15

Landing at the stables we dismount and Athena puts her griffin back. as we are leaving I notice a few people watching us but not caring much I just grab Athena's hand and lead her out of sight. once we are in between two buildings I teleport us directly to my house in the courtyard of the palace. Athena looks around confused and looks at me with a tilt of her head.

"Why are we here? and why did you teleport us I thought we were going to get some food." she pouts a bit, I guess she was looking forward to eating.

"We were being watched and I wanted to avoid any young master troupes, Let's head to the palace so I can write a summary of what happened and also draw the magic circle so Gauss can head over."

"Young master troupes, what does that mean?"

"Where some arrogant guy jumps out surrounded by a group of low-tier mobs and tries to bark about how important he is and I shouldn't be involving myself with the girl he has his eyes on." She trips as we are heading out the door before glaring at me.

"Like that will happen! you dummy." She smiles and begins to walk toward the palace and I just shake my head after locking the door and follow.

"I am willing to bet that it will happen at some point with how popular you are. ' strongest great demon female of her generation' you have so many admirers I will be cursed to death before we can finish dinner." She slows down so I can walk beside her and raises a curious eyebrow.

"What are we betting?"

"I don't know how about you decide." she hums and keeps walking.

"How about we bet a favor, whoever wins gets to tell the loser to do one thing and they can't deny it!" she seems too confident in her victory, she underestimates the stupid people of this world.

"I am fine with that, if I win I want to talk to your dad about something so you will help me get in contact with him."

"Huh? my dad why do you want to talk to him? he is likely to beat you up for always pestering his only daughter!" deadpanning at her declaration I wish that was the case then Alan wouldn't even be a problem because he would already have been beaten up, shaking my head.

"As I need to ask him how he managed to produce such a dumb girl like you while being the leading general in the whole empire." She punches me in the shoulder to vent her frustrations and we laugh and carry on till we reach the palace.

---------

"And there we go that's all done." standing up and brushing myself off I look around Shea's private storage room and see a lot of bookshelf and some trinkets. walking over to look at the books to see if she also reads smut like her little sister I feel a death glare lock onto my back but I carry on this is a once and a lifetime learning opportunity! from where Shea is sitting on the side with Athena talking about what happened in town yankou I occasionally felt her curiously looking at me the whole time I was making the circle. the odd thing was this curious Lord wasn't watching the magic but checking out my person, how lewd. but now it feels like daggers are piercing the back of my head as I pull off a red book titled ' the queen and the thief '. before she even has time to say anything I am skimming the book and looking at the well-worn corner's I know it's something she reads quite frequently.

"Hey! put that down this instant!" her pressure comes in waves as I gently slide the book back on the shelf and turn back around with a cheeky grin. seeing how Athena is wide-eyed and looking at Shea show some emotion I feel happy. the more she lightens up the better it will be for Shea down the road she was always so serious and stressed.

"The magic circle is done, Lord Shea." I give a mock salute and act as if a devoted servant before walking over to fill out a brief report.

"What do you think you are doing?" Shea grits her teeth and the mask slips a bit more.

"Writing a report Lord Shea." looking at her as if worried about her mental state if she has to ask me such a simple question.

"Not that! why did you look through my books!" her face has a tint of red and looks like she's ready to snap.

"I was just curious if you and Alice had similar taste in literature." she looks a bit weird before she connects the dots and begins to simmer with rage.

"What kind of books does Alice read?!" Athena is shaking her head like a rattle behind Shea.

"Oh I don't know..." trailing off to leave her in suspense she finally snaps.

"Just tell me!" sorry Alice your smut is going to get confiscated.

-- Alice pov --

* sneeze *

"Are you alright princess Alice?" Kia asks me with a look of concern. as I shiver I feel like I have somehow been betrayed.

"Nothing Kia just a sneeze."

-- Nova pov --

"And that is how your little sister has been cultured. you should read a few yourself some seem to have some useful information." Shea at this point is shaking with rage. Gauss walks into the room and seeing the odd situation begins to turn and flee.

"Gauss! Send Kagulong I want all inappropriate books confiscated from princess retail at once!" He hurriedly excuses himself to carry out her orders. "explain how this circle works so I can get rid of you damn troublemaker."

