Commissioned by kyo amamoto.
Eris sighed, using magic to clean the blood off of her sword. Nearby, Tona whipped her own sword through a goblin's neck, before flipping through the air, landing, and cutting the legs out from under another before poking it in the skull and moving on.
"She's getting bored," Roxy murmured.
"Mhmm," I agreed quietly.
The sword in Eris's hand heated up, surrounded by an aura of fire and wind. "Tona, come back!"
The cat-girl nodded and quickly returned. As soon as she was clear, Eris launched herself across the ground, blindingly fast as she closed the distance between herself and the remaining dozen or so goblins. A few quick flicks of her sword and arcs of angry red flew out—before each line expanded into a star-like pattern that neatly diced and cauterized the remaining goblins, turning them into little more than burned meat.
Eris made a face at the stench and sheathed her sword as she made her way back to us. "That wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be. Can we go, Rudeus?"
"Sure. I think we're done here—"
"Master," Sprite interrupted, and I blinked. "I was doing some last minute tasks before we left and I found something. I think you should see this."
Eris, Roxy, and Tona gathered around as a hologram sprang up between us. My heart clenched when I saw her face. She looked different, and was wearing heavy armor, but… "Zenith?"
Sprite's own hologram appeared beside it, shaking her head. "No. I believe this is Therese Lateria. Your mother's sister, and your aunt."
That checked out, honestly. I remembered Zenith's maiden name was Lateria. I considered the hologram for a moment before asking, "Where is she now?"
A map of the city sprang up, along with video feeds of the surrounding area. The hologram of Therese expanded, showing that she was exercising and a young girl, maybe Tona's age, sat nearby watching.
Humming to myself, I decided to pay them a visit. There was a problem, however. I seem to recall Zenith, the one time she spoke of her family, saying they were very religiously strict. And Milis hated demons and only barely tolerated most demi-humans. It would probably be best not to approach her with Roxy and Tona with us. So, I turned to my blue-haired mage wife. "Roxy, would you mind heading back to the ship with Tona? Milis being who they are, and her looking like she's some kind of knight or crusader, I don't want to cause problems… and have to kill someone if they have problems with you being there. Not really the best impression to give my aunt, you know?"
Roxy shook her head, a smile pulling at her lips. "It's fine, Rudy. Go ahead."
"I'll take you to the Roxy now," Sprite informed, and the blue-haired woman nodded. A moment later, she and Tona were yanked smoothly into the sky towards the ship some miles away and Sprite's hologram flickered out.
"Alright, let's go see this aunt."
"'Kay."
With that, we saddled up and flew back into the city on our bikes. Following Sprite's directions, we made our way to a small church ground that looked to have been mostly abandoned. As we parked and got off our bikes, Eris asked, "Why are they here?"
"Not sure. Let's find out."
We moved around to the back, where we found Therese and the child. As soon as we came into view, the woman stood up straighter and leveled her sword at us. "You are not welcome here. Leave now."
"Well, okay. If you want me gone, I'll leave, aunt Therese," I sent the woman a smile.
Therese blinked. Her eyes narrowed as she studied my features. "What is your name?"
"Rudeus. Formerly Rudeus Greyrat. You can just call me Rudy. My mom is Zenith Greyrat—"
Theresa dropped the sword and sprinted across the distance separating us. A moment later, I found myself wrapped up in her arms and squeezed against her uncomfortable armor. "Rudy! It is you!"
"Yep. It's me," I confirmed, chuckling as I reached up and petted her hair since there wasn't much point to hugging her back with that armor on.
"Let me look at you," she said, before pulling back and examining me closely. "Hmm… You've got the face and the eyes, but Zenith said you were blond and had her husband's cute little mole…"
"Long story that boils down to using magic to make a friend feel better about herself and wanting to distance myself from Paul," I shrugged.
"Mm. Your father was a bit of a cad," she nodded. "'Formerly' Greyrat? Did something happen?"
"Nothing much. His father just tried to cut his head off, is all," Eris grumbled, apparently still angry about that.
Therese smiled at the redhead. Her tone was teasing as she asked me, "And who might this pretty young lady be, hmm?"
"Eris Boreas Greyrat. My wife. Well. Soon to be. One of them."
Therese blinked, before turning back to me with a small moue of a frown on her lips. "Rudy… did you pick up your father's bad habits?"
