50 Tears of the Skeleton
Jack mulled it over in his mind... Besides the blatant abuse of self-praise, Emily was right. She was royalty, and so was he...
[But this bro doesn't see myself as royalty... I'm just the guy playing the Villain!] Jack retorted in his mind. Also... He couldn't just forget about Leslie. He really enjoyed his time with her. He also wanted to learn more about her.
"Attractive offer... But I'm not a lolicon." Jack replied.
"A what???" Emily asked out of concern. It seemed her direct attack had hit nothing. A complete miss... Didn't men like virgin females?
For undead, the only sign of being a virgin was the experience of a Soul Union. No physical or even soul marks would be left behind... So virgin was more of a make shift word for inexperienced, left over from the early days of the first undead that rose from their previous human life. It would be easy for Jack to understand, seeing as he was among the living not long ago...
"A lolicon is... a guy who likes small young girls." Jack said while trying to explain what a lolicon was... What he said was the simplest explanation he could think of... As being a lolicon was far more than just that, but that would be for another day.
Jack refused. Not because she was a loli... In fact, Jack was a part of a group of rather subtle gentlemen in his last world. He liked thick plot, but he also liked flat justice! This could be attributed to the fact that Jack just liked women period. All shapes, sizes, and in-between. This was one of the reasons that, even though Verruca was a muscle chick, he still liked her. He just liked women.
No, Jack refused on the grounds that he didn't know Emily well, or what her kingdom wanted. He had never seen or heard of a free lunch, and this loli was not attractive enough in appearance or personality wise to Jack to pay the price to have her. Jack favored Leslie so much simply because she had flesh, and appealed to his sexual attraction he retained from his last life. This was the exact opposite of what Emily thought... Even Leslie was convinced by Emily, that Jack had a bone fetish.
"But... but... but... I'm a skeletal undead princess....." Emily said... If she could breath, then she would have felt breathless.
"I believe you already introduced yourself, so I don't get your point."
"Your Consort is a Zombie undead!"
"Ah... Yeah..." Jack wasn't following her point.
"What do you mean 'yeah???' I'm better than her with just this regard! Not to mention she doesn't come from a royal family!" Emily couldn't wrap her head around how Jack didn't get what she was trying to say...
Jack slightly taken back. He had seen self-centeredness, but this was his first time encountering it in this new world. The more things change; the more they stay the same.
"I don't know what difference it makes on what kind of undead you are, but as far as being royal or of royal decent... Just because people decided to listen to your ancestor doesn't make you royal. Before your ancestor became king or queen, they were just a commoner. Anyone can become royalty, so long as they have strength and support..."
Emily received a huge impact from this. She wanted to say the Witch King was wrong... That he was mad, but she couldn't find a counter argument for being royal. However, she had to be heard on another topic, "Skeletal undead are better than Zombie undead... You being a Skeletal undead should know this, so why did you take a lesser undead as your Consort? Take me as your consort, as your wife, as your Queen! No one would disapprove of this choice."
Before Jack could interject, Emily continued, "You could gain power over our Grand Tomb, as well. My mother would certainly grant you a dowry! You want more undead to serve you? We have legions of Zombie undead that we could gift you! You want food supplies? We have tons of food for the Zombies of your nation? You want more land? We can grant you one hundred square km of land that borders between us! You want Burnt Offerings? We have dust exclusively used by our Royal Family, Spider's Bane! Granted by the Kilo whenever you want! You want more personal power? My mother would even be willing to gift you a fragment of the Tome "Lich's Dream!" If I can't satisfy you... You can... You can take as many concubines as you want! My Grand tomb has plenty of beauties if you want! Skeletal ladies of all types, all ages, and all... your preferences..."
Emily had just poured out every enticement she could think of to hook the Witch King....
Out of nowhere, even to Jack, he spoke harshly, "No... All undead are equal in the eyes of death...."
Jack felt slightly strange... This wasn't exactly something he thought before, but now that he said it... He felt it was right! He didn't even know why he said it. He had disregarded her entire offer, and focused only on her previous statement. Skeletal undead are better than Zombie undead.
Emily mulled over the words in her mind... She felt that these words made sense, but also they sounded stupid. She wasn't sure how to respond to this statement, but she couldn't back down from the offer she had made.
Honestly, Emily should of backed off from the start, and tried more subtle ways with Jack... Emily had never actually tried to employee her knowledge in real world applications. She lacked experience.
"Disregarding this topic, the offer still stands. You can benefit greatly from our kingdom! You can even keep your consort!"
"But how would my Consort feel about this?" Jack asked looking down at the little loli that had stood up in her chair, but was still shorter than Jack.
"What do her feelings have to do with this? You're the king! You get what you want! You can have me! You can have many of my kingdom resources! We also want to ally our military with Deagoth! We will even give you command of half of our standing forces!!!"
Emily continued to throw any and everything she could think of to Jack; however, Jack remained passive. In reality if he had spoken with Emily four days ago when he first arrived about this, he might of been swayed, but after his conversation with Leslie. He got rid of that thought process. Women had their own minds, and weren't property! They weren't property in his last life... and they weren't in this life. He could have many if he wanted, but these ladies would have to agree to it. It wasn't that he couldn't have a harem, but they it came with free choice.
"I hear what you're saying, but let me ask this another way... How would you feel if you were already my consort, and another princess decided to show up, let's say from...? Jakahn."
Emily listened quietly, as Jack continued, "She came to me and offered me the same as you have and more, and I am swayed. I take her as my consort, or even promised queen. How would you feel?"
Emily didn't say anything. She didn't say anything, nor did Jack for a long while, before Jack stepped forward.
Emily looked up at the flaming eyes of The Holy Witch King. Those eyes, while fierce looked extremely gentle to her. For the first time... Emily wished she had flesh to just so she could cry.
Jack reached out with his hand, and ran his large skeletal fingers through Emily's hair. Emily shuddered, as Jack preformed this action. While she might of been tempting him the entire time, his heavy handed action shown by the hill of skulls outside sowed a bit of fear in her heart. She still viewed him as the mad king, but she felt slightly at odds with herself, as she wanted to caress this large bony hand.
Jack removed his hand and turned to walk out the door, only leaving these words behind, "Let's leave it at this today. I want you to think more about what I asked. How would you have felt...?"
The door made a light sound as it closed behind the Witch King. Emily sunk into her chair. She had felt many emotions today... Fear, hope, disbelief, anger, and a pang of jealousy...
While her thoughts on the Witch King were slightly clouded by the mass killings that took place outside, she had to admit that his words had plenty of logic. Some of his words challenged her values, but she found it hard to counter...
[Why did he take a Consort, before I got to meet him...? He could be my husband, and regard my feelings...] Emily thought sadly, and a rare phenomenon occurred. Through the sadness of her existence. To be raised as an offering and freely given away, to have no actual freedom, but told you are privilege, and then to be turned down at the last sliver of hope... Emily was a washed in emotions. A single tear drop formed into existence in the hollow of her left eye socket, and rolled down her face.
Tears of the Skeleton were not widely known or understood. What little information there was could only state that it was possible that due to the emotions of the undead and the cultivation level, they could, under extreme duress, produce tears. These tears had magical properties. It was unfortunate that Emily did not feel or notice the tear, as it fell onto her regal dress and faded away...