Chương 1142: 1172 - Goodbyes

There was no small amount of anxiety among Leon's family as they entered the portal to Miuna's palace. Anything at all could be awaiting them on the other side, and once they crossed, there wasn't much they could do to resist ambushes and the like. However, Leon wasn't that concerned about being attacked. Sure, he felt like the Princess might take his rejection a little harshly, but given their negotiations, he didn't think she was going to attack him.

Still, there was a nugget of disquiet within him that refused to go unnoticed even as he stepped out onto the beach of Miuna's island, his muscles subtly tensed and lightning flowing through his body. No Diluvian warriors leaped out to strike, no automated defenses activated; they were greeted only by a dozen spectacularly beautiful servants in revealing outfits.

"Strategos Leon Raime," the leading servant whispered, her voice as charming as bird song.

"Our Princess is awaiting you and your party. Please, follow us." She gestured down the path leading to the palace, over which Leon projected his magic senses. He couldn't detect any hostiles, so he simply smiled and said, "Let's not keep anyone waiting too long, then." Half of the servants then began walking down the path while the other half fell in behind Leon's party. They outnumbered him more than two to one, but his group was far more magically powerful than they were.

He was eleventh-tier, while Maia, Cassandra, and Valeria were all of the tenth-tier. Elise was the weakest at the ninth-tier, though that put her on par with the strongest of these servants. No one else made up Leon's entourage, with him having left his Tempest Knights and secretaries just outside of the enormous jellyfish. Elise marveled at the luxuries they passed as they walked the path and entered the palace.

Cassandra was more critical, but Leon could tell that much of that was bluster; she was impressed, too, but was trying not to show it too much. They were shown through the enormous halls of the palace, all devoid of other human life. Though Miuna's palace was ostentatious almost beyond belief, it struck Leon as rather wasteful that it was so empty.

The palace he was planning to build on the nine-peaked mountain was not going to be nearly as extensive as this one—and most of the space was going to be devoted to affairs of state rather than acting as private residences.

Miuna awaited them in the room she had met Leon in the last time they spoke, and like last time, she reclined behind a sheer curtain, leaving little but a shadow of her body for them to see—and even that much seemed to affront the servants who'd escorted them, though none gave voice to that grievance.

"Thank you, Hyerin," Miuna said to the leading servant.

"You may go."

"My Lady," Hyerin replied, visibly hesitating to follow her Princess' command.

"I have made my desires known," Miuna replied, a hint of steel coming through her otherwise silky voice.

"You are sworn to me." Without another word, though with an almost comically pained expression, Hyerin led the other servants out of the room, leaving Leon and his wives alone with Miuna. Silence assaulted Leon's ears in the seconds following their exit. No one spoke a word, and no sound from outside the room made it in. Leon could feel Elise's hand on his arm slowly tightening, and his other ladies were subtly showing their anxiety, too.

He decided to break that silence, but just as he opened his mouth, the shadowy figure of Miuna behind the curtain rose from where she reclined and approached the curtain. With a dramatic flourish, she ripped the sheer curtain away, revealing her for them to see with obstruction. In short, she was dressed to the nines. In long, she wore thick black robes, beneath which was a layer of white fabric, and beneath that was a layer of pink fabric.

Embroidered all over her robes were orange and pink coral-like flowers and iridescent fish, while trailing behind her were luminous balls of arcane light that hung in the air for several seconds before dissipating—much like bubbles, Leon thought.

Her long black hair had been done up into several loops and buns, all held in place with gold and sapphire pins, while two red triangles had been painted on her cheeks just below her gleaming amber eyes, pointing downward, while identical triangles were painted just above her eyebrows, pointing toward her hair. She gracefully descended from her raised platform in sea silk slippers, each adorned with the golden head of a shark over her toes.

As she moved, Leon even detected the glimmer of some kind of suit of silver scales, the scales small enough to make the garment almost as fine as silk, within her wide-capped sleeves. Though Leon couldn't sense much magic coming from her attire, he had little doubt that he'd struggle to get through it if push came to shove—and on top of that, Miuna's aura was still an opaque cloud to his senses, making it clear that she was still stronger than he was, magically speaking.

"Welcome to my palace," the Princess said with a wide smile, the ghost of an accent just barely audible in her voice.

"I hope to be a good host, but I so rarely get guests that I'm rather out of practice. I ask for your patience in this matter." She bowed her head slightly as she finished, showing humility that Leon hadn't expected.

"Your hospitality has been wonderful," Elise rushed to reassure her.

"It's been all right," Cassandra countered, no small amount of venom in her tone. Miuna took her antagonistic tone in stride even as Elise sent her the briefest of scandalized looks.

