371-380

371 Wedding Vows Part 1

As I stood there pondering many things, the sounds of the crowd began to cheer. I looked up to see four people walking down the aisle. Diablo was wearing a white tuxedo with armor plating on his right shoulder and elbow. Two gold chains crossed over from the shoulder plate connecting to the golden necklace he wore. The way he was walking, you could tell he was nervous. But he seemed to be doing his best to keep his composer.

Adel and the girls all wore matching wedding gowns. Pure white in color with light blue frills on the edges. In their hands were white bouquets. It really reminded me of a wedding back on Earth. My father was guiding both Sophie and Iena. Rachel took up being Diablo's guide. While Lance was guiding Adel. They were led up the stairs one by one before they walked over to me. They each looked absolutely stunning. I smiled as I saw them and said: "You girls look beautiful and Diablo looks the most handsome!"

They all blushed when I said this. "And Faith looks absolutely amazing as well. This dress was perfect for you." Adel added. I nodded as I showed my dress to them.

"Ahem…. If Faith can stand in the middle." The King asked as he stood in front of us. I smiled and nodded my head before positioning myself in between Adel and Diablo. I guess this was the lineup they decided on for the wedding. I had no idea what plans they made since I left it up to them.

Seeing that we were ready, the King smiled as he said: "Today, we stand here under the eyes of the spirits to bring together not one but five people. Faith Cyrilia, if you would please start the vows."

Wedding tradition stated that I had to give a vow to the people I was marrying. Then the others would give me their vows. I was never good at this thing, so this was a bit of nerve wracking experience for me.

I was also planning to do everyone in order of when we met. So I turned and faced Adel first and took her left hand. "Adel…. When we first met, I was lying on a fence chewing on a piece of grass. I was watching the clouds fly by, dreaming about what I would be doing in the future.

During that time, I had no intentions of finding a lover, never mind four all at once. But on that day, I met you for the first time. I, at first, was taken aback by your friendliness and thought it might all be a ruse to gain my favor. But then we met again. And you treated me as a close friend. We traveled together and spent many days and nights doing nothing but chatting. In my first years of being in this world, you were my first true friend outside my family.

"At that time, I never imagined I would one day be standing here with you like this. I never imagined I would come to love a girl the way I love you. You are and will always be my first and bestest friend in this world, even though you were a bit strange. But I could understand because, at that time, even you did not understand your feelings. And only when you confessed to me and kept at it for so many days did I finally decide it was time. So Adel, never change. And never worry about losing me. I will always be by your side. This I vow." I could see the smile and tears of happiness on Adel's face as she heard my words. And lowered her head and sniffled as she hummed an answer to me. I gripped her hand and kissed her lips to seal the vow. Only then did she step back and let Sophie step forward.

Sophie's tail was swaying back and forth as she waited in anticipation for my words. I smiled and took her hand, and looked the cute fox girl in the eyes. "Sophie… You, of all people, were someone I never thought would fall for me. But I guess I am just numb to romance. When we first met, you were being dragged away by people who I thought were thugs but turned out to be actors for a play. Then we acted in a play where you were a princess who fell in love with the demon queen. You were so nervous, it was very cute.

"After that, you opened up to me and told me your problems. You were being forced to marry some noble against your will, which I could not stand for. We had a lot of incidents that we had to go through, and you suffered a lot because of them, but I will never regret helping you or meeting you. The day you suddenly showed up and confessed to me, I was stunned. It was something out of left field. But I am glad you did. You are a dear friend to me, and I would never allow you to suffer in this lifetime. My dear Sophie, As I said to Adel, I will always be by your side. This is my vow." I pulled Sophie to me and kissed her lips. Her tail went crazy, causing the audience to chuckle. Her face blushed after the kiss as she stepped back after humming her answer.

With this, she stepped back, and it was now Diablo's turn. I turned and looked up at the handsome man and took both his hands. "Diablo, in a sense, we are already married. The same with Iena, but now here we are sealing the deal by this world's standards. At first, when we had an accidental misunderstanding, I did not know where our relationship would lead. I felt like I was leading both of you along. But I am glad we stuck it out and slowly got to know each other over the years. You have helped me greatly since the day I summoned you, and to be honest, I never had the intention of this kind of thing at that time. But now…. If I had a chance, go back in time and do things over. I would still summon you. I would still kiss you because you have turned out to be my knight. The man who I can not replace with any other."

372 Wedding Vows Part 2

"You mean to the world me, and I will always be there for you. My knight, my husband…. Diablo, thank you for answering my call. I will always be by your side. This is my vow." As I finished my words, Diablo picked me up, causing me to squeal, and kissed my lips. As our lips parted I grinned and bit his nose. "Your answer?"

"A yes of course," Diablo replied with a smile. The girls in the audience all began to squeal, which instantly made him blush, which only caused more squeals. I will need to keep an eye on this demon. He is too sexy for his own good.

And lastly, it was Iena's turn. She was already blushing as I took her hands. I smiled as I said: "Iena… When I first summoned you, you were very against me. But that only lasted a short while. Then I found out about your love for Diablo, and I had meant to help you two get together. But due to my misunderstanding of the demon race. I did something that ended up being one of the best things that could have happened. I am glad we stand here today facing each other like this. You have shown me how much you care about me throughout the years. You even came to love me more than you did Diablo. I will do my best to make you never regret finalizing the demon marriage procedures with me. So whenever you feel lonely and need me. I will always be by your side. This is my vow."

