Amelia and Ophelia: The Former Grand Duchess and Saintess.

As the sun beamed down on the deck of a merchant ship departing from the Demon Kingdom of Amma, the crew and passengers aboard the ship were busy doing their regular routine. The demonkin on deck were all sweating as the sun's heat came down on them, their red skin looking sunburn despite not being sunburnt whatsoever.  The ship was called the ANS Mighty and despite being a merchant ship that had made regular trips to the Halkare Empire, the crew and passengers aboard were all actually spies that served the intelligence arm of the Kingdom of Amma, they were called the "Red Splinters" for their excellent skill in espionage, combat and magic and they had been posing as traders for the last month. They had done their best in trying to learn the secrets of how the empire had been harvesting and processing a large amount of monster crystals that they routinely bought to bring back home and power their own kingdom as well as to try and dig up information on the industrial side of things that turned what was once thought to be a backwater and powerless kingdom into a quickly rising and rapidly expanding empire that spanned the entire northern tip of the continent. But so far, they had found nothing, with the residents and even those they tried to bribe having tight lips that refused to spill anything valuable or in most cases, anything at all. 

Currently, the "Red Splinters" were on a mission that was different from the usual intelligence gathering this time around, they were to head to Olertin City, the only city in the empire with a properly functioning port, acquire another shipment of monster crystals and as much as possible, kidnap someone with the knowledge of how the monster crystals were processed and harvested as the monster crystals from the empire were much more potent that the ones their nation had harvested. As well as kidnap someone with the industrial knowledge that could unlock the secrets as to how they were able to expand so quickly and bring both back to Amma for interegation. 

"Say captain, how do you suppose we kidnap the people that the king wants?" One of the sailors named Arthus asked as he turned to his captain, a demonkin woman wearing a blue coat over a white blouse and a pair of brown slacks and boots, her white hair fluttering in the wind 

"I do not know Arthus, our first problem is to find someone relating to the criteria we are looking for. A measly dockyard worker won't do, perhaps a harbormaster sure but that leaves the problem of finding someone also related to the build-up of their industry...I feel like we will have to tackle the naval aspect first before anything else" The captain replied as she looked at him, before returning her gaze towards the sea before them 

Deep below the waves, however, masked by a large cloaking field being produced by a spell from the Leviathan they were riding with, a squad of sirens were shadowing the ship above them. Their gaze looking up at the vessel as it glided through the water, with them hiding within the darkness of the deep to hide them from the sunlight filtering through the clear blue ocean. 

"Are you sure that is the vessel Commander?" One of the red sirens named Amysta asked, her gaze turning to the green-colored siren clinging to one of the massive claws as the Leviathan slowly moved forward 

"I am not sure Amysta, Ka'ur, is that the vessel we are looking for?" Commander Scylla asked as she turned her gaze to the Leviathan she was clinging to, seeing three eyes gaze down at her

[I can hear the conversations aboard the ship Commander...they are our target] Ka'ur answered as he began to ascend 

"Good. Make it clean and quick people, Ka'ur will unleash a barrier blocking their magic and they will be too surprised to retaliate, giving us enough time to capture them, if they resist then subdue them, or kill them if they are too dangerous to be left alive, we only need their commander after all but some other heads for interrogation are welcome" Commander Scylla stated with a determined expression as she flourished her trident 

"Understood Commander!" The sirens replied. 

"Good. Ka'ur, Hit it!" 

[Understood Commander] Ka'ur replied as he ascended faster, 

GRAAAAAAAAGH! 

Letting out a primal roar from the depths, the Leviathan's scream pierced through the water and filled the air surrounding the ship, causing the demonkin sailors to look around in a panic 

"What the?! What was that?!" One of the agents asked as he ran over to the railing and looked down at the deep, seeing nothing but darkness 

Suddenly, the boat stopped immediately as if it had struck something akin to a reef before several large tentacles emerged from the depths and flanked the ship, the sight of the massive limbs sending shivers of fear down the spines of the demonkin. Before they could do anything else, they suddenly felt immense pressure pushing them down, like a massive collection of boulders made of steel had crashed down on them and forced them to their knees, unable to even look up or even do anything at all. 

"What....is.....this!" The demonkin captain exclaimed as she was on her knees and on the verge of coughing up blood due to the pressure enveloping her body. 

All the while, the sirens clinging to Ka'ur had dropped down onto the deck after clinging to his tentacles when they rose from the depths. Commander Scylla and the rest had transfigured their tails into a pair of legs as they landed on the deck, their eyes scanning the numerous sailors incapacitated by the Leviathan's barrier. 

"Wow, that worked better than expected. Nice job Ka'ur" Scylla remarked as she walked over to the unconscious demonkin captain laying spreadeagle near the wheel. Before looking over at the rest of her group and seeing them stand over other unconscious bodies 

[I do my best to please Commander] The Leviathan replied via telepathy, with his tone being very happy in doing a good job 

"Alright then, secure any valuable piece of information you can find on this ship and then tie up the demonkin, Ka'ur, can you place barriers on them to keep them alive as they submerge with us?" 

