The first to step forward was Lady Myria Jordayne, the heiress of Dorne Tor.
She inherited the passion and boldness characteristic of Dornish women. After a court banquet, she seized the moment to catch Lo Quen's attention with her lively and engaging talk about the customs and landscapes of the Dornish borderlands.
That very night, she slipped into Lo Quen's bedchamber, easing his fatigue after a long session of reviewing memorials.
Following her example was Lady Desmera Redwyne. She, too, gathered her courage, displayed her own strengths, and won Lo Quen's favor.
Once Lady Redwyne had set the precedent, noble ladies from other regions finally cast aside their restraint.
Before long, it was not only the queens who were with child. Several young and beautiful noble ladies within the palace also found themselves pregnant.
This turn of events stirred certain thoughts in Lo Quen's adviser, Davos.
No one quite knew how he managed it, but Lady Shireen, whose facial scars had been healed by Qyburn, was also brought into the palace.
Not long after, when Davos learned that Shireen was pregnant as well, he wept with joy.
Finally, when Arya, too, was taken under Lo Quen's wing, the expansion of the emperor's harem came to an end.
These young women each had their own way of approaching him. Some were as passionate as fire, some gentle and understanding, while others distinguished themselves through talent and wit.
Their presence did, to a certain extent, fill the gap left by the queens during their pregnancies, adding a different kind of vitality to life within the palace.
Lo Quen was not made of stone. Faced with these fated encounters, it was only natural that he could not completely refuse them.
Things unfolded as expected.
...
Several months later, as the queens' pregnancies became increasingly obvious, the imperial physicians began to confirm the news one after another.
Lady Myria Jordayne and several other noble ladies who often accompanied the emperor were also found to be pregnant in turn.
The news quickly spread throughout the palace, causing no small stir.
The queens had long anticipated this outcome.
After all, in this era, it was only normal for an emperor to take many consorts and expand his lineage.
Moreover, Lo Quen's affection and respect for them had not diminished in the slightest.
They even took the initiative to show generosity, bestowing rewards upon the pregnant noble ladies in the name of the court, as a gesture of reassurance and acceptance.
Lo Quen's stance on the matter was equally clear.
All of his children, regardless of who their mother was, would be acknowledged by him and given proper arrangements.
The newly pregnant noble ladies were treated generously and cared for with great attention.
Their families, in turn, felt deeply honored.
Thus, within the court of the Great Empire of the Dawn, a rather unusual scene emerged.
On one side were several exalted queens, their bellies visibly rounded.
On the other, a number of noble ladies, their pregnancies quietly beginning to show, moved through the palace corridors.
...
In the years following the establishment of the Great Empire of the Dawn, Lo Quen did not completely lose himself in either imperial governance or the warmth of the harem.
He understood that although the major threats such as Ghroth, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth, and Nyarlathotep had been destroyed or driven back, countless Old Ones and their spawn, nourished by the primal essence of Azathoth, still lurked in the dark corners of the cosmos and within the cracks between dimensions.
They were the festering diseases of the universe, the embers of chaos. If left alone, they would one day give rise to disaster again.
And so, once imperial affairs had fully settled into order, Lo Quen began his purifying journey across the starry seas.
Each time he acted, it was a cleansing with no suspense.
The powers and forms of the Old Ones, enough to drive mortal races mad, appeared utterly feeble before Lo Quen, who had already transcended the conventional laws of this universe and stood among its arbiters.
The chaotic laws on which they depended were overwritten by order. Their ability to distort reality was negated by a higher definition of reality itself.
One by one, Lo Quen eradicated every Old One and their nests that posed any potential threat to the ordered universe.
This process lasted for several years, his footsteps spanning countless galaxies and dimensions.
...
After cleansing the universe of the Old Ones, Lo Quen brought his queens and the intimate companions who had borne him children to a small island south of Valyria, where they began to enjoy a life of peace and happiness.
Not many years later, growing tired of the repetitive rhythm of daily life, Lo Quen prepared for a grand and far-reaching interstellar journey.
