~ Chapter 147: Worries in the night ~

[Illsyore’s point of view]

The first thing I did after I heard the ‘waifu alarm’ was to turn it off. As much as it was useful in letting me know that one of my wives needed my help with something, there was no need to wake up the entire island with this high-pitched noise.

I walked up to the control Power Crystal hidden well behind a fake wall and cut off the Magic Thread that connected it to the signal receiver, the trigger of the entire thing. The moment when I did this, everything went back to normal and only my bracelet was blinking on and off, highlighting in green light Ayuseya’s name.

“This alarm... So, she’s not in trouble, but she does need my help with something.” I said to myself and then looked out the window.

From here all the way to the Thorya Continent was quite the distance, and while I could get there faster than a boat could by either swimming or running across the ocean, it was far too slow for my liking.

As I looked up at the sky, I remembered that experimental project I’ve been working on and which I was dying to try out sometime soon. This was by far the best opportunity for me to take it out of the lab and give it an actual field test.

Then it’s settled! I thought with a smile.

Before that, however, I had to get back home and let my wives know what was going on. They were probably worried as well, since I was pretty sure that I installed one of these annoying buzzers there too.

I just hope I didn’t wake up the kids with these... I thought and then jumped out the window.

Once I reached home, I told Tamara and Zoreya what happened and then made the necessary preparations in order to head over to Ayuseya. It was a bit too late now to go and wake up the children, I wasn’t planning on being away for too long either, so I just told my wives to tell them and everyone else who was concerned that I was out on a personal business.

Technically speaking it wasn’t lying, and I didn’t want to worry the kids too much. Besides, there was the high possibility that they would want to come with me to visit their mothers.

My immunity to their cute begging faces was at an absolute 0! If they pulled out the puppy dog eyes trick, I would end up defenseless before them.

Well, I wasn’t that much of an idiot to bring them with me in a possible danger zone. They were far safer on Illsyorea than anywhere else in the world. If I brought the kids with me to the Teslov Kingdom, I would hear no end from it from Ayuseya.

Thus, sneaking out was the way to go! Yup!

As I was just about to step out the door, Zoreya walked over to me and embraced me.

“The children will miss you, but don’t worry, we’ll manage things here.” she told me with a soft smile before giving me a goodbye kiss.

“I will watch over them, nya!” Tamara said with a bright smile and then asked “But are you sure you don’t want to say goodbye to them too?” she tilted her head to the left.

“Yes. I don’t want to worry them. Besides, with caring mothers like you two and the extra help from their nanny Savannah, I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about unless we’re talking about some planetary calamity!” I jokingly said.

“We also have Snuggles and countless other monsters over level 1000 and 1500 on this island. If someone can get past them, then they will most definitely be stopped by my shield!” declared Zoreya with pride in the tone of her voice.

“I can also be of help! My claws can cut through the enemy’s armor with ease!” Tamara declared.

“It’s good to know that I have such dependable allies. Anyway, I’m off to visit Ayuseya! Take care of the children and the island, you two!” I told them before hugging them and stealing a kiss from their lips one last time.

Once I was out of the mansion, I flew up in the air, and here, at an altitude of almost 1000 meters, I took out one of my latest projects, which could be called the epitome of technological development on this planet!

What I was talking about was nothing else but the supersonic fighter jet!

With a sleek metal body, with retractable wings that changed their shape to anything the pilot wished for, two powerful turbojet engines that ran on Magic Energy and could turn into two Scramjets, with which reaching hypersonic speeds was a breeze, this thing was a monster unlike anything the natives of this world had ever seen or heard of before!

Unfortunately, I had yet to fit it with some proper weapons, so this thing was nothing more than an over-complicated transport vehicle for me.

“Time to make the sky roar!” I said as I remembered the line from a hit song that launched in the year of my death.

[Ayuseya’s point of view]

A long long time ago, the draconians were renowned as one of the most powerful and civilized species. We prospered and lived at the peak of this world until one day, our reign of supremacy was ended up by the union of the other species.