Chuckling, I rubbed at the back of my head sheepishly. "No? It just sort of happened. I was originally just going to marry Roxy, but some things happened in Buena village and we took on Sylphiette as our student, befriended her, and she kind of… latched on. She had a hard time growing up and was really isolated in the village, so…"
"Ahh," Therese's face wore an understanding look as she nodded. "I see. And this one?"
"Rudeus became my teacher." Sending me a fond look, she continued, "He put up with me at my worst and made me the woman I am today. When the Fittoa teleport disaster happened, we were transported to the demon continent together and we've been looking after each other since. Rudeus will be my husband. No other man will do."
Therese put a hand to her cheek as she blushed. "Oh my! How romantic."
"So," I looked over to the side where the cute little blonde with the weird diamond pupils was watching, "who's your… friend?"
"My charge. This is, well… she doesn't have a name anymore. She's the Maiden of Milishion."
I considered that as I studied her. The word she used wasn't actually 'maiden,' in the sense of 'young woman,' though it had those connotations because her being a young woman was implied—or a requisite. It was something like priestess, sorceress, holy maiden, shrine maiden, and Vestal virgin all rolled into one. It was one of the things Roxy was iffy on herself, too—because for different people it had different connotations. It was both a normal word in conversation used to describe someone and a title—like 'father.' A father could just be the male parent to a child, but it could also be a religious position in a church.
Meaning that this little girl was some sort of religious/political figure, potentially with supernatural powers. Though, given the eyes, I probably shouldn't be surprised there. In fact, I'd be willing to put money on them being something like Kishirika's demon eyes—if not exactly that. It could be that someone in her bloodline had been granted demon eyes by Kishirika and they were passed down through her family. I wasn't sure if they were heritable. I'd have to ask.
Although, from the way she was studying me, and reacting…
I focused on my magic, casting the spells both for telepathy and telepathic defense on a hunch. I felt it a moment later—delicate little fingers carefully brushing against my shields now that they were up. Her eyes widened in surprise and I sent her a smile. Okay, let's just… take care of that right now. I think we've got enough of a handle on telepathy to properly shield against it now.
I pulled a lump of rock from the ground and focused on what I wanted. It shifted from normal stone to the jade-like rock Roxy's amulet had been made of. I put a simple metal chain on it, slapped a small monster core in the middle of it, charged it up, and started layering on the same enchantments the one I'd given Roxy had—plus automatic mental shielding. Then, I threw it over my neck and made a second one for Eris.
"Rudy?" Therese asked, looking curious. "That's some amazing spellwork, but… what are you doing?"
"Sorry, aunt Therese—"
"You can call me auntie~," she smiled at me, reaching out and running a hand through my hair.
I chuckled and continued. "I didn't realize she was a telepath and could read people by looking at them. I made a couple of amulets with protection against it—"
My phone pinged.
Sprite: Another message from Archer: 'About time. What good is protection if it's not automatic and always on? Spend some time with aunt Therese. Fix the problem she has here in Milishion. Don't rush. Continue with the plan. They're safe.'
It took everything I had not to turn away and start shouting for the fucker to start giving me answers. Eris noticed my look and reached out to take my hand.
"Something wrong?" Therese asked, confused.
"Nothing you did, no," I shook my head. "Just got a message about some critical information is all."
Eris's red eyes went wide. "You mean—"
"Yeah."
She squeezed my hand. "If we're not leaving now, that means they're safe. Just a little longer then, Rudeus."
I squeezed her hand back and nodded. "Right."
"What do you mean?"
"Alright, let's… get you up to speed. Have you spoken with Paul?"
Therese frowned, but nodded. "I have."
We moved over and I created a bench for Eris and I to sit on. Therese began quickly stripping out of her armor, then, to my surprise, once she was out of it she picked me up, dropped into the spot I had been sitting on, and pulled me into her lap. She was soft. Just as busty as her sister, with thick thighs and a muscular form under a bit of softness that came from being a woman. She was also sweaty from her workout and, I'll be honest here, she smelled divine.
Therese hugged me to her and buried her face in my neck, inhaling my scent as I was hers. "Mm. I finally get to properly hold my nephew. Rudy, you and Eris should stick around. I want some skinship~!"
I laughed, shaking my head as Eris rolled her eyes. "Or you could come with us," she offered. "Anyway. Zenith and Norn were lost to us when the teleport accident happened."
