negative way and think he's a power hungry individual.

Who spread that rumor you asked? Take a wild guess.

Now say it together with me.

One, two, three.

Deadbeat.

Congrats on getting it right on the first try! You can't see it but I'm applauding.

Ugh, that demon somehow always manages to piss me off. First trying to burn my room down, then barging into my room whenever I have teatime, now this?! Like is your whole existence just to bother me?!

My eyebrows furrowed in frustration as I continued to remember how annoying Deadbeat was. He's acting even more weird now that I revealed myself as Princess White. Maybe this is him regretting his previous actions now that he found out that he was picking on a royal.

Hmm, it doesn't seem like it though.

"Princess White, are you feeling well?" Wrath asked as he observed my facial expression.

'NO! I'M FEELING TERRIBLE!' My mouth twitched as I tried to resist complaining to him in front of everyone.

Ariel must be laughing at me right now. I can feel it. It must be my spider senses tingling.

Yup yup.

I would have teleport straight to her castle, but apparently, I need to show the people that I have a good relationship with her by physically going to her castle.

So where is my palanquin then?

I don't want people to stare at me as I walk to her castle. I think I deserve to ride in a palanquin for all my troubles, but no, demons don't believe in using palanquin for their royalty.

Demons, in the end, are a species that value power and using something to carry you is seen as a sign of weakness. Can't I change that tradition now that I am their ruler?

Wrath's mouth twitched as he tried to prevent laughing at my reactions.

I glared at him as best as I could with my eyes closed. I didn't pout, okay? Okay? Okay.

He let out a laughter before saying, "We're almost there princess."

I mentally grumbled as we walked closer to the Demon Lord's castle. I can't wait to hide in the meeting room and drink all of the Demon Lord's alcohol. I think I deserved it for all the hard work that I had to do today!

As Fiel and Riel helped me get ready for the day, one of my mini-me alerted me about a group of humans who were traveling through the Mystic Mountains. I focused my sights to see who they were and, boy, did it surprise me.

The hero and his party?

What? Why?

They aren't stupid to fight the demon realm by themselves, right?

I furrowed my eyebrows as I wrapped my braid around my arm. I teleported all three of us to the Demon Lord's castle.

"Good morning, Princess White! What's the occasion?" Ariel grinned as she greeted me.

"The hero and his party are traveling to the demon realm right now. What do you want to do?" I quickly cut to the chase.

She dropped her smile and stared at me.

"Hm, that's pretty serious. Does it look like they have an army following them from a distance?"

I shook my head in response.

"Hm, I wonder what that kid is up to. Is he trying to create a new human-demon war? He would be pretty reckless to attack us in our own territory with a small group of people. Did he not think that we would learn from our previous mistakes? Ughh, why did this happen when we're busy trying to figure out a way on how to defeat the elves?" Ariel complained as she ruffled her hair in frustration.

"Should I send someone out there to figure out their intentions?"

"Nah, lets surprise them and teleport them here instead." Ariel let out a wicked smile.

I shivered at the dark aura emitting from her but nodded along to her plans.

"I wish I had another layer or two of clothing. It's so cold up here!" Yaana whined as she clenched tightly onto her staff.

"I believe it should only take less than a week left to get there Yaana. Hang in there." I smiled encouragingly at her.

"You should have stayed home if you were only coming along to complain the whole way." Hyrince said as he panted lightly into the freezing air.

"I can't let Sir Julius travel around without a healer! And don't you dare say that potions are good enough!" She yelled at him as he opened his mouth to reply.

They managed to break out into an argument as the rest of the party looked on. Me and Hawkin smiled as Jeskan ignored them and picked up the pace.

Suddenly they weren't walking in the cold snowy mountains anymore and instead, stood in a nicely lit huge stone room. How did they get here?

They took out their weapons and prepare themselves for battle.

"Sophia, if you would please."

I could feel eyes on me and stiffen in preparation for an attack. I didn't expect my hero skill to be turned off. I tried to turn it back on with no success.

"…what did you do?!" I narrowed his eyes at the people sitting on their thrones.

Hyrince stood in front of everyone with his shield out. Hyrince doesn't look sure at what I was talking about, but he was ready to fight if it came down to that.

Did the demons trick them into coming here?

If that's the case, I won't go down without a fight!

"I believe I should be the one asking the questions. Why have you come here? Did you want to start another war?" The young black-haired girl asked as she stared down at me.

The white-haired woman had her eyes closed but it still felt like she was paying close attention to our every move. How was that possible?

I tilted my head in confusion. I had sent a letter requesting for a meeting with the new Demon Princess and Demon Lord with the negotiation of a treaty. I received a reply with the date of when they will be expecting us.