"If I might ask where I might improve…?" Miuna pleasantly inquired. As if she had been waiting for this moment, Cassandra immediately reprimanded, "For visitors of high station, they ought to be welcomed with greater fanfare! And where are the refreshments? The journey to this room was long, what if one of us had acquired a thirst? And finally, why are we meeting in private? Official visits ought to be celebrated for all to see!"

Miuna snapped her fingers, summoning a table of green coral and turtle shell, upon which sat several bottles and crystal decanters of golden liquid—ambrosia, if Leon's eyes didn't deceive, and of a quality higher than even Helen could produce, too.

"Please, avail yourself," Miuna stated.

"I would hate for any of my guests to linger in thirst." Her amber eyes momentarily narrowed as Cassandra's almost popped out of her skull at the sight of all of the ambrosia just waiting on the table. Despite the invitation, everyone remained motionless, the display more intimidating than the rest of the palace had been.

"This bitch means no disrespect," Valeria quietly whispered as she pinched Cassandra's arm.

"Ow!" Cassandra complained. Ignoring her, Valeria said, "Ignore her. She's upset that you proposed to our husband." The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"I am the favored daughter of the Ocean King," Miuna shot back.

"That doesn't matter," Valeria replied coolly.

"If you wish to marry someone who already has a spouse, is it not common courtesy to get the permission of their other spouses?"

"You would demand I ask for your permission to lay a claim to a man I've taken a liking to?" Miuna almost growled.

"Yes," Valeria replied without a moment's hesitation. Miuna glared at her for a long moment, her face locked in a pleasant smile even as her amber eyes glittered with anger. But finally, she bowed her head again and asked, "Then I humbly ask for your permission. I wish to marry your husband. Will you allow it?" Valeria and Cassandra answered at the same time, in the exact same tone, and with identical fervor.

"NO!" Maia was quieter, but the borderline derision that crossed her bronze face made her answer clear. Elise had to take a moment as she struggled to formulate the proper response. After what felt almost like an eternity, she said, "You are an attractive woman, Princess Miuna, with status and titles that are unimpeachable. Your beauty, grace, and intelligence shames all women who look upon you.

But I'm afraid that I'm going to have to agree with my sisters on this one: we already run our husband ragged as it is, and would rather that he remain ours, exclusively. Please do not take this as a slight against you, this is a decision made purely out of our own desires." Slowly, Miuna lifted her head. She did not look happy, but at least Leon couldn't detect any killing intent in her aura.

This would be the last they would speak of the matter this day, but he wasn't confident that it would be the last that he'd hear of it, full stop. Throughout all of this, Leon simply stood there, listening to the five of them verbally spar. His patience had reached its limit.

"Why have you come all this way, Princess?" he asked.

"Not that your presence isn't… welcome." Miuna quickly regained her composure as she answered his question.

"Normally, Leon, I'd ask someone who used that tone to try again. But for you, I'll let it slide." She gave him the kind of sultry smile that would've had a less romantically experienced man swooning.

"I would be honest with you: I wanted to see you. To inform you that I'll be visiting at least once a year. I have an investment in your Titanstone mine, and I do not want to leave it unsupervised."

"Do you doubt my honesty?" Leon challenged, his golden eyes narrowing.

"I will not question your integrity," Miuna replied, meeting his challenging stare head-on.

"Should I not use any excuse I can to visit the object of my desire?"

"Am I that? The object of your desire?" Miuna's smile turned haughty, but instead of answering him, she glanced at Maia and Valeria.

"You two look like fine water mages. I would ask that you come and visit me at your leisure. I believe that we could be great friends!" Valeria and Maia wore identical frowns, and Leon's mouth began turning downward to match. He sighed. He didn't have the power to stop her from following through on her desire to see him. He supposed he was just going to have to get used to this happening every year, and resolved to get to work on his palace soon.

If she wanted to venture away from this island, he could hardly host a dignitary of her stature in his portable villa, or down in one of the simple, boxy, temporary structures that the first wave of his colonists had constructed. He could already feel a headache coming. At the very least, despite the sniping, it didn't seem like Miuna was going to declare war over any of this, and it was something of a comfort that their non-aggression pact would be, in effect, renewed yearly.

That much would make her mentally taxing visits worth it, at least. He still wasn't going to marry her, though.

Miuna only stayed a few days before departing again. She and Leon's wives met a few more times, and they even gave her a short tour of the Artor Valley. She was carried in a whale-shaped and sized litter, carved entirely from dark green jade and decorated with gold frescoes of her father's domain. Curtains hung from the sides, through which her body couldn't be seen, but through which she could see out.

