DEMON'S VIRTUE

Eiro watched the King's carriage come to a halt in front of his manor, and a few moments later, Solomon stepped out of it in a dignified manner. His personal guards were told to wait outside the main entrance, while the Demon quickly made his way out of his study before dropping down to the first floor, meeting Solomon in the sitting room.

As Eiro flapped his wings to stop his fall as he came out of one of the hidden passages, Solomon let out a deep sigh, "How great... I have a meeting with other nobles after this, and you ruined my hair..."

"I wasn't aware you really cared about things like that." Eiro pointed out, and Solomon quickly shook his head, "I don't usually, but my wife demanded I take care of my appearance for this. After all, I need to look as clean and well-taken care of as possible to try and calm down those nobles after a certain 'someone' just caused something that could seem like an attack from the outside." Solomon pointed out, while Eiro awkwardly turned his head to the side.

"Right... sorry about that, I just couldn't hold myself back." He apologized, while Solomon sat down on one of the couches with a deep groan, "Right. And what explanation do you have for losing your temper this time?" The King asked, not really expecting to hear anything that he actually would need to worry about, since Eiro usually had nearly everything under control himself.

"Well, Arc's and Sammy's parents suddenly showed up, demanding that I 'give them back' after they accused me to be a kidnapper that is holding them against their will." Eiro said bluntly, since he figured that summed it up pretty well, for the most part.

Solomon sat there, completely stunned, as he uncrossed his legs and slowly leaned forward, letting his face rest on his hand, "Right, of course..." He muttered, "Of course it's actually something serious this time..."

Eiro slowly sat down on the couch opposite to the one that Solomon was currently sitting on, and proceeded to explain what exactly happened earlier today, and how Eiro had 'wrapped up' the situation for now. Of course it was obvious that those events weren't really going to be the end of it, but Eiro figured that it had at least bought them a little bit of time to figure everything out further.

"You have quite horrendous luck, you know? Both the Kiliar and Gilhart households possess quite a bit of influence within the Ramguard Kingdom. The Gilharts, despite only being viscounts, are the head of a large trading conglomerate that trades in anything you can imagine. Despite the fact that we try not to interact with them too much due to some of the wares that they actually trade, that is only the case when we have the leisure to either form contracts with other countries directly or have certain things produced within Skyhart itself. There are still some items that we can only get through their means." Solomon explained, and Eiro let out a deep, annoyed sigh.

"Which means that they hold quite a bit of power not only within Ramguard but also a lot of negotiative power within Skyhart. Well great. And the Kiliar household... I heard that they've been trusted advisors to Ramguard's royal family for generations, right? Making that particular pair-up especially troublesome." Eiro muttered quietly, as he looked at Solomon nervously, albeit with a determined expression.

"Solomon, no matter what, I will never-" Eiro said with clear determination in his voice, but he was quickly interrupted by Solomon, who didn't want him to continue that thought for even a moment.

"We obviously won't hand Arc and Sammy over, don't worry about that. Something like that will never, ever happen. If we did, it would be like just giving up in the face of the lightest threat. And obviously, I can't fail my friend like that." The King said with a smile on his face, and Eiro managed to slightly relax in response to that.

The Demon took a deep breath as he tried to think about how they should deal with that, when Solomon pointed something out, "I'm supposed to have a meeting with those two families sometime over the next week or so as well, and it seems like they made arrangements to stay for quite a while. As long as they need to be here, it seems."

"Great... I figured they wouldn't give up that easily, but I was hoping that they wouldn't end up being this... desperate." Eiro muttered, crossing his arms, "Well, they're here to get some form of long-term benefits for their families. Would it be possible to give them something of worth that could replace Arc and Sammy?"

"I doubt so, except if you would like to offer yourself as a vassal to either of them."

"Threats are also always an option." Eiro pointed out, but Solomon quickly shook his head.

"No, I don't really think so. That can very easily backfire." The king replied, while Eiro slowly thought about what he should do, letting out a deep, annoyed sigh.

"We could also just... You know... Kill them..." Eiro grumbled, "But if possible, I would like to avoid that. I doubt Arc and Sammy would want to see them dead."

"Is it even really necessary for us to do anything?" Solomon asked, and Eiro raised his brows, "What do you mean, exactly?"

Solomon slowly stood up from the couch and started to pace around the room, and quickly explained his mindset, "You see, from what you told me, they don't have any sort of proof that they're their children. So if we needed to, we could just fabricate proof for the opposite."

"Oh? Skyhart's king is offering to break a few laws for me?" Eiro asked with a smirk, "Although, I do like that idea."

"I already broke plenty of laws for you by this point, Eiro." Solomon sighed, "But no matter that... It should be simple to produce documents to feign some sort of life here. Let's just say that you came here, adopted them, and then moved away to live with Jura. It can only be in regard to Arc and Samantha as well, we can figure something out for the others in due time. But with you and Lognir potentially working together to formulate a perfect lie, would it not be impossible for anyone else to see through it?"

"That is an interesting idea... However, they will definitely be complaining about it to other nobles in their country, or even to their king if necessary."

"Ah, I already thought about that. All we need to do is warn them about it beforehand. Do you know how long it takes for a ruler to prepare for a trip to come to another country?"

"...Not really, no."

"Let's just say... For the countries that surround us, they might be here within a month. Those further away, maybe two. However, there is a certain event coming up. With the tournaments to determine the hero's companions soon unfolding all over the continent, a certain meeting with all royal representatives had been planned. At this point, as far as I'm aware, everyone should already be prepared to leave at any moment, since nobody may know what might happen. I was thinking about suggesting that we may be the ones to host this event. At that time, a promising young noble like yourself introducing his children is not necessarily that uncommon. And if one of that daughter's nobles were to, let's say, explain just how close they all feel to their father, that might be a rather convincing situation, would it not be?" Solomon explained, and Eiro raised his brows, actually rather enjoying the idea for this plan. He slowly nodded his head, looking at the king in front of him.

"So basically, we just need to convince as many people with extremely high positions of power that we are a true family, and that the Gilhart and Kiliar families are nothing but liars that hope to monopolize on my children?" Eiro asked, and Solomon immediately replied with a smile.

"I think that might be a decently possible way to bring these things to a resolution. And well, even if we can't host, most of the royals will probably bring their own chosen champions for their respective tournament with them as well, so it wouldn't be too weird for me to bring you and your family. But it might be a bit better for us if it ended up being here, so I will try to arrange this. A location has not yet been decided upon."

"Alright, great then. That means all I need to do is figure out a way to make those guys hold off until that time, and maybe trick them a bit to assure the best possible outcome. I think that is actually a really decent plan, Solomon." The Demon said with a grin on his face, "It does sound like creating the perfect lie might be possible through this."