I leaned in and kissed Iena on the lips. Her eyes closed as she hugged me and made the kiss deeper, causing the audience to scream out in glee. As our lips parted, Iena's whole face was bright red as she said: "I will never regret it."

"Haha! Young love is grand!" The king yelled out. "Now that the groom has given her vows it is not time for the brides and man bride. Although I do believe they have something a little different planned so please."

I was a bit confused, but soon Adel pulled me back as the four of them all suddenly knelt down in front of me, each holding my hand together with each other. "I, Adel…." "I, Sophie…." "I, Diablo…." "I, Iena….."

"We hear by vow that we will always love and cherish our beloved for as long as we live. We will work together and provide a place where our beloved can come home to and relax without worry." The four all spoke in unison. They then let go of my hand as Adel stood up and retook it. "Faith, you have given me the happiest years of my life. You freed me from the everyday struggle of being a princess and shined a new light into my life. I can never thank you enough. As we are now entering a new phase in our relationship, I will stay by your side and walk the path of our journey in life, even if it means we will walk a path of bloodshed and tears. I love you more than anything in this world, and I will always be by your side. This is my vow." Adel, this time pulled me to her and gave me an even deeper kiss than Iena gave me!

I could hear the squealing going on behind me once more as Adel, and I's lips parted. She gave me a cheeky grin before stepping back, and now Sophie stepped forward. While I was still in somewhat of a daze, Sophie took my hand and smiled at me. "In my life, I had never thought I would meet the person I was meant to live with for all eternity after being forced to the capital by someone I barely knew. You said Diablo was your knight. But to me, you were mine. You were the hero I once dreamt would sweep me off my feet. I think my love for you started the day you saved me from the actors. You allowed me, someone, you barely knew to stay at your side. Provided for me and cared for me. When I was in trouble, you rushed in head first to save me. Sometimes I felt like I was a burden to you, but in the end, when I realized my feelings for you. You accepted me even though it was sudden. Faith, thank you…. For caring for me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for giving me a whole new life. Faith in this world, besides my belated parents, you are the one I love the most. I will stay with you for the rest of my life. This is my vow!"

Sophie then pulled a repeat of Adel as she pulled me in and kissed me deeply. It was not until the king cleared his throat that she was willing to part her lips with mine. She then stepped back with a big smile on her face as she allowed Diablo to take center stage.Please visit 𝑖𝑛𝗻𝐫𝗲𝙖𝐝. 𝘤૦m

Diablo took my hand and smiled at me. "I really am not too good with my words. Even though I should have been your slave that you could order around as you pleased, you never treated me like one. You were always concerned about my well being and even got sad when I got hurt. You are my treasure, and as long as we are both alive, I will never part with you. I will cherish you for an eternity and will love you and only you. This is my vow." Diablo once again lifted me up and kissed my lips. Just as deep as the other two did. He slowly set me down and then leaned next to my ear and whispered: "When you are willing to form a family, let me know…."

These words instantly made my whole head heat up. I really wanted to punch him! How can he tease me at such a time!? I pursed my lips as Iena took my hand, and before I could figure out what was going on, she said: "I am even worse at words than Diablo is, so I will just say it with actions!" Iena then stole my lips once more and bent me almost half backward as she kissed me. This time not just squeals but also many whistles could be heard from the crowd.

As I was finally released from Iena's grip, she stepped back with deep red cheeks and a big smile. All four of them were once again lined up in front of me. "Faith, thank you for loving all of us equally. We vow to always be by your side from this day forth."

"MMM!" The king suddenly waved his hand, and then five white magic circles formed. White lights began to stream out of these magic circles and fly towards each of our hands, and on our fingers, a white ring appeared. Each one had a single stud, while I had four. This was the proof of our wedding vows.

373 After The Wedding

–AN) Running Late today. There will be another chapter soon!–

With the vows and rings now given, the King smiled and looked at the five of us and said: "As the current King of the Gravos Kingdom, I would like to congratulate each of you for being married on this fine day. Remember the vows you made today, and make sure you cherish one another."

With these words, the wedding was finally over, and everyone in the audience, the thousands of people who came to witness the wedding, all began cheering. I smiled as I saw the three girls and one man standing in front of me and opened my arms, calling them all into a group hug. We were now officially family. One entity.

While the girls went to the estate to get ready for the wedding night, I was stuck entertaining nobles in the front yard of the estate. Luckily no one forced me to drink, but there were many drinking around us. Diablo was with me since tomorrow would be his wedding night with me. While I felt bad, I could not share him with anyone else. This was the only rule in the relationship. The girls could play around with the other girls as they wished, but Diablo was strictly mine.

The girls playing rule helped deepen their bonds and allowed for no infighting. This made things much easier to deal with since no one would be at each other's throats. We could easily work things out slowly.𝓲𝐧n𝚛𝐞𝒂d. 𝑐𝗼m

The third day after my wedding, I woke up in pain. I just spent almost two sleepless nights with my new wives and husband, and they were not so nice to let me go. "Grace, help me!"

"Master, this is what you get for having so many spouses. But then again, I guess you also expected this otherwise, you would not have ordered so many medicines for pain." Grace said as she handed me a glass of blood and a few pills before casting basic healing magic on my thighs and waist.

"How are your hunger spells? Are you doing okay?" I had been worried that Grace was holding back from feeding, so I tried to ask this of her once a day.

"I am feeling a little peckish now that you said something," Grace replied honestly. I nodded and pulled my hair back while tilting my head. Grace Bowed her head to me before kneeling on the bed and biting into my neck.

