Chapter 16: Arc 2: Princess of White (9)

To Ciel’s horror, Xia heard every single words Caislean proclaimed.

“Within a second in and I already I have my work cut out,” Xia treated the secretary’s outburst like anyone expected. “First, I am not some kind of property you can get from the shelf. Second, you are lucky because it will be nigh-impossible for me to fall in love like this years ago. Third, I want to know who is in charge and how this telepathy work.”

Silence.

Xia understood the lack of answer, “Unbelievable. Amy, are you there?”

Amy: Yes! I am here, Lady Louve!

“Call me, Xia,” Xia went into work mode. “I want to know how the ability works and how do you manage,” she struggled to find the word, “the house. Yeah, let settle with that.”

Amy answered was concise.

Amy: Caislean operates the facility and performs as the advisor. Meanwhile, I operate the kitchen.

“Advise such as?” Xia asked.

No further clarification was given, and the fallen princess responded with a groan.

It was then Xia understood the crew pretty much ran on adrenalin, while Ciel dealt with crisis after crisis with no guidance. Secretly, she breathed a sigh of relief at catching the mess in time. She imagined Carolina, or to a lessor extent, Betty, infiltrating the house at this stage. Xia shuddered. They would likely repurpose the group into creating a personal army.

Luckily, Carolina and Betty had social status, which blinded them enough from exploiting Ciel’s Authority. In a twist of fate, their mishandling of Xia handed the golden opportunity to dictate the Unity Lord’s household to her on a silver platter. It was the classic case of evil sabotaging itself.

Resolving not to let the initiative went to waste, Xia turned toward her new boyfriend to bring the issue.

“Ciel,” Xia started. “I must point out the obvious. You need to make some structure here. Someone needs to assign responsibility and call the shot, because the longer you let this fester, the higher the probability the hole will be exploited.”

Ciel agreed. Lack of structure and organization could blow the house in hellfire once more girls sign on. He would love to believe he could avoid hitching someone dangerous into his harem, but the fact he unexpectedly snagged Xia before obvious targets like Betty proved that fortune love wildcards.

“Very well,” Ciel declared. “Let set up a basic ranking systems base in competency and seniority. First, we need the general manager.”

Caislean: Oh, the head wife position!

Everyone heard Caislean. No one audibly replied, but everyone knew the secretary was right on the money. General manager is basically the formal title for the top woman — the head wife — responsible for managing the operation of the house, the consorts and making sure the harem didn’t go up in flame when Ciel wasn’t looking. Historic imperial harem often devolved into rampant infighting because the palace devolved into grudge match from several top-consorts. As someone whose Authority centered on the harem, Ciel was forced to think about the Murphy Law and searched for an answer.

After spending days thinking, Ciel concluded that running a regular imperial harem would guarantee him and his wives collapsing from the inside. He needed to run the house like a business. This meant an enforceable and fair structure. It would be difficult to balance love and regulation, but he had little options.

However, this structure couldn’t run itself. It needed a person to provide leadership. Ciel was more like a director of the house. He set the course, but managing the harem’s over-all daily operation was too much out of his wheelhouse — that is the duty of general manager, the head wife. This position required ability to put down the rowdy and the trust to manage the conflicting consorts. Loyalty to the rule must also be high.

That was why the obvious non-candidate was cleared.

“In terms of raw power and leadership,” Ciel began. “Let us agree Caislean shouldn’t be in charge.”

Caislean: Master… my feeling…

Amy: Sorry, Caislean, but you don’t have the mettle.

“He has a point,” Xia further buried the maid. “I know you for a minute, and I don’t think I can respect you.”

Ciel continued, “Personally, Amy got more seniority, but—”

Amy picked the moment to interrupt.

Amy: Ciel, I am not sure that I can manage the group. You said it is necessary to enforce the rule, and I don’t think I have the raw power. I belong to the kitchen and that is enough.

“Yeah, that is what I expect,” Ciel said. “Xia, I trust you the most to handle this position, and I will love it if you accept. However, this isn’t a traditional head-wife. It has it perk, but I think it might be too similar to your,” he struggled name that torture, “‘ hell in Springsong. Do you want—”

“Of course,” Xia accepted with no hesitation. She felt elated to be ranked as the first, despite knowing the catch. She knew, aside for Amy, other woman aiming at Ciel would let the group fell into anarchy. Xia, from both moral and personal angle, couldn’t refuse this position. “I thank you, Ciel, or do you prefer to be called hubby, dear or…”

“That will be a lovely conversation, but business comes first,” Ciel checked the status, ignoring Caislean who was completely miffed with the development. Hopefully, Xia knew how to handle her.

