Upon receiving confirmation from the geriatric king, I immediately turned my attention to the advisor who was directing an abnormal level of animosity towards me… I mean, I literally didn’t do anything to him, so why the hell did he dislike me so much already? I could understand if he had been around me for a little while, but this is the first meeting.

  “You he–here”

  I pointed at him with my long index finger, an action that he seemed to take great offence to, but he wasn’t allowed to express himself. The king had given ME the right to speak, not to anyone else–And clearly, speaking over someone who had received royal permission was a dire offence, even as I felt several negative emotions linked to anger rise within him, he didn’t say anything, or even show a reaction.

  Obviously, someone who sat in a king’s throne room all day knew how to wear a poker face at all times. Alas, he was unable to keep his negative emotions from floating over to me… What delicious emotions they were! This is some pristine resentment, it feels like well-aged wine…

  Unfortunately, my beartrap of a maw did not allow me to express the wide smile I would like to show right now.

  “Why so mad? I can feel your an–anger from across-cross the room. If you have an ob–objection, you shoul–hould express yourself before bursting an artery–ry–ry”

  The advisor frowned, glancing in the direction of his king, who made a handmotion, basically telling him to engage with me.

  “...I do not trust your kind. Monsters will remain monsters regardless of how intelligent they are. It wouldn’t be the first time one of you attempted to infiltrate a royal court to bring it down from the inside. I have read your list of demands–You seem to feast on abnormal amounts of flesh despite being made of steel. What could prove to us that you don’t seek entry here so that you can feast upon high-quality meat?”

  I slightly tilted my head to the side, my dot-like eyes flickered for a moment as they lightly tapped my lower jaw. I stared intently at him for a solid five seconds, taking a look at the advisor from several angles.

  “High-quality…? You? Do not flatter–er yourself. Humans aren’t that nu–nutritious to begin with. I much prefer meat from po–po–powerful beasts, their muscles are more developed–ed, better adapted–ed to bursts of power and violence… THIS is high-quality meat… Not a scr–scrawny, middle-aged man with bad eyesight”

  The advisor readjusted his glasses, his expression finally shifting as he frowned deeply. He was subtly turning red with sheer outrage–Whatever he intended to say would never be spoken, for the elderly king laughed out loud at my words.

  Heheh…

  That was incredibly risky…

  You can trust me to know how to read people. It was pretty obvious that the king of Beelmart wasn’t exactly the sort to take himself too seriously. In spite of his ruthless tendencies and clear wish to continue the methods of old, he was not too big on the etiquette.

  It was obvious from the way he looked around. He was aware and attentive, but did not bother trying to appear like an intimidating presence. He knew his title, and he knew the power he wielded. If something were to happen, he would react accordingly, but if not? There was no need to bother keeping up appearances.

  Others adapted to the king, not the inverse.

  Since I had made the king laugh at his expense, the advisor could only shrink back in defeat. There was nothing he could say that wouldn’t just make him look bad and easily offended. As an advisor, he needed to maintain decorum and keep his cool.

  …What the others had to say wasn’t too different. They were all simply unwilling to trust a monster, even one who had signed a contract. Which was understandable, but I had been brought in by none other than Denaiel. Red Snow was more than just an enforcer for the crown. He wasn’t just a mere advisor like the rest, either–He was a close friend of the king. As such, his word that cooperation with me was the only way to accomplish their goal was taken very seriously.

  “Mmh… So you call yourself Maeve, right? Since my advisors are more worried about your monsterhood than anything else, no one has asked so far, but… Who gave you this name, exactly? Monsters don’t usually bother naming themselves. They typically take a name that is given to them by other people”

  The king spoke the truth. This was also why famous monsters often had titles attached to their names–Or only had a title… The only exception were intelligent monster species that organised into at least somewhat cohesive societies, but those weren’t exactly common.

  “My parents–rents gave it to me”

  “I must admit, I would have thought that a peculiar creature such as yourself wouldn’t be the kind to be born from parents”

  I tapped my lower jaw with my finger again.

  “This wou–would be because–cause I was once hu–hu–man”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Someone raised their hand for the right to speak, a right which was quickly granted.

  “I don’t believe a word of what she is saying”

  It was the first fool I mocked. Well, I don’t really care whether they believe me or not. In fact, I much prefer that they don’t trust me, so I can mix truth and lies as I please. I won’t have to be fully honest with them, which is good because I don’t want to be.

  The king shrugged.

  “If you agree to cooperation with Miss Maeve, raise your hand–If not, then do nothing”

  Many hands were raised, and even without Denaiel taking part in the vote, since this is his idea being debated, more advisors raised their hands compared to those who decided to do nothing. Although a fair bit of them did not trust a monster, they understood very well that it would be a waste not to at least try, especially considering the bad position their plan to ‘refresh’ the workforce was in.

