Isabella stood in a lavishly furnished chamber, the soft glow of candlelight illuminating the room. She was entranced as she gazed at herself in the mirror, which reflected a woman exuding both seductiveness and maturity.
When she was still young, her father passed away, leaving behind a noble title that Isabella inherited. This granted her a position of power, which was a rarity for women in this strength-oriented world.
Due to her newfound status, despite being thirty years old, Isabella remained unmarried. She devoted herself primarily to managing her territory and studying the arcane arts. This dedication had propelled her to achieve the rank of Tier 2 Great Mage at such a young age, aided by her inherent talent and abundant resources.
However, after reaching such a pinnacle of strength, she found herself unable to advance further. She originally planned to go to the central continent, renowned as the birthplace of arcane arts, to further her magic.
But, before she could prepare on her journey, Harrington promised to provide her with plenty of mage resources if she joined him in his cause.
This got her to hesitate, as it was too dangerous for her to go to another continent, with her current level of power. Isabella reluctantly agreed, at least for the time being.
Thus, she dedicated a portion of her time to assisting Harrington in managing the noble alliance and dealing with troublesome nobles. However, an unexpected turn of events occurred before the promised resources could be given— news of Harrington's death.
In the absence of a figurehead, the nobles were like little kids when left unchecked, so it eventually crumbled into chaos. It was during this period of turmoil that Isabella chose to stay away from this unruly bunch.
Furthermore, she heard that Maximus, the one responsible for Harrington's demise, had attained the strength of a Tier 3 Nascent Mage. This piece of news shook her to the core, prompting her to consider an alternative path.
The central continent enticed her with its unparalleled concentration of mana which in turn produced large amounts of magic resources. A huge temptation that beckoned aspiring mages. However, accessing such abundant resources required joining various factions and signing binding contracts.
Rather than venturing into the perilous continent, Isabella decided to surrender to Maximus. She hoped to gain resources and, at the very least, obtain insights into his path as a mage. It seemed a safer option compared to the unknown dangers that awaited her on the central continent.
Upon arriving in Moonshadow City, Maximus immediately recognized Isabella's intelligence and offered her the position of secretary. Instead of a salary, Maximus would provide her with mage resources.
At first, Isabella was unaware of the responsibilities and duties of a secretary., until Maximus explained that being a secretary was akin to being a eunuch in service to the ruler. In this case, a woman would fulfill the duty of assisting the leader.
Knowing that it's the same as her previous role in the noble alliance, Isabella quickly accepted the position.
As she stood before the mirror, Isabella prepared to depart for the castle. A meeting was scheduled for today to discuss the issues and reorganization of the territory.
Isabella stepped out of her house, as she looked upon the bustling street and clean street.
When she first came here, she was shocked by such a prosperous scene that you can rarely see in this world.
The sound of chatter caught her attention as the common people were talking about the recent activities of their lord.
After walking through the streets for a while, her eyes were drawn to a majestic castle. It dominated the city landscape, radiating an aura of respect and wonder.
The castle seemed to have a life of its own, with ancient inscriptions all over the weathered stones.
Upon reaching the main entrance, two towering wooden doors adorned with arcane symbols opened automatically as the gatekeeper welcomed her entrance.
Then she spotted her fellow officials who were also making their way inside.
"Hello, Lady Isabella," said one of the officials in a flattering tone.
"Hello," Although she was puzzled by the flattering tone, Isabella still greeted back.
Inside the castle, Maximus was lost in his thoughts as he observed the officials entering through the grand doors. Looking bored, his gaze landed on Isabella, who stood out like a sore thumb among the old officials.
Despite Isabella's past allegiance to the enemy, Maximus chose to employ her, recognizing her intelligence and strength, which would be useful for his rule.
Secretly, he saw this as an opportunity to get closer to her. She was also on the list of potential concubines that the phantom group had investigated in the past.
When he first saw her, he was momentarily shocked. For the reason why, one could look at Isabella's profile.
Strength: Tier 2 Great Mage
Seeing her Legendary potential, which was the same as his despite his cheat, a trace of envy flickered within Maximus. However, what caught his attention was the high fit value, which was almost full, indicating a near-perfect match made for him.
Looking at Isabella's remarkable talent and near-perfect fit value, Maximus couldn't help but recall the criteria of the system fit value from years of testing.
He had tested the fit values to multiple targets over the years, which made him realize why Isabella had such a near-perfect fit value.
Firstly, the system considered natural beauty. By "natural," it meant untouched by artificial means such as potions or magic items. It had to be inherent, an innate beauty that couldn't be altered.
Maximus tested it on his wives and noticed that even as their strengths grew, the fit remained constant, even though one could become more beautiful as their strength grew.
Secondly, talent. Although the addition of talents to the fit value was minimal.
Trash talents received a value of 0, common talents earned 1, uncommon talents earned 2, and so on.
When he saw this, he immediately gave up on this path, as improving talent to a certain point became very expensive.
If it was just improving trash talent to common talent, it would only cost a few dozen of gold coins. However, going further became a hundred times more expensive. Improving uncommon talent to rare talent cost hundreds of thousands, which was insane.
Fortunately, the system had the ability to enhance his own talent, or he would have gone bankrupt with his initial trash talent.
Lastly, personality. While the first two factors added points, personality deducted points.
He discovered this while looking at the noble ladies in the kingdom. Although they appeared beautiful and had decent talent, their fit values were much lower than usual.
This factor seemed to be a big disadvantage of the system, but upon further consideration, he appreciated this factor very much as it helped him avoid potential traps.
And if an individual possessed enough beauty and potential to ignore just a restriction, then even if their attitude came from hell, he was willing to tolerate and educate them.
This factor may not be all the factors the system considers, but based on his testing in recent years, it's what he knows for now.
A few minutes later, all the officials took their seats, waiting for him to speak.
"Welcome, gentlemen..."