Greed God chapter 122

February 24th 2016 Gemworld 7:00 PM EDT

Graciel's  eyebrows rose in surprise. Not shock, which I would have expected, but  she was thrown off balance at least. It was an admirable display of self  control given the circumstances. She studied me carefully, clearly  going over the things she knew and thought she knew. My bloodline was  probably obvious to her even now, being a B ranker, I was betting she  could sense it in these close quarters. Being the ruler of this nation  had to have some perks, and she'd mentioned my bloodline specifically  without any word from me.

As she stared, I waited. The  biggest mistake most people make when lying is thinking they have to  fill the silence. They say something untrue, and then assume that since  the other person hasn't responded, their position is shaky and they need  to add more details. They throw in unnecessary information and sloppy  details because they're nervous and they think it makes them sound  believable, almost always slipping up and giving themselves away, or at  the very least arousing suspicion with their nerves.

The  truthful do not fear silence. Facts don't become less factual because  the other person doesn't believe you, or because they aren't responding.  No matter how hard you stare at someone telling the truth it won't  change, so a lie shouldn't change either. In fact, silence, when wielded  by a skilled liar, can be turned back on it's wielder. People like to  think of themselves as formidable, and if someone stares you down and  you don't blink, confirmation bias tells them you must be telling the  truth.

You would think a Princess would be less  susceptible to that bias, but in point of fact it's the opposite. People  in power are used to being obeyed, and just like with Morgan Edge, if  you showed someone something they expected to see, no matter how canny  they were, they wouldn't question it. I watched Graciel parse every bit  of information she had, and come to conclusions that wildly differed  from reality, because they fit into her worldview better than the truth.  I was an out of context problem, and it would be crazy to assume any of  the truth about me.

I was the son of a dragon? Well  obviously I was dragonkin, and dragons had dragonkin children. My dragon  parent was an unknown dragon she had never heard of? She could feel my  bloodline, and she wouldn't have ever seen it before, so again, that was  a given. That dragon was powerful? All dragons were powerful as far as  she knew. She had no real choice but to add two and two and get twenty  two. I watched all this churn through her mind, until she finally spoke.  "What are your intentions?"

Her voice was still cordial,  maintaining the diplomatic casualness she'd shown earlier, treating me  as a peer. It was a good tone to move forward on, and she wasn't stupid  enough to pick a fight with a dragon she didn't know over nothing. I  straightened from my bow, turning to cast my gaze at Amaya. "Your  majesty, I have traveled far from my home, seeking to make my own way in  this world, to create my own legacy. I've begun the process of building  my territory, but I have always been lacking for one thing. I knew not  what this was, simply that there was a hole in my heart that I could not  fill, until I first set eyes on an image of princess Amaya."

The  blonde girl, about my age, was a stunner. She looked a lot like her  aunt, though with plumper lips and less of a resting bitch face. Her  nose was a bit more aquiline and her eyes a bit bigger, glimmering a  gorgeous violet, and as I spoke, they widened in shock. Her cheeks  flushed, and internally, I grinned. D ranker or not, she was a deer in  the headlights. I didn't appraise her, I didn't want to risk it this  close to the her mother after she detected my bloodline. It was probably  a pointless worry, but it would be a stupid way to die if I was wrong.

Amaya  cleared her throat, her voice husky and somewhat nervous. "I...I'm sure  we've never met before my lord. I find this boldness a tad  overwhelming." Her tone was a bit hesitant, probably trying to sound  courtly despite being from earth where no one talked like this. I  imagined that was harder to do when you were shaken. "I'm not sure what  it is you expect of me, but I have no interest in a diplomatic  marriage." I imagined more than a few people had tried that tactic, but  they were idiots, diplomatic marriages in matrilineal dynasties were  much rarer since marrying out your heir was pure stupid.

Someone  might have been able to marry IN to Amethyst, but anyone with the  pedigree to even get in the door with an offer like that was bound to be  a powerful member of their faction and unwilling to abandon all their  land and titles to come be a consort for a girl who probably wouldn't  become ruler for centuries. I had confirmed that nobles lived longer  than most, and the higher the rank the longer they lived. Contrary to  how it may appear though, knowing that Amaya had turned down a bunch of  other guys wasn't bad news, it was good news.

The most  important part of this whole plan was my understanding of the situation.  Amaya was an earth girl, living in a literal magic kingdom, probably  slowly becoming disillusioned with Gemworld politics and at the same  time reeling at become a magic princess. Amaya's entire world right now  was a weird mishmash of fairy tale and political drama, and I imagined  she was getting whiplash from dealing with it. That whiplash could be  used to my advantage though, because fairy tales had more than just  magic princesses in them. Fairy tales also had a handsome prince.