My new daily life as a Drakani was still hard to get used to. While I can eat food and drink things, they were much more bland than before, which kinda upsets me. At my wedding, I was drinking blood from a glass like I did just now. Diablo was nice enough to help me stock up on blood for emergencies. So were the girls, so I now had bottles of blood in a special fridge that I had Thurul make that were labeled with each of their names. However, Iena's blood was still the best tasting.

After Grace had her breakfast and healed my thighs, I could finally move. Diablo had already left earlier in the morning to go help with a few things that the girls had asked him to help with. I was not sure what it was, but they seemed to be kind of secretive as of late. Although my exercises with Diablo might have put me in a special state last night, and I am not sure if I was fully protected or not. But if something happens, I will just deal with it then.

I got out of bed and stretched before rubbing my eyes as Grace brushed my hair and began telling me what my tasks were for the day. "Master, today you have an appointment with the King to discuss your coronation and the change of the kingdom's name and status. Also, Miss Runa has also returned to her kingdom to talk with her father. She mentioned something about preparing for a major alliance like no other."

"Mmmm… The dwarf and elf kingdoms should be willing to form alliances with me. I do not think the beast kingdom will, though. My main concern is the Holy Trident Theocracy. They believe in a water god named Aoilia and hate demi humans from what I understand." I sighed. I had a long road ahead if I wished to push my ideals with other kingdoms to end slavery of demi humans and humans. But to think I might have to fight a beast kingdom in order to push these ideals. After all, I heard they began enslaving humans not too long ago, which also goes against my anti slavery agenda.

I might sound like some crazy person trying to push my ideals on others, but I have two reasons for my new move to make this a united continent. First, outside threats from other continents, and second there were still many inside threats. Between the old prime minister and Azgrade and his people, I had a lot to worry about.

"Ahhh! So much to do!" I whined as Grace handed me a dress. "Please look the part of a soon to be Empress Master. I do not wish for people to look down on you as you enter the palace. However, your new charm ability may keep things from happening. This is why I chose a slit side dress so you can show more leg."

"Grace, don't try to turn me into some kind of prostitute!" I yelled out, causing Grace to click her tongue and switch the dresses.

"That's better," I said, sticking my tongue out at her. It's times like this that I still really enjoy. No wonder in my dreams, Grace was always at my side.

Strangely I have not had any of those dreams as of late. So I am not sure if my dreams have changed or what. My other, on the other hand, is a different story. I still need to figure out what is going on with her because she is always crying about me fighting a bloody battle. Maybe sometime in the future, this land or even this continent will be stricken with war.

374 Court Part 1

When I reached the castle, the king was in the middle of a court session which I walked into. "Your Majesty."

"No need to bow to me. Come up here and sit." The King said as he patted the seat next to him. I was quite surprised to see a second throne there that was just as grand as the kings. I, of course, did not stand on ceremony as I walked over and sat down as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"It's good you came so soon. Today's topics will be put on hold until later. For now, I would like to go over things that will be happening here after I abdicate the throne to Crown Princess Cyrilia." The king's words made everyone turn serious. I pursed my lips and looked at all the nobles standing sitting below us with a curious gaze. "Faith, please go over what your plans are for the future. These old men need to understand the path you will be setting out so they do not start filing reports about some stupid reform that will cost a lot of money only to be overturned later on."

"Alright," I said as I stood and walked down to stand in front of everyone. When explaining things, I do like to show images of what I am talking about and being in a position that makes it easier for them to understand what I am talking about.

"We have many threats…." I said as I showed two images in the air. "These two are the major part of those threats. And because of this, once I am given control of the kingdom, I will be first expanding our military capabilities. We will shore up our defenses first and foremost. Second, I will be changing our kingdom's name and status to the Cyrilia Empire. I have already spoken to the King about this, and he has already okayed it."

"Sorry to interrupt, Princess, but can you explain to me the benefits of becoming an empire over a kingdom?" An official asked.

"There are no actual benefits, but the name itself is imposed due to the amount of land we own. We have taken over a fair bit of land all over this continent, some of which is only connected by teleports. Because of this, we are too big to really be considered a kingdom anymore. Plus, I feel the title of Empress is more imposing when dealing with what I have planned out." I answered.

"I see... So you will be called Empress Cyrilia…." The officials all seemed to be taking it all in and then began nodding. "This does sound much better and more imposing. "

"But this is also why we will need to expand our military. I wish to unify the continent. Whether through alliance or through force. I want the continent to stand as one in order to take out any outside threats that may come to harm our peace and tranquility." My words made everyone go quiet.

"As you all know, I am not one who jokes around when it comes to this kind of stuff. But I am sick of it. War…. Slavery…. Things that should never happen because of people's greed. I do not want to do this because of land or resources. I want to do this because I want the people of this world to be happy. To live lives without oppression and the ability to be who they are.

"I will not say this will be smooth sailing. I will not say that what I am doing is right. Many people will oppose all of this, but I….. Have the means to deal with it all. Call me a tyrant or a warmonger, but I care about the people under our kingdom and soon to be empire's banner. I would prefer not to go to war. I would prefer everyone to work with me toward a better future. But who will want to give up certain things?

"I am not going to these kingdoms to take away their powers but to ask them to stop certain acts so that we do not fight against each other due to misunderstandings. I love both humans and demi humans. I do not wish for them to fight. We are all equal under the same suns and the stars in the sky as night takes over the day. Is it wrong to want to see both humans and demi humans get along so that this world can finally rise up and become something much greater in the end?" I asked, looking at all the silent officials.

