I Own a Brothel in Another World

Chapter 202 – Where Loyalties Lie

The three of us simply bask in the glory of our recent union, slowly coming down from the blissful sensations still echoing through our bodies. While Shino rests her cheek on my chest with her eyes closed, Natalie watches her best friend from the other side. A delicate smile curves the blonde’s soft lips.

Trying my best not to bother my cute samurai girl, I manage to wiggle myself out from between them, getting a curious glance from our lovely bard. Shooting Nat a quick wink, I move over her and plop myself at her back. With a gentle push, I bring her closer to Shino and she ends up in the middle this time. As the Japanese beauty snuggles to Natalie’s impressive bosom sleepily, the American actress wraps her arms around the shortie. I join them with my arms capturing both, pressing my chest into Natalie’s smooth back.

From my position, I notice a single tear escape the corner of her eye and scoop it with my finger, caressing her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

Natalie gently shakes her head. “I apologise. It’s nothing. I just… never thought I would be able to feel such happiness.”

Smiling to myself, I continue to stroke her lovely skin and add some kisses to her golden hair into the mix. “Then, by all means, don’t hold back. I don’t really like seeing charming ladies cry, but if it’s the good, joyful tears, I think I can make an exception.”

“Thank you,” she whispers quietly and holds Shino in her embrace.

I’m well aware that the little lady is fully awake and conscious of everything happening around her, but she chooses to stay silent and let her best friend come to terms with her strong emotions. In the end, these two aren’t exactly that different. Both young women held their feelings locked in their hearts while hoping for a change in their lives. You can say that being dropped into another world was exactly that, allowing them both to finally achieve happiness.

And I plan to do my best for Shino and Natalie to experience the most out of it.

After about fifteen minutes, the girls begin to stir so we all sit up and exchange warm smiles. I gesture towards the petite lady with my eyes as I look at the tall woman and Nat flushes a tiny bit. She does follow my guidance though and places a dainty, chaste kiss on Shino’s lips, surprising the shortie a tad. It will take some time until Natalie becomes capable of showing affection to our little girlfriend with others present, and me, but she’ll get there.

I sneak a peck on their cheeks too and we decide to jump into a quick bath. Shino takes charge and washes Natalie with great attention, receiving similar treatment in response. It’s a fascinating sight. They look so perfect together. And I don’t mean their heights for some intimate fun.

Then, the duo cooperates to take care of me while presenting their fascinating bodies in the best light. The blonde is much more reserved, but she enjoys following Shino’s antics as it gets her a few peeks of the naked shortie making sexy and very erotic poses in the process. I don’t think she will have enough of our black-haired princess anytime soon. Who can blame her, really?

With the others that we have invited here already gone, we are stopped only by a few of the resident ladies on our way back to my chambers. Cornelia lets us know not to worry about their sleeping arrangements and wishes us good night as she retreats somewhere, most likely to join my other understanding wives wherever they are gathering.

So, the three of us snuggle together with Shino in the middle and doze off on top of the massive bed. She is gone first, leaving me alone with the gorgeous blonde. Natalie peers into my eyes with her enchantingly blue gems and brings our foreheads together above Shino’s head.

“Thank you again,” she whispers. “I promise not to let you down in taking care of Shino. And I really liked our moments together. I just wanted you to know that I think I might have enjoyed it as much even without her present. But… I got more excited watching you two… Or being part of it… Does that make me weird?”

I smirk gently and peck the bridge of her nose. “Everything is alright. I honestly expected you to have a thing only for Shino, but I’m glad to hear that you find yourself interested in us too. You most likely know from her about me and I’ll happily offer you more chances to have some fun watching the two of us go at it. Might even lend you a nice tool or two for your own fun.”

A tinge of pink spreads over Nat’s gorgeous cheeks. “I could use the cast she mentioned… The one… Of you…”

With a small snicker, I nod. “You’ll get as many as you want. I’m sure they’ll be helpful on your journeys. Fingers and hands grow tired a bit faster on their own.”

She lets out a chuckle too. “They do. That’s why having a partner is much better. I wasn’t sure about taking a man inside, but it’s just as unique as being touched by another girl, or Shino specifically. It was nice how you moved against my sensitive parts with gentle care. I believe I’m going to enjoy it even further the more we try it.”

