They finally arrived at their home and they parted with their horses. Then they made their way towards the entrance of the house.

As they neared, Felix called out “We’re back!”

“Ah! Welcome back!” a voice called back from inside the house.

A moment later, the owner of the voice walked out to greet them. It turned to be a woman with long black hair, red eyes and a face brimming with beauty. She was smiling at the sight of them.

“Ah. Hi Rasha,” Indra said smiling in return. “I see that you’re beautiful as ever.”

Rasha laughed and said “Thanks, but I think you should say that to Lakshmi instead.”

“It’s fine. She can live without hearing me call her beautiful every single day of my life, like him,” he said and he gestured towards Felix.

“Why did that just sound like an insult?” Felix asked, looking at Indra with a strange expression.

“I thought I told you years ago!” Indra said and he rounded on Felix. “Never use those compliments so easily! Reserve them for the right time and place! Moron!”

“Oh? So that’s why you were able to hook up with so many girls before settling down with Lakshmi!” Rasha said, sounding impressed.

“Yeah! I’m the Master of the Ladies after all!” Indra said, closing his eyes and puffing his chest out proudly.

“Who’s the master of what?” asked a familiar voice.

Indra opened his eyes and found that he was staring at the form of his wife, Lakshmi. Lakshmi had her eyes closed and wore a smile on her face. However, there was a dark aura emanating from her. Sensing this, Indra suddenly became flustered.

“Eh? Ah! No. It’s nothing! We were just talking about how beautiful you are, that’s all. Isn’t that right guys?”

As he finished, he looked towards his comrades for some support. To his shock, he received none. Felix, Rasha, Sumara and Ondine were looking away from him. Only Lakshman was staring at him with his continuous blinking with a confused expression on his face.

“I see. So you’re the Master of the Ladies,” Lakshmi said, still smiling while emanating a dangerous aura.

“Eh?!” Indra said in shock. “No, no. I am not that! There is no-”

He was suddenly interrupted by Lakshmi who slowly walked towards him.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Master of the Ladies,” she said.

“Um... Lakshmi, I am not-”

“I had always wanted to meet you at least once, you know.”

“Wait, what?”

At that moment, she reached him. She opened her eyes and gave him a look of pure malice, he started sweating.

“So then... how many ladies did you nail?” she asked in a menacing voice.

“Eh?”

“How many ladies did you nail before being nailed by me?!”

“Um... I ah...” Indra spluttered, struggling to form words.

Then she raised her fist and drew it back.

“Stand your ground and grit your teeth like a man!” she said with her eyes closed and a sweet smile on in her face, but the dangerous aura was radiating all around her.

Indra, seeing the inevitable, closed his eyes and silently prayed to god. The next moment, there was a loud bang followed by a loud yell of pain.

The next instant, Indra was kneeling on the ground clutching his stomach. He silently groaned as his stomach hurt painfully. Lakshmi straightened up and breathed a sigh in satisfaction. Then her attention moved to Felix, who quickly raised his hands.

“I’m not the master of anything!” he said quickly, waving his hands frantically.

“What are you talking about? You’re the Phoenix Emperor, ruler of the Phoenix Clan!” Lakshmi said and she laughed.

“Oh... oh yeah! That’s right... I’m the master of the Phoenix Clan... Hahaha,” he said and laughed half-heartily.

“Well, it’s nice to see you again Felix. What are you standing around for? Come on in!” Lakshmi said brightly.

She turned around and walked into the house. Everyone, except Felix and Indra, followed silently. Once they were gone, Felix let out a sigh of relief and looked down at his friend. Indra was still clutching his stomach as the pain made it difficult for him to stand up.

“The pain...” Indra muttered.

Felix sighed and shook his head.

“You reap what you sow,” Felix muttered, feeling sorry for his friend.

Meanwhile, inside the house, everyone was in the living room. They were seated on the couches and chairs, smiling happily.

“Apart from Lakshmi and Mariana, it’s my first time meeting all of you. So, let me introduce myself first!” Rasha said brightly. “I’m Rasha Phoron, wife of the Phoenix Emperor, Felix Phoron. It’s nice to meet you all!”

Everyone returned the greeting in unison and took turns in making their greeting. The first to go was Sumara.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Phoron. My name is Sumara Manjuvad and I am Lakshman’s home tutor,” Sumara said and she bowed at the end of it.

“Ah, a pleasant introduction,” Rasha said with a smile. “But Sumara, please call me by my name.”

“Eh?”

“Just call me Rasha. Calling me ‘Mrs. Phoron’ makes me feel old!” Rasha said and she laughed heartily.

“R-Right...” Sumara said and she nodded.

The next to greet Rasha was Ondine.

“Hello Rasha. I am Ondine Monahasara and I am a Slave Spirit to Lakshman,” Ondine said and she grinned.

“Eh? Slave Spirit?” Rasha said, looking surprised.

She turned to Lakshmi, looking worried.

“Don’t tell me... your son is becoming like his dad?” she asked in a worried voice.

“Oh, don’t be silly!” Lakshmi said, grinning broadly. “My son has my mentality. He won’t grow up to be like his idiotic father!”

“Haha, that’s harsh,” Rasha said, smiling slightly.

“He was asking for it!” Lakshmi grimaced.

Rasha laughed and then turned back to Ondine.

