Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

"I wish to thank you, Sir Roderic, for being with me and acting as my bodyguard. Even if it was because of somebody else's orders, I want to express my gratitude toward you. As such, if ever you find yourself in trouble, you can come to me. I will try to help you even with the minimal influence I possess."

Hearing Althea's words, Roderic bowed deeply before taking a step back.

"I hope we meet again, Miss Althea."

Watching the man walk away, Althea sighed in exhaustion. She had finally returned to the capital, but that didn't mean she would be able to relax just yet, as she had to report to the emperor.

"No rest for the wicked," she muttered as she took a step forward, entering the castle.

She wasn't going to enjoy this.

*****

"Sadly, by then, they overran the city, and so I had to retreat by carriage as the teleporting circle was destroyed."

Finishing her report, Althea didn't move her gaze from the ground as she awaited the emperor's judgment.

"You left?... Of course, why do I expect anything from you? If you were to act like a proper queen, you would have given your life for the people there rather than running away."

At his words, Althea grimaced. Even if he was right to an extent, that didn't mean that Althea hadn't done anything.

In fact, the situation in the city was dire, and the only reason it had managed to hold out for so long against the enemy's attack was because of her actions.

Not to mention that the fact that the Crimson Sun Empire was attacking with such ferocity was because the emperor had captured their princess.

As he was the biggest reason they had fallen in the situation, he didn't have any right to lecture her about morality and whatnot.

But he was the one that held all the power, while Althea did not. As such, she could only stay silent at his words.

"Not going to defend yourself?" Draconis scoffed in utter disbelief.

"I am going to be honest, I feel a bit curious as to what your thoughts are… but I refuse to read them. I am not going to interfere with something as vile as you."

Finishing his speech, he pointed toward the grand gates.

"Go, get out of my sight."

At his command, Althea bowed and began to do what she instructed until the emperor's next words stopped her.

"The tournament has entered its final stage, as such, not only I, but my wives as well, will witness the fights live from now on. Sadly, that means that you will have to be there as well for public appearances." He made his next words as cold as possible.

"I hope you know what that means."

Nodding silently, she exited the throne room.

Draconis was referring to the fact that he wanted her to stay in the back as always, trying to remain as hidden as possible.

It was something that she was rather familiar with, so she didn't feel offended by his words. Your journey continues at My Virtual Library Empire

With some free time and solitude at last, she could finally focus on uncovering the emperor's plan.

But before doing that, she had to contact Elysia.

*****

"I have returned," Roderic spoke as he bowed to the chairwoman.

Elysia looked at him with indifference for some time, then she shifted her gaze to the bottle of pills she had been given by Zaroth.

Now, she had more or less an idea of what those pills do, but the problem was that she didn't know why they needed something like this in the first place.

That was something that irritated her, even if she didn't show it on her face.

Was this the reason why they had allowed Zaroth to give her the pills? Was it because they felt confident that she wouldn't be able to guess what they needed them for?

"I see, you are free." She spoke coldly as she leaned back in her chair.

Without saying anything, Roderic left her office.

With a sigh, she looked out the window.

"What is the point?" she muttered as she gazed at the bottle.

"What could they be gaining by changing a person's soul?"

This was a question that she had to find the answer to as soon as possible.

*****

"Now that we have dealt with the problem, again, could I take it that the food will be free from now on as well?" Zaroth asked with a smile as he gazed at the bar's owner.

"O-Of course, sir! This is the least we could do to thank you for getting rid of the threat to our small business!" the owner bowed his head a little, clearly scared out of his wits when he looked at Zaroth.

"That is great to know!" Zaroth exclaimed as he patted the man on the shoulder.

Now that the drinks, alongside the food, were free here, it was obvious that this was the only bar he and his friends would go to from now on.

Exiting the bar, Zaroth walked to where the unconscious bodies of the Bearborn gang lay.

"Finished?" Lily spoke as she got up.

"Yeah, the food will be free from now on as well," Zaroth spoke with a clear sense of pride.

"Good to know, now come on, let's go," Lily nudged Roran with her elbow with the intention to wake him up.

The man was sleeping peacefully until her actions woke him. Getting up with a grunt, he spoke, "... sure," after which he began to head out alongside Lily.

"I guess that is my cue as well," Zack spoke as he waved with his hand goodbye.

That meant that Zaroth was left with Midnight alone, excluding the bodies of the Bearborn gang.

After the gang entered the bar, Zaroth and his companions beat them to a pulp and then moved their bodies elsewhere, telling the bar owner that they were going to hand them to the guards,

But in reality, they were going to use them for something else.

Shifting his gaze to Midnight, he spoke.

"Well, bon appétit."

Without hesitation, she went to the first unconscious man as she bared her fangs to his neck and began to drink.

The gang members had been locked up and were going to be kept in an unconscious state. Midnight was going to come here periodically to drink blood.

The plan was perfect as no one was going to miss some gang members that only made trouble.

Not to mention the fact that their leader was here as well, meaning that their gang, left without a leader, would surely disband soon.

So, in a way, they had done a good deed! Now, whether or not that equaled the bad deed of locking these people up for Midnight's source of food was a completely different matter.

But neither Zaroth nor Midnight felt remorse in any way, shape, or form, and the same could be said about Zaroth's friends.

The only thing that Zaroth regretted was that he wasn't able to spend some quality time with Midnight as there wasn't time, but seeing her happily eat filled him with a warm feeling.

"It is not too bad, I guess," he muttered under his breath.

The night turned out to be more productive than anyone could have thought.