[I can Commander] 

"Good, then please do that. And after we get off this boat, crush it with your tentacles and send it to the bottom, understood?" Scylla asked as she saw her fellow sirens fan out to do their orders 

[Understood Commander]

"Good, now hop to it people!" 

A few minutes later, all of the demonkin sailors were fastened to one of the claws of Ka'ur and the numerous ledgers and stores of materials aboard the Mighty were split and stored inside the individual storage bags of each siren. At Scylla's command, the sirens dropped back down into the water and swam a few meters away to get clear of any debris that would soon come from the ship. Once the sirens were at a safe distance, Ka'ur went to town as he used all of his tentacles to smash, twist, turn, and break apart every single portion of the ship. He began. by snapping the masts in two or three pieces, then followed it up by shoving his tentacles through the small open hatches of the ship and tearing apart the internal structure like the beams, stairs and pillars, before using his larger tentacles to wrap around the hull of the ship and twist it apart, sending chunks of the ship into the air and then finishing it by dragging the whole twisted wreck under the waves never to be seen again. 

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

In the bustling city of Nas, the capital city of the Demon Kingdom of Amma, King Alfonsis, the ruler of the kingdom, was in disarray. He paced back and forth in the throne room his gaze rapidly switching back and forth between the floor of his grand castle and his butler who was standing off to the side. His eyes wide with surprise as he tried to process what had just been said to him. 

"Repeat that again?" Alfonsis demanded as he looked at the butler

"The spies we sent into the Halkare Empire have not reported back in the last few days Your Majesty" The butler stated

"How can that be?!" He shouted as he stroked his white beard, sweat rolling down his red skin 

"We...we do not know sir, all we know is that the ship was supposed to make contact with us a week ago, but they never did. Even the second and third ship we sent have all been lost" The butler answered 

Alfonsis stopped in his tracks for a moment before returning to his throne, the moment he sat down he began to think about what could have possibly happened to his agents, his mind running amok with what-ifs and scenarios that might have happened. He first thought that they were intercepted and sunk by the Halkare Empire, he had heard there were sirens under their banner but he brushed it off as his agents were A-Rank in power and could easily best any siren they were to come across, he then thought that maybe the ships were kept in port with the crews being taken hostage, a probable situation for sure but he did not see why the Halkare Empire would take his people prisoner since he knew that their secret mission was just that, a secret, meaning the Halkarians wouldn't even know about it. His mind quickly thought of the rumored Leviathan Clan that lives somewhere in the depths between their two nations, he thought about them joining the empire but rolled his eyes at the impossibility of it happening as he remembered his father telling him about how the Leviathans hated everything in the world, which is why they attacked places, with that last piece of information making his eyes wide. 

Breathing a sigh, Alfonsis placed his head in his hands as he thought that they probably were attacked by Leviathans, that was the only possible solution, a series of unfortunate events that came at the worst possible time. And it just had to happen to his best agents and soldiers. He had a resigned smile on his face as he looked up and then down, his mind lost on what to do. 

"Don't order any more parties to search for them, they all probably died to the Leviathan Clan lurking in the depths" Alfonsis stated as he rose from his chair 

{!}

"The Leviathan Clan sir?" The butler asked, shock in his voice 

"Yeah, with how you described it, it seemed the only plausible explanation, a series of unfortunate events so to speak...so let's cut our losses there" Alfonsis added as he stood by a pillar in the room 

"Let's switch our tactics. We have heard that the Halkare Empire is ruled by an Empress correct?" 

"Yes sir" 

"Mhmm, Good. We will formally invite her to a banquet and discuss further cooperation, our nation needs their knowledge. And hell, if she is single, then maybe we can arrange a marriage of some sort" He added as his eyebrow was raised 

"Umm, I remember in the last report sir, that it is ruled by Empresses. Plural, meaning two women and we could not get an accurate reading of their power level" The butler stated 

"Two Empresses? Now that is unexpected...it does not really matter to me, hell their power level is of no concern since I am an S-Rank, I do not care if they are married, they will accept the damn marriage proposal...but not mine" The Demon King added as his gaze turned to the doors to the chamber opening, making him smirk 

Stepping into the chamber were a pair of children,  one was a young demonkin that was just like him with red skin and white hair and good looks while the other was a shorter demonkin girl but without the redskin this time around. Both of them were dressed in black and they were both smiling at Alfonsis when they walked over to him. Both of them giving a single kiss to each of his cheeks as they stood by him. 

"Father, how are you today?" The young prince asked him with a smile 

"Yes Father, how are you today?" The young princess added 

"Aaah my Victor and Toria, my beloved children" Alfonsis stated as he embraced both of them 

"I am fine my dears, but you are both just the people I wanted to see, Toria I have something to discuss with you and Victor...how do you feel about getting married?" Alfonsis asked with a smirk 

A/N: And here is the interlude! Next up is the character sheet and after that, will be the next set of chapters! The character sheet will be out soon as well and it will announce the two names selected. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much fun as I had making it. And as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!