Proving herself born for the position, Xia already had a perfect plot to cook with the aid of the secretary, at the expense of what she believed to be Ciel’s next target.

…

Ciel

Unity Lord Authority: [Caislean], [Amy Ramiro Seyfert], [Xiahana La Louve] (NEW!)

LV: 22

Skill: [Elemental Resistance], [Calculative]. [Construction], [White Allegiance] (NEW!)

…

Name: Caislean

Ability: Residence of Lord

LV: 20

Potential: ***** (SSR)

Skill: [Hall] (EVOLVE!), [Treasury], [Training Room], [Garden], *Lock*

..

Amy Ramiro Seyfert

LV: 18

Potential: *** (R)

Ability: Lord’s Hospitality

Skill: [Heart of the Hearth], [Instinct], *LOCK*

…

Xiahana La Louve

LV: 31

Potential: ***** (SSR)

Ability: Princess of White

Skill: [White Blessing], [Strategist], [???], *LOCK* *LOCK*

…

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Ciel didn’t understand the mechanic behind it, but Xia could somehow view everyone status screen together with him, and she wasted no time in getting to business.

“Caislean,” Xia spoke. “Can you please explain how the [Hall] skill work?”

Inside, the Residence Caislean did as instructed.

Caislean: Originally, the [Inn] works as a refuge for the member of a Residence, but upon hitting LV 20, the skill evolved. My Residence is now a personal mystical domain of my master. It also give each member a power to assign a domain of their choosing and connect it to the [Hall].

Amy: Isn’t that like my [Heart of the Hearth]?

Caislean: Similar but not the same. [Heart of the Hearth] give Amy complete mystical control in the kitchen, thus allowing [Inn] to function through it, but [Hall] goes further. It give each member a right to isolate the location of the user choosing and assimilate them into a branch of the [Hall]. These locations will be makeover with ability such as recovery, alternate dimensional isolation, and a bonus depending on the user.

Amy: Bonus?

Caislean: Special ability which correlates with the user preference and the location itself. For example, I know Amy will like to make the cottage her domain. This will essentially relocate the cottage into part of the Residence, and gave it a special ability.

Amy: Okay, let me try, so this red card with white-stripe is my key.

Caislean: Yes. You simply will it to assign the domain.

A second passed, and Amy returned.

Amy: I did it. My cottage and the garden pretty much disappear, and my status card listed it as my domain with ability to manifest in the location I wish.

“It turns your cottage into a teleporting house,” Ciel whistled. Then Ciel saw Xia holding a pure white rectangular card in her hands. “And what are you doing with that?”

“Simple,” Xia’s card dissipated, and the cave they made into a home shone with light. “I am making this cave my domain.”

That caught Ciel by surprise, “I think you will be more familiar with your office in Springsong.”

Xia gagged at that idea, “That room I worked to death every day? I don’t want to see it ever again.” Xia looked around the rapidly transforming caves. “And if you want me to save this for the capital, forget it. I refuse to live in the house Spade rules for years.” Xia looked around this cave fondly. “This little cave is the place I get to sleep peacefully. It is the place I come to terms with myself,” she looked at Ciel with love. “It is the place I fell in love with you. It’s my home now.”

In a wave of miracle, responding to Xia’s declaration, the cave metamorphosed as she wishes. The black, rough stone surfaces morphed into shining, smooth marbles in an ebb of metaphysics altering power. Various stone furnishing Ciel created in this past ten days transformed, changing into chalk-white fossilized woods. Magic crystals that were forgotten in the corner merged and grew into a glowing, milk-white stone-pillar radiating with White Mana. The tiny place where candles and lamps sat transformed, turning into a basin glowing with gentle light. The pool of the water, which was once the cave entrance, became a marble fountain, brimming with holy-water. Clean, cloud-like mattress appeared in the alcove they made into a sleeping area. Light flowed down from the above, illuminating the room of white marbles and pristine stone.

Ciel took a second to check the cornered off area they had been used as a bathroom and, as expected, it had been coated over in marble and maintained with the cleansing power of white Mana.

Xia was overjoyed as her personal paradise transformed into her aesthetic. Knowing what to do, she clicked her fingers and giddily conjured a gate of light.

Xia turned toward her lover, “Come on, the rest is waiting.”

