Chapter 31: The pleasure queen, The casino tyrant and the marquis

The door swung gently on its hinges without a creak emanating from the silky smooth joint giving way to the treasure it guarded. A room so homely, so warm, so fantastic that Arthur became momentarily enraptured by the sheer presence that it held. Dazzling diamond chandeliers lined the ceiling of the art deco space, their jewels glittering like the most precious of gems as they reflected a warm, almost divine orange light onto the mortals underneath. The polished flooring from the plateau spilt forth into the room only to be promptly concealed by an intricately designed multicoloured carpet that looked more like a mosaic to the stunned Arthur than a finely woven piece of fabric. A humongous fireplace crackled at the back of the room, heating up the space but not to an uncomfortable degree. While in the centre of the colossal room lay the one piece that tied all these odd embellishments together, a table, a gargantuan selection of intricately carved wood given form in the appearance of this mighty structure. With a glistening varnish so smooth, so silky that the light around it seemed to melt off of it instead of reflecting in the almost mirror-like lacquer, dyeing the structure in a beautiful mixed gold and bronze colour, it indeed was a piece of art.

However, it wasn't this Mastercraft, this pinnacle of human engineering, that caught Arthur's full attention but rather the two individuals that sat on either side of the almost ten-metre-long structure. To the left side of the entrance in which Arthur and Vienna hung under was a woman seated upon what could only be described as an ivory throne. Its delicate white fibrous texture illuminated the surrounding space with a brilliant white glow, all the while the beautiful occupant remained placid in her seat, not even bothering to stand up and greet the marquis and, by extension, her less than stellar lackey unless one considers a curt smile a warm welcome.

She was beautiful, or rather she was beyond beautiful. That was the only real way Arthur could describe the almost angelic visage of the seductive woman. She wasn't human. She couldn't be. Her beauty was too otherworldly, too divine, to be kept in the same ballpark as the lesser humans. With back-length blonde hair tinged with light green and radiant forest green eyes along a face that looked as though carved out of the very ivory she was sitting upon, this woman truly was a picturesque definition of natural beauty. Her large, almost grandiose E-cup breasts struggled to resist the urge to break out of her tight-fitting frilly golden dress, but that wasn't all Arthur could spy as, parting the waterfall of golden silk that was the woman's lustrous hair appeared two pointed ears, the signature trait of a race known for their deep ties with the world around them.

'An elf?' Arthur inwardly blurted, stunned by the woman's race. He hadn't expected an elf of all people to be here. They were a race of virtue, a sign of purity among the dregs of humanity. No, he had come into this room believing the fact that everyone present would be human. That's just how the world worked. The humans remained in positions of power amongst the human kingdoms while the elves and, by extension, every other race remained in power in their respective territories. For Vienna to have allowed an elf to climb to such grandeur, such actions were considered blasphemous towards the Abraham empire. 'Is she? No, she can't be,' Arthur inwardly muttered, his mind drawn to the image of an obese man draped in the most excessive of attires. This is what the owner of this casino should have looked like. A man so caught up with his own vanity and greed that the lives of others meant nothing to him unless they provided him with the chance to make a profit.

Immediately upon Arthur's denial of the woman who sat before him, two invisible pulsating sphere's ejected themselves from the child's now clenched hands and promptly encapsulated the buxom visage of the elf. He had to know. Arthur needed confirmation, this woman. She couldn't be who he thought she was. There was no way someone so pure, so seemingly graceful, could allow for such twisted acts to occur under her very nose. Yet, alas, Arthur's hopeful denial was quickly shattered upon the system's analysis.

{Name: Sephra Lilliel

Age: 120

Sex: Female

Race: Human/Elf (Half-elf)

Rank: Adept Knight stage 2, Adept Mage stage 4

Titles: The casino tyrant, Lilliels bastard child, the banished half-elf, …(View more)

Bloodline: ???? (Unawakened)

Charm: 13/10 Beyond the boundaries of human beauty

Talent: 8/10 Enough to be considered a genius

Love: 0% (She hasn't even seen you yet)

Description: The host's first completely optional woman, she doesn't play any major part in the story, nor does she seem to be a likely target for any of the transmigrators, the half-elf owner of the lucky cat casino.