"Princess, while I know you have great ambitions, your ambitions will also cause many deaths. The people may revolt…." An official pointed out. He made a good point, but I did not plan for anyone to die. I waved my hand, and many more pictures filled the air.

"These are the things we are working on at this time. They are metal golems with powerful weapons on them." one of the elder dwarves had been working on it and quickly built this monstrosity. Once it has the runic inscriptions put into it, it will basically become a mech with autopilot. I also suggested that we have people control it from farther away and even mini versions as well.

"What are those!?" an official yelled out.Please visit 𝒾𝐧𝚗𝙧𝙚𝐚d. 𝗰o𝓶

"As I said, they are metal golems in a sense. Controlled by magic. Some will even be controlled by humans and demi humans from a safe distance, making them the perfect answer to keeping the lives of our people safe. And lowering the deaths of our people." I answered.

"Princess, if what you say is true, then we will truly be able to do as you planned with no issue. I do not see any problems with future plans." The official who first asked about the deaths of people nodded in appreciation at the images.

"This is all still experimental, and we do not know how effective they will be yet, but they will be made, and this is my main reason for a bigger military budget to fund these new weapons. But sadly, they will not replace bodies on the battlefield when stronger enemies show up."

375 Court Part 2

"So you are saying no matter what, we will need people on the battlefield?" An official asked.

"That is a given is it not? But that does not mean they will be going on the battlefield alone. I will also be there with them, doing my best to protect my people. I also wish to save as many people as possible, which is why I am working on research that will help protect and even replace them on the battlefield. But before any of this comes into play, my first objective will be to shore up our own borders with proper defenses. Once we have some of our big tech finished, do you think many kingdoms will object to my proposal for an alliance? We all know that every kingdom on our borders has sent in spies, never mind other kingdoms from further away. With just a little silver or even spending a bit of time with some people at a bar in the kingdom, you can get valuable information.

"Because of this, we have to make it well known that we are not so simple. Our borders have been invaded many times but yet we only retaliated recently. So I am hoping that one show of force is enough to make these kingdoms understand we are not war hungry. But we will show force if need be to settle things.𝓲𝐧𝙣𝓇ℯ𝓪𝐝 c𝚘𝒎

"An alliance with every country on the continent would be good. But we can not allow them to do things such as slavery and be in an alliance with us. I will not allow it, no matter if it is human or demi human. Only when they refuse will we begin moving our forces." While I had an idea of a united continent, I knew it would be hard to push with so many uncertainties.

"I see no issue." An old official said as he stroked his long white beard. "Discrimination between the races never made sense to me. Just because they are different, why should treat them as lower beings? What's the point? I think with the current times, we need to all put our differences aside, and even if we must sacrifice a little for the greater good, push the princess's ideals. She has never harmed us and has sacrificed more than any of us for this kingdom."

"I also agree." Another official spoke up, which began a chain reaction of all the officials.

"Princess, after you take the throne, we will not argue with you on the policies you wish to push forward. I will do things as you say." The leader of the officials said as they all suddenly knelt down. "We agree to follow you until our deaths."

I smiled at these old guys who were so loyal to the kingdom. "I do not want your deaths. You all need to live a few more hundred or so years for me."

"Haha! Princess, you do make us old men feel young again." The officials all let out a laugh. I turned to see a sulking king sitting on his throne.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"These old bastards never listen to me but here they are, willing to push all your policies without so much as putting up a fight!" The king replied with a snort.

"It's because I am pretty," I replied, causing the king to almost fall out of his chair.

"Humph!" The king looked the other way and began sulking again. I couldn't blame him for being a little angry. I mean, he probably has to fight to push his policies through, but all in all, he has held this kingdom up well. As he is now my Royal Father, I guess I should help him a little bit. I turned to the old man and said: "Please be nicer to my royal Father. He is easily bullied."

"You! Who is easily bullied!" The king did not seem to like my little jab. Aw well, I had to since it made me smile.

"Princess, do not worry. We will not argue with His Highness about anything. We will follow your orders." the lead official replied, causing me to laugh.

"Then I will be counting on you then." With that, this small meeting came to an end. I do have to thank the king for allowing me to be able to speak with these old guys.

With my time in court done, I gave a bow before turning and stepping through a portal I made and returning to my room. "Master."

"Grace, what is next on my list?" I asked. Without Grace, I think I would not even know what I have to do during the day. I would probably skip out on as much as possible, which would turn me into a lazy person who did nothing but sleep all day and fiddle with magic.

"Sir Thurul is looking for you down in hangar one," Grace replied. I nodded and stood up. I looked at Grace, who was still busy herself, and smiled. "Grace, thank you for everything you do for me. Without you, I would be a failure."

"Master, I am just doing my job as your servant. I do not wish for people to look down on my Master since my Master is destined for greatness." Grace replied. I smiled and walked over to her, and gave her a hug. "Whatever the reason, maybe, thank you."

Grace's lips curled up into a soft smile as she hugged my arm. "Just make sure you do not disappoint this servant who works so hard for you."

"Haha! I won't. I am off. Grace, take a break every so often. You are always so busy." I said before disappearing again. When I reappeared, I was in hangar one.

"Lass, you are here! Come take a look at this. We opened the ship!" Thurul said excitedly. I looked over, and indeed they did open the hatch to the ship. I had been wanting to take a look inside myself to check it out since I wondered just what kind of ship it was supposed to be.

