Leo quietly pulled back his hand and retreated toward Shea. Helina's face became beat red, regretting the words she said earlier.

He fought the urge to chuckle and rubbed her head. “That was just a joke.” The corner of his lips lifted up in a teasing smile. “But seriously, are you a naughty maid?”

Her lips formed a calm smile. “Yes, I'm naughty. Though my naughtiness would only be reserved for my master.”

Lily behind his back made a victory pose.

“Geez, why are you girls so stuck up on me?”

“Because they all love you?”

The unexpected answer came from Ruhi. Leo already sensed her curious gaze many times, she was just at that age where the curiosity for the opposite sex starts escalating.

Shea, Lily, and Helina all nodded, leaving him smiling wryly. 

“I–”

‘Master, we have arrived.’

Noint's voice in his head interrupted him.

‘Alright.’

The look of anticipation on Helina and Lily's face made him sigh. “We'll talk about this later.”

The group stepped out of the caravan. Noint stood there with a group of blonde-haired Angels and several demons in their fifties and sixties. Yet this didn’t stop them from bowing their shivering bodies.

“Your majesty, w-we are the only elders left in the Castle. The rest fled…”

In their apologetic words, Leo’s lips bent into an amusing grin. “Isn’t that better? I don’t have to waste time to clean up the trash.”

The Elders turned silent. They certainly did not expect such words from the Emperor capable of killing the ‘God’.

“Then lead the way.” He released a tiny amount of his pressure for a fraction of second.

The Elders’ breathing became disordered; they dragged their aged bodies through the long corridors. After several turns, they arrived at a large door, on which a sun pouring light on several pillars was engraved. The grandiose design of the door only indicated one thing.

“Throne room?”

“Yes, your majesty. Alv-s—”

“Alv used to stay inside this room.”

When the first elder was about to add ‘-sama’, another elder cut in and saved his life.

“Leo-sama, they certainly need some training,” Lily whispered.

“True, we also need a Ruler for the country. A demon will work the best in the current situation.”

Lily nodded and glanced at Ruhi who held hands with Shea. “I think this girl will become a splendid ruler. She is witty for a twelve years old and most of all, she doesn't follow the beliefs set up by Alv.”

“What a coincidence. I thought the same. But we can’t just do it without her consent.”

He found Ruhi’s courage really admirable and her loyalty was unquestionable when she could go as far to put her life on line for her father. Though her age was a problem now, Lily and him could easily handle until she became old enough.

“Leo-sama, please let me handle this. I’ll make sure she agrees!”

Her voice brimming with confidence worried him. He patted her head. “Don’t force her on this.”

“I swear I won’t stoop down to blackmailing a twelve year old. Even if she becomes the Ruler, we will be here to ease up her burden until she herself becomes a capable ruler.”

She raised her gaze, her blue eyes held a gentleness similar to her mother but an absolute confidence also dwelled deep within. Confidence that he will help her if things went wrong…

He wordlessly kept patting her head until a loud noise reverberated and the door opened. A red carpet led to an altar and a dignified looking throne.

“This room is meh, take us to a room more suited for discussions.”

The Elders’ eyes stretched wide. This extravagant throne room is meh in your eyes, but they swallowed their complaint and led to a normal, wide hall with many chairs and a large table.

“This is better. Who even talks about these things in a throne room?”

“Yes, your majesty. We apologize for our ignorance.”

This bootlicker…

Leo went over to the seat and sat down with his legs crossed.

“Lily, I’ll be counting on you.” He conveyed to Lily with telepathy and closed his eyes. These political talks weren’t suited for him, but he hoped to slowly learn this from the girls well-versed in the art of politics. Until then, he would rely on them.

Even with his eyes closed, he saw Lily nodding with a bright smile and took a seat beside him. An aura of royalty flowed from her body. Her sudden transformation left the Elders speechless.

“Shall we get started?” Lily eyed the Elders who also rested their bottom on the chairs.

Shea sat on the right with Ruhi on her lap. Meanwhile, Helina came over and stood behind him. Her hands squeezed his shoulders, any nonexistent tension left his body under her caring massage.

She is a good masseuse.

The Elders snuck a few glances at him which he disregarded and enjoyed Helina’s massage. The duo of Princess and Maid loved him, he also liked them not to the extent of loving, and then there was Lulu who only hoped to become his and was working hard for achieving it.

‘I should… just accept them… I swear they will be the last ones… but having a relationship with both mother and daughter at the same time… sounds so immoral...’

(Keep bluffing yourself. A dragon’s libido knows no bound and does it not excite your heart? The forbidden part of being served by both mother and daughter.)

‘Shut up! Let me straighten my thoughts.’

(...)

He released an inaudible sigh and cocked his head up, meeting Helina’s gaze. Her lips twitched momentarily, threatening to burst into a smile. He lightly chuckled and extended his spiritual hands to brush her face. Her face bloomed into a full-blown smile.

‘Her acting is so adorable.’

Lily snuck a few glances at him flirting with Helina as she and the Elders talked about the current population of demons at a surprising 3500 or so. This was the reason demons did not attack Tortus before their commander acquired the Ancient Magics. Yet the fact remained that any demon’s individual strength easily surpassed a human's by a large margin.

The boring talk lasted for a while, where Lily proposed the idea of a new ruler to be chosen instead of Leo governing it himself. She didn't mention anything about Ruhi. He ended up learning the ‘Ways of Politics’ from Lily, which was just using eloquent and flowery words to fool the other side.

He, who grew up fighting and surviving between storms of bullets, had no talent for this nor did he wish to learn this. Thankfully, as an Emperor, he had no duty of using this strategy, his retainers would be there to do it for him. While he would strive to become the pillar of Hope for the Empire, where his citizens would remember him as the one who brought a change; a future far better than they ever imagined.

The first plan included ending the race barrier. The discrimination between the races, which mostly stemmed from the Holy Church's doctrines. His church would aim for fixing this twisted racism or he could just...

‘I’m such a genius!’

(Don’t tell me you really want to try that?)

‘Yep, it will let others experience it themself. I want everyone to feel how it’s like to be on the other side of the river.’

(You should limit its use… Hmm, that’s how a ruler thinks. But will you return after going to Earth?)

‘I’ll surely return. This time with Maria.’

The second plan for now was setting up his Palace, a new glorified palace, fitting of his title ‘Dragon God Emperor’. Third plan was improving the daily lives of everyone in his Empire. And the list went on and on, he wished to do so much for his citizens but the rest came after his return to Tortus.

Meanwhile, Ruhi observed the talk with an astonished expression. This discussion should be confidential then why she, a commoner, was listening on this and none of them even bothered with her.

But she couldn’t voice this out when the rabbit onee-chan treated her like a child. Her heart felt warm whenever she touched her. Is this how having an onee-san feels like, she quietly asked herself.

Shea, oblivious to the fact that she became the adopted sister of the demon girl on her lap, kept patting Ruhi’s head.