Difficulty: B (not only is she a half-elf, so she's already not likely to fall for a measly human, but she's also an extremely influential and sought-after woman who has no time for love, try to invoke some sort of curiosity out of her if you even want a chance of getting with this incredibly sought after asset)}

Time seemed to momentarily stop in Arthur's dirty brown eyes. It was true. This woman, this beauty sculpted by the gods, was the owner of this damned place, the demon queen to this hell. She was the person that forced those goblins to fight one another. She caused those men to go bankrupt. Just how many families had she been responsible for tearing apart? Such questions would usually plague the mind of all who bore witness to such undeniable horrors; however, strangely, Arthur remained passive, as though all these previous facts, all these damnable sins no longer mattered to him. The fury that had previously been bubbling in the boy's stomach seemed to quell. Rage no longer had a hold over the boy's mind. Arthur didn't care anymore, he had moved on from hating the owner and now….now he wanted her. She was valuable. He could use her, her connections, her money, her everything. Arthur wanted it all. He was a hypocrite to his very core, a fact that he still remained unaware of. After all, Arthur was just trying to live.

Still, before Arthur could go about making the woman known as Sephra his, he had a few questions to ask his dear system. 'Hey, system, why is her charm stat that high? How is it possible that she managed to surpass the limit?' Arthur inwardly chimed his thoughts, carrying a definite apathetic tone that only the system could identify.

{It's quite simple; the charm stat is relative to the host's power and race. The power part of which is derived from the plains of heaven and or the underworld. For example, if the host were to ascend in his current state without undergoing any of the purifying processes needed to climb to the first heaven, where the overall appearance of the average human is much more attractive than everyone the host would encounter, would break the scale. However, this factor, of course, is not responsible for Sephra's current score, but rather the latter, her race, elves and by extension half-elves, are renowned for their beauty which easily eclipses all of the human race of which the host belongs, so it would only make sense for her score which is based upon the host's race and current strength to break the limit.}

The system chimed in with a lengthy explanation which even Arthur had difficulties processing. 'So if I were to change races to like an elf or something, would the system's scale change and give Sephra a new score?' Arthur half-heartedly asked, his mind seemingly having come to grasp the system's new scale within a matter of seconds. The game also had a charm stat, but it was segregated by race. If a dragon girl was a ten out of ten, then that scale was based around her race, not whatever race the protagonist was, a much simpler system and one Arthur couldn't understand why his system dropped.

{The host is correct. If the host were to switch races to one that is more inherently charming and or beautiful than that of humanity, then the scale would indeed shift to accommodate such changes,}

'Ok, I think I get it now,' Arthur blandly replied, his mind having already moved on from the seemingly tedious topic of his new and not really improved but certainly unique charm stat and onto more pressing issues, 'Is she really a Lilliel?' The boy continued definite interest, now lacing his thoughts as opposed to his previously apathetic tone.

{Yes}

The system replied, dropping a bomb upon the young child whose gaze seemed to shimmer with newfound greed. If before, Arthur wanted her for the power she held over Zepar city. Now he wanted her for an entirely different reason.

'Does she know?' Arthur curiously questioned every single hair on his body standing on end. This was a make-or-break question. If Sephra knew of her lineage, then there was little to no chance that he would be able to worm his way into her heart in the near future, whereas if she didn't, well, that would open up an entirely new path of life for Arthur to walk down.

{No}

The system blandly replied, its voice as mechanical as ever, yet it mattered not to inwardly grinning Arthur. That one word, that simple confirmation, rattled in Arthur's scheming mind like the sweetest of melodies. She didn't know. She really didn't know! 'This is amazing! To think that I'd find a Lilliel in Zepar city of all places, what is my luck!' Arthur inwardly laughed with unparalleled joy, a fleeting emotion of happiness that would immediately crumble the moment his gaze landed upon the other guest in the enormous room.