As we talked, the little blonde maiden moved over and sat beside me and Therese, opposite Eris. The girl rested her head on my side and closed her eyes. I reached over and began petting her head as we filled Therese in on what had actually happened and everything we had been doing.
"So… wait. What rank are you, Rudy? And Eris?" Therese asked, confusion in her tone.
"Officially, King-level elemental mage. Unofficially… Emperor. Roxy and a few others in the know have confirmed it, but we aren't going around reporting that."
"Except in Ars," Eris corrected with a chuckle.
"Right. Except in Ars," I admitted. "Eris is officially recognized as a Sword King. As far as casting goes, she's a King-level Fire and Wind mage."
"Very impressive," Therese nodded. "I do have some questions though, but… they can wait. I should take you to mother. …No, maybe not. She probably won't acknowledge you, given that she hates Paul, and hates the fact that my sister let herself be seduced by him. Zenith basically threw away every hope mother was pinning on her for the future. I know it's not your fault, but mother won't see it that way. She's… stubborn."
"I know the type. Well, if she doesn't want anything to do with me, that's fine. She can live her life here and die peacefully of old age. You, on the other hand… Aunt Therese, how would you like to live forever?"
"Eh?!"
Eris rolled her eyes. "Sylphie thinks she's got immortality worked out. Or at least, one form of it," the redhead shrugged. "We've just got to go pick her up and try it out. She's definitely figured out how to heal someone back to their prime though. So you could lose a few years…"
Therese glared at the redhead. "Are you calling me old?"
Eris snorted quietly. "No. I'm saying that my mom, Sylphie's mom, my dad, grandfather, Lilia, Ghislaine, and Zenith when we find her are going to probably have Sylphie knock them back down to their twenties."
"I'm not that old," the blonde pouted, turning away and hugging me tighter. "I don't look that old, do I Rudy?!"
"You look like a beautiful, mature older lady, auntie," I reassured her, only for her to grind her chin into the top of my head.
"Not that much older."
"Sure, sure," I agreed. "So, in or out?"
"Hmm… Can I think about it? I'll need to pray over it. I want to believe that there's nothing in the Milis faith that proscribes it, but I want to be sure before I commit a terrible mistake."
"If you want," I agreed.
"Speaking of faith. Rudy, did your mother raise you in the faith properly?"
I wondered how to answer that, only to be cut off a moment later. Quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear, Sprite announced, "Master, armed men are approaching the church grounds. They're wearing masks and concealing garments, so I don't believe they're here with peaceful intentions."
Therese stilled under me. "What was that?"
"Sprite, my summoned spirit. Don't worry, she's safe. I trust her with my life—considering she's saved it before."
I got up from my aunt's lap and Eris stood as well, beginning to limber herself up. A thought and a bit of mana Summoned Aqua Heartia to me. Theresa stood up and picked up her sword. "Get behind me," she instructed the maiden, who frowned but nodded her agreement.
We spotted them hopping the walls a moment later. There were ten of them, all dressed in dark clothes, black hooded cloaks, and wearing dark leather armor. As they approached, they unsheathed their weapons, but stopped at a distance of about fifteen feet away—completely encircling our group. One of them stepped forward and bowed slightly at the waist.
"King-level Elemental Mage Rudeus Greyrat. Sword King Eris Boreas Greyrat. We are not here for you, nor do we wish any quarrel with you. We are here for the girl." The voice was muffled, but clearly male.
That they knew who we were was… irritating, in a way. The only people who knew, for certain, that we were in town were the Adventurer's Guild, Paul and those that had been in the bar with him, and Therese. Beyond that, we should be relatively anonymous. For some other entity to be aware of our presence was worrying and spoke of spies inside the Guild.
"See, now, here's the problem with that," I sighed. Holding out my hand, I conjured a Water Ball, then let go of it, slipping it into an orbit around us. I joined it with a barely visible Wind Ball, Fireball, Stone Bullet, and Ice Spike. All silently. All seemingly negligently. "The maiden is my aunt's charge, which makes her my charge. I don't want to kill you, but we both know I can and will if you attack. Moreover, I can ramp up to King-level spells in just a few seconds. So the moment you attack me, I'm going to rain destruction down on whoever sent you. Auntie Therese, who sent them?"