I told them about the situation and slowly reached under my armor to reach for the letter.

The guard with two horns walked up to me and grabbed it before presenting it to the people on the thrones.

The black-haired girl took the letter and quickly skimmed it through before handing it off to the woman.

They appeared to be communicating telepathically before the black-haired girl gave a deep sigh.

"It seems that our assistants replied to your letter and forgot to mention that the prince was coming and not an ambassador."

"I see." My party relaxed but didn't sheathe our weapons.

We eyed each other for a good few minutes before the girl decided to make the first move.

"As a gesture of good faith, I, Demon Lord Ariel, swear by the name of the goddess that your party will not be attack by the demons during your stay here. Now, may I have your names?"

We fully relaxed as we introduced themselves while staring at the demon lord. She looks so young, but she must be the demon lord for a reason. We can't afford to underestimate this person.

"I am Princess White. Welcome to the demon realm." The woman said as she nodded her head.

'Ah, so that's her name.' I thought in awe.

Now that we weren't in a life-or-death situation, I took my time to observe her. She looked like a being from another world. Everything about her was white. She looks untouchable with the way she sat on the throne; her hands laid delicately on her lap as she looked at us with a neutral expression on her face. I don't think the word beautiful is good enough to describe her.

I wondered what her eyes look like.

The rest of the meeting was filled with tension, but it wasn't as unbearable compared to the beginning. I really hoped that we can fight a middle ground because this hatred between the two races has gone on long enough and has only hurt both sides.

I can only pray that they will listen to my words and at least agree with that.

"I always wondered about one thing White. Is the hero the only human you gave your threads to?" Ariel asked after the hero's party left the room. Ael took them to their rooms for the night.

Mera and Vampy left after them presumably to go back to their own rooms. Vampy released Envy on the Hero skill before the meeting ended after the hero also swore to the goddess that he and his teammates won't attack us.

Only Wrath and the three puppet taratects remained in the throne room with me and Ariel.

I was confused so Ariel clarified her question.

"His scarf seems to be made by your spider threads. While it is weaker than the ones you produce now, it still has a high defense. It was one of the reasons why I decided to use abyss magic during our fight. Any monster who managed to ally themselves with the hero was a formidable enemy."

I frowned as I tried to remember when I gave my threads to a human. Even when I was worshipped as a divine beast, I never gave out my threads to anyone.

Hmm… Oh! I vividly remembered one of my worst memories while living in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.

Human came, raid, and burned down my home while taking that mysterious egg and my balls of thread.

"I am not sure. They stole it from me while I was a small lesser taratect and chased me out of my home."

Ariel grimaced as she nodded her head in sympathy.

I don't remember the hero being a part of that raid. That's good at least, I don't want to deal with more drama at the moment. I already have to deal with Deadbeat after all. I can't forget about Vampy and her twisted personality.

Sigh.

What did I do to deserve all this?

I told Ariel that the hero wasn't involved in that raid. The news gave her a look of relief. She would probably reject their negotiations for a treaty if they were involved. She's nice like that.

While working together with humans would be beneficial, it wasn't necessary. As long as they don't team up with the elves to fight against us, we could care less of what they were doing.

"The hero's taboo is already at level 8. Perhaps when he maxes it, we will tell them about our true intentions. If we can get the humans on our side, then we will have an easier time destroying the elves." Ariel grinned.

I smiled with her.

Have we finally received some good luck?

Potimas won't know what's coming to him.

"Oh, look into who was communicating with the hero. Someone was trying to manipulate us and get us to destroy each other. Little did they know that I'm not interested in starting a war with the humans and the hero is a peace-loving person. I can't wait to see everyone's reaction when I announce that the hero is staying in the castle!" Ariel had a devious look as she pumped her fist into the air.

I'm so lucky that she wanted to team up with me back then. Seeing the sadistic side of her personality still freaks me out.

RIP to those demons.

Author's Note: It's been a while since I wrote in the first POV. I hope I did it justice. I only finished volume 10 of the light novel so some stuff might not be accurate.

Since the planet isn't dying like in the og timeline, Ariel wasn't planning on becoming the next Demon Lord until she went to investigate (Vampy/Mera and) Kumoko's battle with Potimas. Now she sees that Potimas is doing shady things and hasn't given up harvesting MA energy for his research, she needs to step up to the plate and destroy him.

The system is working nicely and the side effects of living within the system isn't as severe as og storyline. People's souls aren't being overwhelmed with the reincarnation process and being destroyed. Meaning there's no point in going to war with humans.