Restoring the security asures demanded by the Fuveall's console took a while. Prince Thomas had to spend a few minutes tinkering with the control desk on his end, but the caras eventually went online again, allowing a proper call.
The scene on the screen above the console had obviously changed. Prince Thomas still sat at the cara's center, but Princess Rebecca's smiling face peeked from behind him, leaning toward the control desk to morize every detail of the holographic scene.
Needless to say, Princess Rebecca studied Liiza from head to toe, her smile occasionally gaining new, obscure anings. Khan couldn't sense his Aunt, but those expressions still worried him, tackling one of the few weaknesses in his life.
"I knew it had to be you, Nephew," Princess Rebecca eventually said, focusing on Khan. "My Brother would have never left the eting early otherwise."
"It's nice to see you, too, Aunt," Khan announced.
"Always so serious," Princess Rebecca teased, her gaze inevitably falling toward the woman at Khan's side. "So, she is the famous Miss Liiza."
"It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Aunt-in-law," Liiza promptly exclaid, performing a bow.
"Aunt-in-law?" Princess Rebecca gasped, clearly excited. "Did you marry my Nephew in secret?"
"I-," Liiza muttered, falling silent while searching for words humans could understand, but Khan didn't let her deal with his Aunt on her own.
"She did," Khan declared. "We did. We are married."
Liiza couldn't help but peek to her left without breaking her bow. She felt warm knowing that Khan had her back, but her face gained a scoldingly playful expression when he pointed a loving smile at her.
"Look at how cute they are," Princess Rebecca chirped. "I must warn you, Miss Liiza. My Nephew gets extrely protective. It's your job to make him share that burden so that he doesn't endure it on his own."
"I'm aware of my husband's beautiful shortcomings, Aunt-in-law," Liiza claid. "I have worked on dealing with them since our ti on Nitis."
Khan frowned, but Liiza avoided his gaze. She and his Aunt seed imrsed in a silent conversation during their joint inspection. An alliance was ford on the spot, making Khan feel in danger.
"She is beautiful, isn't she?" Princess Rebecca eventually broke that silence, tapping her Brother's shoulder to claim his attention. "She is even more of a Princess than that Montares girl."
"Her status is indeed suitable," Prince Thomas agreed, seemingly immune to his Sister's excitent. "As long as we fix our relationship with the Niqols, that is."
"Leave that to Khan," Princess Rebecca scoffed. "He'll fix it sohow. He always does."
"I appreciate the trust, Aunt," Khan intervened. "Still, as I said before, I plan on going dark for a while. I won't address the Niqols or any other species for the ti being."
"Just go and enjoy yourself, Nephew," Princess Rebecca casually said. "Newlyweds shouldn't bother with politics and focus on sothing else entirely. Miss Liiza, do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes, Aunt-in-law," Liiza exclaid, sohow deepening her already deep bow. "I promise to give my husband many healthy children."
Khan blinked, completely taken aback by what he had just heard, but Liiza didn't care for his stupor, and the sa went for Princess Rebecca. It seed the two won had cut the two n out of that conversation.
"She is as serious as our dear Nephew," Princess Rebecca giggled, tapping Prince Thomas' shoulder again. "I can't wait to have a private chat with you. We have much to discuss."
"The honor would be mine, Aunt-in-law," Liiza stated.
It was clear the conversation had gotten out of hand. Khan had ti to kill since his phone was still unavailable, but that didn't an he could waste it. Much had to be planned and explored, especially in that unknown lawless zone.
"Aunt," Khan cleared his throat. "We were discussing politics. I wanted a quick update before going back to work."
"Would you stop worrying, Nephew?" Princess Rebecca scolded. "You are a Thilku Lord who t the Thilku Emperor. No one will ever try to create problems for us, and I pity anyone who will attempt to deal with you directly."
Princess Rebecca was leaving out many details. After all, politics was an intricate ga with many layers, but her summary was still correct. No one would try to damage Khan's faction as long as the Thilku Empire had his back.