376 The Ship Part 1

We walked up to the ship that now had a large staging set up around it so that the dwarves could do their work inspecting it and trying to figure out how it functioned. We climbed up to the hatch at the side, where I began looking around at the whole entrance. "How did you open it?"

"Mana!" Thurul said. "Any kind of mana works as long as there is a large amount. It took five dwarves to open it. And no elements needed just puremana."

I nodded at his answer. I felt that was indeed intriguing. I looked around and noticed that the interior was kept very clean, almost spotless, besides the foot traffic of the dwarves. The hall at the entrance was very wide and led down toward the back of the ship. But this was only the first floor. From the size of this ship, there were at least three floors. Maybe four depending if one floor was a double floor or not. But from the size of it, it should be able to accommodate at least two thousand people max.

I walked down the hall and looked into the rooms. "This seems to be command." There were many rooms with computer type setups with many glass monitors. It was not on, so could not be sure, but this all seemed to be an area where things were controlled or monitored. I think if I had gone in the other direction, I would have ended up on the bridge.

"I am not sure if it is command, but it does seem to be a place where people would work," Thurul replied.

"This room here is a medical bay," I said as I looked at the scifish looking medical equipment. These are the kinds of things I wish to replicate just in case magic is not able to fix certain people's injuries.

When we reached the end of the hall, we came to an elevator that was open, and a bunch of dwarves were staring at the control panel. "What's wrong?" I asked, seeing their perplexed expressions.

"We can't seem to figure out how to get down to the lower levels. This seems to be the only way." One of the dwarves replied.

"Hmmm? Isn't the stairs right there?" I asked, looking at the door next to the elevator.

"That is even more confusing. These panels do not seem to work." When the dwarf said that, I looked over and did indeed see a panel on the side of the door, which meant everything had to be powered on. This meant these doors would only open if there was power, and if that was the case, if the ship was about to be blown up, the people inside would die. I shook my head thinking of this. It was probably some kind of protective measure to keep enemies from reaching the lower decks.

"Then…" I reached over and pulled on the door handle, causing a loud crack to be heard and the door coming off its hinges. "What!? Why did you do that!?" A dwarf yelled out.

"Because this ship belongs to me and useless measures to keep people from going to the lower floors makes no sense to me. If an enemy takes over this floor, they already have control of the ship. What is the point of a door that is sealed electronically? That is just asking to have all your crew members below deck killed off." I answered. I mean, it was dumb. I wouldn't allow such a setup in my ship. I would set up different safety measures that would kill the enemy instead of allowing them to control the ship so easily.

"Now that you mention it…." The dwarf replied as he stroked his braided beard. "Princess, is it possible for us to do the same to the lower floor doors?"

"Feel free. Like I said, if it is useless, we can tear it out and rebuild it with something better." I replied with a smile.

"Good! Thank you!" The dwarves were happy as they began collecting their things. It seemed they planned to go to the lower floors now.

"I am glad you came. Those guys have been obsessed with these two things." Thurul let out a sigh. I guess he has been having a hard time himself.

"This ship is nice and will be good for what we need, but we need to learn how to power it first. Any luck on this?" I asked.

"No…. We have access to the main control room but no idea how to use any of it. Do you mind taking a look?" Thurul asked.

"Yeah, let's go," I said as I turned around. I also was interested in what the bridge looked like.

We walked back down the hall toward the bridge, and when we arrived, I was really surprised by what I was seeing. A large black window on the very front of the ship with what looked like a protective covering on the outside that would probably lower during a fight or something. One thing I did realize was that everything seemed to be written in what resembles Chinese or Japanese. But it could all mean something else.i𝘯𝓷𝚛𝐞𝓪𝐝. 𝓬𝐨𝚖

I looked around to see a captain's chair and walked over to it, and sat down. I looked at all the buttons on it and the console in front of me and pursed my lips. "Thurul, have you pressed all the buttons here?"

"We have not. We do not dare touch anything recklessly in case it makes it explode." Thurul explained. I nodded at his explanation as I reached over and pressed the big red button in front of me. I mean, why not, right? As I did this, the whole place suddenly lit up.

"Ah… it didn't explode," I said with a wide grin. I really did not expect the lights to come on after pressing the button. But I felt that it was safe due to the fact that there was another red button to my right in a locked clear case. Now I would not touch that button because normally, that meant whatever that button did was not good. "Thurul. No one is allowed to touch this button here."

377 The Ship Part 2

"Says the person who just touched the big red button!" Thurul yelled out. I am sure he had a cold sweat dripping down his back when the lights came on. He probably thought the ship would blow up!i𝒏𝒏𝐫𝑒𝐚d. c𝐨𝗺

"Haha!" I let out a laugh.

"Haha! My dwarf ass! Faith, you are playing with fire by just randomly pressing buttons!" Thurul stomped his feet and snorted. Well, he is right but still.

"Well…. I mean, who would put a self destruct in a spot that would easily be hit? I just figured it would be okay. I mean, look over there. That console has warning bars and a cover over the big yellow button. I bet that is for weapons or something else. While this button next to my feet is locked up and double covered. So as long as we do not hit this button, we are good, right?" I asked with a smile while Thurul rubbed his beard in frustration.

"Well, at least now there is power to the ship, but please do not touch anything else!" Thurul seemed exhausted. I smiled and stood up before thinking about something. I took out a crystal orb that connected to Jen and asked: "Jen, you busy right now?"

