Chapter 348 - 234: Preconceived Notions? Discovering a Blind Spot

"In the end, the male and female servants involved in the incident were executed, along with some court attendants who witnessed what happened. The secret circulated only within a small circle."

"But ever since then, His Majesty the King’s personality underwent a drastic change, which is what directly led to Duke Sith later proposing to take his place as king."

Fang Zhen took a moment to process the explosive news. After a moment, he said, "Let’s get back to the original question. What kind of person is Balenzuo?"

"Duke Balenzuo... is a very strange person," Ottis said after some thought. "He’s debonair and exceptionally handsome, but his life is a mess. He’s mercurial and loves to scheme."

"A person like that should be scorned by everyone and shunned by the other nobles."

"However, Duke Balenzuo possesses an almost superhuman charisma. Even those who hold him in utter contempt find themselves captivated by his charm when they meet Duke Balenzuo face-to-face. They forget all their dissatisfaction and disgust, and end up liking him—or even becoming pathologically obsessed with him."

"Duke Balenzuo possesses this strange charismatic quality, and it seems to work on both men and women."

"It’s because of this that the Duke is a complete disaster when it comes to leading his army or managing internal affairs. And yet, he always has exceptional talents and capable generals in his service. Furthermore, his subordinates—and even the Counts, Viscounts, and Barons in his domain—are all fiercely loyal to him. They are so captivated by Duke Balenzuo’s charm that they can hardly entertain a single thought of betrayal."

"That’s why, even though Duke Balenzuo has the weakest military, he still maintains a foothold in the Kingdom."

Fang Zhen was stunned by Ottis’s description.

’What is that supposed to mean?’

’So the Duke’s job is to look pretty, while his vassals are responsible for leading armies, fighting wars, and bringing home the bacon?’

’A charisma like that just doesn’t sound right... What is he, some kind of male Succubus...?’

’Wait!’

A flash of inspiration struck Fang Zhen, an idea igniting in his mind.

’Succubus. Yes, that’s the word.’

’Succubus.’

’Fang Zhen suddenly realized—had his entire line of thinking been wrong?’

’The name of this instance was Demon Duke. Because it mentioned "demon," he’d been working off a preconceived notion, always thinking along the lines of typical demonic traits—chaos, tyranny, destruction.’

’But on second thought, wasn’t there a special group among demons? That’s right... the Succubi.’

’In truth, whether the race of Succubi should be classified as demons or devils was a matter of some debate.’

’In earlier classifications, Succubi were clearly categorized as demons. Later, however, that changed. The race of Succubi became its own distinct group—neither demon nor devil, but an independent type of fiend.’

’Demons typically represent chaotic evil, characterized by violence, destruction, and ruin. Devils, on the other hand, are lawful evil and are more adept at using plots, deception, and bargains to achieve their goals.’

’And while Succubi are also of an evil alignment, their behavioral patterns and characteristics differ from those of both demons and devils.’

’Succubi are their own class of fiend. They specialize in temptation and corruption, using their shapeshifting abilities to assume humanoid forms to deceive others before draining their victims’ energy.’

’What Fang Zhen suddenly considered was that if one absolutely had to classify Succubi as a type of demon, it wouldn’t be wrong. After all, that’s how they used to be classified.’

’And it seemed that Succubi were not inherently gendered; only the forms they manifested differed.’

’In their female form, they’re called Succubi. In their male form, they’re called... Nightmare Demons.’

’Demon... Succubus... Nightmare Demon... Nightmare Difficulty?’

A slight shiver ran through Fang Zhen.

’His preconceived notions had led him to assume the Demon Duke must be a literal demon, but now he saw his blind spot.’

’He suddenly wondered, could the "Demon" in Demon Duke actually be referring to a male Succubus—a Nightmare Demon?’

’Could Balenzuo be the Demon Duke?’

’A male Nightmare Demon?’