“I’m honoured you think so. It would have been such a pity if you weren’t into men, Natalie.” I pull her in for a loving kiss. “Now, let’s join our cute girlfriend in the dreamland. If she wakes up first, we won’t be able to leave the bed for a good while.”

She agrees, ponders over something for a moment, and then gets up. Very carefully, Natalie slips between me and Shino, with her back facing my front. She wiggles herself into me daintily and sighs softly as I settle my frame against hers, wrapping both her and Shino in a dear hug. A bigger smile adorns her plump lips as she finds comfort with me embracing her and resting her face in her best friend’s dark hair.

Sleep takes us fairly quickly as I think about everything that has happened recently and is bound to happen.

And, as expected, something happens even before I fully wake up. An extremely familiar sensation greets me as I come to, in more than one meaning of that phrase. The adoring, hot pressure wrapped around certain parts of mine doesn’t relent until my mind explodes, alongside something else. The only surprise is the fact that I find both ladies with their faces glued to my member under the sheets instead of the cheeky cutie only.

When they are done welcoming the morning with a bang, I pull them up to me and we just lie together for a few minutes. Natalie starts reviewing her status with Shino’s input. It looks like they have used the excuse of seeing if everything works properly to suck me right from the early hours and I honestly can’t blame them, even if that is obviously silly since my buffs from a few hours earlier are still there.

As they chat about her now incredibly big numbers and the new shared skills the blonde received, I observe from the side without interrupting, doing my own analysis and comparison. But, the thing that interests me the most is on my side.

Pulling up my Partners, I find Natalie’s entry on the list. Her score shows as four out of five, and that doesn’t surprise me much. It could have been lower with her being so infatuated mainly with Shino. But, she seems well-interested in me too, which is quite kind of her. As for the actual description of our relationship, it’s displayed as Growing Romantic Interest. I bet if Shino had her own list, it would be something akin to Boundless Devotion, or Bottomless Adoration, hah. Nat really has it bad for the Japanese beauty and it shows.

The duo turning their gazes to me brings my musings to their end. “Sorry? Did you say something?”

“We just talked about how strong Natalie-san has now become and that the others will definitely notice even if we don’t say anything,” she explains.

“Does that bother you?” I ask, mainly glancing the bard’s way.

The recipient of my gaze shakes her head. “No, not really. I just hope they won’t think of you badly. Especially Paul. It’s a fact that you have slept with all the women in our party right now. At least considering the original squad. Don’t take it wrong, but I don’t think you should take Catherine.”

Snorting quietly, I laugh at that. “Same, my dear, same. I’m not going to steal someone who is clearly interested in another. I’m hoping she finds her way into Paul’s heart too. As for any potential issues, I think only Kamil can give me shit but it’s not like I care. What matters is that you are happy.”

“I want to see him try.” Shino growls cutely, making the two of us chuckle.

“Already getting protective of your new girlfriend?” I raise an amused brow at her and she turns fully crimson. “Good. Nat might be the one I recruited to keep you company on the road, but you should take care of her properly too. I’ll spank you if you don’t show her enough affection and only treat her as my substitute, got it?”

“I would never…” she mutters quietly.

“Let’s get something to eat and meet up with the others. There’s a lot we have to talk about and I want to visit Ross later too. The earlier we get more information out of that woman, the better. I wouldn’t be that surprised if she still had some means of losing her life that triggered automatically over time.”

We dress up slowly and I catch Natalie checking out my petite lover, making the blonde beauty smile timidly. Saying nothing, I simply gesture at her to continue at will and she gives my form some glances too before focusing on the more appealing type of body that tickles her fancy. With some fluffy pecks, we make our way into the dining hall with most of our friends and lovers already present. The three of us take the spot at the table with Paul’s squad and some of my ladies.

“Nat not being the first one to show up? Damn, you must have been exhausted last night.” Marcia snickers, bringing up the faintest shade of crimson out of her.

Natalie has such an amazing grip on her emotions and facial expressions. A true actress to the bone. Her poker face could win tournaments on its own.