"The pope," the woman answered, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "We've been in hiding from him for a while now. He keeps sending his dogs after us and they keep failing. Would you be a dear boy and take care of them for your auntie?"
The man in the lead took a single step back, slowly raising his empty hands. "You know not what enemies you are making with this action."
"You're right, actually. I know not. So, let's remedy that. How about we all sit down and talk about this, like calm, rational people, instead of devolving into violence? Are you working for the pope?"
"I am not at liberty to disclose our employer."
"Uh huh," I nodded. "Alrighty then!"
Clapping my hands, I dispersed the attack magic I'd left circling us. Grabbing us all up in telekinesis, I lifted us into the air. "Which way to where the pope is?"
Therese gave directions aloud, but Sprite gave a far more accurate location. I hauled us through the air towards his location, to protests from the assassins. Eris, meanwhile, pouted. "Rudeus! I wanted to fight them!"
Sighing, I turned a look on my volatile future wife. "Eris, we may not have to. But if we do after we talk to this pope, I'll let you have as much fun as you like."
Eris considered it for a moment before nodding. "'Kay."
It was only a few minutes later that I was floating in front of the Great Church, directly outside the Pope's office. Reaching out, I tried to melt the wall temporarily with earth magic, only to find a barrier stopping me.
"You, you won't make it through that—" the leader of the assassins began.
I put a little more oompf into it. The barrier failed with a sound like shattering glass and the wall melted away like sand. I floated us all into the office, where a man in fancy robes sat at a desk, doing paperwork. He had looked up at our entry, his eyes widening slightly at the fact that I had just torn through whatever barrier they had over the place and walked right in. Just to make sure we wouldn't be disturbed, I put up a slab of ice in front of his office door—and not a moment too soon, as I heard a slam against the other side of it as guards apparently responded.
Looking us over, he frowned. His eyes landed on the maiden and stayed there a moment, before moving on to Therese, then Eris and myself. "Typically, visits to a head of state are scheduled months in advance. It's generally considered impolite to just," he looked at the wall, "remove a wall and walk in uninvited. Some might even take that as an act of aggression and a prelude to war."
I nodded, moving over to sit in front of his desk, conjuring up a chair from the marble floor for myself and leaving the others as I shoved the assassins against the back wall and fastened them there with ice. "Yeah, well, generally it's also considered impolite, aggressive, and an act of war to send assassins to attempt to kidnap or kill a charge under the protection of the fiancee of another nation's head of state."
"I have no idea what you're referring to, nor who those men are."
"They're called 'deniable assets,'" I sent him a knowing look. "And considering we have your little truth telling, mind reading Maiden right here, how about we just ask you who sent them and have her dig out the truth, hm?"
"…That will not be necessary, Rudeus Greyrat."
"Emperor-level Elemental Mage Rudeus Greyrat," I clarified, getting only a slight widening of the eyes from the man as he realized just what sort of problem he had found himself with. "I don't believe I know who you are, however."
"Pope Harry Grimoire," the older, balding man answered.
"Great. So. Now that we've got that bit of dick-waving out of the way," I kicked my booted feet up on his desk and relaxed into my chair. "Tell me about yourself. Your faction, since there are obviously groups here in Milis I was unaware of. Why were you willing to kidnap—or was it kill?—a little girl?"
He regarded my boots with disdain for a moment, his eyes glancing towards the door where his guards were still ineffectually bashing at it, before sighing and sitting back in his own chair. "Very well. How much has your aunt told you about Milis?"
"Nothing. We had barely been speaking an hour before your goons here interrupted. Dick move by the way, but I'm guessing you sent them specifically because we showed up. Wouldn't want them getting a strong mage and swordswoman on their side."
The pope neither confirmed nor denied that. Instead, be began to explain. "There are several factions within Milis. The royal family, the nobles, the church, and various factions within the church… The two you need to concern yourself with are two of the factions within the church itself. My faction, and that of the Cardinal and archbishop, lead by Cardinal Leblanc McFarlane.
"To put things very simply, our factions are divided along ideological lines, separated by how we feel the demon race and other demi-humans should be handled. I, my faction, and much of the populace believe in the acceptance and inclusion of these races into Milis, our faith, and the world at large. We hold power within the Order of Instruction, one of the three orders of the church. The Cardinal's faction zealously follow the old teachings of the Milis faith—that the demon race and demi-humans should be expelled, if not eradicated entirely. They are allied with Lateria House—your aunt's family—and control the Order of the Temple. The third order, the Order of the Church, maintain their neutrality and are concerned with matters of national security."
