How I Became the Strongest Sovereign

3 months had passed and the Elven Kingdom had been fully rebuilt with the Dwarven race's help. Now it was restored to its former beauty. 

I nodded at the guard standing at the entrance. Watching as the gates opened, I craned my neck over my shoulder, looking back at Malia who looked unimpressed.

I was invited to meet the Elven royal family by Leilani a while ago and she kept sending invites to the mansion so I thought I might as well see how the elven royal family was doing after the demon attack. 

Jace told me that Johan was actually Prince Johan IV of the Elven Kingdom so I wanted to visit a good friend too. I was still surprised that Johan was the big brother of Leilani. I was actually quite stupid for not noticing he had a prince title and was of the elf race. I guess I was caught up in all the chaos. 

I decided to bring Malia, who progressively started to act less and less like the Malia I knew. It wasn't a bad thing. She just reminded me a lot of Nina and it gave me some serious deja vu sometimes.

The gates fully opened, giving us the full view of the huge house towering over the kingdom.

"This way, Mr Amara and Ms Stronghold." The guard guided us, addressing us formally.

We followed the straight red carpet laid out in front of us, leading us to the entrance where we were met by the King. I searched for his queen but she was nowhere to be seen, yet I shook his hand with a warm smile… that was until I entered.

Malia finally had a change of expression, her eyes widening and glowing orange. Why was she activating her fire mana? She started to radiate heat and I swear I heard a low purr.

Surrounding the King's throne, layed a harem of elves. They all wore the same attire: white silk high-waisted skirts which were to their ankles. Two slits went down the side of each leg and the skirt's material was thin, leaving little to imagination. They wore gold belts and a gold bow on their heads, all styled in different ways. Their top was worse. The white vest they wore was also kind of see through and a single golden strap held it up. 

Sheesh, I was speechless. This man was living the life!

"You like them?" the King said proudly. "You can choose anyone you like my friend." he smiled sickly. Ugh what a weirdo. I'd be embarrassed if he was the ruler of my kingdom.

"No-" I tried to refuse but was interrupted by an excited and happy squeal. Malia jumped up and down in excitement while clapping her hand.

"Choose that one Zeref. Oh actually that silver haired- no that curvy one." she scanned her options happily, pointing out different girls who looked more than happy to be considered an option.

"Wha- No, No, No. We are not-'' I met her eyes to see her look at me with big puppy eyes. She sniffed and her shoulders dropped in disappointment. I thought she would be happy I didn't want one. She was always mad when I'd talk to Sara but I didn't see how this was any different.

I felt Voadhailis's presence appear to the surface of my mind. 'That was before she started acting weird.' he smirked.

'What's that supposed to mean?' I grumbled, putting up a defense.

'I'm just saying Zeref. She has been acting really suspicious after waking up. How do you know that is Malia?'

'Don't be stupid. She smells and looks the same.'

'Who the f*ck sniffs a person?' he said before I blocked him from giving me anymore input of his dumb thoughts.

"They all look really yum- I mean pretty." she pouted. "Fair skin, nice smelling blood-"

"What?"

"Nice smelling perfume." she corrected herself, nervously.

I sighed but before I could agree to getting one for her, the king opened his big fat mouth.

"You know, she could be a really nice collection to my harem." he smirked, rubbing his beard while staring at Malia's back then her bosom.

I didn't hesitate to lift him up by his collar. "WHAT THE F*CK DID YOU JUST SAY?!" 

"Oh sheeeeesh... F*CK HIM UP ZEREF!" Malia said, laughing excitedly. Normally, she would've slapped my hand and scolded me for being irrational and hot headed. 

Something was definitely wrong.

'I told you!' Voadhailis yelled.

'Didn't I block you?' I sighed.

"Shut up, you can't block me. I'm in your head.' he replied before I pushed his talking to the back of my head again. Why was this dragon so chatty today?

I let go of the King's collar causing Malia to awe in disappointment and the King to fall on his bum. What shocked me the most was what she did next?

"I'm 13 years old, you weirdo." she scoffed, kicking his hip.

Malia would never-

'I TOLD YOU!!' Voadhails yelled.

'OK NOW SHUT UP! I'm trying to think MY thoughts!!!' I yelled back in frustration.

The King stood up absolutely infuriated. "HOW DARE YO-"

"Father!!!" Leilani came in at a perfect timing, frolicking up to us in a showy dress. "I'm in a happy mood, don't ruin it." she said in a sing-songy voice.

The King's face switched to a big smile at seeing his daughter. "M-My beloved princess Lani. Daddy would never upset yo-"

"SHUSH!" she put her hand in his face before twirling her hair between her fingers and gazing at me.

