Just like Maelona had ntioned before, the work in this facility was nearing its end. Everything was progressing faster than expected, and within a week, they could wrap up the entire job with efficiency and precision.
Victor humd thoughtfully, his arms folded across his chest, as he took in the sight of the massive control room with a curious and sowhat fascinated expression on his face... Honestly, he was still amazed—deeply surprised—at how Lyirrs had managed to build all this entirely on her own. No help, no references, nothing. He hadn't even given her a single diagram or any sort of blueprint to work with, not even a half-ford idea or a suggestion.
Especially these Empires rarely had Technologies and all.
"I am... honestly impressed, Lyirrs... You're really damn good with this kind of technology," Victor finally said, his voice carrying a tone of genuine awe and acknowledgnt.
Lyirrs lowered her head respectfully, her eyes shimring with unshed tears as emotion welled up in her chest. For soone like Victor to recognise her hard work—it ant more than words could express. "Thank you... I'm truly honoured, sir. It's all thanks to my mother... she's the one who taught everything I know."
Victor nodded slowly, surprised, a soft and gentle look spreading across his face as he responded, "Then your mother must be incredibly proud of the woman you've beco..."
Lyirrs smiled tenderly, her voice quiet but filled with certainty, "Indeed... she is."
Victor's brows twitched slightly as he caught that one word. He frowned in confusion, "...Is? You an she's..." he blinked, pausing mid-sentence.
Lyirrs's smile faltered, her brows furrowing, but then she quickly realized what he was thinking. "Oh... I see now. You haven't t her yet, right? That's probably why you assud... she was gone. Yeah, I get it. But no worries, she's still very much alive," she said with a light chuckle and a small smile to reassure him.
Victor blinked again as the thought clicked in his mind, 'That fucking old man said... his wife was dead...' He sighed internally, shaking his head... Whatever. He had no plans to get tangled in the endless maze of their family drama.
"Anyway... since things here are nearly done, I'll be needing your help over at the Aurora Empire. I know I keep relying on you, maybe a bit too much but—"
"It's fine, Sir. I am nothing more than your loyal servant. I will do whatever you ask of ," Lyirrs said, her tone calm and unwavering. But those were the exact words Victor didn't want to hear.
Victor exhaled sharply, groaning inwardly. It made him feel like he was so tyrant boss taking advantage of her devotion. She reminded him of himself when he used to work tirelessly under soone else's command. 'I fucking hate it...' he thought bitterly.
Still, he couldn't deny it—he needed her help, badly. The Aurora Empire had strict rules and didn't allow many outsiders in. The only person he could count on for this task was her.
Lyirrs added with a nod, "The remaining tasks are just so minor adjustnts and fine-tuning... I can wrap it up in a day or two. My workers can take care of whatever's left after that."
Victor nodded approvingly, "Good," he said as he turned around, shifting his focus to the rest of his group—Thalia, Raven, and Maelona.
"Okay, now our next stop is... Aurora~" Thalia chirped with a cheerful tone, her hands in the air in excitent. However—
"You guys are not going anywhere," Victor cut in with a small smile playing on his lips.
Thalia blinked at him, her happy expression quickly fading. "W-What do you an?"
Victor's smile widened with playful mischief. "Your mother's been missing you two. A lot."
The mont those words left his mouth, both Raven and Thalia instantly knew what was coming next. Without hesitation, they tried to make a break for it. But before either of them could take more than two steps—
"Nah." Victor moved with lightning reflexes, catching them both effortlessly in a flash and throwing them over his shoulders like sacks of flour.
Raven wriggled in his grip, her legs kicking softly, trying in vain to squirm free.
"Let go, Bastard!!" Thalia shouted, twisting in his hold, struggling like a captured kitten. However—
Slap!
"HIKK!!"
Thalia gasped and clamped her hand over her butt when Victor landed a sharp smack on it. Her face turned red as she froze in embarrassnt.
"Should I go another round?" Victor asked, his voice low and laced with a wicked amusent.
Thalia flinched, her eyes wide. She went completely silent, swallowing hard.
