The rays of the crystal sky splashed on Senna’s face as she leaned against a stone pillar and spat on the ground. "You’re late, Battle Mage."

Lyra Ashveil’s blue eyes glowed like twin moons as she blinked and focused on Senna. "I had to ensure the council guards weren’t tracking me."

She squinted with a bit of jealousy in her eyes when the faint smell of Levi’s scent on the half-girl flew into her lungs. "Why did you call me here, rebel?"

Senna laughed mockingly and shook her head. "Don’t act high and mighty, Lyra."

She shoved the dagger back into its case which was wrapped around her waist, then clicked her tongue. "We both know what happened."

She raised her right hand and began tapping her fingers across the air. "We both carry his mark. And I can feel yours humming from here."

A faint grim smile tore onto her face as she shifted her gaze to Lyra’s thigh hidden beneath the cloak. "You’re just as hooked on him as I am."

Lyra clenched her jaw and tightened her right hand around the hilt of her sword. "Levi is a threat to the kingdom’s stability if the council realizes what he is doing."

Two students walked past the slightly closed door, their soft murmurs and low laughter echoing Levi’s name into the corridor.

Lyra remained still and waited for them to pass before shifting her full attention back to Senna. "The council is already planning to bring in the High Inquisitor from the holy capital of Chiraa."

Senna pushed herself off the wall while sharp air escaped her nose. "Then we must stop them."

Her own mark burned so high that pain rattled through her bones. "Levi is just a master. He’s the one who can give people like me real power."

Her shoulders lowered when she saw the genuine acknowledgement in Lyra’s eyes. "If the inquisitor comes, we must kill him."

Lyra opened her mouth to reply, but the heavy door of Levi’s tower swung open and caught their attention.

Levi walked out like a newborn with his brown hair catching the morning glow. ’Where did everyone go?’

He stood there for a moment and surveyed the area, then widened his eyes when he saw Senna’s eye through the thin space between the doors of the abandoned wine cellar. ’What is she doing there?’

He moved a step forward, then paused with a smiling face. ’Don’t tell me she has come for me because she has missed my cock and wants more of my seed.’

Three of the pink leaves drifting in the air flared toward his direction and tucked themselves into his hair when he stopped by the door.

More light splashed into the room as Levi pushed the door wider and entered with a wide smile on his face. "Hello, lovely ladies."

He watched Senna’s glowing eyes and reddened cheeks, then grinned at the unattended look Lyra carried. "It’s good to see my servants getting along."

He left the door open and walked toward them, glowing in the illumination like a star.

Just as he tapped on Lyra’s cloak and rubbed Senna’s cheeks with his left fingers, the panel appeared before him.

[Combined Synergy Active: The Hunter and the Soldier.]

[Their mutual proximity to you increases Aether generation by 20%.]

’That’s nice.’ He blinked twice at the text, then gave a single firm nod.

Lyra shifted her gaze from Senna and locked eyes with Levi. She tried to remain still, but her head bowed when a surge of energy snaked down onto the mouth of her cameltoe that was visible in the cloak and made it pulse. "Master..."

The tips of her cloak flapped air on the ground and rested calmly on the floor as she lowered her shoulders. "The High Inquisitor, Mother Beatrice, and her husband have been summoned."

Senna’s eyes spiked with rage as she focused on the guards slowing their steps outside the door. ’What are they looking at?’

Levi shifted his gaze to the guards standing outside with confused expressions and licked his lips. He turned toward Senna, squinting slightly. "Let them stand there and watch. There needs to be an audience in everything."

"But..." Senna’s fingers loosened on the dagger’s hilt and froze for a second. "They will report our meeting, Master."

Levi shook his head slowly and rubbed Senna’s neck with his left palm. "That will even hasten my goals. Don’t worry about them; worry about the kids you will bore for me."

Lyra gulped when she lowered her gaze to Senna’s belly and back to Levi’s face. ’Has he gotten her pregnant? The Draes can’t get pregnant.’

Levi’s attention snapped back when he focused on Lyra. "What does that Mother Beatrice carry?"

Lyra straightened herself but kept on shifting glances between Levi and Senna. "She carries a Grand Holy mechanism that can detect any foreign Aether signatures."

Levi ran his right fingers over his jawline, absorbing Lyra’s serious expression. ’Then I think I will have someone I can challenge.’

"I see." A wide smile tore onto his face when he lowered his hand. "That’s why I... like you."

He stroked Lyra’s silver hair with his right hand and cupped the back of Senna’s neck with his left. "Let her come. A Grand Holy mechanism is exactly what I need to reach the next tier."

Soft footsteps faded out as he walked out of the cellar, leaving the two concubines staring at his back with flashy gazes.

’Aww, he almost said he loved me!’ Lyra’s eyes glowed with lustful joy when she replayed Levi’s unfinished statement in her head and finished it.

Senna stood there rubbing her belly while thinking about the names she would give to her future kids she would have with Levi.

After they left the cellar and parted in their distinct ways, an eye blinked from the darkness behind a large cupboard at the back of the room.

Rats with gleaming eyes and silver skin rushed out from under the cupboard, screaming as they fled the area.

A head peeked out from inside the cupboard, purple hair strands scattering over the dusty wood.

"So, that servant has already gotten himself one Senior Battle Mage and a rebel." Mia squinted at the swaying door of the cellar and nodded repeatedly. "I now know how to bring him down."

She pushed herself out of the cupboard and walked out of the cellar, flapping the dirt off her red gown.