Also, no shock Marcia knows. She might not be my girl, but we do share a connection and fucked more than once, so her noticing a new bond forming last night is more than natural. We won’t be able to fool her no matter what. I can only hope the others can remain oblivious for as long as possible. Natalie should have some more time to come to terms with the recent progress in her love life before being questioned about her choices by anyone.

“I think we all were after that fight.” Shino defends her with a logical excuse. “Natalie-san had a lot of healing to do and spent a huge amount of energy.”

“Good thing she now has a great way to resupply it,” the redhead adds with a grin and drops the topic. “So, what now?”

“First, let’s talk.” I turn to Catherine, who is taking a bite of a delicious salad one of our girls made. “I remember you reacting to the woman’s name down in the sewers. Is there anything you can share with us about her?”

She pauses for a moment before placing her fork down. “I recognized it. It’s not a name I expected to hear ever again.”

“A former comrade? Associate?” I raise a brow at her.

“Not directly, but something like that.” The officerly woman shakes her head. “Madeline Hagsburn was a renowned mage in the kingdom’s army. As you have seen, she possessed quite the mastery of arcane sigils. I never met her because she was active before my service started, vanishing one day with her whole deployment. No one knows what happened and the previous King was dismayed at losing one of his best women. Though, he didn’t get much time to investigate or even consider it as he himself… left our side less than a month later.”

The rest of us exchange glances of understanding and some initial realisation.

“You don’t think… those two events might be connected?” Paul suggests.

“Honestly, I had the same thought after recognising the name.” Catherine sighs heavily. “Before? Never. But if Madeline is alive and well, also part of some kind of criminal organisation, it wouldn’t be that farfetched to assume she might have had something to do with the King’s passing.”

“She might have been a double agent since the beginning. Bitch.” Kamil sneers.

“We don’t have to spiral into this torrent of assumptions when we have the person herself to provide us the actual testimony,” Natalie suggests calmly.

I nod at her with a proud smile. “Right. I’ll visit her when we get to the castle. I just wanted to get a feeling of who she is and so on.”

“From the stories the men share, she was supposedly very loyal and devoted to her service. Her mere presence raised the morale of the soldiers fighting on the frontlines. As you can imagine, her skills provided a variety of advantages when fighting hordes of those abominable monsters,” our guest continues, then shrugs. “But, who knows how much of this might be embellished after her death, which was believed to happen in battle.”

“There’s a chance she was captured and used as a weapon. The restrictions that were put on her would fit.” Paul strokes his chin ponderingly.

“That would be a more preferable option, though I’m not sure I would be able to forgive her for taking part in murdering the King if she was in fact completely forced to do it. I would rather die in agony than betray our people. Most of us would.” She frowns hard.

“We should wait and see what’s the truth before diving deeper into this topic,” Cornelia chimes in. “It became something unimaginably serious, incomparable to the kidnapping of the vassal rulers. If this organisation is more than just a band of greedy old men trying to maximise their profits from slavery, we might have a huge problem on our hands. Or might have had it for a long time. And it couldn’t be surfacing at a worse moment.”

“I think this moment is the exact reason why it is surfacing,” Elea shares her opinion. “We don’t know their intentions or plans, but it’s clear that the new legislation and general change in the Humans’ stance towards us have made them act after years if not decades of silence.”

“We need to be careful not to end up in the crossfire,” my charming magician adds. “They were slighted by our mercenary girls and might try to keep a closer eye on them. If they choose to come out of hiding and openly oppose the kingdom, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to target those who complicated their plans or showed any hints of aiding the royals when called.”

“That’s exactly what we needed, the attention of some secret crime syndicate aiming to overthrow the throne for centuries.” I rub my eyes annoyingly. “Things can never get boring here, can they?”

“Maybe something else caused them to act,” Neira says.

“Like what?” Cornelia raises a curious brow at her.

“Remember the Sahuagin Emperor?” my Dark Elf artist replies and my ladies immediately catch on.

“You think she might have influenced them?” I ask.

