Well, that was anticlimactic, but a part of me is glad. I accidentally stumbled on a way to prevent the incident, and the death of 2 young boys.

There are multiple such cults throughout the entire country, not just our own town, and this is something we need to communicate to the other leaders and regional lords, so Anne’s busy preparing all the letters, which I will personally sign. I’m concerned about the security of the letters since they did get their members from the regular populace, but I don’t have more secure means of sending letters.

Anne comes with a stack, and places them on the table. She then leans in, her body extremely close, and guides me to sign on the letters. "Your signature please, my Prince."

I can smell her perfume at this distance, her lean body is almost touching my own. I am tempted to just put my arm around her waist. But work.

I nod, and pick up the quill, and start signing. It took about 15 minutes to sign all the letters addressed to all my neighbours, father, and the rest of my brothers.

Anne nods, helps to seal all the letters with my personal seal, and carries the signed letters away, probably to the courier. "I'll be back in a while." She smiles as she walks out.

I felt my heart skip a beat. "Okay."

After she leaves, Sara and Adam walks in. “Everything’s good so far. The scouts report nothing, and the villages all say it’s peaceful on their front.”

“That’s good.”

It feels too easy though. There must be something else to it.

“Erm…”

“Yes?” I look up, ah, they are still there.

“What.. what about us?”

I look at both Sara and Adam, and wonder for a moment. AH! “Well, all of you are going to be assimilated into my royal guards, I’ll get Anne to do up the documents once she’s done with the letters.”

They both smile. “That’s great. All of us?”

“Of course. Reese’s planning to go back to his village, right?”

“Yeah. He seems rather disappointed though, I think he’s itching for a bigger fight.” Adam laughs. “He thought it’s going to be some big demonic monster or something.”

It would be, if the demonic summoners got their way.

“Well, true. Glad we found them first. I rather that than having to fight for our lives.”

Adam shrugs, “True. So, business as usual?”

“Yup. Back to regular training schedules. Adam, can I task you with coming up with the new training routines for everyone? We can have more rest days now that we don’t really have an active threat on the horizon… Perhaps 3 rest days a week?”

“Aye.”

“Yesh.” Sara fistpumps. “More rest days! I’d like to go back and visit my pops too!”

“Ah yeah, you should do that. Adam, may I task you with that as well, to come out with a ‘leave’ roster? Or maybe you can work with Marty or Lani to do it.”

“Aye.” Adam’s got more admin work on his plate now. With that, there’s not much else, so they both leave, and Anne returns.

“Welcome back.” I smile at Anne. I love the way her hair sways when she walks, her silver hair seems to bobs up and down each step she makes. Oh, she’s holding tea this time.

“Snack?”

“Yeah.” I leave my desk behind and walk to one of the sofas in my room. It’s a two seater. Anne brings the tea over and places it on the coffee table, and she looks around. I think she’s thinking where should she sit. I guess that’s my queue, so I pat the seat next to mine. “Sit next to me.”

She blushes and takes a seat. “Yes.”

I lean in, and wrap my hands around her waist. “Can you feed me?”

She looks at me, and playfully pushes me away. “Prince, it’s still daytime, and people might see us…”

“So if it’s nighttime…”

She blushes, this time her face flushes red. I think she’s having lewd thoughts.

I chuckle, and lean in to peck her on the cheeks. "Well…" I then take a quick walk to the door, lock it, and sit back on the sofa. "No one will see us now."

She tries to turn away. "Ah… I... I am not ready."

My eyes lock on the three slices of cake, and I pick up the small dessert fork, and cut a small piece. It's chocolate, a rarity around here, and I gently try to feed her. "Open up."

She seems to pause, then she obediently opens her mouth, and takes a bite. "Yum."

I smile, and I feed her a few more mouthful of the cakes. She giggles happily, and then she takes the spoon and also feeds me back.

“You’re more relaxed lately.” Anne smiles, “I like that.”

I intentionally lean in closer, such that our bodies are touching. “Well, I don’t have to worry about demons anymore, of course I can focus on the people around me.”

My left hand wraps around her waist, and it’s pretty much a side-hug. She giggles. She’s warm, and I squeeze her a little.

Our eyes lock, “So, what are you doing tonight?"

"Ah… erm there might be something… but I’ll clear it out, so… nothing?"

"Great. Would you like to spend some time with me? Dinner, and drinks?"

She blushes, “Are you asking me out, prince?”

“Yes, and more than that.” She stares, and then when she realises what I mean, her face turns really red. She wriggles, my left arm still on her waist.

“Uhmm.. ah… erm… ah… okay.”

“Alright, do you need some time to prepare?” It’s only about mid afternoon, so there’s some time more before dinner. I’ll need to get one of the attendants to make the arrangements at the restaurant.

She nods.

I give her a squeeze on the waist. “Well, see you tonight then.” I give her a peck on her flushed cheeks, and let her go off. I wonder what kind of lingerie she'll pick.

Affection summary

Anne - 100%, Blue, Rank 4, Level 10, Prince’s Adjutant Adam - 79%, Yellow, Rank 4, Level 11, Soldier Sara - 63%, Green, Rank 4, Level 10, Ranger Lani - 48%, Yellow, Rank 5, Level 8, Elementalist Reese - 48%, Red, Rank 3, Level 13 Brawler Marty - 39% Yellow. Rank 4, Level 9 Heavy Arm, Rene Rozario - 15% White, Rank 5, Level 15 Exiled Knight

Skill summary

Level 6 Prince (+)

Level 1 - Eye of affection Level 3 - Crafter of gifts (+) Level 3 - The power of love (+) Level 1 - Prince’s Titles (+) Unique - The Harem-reality distortion field Unique - Special catalogue

Level 2 Healer (+)

Level 2 - Heal (+) Level 1 Remove status effects (+)