Chapter 463: Do not trouble yourself
Ethan flashed a smile full of satisfaction as he stroked the golden hair of the beautiful vampire Empress in his arms.
Her hair was cool and silky, slipping through his fingers like liquid silk, and her naked body remained pressed against his.
Her and her empire had been a tremendous gain for all of Goldenveil.
"It’s still early..." he said, sliding his hand down the smooth line of her spine until it rested on the lower curve of her back. "Would you like to meet my other wives?"
"Hmm... I suppose that would be most appropriate." Carmilla sighed against Ethan’s chest, her icy breath sending shivers across his skin.
Delicate fingers pressed against his shoulders as the two parted. Her pale skin peeled away from his slowly, almost reluctantly, as if she didn’t want to lose the warmth of his body.
With a snap of her fingers, her garments returned to her body. An elegant red dress flowed down her curves, hugging her hips before spilling to the floor.
Then a black corset closed around her slender waist, cinching tight. Her full breasts rose with the pressure, giving a single heavy sway before settling snugly into place, the pale swells pressed together above the fabric.
Her cleavage was covered by an elegant white plume, concealing her breasts with nobility and grace.
At her feet, her black heels reappeared. In her hand, the handle of her parasol.
She extended that hand to Ethan, who did not hesitate to take it.
Carmilla then linked her arm with his, leaning her body slightly against him and tilting her head for him to lead the way.
"What a truly splendid palace..." she remarked, admiring the enormous, luxurious corridors stretching out before them, her heels echoing off the polished marble.
"Even my main mansion, at the very height of its size and glory, long before we ever became creatures of the night, was not nearly so beautiful."
"It belonged to the Human God-Emperor..." Ethan replied, his eyes sweeping over the golden columns. "I built it with the same skill that allowed me to build all of Goldenveil."
"Hmm... you Golden Lords are rather peculiar creatures..." Carmilla tilted her head thoughtfully. "One of your kind appeared near my territory once. A dreadfully tiresome little thing. But after I had killed him a few times, he ceased showing up."
She gave a soft laugh, as if she were speaking of an insect that kept flying in through the window.
"Oh? You know what the Golden Lords are?" Surprise flashed across Ethan’s face at those words, and he slowed his pace without realizing it.
"To a certain extent." Carmilla nodded. "Nyxara, that demonic brat, knows a great deal more than I. But, well, even she does not speak of the deeper reasons behind the existence of the Golden Lords, or of those lesser immortal beings... hm... what do they actually call themselves?"
She clicked her tongue, searching for the word, until her red eyes sparkled.
"Ah! Players! Once, my guards were obliged to kill one fifteen times in a row before he abandoned his attempts to invade my castle, hahaha!"
She shook her head, clearly amused.
"In any case, for demons and deities to be working together now to hasten the consumption of an inferior world, terrible things must be about to happen." Carmilla’s tone grew a little colder. "Difficult times shall follow—of that I am quite certain."
Ethan nodded silently.
Honestly, he didn’t know as much as he would have liked to.
He’d heard Arwen mention it, and Hilda also seemed to be aware, though to a much lesser extent.
Ophelia only knew that Earth would eventually be consumed by Estria, but beyond that, her information was limited as well.
Finally, Ethan and Carmilla left the palace and stepped out into the enormous central courtyard.
The sunlight beat down hard, and the dry afternoon heat replaced the coolness of the stone corridors in an instant.
Carmilla opened her parasol with a swift motion, raising it above her head to shield her delicate, pale skin from the sun.
The shade also covered Ethan, and she pressed herself a little closer to him, her arm firm against his and the soft side of her breast brushing his bicep with every step.
"One of my wives has a very strong connection to the goddess of life, beauty, and death..." Ethan began as they crossed the courtyard. "She said the integration wasn’t supposed to happen for ten thousand years... do you know why it was rushed?"
"I have been most curious about that myself, yet I confess I do not know." Carmilla twirled the parasol handle between her fingers. "That would appear to be a secret kept strictly between gods and demons."
"I see..." Ethan sighed. "Come on, I’ll take you to see Arwen. She’s a priestess of the three goddesses, so I don’t know how she’ll receive you."
"Oh... do not trouble yourself. It is only that wretched Justiciar, the god of light, who despises demons so very blindly."
Carmilla let out a weary sigh, as if she’d had that conversation a thousand times before.
"The other gods, for the most part, merely regard sacred and demonic beings as two sides of the same coin."
She paused, turning her face to look at him seriously.
"I am not saying demons are not evil. They most certainly are. You, my dear husband, must endeavor to avoid them at all costs." Her fingers gently squeezed his arm.
"I only escaped becoming a desireless slave because Nyxara is... well... complicated. But, generally speaking, all other demons are quite dreadful beings to deal with."
Ethan was already aware of that, so he simply nodded.
The system itself had always warned him of this.
Demons give with one hand and take away with both.
The fact that he had received a blessing from Nyxara, for example, had been a huge surprise, since demons always preferred deals where the signatory came out on the losing end.
Of course, demons were intelligent and unique beings, and there were some who weren’t like that, but those were the exception.