Just sitting here reading. "What is up?" Jen asked.

"Did you ever learn Chinese or Japanese?" I asked. Jen had many more years of reading in her than I did, so I hoped she might have picked up the languages.

"Mmm… Enough to understand what I was reading. Why do you ask?" Jen answered.

"Can I bring you to the hangar and have you take a look at some things? I will talk to the dean for you." If Jen could read the writing here, then maybe we would be one step closer to being able to make this thing work.

"Alright, come get me." Jen pursed her lips. She looked reluctant to put her book down. I smiled and disappeared before reappearing next to her. "Ahhh! What the hell is this!?"

"My new spell. Come." I grabbed ahold of Jen's arm and disappeared once more, and reappeared on the bridge. "Welcome to the Penterprise, my dear Pock"

"Very funny…." Jen rolled her eyes and looked around. "Hmmm, a mix of Chinese and Japanese…. Very strange but readable."

"Good now, can you tell me what the words are by this big red button here?" It was the very button I had just pressed.

"It says power on," Jen replied. I turned and smiled smugly at Thurul, who only crossed his arms in front of his chest and snorted. He then pointed to the button in the case. "Tell us what that says."

Jen looked at the words and answered: "It says self destruct, do not press unless you want to go boom."

"Haha! I knew it!" I yelled out as I clapped my hands.

"Yeah yeah, but still, do not press any buttons until we label them." Thurul scolded me, causing me to stick my tongue out at him. But with Jen here, this meant she would now be able to translate the buttons, and they could label them. "Jen, help the dwarves label everything. It will be tedious, but it is needed."

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Jen bowed to me and gave me a teasing look. I smiled and poked her side. "Sorry, I should have asked and said please."

I really was too used to giving out orders. My manners have disappeared. I do not wish to make this a habit either, so I should watch how I speak unless I am in court or something. Time and place for everything, right?

Once the dwarves found out that Jen could read the writing, she was surrounded almost instantly, causing her to become flustered. But she did begin working right away. It was decided the bridge would get priority before anything else.

With that settled, I went to find the dwarves that were inspecting the hangar with all the cars and other things in them as well as the new mechs. Thurul also decided to follow me for this as well since he had not had time to check on things here either.

So now I was currently standing in front of a three story tall mech that looked very similar to a dundam. But these were different. They were to be controlled by magic like an earth golem. This was the main reason why I needed to speak with the elven kingdom sooner rather than later.

"This is quite impressive….. But I still do not understand where the idea even came for this…." I never brought back any dundams so I am not sure what sparked this idea.

"It was the cars and the ship. The elder dwarf who made up the design thought it would be useful to have a humanoid machine that could move around on its own. And because we can freely create anything we want as long as it benefits the kingdom, they did not even hesitate to begin working on it, and now this is the first rendition. It's called D." Thurul answered.

"D?" I looked up at the mech that actually did resemble a dwarf, so I guess that was the name because Thurul gave me the if you can not figure it out, you are an idiot look. "Never mind. So it doesn't work yet, right? We need to do the inscriptions first?"

"Correct. It needs over a thousand inscriptions to work. So until we have the manpower, we will not be able to do much, never mind mass producing these. Even if we built a factory, it would take a long time to do." Thurul explained. I nodded. A thousand inscriptions was not an easy thing, that is for sure.

"Alright, then, I guess I will need to talk with Runa and see if we can somehow get enough elves out here to do this. I want to try to get a working prototype up and going before my coronation. It would be a perfect symbol of change for the new empire."

378 Binding Ward Barrier

"You want to show this off during your coronation?" Thurul looked at me in surprise.

"Mm… think about it. I am carried out in the palm of the hand of one of these in front of all the spies and delegates from other kingdoms. Do you think they will look down on me? While I know most know of my prowess already, this would double down on the fact that times will soon change. Plus, it will send a signal to the people. That we are bound for greatness!" I explained. I mean, the main reason would be just because it would look very cool.

"This is true…." Thurul rubbed his chin and nodded his head. "Welp, I will leave the elves to you. Those long ears never liked us, dwarves, much."

"I will do what I can," I replied as I looked around. I could see many dwarves pulling the cars apart and inspecting every piece, trying to figure out how they worked. Seeing how things were slowly moving along, I decided to go down to the forest where the bee dungeon was to try to finish the magic circle that would form a barrier to allow people to bypass the binding effect.

Luckily I can now move more freely with my new Dimensional Transfer skill. I quickly arrived in front of the forest, where the fog was very thick, and sat down in front of it. I quickly scribbled the previous magic circle on the ground and began adding in the barrier portion of the spell into it. Mixing it with the binding warding.

"If I do this here and add this into this…." I pursed my lips and tapped my bottom lip with my finger as I tried to work out the spell.

Only after an hour did I finally come up with something that might work. My eyes lit up as I cast the spell, only to find out that I would need to be a mouse to make it through it. I knelt down and peeked into the space I made and saw that it even stopped only after a few feet. "I need to somehow boost the warding effect more…."

I quickly went back to the drawing board as I began working on the magic circle once more. As the hours passed and many trials and errors, I finally came up with half of the result that I was looking for. "While it is at least reaching the entrance of the dungeon, the height…."

The tunnel was no taller than my waist, which made me frown a little. "Let's try tripling the warding effect by using the same runic equation a few times…."

