Chapter 283: End Of Tour
The Nature Goddess violently choked on her breath, cutely averting her face toward the kitchen window, desperately pretending to be deeply fascinated by a passing cloud while her ears burned bright crimson.
Before Kadi could notice the Goddess’s mortified reaction, Silas let out a loud hearty laugh, shaking his head.
"Aha... right. Nobody would be that dumb," Silas chuckled drily, giving Kadi’s hand a gentle tug. "Let me show you upstairs."
Silas led Kadi out of the kitchen, taking her toward the grand stone staircase in the central foyer.
"The Keep has five full floors," Silas explained as their boots tapped against the stone steps. "The ground floor holds the main halls, the kitchen, and the primary administrative office. The second and third floors contain the private residential suites for our primary heroes and officers. The fourth floor is the same, and the top floor is my private office."
They reached the second-floor landing, stepping into a wide carpeted corridor lined with heavy oak doors.
"Aeli and Talira’s private rooms are located along this wing," Silas noted, walking her down the hall.
He stopped in front of a wide set of frosted-glass double doors situated near the center of the corridor.
"Before I take you to your personal bedroom," Silas continued, "I should point out that while your private room comes equipped with its own personal washroom... if you ever want the luxury benefits of a high-tier spa bath, the floor’s main bathhouse is located right here."
Silas reached out, casually turning the brass handle, and pushed the double doors open to demonstrate the facility.
"It features a wide magically heated stone tub with continuous steam—"
SWISH... SPLASH!
The double doors swung open wide... revealing a sprawling, luxurious marble bathhouse filled with thick, swirling clouds of warm white steam.
Sitting together inside the wide, sunken stone bathtub, completely submerged in the crystal-clear heated water, were Aeliana and Rowenna.
Both newly evolved S-Rank casters had finished washing off their black physical impurities and were currently laughing happily, playfully splashing warm water at each other’s bare shoulders.
The sudden opening of the doors caused all four people in the room to freeze completely dead in their tracks.
Silas stood in the doorway holding Kadi’s hand.
Inside the steaming bathtub, Aeli and Rowenna froze mid-splash with their wet bare shoulders exposed and their newly expanded curves glistening under the water!
Aeli and Rowenna’s wide eyes locked onto Silas, their pale faces instantly turning ten times redder than a boiling lobster.
"M-MY LOR—" Aeli and Rowenna gasped out in synchronized panicked horror...
SLAM!
Before they could even finish the sentence, Silas’s lightning-fast reflexes kicked in.
He violently slammed the frosted-glass double doors shut with a loud resounding bang, sealing the bathhouse once more.
Silas cleared his throat loudly, adjusting his collar with a remarkably calm unbothered expression on his sharp face.
"Ahem..." Silas coughed smoothly, looking down at the wide-eyed Kadi. "...as I was saying. That is the main bathhouse. If you ever want a proper hot bath with steam, you can use that facility whenever it’s unoccupied."
Kadi stood beside him, her mouth slightly agape, nodding her head repeatedly in speechless shock.
"N-Noted, My Lord..."
Silas turned, walking three paces down the carpeted corridor, stopping before a pristine polished oak door.
He pulled out a brass key, unlocked the latch, and pushed the door open.
"And this..." Silas announced, "...is your room."
Kadi stepped past the threshold with her boots sinking into a soft plush wool rug.
The private suite was beautiful, clean and spacious... featuring a large comfortable double bed with crisp white linen sheets, a dark mahogany writing desk with an leather chair, a tall wardrobe, and a private attached washroom.
On the far wall, a large arched glass window let in brilliant morning sunlight, offering a breathtaking elevated view that overlooked the Keep’s courtyard and the towering magnificent stone structure of the newly built Library.
Kadi stood in the center of the room, her hands clutching her travel bag as she looked around in awe-struck silence.
’My... my own room...?’ Kadi thought, her heart swelling with overwhelming emotion.