They gathered and cast a banishment spell on our Emperor at that time, Raskarod Pleyades, a tyrant rarely mentioned in history books and which many even mistook his name as one of his former nephews. Actually, even this name was riddled with suspicion.

Well, I personally thought of him as a tyrant for his lack of empathy towards other species, but the draconians saw him as a hero that was robbed from them by those far too weak and envious of them.

Many claimed that if that spell turned curse did not doom the Pleyades family, we would still be one of the mighty rulers of the Thorya Continent. Others claimed that the draconians didn’t have the courage to kill off the Pleyades or remove them from power because it had been prophesied that one day he was going to return, reincarnated as one of the young princes.

I wasn’t one to believe in such nonsense, but it was enough that others did.

When I activated the alarm that my husband left me, I knew that what I was going to bring into this country was someone that was not even remotely close to what Raskarod once was... A part of me wanted to hide from Illsy what I had seen below this palace, but the other part told me that I couldn’t. He would see right through me and spare no second from obliterating this entire place.

Illsy often thought of himself as difficult to anger, but in truth, one only needed to give a sign of being evil in front of him, and his sense of justice would spark up like a furious lightning storm.

Bandits, nobles, kings, Apostles, or maybe even Gods, no one was safe from his wrath once he or someone dear to him was touched by the injustice of this world.

Was it a criminal act what he did? No, to many, it was a blessing, but this in itself was a bit of weakness because if one knew how to trick the mighty Dungeon Lord into unleashing his wrath, they could make him accidentally slaughter innocents he would have otherwise never dared to touch with a flower let alone the cutting edge of his sword.

It was also because of this that I knew that he would sense the injustice I came across, the horrors below which shook my heart. That was why, in what came to be, I had to make sure that I was leading the theater. That I was the one who wrote the script and advised everyone how it was best to dance.

“He’s getting close.” I thought as I felt his magic signature like a pulsing beacon that was growing stronger and stronger with each passing second.

He was approaching me at an extremely fast speed and from the sky too. If he wanted to, he could hide himself from my gaze, but that would be against the purpose of this alarm thing he gave to me.

Quietly, I made my way outside the Pleyades Palace and in the middle of the darkness, I rushed out of the city and headed for a nearby location where we could meet and speak freely without the worry of prying eyes.

Leaving the city unnoticed was far easier than sneaking around. I just had to fly high enough and then I was free to go wherever I wished. Drakaros was not a city that well defended, after all, especially not against Over Supremes like those in my family.

Once I reached what seemed to be a good little spot far enough from the capital, I released a bit of my Magic Energy to let Illsy know of my current location. If needed be, he had more than one way of tracking me down. He could use his Dungeon Search through his expanded Dungeon Territory and there was also this alarm trigger in my hand, which certainly had some way of telling him where it was.

Illsy always said there were far better ways of pinpointing someone’s location on the planet but making a device he called a Geographical Positioning Satellite wasn’t something he knew how to do just yet.

With his accelerated thinking, chances were it wouldn’t take long before he would know the pieces of puzzle he was missing for creating it. All of these new things he brought into making were mostly inventions inspired from the things created by the humans on his previous world, Earth.

That place was truly fascinating, but it was too bad I was never going to have the opportunity to visit it one day.

Then, while I was lost in thought, I noticed something up in the sky. It was a metal arrow that moved unbelievably fast, cutting through the clouds like a weapon of the gods. A powerful fire magic pushed it forward with a fury that could not be stopped either by mountains or the far span of the oceans.

As it crossed over my head, I heard no sound at first, but then, the roar of the beast washed over this entire forest. It came like a shock wave; the sound was piercing to the ears, and it was unlike anything I had ever heard of before. It called out with the fury of a million explosions.

I could not even tell what exactly made it, but I could feel that the one who was riding this monster was not a foe to me. I did not feel any killing intent coming from this arrow of metal as it flew all the way towards Drakaros, where it turned around in a wide circle.

