On that day, Alexis was staying in a luxury hotel room in the capital of the distant country of Dushan.
Expensive. Expensive. Exclusive. VIP. All words he disliked.
But still, he had to choose this place.
「—I look forward to a new future with you, Conqueror」
They take each other's hands and shake hands.
Alexis is smiling, unusually dressed in formal attire.
Facing him is a well-dressed man.
He is a big merchant who is said to be the ruler of this area.
On this day, Alexis had come all the way to this country to have a business meeting with him.
(Damn, that pushy old man...!)
Under his smile, Alexis grits his teeth.
(He's just trying to get as much profit as possible from this two-year contract...)
He travels around, and before he knows it, a year has passed. During that time, Alexis could not return to Sagrado even once.
Even though he is the king. And he even has a pretty queen!
Now, following the merchant, Alexis gets up from the sofa and heads home. He then said.
「It's getting late. Let's get an escort for you」
「No, thank you. I have my own personal guard waiting」
To the merchant, Alexis says, “Just in case.”
Then, indicates with his hand his own personal guard, who stands like a memento by the door.
The full-face helmet, or "armet," that covers her face, and the full-body knight's armor with the Sagrado emblem are very imposing.
When he calls out the name "Eden," the guard responds in a plaintive soprano voice: "Yes, Master."
「Is this a lady knight?」
The merchant's face relaxes.
「You have good taste. And, if I look closely, I've never seen the knight's spear and shield before. I don't suppose this is—」
"Yes, they are made of magic crystal which can only be found in the lost dungeons of Avalon," Alexis replies.
「I thought you might like to see it as a sample...」
"Hahaha," the merchant laughs, his belly shaking.
「I see that you are very considerate. No wonder you're so popular with the ladies.」
「No, not at all!」
When Alexis laughs. The merchant says: "Don't be modest."
「I can easily see that the lady who is made assistant is also a very good woman.」
The merchant smiles at the woman.
Her plum-colored hair is pulled up in an updo, and she wears square glasses. She looks like a flawless beauty who can do her job well. She is dressed in a blue robe for civil servants.
Despite her compliments, she gives a curt "Humph" and turns her head away.
「Hahaha!」
The merchant laughs and leaves, escorted by Eden.
With a slam, the door closes behind him.
「Hey, Maria」
Without a moment's pause, Alexis called to the assistant secretary at his side.
「What's with that attitude? You're making me anxious as hell!」
「Even so, Prince-sama...」
Maria's expression turns sour.
「You know I hate men, don't you?」
Yes, she's a man-hater by nature. Even at Alexis, it took a lot of twists and turns to get her used to him.
She usually wears round glasses and hair in a fluffy braid, giving her an unattractive impression, but...
With her current attire, he felt like a student being stared at by a teacher.
「Anyone would be surprised, wouldn't they? I didn't know that just a little change in hairstyle and glasses could change your atmosphere so much...」
「...Maybe a little makeup... I mean... Don't make fun of me all the time. Who do you think I'm doing this for...」
The last voice fades away. And Alexis asks her, "What?"
「No, nothing...」
Maria's cheeks flush, and she turns her head to the side with a pout.
Thinking that it's not easy to take an unfriendly attitude, Alexis smiles.
"Besides, I don't like him at all. Didn't Prince-sama notice? Even during the business meeting, that man kept glancing at me with licking eyes..." Maria's hand was placed on her puffy breast.
「Well, yours are pretty big, too」
Alexis sits back down on the couch and leans back.
「Really, Prince-sama. Are you trying to make me follow you, or what?」
「Well, you're perfect when it comes to managing schedules and preparing documents, but you're just not very sociable」
Maria sighed at Alexis's completely unsupportive reply.
「You are such a...」
「More importantly, I'm thirsty from all the talking.」
At Alexis' reply, Maria's expression softens to "Yes, yes."
「You're a prince who can't do anything.」
「I'm not a prince. I mean, I'm the king of Sagrado now, didn't I tell you?」
「It's a habit.」
With these words, Maria leaves the room. A little later, she returns with drinks.
A tray with a glass and a pot of honey water.
She sits next to Alexis and quickly pours the water, never seeming to be in a bad mood. But when Alexis says to her, "Hey," her face instantly turns sour.
'Yes, Prince-sama?」
「What about your share?」
"No need. Here you go," she says, offering him a glass to fill.
Alexis takes it, drinks it, and reaches for the pot. She interrupts him to serve him, which annoys him.
「I could do this myself」
「It's my job to take care of you」
She says this with a pouty face. She looks as if she's taking care of him no matter what.
「But I didn't ask for this...」
Alexis can't help but blurt out a comment. After all, he doesn't like to be treated specially.
Besides, if Maria doesn't like it so much, she shouldn't have done it. No, it's probably a bad idea to say that. After all, it is just her and him in this room.
Alexis thought about it, and then it hit him.
「If you're going to take care of me, then, of course, you're going to take care of this too, right?」
He points to his groin with his hand, and Maria raises her eyebrows slightly.
「It seems that Prince-sama likes to play things down, doesn't he?」
Maria began to flip through the schedule book as she said this.
Alexis felt she had suddenly taken a businesslike attitude, making him uncomfortable.
(I thought "taking care of" meant something like that.)
He thought it was a kind of invitation. Including the distance between them now.
And when he kept silent, Maria closed her schedule book with a snap.
「It looks like you are only going to move tomorrow, so far」
「Oh, I see」
Thinking about it again, Alexis realizes she is very helpful in managing his schedule. She is the best at handling paperwork.
However, she doesn't know where to put her mind.
And while he thought about this, she slides her body between the sofa and the table and bends down in front of his knee.
She then says, "Well, I will take good care of you," and wrap her hand around his thing through his pants.
Alexis was surprised, but Maria looked at him with a miffed look.