She genuinely loved her time sleeping alongside her fellow girls in the barracks... but having a clean, private, and luxurious room all to herself inside the Lord’s Keep was a level of comfort she had never dreamed of possessing.
She appreciated the privacy and respect immensely.
Kadi set her heavy canvas travel bag onto the edge of the mattress, turning around to face Silas with a bright radiant smile.
"I love it, My Lord!" Kadi declared passionately. "I love it so much! I’ll settle my things in right away and prepare myself to serve you as your secretary!"
Silas stepped over to the open window, adjusting the brass latch to let the fresh morning breeze circulate through the room, before turning back to offer her a warm gentle smile.
"How is the view?" Silas asked smoothly.
"It’s breathtaking, My Lord!" Kadi beamed, her cheeks flushing a sweet pink.
Silas walked over, reaching out his broad hand to gently pat her head once more.
"Take as much time as you need to settle in, Kadi. There’s no need to rush yourself. We’ll start your secretarial orientation whenever you’re ready."
Kadi’s face exploded into a bright crimson blush as his calloused hand stroked her soft hair.
’Ahhhh~! My Lord really loves giving headpats...!’ Kadi squealed internally, her toes curling inside her boots.
...However, deep inside her degenerate perverted little mind, a far wilder uninhibited thought immediately reeled to life.
’Though... I’d honestly like it even more if he forcefully pushed my head down to his crotch and thrusted his massive shaft right into my face...!’ Kadi fantasized silently with a dazed smile spreading across her blushing cheeks.
So what if she was a little bit perverted?
She was a young woman in her prime, and her Lord was an impossibly handsome, muscular powerhouse.
Having degenerate fantasies about him was a completely natural reaction!
Silas, completely unaware of the wild explicit scenario playing out in his new secretary’s head, withdrew his hand and stepped toward the doorway.
"I’m going to be stepping out for a little bit to handle some territory errands," Silas informed her warmly. "I’ll see you when I get back."
"Yes, My Lord! Safe travels!" Kadi bowed happily.
Silas stepped out into the carpeted corridor, gently closing her bedroom door behind him.
CLICK!
As Silas walked back down the hallway past the frosted-glass double doors of the main bathhouse, he raised his knuckles and gave the wood two firm polite knocks.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Rowenna! Aeli!" Silas called out through the door, his voice echoing clearly. "Hurry up in there! Rowenna, you and I need to head out to meet Lord Sky soon!"
Inside the bathhouse, Rowenna’s flustered voice quickly responded through the door.
"Y-Yes, My Lord! I’ll be out in just a few minutes! I am so sorry for delaying you!"
Silas let out a long quiet sigh with a fond smile touching his lips as he continued walking down the grand staircase toward the Keep’s ground floor.
"Well..." Silas mused softly to himself. "...I have a little bit of time to burn before Rowenna is ready. And I haven’t even had a proper breakfast yet."
Silas adjusted his dark shirt sleeves, his golden-ringed eyes glinting with purpose.
It was time to pay a visit to Kaelia at the Culinary Haven.
Not only did he need a heavy nutrient-rich meal to fuel his Stage 2 Royal Gold Core... but he also needed to drop off the massive crate of rare Central City Spices and high-tier poultry meat he had successfully procured from Lord Sky during their previous trade negotiation.
’Breakfast can wait perhaps, after delivering those spices...’ Silas thought, shaking his head with a quiet chuckle, ’...I need to deliver those rare elemental ores over to Thora at the Warlord Foundry.’
There was far too much work to get done in the Blessed Land today... but Silas was going to execute every single task with uncompromising perfection.
Starting with delivering those legendary Central City spices to his head chef!
...
Kaelia ran a delicate pale hand through her soft wavy hair, leaning her upper body over the central marble island of the Culinary Haven.
The morning air inside the Keep’s primary kitchen was filled with the comforting scent of roasted grains, dried herbs, and warm spirit-water.
