[Raul PoV]
"You are not Raul." Those words coming from Duke Alvaro made me wary of him.
It was an irony that the first person to realize I was not Raul was someone who did not care about him at all.
"What do you mean, Father?" I asked, playing dumb.
"Do not test my patience, Intruder," Duke Alvaro said as he released a larger aura of mana, causing several objects to crack under his magic pressure. "Raul, that boy was just a foolish child who was too naive and lacked any ambition. But here you are, suddenly facing me with a request that is either ridiculous or ambitious."
If things had come to this, it seemed there was no other choice. My strength was not yet enough to defeat Duke Alvaro, who was among the five strongest people in this country.
"My soul merged with Raul's soul; I do not know the reason why, and that is all I can say for now." I watched Duke Alvaro's facial expression change when he heard my words.
To be honest, I fabricated that explanation because I remembered that in this world, there exists magic related to souls.
"Is that so? Could it have been triggered by an artifact or something else...?" Duke Alvaro muttered, appearing to touch his chin as he thought about what I had just said.
As a mage, Duke Alvaro was naturally quite curious about what had happened to me. That was the very reason he was even brave enough to betray the Empire: to study the magical mysteries that exist in this world.
"I do not much care whether you are the real Raul or not," Duke Alvaro said as he walked back to his seat. "I am glad you replaced that useless boy; at least I see that you will be far more useful than him."
For some reason, those words bothered me. He truly was the villain with the worst personality in the game Path of Destiny. Even the Demon King cared for all his descendants despite his hatred for humans. However, all the monster in front of me cared about was his thirst for knowledge.
"I will agree to your proposal regarding the Garcia family's support for Princess Elena," Duke Alvaro said, appearing to take off a ring worn on his finger. It was the ring of power of the Garcia family. "But, with one condition."
"What kind of condition?"
Hearing my question, Duke Alvaro appeared to smile slyly, as if he were planning something evil.
***
[3rd PoV]
After Raul left, Alvaro still watched the door where the person who had taken over his son's body had gone.
"The look in his eyes indicates that he is not afraid of me," Alvaro muttered, thinking about his conversation with Raul earlier. "Could the one who entered his body be a powerful mage?"
Alvaro began to think about the possibilities of what was actually happening to his son.
In the history of this world, magic that can manipulate souls was something only high-level demons could use. A few years ago, Alvaro had made a deal with one of the Demon King's children to open a large portal connecting the two worlds.
"It seems I have to change some of my plans regarding the cooperation with those demons."
Raul's change was a variable he had not predicted before. A year from now, Duke Alvaro had originally planned to sacrifice Raul's soul to a demon to use his son as a guinea pig.
This scenario was the route that was supposed to happen in the future according to the storyline in the game Path of Destiny. However, the soul transfer of Evans—the developer of the game Path of Destiny—into Raul's body made the future plot line unpredictable.
"I suppose it doesn't matter whether he is the real Raul or not; I will still use him to achieve my goals."
***
[Raul PoV]
Inside the carriage, I observed a ring that bore the emblem of a snake coiled around a sword. With this ring, I could make a soul-binding contract with Princess Elena to support her.
But, I was sure she was not the type of woman who would want to snatch away someone's freedom just because of this. That was why I trusted her and supported her rather than the other seven candidates of the Emperor's family.
Prince Ramon, the Emperor's second son—there was no way I would surrender the fate of this country to a cunning and cruel person like him. Among the eight candidates, he was the worst.
Prince Felix, the Emperor's first son, was quite respected by many of this country's nobles. However, some of his policies in handling the rebellion in the southern region were very poor, thus creating seeds for new conflicts in the future.
On the other hand, Princess Elena, who was less prominent compared to her other brothers and sisters, possessed the qualities of being a good leader. Her subordinates in the Student Council respected her greatly; she could handle conflicts across various circles quite well, and in the future, all the Knights in the Empire would follow and be loyal to her.
Princess Elena had only one flaw: she trusted the subordinates who followed her too much. But this was what made her respected by many people, yet it was also what led to her being killed in the game Path of Destiny.
Upon arriving at the Academy, I went straight to the Student Council Building to meet Princess Elena. However, after getting there, I was told that the President was not in her room.
I then went to a lake not far from the academy. In the game, there were four places where the Princess Elena NPC always appeared, and one of them was on the edge of Lake Trebia, the place where she often practiced.
When I arrived there, I saw a blonde-haired woman holding a sword with both hands. Her gaze was focused forward and her stance looked steady. She then took a deep breath and released it slowly. The sword she gripped began to be infused with a flow of yellow lightning.
This is one of the magics Elena possesses—Lightning Blade.
She then performed seven slashes; her movements were beautiful to behold, like a professional dancer performing a show. She then ended her series of attacks with a 360-degree slash that appeared faint, forming a vortex of lightning.
At my current level, even though I already knew all her movements, I would have a very hard time fighting Elena.
I walked toward her, and Elena then turned around, noticing my arrival.
"Ah, Raul. How did you know I was here?" the President asked while putting her sword into its scabbard.