“So... Ondine. Is Lakshman a good master?” Rasha asked curiously.

“Well... he’s still immature because of his age, but he’s not bad,” Ondine said with a smile.

“I see,” Rasha said, nodding in understanding.

Then she turned to Lakshman, who wore a confused expression on his face. He was startled when she smiled at him.

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” she asked him with a soft voice.

“Uh...” Lakshman said hesitantly and he turned towards his mother.

Lakshmi caught his attention. She smiled and nodded with an opening and closing of her eyes. He understood it to mean “It’s alright.” He plucked up courage and spoke to Rasha.

“I-I’m Lakshman, but my parents call me Lucky. It’s... um... good to meet you... um...,” he said.

“Oh! So cute!” Rasha squealed in delight. “And you’re called Lucky eh? Well, you are really lucky to have wonderful parents!”

“T-Thank you,” Lakshman said with a slight bow of his head.

“Well, great mother, but a stupid father,” Lakshmi muttered.

“I heard that!” said a loud voice from the entrance to the living room.

Turning around, they saw Indra standing there clutching his stomach. It still pained him, but now he was able to move.

“I heard what you said about me Lakshmi,” he said and he walked over and sat next to her. Then he asked her “Why did you say that Lakshmi? Are you still upset with me or something?”

“Upset? Why would I be upset with you?” Lakshmi said, looking surprised.

“But you-”

“I’m only upset with the Master of the Ladies,” she said with a smiling face.

Indra’s eyes widened when he heard her words.

“Lakshmi, please drop it,” he said softly.

“Oh come on. It’s not like I’m angry at you or anything,” she said. “I am only furious at Master of the Ladies.”

“Lakshmi...” he said in a pleading voice. “That was like... years before we met up again!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lakshmi said and she wore a puzzled expression on her face.

Finally, he sighed in defeat. He realised she will not stop and he sighed again.

“Fine, be that way!” he said in annoyance and turned away to face them all.

Everyone, except Lakshman, was looking at him with the invisible words of “You deserve it!”

“Hey! What’s up with your expressions?!” he demanded in frustration.

“Relax, we’re just playing around with you,” Felix said brightly to which Indra glared at him.

Indra suddenly widened his eyes. He started looking around the room as if he was looking for someone.

“What’s the matter?” Felix asked.

“I was wondering... did you bring your daughter along today?” Indra asked.

“Yes we did,” Felix said and he nodded at Rasha.

“She’s standing behind me,” Rasha said with a smile on her face.

“Eh?”

Everyone turned and, for the first time, noticed the figure of a kid standing behind Rasha. It seemed that she was hiding behind her mother. At the sudden attention, she dived behind her mother once more.

“It’s okay, Sasha. Everyone here is a friend,” Rasha said reassuringly.

“Mama?” the girl named Sasha responded timidly.

With some support from her mother, Sasha walked into plain view. Everyone looked at her, stunned by her appearance. She had long black hair that fell below her shoulders, red eyes that looked like diamonds and a face brimming with cuteness.

“Go on,” Rasha said, prodding Sasha gently from behind. “Introduce yourself.”

Sasha continued to hesitate. So, Felix came in to the rescue.

“If you introduce yourself, you’ll get lots of sweets!”

Sasha’s eyes widened and she suddenly looked thrilled. She turned to her father, looking happy.

“Really papa?” she asked with eagerness in her eyes.

“Yes, but introduce yourself properly. Okay?” Felix said and Sasha nodded.

Then she turned back to everyone and said hesitantly “Um... I am Sasha. Nice to meet you.”

Once she finished, there was silence as everyone stared at her. She suddenly became flustered and started looking around her in surprise. Then it all broke.

“Ah~! She is so cute~!” Lakshmi and Ondine said in awe as they stared at her.

“She is... so adorable,” Sumara muttered with her eyes shifting slightly as she looked at Sasha.

Lakshman heard her words. He turned to look at Sasha and then looked back at Sumara. For some reason, he actually preferred to call Sumara ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’, but he remained silent. He had a strange feeling he will get into real trouble if he said those words out loud.

“She is like a cute and adorable doll!” Indra said, grinning broadly. “May I hug her?”

Felix looked at him with his eye brows raised in surprise. On the other hand, Rasha reacted as if she saw this coming.

“Sure... but I will need to castrate you,” she said cheerfully.

“Gah! Anything, but that!” Indra quickly said, waving his hands frantically at her in protest.

“Okay then,” she said in a disappointed tone, but she suddenly muttered. “This might’ve been a good opportunity to cut you to size... bad luck.”

Indra suddenly shivered and he quickly looked around. He thought some ill intent was aimed at him, but he did not understand what it was or where it came from. He sighed, thinking it might have been Lakshmi.

“Shut up, Master of the Ladies!” Lakshmi said in irritation.

Indra jumped in surprise and he turned to her.

“What?” he asked, looking surprised at her.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing,” Lakshmi said as she turned to face him. “I thought I felt some ill intent from the Master of the Ladies, so I told him to shut up.”

“You...” Indra said, staring at her in disbelief.

Afterwards, they started talking to each other happily. Everyone, except Indra, who had a sour look as he looked at them chatting happily. He then let out a final sigh of the day in defeat as he rose to his feet and headed off to bed.