The Duke smirked as he said those words, 

"Beautiful. Very beautiful. Your highness, your answer truly moved me. I also believe that mutual interest is the way to go rather than simple blind loyalty. Then your highness, since the two of us believe in mutual interest. Pray tell me, what can you give me to make me swear allegiance to you?"

Silence fell in the office as he observed the impassive expression on the prince's face. 

Truth be told, he had already decided to throw his lot with the prince. So no matter what the prince said here, as long as it wasn't something particularly idiotic, he would still follow him. 

'Of course the better the answer the happier and more devoted I will be.'

Hermes was first and foremost a merchant before being a noble. 

As a merchant, he had the boldness to invest in a promising stock, but he also had the decisiveness necessary to cut the tail at any moment. 

Sol, unaware of Hermes's thoughts, was seriously pondering. Though, even if he was aware he would still do the same. 

Sol believed in love and friendship. But such things couldn't be formed out of anywhere. As such, the most secure form of relationships was a common interest. 

He had promised the Duke Highland to help him redress the situation of his family and accept Athena as one of his personal knights, with the chance of becoming his concubine. 

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But what did the Duke Traver need? 

This was something complicated. 

The ducal house under the order of Hermes wasn't the strongest, nor did it have the most influence. 

Because of that, they had basically no weakness. What's more, they were connected to the dwarf kingdom. Giving them more avenue

Closing his eyes, he began to accelerate his thoughts. 

What did they need the most? 

Money? 

No, the Traver lacked anything but money. 

Then, Sol grinned, 

"Duke Hermes, if I were to ask you. How strong are you compared to the other Dukes?" 

"...?" 

Hermes tilted his head in wonder but still answered. 

"In terms of power, be it myself as a Duke or our house as a whole, we are without a doubt the weakest of the four houses."

'As I thought.'

Sol grin didn't fade as he continued, 

"From what I know, it seems like the number of bandits has exponentially increased the last few months. I suppose that it must be rather troubling for you, isn't it?" 

If Hermes couldn't understand what Sol was trying to imply now, then he would have wasted all his years. 

"Indeed. Those bandits prove to be a true headache. What's more, we must pay more fees to the different ducal houses to get more protection."

"If I remember clearly back then it's how the king enticed the first Duchess right? Only, most of your rights were revoked during my father and Aunt tenure of power."

Hermes gave a bitter "Indeed." 

Back then, during the puppets King era, even though he wasn't the Duke, it didn't mean that he was spotless. He had enjoyed the advantage his father brought and he now had to pay the consequences. 

After all, who would have thought that someone like Mars would be born? The only reason that four houses hadn't been eradicated at that time was that the Hero king was too kind and refused unnecessary bloodshed. 

If the one with the blessing of luxuria had been Lilith? 

He shivered just at the thought. 

'Praise the goddess.'

As a hybrid dwarf, he could pray to any of the four goddesses without guilt, but he was still more partial to Avaritia. The goddess of Greed. 

Sol snickered a little but didn't comment further. Of course, there was no way he would give the same amount of support as his great grandfather. He didn't wish for one of the next rulers after him to become another puppet king or queen. Still, 

"What do you think? I will give you my power and you will give me your money. Pretty good right?" 

Looking at the still grinning Prince, Hermes sighed wistfully, 

'Why do I not have a daughter or a granddaughter?' 

The boy was still a little immature and inexperienced but it was nothing that couldn't be corrected with enough time. 

At the very least, the raw potential he had already shown would have been enough for him to throw his lot with the prince even if he hadn't been forced to. 

Thinking so, he caressed his beard, one of the sources of pride, and stood up from his chair before kneeling down in respect. 

Seeing this, the smirk on Sol's face gradually fell down before changing into a genuine smile. He wasn't the kind to humiliate those who decided to follow him and as such stood up. 

Now looking down at the Duke that was kneeling, Sol feels a rush of pleasure flow through his body. 

'I need to be careful to not let this feeling swallow me.'

Pride was a dangerous sin for it could make you overestimate yourself. 

"Duke Hermes Traver. Do you swear allegiance to me?" 

"I, Hermes Traver, in front of the goddess luxuria do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his highness Sol Dragona Luxuria, his heirs and successors, according to law."

Like with Duke Highland, the oath needed no other witness. 

This wasn't like in his old world where anyone could swear with impunity. 

Here, swearing in the name of the goddess was a binding worth more than thousands of contracts. The one breaking his oaths would be immediately struck down. 

Thankfully, it was impossible to coerce people into taking oaths they didn't want from the bottom of their hearts. Trying to do so would also result in being struck down. 

Thinking about the goddesses, his feelings of pride immediately abated. He had no reason to be proud as he was now. 

Neither Hermes nor Tyr would have bowed to him if he wasn't the prince of Lustburg. 

'I still need to become stronger. Smarter. More experienced. In short, I need to continue growing.'

----

[Duke Hermes house] 

In another room belonging to the mansion, a short but mature woman was focused on a screen displaying the scene of the Duke kneeling to Sol. 

"Oh~? It seems like I really underestimated him. Even if I didn't meddle, he would have obtained the same result."

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A smile bloomed on her face as she said that. Feeling pretty good, she turned toward one of the maids standing beside her. 

This maid was different from the other in the mansion. Not only because of her long and beautiful silver-white hair, nor because of her well-toned body, but rather because of the running pattern covering her body from head to toe. 

'Hehehe~! Seems like I did well in bringing her. It would be shameful if I couldn't give a gift to my godson on our first meeting after all.'

"This promise to be interesting."

She couldn't wait.