It's because I know the place where your character respauns. I wanted to answer that, but I did not want to be considered a stalker by her.
"I was just lucky to find you here, President," I replied, making an excuse. "I want to discuss something with you."
"Alright, let's go to a more comfortable place."
.
.
.
We were currently at a cafe that had recently gone viral in the capital.
It could be seen outside that the queue of people who wanted to enter this place was very full. We were able to skip that queue because I showed the ring given to me by Duke Alvaro.
I did not know that having such a privilege would be so helpful at times like this. However, the President lectured me afterward about social equality.
I would also protest if I positioned myself as the common people seeing nobles use their privileges arbitrarily. I suppose problems like this also happened in my previous world.
"So, you succeeded in convincing your father to support me?" Elena asked; her mood seemed poor after seeing my actions earlier.
I then took out the Garcia Family ring given by Duke Alvaro and placed it on the table.
"Is this real?" Elena said, surprised. She then picked up the ring while observing it closely, like a jewelry merchant. "How were you able to convince him? My father said that Duke Alvaro is a cunning and very cautious person."
The President's confusion was understandable.
Duke Alvaro agreed to support Princess Elena with a condition that we had previously agreed upon. But, I could not disclose our agreement to her now.
"You could say I made a deal that serves as a Win-Win Solution with him," I replied, making an excuse.
"Huh? What do you mean? What kind of deal?" Elena asked in confusion.
"Ughhh... I cannot tell you right now, President."
Hearing this, Elena appeared to pout. She then gave the ring back to me.
"President, what is our victory plan for the upcoming Emperor's succession election?" I wanted to hear what Elena had prepared to fight against the other candidates.
"Well... I told you, didn't I? I am currently implementing an equality policy within the Student Council," Elena answered seriously. "I also plan to enter the Order of Knights Calvatra and slowly build my influence within the Empire's military."
Her plan was the same as in the game. At that time, Elena indeed gained very large influence within the military, but this would not be enough. In the end, seeing Elena's potential that could endanger the candidate chosen by Duke Alvaro, he then devised a trap to kill Elena until it caused her death.
"President, your plan is not bad," I said, intending to explain the flaws of her plan. "But, what we need is the support of nobles who possess great power in this country. There are only two things we can do to win the fight: invite other nobles to join our faction, or sabotage the nobles of other factions so that their influence in the Empire falls."
Hearing my explanation, Princess Elena just lowered her gaze.
Elena was not a naive person; she was fully aware that such methods were necessary to win. However, if she followed one of those ways, it would contradict her original goal.
But, in a country that adheres to a feudal system like the Empire, it will be very difficult to realize the social equality that Elena always dreams of. Even in my world of origin, where many countries adhere to a democratic system, the issue of social equality is still a subject of discussion to be improved.
"President, you are afraid that when you invite nobles to your faction, they will demand conditions that burden you, right? And you do not want to sabotage other nobles because it goes against your moral standards?" I asked to confirm.
These two problems were what made Elena the weakest candidate compared to her other siblings. She did not have a method that suited her wishes to invite the nobles into her faction.
Hearing my question, Elena only nodded weakly.
"In that case, just leave the matter of recruiting nobles into our faction to me," I said, trying to give her a way out. "I have several ways to pull the nobles to our side."
Hearing my words, Elena's eyes opened wide in surprise. However, it was only for a moment; she immediately came to her senses and then stared sharply at me.
"You won't do anything that violates the law, will you?" Elena asked seriously.
I only shook my head in response to her answer.
There is one advantage for me as the developer of this game when entering the world of Path of Destiny. I know all the information regarding several NPCs and characters in this game.
As said by wise people, information is the strongest weapon in this world.
I will perform blackmail on corrupt nobles and threaten to expose their secrets if they refuse to choose Elena in the next succession for the Emperor's election later.
"Hey Raul, you have a terrifying smile, you know."
Elena's voice suddenly woke me from my small daydream.
"I-is that so? Maybe it's just your hallucination, President," I said while touching my cheek.
"No, your smile reminds me of Father's words about the Garcia family."
"Huh? What did the Emperor say about our family?" I asked, curious about the Emperor's family's view of the Garcia family.
"He said they are very cunning, like venomous snakes."
Well... isn't their family emblem indeed a snake? I did not know there was a reason behind the design of the Garcia family emblem. I was not the one who designed the characters or the drawings and emblems in the game. If I'm not mistaken, that was the task of Marek—my childhood friend in the previous world.
"Please enjoy your order."
A waiter delivered our order. Two glasses containing vanilla ice cream could be seen on the table.
For some reason, I am very familiar with this ice cream. Wait, the game Path of Destiny has a setting in the 14th Century, just like in my world of origin. Was ice cream already around at that time?
"President, what is the name of this drink we ordered?" I asked curiously.
"Ah... This is the newest drink released from the Republic of Venetia. If I'm not mistaken, the name of this drink is Misue."
Huh? Misue? Isn't that one of the drink brands that Liana—my ex-girlfriend in the real world—often bought?