It was only then when I could guess the ridiculous speed it was traveling at. This bird of metal was flying several times faster than the speed of sound, and its piercing roar woke up everyone in the city. The torches of the people were lit, and the swords unsheathed, although, most of them were scared witless in front of this beast they could not even properly see, let alone reach.

Or at least, that was what I was presuming was happening over there, my focus was not on the city but on the flying bird in the sky as it turned around and rushed back towards me.

I could feel the pressure of its might, the power it reverberated through its roar, but I stood still and watched with my heart beating fast in my chest as it drew closer to me.

Upon reaching the edge of this forest, the metal spear vanished and in its place was a man with green hair and jade-green eyes. He descended from the sky like a god made mortal and landed not that far away from me, with the strength and elegance befitting of a true deity.

Dust rose off the ground and a crater formed around him, while the small critters of the forest hid away in their burrows or fled as far as they could from here, scared by the sound of the impact, the roar of the bird of metal, and the presence of this man before me.

He was awe inspiring and caused my heart to flutter. There was only one individual in the whole wide world capable of doing this, and his name was Illsyore.

Standing proud and showing me a charming smile, he then parted his lips and called out to me.

“It’s been a while, Ayuseya.”

“You say it as though we have been parted away for years.” I scoffed and then while trying to keep my calm, I approached him.

My desire to run up to him and embrace him was betrayed by my own body as with every step I took, my hips swayed, luring him in, tempting him.

“Missed me?” he asked with a purr as he pulled me in his arms and then stole my lips with a kiss.

The warmth of his body, the passion in his touch, the desire in his eyes, the love in his heart, I could feel them all washing down over me. I could finally feel as though I was back home, in my husband’s arms.

My knees would have wanted to give in and let me melt into his arms, but I stopped myself from doing so. I was not so weak and feeble so as to fall prey to this desire, not matter how much it howled inside of me.

When our lips parted, I felt as though we did far more than just kiss. My whole body was hot, and Illsy looked so entranced with me that I could barely withhold myself from jumping on him.

I had no fear of being seen by someone out here, in the forest. He too would not have been so relaxed if he did not know for certain that there was no one here to bother us. With the earlier display of power, I doubt the draconians from Drakaros would be looking for two lovers in the middle of the forest. But even if they did find us, so what? Couldn’t a married woman and her husband have a date under the moonlight?

Still, as I laid there, in his arms, glancing into his eyes, completely helpless before their piercing gaze; as I felt his heartbeat and remembered his scent, for the first time since I left Illsyorea, I could finally relax and tell my body to calm down.

“What’s wrong?” he asked when he noticed that I was not acting as my usual self.

There were so many things that were wrong that I did not even know which was best to start with.

“For now, please... just hold me.” I told him and then closed my eyes, while burying my head in his chest.

Illsy nodded and then we walked away from that crater. There was a decent spot with little grass not far from here. He took out a couch and a blanket from his Inner Mind and started a campfire to warm ourselves up.

He sat down on the couch, where I cuddled up into his arms. Although I had the bigger body, somehow this did not seem to bother him.

We stayed there like this, embracing and listening to the crackles of the fire, while he gently brushed his fingers through my hair. His other hand was resting on my waist, my head on his chest, listening to his breath and heartbeat, taking in his warmth and scent.

I felt as though all of my stress was flying away, melting into the nothingness from which it came from...

Yet, I knew we could not lay there for too long. An hour or so was more than enough to charge me up with enough energy for what was to come.

“So, tell me, my love, how are the children? How are my sister-wives, and how is everyone doing back on the island?” I asked him, wanting to start our conversation with something easy before I got into some more heavy stuff.

“The little ones are doing fine. It has just been what? Not even two months since you last saw them? Nothing major happened, but they do miss all of you, especially their mothers, Shanteya and Nanya.” he told me.

“I would guess that Kormian and Natrasku are the ones who miss their mother the most, right?”

“They all miss their mothers equally, but so far, they haven’t shown it. As for how I know something like this, I guess, you can say it’s a father’s instinct.” he laughed.