Resting flat on the polished marble counter before her was a thick, leather-bound cookbook... a specialized compilation of authentic Earth recipes and culinary manuals that Silas had gifted her during their early days in the territory.
Kaelia’s bright expressive eyes scanned down page sixty-four, her slender finger tracing the printed text as her dark eyelashes fluttered in deep concentration.
"Hmm..." Kaelia murmured out loud to herself, her soft melodious voice echoing in the quiet kitchen. "What is this ’chicken’ thing actually all about anyway...?"
Ever since Silas had introduced her to the concepts of modern Earth food, Kaelia’s entire world as a chef had been completely turned upside down.
Before coming here, her understanding of cooking had been strictly limited to basic high-tier fantasy rations... roasting wild monster meat, boiling vegetable broths, or seasoning venison with sea salt.
She could make much more amazing dishes of course.
...But the Earth cookbook had revealed a vast mind-boggling ocean of culinary science.
She had learned about the delicate art of seasoning combinations.
Her Lord had previously purchased a small preliminary bundle of refined spices for her, and those handful of imported seasonings had elevated her dishes to such an astronomical standard that the girls literally fought each other in the Mess Hall over seconds.
If she could just get her hands on a larger more diverse variety of authentic Earth spices... her cooking could reach god-tier perfection.
Kaelia turned the page of the cookbook, her thoughts drifting to the current political situation hanging over the Blessed Land.
According to the reports Aeliana and Tasmin had brought back from the buffer zone, the territory was currently gearing up for an official full-scale Lord War against a rival Lord stationed right outside their border.
Kaelia let out a quiet thoughtful breath, leaning her chin on her palm.
’If only...’
She wasn’t a combat unit.
She didn’t possess Morwenna’s terrifying ocean sword styles, Tasmin’s lethal shadow assassination techniques, or Brida’s physical defense.
She was a non-combatant chef.
In a brutal high-stakes military clash involving siege cannons and magic bombardment, Kaelia knew she couldn’t offer any direct physical assistance on the frontlines.
...However, she knew with unshakeable certainty what her role was going to be once the dust settled.
She had to start immediate large-scale preparations for a massive victory feast!
A tiny proud smirk touched Kaelia’s lips as she flipped to the banquet section of her manual.
How was she so impossibly confident that the Blessed Land would emerge victorious?
Why was she already planning a victory celebration before a single arrow had even been fired?
Simple.
Because this was the Blessed Land.
And the Blessed Land had never lost a single battle... Not once...
Some external observer might look at her confidence and claim she was being foolishly arrogant or overly proud.
But Kaelia didn’t care.
She simply possessed an unshakeable faith in the women residing in this territory... and above all, in her Lord, Silas Graves.
Silas and his commanders were far too competent, far too terrifyingly brilliant, and far too powerful to ever be brought down by some random rival Lord who had rolled up out of God knows where.
PAH!
Kaelia raised both of her hands and cutely slapped her own pale cheeks, leaving tiny pink marks on her skin as she snapped herself out of her gloomy thoughts.
"Be confident, Kaelia~!" she cheered softly to herself in an encouraging purr.
The division of labor in this Keep was crystal clear... her Lord and the warriors had to fight and crush their enemies... while her job was to cook the most heavenly food in existence to fuel their bodies and celebrate their triumphs.
Still... a small curious desire flickered deep inside Kaelia’s heart.
’Could I... Could I ask Lord Graves for permission to watch the war from the Watchtower?’ Kaelia thought, she simply wanted to see how they looked.
She immediately shook her head, a soft self-deprecating chuckle escaping her lips as she dismissed the thought.
’No, no, that’s such a stupid thing to ask...’ Kaelia thought, pouting slightly. ’The Watchtower is going to be heavily occupied by Fenna and the archers during active combat. I’d just be standing in the way and getting in their line of fire.’