Mavor sat on a massive throne as Cymbeline stood before him. A slave girl, a flora, quickly entered the room with a golden tray and cover. She presented the tray to the emperor, bowing her head and removing the cover. It revealed a glass and a bottle of wine ready for Mavor to consume.

“Emperor, before we talk business, would you give me the pleasure of sampling our wine?”

“May I ask what kind it is?”

“Oku wine, sir!”

“One of the United Planets bread basket worlds! But our forces in that area-“

“I ordered my soldiers to grab several dozen units of their vineyard seeds and their winemakers during the occupation on the planet. Before that vile pestilence, Damara forced us out!”

“I assume you will have a sufficient supply ready for the Genesis festival next year!”

“Of course, and more! We had significant financial plans for the world, but we’re trying to do more with less!”

Mavor took the glass and bottle from the slave girl, pouring the wine into the glass. And the slit to his hideous mouth opened.”Delicious!” As he consumed the wine.

“Thank you, sir!” Cymbeline turned his gaze to the slave girl, scowling.”Begone!”

The slave girl quickly heeded Cymbeline’s orders, running out of the room, knowing even being a second too slow to comply could cost her life.

"Cymbeline, you have served me well. Under your command, our colonies have flourished! It is time I grant you a long overdue reward!"

"Emperor, do you mean-"

"Yes, take your army and Morana to the western planets. In my name, ensure nothing remains of the lesser beings but ash and fire!" Mavor interrupted.

"Many thanks, emperor! B-but who will run the colonies while I lay waste to the vermin?"

"Don't worry, Evelyn will take care of it. As young as she is, she has served me just as well!"

"I see! I will prepare my forces at once!"

A few hours later, at Morana's mansion, her slaves dragged a lifelike statue of Daisy to the balcony of her bedroom. They hurriedly ran away the moment they placed it in the correct spot. As they left, morana shot her icy death beam at it, encasing it in ice before it exploded into thousands of pieces!

"If you don't wanna be next, get me a new one now!" Morana glared at her slaves with murderous hate in her eyes.

They ran off to carry out her orders as swiftly as possible! Tripping and stumbling over each other, knowing their lives depended on their swiftness!

But as her slaves left the room, Morana hopped into her bed and lay down face-first, nursing a migraine, rubbing her temples.

"The slave girl was a jinx! After I got her, one bad thing after another kept happening. The United Planets have earth after I worked so hard to conquer it. Damara is now a thorn in our side. And worst of all, I've been humiliated!"

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Morana's frustration quickly hit its zenith. She covered her head with one of her pillows as she released a monstrous roar!

In the corridor, her roar shook the ground, making one of her slaves trip and fall. He struggled to stand up, and as he tried, he gazed in horror at Evelyn. She was a young, beautiful nemesis with long snow-white hair, a small beauty mark on the corner of her mouth, and a slender, curvy body. As Evelyn stood over the slave, she reached out to him. Her hand got closer and closer, and the slave shivered in fear, preparing for retribution! But instead, Evelyn gently helped him back to his feet.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

Still gripped by terror, the slave didn’t open his mouth. But he instead nodded no to her questions.

Evelyn grew a smile."That's good! Why don't you go to your job before she gets angrier!"

The slave heeded Evelyn's words and dashed off at top speed. As he left, she hurried to Morana's room. And she quickly found her comrade sulking in her bed.

"Morana, I came to see how you were doing. With everything that happened, I was worried!"

"Well, thanks for the sentiment, but I'm doing terrible! I've served the emperor well for years, but after Earth, he doesn't trust me with conquering the Western planets. Now I have to play second fiddle to Cymbeline!"

As Evelyn heard Morana, she took a deep breath.”It’s not that bad!” And she sat on her bed, opening her arms for a hug.

Morana accepted it.”Really?”

"We all have our string of bad luck, my friend!”

"You're like the little sister I never had, Evelyn! Oh, and before I forget, congratulations on the promotion!”

"Thanks, I-"

An exquisite item on Morana's bed drew Evelyn's attention. It was a strapless red dress of unmatchable quality. Created by Daisy during her enslavement, its beauty mesmerized Evelyn, and morana soon noticed.

"You know if you want it, you can have it!"

“I-I couldn't! It's too lovely!”

“Kid, take it! I have over a dozen more!”

Evelyn heeded Morana’s words and slowly reached for the dress. And as she got it, she marveled at its beauty.

“Gorgeous! Please, take care of whoever made this!”

Morana grew a cold, dead gaze, her mind filling with images of Daisy’s bloody death.”Rest assured, I will!”

The day of departure quickly came. Cymbeline had spared no expense, preparing his forces for the coming battle. However, several final checks still needed to be done for the invasion. He walked through the castle with his assistant, scanning his legion of personnel for the slightest flaw as they worked. He knew they were only as strong as their weakest link. But on that day, he wouldn’t tolerate any weak links.

“Shelia, are weapons?”

“The inventory report shows everything’s accounted for!”

“Medicine?”

“Same!”

“Diagnostics on the fleet?”

“Completed this morning, sir! Everything looks good!”

“General Morana?”

“She should be here within the hour!”

“Well, good! But now-“

Like thunder, a crashing sound traveled through the air. Cymbeline and Shelia quickly ran over to learn what was the cause. When they arrived, they saw a caucasian male human slave on the ground, collapsed next to a pile of supplies.

“What the chaos happened here?” Cymbeline asked.

A soldier ran to Cymbeline.”We’re not sure, sir! The slave just collapsed out of nowhere!”

Another human slave ran over, going to the man and helping him stand. She was a slender caucasian woman of twenty-nine with long raven hair.

“It wasn’t out of nowhere! You worked this poor man to near death!”

“He’s a slave! He works, or he dies! And the same goes for you!”

“You took the words right out of my mouth, soldier,” Cymbeline said.

“I won’t do anything else until you give this man food and rest!”

“I repeat, work or die!” Cymbeline shouted.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Eager to prove his threats had teeth, Cymbeline angrily called upon his dark powers. He summoned a fireball of 40 meters in diameter, preparing to throw it at the two slaves. But even as she was moments away from becoming ash, the woman stood fearless. And their salvation came as Shelia went in between them.

“What are you doing?”

“I just ran the numbers, General Cymbeline! If you kill them, our workforce won’t be at full capacity!”

“We can’t order more slaves?”

“It would take too long! The mission would suffer delays!”

Cymbeline reluctantly extinguished the fireball.”Fine! Get the human food and water!”

“Don’t expect a thank you!” The human woman scowled at Cymbeline.

“But in return, you woman will go two shifts without either!”