"Stand in the center and imagine going to town yankou its pretty simple really if you don't have enough power to go nothing will happen though." finishing writing the report I wrote how the guards are trapped and the ex-mayor tied up and the need for immediate food for the miners.

"Good that is convenient." she calms down and looks over my report and looks at me. "Thanks for this Nova the funds for this will help and you can have half of the profits once you set up the deal with the buyer from this 'coastal city '. if you can ally with the coastal city that would also be good for import and export." pulling out a contract to bind a new mayor to Shea and run the mine for her for a small percent of the profits I pass it to her.

"That was my plan this coastal city can help with trade. with this contract whoever you are appointing the town to get them to sign it and it will bind him or her in more than just their word. it will keep information from spreading and a few other safety measures like not discussing the magic circle in the basement and such." she nods and looks back at me and Athena.

"Where are you two going." she asks with an emotionless tone but there's a hint of something there, after checking for sin I detect a little green envy. smiling I let her know where going out to eat and then relaxing.

"In a few days, I will be going to check the Xilang mountain mines and get an accurate report. if I can handle the situation I will try to get the mine running at full strength once again."

"That would help the dark moon immensely Nova thank you." Gauss walks back in and we say our farewell and head out to find somewhere to get some good food.

-- Shea pov --

"Lord Shea I am ready to depart." after Gauss read Noves report he heads for the circle and before he can disappear I call out to him.

"Gauss before you go have the confiscated books discreetly sent to my room I wish to see what my sister has been up to." heading out to find a candidate for mayor I look over the contract Nova gave me to get the new mayor to sign and satisfied with it I put it in my bracelet.

that dang playboy I just gave him Kia and he is already picking up Athena, how hateful. even if he is helping the dark moon out a lot he needs to reign it in so he doesn't pick up too many girls and gets distracted. I guess I can try to talk to him about it but it's not like it's any of my business if he spends his free time with other girls. thinking about ways to keep him focused so he doesn't get lazy and lustful like the male demons of the demon world I sigh this damn playboy is going to annoy me to death.

blushing at the thought of him finding my favorite book out of all the ones on the shelf I can't help but feel aggrieved. I need to get my personal effects moved out of that room so we can have trusted individuals go in and out of the circle to reach town yankou. I wouldn't want anyone else to see my secret stash.

-- Nova pov --

"And that's why a trash like you should stay away from the beautiful Athena she should be with an influential man like me with a strong family name." giving Athena a look that says I told you so she blushes fiercely before severely reprimanding these fools.

"Alan you damn idiot! I don't even talk to you let alone like you, you're a sissy boy hiding behind your family name and you dare talk about the people I hang out with!" Alan's red skin seems to steam in rage as Athena lays into him in public. all his friends look a bit uncomfortable and stare at the ground unsure what to say in his defense.

"Athena he's just a useless trash who is hiding behind you to gain favor. you need to listen I would never lie to you." he's practically the biggest simp I have ever seen in my existence.

"Damn Alan you still don't get it don't blame me for getting rude with you." She draws her sword and he starts to scurry away but before he does he looks at me with rage.

"Watch your back human I will show you what happens when you stand in Alan Kalong's way!" as he leaves Athena throws her great sword slicing his side and his goons grab him and keep running.

"I only let that play out to prove a point of what a young master is." Athena looks down in shame as she shakes so I pat her on the head. "Hey no need to be too upset you only need to help me get in contact with your dad." she swats my hand away and starts marching down the road away from where Alan went not even grabbing her sword.

"Why do you even want to talk to my dad."

"What going back on your word? I expected better from a woman of the Wales family." shaking my head in disappointment she just grits her teeth and glares at me. " *Sigh* well I heard in the demon world you have the custom of paying a bridal price to get married so I thought I might as well get it over with." she pauses and I begin to speed walk and she notices and chases after me cursing me out.

"What the heck do you mean?! we don't do that and even if we did you couldn't afford me you damn jerk!" slowing down she tackles me from behind into some grass on the side of the road. biting my shoulder again I can't help but wonder if this chick is half vampire.

"Hey, you're going to break your teeth biting me like that." she groans and rolls on her side as we look up at the sky.

"You want to talk to my dad? and don't say stupid stuff this time!"

"Yea but we can wait a while no rush." She nods and we just lay down enjoying the breeze.