Reborn as the Fated Villain

Damien couldn't believe how well the meeting went. He knew the king doted on his daughter and used that to his advantage. Asking for her hand in marriage was a clever way to set the bar high and appear reluctant to accept anything less. Since the king placed such high value on his daughter's marriage, it was a critical weakness, enabling Damien to pressure the king into an absurd deal. To become a duke and acquire a car worth more than a mansion, all because he saved a cousin of the princess? This might be one of the most lopsided deals in history.

And it had all been made possible by abusing his game knowledge and overselling his capabilities.

"It's a deal!" Damien quickly stood up and clapped his hands. Usually, a handshake would be common courtesy to seal a deal, but he didn't like the idea of touching hands so just gave a smile instead.

Although he acted like the assassin's attempts to harm him were meaningless, he was lucky the king dismissed them when he did. A few seconds longer, and a dagger would be in his back. He could barely stand at the moment due to his empty mana reserves giving him an awful headache. Luckily his Noble Aura kept up his graceful appearance, preventing him from fainting on the spot.

The king gave a weary smile back and then explained to Damien the details of their deal.

"I hereby grant Damien Nightshade the honorary title of duke. As you are a royal from another 'kingdom,' I cannot grant you true nobility without a marriage agreement, but since I was the one who refused the marriage, I will still grant you some land and property befitting of your position."

Damien gave the old king a knowing smile. "You wish to hand me the wasteland to the north and let me deal with the vampires, right?"

The king, who was apprehensive about revealing this matter, was glad that Damien brought it up himself. "Yes, since you are only an honorary noble and not a true noble, I cannot gift you useful land, as you might use it to stage a takeover of Kassinki. However, the northern wasteland is ineffective for raising an army and lacks any natural resources."

"There is also an abandoned castle that you may use as a personal residence if you desire. There is a village nearby called Blackthorn Village, which has a population of five hundred people. You may decide how you tax them. Since it's such a small population, I won't demand any tax from you."

The king glanced at Emilia, who still had stars in her eyes from the enlightenment. "The car and driver will also be provided as part of the deal you made with my daughter. Dukes usually have a house in the capital. Do you want a house here, or would you prefer its value in money?"

Damien had been expecting everything else, but this last statement from the king caught him off guard. Did he need a house in the capital? He had a duel tomorrow and planned to use the living space provided to the Head Librarian or Head Professor.

If the king gave him his own house, he would need to hire staff to cook and clean the place and security guards to ensure it was kept safe. He had just been given a lot of land and an abandoned castle that would need a lot of renovations done to it. Money was far more important to him right now. Also, the king might scam him and give him a trashy house here in the capital that also needed renovations or was in a bad part of the city.

Damien gave the king an appreciative glance and replied calmly, "The money would be greatly appreciated."

The king nodded, "That makes things easier for me." He called over a man with a gesture. The summoned butler presented a wooden box that contained one hundred platinum coins, the equivalent of a million gold coins. Judging by this amount of money, the king did indeed intend to give Damien a rather useless house.

A million gold was a lot of money for regular spending, but for purchasing a mansion in the noble district within the center of the city, well, it wouldn't even buy the smallest house.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

One of Damien's favorite pastimes was buying and decorating houses once he reached the 'end game.' After completing the storyline, the player was free to do anything, and for Damien, collecting wealth and real estate was his favorite pastime. Leveling up from diving into S-grade dungeons was only fun for the first hundred times, but after playing for five years, those repetitive dungeon crawls became dull.

Damien took the box containing the platinum coins and put the coins in the pocket of his suit. When he unlocked the Spatial Inventory skill, he would feel a lot more secure carrying so much money around.

The king nodded and then spoke again. "For the honorary title of duke, gifted territory, and wealth, I, as the King of Kassinki, expect Damien Nightshade to protect the region from the threat of vampires and impart his magical knowledge to the people of Kassinki. You must also treat Oshal as an enemy."

"Do you accept these conditions?"

Damien nodded without a second thought. He could break these conditions when he became powerful enough in the future anyway. He knew the vampires had no plans to invade at least for the next few years. Additionally, he was a university lecturer at a magic school; of course, he would impart some of his magical knowledge.

He still needed the job at the university as these platinum coins would quickly be spent on renovations, clothes, new weapons, and more. Also, he still needed the protection of the Mage Tower to survive his brother's assassins that would be after him in a year's time. Blackthorn Village's taxes should only net him a hundred gold a month, hardly enough to hire guards to stand against the vampire assassins.

There were many hidden powerhouses amongst the vampires, some even touching the realm of S-tier. They had been alive for hundreds of years, after all. If Damien killed the first group of assassins, the vampires would see that as a direct challenge to their authority, and they would come after him in full force. Even if he raised his Psychic magic and Spatial magic to A-grade, he still felt his chances of survival were slim.

The king took a step back, making space for Emilia to step forward. She presented Damien with a golden key. "For the gift of the car and the driver, I expect at least one private magic lesson a week for a few hours. It's also compensation for my negligence with your security today."

Damien gave a charming and appreciative smile toward the princess while taking the presented key. "I will be in your care then, Princess."

After signing some legal documents with his blood, Damien had officially become a duke. He felt today was very productive considering he woke up at midday.

After an intense morning of magical study, he'd fought a necromancer and an army of ghouls. After arriving at the city, he acquired many useful things for his future and it wasn't even dinner time yet.

The dukedom of Nightshade had officially begun, and Damien planned to use both the village and castle to stage his defense against Prince August.

Not only would his elder brother try to assassinate him, but he also wasn't safe here in Kassinki. Prince August was a massive human supremacist who also craved the vampire's secret to immortality. Once he acquired the throne in a year's time, he would hunt down all the vampires while turning the beastkin into slaves and use their dead bodies to raise an undead army.

Although Damien recently defeated a necromancer, it was a close battle that he barely won. Furthermore, he had a team of elves who depleted the necromancer's mana supply, and the necromancer himself was only B-grade.

Meanwhile, Prince August served as the final boss of the Kassinki storyline. He was not only A-grade in necromancy but also B-grade in Wind magic. In addition to being an incredibly powerful mage, he possessed a vast intelligence network and many strong servants.

Damien's current plan was to safely scale up his power while staying under the protection of the university. He would then acquire enough wealth to fully develop his dukedom and train some guards. He would then use his territory to retake the throne once Prince August seized it in a year's time.

Damien gave a bow to his "king" and left the palace. He found his car waiting outside and an incredibly nervous Walter in the driving seat. Damien gave him a smile as he entered the back seat.

"Walter, you are now one of my people. So long as you do your job and don't disappoint me, we shall get along just fine."

Walter swallowed his saliva and nodded in appreciation. "I hope to live up to your expectations, young master. Where do you wish to go?"

Damien thought for a while and decided getting his weapons made would take the longest, so he should get that sought out before the duel tomorrow. He turned to Fay and asked, "Do you know the location of a blacksmith?"

Fay thought for a moment, then responded, "Oh yeah, I met this really funny dwarf the other day… He seemed competent and friendly enough." She then gave directions to Walter, and he began moving the car with his water jets.

Damien leaned back and let out a deep sigh. He still had so much to do.