With this thought in mind, I went back to work. Once again, a few more hours passed, and after working things out to stabilize the spell so it would actually cast, I finally gained the result I was looking for. "Done!"

With the new barrier tunnel put into place, I put a seal on the barrier for the time being, as we were not ready to have people entering it just yet. People could leave if they were already in the dungeon, but they could not enter.

With this set, I used some earth magic to make a tablet that warns people not to enter this dungeon. I will not stop people from trying to enter, as everyone has the right to decide what they want to do on their own. But with this warning here, hopefully, it will deter those who come here since they will know what to expect when entering. I could just stick a barrier up, but I do not wish to do that at this time.

With this set, I headed back home. I landed in my bedroom to find the girls all sitting on the couch, seemingly discussing something once more. My room has become their hang out. While we were married, they still had their own rooms because everyone needed their open space, and I would also be having nights with Diablo. So this just made things easier.

"What are you girls doing?" I asked as I walked over and leaned over the back of the couch, and rested my chin on top of Iena's head. She was the tallest, so she made the perfect chin rest!

"Faith, you are back. We were talking about what we should do from now on. Freidinia has been working on a way for us to all be able to be impregnated by you, but she has not figured it out just yet. Although she does think she is close with her current concoction, but she will need to test it out to make sure it works." Adel explained. I smiled hearing this because these girls all wish to carry on the family line. As my wives, they already stated that they wished to give birth to my child. Which I am not against, but I still worry about the current future with these unstable times.

"Oh? Why are you thinking about what you should do?" I was still confused about what they were up to.

"Well, we can't just get pregnant at the same time. So we were deciding on a plan. We were thinking of spacing it out by a month each. What do you think?" Adel asked.

I chuckled and placed my hand on top of her head, and ruffled her hair. "Do you think it will be possible to plan something like this? You can plan all you want but if things do not go as planned, it will get messed up. Creating life is not an easy task. It takes time and the right moment. You can try for years and still not get pregnant."

"Ahh! I never thought about that." Adel pursed her lips and looked at the plan they had just worked on, and frowned. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes."

"Freidinia may be able to tell you when the best time is as well. Or maybe even one of the doctors here. I am not sure about all this stuff. I just know how babies are made." I did not know all the other things, but I do know that sometimes people can never have a baby, whether it is the man or the woman, it does happen. It even happens on this world as well. It's just the natural course of things.𝙞𝑛𝓷𝓇𝒆a𝑑. 𝙘૦𝗺

379 A Trip To The Elven Kingdom

With a month away from my coronation to become the first empress of the Cyrilia Empire, I was currently on my way to the elven kingdom, World Tree Kingdom. The kingdom gets its name from the huge tree that grows in the center of the kingdom that the castle is built in front of. The whole kingdom is basically a forest and has no visible towns or cities as they are all hidden under the tree canopies except for the capital city, which is slightly visible.

I read up a lot on this kingdom in order to visit it one day, and now here I am, standing in front of the gates of the city, waiting for a certain person to pick me up. How I got here so quickly, some may ask. Well… Dimensional Transfer has a small loophole in it that I can easily take advantage of. The spell works as a beacon to places I have visited, but if I use images of a place, I can easily reach my destination since I already know where I am going.

I had originally wanted to just have Runa send a few people over my way without needing to come to the kingdom, but Runa insisted on me visiting and speaking to her father. With no other option, I was now here with three elven guards standing in front of me, watching me like a hawk with swords pointing at me.

You can say having someone suddenly pop out of nowhere in front of the capital city's main gate would cause a scene. Luckily I have my envoy insignia, and they were willing to make a report for me.

Sadly I still had to stand there under sword point for almost thirty minutes before Runa appeared: "Lower your weapons! How dare you point your swords at my friend!"

Runa looked quite mad as she walked over, pointing her finger at the guards, who were all startled. I smiled and shook my head as I said: "Runa, you can not get mad at guards who were doing their job. After all, our world's communication systems are not the best."

"It doesn't matter. You still have a seal of an envoy on you which means you are a guest in our nation, which means they have not followed proper procedure. They should have taken you to a room to rest while you waited for me to show up and should not have made you stand there under sword point. For one, it could have gotten them killed if they acted out of line and would have caused an international incident, mainly you annexing our elven empire!" Runa snorted as she pointed out many things, but one thing that stood out was she was really making me into a tyrant!

"Runa, I am not that bad!" I tried to argue. But she only gave me a look before saying: "In a single day, you single handedly took over three kingdoms all by yourself, even with their advanced technology. You then went to another kingdom on your way to the dwarven empire and annexed it. In another kingdom, you stole their mountain range and forced them to all treat you like their queen. And then…."

"Okay, stop!" I yelled out. So what if I did a few dirty deeds? No one is clean in this world! At least mine was for the benefit of my people!

But her words did seem to make the three guards sweat because they were now drenched, and it was not even raining out. "Anyway, I am here like you requested."Please visit 𝑖𝓃𝓃r𝒆𝘢d.＆nbsp;c𝘰m

"Hehe! Finally, I get Faith all to myself! Come, we will now go on an adventure!" Runa grabbed my hand and began dragging me through the gates. The guards who followed her all looked at each other with worried expressions before following after us.

"Runa, I did not come where to play. That would need to wait until after my coronation!" I really did not come to play. I had many things to plan out!

"Don't worry. Didn't you say you had three days at most to hang around and come hang out with me for a while? It has been so long!" Runa pouted, which made me feel bad. It is true that I have not really spent much time with this friend of mine. So I can see why she is so excited.

