Mastermind: Genderbent Villainess - Volume 1: Imperial Knight Chapter 75 Side Story: Tane

This is the story of Tane Vermillion, the emperor of the Vermillion aspire and the greatest lover of all time.

His journey began as the child of a merchant and a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. His mother sold silks and linen on the busy roads of the city he was born in, while his father served in the brothel as a male p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. He was born a bastard but he still received some affections, not enough to make him feel warm inside.

This lack of warmth had affected him in a deep way. He always longed for what he perceived to be love, unable to find it however. On the streets of the city, he practiced his trade with rich young women. Through this questionable trade, Tane was able to make a living on his own, eventually being able to find his own abode to live in.

His life was rather mundane from then on, consisting of working and daily amenities; nothing else happened on those days. He was merely a 16 year old child with no other use for his body but to make money and charm women. Alas, he never found love. He only found women that wanted him for a night, nothing more.

However, on his 18th birthday, Tane was drafted into the royal army.

He was quite slim at the time and did not have many manly features, but the letter did not discriminate. He would be sent to the frontlines after a month of training, probably to die within days.

For a person like Tane, this idea frightened him. He wanted to at the very least be prepared for any possible problem that could arise in the war. His only solution at the time was to use his talents, his only talent.

“Sir, I am willing to use my body to exchange for specialised training.” With a plain face, he sold his body again, to his commanding officer no doubt. She accepted the offer and had her way with Tane, giving him his specialised training in swordsmanship soon after.

This was Tane’s first step on the path of the sword, learning the swing patterns and how to parry other blades. He spent the entirety of the month practicing as well as increasing his stamina. However, this would not do too much for Tane.

[Level up: Warrior 2]

This was nearly enough to be considered an average soldier. Most fighters on the battlefield were [Warrior 5], far outranking Tane by a long shot.

This was very relevant in his first battle of the time. His company was surrounded on both sides in a mountain pass. He was captured and only managed to free himself by using his body again.

All of this had taught him something. He finally knew that the most effective deals are done under the table. He took this belief to his grave, until he met Penelope as Tanya of course.

He would play around and seduce anyone for the sake of power. This is because he knew that power is what makes the world go around. If one does not have power then they are nothing.

They are the same as a swordsman that cannot grip a sword correctly.

This realisation lit a spark within Tane, inspiring him to use this knowledge to his advantage rather than only resorting to using it for survival. When he finally returned to the army, he persuaded his female interrogator to recommend him for master swordsmanship training by agreeing to be her toy for a week.

For one week of pleasures, Tane received much more in returns. He spent his time on the sword like it was his life. It had finally become a necessity for him, unchanging in value.

He knew that if he were to go into battle expecting to escape through seduction, then he would be naive. The sword was the only pathway for him into a new era of shining brightness and battlefield tempests.

Through battle with his peerless swordsmanship in hand, he grew stronger and stronger. His exponential growth and contributions during battle had earned him a noble title of baron. But this was not enough for Tane. Why settle for a mere baron? He could be a duke, a king an emperor.

This ambition fuelled his entry into politics, becoming known for his extremely sharp tongue. He learned many political strategies while working in that field, especially the way that seduction affects his opponents.

After his fifth year into politics, he returned to the field to make a name for himself as a genius general who destroys his enemies with overwhelming charisma and battlefield morale. His powers were said to be so amazing that he could inspire a party of 13 teenagers to defeat 100 trained soldiers.

And finally, after years on the frontlines, Tane was granted the title of Marquis. He accepted the title with gratitude but did not dare to swear absolute loyalty in his heart. The king was corrupt and his officials took to many taxes from the citizens. As a commoner, he knew that he could not respect such people.

His kind deeds in civil service and liberating cities spread far and wide as more people came to know his name. He had finally gained a global presence, achieving a favourable status in his bid for power.

A year later he would return to the battlefield again to destroy a small kingdom full of corruption and crime. His domination of the small country earned him the title of duke. With the title in play, Tane decided to finally begin his bid for power.

He built a spy network that investigated the daily matters of nobles in and out of the kingdom. Through that, he was able to locate targets for his plan.

He then spent the next few months seducing the wives of nobles that had been cheating on them. With every poem and flirtatious line, he made a strategic move that could not be repeated.

And then, eventually he managed to turn the main upper noble houses against the king, finally ending with both factions losing a significant amount of their strength. He then used his sword to manually end the conflict, becoming the king of the small Vermillion Kingdom.

As the king, Tane wanted what was best for the common person. He wanted everyone to be able to say the country’s name with pride and smile when they are asked to help out. This culminated in the meritocracy program for the royal academy. This meant that children could no longer have advantages if they were of noble birth.

Along this time, he had bedded into the triple digits, becoming a sort of urban legend amongst the palace.

Even with these questionable rooms circulating, the citizens cheered his name on the streets for finally changing things and managing the country well.

These newfound responsibilities did not stop him from practicing his sword, becoming a [Sword Elite] within the span of 20 more years.

Of course, he would also conquer the hostile nations bordering his own, not bothering with the threat of wartime anxiety. He had done enough to help his citizens to not fear war, but see it as opportunities waiting to happen, especially for unemployed residents.

This act of balancing his role as king and practicing his sword and tongue, lasted for more than two centuries. This was enough time for his childhood friends to have 5th generation descendants, which did give him some anxiety over his lateness on the matter.

Without an heir, how can the royal bloodline move forward? His solution was simple. He changed his name every 50 years to create the illusion that he had died and his son had taken over. This strategy even fooled the neighbouring countries that even sent delegates to participate in the mournings of his ‘deaths’.

As time went by again, he finally found himself as an emperor of a vast and powerful nation. He was the hope to millions of people, guiding them into a new age under him. He even advanced to [Sword Master] at long last, finally ascending past [Sword Elite] and [Sword Expert]. His peaople even began to recognise his first identity as a god that brought on the dawn of the most powerful nation in the world.

Even more time went by. Tane had reached the final step before immortality. This would at last be the day he could find an immortal body as his own and ascend past the world.

He spent years within a large tower, all by himself. While alone, he had his most trusted advisors run the empire based on his ideology. This did not end with the country falling because of corruption, instead, it remained the same.

Everything was alright with Tane’s life. He had many women and power along with her martial prowess. Tane was unstoppable.

He was unstoppable until he died because of a small design flaw in the tower he resided in. The materials could not hold the breakthrough of a [Sword Master].

It was for this reason that Tane died.