There was a bounce to my step that seemed out of place for a woman of my stature. I could not help this, however, my experiment has finally borne fruit. The "angel's gift" was my pet project whose purpose was to give men an initial boost and find those with the best seed quality. There was a hidden objective, however, one that very few people knew of; to create an artificial hero. Heroes were the stuff of myths, each of them shook the world with their might but that was not why I was hellbent on making one. I was an elf, a rare race gifted with a nigh-infinite lifespan and in my long years, I had the opportunity to taste the seed of a hero once, and to this day nothing could compare. Everything else was so far beneath it that I willingly forced celibacy unto myself, something only reserved for the worst of the worst.

  That all changed when for my valor in the last demonic horde I was awarded the privilege of consuming the king's seed along with my title and lands. I originally wished to refuse but to refuse the gifts of the royals came with their perils so I bit down on my disgust and consumed the king's seed only to find it rivaled the hero's in quality, I almost cried in jubilation that day. I knew the king to not be a hero but an ageless champion worshipped by an angel, with a rigorous study I found it could be replicated as hard as it might be so I set to work on achieving just that. At long last, after all that sweat and tears I would get my king from whom I may freely consume seed.

  As hard as it was I tried to temper myself, men were fragile beings easily broken and it would not do to fail when I have come so close to claiming all that I could ever desire. I had decades to prepare, long for humans but a pittance to me and could let him slip me by. The hero rejected my brilliance which he called madness and the king was far from my reach but this one was but a babe, granted power he could not possibly control or understand. I would be his teacher, I would guide him but also craft and mold his mind to make him accept me into his harem.

  "Guild master, we are here." nudged my assistant bringing me out of my reverie. I took stock of myself and found drool leaking from my lips and all of my assistants were staring at me with consternation. I blushed cleaning the drool off my face, they could not understand just how momentous this was but I needed to keep myself in check I could not, would not let this opportunity slip me by right now I needed control, not elfin wildness.

  "Ahem. Open the door." I ordered using that to try and come to grips but all of that became very hard to do when my eyes fell on the prize.

  On the lap of the seraph lay the man of my dreams, his visage so divine that my breath hitched, not even the king who was widely regarded as one of the most attractive men in the kingdom could compare. The only mar in his perfection was the slight resignation and tiredness in his eyes, something that should not have been present in someone so young.

  I was not the only one stunned by his sheer beauty, my entourage was all hit by the shock of it all as well. Unlike them, however, I recovered quickly driven by experience and the sheer desire to make a good first impression on my husband-to-be.

  "The accommodations were satisfactory, I hope," I said using an innocent question to try and break the ice.

  "Yes, thank you." came his reply. Even his voice was divine, it was so entrancing that I almost missed the clipped and apprehensive tone of his voice. I needed to switch gears, he seemed to already harbor animosity towards me and I needed to break through those walls. Thankfully, I had been a guild master for a long time, and getting people on my side was a specialty.

  "It must have been hard," I said magically empowering my voice to give it both the warmth of a mother and closeness of a lover.

  "The last few days felt like I had lost control of myself. The world seems to be dragging me from one thing to the next with no respect for my agency." He responded honestly. My lesser guild masters backed off allowing me to take center stage, I had trained them well to not intervene when I took the stage.

  "I see, and you believe us to be the same to drag you into our machinations. Worry not, all I wish to do is teach you your new gifts before the world tries to consume you for what you are." I said bending the truth but not outright lying which is very important for any long-term interaction because even if they found contradictory evidence this statement would not be false. Now, for the more critical part. Humans are not so excepting of gifts especially if it sounds too good and is just what they want meaning now came the arguments and accusations, especially towards someone an alien like myself.

  "Really? You can help me? Then please tell me what I must do." came the answer. I had to catch myself before saying anything. Usually, there was combative arguments or questioning hope in these sort of conversations. Outright acceptance so quickly was not normal, it commonly only happens when...

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  I smiled, motherly on the outside but the inner one was a lot less innocent. Traits affected human behavior much more than any other race or sentient being, and if my hunch was right I had gotten a once in millennia blessing from the very gods to have my wish fulfilled.

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