She shrugs. “It’s just a blind guess. You did put a chisel in her plans during our aquatic expedition, coming into almost direct contact with her. I’m not sure if this is revenge but we can safely assume she is going to look into you more now. But, it might be a coincidence. These people went after Vanessa’s parents, not us directly.”

“Speculations again.” I sigh. “We will see about it soon. Hopefully, if Madeline has so many limiters on her, she has been privy to some valuable information regarding these terrorists.”

Everyone agrees, and I continue.

“Anyway, for now, I would like to ask everyone here for a favour. Please, don’t mention,” I glance at Paul’s team, then move my eyes to my women, “or think about what we discussed in front of the Queen. At least until we confirm enough of these things. Lianne doesn’t need old wounds reopened right now as her bright mind should focus on solving the crisis their family might be soon facing. She does deserve to know, of course, but not yet. Can I ask this of you?”

My ladies nod immediately and give me their word to watch their mental conversations and connections while Catherine agrees wholeheartedly with my approach. Everyone else jumps onboard too and we wrap up the brief tactical meeting soon after. There’s much to do before we can fully relax but I let them know that they can stay at our residence as long as they want.

I send word to Lianne about us coming to visit and Cornelia joins me for the trip. Paul and the others get up too, not wanting to be completely left out of it. Catherine seems to appreciate his willingness to further involve them in this matter. She is clearly bothered by this whole situation as someone who cares about her nation.

On our way out, I let Lyona know that we will talk about the finished commission soon and that I haven’t forgotten my promise to her. The noble Vampire girl gives me the tiniest smile as her pale cheeks colour some, letting me know she will have the debriefing ready whenever I decide to listen to it. 

I can tell she is anxious, most likely worried that I might be dissatisfied with how everything went down. It looks like I’ll need to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault that we almost failed on our first try. Everything she prepared ahead of time was of the highest tier.

Soon, we reach our destination in three carriages and guards escort us inside, expecting our arrival. They lead us through already familiar paths and leave after we reach the entrance to one of the spacious private meeting chambers where Ross often gives us audiences. Knowing that we are expected and also definitely sensed by a certain person, I knock gently and move inside.

No sooner than I take three steps, that exact tiny individual slams hard into my chest and wraps her lithe arms around my frame. With a wry smile, I hug Lianne back while stepping aside so that the others can make it through the entrance too. After a short moment, she reaches for my cheeks with her dainty fingers and pulls me down into a passionate kiss, surprising everyone.

And I mean everyone. It’s not just Ross, the Heroes, and us, but also Vanessa and her parents, who sit on one of the ornamental sofas. Their eyes go wide at the scene playing out in front of them and I barely withhold a chuckle.

Lianne releases my lips after a few long seconds and gazes into my eyes with worry. “Are you and the girls alright? I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you yesterday. There was just so much chaos and someone would have noticed my absence. Everyone is fine, right?”

Since the cat is already out of the bag, I stroke her long white hair lovingly. “Yes, we came out of things more or less unscathed. And don’t blame yourself for having responsibilities. We understand how serious this is. You had injured guests to tend to too. I’m glad to see them making a full recovery this fast.”

She nods hesitantly as I wipe some of the slowly forming tears from her face. More affectionate pecks follow next while the trio on the couch switches their gazes between us and the King in stunned silence. Ross smirks at them and opens his mouth but I squint at him intently, making him consider his words carefully. We don’t need to make this even more awkward and shocking than she already had.

The distressed Queen finally calms down and leads me by hand to one of the fancy chairs. She plops down on my lap after I get myself seated but I say nothing. The others take free spots around the table until everyone finds their place.

Ross clears his throat to gather our attention. “Welcome back, Heroes, Al, Cornelia. It’s good to see you are in good health. I hope you all made a proper recovery after the recent incident?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” I make a polite bow. “Our wounds weren’t as deep as those of your guests. I apologise for not doing a better job of protecting them. I have no excuses for our failure to assure their safety.”

He waves his hand quickly, halting me throughout my speech. “No, no, no. Please. It’s thanks to you that Melrond and Philippa are alive and with us. I’ve heard the details about the ambush and there wasn’t anything you could have done differently in such a situation. Vanessa shared with us everything she saw and I’m proud of your actions. I insist you stop seeing them as a failure and move on.”