To the right side of the table sat a pitch black throne embossed with gold markings upon which lay the woman that would destroy Arthur's very idea of himself. With Two snow-white legs tangled atop the ornate table. She couldn't have been any more carefree, any more seductive. She wore black and only black. Her dress, heels, hair, everything was dyed in the ambient colour of darkness. Her side-parted dress revealed a thigh as white and seductive as moonlight, while the rest of it seemed to act as a defective sheath to her unnaturally buxom figure. A midnight black fur scarf wrapped around the woman's enchanting neck, adding more to the already overwhelming seductiveness her figure seemed to exude without care. While behind the woman wagging in the non-existent wind stood two large pitch black fox tails.

And that was when Arthur caught sight of it, the otherworldly face that would bring him to the brink of an existential crisis. With glowing white skin comparable to the brightest of moonlight, the woman's face seemed like night-given form. Cherry red lips accentuated her already irresistible appearance, standing apart from the monotony of black with such a vibrant hue that all who caught sight of it would find themself entranced. Her eyelashes were perky and long but not enough to cause discomfort among those who glimpsed them. Rather they only seemed to serve as an additive to her ethereal beauty, a thick head of pitch black hair cascaded across the woman's back like the most celestial of waterfalls before coming to a crashing halt at the tip of one of the woman's two bewitching tails. She was beauty. She was the night personified. Yet none of these features seemed to enrapture the dazed Arthur. Her hair, her face, she could have looked like a goddess for all Arthur cared; still, it wouldn't have mattered to him. The only thing that did matter was her eyes, her ruby red eyes that seemed to attract the clouded gaze of Arthur like magnets, but he wasn't staring at them for the reason the woman suspected, no, when Arthur's dirty brown locked with the woman's ravishing ruby red, he felt something, a connection, one he had felt before with the very woman stood beside him.

'What,' Arthur could only absentmindedly stutter. His heart started beating at an irregular pace. All the while, Arthur felt a distinct and all too familiar heat flush his cheeks, 'What's going on? Why am I having a bloodline connection with her!' Arthur inwardly screamed, his hands sending out another pulse of invisible energy that quickly encapsulated the seductress's entire being.

{Name: Luna Adeline

Age: 110

Sex: Female

Race: Two-tailed fox (Originally fox beast-folk

Rank: True Mage stage 1

Titles: The pleasure queen, ruler of the night, leader of the red light district, ….(View more)

Bloodline: Nine-tailed fox (Awakened)

Charm: 14/10

Talent: 9/10

Love: 0% (Be prepared for a sudden jump)

Description: The owner of the most rambunctious brothel in the red light district and the entire area's de facto leader, she awakened her bloodline the moment she turned 100 years old and gained her second tail. Despite oozing an air of sensuality, she's actually !##$(*

Difficulty: B ( Despite the host seemingly sharing a bloodline connection with this woman, the pleasure queen, won't go down so easily, you're on your own for this one)}

'This shouldn't be possible…This doesn't make any sense! Why, why do I share a bloodline connection with her?! There's nothing in common between our bloodlines. If she were a demonic nine-tailed fox, maybe I'd understand it then…but she isn't. What's going on?' Arthur angrily stammered, his thoughts initially booming out through his clouded mind like a roaring thunderstorm before eventually, they went quiet, becoming nothing more than the hushed whispers of a broken man. 'I'm an incubus, aren't I? I am right? That's why I share a bloodline connection with Vienna, after all, so then why…why am I currently experiencing that same connection with her, of all people, with a nine-tailed fox? This doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense. They share no connection. They bear no similarities to one another. It should be impossible. And yet…here I am, experiencing the same frustrating heat that roared in my chest with Vienna now yelling out in approval towards the woman in front of me. I hate this. I hate not knowing what's going on with my body, of all things. System, please tell me, what am I? What type of bloodline do I have that's capable of sharing a connection with both of these races…please, please answer me' Arthur mournfully stammered, to which the system responded with placid silence.

Arthur had lost it, the one thing that he had clutched onto so dearly since its discovery not even hours earlier, the one thing that connected him to the main characters he had so admired in his previous life, his title as an incubus, it was gone now, it had to be, Arthur knew it was impossible for him to remain as one after sharing such an intense connection with a nine-tailed fox of all things, Arthur was something else, something different, something he didn't know…and that frightened him. His mind became a typhoon of depressing thoughts as it bumbled around in a futile attempt to draw a connection between the two races before eventually reaching the answer Arthur had already come to expect, and that was the fact that Arthur knew of no races, no bloodlines that could possibly share a connection with both factions, he was an unknown.