Victor turned his head slightly to the left... and smirked. Raven had already stopped moving. One slap to Thalia's ass had been enough to make her behave.
"Good girls," Victor said with satisfaction, nodding in approval. "Wait here for a mont," he added, addressing Maelona before teleporting instantly to the Pyra Empire.
Inside his room—
Ssshhh!
Victor gently lowered the two girls to the floor. They landed with reluctant feet, their arms crossed and their lips pushed into exaggerated pouts.
Victor gave them a crooked, sheepish smile. "Co on, you two. You know this is our Empire, right? It's our responsibility to take care of it... especially you," he said as he pointed a finger directly at Raven.
Raven's pout faded just a little as she sighed deeply, "I know..."
Victor smiled and pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her with warmth. "If it's really about ruling... how about letting your sister take over for a while?"
Raven blinked as she tilted her head and pulled her sunglasses down. "I can?"
Victor chuckled, "Of course you can. After all, this was your sister's dream too, wasn't it?"
Raven blinked again, then slowly nodded. "Yeah... Why am I the only one who has to suffer?!" She suddenly turned and glared at Thalia, who was very obviously trying to sneak toward the door.
Thalia froze, caught mid-step. "No... No, no, don't you dare..."
Raven grinned wickedly, "Oh, I dare."
"NNOOOOOOOOO.....!!!" Thalia scread as she dashed out of the room in full retreat.
Victor burst into laughter, a sly grin spreading across his face. "Make sure you teach her how to rule the Empire," he said to Raven, his expression full of hidden amusent.
Raven nodded.
"Anyway... how much did we get from the thruster project, darling?" Victor asked, his tone shifting to a more serious one.
His fingers were practically twitching. Ever since the morning, he'd been itching with anticipation, thinking about the huge payout they were expecting. Just the idea of the money made him giggle internally.
But then—
Raven tilted her head slightly. "How much? Didn't you say you'd take care of the finances?"
"... ?" Victor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Raven raised her hand, summoning a glowing piece of paper into existence, and handed it to him. Victor unfolded it and read the contents...
"The amount required for the developnt of Thrusters will be paid by... Husband of Aria Zephyra and Husband of Liora Drakfang.... A-Aether?"
"What the fuck?!" Victor's voice echoed in horror as he stared at the docunt. His own signature stared back at him like a curse.
And then—it hit him... The mory.
He had signed sothing.
When he was drunk.
Of course. Of fucking course.
And it had been Maelona's doing!!
Raven blinked in surprise, unsure of what was happening. "Wait... wasn't that your signature?" she asked, her voice innocent but confused.
Victor grit his teeth in frustration. "Y-You could've at least told about this before it blew up in my face..."
Raven's expression fell. Her shoulders slumped and her voice turned small and sad, "I didn't want to disturb my husband... with everything going on... So... I'm sorry." Her eyes turned downcast.
Victor sighed heavily. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead softly before murmuring, "It's fine. That Empire's mine too... So don't worry. I'm not mad at you."
"Really?"
Victor nodded, though deep down he was still reeling. He hadn't expected this twist.
Maelona—the adorable, quiet, harmless little creature... Fuck... She used to be the ruler of that damn Empire!!
Of course, she knew how to play with words. Of course, she knew how to manipulate situations perfectly.
He had completely forgotten that side of her... because all he ever saw now was her cute and innocent act.
anwhile, Thalia was doing her absolute best to escape the cruel fate of being cornered into studying—of all things—and being shaped into an Empress.
Sure, she loved ruling. At least, the idea of it was thrilling. Sitting on a throne, bossing people around, getting pampered and praised… it all sounded great in theory.
But in practice?
Considering everything that had happened lately—and considering the man who now held the Empire in the palm of his hand—Thalia had convinced herself that she didn't need to worry about a thing.
He would take care of everything, as he always did.
All she needed to do was lie around like a queen, play like a child, and fight like a beast when needed.
That was her rhythm.
That was the life she believed she was destined to live.
"A beautiful life, right?" she murmured to herself, tilting her head with a smug smirk as she strolled casually across the yard.