With a light sight, I show him a faint smile. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”

“And drop that.” Lianne swats my shoulder as she glares back at me. “We are alone. The only people with us are those whose lives you saved. And since this is going to be an important conversation, we should speak simply.”

“Fine.” I pat her pretty hair. “You should act more like a Queen, though.”

“I don’t care.” She shows an adorable pout. “I was worried, anxious, scared. You have no idea how stressed I was while trying to manage everything with Ross. I’m obliged to some relief and reassurance so be a good husband and hug me.”

This makes the family’s eyes widen and I roll mine, scooping the little lady closer nevertheless.

“They won’t say anything,” Lianne adds. “At least I figure they wouldn’t, considering that they owe their lives to you, isn’t that right?”

Vanessa’s father stands up. “Her Majesty is correct. We were not aware you were connected this closely with the royal family, but it matters not. I would like to offer our sincerest gratitude for coming to our rescue, and for taking care of our daughter when she was in a critical condition. Keeping a thing or two to ourselves is nothing. I wish to offer anything you might desire for this incredibly dangerous feat. I’ve heard from King Rossberg that you are an invested supporter of racial equality and I swear that our family will do whatever we can to aid this cause. I hoped to thank your subordinates too, so please, pass my gratitude on to them when you return home. Your assistant already knows we wish to raise the reward for your work and awaits your approval before closing the commission.”

The bit about the races isn’t that surprising considering that they journeyed here for that reason, but it’s good to hear that they aren’t scared off, changing their minds. As for the last part, I only hope they won’t go overboard.

Next, the woman joins him and bows deeply. “I can’t thank you enough for everything. It seems that you always end up cleaning up the mess we unknowingly make. I saw with my own eyes as you jumped to protect my baby girl with your own body and words won’t be able to convey my gratitude. There’s not much I can offer that doesn’t overlap with my husband’s gifts, but know that you will always be welcome in our lands like the King himself. We are forever indebted to you and yours and nothing will change that for this and the upcoming generations. We will make sure our successors never forget that vow even if they don’t come directly from our blood.”

“My lady—”

“It’s okay.” Vanessa’s mother cuts me off. “I had a talk with my dear daughter and she shared everything with me that I’ve been missing out on. I can’t continue to blame you for your past decision, which was righteous and lawful. My heart still aches, but it understands that without you, my pain would have been unbearable today, as long as I lived. In my husband’s declaration of granting you anything of ours, my forgiveness is included. I would be a fool and the worst mother on this plane of existence if I couldn't find it in myself after you’ve done so much for our family.”

Since it would be discourteous to argue, I simply nod. “I accept your gratitude, so please, rise.”

Before Philippa can do that, Vanessa props her hands on her knees and gets ready to join her parents with a determined expression, but I fix her with a stern gaze. She pauses mid-motion as our eyes meet and I silently glare her out of doing what I’m pretty sure was going to propose. The other two notice our brief standoff but it’s clear that they aren’t aware of the reason behind it. She must have not clued them in on the life-changing decisions she was about to make. Even if I’m fairly sure they would have only encouraged it had they known.

Ross clears his throat once more to break us out of this stalemate. “So, now that we have this part out of the way, we should take a moment to discuss this rather uncomfortable matter, unfortunately. I’ll talk about your rewards later. You three should still be resting and I only agreed to count you into this meeting because of your insistence.”

“Very well,” Melrond replies and the duo sits back down.

“Have you learned anything new since we last spoke?” I turn to the King.

“Not much, I’m afraid.” He spreads his arms in defeat. “Most of the grunts we captured alive seem to be hired hands, mercenaries and adventurers who fell from grace and couldn’t continue their work with the official guilds. They only knew their orders to kidnap and protect the target or cause a ruckus to serve as a diversion. They point out the captured woman as the intermediary between them and the client. Anyone closely related to that group besides her is dead, either from self-poisoning or some magical trigger. You?”