But I must say, as we walked through the gates that were made out of tree roots that arched over the thick earthen walls, I was quite impressed with the city in front of me. Many large leaves floated across the sky as a form of transportation. There were many vine woven bridges going between the tree tops to wooden huts that were built on the tree limbs themselves. The trees here were massive compared to the ones outside but still dwarfed compared to the world tree that rose high into the sky to the point that I think the tip actually went into the outer atmosphere.

In stories I have read back on Earth, the world tree was the tree that gave life to every living thing on the planet. But I think this world tree is not as it seems and is more of a spirit. The reason I say this is because of the small spirits that are currently hanging from my tail, wings, and clothes.

"Stay away from my Faith!" Little Bell suddenly flew out of her space and began smacking all the spirits away. She was being quite possessive for a spirit who rarely showed herself.

"Little Bell, don't be mean," I said softly as I pulled the little spirit back and placed her on my head.

"But…. They are trying to steal you away…." Little Bell pouted. I smiled and poked her belly. "Don't worry. No one will take me away, plus only you have your own domain inside my body. So how can they steal me?"

"Ah!" Little Bell seemed to be struck by lightning as this relation dawned on her. "Hehe, I forgot. But Bell wishes to see the ancient if that is okay."

"We will have to see. I am not sure if I will be allowed to get near the tree." With Little Bell's words, I guess my assumption about the world tree was true. It was indeed a spirit. An ancient one at that it seems.

380 A Look Around

"If your little one wishes to see the ancient, I can bring you there. Normally no one is allowed near the ancient, but since you are loved by the spirits, an exception will be made." Runa said, causing Little Bell to clap her little hands happily.

"Good for you, Little Bell, you will be able to see the ancient," I said with a smile.

"Mmmmm! Let's go!" Littler Bell called out happily.

"Let's take a look around first as we make our way there," Runa suggested, which even Little Bell agreed on. Since I was here, I might as well take in some of the sights. After all, it's not every day I get to make a trip to the elven kingdom.

One thing I noticed was the stares I was getting from the elves as we passed by them. I can understand why. It is not every day they see outsiders like me roaming around on the streets. I had not seen any race besides elves out on the streets, which meant it was a very closed off nation.

From what I could tell, the top portion of the trees was where people lived, while the bottom section had many shops. Not just built next to the trees but also many stalls that stood out on the streets that people walked down. There were no carriages or anything like that on the lower level. Foot traffic seemed to be the main way people went from place to place, but there were these things called leaf winds. It was a large leaf that used wind magic to keep it in the air and travel to a certain destination. I saw many pick up stations, kinda like bus stations, along the streets that allowed people to move freely around the city at a fast pace.Please visit inn𝘳e𝑎𝘥. co𝐦

Just seeing such an innovative idea made me want to implement such a system in our cities as well since it would reduce the need for scaled horses and less mess on the roads. While this might cut up some of the cleaners' jobs, it would reduce the risk of disease as well.

The more I looked around, the more unique things I spotted. Some trees had vines that were attached to platforms that worked as elevators to move people up and down to the levels near the footbridges. Everything used a certain kind of wind magic which surprised me in the way they were able to inscribe such intricate runic inscriptions to make full use of wind magic in many ways I would never have thought of.

"So, how is it?" Runa asked.

"Truthfully, it is filling me with ideas. Your way of innovation with runic inscriptions amazes me. I already have many ideas on how to implement such things for the empire I plan to build upon more modern technology. I do hope the time your people stay in my city to help with such things will allow them to implement these things within your own kingdom as well. After all, I do plan to join a no hold bar alliance with your elven alliance. I want our two nations to be able to grow and prosper alongside each other." I had planned to make things tight lipped but I think if the empire I am aspiring to create and the Elven kingdom can become sister states where we share and trade with each other without restrictions, then I think we can easily become allies who will defend each other no matter what. This will allow us to grow strong and prosper together in many ways.

While I know the eleven kingdoms will not be able to use a lot of the things I plan to make for my kingdom due to them not being nature friendly, they will at least be able to have the forest outskirts defended by this technology. Of course, we will be doing free trade between the two nations as well, which will mean a portal that will allow for free passage would need to be created.

As such new international laws will need to be created in order to make sure that any crimes committed by citizens of our nations do not go unpunished and create tension between us. I do not wish to arrest some elven noble and have to go to war over such a thing. We would need an international court that would have both elf representatives and Cyrilia Empire representatives.

So many things were flooding into my mind as we continued to walk through the city. This was filled with sprites, so glowing balls of light were flying all over, making it look like a truly magical place.

We walked for a while before finally taking one of the leaves to the elven palace where the elven royal family lived and Runa's home. As for the guards who were following us, they were left behind a long time ago. But I can say that I truly liked the air of this city. It was a harmonious place. It felt comforting being here. Even with all the curious stares I got, not one person said anything or treated me differently. Even in the first shop we went into, they did not say anything mean to me and greeted me with a smile. I guess a lot of that has to do with Runa being with me, but still, there was no hint of any hatred in their eyes which most would have when faced with a stranger such as myself.

The palace was the only thing that was different. I had called it a castle earlier during our walk, and Runa specially corrected me and said it was a palace. It was made of what was called moonlight ore, a rare ore that the elves mined under the roots of the world tree. It was in high abundance as it has been sitting there for many, many years. The palace itself was carved out of a large chunk of this that the ancient had unearthed itself and presented to the elves for becoming its protector.