I held up a hand for him to stop and he nodded. Turning to Therese, I asked, "Is that all accurate?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that, but yes," she confirmed.
"So, your faction hates non-human races? How do you feel about them personally?"
Therese shook her head. "They aren't my faction. They are my family's faction, yes. The faction mother supports. Personally, I don't hate them, no. I am loyal to Milis, however—the faith and my country. I am a knight of the Order of the Temple. Even… even if I disagree with some of the things they do, or want to do."
"Okay," I gave her a nod, before turning back to the pope. Gesturing at the maiden, I asked, "So where's she fit into it?"
Behind the ice, the door splintered and cracked, before abruptly breaking. "Rudeus," Eris warned.
I poured a little mana into the ice construct and spread it over the entire wall, just to make sure they wouldn't be getting through. Then, I made it clear so we could see the guards on the other side, and they could see us, and that the pope wasn't actually in any danger. That didn't actually seem to reassure them, given the way they started hammering on the ice. They even brought in a mage, who started chanting and throwing fireballs at it.
"The Maiden is the key to the Cardinal's plan to usurp my position and begin laying the groundwork for a new crusade to take the Great Forest and either eliminate its demi-human occupants, or push them up to the demon continent. They want the resources the forest can provide."
"Makes sense," I muttered. "So killing her would cripple your political rival, who wants to drag the kingdom into a new genocidal holy war."
Rudy: Find him. Kill him. Track down all his friends and allies and kill them too. Leave dear old grandma though.
Sprite: Yes, master.
Rudy: Make it look like natural causes, if you would? Don't want him suddenly sprouting a hole in the head. A little telekinesis to the brain, or to close off the arteries of the heart—that would do the job nicely I think. Different causes for everyone. Knife here, sword there, and so on.
Sprite: I see him. I'm handling it.
Rudy: Thanks. And… sorry. For all of this. I shouldn't ask you to kill for me—
Sprite: Master. Rudeus. I trust your judgment. I trust you. I am yours to use as you need.
Rudy: Thanks, Sprite.
Humming, I turned and looked at the Maiden. "You know, it occurs to me," I mused, getting up from my seat. Moving over to the little girl, I squatted down so I would be eye level with her. I sent her a smile. "All this grown-up talk and we haven't asked you what you want, sweetie. So, if you could do anything in the world, what would you want to do?"
"…Anything?"
"Anything," I nodded. "Stay here and live with aunt Therese and continue as things are. Or work with the pope. Or you could decide you're done with this place trying to use you and go wherever you like. You could even come live with us."
She considered for several moments, before glancing at the pope. "If I stay, I'm just going to be a tool. I, I don't even remember my name—"
I reached out and pulled the little blonde into a hug. "Shh, okay, it's alright. We can get you a new one."
The maiden nodded. "I want to leave!"
Gently, I picked the girl up and held her as she began to cry. Turning around, I sent the pope a 'what can you do' shrug. "You heard her. If she stays, you and the Cardinal fight over her. You each pick away at each other until one side or the other loses, either with you or him dying. Or she gets killed. You win, and you don't kill her, she's still going to be used as a tool for political gain. You lose, she's going to be used, and your nation starts a war and lots of people die. You lose, she isn't here, there's less of a chance of your country kicking off a holy war. That sound about right?"
The pope steepled his hands on his desk and slowly nodded. "It's not inaccurate."
"Okay. So, what if she just… disappeared?"
"I would not pursue her, but I could not guarantee that my successor wouldn't. Wherever she goes, I imagine that my successor would send more people to find her, either to kill or capture her. She is too valuable to Milishion to simply give up," the pope admitted. So at least he was honest about that.
"Enough to start a holy war over?"
The man shook his head. "No. Small scale infiltrations, most likely. Teams such as that," he nodded towards the guys still plastered to the wall.
"I can deal with those. Okay. She's coming with me. Where she goes from there, it's up to her—whoever she decides to become, now that she's no longer the Maiden."
Therese stood up, looking worried as she bit her lip. "Rudy, you can't just… this goes against Milis—"
"Knight Lateria," the Pope Grimoire spoke, and the woman stood to attention. "Do you recognize my ultimate authority over you, as the pope? As superseding that of your commanding officer and the leader of the Order of the Temple?"