  “Then it is decided, Miss Maeve… If you will, we would like you to demonstrate your abilities to us before engaging in any widespread operation. A room of the palace’s underground has been prepared. For the duration of the test, and for the foreseeable future if the test turns out positive, you will be lodged into a hidden guest room–Do not take offence, but we would rather not have any diplomat or visitors run into you”

  …The audience with the king did not last very long. After about thirty minutes, I exited the throne room and was escorted by two knights to my assigned private quarters. The hidden guest room was indeed quite well-hidden. It had to go through several secret passages, all to end up in an enormous room that was basically the castle’s attic.

  One of the knights pointed to a closed-off room inside the attic.

  “Miss Maeve, anything that you are granted will be delivered through this room… It is an elevator”

  I was also told about a communication device and a lot of other stuff. They had even already prepared different sets of clothing for me! In just thirty minutes at that, the maids had really worked overtime. This did tell me that the king had always been intent on accepting my offer. He had only made an audience with his advisors to give them the illusion that they had actually weighed in.

  If they had disagreed, he would have just accepted the offer anyway. He was the king after all. They gave him advice, but it was up to him to decide whether he was willing to listen or not.

  In any case, isn’t this quite the cosy place? Not only is there plenty of space, but there are even large windows through which I could observe the vast landscape… Temperatures had been dropping recently, but it seemed like Beelmart was already in the throes of winter. The horizon was snow white, and a hefty amount of the pale cold was still falling from the sky, being flung around with every strong gust of wind–The winds were howling here. Any regular house would be creaking like the bones of an old man.

  I had only heard it in passing before, but the royal palace of Beelmart was built amidst mountains, making it especially difficult to attack. This quirk had apparently helped Beelmart several times in the far past.

  Looking out of the window, I crossed my arms. I was currently experiencing an incredible opportunity, not just in the sense of what I was going to gain, but I was also infiltrating the inner workings of an entire kingdom as well.

  It was a bit of a shame that I had to do this as a steel monster instead of as a human, though. Getting into the royal court would have been incredible before my… Monsterfication, I suppose.

  Aah… The dream it would have been to marry my way in the midst of high-nobles and royals… I bet I could have easily become a king’s mistress.

  …It seems like the debates about me are not over yet. I can feel batches of negative energy coming my way. Some of those advisors really don’t like me at all. They definitely think I am going to be causing damage. They shouldn’t worry so much. The damage will only come once I have nothing more to gain from working with you guys… Everything will be fine for a long while.

  I didn’t mention the existence of my ghostly little sisters, though. Revealing them would be putting them in danger, and besides, they are not a part of the deal at all. They don’t have anything to do with curses or the nightmares.

  Now, I just need to wait…

  The wait only lasted a single day before two other knights came to fetch me. I was brought into the underground of the palace as I had been told, and presented with an elderly, crippled slave for me to curse with ‘Remember Me?’.

  Alongside this slave were wild animals, beasts, monsters, and other people who looked more like prisoners. All of them were locked in the same room and restrained in place. The goal was simple: To test how effective my method was.

  They were not disappointed. With the already dire situation all of the test subjects were in, it didn’t take long for them to become hosts of my nightmares. It was more obvious with the people, but the other creatures were also affected, becoming more and more sluggish as they failed to get the sleep they needed.

  All were awakened in terror during the night as they failed their trials. Even the advisors had to admit that it was promising. This was only due to the effects of a single carrier, if this were replicated with hundreds–Or thousands of carriers spread across an entire country, strategically placed into crowded cities… The results could easily be imagined.

  I never revealed how the final trial worked, and I made sure to be tucked away inside my lovely attic when it was time to engage in a final trial. As such, the reason why those plagued by my nightmares ended up dying a gruesome death remained somewhat mysterious… Or rather, they had the wrong idea.

  They merely assumed that my nightmares were like a countdown toward death. They weren’t aware that there had been survivors, so to them, becoming a host of nightmares was certain death.

  They didn’t ask me specifically how lethal it was, so I didn’t tell them. In general, I didn’t speak to them unless they talked to me first. That way, I had plausible deniability for my lack of transparency on certain topics.

  Anyway… I ended up slaughtering every test subject inside the nightmares. I made sure to be extra brutal and vicious to really create a spectacle.

  Naturally, cooperation with me was fully greenlit, and ‘Operation Bad Dream’ was started… I am not a big fan of the name, to be honest.

  The name is besides the point, however… Here come my days of lazing around and reaping benefits like a parasite. I love living like a noble.