'What…am I?' Arthur hollowly chuckled, his mind that was already a sea of depressing thoughts shifting colours into that of an endless void of darkness, 'What am I? What am I? What am I? What am I?' What am I?' Arthur's mind replayed the same question on a seemingly endless repeat, with every thought, every movement only serving to darken the abyssal ocean that filled the child's broken mind. Arthur was lost, without hope, without anything stable to call his. Even his name was not one truly granted to him by a set of loving parents but rather one he saw and decided to make his. It was flimsy, interchangeable. He could have swapped it out on a whim without anyone noticing or caring. Arthur's life held no roots in this forsaken realm, and now the one seedling of hope he possessed, the one thing that gave him meaning, was gone. The water around Arthur began to rise, submerging the poor boy and dragging him away to its murky depths. Everything went dark. Arthur couldn't see, couldn't hear. He couldn't even touch. He was but a prisoner to the world around him. And it was in this infinite darkness that Arthur found light. He found hope, or rather a means to escape the reality, the truth that surrounded him. 'It doesn't matter what I am? Yeah, that's right. Why do I care so much about my bloodline sharing a connection with both Luna and Vienna? Even if it's supposedly impossible, isn't this still a good thing? She seems useful, so wouldn't it be good to make her mine? The future me can figure out whatever my bloodline is. All I need to do is find a way to get stronger,' Arthur delightfully muttered once again, thrusting all his supposed issues upon this elusive future version of himself instead of confronting his ailments head-on, a poor trait that would ultimately bring more grief than good to the young Arthur yet one he would likely discard in the near future. And it was with this false resolve that Arthur's mind began to clear. The infinite darkness around him began to dissipate while his previously obscured senses returned to him in full. He could see again and what he saw made the boy's heart skip.

Luna, he had finally caught sight of her entire visage and what he saw left him speechless, her pale moonlight skin, her ruby red eyes, her pitch black hair and most importantly, her bewitching twin tails, every aspect of the woman's sensual figure seemed to be perfectly made for enthralling the senses of the stunned boy. And likewise, Luna found herself lost in the heightened attractiveness Arthur's scrawny body seemed to possess. His face seemed to passively glow under Luna's ruby-red gaze, while his dirty brown eyes seemed to twinkle with the light of a myriad of stars, all of which exuded a boundless childish innocence. An aura of illusory roses shimmered behind the young child painting his presence in the room like that of a fairy tale prince.

'Interesting,' Luna inwardly commented, her heart unknowingly skipping a beat for the first time in her long life. 'This boy's really interesting, It seems this meeting is going to be a lot more enjoyable than I first thought', Luna inwardly purred before breaking eye contact with the now rational Arthur, who calmly returned his gaze to the centre of the room.

Sitting on the opposite side of the exquisite table and directly in front of Arthur lay what could only be deduced to be yet another throne. Its design and build were similar to that of Sephra and Luna's, with the only change to it being the colour which, instead of being a monotone black or white, was a vibrant gold. 'Is this one Vienna's? Or is it just a spare one they have laying around for meetings?' Arthur rhetorically asked as for the first time since his entrance, and prompt standstill in the expansive room Vienna began to move, their hands still interlinked she meandered her way towards the golden throne without sparing so much as a greeting to the two excessively beautiful women both of whom stared at the couple with gazes of mixed intrigue and an almost tyrannical indifference.

"Stand here, Arthur," Vienna spoke in a hushed whisper before taking her place atop the golden throne. At the same time, Arthur remained standing at her side, his head downtrodden as though he dared not look at the twin beauties in fear of somehow offending them with his less-than-stellar appearance. An act, of course, Arthur couldn't have cared less about offending either of the women, but for now, he needed to be seen as a proper servant, and the only way to do that was to show the appropriate amount of reverence that such a meeting dictated.