"There is much potential here," she had said after the tour. Leon and his ladies took that as a challenge. Soon, they'd have a city worth bragging about, but for the moment, the beauty of the valley came mostly from its untouched and untamed nature. Leon finally thought he'd be able to relax when Miuna departed, but only a day later, he was presented with a surprise that was both expected and unexpected—he'd known this day was coming, but he hadn't thought it would be now. Anastasios and Eva requested a meeting.

When he arrived, he found Cassandra was already there, her eyes red from crying, Eva's hand rubbing comforting circles on her back. Both of the former Imperial monarchs looked apologetic, yet set in the decision that they'd made.

"Leon," Anastasios warmly greeted as Leon entered the room.

"Anastasios," Leon replied as he clasped the man's outstretched wrist.

"I'd ask to what I owed the pleasure of your invitation, but it seems this isn't going to be a particularly pleasurable chat."

"Jumping right in, huh?" the former Lord Protector said with a wide smile. After a brief glance back at Eva, he stated, "I suppose… I suppose you're not wrong. This is never easy, saying goodbye. But we feel the time has come for us to part ways."

"I don't want you to go!" Cassandra blubbered, her words barely recognizable behind her crying.

"I know you don't, my brave, beautiful girl," Eva cooed.

"This isn't an easy decision for us to make, either."

"Then don't make it!" Cassandra demanded, her demeanor temporarily shifting toward anger.

"Don't leave me!" Leon quickly crossed the room to hold his wife, lacing his fingers with hers and letting her lean into him.

"We owe you much, Leon," Anastasios continued.

"You have aided us in achieving what we had never thought possible. Thanks to you, we have achieved Apotheosis itself! But now we stand not only on the precipice of eternity but also of infinity! From here, from the Nexus, all of the universe lies at our feet, just waiting for us to see it!"

"You don't have to leave just yet," Leon quietly stated.

"As you just said, you have eternity. And the universe isn't going anywhere." Anastasios gave him a sad smile as the former Grand Druid whispered, "There is never a good time to part ways. But thanks to those communication slates that you gave us, we'll never be too far away. We'll stay in touch, you can count on that. And if you ever need us, we're a shout away."

"You won't be, though!" Cassandra cried.

"What if I need you now?! What if something happens and you're not here?!"

"Cassie," Eva sighed.

"My dear, this isn't the last time we'll see each other. If it helps, don't think of this as a 'goodbye'. Instead, think of this as a 'see you later'. And we will see each other again! You have my word!" Eva reached down and took hold of one of Cassandra's hands, tracing the lines of her palm.

"Do you remember what I said when you decided you wanted to find all those old ruins from before the Thunderbird Clan came to Aeterna?" Cassandra sniffled and answered, "Y-You said that I would always h-have a home… in Evergold…"

"I said that you would always have a home wherever I was. And that hasn't changed." Eva lifted her hand to Cassandra's face, gently turning her granddaughter's head to look her in the eye.

"Can I ask you to make me the same promise? Will you always welcome me back, no matter where you are?"

"Of course!" Cassandra exclaimed.

"I would never promise anything else!"

"That's my girl. You'll thrive without my presence hovering over your shoulder. You already did back on Aeterna." Cassandra loudly sniffed again before beginning to pout.

"I knew that you were on the same plane. You weren't far." Despite her bitter words, Leon could see that her eyes were starting to dry.

"This isn't the end, Cassie. And when next we meet, I'll have stories to tell you! It'll be just like when you were a girl, bouncing on my knee, listening to all the stories of your grandfather, of my adventures before I became Empress, of all the trouble your own mother got into before she succeeded me! And maybe then, you'll have some great-grandchildren for me to regale with my stories, eh?" Cassandra immediately blushed, but her fingers tightened around Leon's hand.

"We'll… see. I hope so." Leon planted a kiss on her cheek. That was still something that had to be worked out, especially since the problems of having two bloodlines seemed to be negating the effects of all the elixirs and other methods that Elise and Maia had brought into the bedroom to aid in child-making. But this was hardly the time to bring that up, so Leon remained silent.

"We wish you the very best, Leon," Anastasios stated.

"But… it's time. Time for us to go and explore this wonderful new world that you have led us to, and perhaps even further beyond."

"You'll always be welcome back here," Leon whispered.

"Do be sure to visit as often as you can." Anastasios laughed.

"That we will, my boy. That we will." The two left the next morning to little ceremony. They wanted their departure to remain low-key, and Leon found a spark of envy ignite in his chest at the sight of them flying off into the distance, hand-in-hand. He briefly wondered where they would go, what they would do, and what sights they would see. But he soon quashed those thoughts. He didn't need to wonder; he could simply ask when they next saw each other. Until then, this was goodbye.