…

For the first time in ten-days, the group met face-to-face in Amy’s domains.

“Let revise the plan,” Ciel clicked his finger and conjured a shimmering gash in the air. “Thank to Caislean’s clutch power turning the Residence itself into my domain,” he couldn’t believe how convenient it was, “I can use the domain bonus to open the door connecting this place to anywhere I visited before.”

“So we can shelve the catapult?” Amy asked.

“No, I don’t take the chance that Slomrath might leave something behind for a visitor,” Ciel replied. “We proceed as plan. Xia, congratulation, you are up for a grudge match. Do you have a hang on your ability yet?”

“Some of it,” Xia flexed her finger. “Ciel, your power is stupid. Westerna and Spade will start a massacre to get a quarter of what I have now.”

“Good, Amy cooks the food for buffs, and Caislean, your salvage mission is equally important,” Ciel breathed. “Let Operation Burning Slimeball began.”

…

At the edge of the fair city of Cutler, everything was on fire. Farmlands lighted in flames as the army of slimes besieged. The defender on the wall hunkered down, firing magics and arrows upon the hoards of neon green slimes, crowding around the barrier like gross persistent molds, at an irregular interval. However, they barely did anything against the wall of Green Mana. The returning salvo from the slimes army was hitting the limit of what the cracking, translucent blue city’s barrier could take. Smoke rose as every vegetation around the siege continue to burn.

It was an impossible situation. The cavalry and infantry already tried and succumbed to the slime’s acidic property. Blue and Red Magic was ineffective against these foes, as ice and fire only delayed the inevitable. Green mage couldn’t fight close-quarter against the slimes which excelled in devouring opponent at close-range. Meanwhile, the low-level army of White mages leaned too much on support to contribute to the combat. Only Black Magic was capable of mass slaughter, but the mages were getting tapped out.

Lord Cutler glanced at the massive slime towering over the battle and prayed to the capital. It had tanked every attack with not a scratch, and various desiccated bodies embalmed inside it were hurting the defender morale.

…

Meanwhile, the capital wouldn’t answer their prayers.

King Spade sank on the throne in face of the twenty-four hours escalation he couldn’t possibly predict. Below him, Betty and Hunter Westerna had a shouting match, blaming each other for the situation, using nonsensical excuses like unreasonable troop delay, refusal for cooperation and lack-luster support for the initial investigation that metastasized the problem.

Outside the throne room, Carolina Westerna peaked from the door and flinched from the names calling, torn between spying and running away from responsibility.

Knowing the hell he unwittingly dug himself into, Spade La Louve prayed for salvation as he waited for the Magic Tower’s help.

Luckily, Spade was about to get his wish granted with a monkey’s paw.

…

Xia watched the carnage below as the object of her nightmare made a beeline to civilization. Above her, dark clouds blotted out the sun, further highlighting plight on the burning plain.

Unlike how they parted, Xia wasn’t afraid of Slomrath anymore.

“Amy, thank you,” Xia spoke to her invisible ‘sister’.

Amy: what for?

“For trying to help Ciel before I arrive,” Xia spoke. White Mana gathered in an avalanche of light around her. “Between the two of us, I’m thankful that of all women in the world, it is you who saw the man underneath the Lord.” Xia suddenly struck with a thought. “So, how far did you go after the kiss?”

Amy: W-We are friends… and… nothing much.

Xia laughed, “Come on, you know when we really get started, both of us will be in a war to fend off dangerous bitches. At the very least, we should stake our claim before that happens.”

Amy: I-I will think about it later.

“No girl,” Xia focused on the flaming battlefield below. “Let talk after I am done with the slime.”

White Magic Rank 6

“Sanction!” Xia — the newly ascended Rank 6 White Mage — cast the Magic, which soon became her calling card.

…

For the defender, it was a miracle.

The sky folded and cloud parted as White Mana pierced the sky and reached the heaven. Holy light bathed the area once filled with despair. Citizen huddled inside their homes looked to the shining sky of hope, answering their prayer. Defenders watched the light, flooding down as the mystical breaking of dawn shook the battlefield.

Slomrath and his army felt the surrounding Mana slowed, suppressed beneath the sanction of White. Theirs power taxed by the light breathing down at them from above.

Both the citizen of Cutler, and the Curtis’ throne watching the situation using a long-distance scrying sphere held by Lord Cutler himself, witnessed the arrival of the woman who would soon earn the moniker of the Princess of White.

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