"Zer-" she reached her hand out to me just for it to be taken by an excited looking Malia.

"Malia stronghold. Honour to meet you princess." she smiled charmingly. Surprisingly, Leilani blushed shyly, squeezing Malia's hand while shaking it.

"Father." someone else entered, swinging the door open swiftly while striding towards us. He was in his early 20s and was muscular. He stood tall at 6ft 5 and had black curly hair along with green eyes like Leilani. His eyes were more of a duller green whereas Leilani had bright and noticeable green eyes.

Malia and Leilani both turned to look at him and they both mirrored each other's expression. They looked equally as disgusted but I didn't know why.

"Ugh, another boring man." Malia whispered to Leilani causing her to giggle.

"That's my brother" she snickered, still holding Malia's arms.

"Ew."

"Omg, I love you already." Leilani squealed, holding both of Malia's hands in front of her. She turned and winked at me before dragging Malia away.

"Bring the snacks- I mean harem." she said and all the women followed them out of the room. I noticed the clear mischievous smirk spread widely across Malia's face.

Bringing her was a terrible idea...

**

"So you're the hero, I've heard so much about. It's a pleasure to meet you Zeref Amara. My name is Prince Landon IV; I'm the next in line in inheriting the throne." The Prince shook my hand, before gesturing to me to follow him. 

I smiled, nodding and following him to an open balcony. There was picturesque scenery just outside, which eased the tense atmosphere a little. The luscious greenery danced with the breeze and birds chirped flying from branch to branch.

We both took a seat admiring the scenery. This reminded me of my times as a King, just aimlessly gazing into the green to escape responsibilities and reality.

"Tell me more about yourself Mr Amara. Leilani never stops talking about you and I'm intrigued as to what kind of person you really are. Tell me more about yourself." He took a sip of tea from one of the cups.

"I do a lot of things, such as being a hunter for the Hunter Association, being the Owner of the bank but most importantly I'm a businessman."

"And about Leilani, she is like a sister to me. I have no intention of getting with her or becoming your brother in law." I said, grabbing a cup of tea and taking a sip too.

"No matter how much I think about it, nothing adds up. There's no answers on you; spies, researchers, they all found nothing from digging up your files and records.

"Who are you really? How can a peasant from the boonies like you achieve so much? What's your trick? Are you working with the demons?" Prince Landon's voice became serious, as he raised his killing intent.

He probably thought I was some sort of threat. 

"Firstly, Mr Prince. I'm not some peasant from the boonies and I have no tricks. Please do not disrespect me like this again," I smiled making shivers go down his spine. The warm temperature dropped in octaves as the atmosphere around us began to freeze at my words. 

"I have no ill intentions against you or anyone in that matter except for Umbra. I have made it this far with my own hard work and power." I said restraining my mana pressure.

Landon straightened himself, wiping his lips with a handkerchief, "Now that I've made sure you're who you say you are, I have some things that I need your help with.

"As I said earlier, I'm going to become the next King of the Elanor Kingdom. At the moment my foolish father has slacked off after our mother's death and the reputation and dignity of the Elven Kingdom is falling. 

"Our economy is dying and we're making less advancements in technology than previous years. We're suffering and I need a way to make the Elven Kingdom rise back to its former glory." Landon's eyes showed sincerity this time and expressed his discontent with the matter.

"I understand but why would you want my help? I'm just a mere human." I said, refilling my cup of tea.

"I'm a businessman myself and I can tell when a business opportunity presents itself to me. You're that business opportunity. I know you're hiding a lot of things from me." Prince Landon put one leg over the other and played with a small ball in his hand.

"How can I help you?" I asked.

"The only thing I want you to do is help close the gap between the rich and the poor. Help the poor get richer and the rich stay the same. Overall, I want you to help the economy grow within our small kingdom." 

"So...You want me to help the poor by giving them their own businesses? Won't that cause issues?"

"No, not really. I'll handle political matters using my father's authority; You can do whatever you want in this 2 week period." He said, swirling the ball around his hand.

"I think helping that many new businesses open up will be troublesome, I'll only help a few; that should cause a positive multiplier effect and help the economy in itself." I said, placing the empty cup down, "...But what will I get in return?"

"Firstly, we will become brothers in arms. I will help you whenever you are in need of anything and secondly, I will provide you with anything you want as long as your request is in my power." His offer sounded intriguing and having such a strong backer would be perfect for me.

"That's fine. I accept the deal." I smiled, shaking his hand.

This deal would bring me more benefits in the future. Making the future Elven King be in my debt could help out with all sorts. Maybe I could even negotiate for a piece of the Elven Forest; Meditating near the Yggdrasil tree would help with ranking up my mana pool stage.