After hearing Duke Brans's words, the ministers were momentarily stunned. But after a brief pause, they suddenly realized—
It actually made a lot of sense.
After all, their King Ren was the kind of man who had once turned an entire kingdom upside down just to protect a crying little girl.
A man like that… how could he possibly compromise or submit to the Holy Empire of Lubelius?
And just as Duke Brans had pointed out, although the kingdom's strength had grown, their way of thinking was still trapped in the past.
The Kingdom of Falmuth was no longer what it used to be.
It wasn't merely one of the stronger nations among the Western Countries anymore.
They had already brought down Demon Lord Clayman.
So what if the Holy Empire of Lubelius came next?
Moreover, there was another important factor.
The nobles had now been completely hooked on the profits from stock dividends—this miraculous method of making money while practically doing nothing.
If they were forced to compromise with the Holy Empire of Lubelius, that would likely mean cutting off trade with monster nations.
And if that happened, their dividends would vanish.
Cutting off someone's source of income was practically the same as killing their parents.
Because of that, it was a rare moment when all the nobles and ministers were perfectly united on one issue:
They absolutely did not want to compromise with Lubelius.
Soon enough, events unfolded exactly as the ministers had predicted.
The first nations to start causing trouble for Falmuth were not the Holy Empire of Lubelius, but rather the other Western Nations.
In the past, Falmuth had been something like the big brother among the Western countries.
Its strength had been slightly greater than the others—but only by a small margin.
However, once news spread that Ren Kuroda, King of Falmuth, had become a Demon Lord, the surrounding nations immediately became uneasy.
The Kingdom of Falmuth was already growing stronger by the day.
Now its king was a Demon Lord as well.
Naturally, the neighboring countries worried they might eventually become his next target.
And so the Western Nations began hurling insults.
They accused Falmuth of maintaining shameful ties with monster nations, calling it a disgrace to human kingdoms and even labeling it a puppet state controlled by a Demon Lord.
They shouted loudly and aggressively.
Yet despite all the noise…
not a single one of them dared to actually take action.
At the moment, every nation was waiting to see what stance the Holy Empire of Lubelius would take.
To put it simply, the Western Nations were still afraid of the current Falmuth.
They wanted to gather together and raid the dungeon—but they were still waiting for a party leader to start the run.
As for the constant shouting from the Western Nations, Ren Kuroda simply watched coldly from the sidelines.
Others might not know the truth.
But Ren had attended the Walpurgis Banquet, so he understood something very important.
The supreme leader of the Holy Empire of Lubelius—
the so-called "Goddess Luminous"—
was actually Luminous Valentine, one of the Nine Pillar Demon Lords.
After witnessing Ren's battle with Milim, Ren didn't believe Luminous would have the courage to start a war with Falmuth.
Compared to Falmuth, the Jura Tempest Federation had far deeper hostilities with Lubelius.
Yet even that situation had ended with reconciliation.
There was no reason for Luminous to suddenly provoke Falmuth, a nation that had previously maintained fairly friendly relations with her.
And as it turned out, Ren's prediction was correct.
After several days of loud accusations from the Western Nations, the Holy Empire of Lubelius finally responded.
The figure worshipped by the Church as a divine being—
the Goddess Luminous, whom even most high-ranking clergy had never seen—
personally arrived in the Kingdom of Falmuth.
"I expected the Holy Empire might react in some way," Ren said.
"But I didn't think you would come in person."
"If the priests of your church saw this, they'd probably be pretty disappointed."
Today, Luminous wore a pure white robe, her entire presence radiating an aura of sacred elegance and nobility.
At first glance, no one would ever imagine that this woman was actually a vampire… and a Demon Lord.
Since the meeting room currently contained only Ren and Luminous, she abandoned her earlier saintly façade without hesitation.
The dignified, holy figure seen in public instantly disappeared.
Instead, she casually crossed one long, pale leg over the other.
Because she was seated directly across from Ren and showed no intention of hiding anything, the moment she crossed her legs—
Ren's sharp eyesight caught a brief but striking glimpse of something beautiful.
Luminous noticed his gaze immediately.
But instead of being embarrassed, she looked at him with a teasing smile.
"Well?"
"Did you enjoy the view?"
"Should I slow down the movement and do it again so our Demon Lord can get a clearer look?"
Being caught staring so blatantly made even Ren's face turn slightly red.
He immediately straightened up and declared with righteous seriousness that he hadn't seen anything at all.
Then he muttered under his breath:
"Damn it… you're not even a real goddess. Why the hell are you adding holy light censorship?"
To be fair, Luminous truly lived up to her Ultimate Skill, "Lord of Lust."
She was an extraordinarily captivating woman.
Her ability to impersonate a goddess wasn't just an act—she genuinely possessed that holy, divine aura.
Yet as a vampire Demon Lord, every movement she made carried a dangerous, seductive charm.
She was the type who seemed both pure and irresistibly alluring at the same time.
"Oh? This is quite a surprise."
"I heard the new king of Falmuth was a pervert with a special fondness for little girls."
"I didn't expect someone like me could also spark your interest, Lord Ren."
"If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have bothered bringing a few little girls from the church with me."
Hearing Luminous's teasing words, Ren's face instantly darkened.
He had no idea who had spread that ridiculous rumor about him liking little girls.
It was blatant slander.
Although he had tried to clarify the situation more than once, the more he explained, the worse the rumors seemed to become.
At first he had merely been called "the king who likes little girls."
But after becoming a Demon Lord…
he had somehow turned into "the Demon Lord who likes little girls."
To make matters even worse, some of the nobles, eager to curry favor with him, had on several occasions sent adorable young girls from their families to the palace, claiming they could "serve at his side."
Serve at his side?
What was he supposed to do—become their babysitter?
And these rumors had once been limited to the Kingdom of Falmuth.
But ever since Ren became a Demon Lord, they had begun spreading across other nations as well.
Now that Luminous was mocking him about it too, Ren felt his mood sink even further.
If this kept up, his Demon Lord title might eventually turn into something ridiculous like:
"The Lolicon Demon Lord."
"Enough nonsense," Ren said flatly.
"If you have something to say, say it."
"If not, I'm leaving."
"As you mentioned, I still have a bunch of little girls to go comfort. I don't have time to sit here chatting with you."
Of course, Ren didn't actually have any little girls to comfort.
He said it purely to throw Luminous's own teasing back at her.
Luminous understood that jokes had their limits.
So she quickly dropped the playful expression and became serious.
"To be honest, I shouldn't have been the one coming to Falmuth this time."
"However…"
Her voice lowered slightly.
"After the last Walpurgis Banquet, my substitute—Valentine, who served as the Pope of the Holy Empire of Lubelius—"
"When I returned home…"
"He had already been killed."