— — — — — —
"Kaguya… I think your old man's a lost cause."
Back at Eientei, Veyron scooped up his princess, who—as always—had co out to greet him. He took a deep breath, burying his face against her, and let out a heavy sigh.
"…?!"
Kaguya's expression shifted slightly.
But when Veyron didn't do anything too outrageous and just held her close, she quickly caught on to what he ant by "lost cause." Her legs, dangling from the air as he lifted her, lightly kicked him in playful annoyance.
"Alright, alright—save it for inside."
Still holding her, Veyron freed up one hand to gently grab her ankle and carried his royal highness back to their room.
Ever since they'd crossed that unspoken line, the wall separating their two bedrooms had a new addition: a connecting door, turning their rooms into one big suite.
And Veyron never brought up the personal… preferences he indulged in outside, not even to Kaguya—who, despite being "family," still technically counted as an "outsider" when it ca to those things.
Honestly? Kaguya couldn't care less about the other won. She was much more interested in the strange power developnts Veyron ntioned.
"You just said sothing about lighting up Earth like fireworks on a whim. What… exactly did you an by that?"
She looked at him, clearly skeptical.
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Veyron raised his hand, and with a swirl of energy, conjured a holographic model of the solar system. The sun dominated the center, the other planets floating around it like marbles. Earth, of course, looked pathetically tiny.
With a casual flick of his finger, he tapped Earth—and it exploded in the sky like a blooming firework.
"Now," he said with a sly grin, as he held up the moon, carefully shielding it from the Earth's imaginary blast, "how about we start a glorious rebellion in the Capital of the Moon?"
"Just say the word, Princess, and I'll help you take the throne. Anyone you don't like? We'll chuck them straight into the deepest trench in the Sea."
"…You know, I am a little tempted," Kaguya murmured.
"Just a little?"
"If you hadn't awakened my Gene Lock potential recently… maybe it would've been more than that."
Kaguya's voice dropped a bit. "That person has always been this unreachable symbol of absolute power. Even with Eirin on my side, I never thought we'd stand a chance if we really went up against the Moon Capital."
"But now, with the Gene Lock unlocked…"
Stage Four, even at its early phase, brought at least a hundredfold boost in power. And if her and Eirin's theory was right, mid-Stage Four might even let her surpass the curse of the Hourai Elixir itself.
"All that sounds nice. But what's the real reason?"
Veyron waved his hand and dispersed the star map, then looked at her directly.
"Dad," Kaguya blinked, then gave him a bright smile, "you know… girls really don't like it when you dig too deep into their thoughts."
"I don't mind, as long as you like ."
Veyron smirked and started listing nas: "Of course, there's also Larentia, Olga, Celestine…"
He was about to keep going, but more nas never made it out of his mouth—because Kaguya silenced him with a kiss and a hand over his lips. All that followed were muffled protests and unintelligible groans.
For a while after that, Veyron's life returned to sothing resembling peace.
During the day, he'd spend ti with Kazami Yuuka in the sunflower fields, soaking up sunlight while multitasking with telekinesis and energy training.
Sotis he'd spar with her too—not just for fun, but to grind up his skill trees in swordsmanship and martial arts.
At night, he'd return to Eientei, curl up with his personal Kaguya-brand body pillow, and drift off to sleep.
He even accepted an invitation from Yakumo Yukari to attend a massive showdown where Midoriko wiped the floor with an entire yokai alliance.
It was through Yukari that she learned a group of yokai were secretly plotting to unite their forces against her.
Curious, she decided to look into it, and found traces of a newly ford Yokai Alliance, put together by several top-level yokai.
Naturally, she followed those leads right to the Alliance's HQ… and wrecked the place.
The big-na yokais behind the alliance, knowing that backing down would an losing a ton of "Awe and Fear"—and with it, their strength——had no choice but to grit their teeth and fight her head-on.
No need to spell out how that ended.
Their entire power-up ca from hoarding fear. Against soone like Midoriko? Yeah, that wasn't gonna cut it.
After Midoriko finished her job, Veyron and others threw a celebration for her—hosted in the garden of the Saigyouji household.
Mid-party, Veyron pulled Midoriko aside and asked if she had any objections to foreign powers being introduced into her system. Midoriko's response was crystal clear: "If it cos from you, a human, and not from so weird outside force, then I don't mind."
With that, Veyron made a quick trip back to Eientei and brewed up two doses of Gene Lock Potential Enhancer—one for Midoriko, and one for Yuyuko Saigyouji.
Then ca the day when that peaceful calm was shattered by a ssage in the Chat Group:
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『Snake Empress』: I don't want to be a pirate anymore.
『Lady Avalon』: …What?
『Earth's Cancer』: What happened?
『Earth's Cancer』: Aren't you the amazing Empress of Amazon Lily? Leader of the Kuja Pirates? That was your dream growing up!
『Snake Empress』: A while back, Miss rlin sent and Sister Fubuki so educational material she used to train that future King of Knights.
『Snake Empress』: I took so ti to study European history. And honestly? Even the most inhumane kings in her examples still felt more human than the Celestial Dragons in my world.
『Snake Empress』: A king, no matter how cruel, is still just a man. But the Celestial Dragons? They've been global aristocrats for over 700 years—and they don't even see others as humans.
『Lady Avalon』: Yeah, that tracks.
『Lady Avalon』: I haven't seen much firsthand in your world, but every ti I use Clairvoyance and get a peek at those so-called descendants of the Creator… they're either making slaves or torturing civilians. It's like… they genuinely don't think anyone outside their bubble is human.
『Snake Empress』: Miss rlin, you haven't even seen the worst part.
『Snake Empress』: A couple of days ago, I finally mastered Conqueror's Haki infusion. So I returned to Amazon Lily to begin the Empress's Trial and challenge the throne that's been empty ever since the previous ruler died of illness three years ago.
『Catwoman』: Right! You said you'd livestream that mont so we could witness history together!
『Snake Empress』: Yeah. So, when I got back to Amazon Lily, I went to see Granny Gloriosa first.
『Snake Empress』: That's when I finally learned the truth behind why she ca back ho over twenty years ago, even though she had already abandoned the nation.
『Snake Empress』: For over seven centuries, the Celestial Dragons have held a horrifying ritual every three years. They randomly pick an island or a country—and turn it into a literal killing ga.
『Snake Empress』: Twenty years ago, Granny Gloriosa followed her then-captain to crash one of those events. The target? "God Valley," the island chosen for that year's bloodbath.
『Snake Empress』: Her captain died in the chaos. She barely made it out alive. The only way she could escape being hunted by the World Governnt was to return to Amazon Lily, reclaim her status as a forr Empress, and swear to never get involved in anything beyond their shores again.
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