“I see... and the festival? Did it go well?”

“Yes, nothing major happened. The students had fun and did their best to make their stalls as flashy as possible. We might get more students next year, so I’m thinking of adding more teachers to our troops. I would not want to start having goblins act as supplementary teachers... That could go wrong in so many ways.” he showed me a wry smile.

I giggled and then asked him to tell me more. For the next half an hour, we kept talking about silly things that happened during my absence from the island. There were the pranks of the children, the mishaps of the Paramanium Emperor who kept trying to win the heart of his sweetheart, and other charming and pleasant moments.

Eventually, I asked him “For how long can you be away from Illsyorea?”

“Hm...” he closed his eyes and answered “I think around two weeks at most.”

“Why two weeks?”

“Because that’s how long Zoreya’s barrier might last.” he replied and then looked at me.

“Do you not trust the others to be powerful enough to defend the island in your absence?” I asked him.

“No, it’s not that.” he shook his head “It’s just that there’s this inexplicable feeling I always get in the pit of my stomach that somehow, someway, if I’m not close to you I might lose you all... I know that each one of you are powerful enough to take over all the three continents if you wanted to, but sometimes... I get the feeling that you will just vanish, that you will be whisked away by some unstoppable force, and all I’ll be able to do will be to just stand there and watch...” he said and looked down at his hand “It’s as if... I won’t be able to reach you in time if I’m too far away from you.”

I was not expecting such a serious answer from him, and I could tell that it was something that was eating him up on inside. Although, in my opinion this worry of his wasn’t something extraordinary or dangerous, rather... it was something I found cute and silly when coming from him. Illsy could be such a worrywart sometimes.

With a smile, I kissed him on the tip of his nose and then told him “You are worrying for nothing, only the gods could take us away from you like that, and I doubt they would risk angering you.” I giggled and then patted his head as I would a child.

“Maybe...” he showed me a wry smile.

We let the silence of the night take over for a few minutes and then I began to tell him everything I went through since I was separated from him. I told him how I was greeted back to my home country, what I saw in the people here, and how sad they appeared to be in my eyes. I didn’t leave out the tale of how I killed Borgis, Soleya’s rapist, and he told me he would have probably done something worse in my stead.

“I wish I could change their fates, but my heart is now with Illsyorea. Teslov is but a memory, part good and plenty bad.” I said, and this urged him to hold me closer to him.

Then came the story of what I had discovered regarding the dark side of my country, the tales of the slums and how poverty and corruption was ignored and mostly accepted as a normal thing among the people here, how even the children of nobility weren’t safe from the abuse of their own parents or the other nobles around them.

Eventually, I reached the point where I told him about the underground breeding farm and everything I saw there. Illsy listened to me without asking anything, but I could see that my words were affecting him.

The air around us became filled with Magic Energy, and several pebbles around our couch started to float up at just a palm’s height in the air. There were also a few puffs of black smoke rising to sky here and there, all of which were signs that this Dungeon Lord had been angered.

For Illsy, the act of showing off his killing intent was a rare one. He had remarkable control over it, almost as if by nature he found it difficult to think about wanting to willfully kill someone just like that, but when needed be, he could release it like an apocalyptic storm.

I feared that he would snap in anger and march towards the palace to eradicate all those who stood in his way. If he did that, he would have most likely appeared as wrathful criminal, so I had to make sure it did not come to this.

Taking his palm into my own, I told him “Soon, the King will send word for me to present myself for an audience with him. When he does, I want you to take care of my sister and her baby. Unlike me, who can fight against the entire might of Teslov, she is defenseless and weak. The baby as well, he is basically your nephew, isn’t he?”

“I guess so...” he said and the air around us calmed down.

Illsy furrowed his brow and looked over at the fire.

“What of their curse?” he asked.

“Release them...” I told him.

“You know that this means...” he looked back at me.