Looking at all his queens and lovers, he said, "I want to show you just how vast and magnificent the universe we live in truly is."
In the next moment, starlight flowed from his hands, forming within the courtyard a stellar vessel shaped like an elegant ship.
It was formed entirely of pure starlight and a kind of transparent cosmic energy. The interior was spacious and comfortable, like a mobile palace, yet capable of withstanding any extreme environment.
Their first destination was not a specific planet, but a nebular cradle suspended between two immense galaxies.
The starcraft drifted quietly within it. Outside the viewing windows, bands of multicolored gas and dust stretched for light-years, slowly spiraling, while newborn stars gleamed like diamonds, ejecting vast torrents of matter.
Janice and Jaelena held each other, utterly entranced by this act of creation, whispering softly as though afraid to disturb the birth of the stars.
Lo Quen stood behind them, gently drawing them into his arms, his hands resting at their waists, feeling the faint tremor of excitement running through them.
Then the starcraft traced a graceful arc and descended onto a planet composed entirely of gigantic crystals.
There was no soil here, only endless crystal forests shimmering in countless colors. Three stars of different hues hung in the sky, their light refracting through the crystals and casting dreamlike halos, as if the entire world were a colossal kaleidoscope.
The ladies cheered as they stepped out of the starcraft and wandered through the glittering landscape. Chai Yiq, her childlike curiosity undimmed, even tapped a towering blue crystal pillar, listening to the clear, ethereal resonance it produced.
Lo Quen watched them at play with a smile. Casually, he selected several of the purest crystals and, with a flicker of thought, shaped them into exquisite jewelry, placing each piece on them in turn.
They also visited a gaseous moon with extremely low gravity, filled with luminous floating organisms.
Here, with a light jump, they could soar dozens of meters into the air, weaving through swarms of glowing, starlike creatures like elves from legend, their laughter echoing across the weightless world.
Khiara spread her arms like a girl at play, gliding through the air at low altitude, her bell-like laughter bright enough to infect everyone around her.
...
The starcraft even plunged deep into a planet whose oceans were made of liquid gemstones.
A protective barrier shielded them from the crushing pressure of the deep sea, while turning the windows into vast viewing platforms.
Outside drifted enormous jellyfish-like beings, glowing softly. Their tentacles flowed like living rainbows, and beneath them the seabed was piled with countless natural gems.
Prismatic light filled the depths, illuminating the ocean as brightly as day.
Sansa and Myrcella pressed close to the windows, left speechless by a beauty and extravagance beyond anything mortals could imagine.
The journey, naturally, was not without its moments of warmth and passion.
On a frozen planet encircled by eternal auroras, Lo Quen used the power of the stars to build a transparent palace of ice crystal. That night, beneath the constantly shifting curtains of light, he rekindled his passion with Daenerys, filling the cold palace with the warmth of spring.
On another mysterious tundra floating in the void, soft as velvet beneath their feet, he shared an intimate world with the fiery Khiara, using the stars as their quilt and the universe as their bed.
To every companion, he gave the same depth of affection and time, making up during this endless journey for all the moments lost to war and governance in the past.
They once stumbled upon a planet inhabited by sentient plants, where trees could transmit feelings of calm and joy through the mind.
They also watched from afar a red giant nearing the end of its life, experiencing the solemn grandeur of a star's final release of energy.
This cosmic voyage, spanning countless light-years and lasting several years, became a journey of wonder that cleansed the soul for each of the women.
They witnessed the marvels of creation, felt both their own smallness and the fortune of standing beside Lo Quen.
The bond between them and Lo Quen grew even more unshakable through these unparalleled experiences.
When the starcraft finally descended upon the estate on Valyria's southern island, returning to the world of ice and fire, every woman's eyes held a deeper calm than before, the serenity of having seen the vastness of existence, along with an even stronger attachment to the man at her side.
They understood that, vast as the universe was, only where he stood could ever be their true home.
And Lo Quen, through this journey, truly began to enjoy a life that was eternal and serene.