“She blurted out a few names after realising it doesn’t kill her before I put her to sleep. I’ll share them with you two later just so fewer people can get accidentally involved in whatever is happening. It’s not that I don’t trust you three but it’s more for your own safety. The chances that they will try anything with you after this failure are close to none. It would be different if they learned that you are actively working on uncovering the truth. My advice would be to remain on the side and act shaken, oblivious to everything other than the public information on the kidnapping incident,” I answer. “I did get the woman’s real name, though. Madeline Hagsburn.”

Lianne flinches on my lap while Ross’ brows jolt upwards. Vanessa’s family looks surprised too so my assumption that they are at least aware of the woman’s official story is proven right.

“I knew she looked fucking familiar.” The King slams his fist onto the table between us. “Is her whole damned squad in this?”

“We don’t know that yet.” I offer him a placating smile. “But we will find out everything we can. Nevertheless, things most likely won’t become safer again anytime soon no matter what we do. Your best choice might be to go on the offensive if we learn that simply defending illegal business isn’t their main agenda and only overlaps with the unexpected changes in your laws.”

“We should interrogate her as soon as possible.” The petite Queen shifts on my thighs. “My late husband has never managed to find out what happened to them and it was eating him inside out until his last moments. In his memory, I have to know why she defected. If she was still in service, he might have come back alive from that fateful battle.”

I hold Lianne dearly as she coldly pours her heart out. This much is already making the playful and collected woman become worked up and I’m only reinforced in my decision to keep her partially out of the loop for now.

“We will soon enough,” I say into her ear while caressing her dainty hand. “Did Philippa and Melrond mention anything about the reasons behind being targeted?”

“We can’t think of anything else besides our support for the new legislation,” the man answers. “It’s a bit too much to be revenge for the heinous acts of our son, in my humble opinion. Not to mean any offence to the deceased victims, but they weren’t of high enough standing for their relatives or anyone to gather funds substantial enough to finance something this grand.”

“I have to agree with Father on that one,” Vanessa joins in, giving me one more glance as if to check if I’m still intending to stop her. “I personally investigated most of those women to compensate their families and bring the bad news to those still searching. And, as you know, females of other races usually don’t have good enough status in these lands. I don’t intend for it to sound like a compliment, but Brother knew who to pick to play it safe.”

I grimace but can’t deny that. He was collecting his victims from slave auctions and that single source already tells you enough.

“I agree with Mother that we should go to Madeline post haste. We need to get as much out of her as we can before she is gone. Every second is a risk that something or someone takes care of her. I locked her up in a secret area known only to our family so that none of the staff had any idea about her location. We can’t rule out having moles amongst our ranks if these terrorists can pull in even high-ranking officers to their side,” Rossberg insists.

“Okay.” I relent, knowing that we won’t get anywhere with this conversation now that they have their sights on the woman.

When we stand up, Vanessa’s parents rush to me almost instantly, pulling me into a powerful hug the moment Lianne takes a single step away. I let them convey their feelings and emotions freely for a few seconds. After they retreat, their daughter approaches me too with a hesitant gait. She waits for my explicit permission before slowly coming into my open arms and squeezing me tightly.

“Understand that I’m not rejecting you,” I whisper in her ear. “I simply don’t want you to disregard everything that you are to compensate me or show your gratitude. If you one day manage to convince me that it’s out of honest feelings, I might consider it. Nonetheless, you will always be a friend and don’t forget that. My girls are waiting to help you go through the troubles of your body and mind. You are welcome anytime.”

I feel her faint nod and release the pretty princess. She sniffles a few times while wiping away the tears out of her eyes and gives me an appreciative smile. Before I can react, she leaves a tender peck on my cheek and trots back to her parents, who glance at me in thought. Not wanting to give them a chance to come up with the same idea as their daughter, I mentally signal to Lianne, who ushers them out of the chamber and orders them to rest.

With just us left inside, she puts her hands on her hips. “Alright. Let’s go. I’ll show you the way.”

“No,” I say and she freezes with her fingers reaching out for the knob again. “You should stay.”

“And why is that?” She furrows her brows at me, getting a bit tense.

“You want the logical answer or the actual one?” I chuckle quietly.

The Queen mulls it over for a moment. “Both. Logical first.”

