Unsurprisingly, the room became very quiet as the four female bandits looked at him with their eyes wide from shock. Meanwhile, on the arm rest next to him, Luna was grinning widely, and both versions of Ella were blushing with embarrassment.

Finally, his target audience started to have more pronounced reactions. Mira’s lips curled into an excited grin; Lyra blushed but also looked curious. Anna, unsurprisingly, now appeared miserable and sad, while Aelia's eyes began spitting fire, and she even started panting a little from the rage building inside."

I didn't take long before Aelia's anger boiled over and she slammed the table as she stood up. "Dammit! I knew I should never have believed you!" she snarled as she pointed at him accusingly. "It was all a load of bull, wasn't it! You're just out to fuck us all, coercion or not!"

This time, Kane didn't react in a threatening manner, for the simple reason he understood Aelia's anger. He did, however, remain calm, and leaned back in his chair while shaking his head.

"I never lied to you," he began to explain. "I've no interest in forced or coerced sex. But, I want there to be five officers serving directly under you, Aelia. Furthermore, I intend to pick those officers myself, and they will be required to have sex with me regularly. I also highly suggest you join them, Aelia, or you probably won't lead them for long."

"You…!" Aelia stammered, her eyes bulging from anger. She couldn't believe his gall.

"No!" she vehemently shook her head while dissecting him with her eyes. "You said I could lead them however I liked! That means you can't pick the officers for me, and you can't replace me if I don't have sex with you! Are you breaking your word?!"

Kane sighed and pursed his lips. "Alright, that's enough Aelia. Calm down. Now," he spoke calmly, but with a dominant force that would not be disobeyed. "I will not break any of the promises I've made to you, and I've allowed you a moment to vent. Now sit down, so I can explain."

The other three women had already forgotten their initial reactions to Kane's words, and now looked anxiously between their boss, and their boss's boss, wondering what would happen next.

Aelia seethed as her chest rose and sunk violently while she glared at Kane furiously. Meanwhile, her new boss looked back calmly, waiting for her to obey him.

It was a battle of wills, but everyone knew who had the advantage here, even Aelia herself. Because of that, she finally closed her eyes and breathed deeply, before sitting down again.

When she opened her eyes, she was deceptively calm, but willing to listen. "Better make this good…" she growled softly.

Seeing she'd calmed down a little, Kane smiled softly, before nodding. "Don't worry, I will…"

Then, he thoughtfully scratched the stubble on his chin as he considered where the began. "Here's the thing. You already know I have some abilities related to… intimacy, I guess you could say, but it doesn't just end at that Mark of Loyalty. I can also both strengthen the cores of others, and my own, through sex."

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Everyone, excluding Ella and Luna, blinked in shock and incredulity. "That's… ridiculous," Aelia muttered with twitching eyebrows. The others were more subdued, but seemed equally sceptical. "Are we actually supposed to believe that?"

Kane shrugged and smirked, "It's not that hard to prove, you know?" He pointed beyond Aelia, at both Mira and Lyra, before continuing, "Those two seem plenty interested in having sex with me, so I don't even need to convince anyone. Surely you'll believe their words after the fact?"

Then he winked mischievously, "Or… you can stay and watch, to follow the energy flow yourself."

Instantly, Lyra yelped, and her blush became even deeper. "Ah! Wha— Whadoyoumean?!" she exclaimed with a shaking head and waving hands.

Unfortunately, across from her, Mira grinned at her friend. "Come now, Lyra, who are you trying to fool?" Then, she turned to Kane with a wink, "You're right, though, I'll give it a try."

Aelia looked at both of them in shock. Even she could tell Lyra was interested, and it made her feel all sorts of complicated things. Aelia had looked after Lyra since she joined them at a very young age, and now considered her a little sister. Even if they'd never said the words.

Mira, however, shocked her far less.

Meanwhile, Kane continued explaining. "So, you see, even if you don't make my five choices into officers, they'll eventually become the strongest people under you. And, if you don't take advantage of it yourself, you'll eventually be left behind. I promise I won't replace you, but can you really hold on to power when you aren't at least one of the strongest?"

Aelia turned back towards him with eyelids that seemed to simply twitch constantly now. "T— This is…" she muttered, but then fell silent. She wasn't sure what to call it. It wasn't coercion or blackmail, but she still couldn't help but hate the whole thing.

Finally, however, her eyes hardened. "F— Fine! I— If all you're saying is true, then fine, but I will be the one to test it out! Not anyone else! I won't let one of my girls be the guinea pig to your perverted crap!"

Behind her, Mira pursed her lips slightly, "Aelia, I…" she began, but was instantly interrupted by her boss.

"No!" Aelia growled, while pointing at Mira, despite keeping her eyes on Kane. "We don't know what else he could do while doing… that… we've already seen him doing plenty of strange things, and I won't let anyone else take that risk!"

Mira fell silent, and looked grateful, but also somewhat disappointed.

Kane however, was forced to throw sand in the fire. He chuckled while shaking his head. "I appreciate your loyalty, Aelia," he said. "But I think you're forgetting one key thing here."

"What?!" she snarled furiously, thinking Kane was going to bring some bullshit reason why it couldn't be her.

But an amused Kane pursed his lips and shrugged, "Well, which core did you think sex with me would strengthen? Your next step is breaking through to the second stage, just like it is mine. Neither of us can improve our cores any more right now."

Aelia blinked when realization set in. In the heat of the moment, she truly hadn't thought of that, and now palmed her own face in frustration. "Shit…" she mumbled furiously. "I hate how that makes sense…"

Silence descended for a moment, until Mira spoke up softly. "Just let me do it, Aelia. Even if I don't, I'm sure there's plenty among the girls who'd give it a shot, so if what he's saying is true, word will spread eventually. If we work with him, we can at least have some control over it."

Aelia groaned, and looked at Mira miserably. She wanted to protect her people, but was now feeling like there was nothing she could do. She wasn't even entirely sure anymore if this was something she 'should' protect her people from.

She closed her eyes, rubbed the bridge of her nose while she sighed, and remained quiet for a moment.

Eventually, she came to a decision.