"Yes sir," Therese nodded.
"Then I order you, for the good of the country of Milis, escort this girl to safety with your nephew. Accompany her until you feel she no longer needs your aid. This is a long term mission with no set completion date. You are not to have any contact with Milis or authority figures within Milis, nor are you to contact your family within Milis or do anything that would give away your existence or location to anyone within Milis. My orders cannot be countermanded or challenged by anyone other than another pope—not even the king himself. Additionally, you are to disregard any such orders from any future successors that may take up the title of pope—consider it akin to my final orders. For the good of the nation itself, in order to avert a holy war and the loss of countless lives, I ask this of you. Will you take on this task?"
Therese looked torn for a moment before finally, she nodded. "I will, Holy Father."
"Well then. It was nice meeting you," I nodded to the man. "Thank you for being reasonable about this. We'll see ourselves out of your country now."
"Please do," he chuckled. "I don't believe Milishion could handle much more."
With that, I lifted the four of us—myself, Eris, Therese, and the former Maiden—into the air and out through the hole in the wall. I took a moment to fix the hole, restoring it to its original condition, before releasing the assassins, along with the ice blocking the door. Light bent around us and we went invisible, and I carried us out of the city. Halfway out, the bikes rose up to join us and we got settled in on those to go meet up with the Roxy.
"Lilia?"
The redhead wrapped me in a hug after setting down the pot she was carrying into the dining room. I noticed she was, once again, wearing a maid uniform—a proper one, not just 'the clothes a maid happens to be wearing.' "Good evening, master Rudeus."
A few moments later, Aisha and Tona came running into the room, where they stopped upon spotting the two newcomers—Theresa and the nameless girl. Aisha only stopped for a moment before her bright green eyes tracked over to me. She looked unsure for a moment, before slowly walking over and wrapping me in a hug.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you and called you stupid. I, I was wrong. Papa was being an idiot, not you Rudy. It just… I was scared. I didn't want to lose my family."
I sighed and pulled my sister into my lap, wrapping her in a hug. Across from me, Theresa eyed Lilia and Aisha. "You must be Lilia."
Lilia curtsied. "It is good to meet you, Theresa. Zenith spoke of you often."
"Yes, she sent a few letters back to me under a false name, to keep mother out of them," Theresa admitted. "I should be mad at you on her behalf… but that matter is long since settled. Instead, I think I'd like it if we could be friends. You can tell me all about Rudy's childhood growing up! I missed so much~!"
"So yeah, they're coming with us," I clarified as I hugged Aisha and started putting things on my plate. Taking my spoon, I spooned up some of the soup to feed her, before taking a spoonful myself.
A moment later, Roxy entered, followed by Elinalise and Kishirika, with Eris leading them. Therese looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Roxy, this is my aunt, Therese—and the former Maiden of Milishion, who needs a name. A cute name for a cute girl," I said, and the girl in question blushed as she dug into her own meal. "Auntie, my first wife. Roxy Migurdia."
"Uh huh," Therese narrowed her eyes at Roxy. "Zenith mentioned you in her letters. You and I, and Lilia, need to have a talk it seems…"
Roxy sat down on my right, while Eris took the spot on my left. Reaching out, Roxy laid a hand on my thigh as she began filling her plate. "Very well. Though perhaps we should make this a group talk. Eris?"
"Yeah. Might as well call Sylphie and Ariel."
Leaning down, I kissed Aisha's cheek, getting a giggle from the girl as she squirmed. "I'm counting on you to make our new guest feel welcome. She's had it rough. Be nice to her, okay?"
"I will," Aisha agreed.
"Good girl," I sighed.
I was going to have to do something nice for Lilia for coming back, and bringing Aisha back with her when they could have stayed with Paul. Almost as though she sensed my thoughts, Lilia pressed herself into my back, her breasts resting against my neck, as she ran her hands through my hair.
"Lilia, you're family. Sit down and eat."
"In a moment, master Rudeus. Or will you order me to do so?"
I tilted my head back enough to send her a glare, and found her smiling down on me.
Oh, I'll order you to do something alright, I mused, as I thought of just how sexy she was in that maid outfit and those glasses.
Return of the dirty old man brain, with a vengeance.
My phone pinged.
Sprite: It says 'Begaritt.'
Rudy: Alright. Stick to the plan, then.