“Someone should keep them company. They are your guests, and as Ross said, we don’t know if there aren’t any enemies in here. It’s less likely anyone tries anything with either you or him around. You are the better choice since you are relatively gentler, friendlier, and easier to approach, able to keep Vanessa’s family at peace,” I start. “And for real, I don’t want to endanger you. Who can say if Madeline isn’t rigged with some kind of magical explosion or such? I barely talked with her back in the sewers so I’m not sure she’s completely safe to question.”

Some of the dangerous edge fades off her posture and Lianne releases a weak sigh. “I shall listen to your wise words, my love. Please, be careful.”

I walk closer to stroke her cheek lovingly and she briefly enjoys the comfort of my touch. Kissing my palm, she walks out to follow after their guests. Ross reaches my side and grins appreciatively.

“Good job. She would have never listened to me. If I remember correctly, they knew each other, though I’m not sure how deeply. I only met her in passing and saw a serious officer serving my father.” He pats me on the shoulder.

“And I take it you won’t be as easily dissuaded from following us?” I look at him with resignation.

“Someone does have to show you where to go, no?” He slaps me some more and starts moving. “You have until then to convince me to leave.”

Cornelia gives me a parting kiss while offering to stay with the others to keep them company. It surprises me that she doesn’t want to come, but a single glance into her enchanting eyes conveys everything. Even if I might have made up that bit about the explosion and danger, she understands that I’m not completely out of my worries and doesn’t want to put that on me. Especially with a new life growing inside her precious belly.

I promise to share our findings with them and the two of us depart. Well, four actually. Diana hides her presence in my shadow while Hecate crawls above our heads without any noise or hint of her always monitoring me. Maybe it’s better Ross stays unaware. He has enough troubles as is.

We stroll through some hidden passages triggered by random objects and furniture until a sealed metal cube shows up in front of us, sitting in a spacious, also square chamber full of runes and sigils. A special prison for special people, it seems. Ross deactivates a plethora of safety arrays before we can approach the barely discernible rectangle of a door.

He opens it with a touch and they swing inside while showing more glowing symbols. Madeline sits nude on the floor atop a complex magical circle. It must be restraining her movements as only her eyes swing wildly while her body remains in a kneeling position. Ross makes a few swipes on a seemingly random part of the wall and her head suddenly jerks.

“Master…” the woman croaks through a parched throat.

I look at the King and he shrugs. “I might have forgotten to bring her water today. Can you really blame me? The day of a king is truly exhausting.”

Rolling my eyes at him, though without any blame, I glance his way and he nods, confirming that it’s safe to approach. Bringing out some water out of my spatial storage, I give her a few sips so that our interrogation proceeds smoothly.

“Thank you, My Lord…” She smiles sweetly while Ross scoffs to the side, most likely due to the title she addressed me with.

“So, are you still with us or did you change your mind?” I cut straight to the heart of the matter.

“I’m all yours as long as I won’t die from the curse, My Lord.” She licks her lips, most likely not just to moisten them.

I use Voidal Bondage again, this time in the form of purple belts. In a flash, she could easily pass as a psych ward patient with how they wrap her up in tight bindings. I don’t want to take any chances. Good that these don’t cancel out my own influence.

“Right. Let’s start easy. The names you began listing back then. Who are they?” I ask.

“Some of the bigshots in the organisation, noble families and influential households. I personally handled some of their affairs since the upper echelon ensured my secrecy with the curse and other magical vows. I can give you names, addresses, connections, dates, everything,” she quickly stammers out, eager to prove herself.

“We’ll get to that soon.” I try my best to wink at her to keep the charm going. “I’m curious about you. From what I heard, you were a respected officer. Why have you disappeared and switched sides?”

“Ah, that’s a quite long story, My Lord, but to sum it up, I’ve always been in this for my own benefit, trying to learn as much as I can from the King’s libraries and archives. The best way to achieve that was to show great results, of course,” Madeline responds without any remorse. “One day, I was approached by some people who offered me what they called lost knowledge suitable for my talents. When they showed me the arcane texts, I knew those were the real deal. They promised all the help they could give me to study those as long as I achieved their goal.”

“And what was their goal?” I inquire.

“Put up a massive barrier strong enough to hold against the King’s battalion.”