"As for everything else," Prince Rebecca continued, placing her hand on Prince Thomas' shoulder. "You put my Brother in charge for a reason. Leave the fort to us and do what you feel like. Once you decide to co back, we'll welco you and your beautiful wife with open arms."
Princess Rebecca didn't stop there. She tugged Prince Thomas' shoulder, looking down at him before adding sothing else. "Isn't that right, Brother?"
"Prince Khan is the faction leader," Prince Thomas announced, so trace of exhaustion from his Sister's behavior finally appearing on his cynical face. "We'll follow whatever decision he makes and never stop supporting him."
"See?" Princess Rebecca said. "Now go enjoy your holiday. I guess it's your honeymoon, actually. Stop wasting ti on us and focus on your wife. Be sure to treat her well, too!"
"I will, Aunt," Khan promised, silenced and dumbfounded before that family affection.
"And, Miss Liiza," Princess Rebecca continued. "Congratulations on your marriage. Let's have a nice chat when ti allows it."
"I can't wait, Aunt-in-law," Liiza politely responded.
Princess Rebecca giggled but only lingered in another short look before closing the call without asking for her Brother's permission.
Silence fell inside the narrow room. Khan was still dealing with that blow at his inability to process family affection, while Liiza had far different thoughts. She straightened herself, breaking her bow to take Khan's hand, forcing him to look at her.
"Did I do well?" Liiza asked, genuinely interested in Khan's evaluation. "I studied human customs but wasn't sure whether noble families had different practices."
Khan blinked again. He couldn't possibly imagine a world where Liiza was unworthy of him, but she still worried since the issue involved his family.
"You were perfect," Khan reassured, chuckling. "Though you could have skipped the part about the kids."
"Why?" Liiza wondered, confused. "I ant it. Is it not customary for humans to have children after marrying?"
Khan opened his mouth, but the slight tinge of coyness in Liiza's expression made him close it. In a different situation, the couple would have stopped talking to do sothing far more entertaining, but Khan couldn't indulge in that now.
"I can't start kissing you," Khan sighed, moving his attention to the console. "We'd never stop if I do, and there's sothing else we must settle first."
Liiza wore a joyous, knowing expression, letting go of Khan's hand to seize his elbow and lean in to kiss his cheek. eting his family had put her in a loving mood, but she knew that wasn't the ti to explore it.
"What's next?" Liiza asked, laying her head on Khan's shoulder.
"We must find an actual job," Khan revealed, "Which is easier said than done without connections."
"And you can't ask the Fuveall, right?" Liiza questioned.
"I already promised to leave their businesses alone," Khan sighed, shaking his head. "I have other options, but they are all troubling."
Khan had dealt with plenty of illegal organizations throughout his life. So were out of his reach, but others would welco his call with open arms.
Nevertheless, Khan didn't want to try his chances with the Hive. That organization had a clear agenda that he didn't care about and would definitely demand sothing in return.
Raymond was even worse. Khan couldn't even fathom how deep and vast Raymond's connections were but would never rely on him. That man was bound to push him into another ploy, and he couldn't allow it, especially now that Liiza was with him.
"You won't like this," Khan admitted as soon as an idea popped into his mind.
Liiza wanted to question Khan, but seeing him reach for the console made her drop the affectionate gesture and straighten herself. Her face even grew serious and chilling since she sensed sothing was off from the ntal connection.
Khan pressed a specific contact, and the ringing noise resud. The screen remained transparent at that ti since Khan had no interest in activating the cara, and a robotic voice eventually escaped from the console.
"Who is this?" The robotic voice asked.
"You owe one for not killing you on Milia 222," Khan declared. "I hope you didn't forget about that."
"Alien-lover, is that you?" A gasp escaped from the console's speakers, quickly turning into a snicker. "I can't believe you did it again, and with the sa girl, too!"
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