But then… flashes of a different image invaded her mind—an image of herself wearing official robes, working through docunts, handling finances, studying ancient scripts... an image where she actually looked capable and determined.
"Fuck!!" she groaned loudly, her face scrunched up in deep annoyance. She kicked a pebble in frustration as her footsteps carried her toward the open courtyard.
That's when she noticed them—children.
But not just any children. These were Origin Children, the rare ones with the Rainbow Cards, the mysterious tools that Master Snape had personally created.
These kids were strange, powerful, and incredibly precious.
Standing in front of the group was Selene, posture stiff, face serious, holding a long stick like so sort of terrifying schoolmistress. Her icy gaze swept across the children seated before her as she barked, "A for?"
"Aether!" the children shouted in unison.
Thalia blinked, taken aback. "...What the fuck... they can talk now?" she muttered, stunned by what she was witnessing.
How the hell was that even possible?
"B for?" Selene called again, her expression stern and unforgiving.
"Baby Aether!" the children replied without hesitation.
Thalia stared blankly. "Baby... what?" Her lips twitched. She didn't know whether to laugh or be disturbed.
"C for?"
"Cute Aether!"
"D for?"
"D... Danger...ous Aether!" they said, though so hesitated slightly at the pronunciation.
Selene's sharp eyes caught the slight stumble in their voices. Her stick imdiately pointed toward a large tray overflowing with glistening fruits and juicy ats—each infused with Mother's energy, prepared by Aether's puppets. She'd been using this as a reward system to train them.
It looked ridiculous, like a pet obedience school, but truthfully... it was working incredibly well.
Aether had asked Selene to teach them a few 'essential' words, and she'd taken the job seriously. Using food as motivation, she had turned it into a language drill.
A bizarre thod? Maybe... But effective? Absolutely.
The children stared longingly at the food. Their mouths watered, eyes wide, stomachs audibly rumbling. So even stretched out their hands instinctively toward the tray.
Thud!
"Arrhh!" One of the children yelped as Selene's stick smacked their hand back instantly.
"You don't get anything until you finish the lesson," Selene said coldly, her voice as sharp as the ice creeping beneath her feet. "Finish all the words, and then—then—you eat. Understand?"
The child growled softly, his expression scrunching up into a little snarl of rebellion.
Selene's aura turned dark instantly. The air around her dropped in temperature, her body leaking an aura of sub-zero chill as her patience snapped.
SSzzzz!
In a flash, ice wrapped around the child, encasing everything except his head in a prison of frost.
Selene turned back toward the rest of the children, her eyes glowing coldly. "E for..."
Silence.
"...E FOR!!!" she shouted, the sound reverberating like a whip crack.
The kids flinched all at once before responding in panic,
"E-Edgy Aether!!"
Standing in the back, Emberlyn watched the entire scene unfold with a deeply troubled expression.
She didn't know what to worry about more—the psychological well-being of the children or the fact that Selene's entire teaching curriculum was built entirely around one man.
Even now, Selene looked like she was preparing them for a future where the only word in their dictionary would be Aether.
Hiding in the shadows, Thalia clenched her fists at the sight. Her heart twinged. Everyone—everyone—was working so hard around her. Even Selene, who was typically cold and obsessed with Aether, was pushing herself for the sake of the children and their developnt.
"I... I need to..." she whispered to herself, trying to summon so resolve—when suddenly,
HIKK!
She let out a startled yelp, her whole body jolting as she felt a sudden hand slap her ass.
She whipped her head around, cheeks red and eyes wide, only to see her sister standing there with a wickedly amused smirk.
Raven didn't say a word. She simply grabbed Thalia by the ears like a disobedient child and began dragging her away.
"N-No! W-Wait—ouch! I realised, okay?! Ouch! I—I understood—ooouuchh!! LET BOOST MY MOTIVATION SO I 'may' WORK TOMORROW!!!!" Thalia cried, wriggling in protest as her sister hauled her back like a naughty student being dragged back to detention.
User Comments
0 comments from readers