“When the King summons me, and after you have freed my sister and nephew, we shall end the current Teslov rule in a way that will be deemed as righteous by those who shall witness this event from the outside.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I will play the helpless princess and not show my power. He will probably try to threaten me or use enslavement magic on me, but this will protect me.” I then showed him my golden wedding ring, which was there ever since I answered ‘yes’ to his proposal.

“If he tries to do that...” he said, but I placed my fingers over his lips.

“You will let him. Besides, I am no fool to fall to such obvious magic and you can surely break me free if he somehow manages to enslave me. That is why I want you to pretend to be less knowledgeable and less powerful than you truly are, all in order to fool him into making a mistake that will give us the right to attack him.” I showed him a smile.

“Hm, if he tells you to call me just use the little device I gave you. I’ve made sure to disable the alarms back at home, so it won’t wake up the children by accident.” he showed me a wry smile.

“I’ll do just that. And if he asks you to remove the curse on him?” I asked.

“I’ll pretend I need to use some over-complicated ritual through which I will take a peek at his status as well. It shouldn’t be that hard to manipulate my Magic Energy fields in order to do just that.” he said.

“Very good.” I nodded and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Now, let us go to the palace. I don’t wish to sleep outside tonight.”

“Shouldn’t I go rescue the women in the breeding farm?” he asked.

“If you do, he will know something is up, and this will ruin our plan. Besides, he is not going to harm them. They are far too valuable for him... and I am not certain if they can even function as normal draconians. That crystal that cast a purple light at their foreheads, I fear that it might be some mind controlling device.” I said.

“I understand. I’ll analyze that thing once I get the chance, but if I find out that they are all in a vegetative state and can’t be saved from it...” he stopped.

“Ending their misery will be the best form of mercy you could offer them, but I don’t think the babies are outside of our help.” I told him.

“No, they should be fine... I think. The children too, for the most part. The adults are whom I think will be beyond saving, but I won’t give a verdict just yet, I’ll analyze that thing properly while you and the others will try to snap them out of that trance.” he told me.

“Thank you, Illsy.” I kissed him one more time.

“But what if this plan doesn’t work or he makes a move before we can?” he asked me.

“There are plenty of things that could go wrong with this plan, that’s why our best bet is to have even a semblance of a plan in the first place. If it does not go our way, we’ll at least know our goals and then we can improvise.” I replied with a soft smile on my lips.

We knew far too little about what was going on here and did not have enough time on our hands, but if we didn’t do something, the long line of Pleyades sacrifices would continue alongside the ever-increasing suffering of the citizens of this country.

After we put out the fire, we returned to my room at the palace. Getting inside with our magic was so easy, it wasn’t even a joke, but I didn’t feel right with making love there... The palace was draining all such desires from me, and Illsy too.

We spent the rest of the night sleeping in each other arms, cuddled up like a pair of lovers.

Then, the following day, I was woken up at breakfast time by a loud banging at the door. I quickly put on a robe and then answered.

“Princess Ayuseya Pleyades, you have been granted the right to see his Majesty King Braydan Pleyades for an audience today, an hour after lunch. You are to present yourself in appropriate fashion and by his command you are to not use the name of Deus as your family name when introducing yourself but the name of Pleyades.” so the messenger declared.

With a diplomatic smile on my lips, I told him “I will meet his Majesty today, but in regard to that command, please do remind him that he holds no political power over me, and least he desires an international political incident, I would suggest that he doesn’t force the political representatives of other countries to introduce themselves as he pleases even if said individuals had at one point been a part of his Majesty’s family.”

“Erm... I...” the draconian tried to say something, but I stopped him from doing so.

“You are but the messenger, don’t forget this. Send my message as you have heard it and if you change a single word from it, I will make sure you pay.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

The draconian gulped and then nodded.

With this, I closed the door and looked at Illsy, who was sitting on the bed, looking back at me.

“Well, now that was sooner than I had expected.” I told him.

“So, it seems. Tell me where to find your sister then, I will go to her right after we have our breakfast.” he said.

“But of course, my love.” I nodded and then walked up to him, taking off my robe and placing it on the back of a nearby chair.