Back  on earth you had to slow play the harlequin romance vibe if you wanted  to get in a good girl's panties. If you went too hard it became obvious  you were full of shit, and you might scare her off. Here though,  everything about this place screamed fairy tale. If I was a perfect  handsome prince, it wouldn't seem suspicious, because to Amaya that was  just part of Gemworld, and the place was already weird as hell. So I did  one thing no self respecting gamesman ever does when hunting prey. I  went full simp.

I dropped to one knee, bowing my head. "I  seek only bask in your highnesses radiance. To be allowed to hear the  angelic choir of your voice, and sun myself int he blinding light of  your smile. A few days to get to know each other, a few conversations to  learn more about you. Would you grant me such a favor?" I made sure to  meet her eyes, and as much as I REALLY wanted to hit her with Eros and  Psyche I didn't. It would have been too easy for someone to detect in  this kind of place.

Her cheeks flushed hotter, and her  eyes flicked from side to side. She didn't know how to react to that  kind of thing. The other nobles who tried to court her probably came at  it from a political angle, but Amaya was an earth girl in a fairly tale  kingdom. She wanted to swept off her feet. Well, she THOUGHT she wanted  that. If I actually stuck with this character she'd get sick of the  simpering wuss within a week or two, but I wasn't an amateur. This was  just an in, once we got some time alone together I had ways of pushing  boundaries that would cement the image in her head of me as a secret bad  boy.

Most people who tried to seduce women made the  mistake of going either full positive or full negative. Not giving a  fuck could drop a pair of panties, and coming on strong could do the  same, depending on the situation. But if you wanted to really hook a  girl, you needed to run hot and cold. Positive, negative, too much of  either and you became predictable and boring, but just like a roller  coaster, ups and downs were exciting, as long as you rode the line  right, jerking a girl around was how you got her full on addicted.

I  could have looked back to Graciel then, she was probably waiting for  that, but in the end I didn't need her. It wasn't feasible to make  Graciel mine, not in a short period of time, same with Mordiel. Amaya  though, was vulnerable, and I needed to make sure that I caught her  interest in just the right way. I made sure my gaze was hot and intense,  showing a bit of lust mixed in the longing, because sweet little  princess or not, when you're going with the handsome prince tactic  you  need to make sure a girl knows you want to fuck or you might get friend  zoned, and I didn't have time for that shit.

It  would have been nice to be able to quantify this kind of thing, but  when you've gotten enough girls in bed you just kind of developed an  instinct for it. Most guys made the mistake of thinking they had to  project strength and machismo at all times. While women didn't actually  usually enjoy vulnerability long term, most of them thought they did, so  showing a sensitive side for short periods of time were a good opener,  even it got boring to them fast. Amaya, as I had suspected, was one of  those girls and this whole thing was hitting her out of left field.

She  swallowed hard. "I...suppose some time could be set aside. Perhaps you  could take me on a tour of the quarry. I'm sure the kingdom would like  to take stock of its potential assets, and we could further discuss out  collaboration while we get to know each other better." Perfect. Her tone  was steady, but her expression was a bit shy. She was successfully off  balance. Now I just had to make sure to keep her on the hook with the  hot and cold tactic. It was harder than the honey trap I used on Hildie,  but I would need Amaya around long term after all. Needed to make sure  it stuck.

Now  that I'd settled that, I finally turned my attention back to Graciel.  Far from being upset at being ignored, I saw an approving gleam in her  eye. She probably assumed that me ignoring her was a good sign, because  it meant I cared less about her approval than Amaya's good regard. Which  I did, though not for the reasons she was assuming. "You majesty. Might  you assign the princess a guard and allow her to journey with me to my  lands? I assure you her safety will be my first concern."

It  would also be useful having a high ranking Amethyst noble staying in  town to scare off any Emerald poachers who came to look into the secret  of my success. Since they would be subordinate to Amaya in matters  outside of her safety, I wouldn't need to worry about them getting in  the way of my moves either. The girls would be a bigger problem, but one  I was pretty sure I could deal with, I had a few ideas how to turn  their presence into a benefit more than a hindrance, as long as I got  Amaya interested enough before we arrived.

Graciel  stared at me sternly. "This matter concerns the health of our nation  for generations to come, so I am inclined to grant this request, but one  of my Dukes will be accompanying you on your journey. Should any harm  befall my daughter due to your actions, know that no dragon will be able  to shield you from the wrath of Amethyst. " Amaya looked mortified, but  Graciel let her scowl fade. "That said, I look forward to coming to a  deeper understanding and maintaining friendly relations between our  peoples, assuming you are sincere in that wish." I was looking forward  to that too, but I was pretty sure those relations would be a lot  friendlier than she intended. I really loved my life sometimes.