"Because I would provide you with ki. With my help, you would have stronger cultivation than your brother before the year ends. Moreover, you don't have anywhere else to go if you leave. But I could invite others. With or without your help, Abd city will flourish in Biyakis. It is just a matter of who helps me do it."

In truth, Abdin didn't have anyone better than Juwaira and her team, but he wasn't telling her that.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Juwaira spoke. "The agreement we made earlier is no longer fair. We agreed to serve you without knowing that we may face Biyakis in battle. And you deceived us by pretending you never knew us before. So I have the right to nullify that agreement and walk away." She paused, looking at him. Was he not going to apologize?

She swallowed hard and clenched her teeth. "But, as you said, we don't have many places to hide anymore, and we also lied to you about where we came from. But unlike us, you already knew at the time of the agreement that you could face Biyakis, whereas we didn't."

Abdin sighed. He never liked all these royal battles of wits. "What are you on about?"

"I want to say that you are indebted to us," she replied. "We shall serve you for ten years, as agreed. Your enemy shall become ours. But there is something I want you to do for us. If you do it, then I will be grateful to you and your secrets shall be safe with me. Even Denyanu and the others wouldn't know a thing about it."

Abdin laughed. All his secrets? As if he was hiding something big. But he didn't interrupt her.

"I want you to kill one of the slave girls we brought with us. Her name is Laluri."

Abdin's eyes widened. He was surprised and also not surprised. He had deduced since the previous loop - which only he could remember - that the relationship between the two sides was unsavory. But if they wanted the girl dead that badly, why not do it themselves?

"You want a slave girl dead?" He arched his brows. "First, princess, you have no right to ask me that. It was an agreement we forged before I let you in. If you are not ready to do it, the door is wide open. And second, I don't know why you want me to kill your slave. Release her if indeed you don't want her. Or kill her yourself."

Juwaira's expression changed and she looked from side to side to make sure they were alone. She also activated her spiritual sense to check further and behind the buildings.

She heaved a sigh when she felt no presence. "She isn't a slave. We bought her about two and a half months ago as a slave. But we later realized she is at the zenith of the core formation stage. We still don't understand why a strong person like her would disguise themselves as a slave.

"But she is evil and we have already tried to get rid of her twice. We were too late. We couldn't get rid of her now however much we tried. Without killing this woman, even you would find it hard to realize your goal. We don't know where she came from, but like you, she came from afar. We sometimes hear her sending messages in a tongue so foreign."

Abdin narrowed his eyes. So Juwaira was unaware that Laluri was from Nánata. She only revealed that to him because she was certain he was going to die.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Someone at the zenith of the core formation stage could suppress Juwaira's team. But there was one thing he still didn't understand. "What do you mean when you said 'you were too late?"

Juwaira sighed. She glanced at her back before turning to undo the top buttons of her dress, showing him somewhere below her neck. The slightly tan skin there was bewitching to the eyes even beyond her face. Abdin did his best to push away any untoward thoughts from his mind and focus his attention on the task at hand. If he allowed this woman to lure him, then even meditation would be beyond him.

"Commander?" Abdin heard her voice in his ears, and that was when he realized that his eyes were tightly shut. He opened them to look at the spot she was showing him.

Right beneath her shoulder blade was a tattoo of an ant. It was red and seemed very life-like as one gazed at it.

"How many legs does an ant have?" He asked quizzically. He could see that there were about thirty or forty legs on the tattoo.

Juwaira placed a finger to her lips to shush him. She redid her buttons and then face him with a serious expression. "Don't let her touch you. She would overwhelm you with this tattoo."

So this is what she meant by, 'we are too late?' Laluri had touched them before they became aware.

After what happened in the previous loop, Abdin knew that Laluri's skill had to do with contact. But he never knew that a tattoo would appear with the touch - maybe because he didn't notice or because he died before it appeared.

Whatever it was, he had already decided to kill Laluri. But still, there were things he couldn't understand. Back in the previous loop, just before she killed him, Laluri had mentioned that 'she had long since decided to kill him.' Was there anything that warranted that decision, and when did she decide on that? Perhaps the answers could give him an insight into the 'slave' girl's mind.

"Let's say I agree to kill her, what would you pay me to do it?" Asked Abdin.

Juwaira frowned as if she didn't get him. She tended to forget that Abdin was the leader in this particular place and she couldn't get what she wanted by just showing her pretty face.

"You can't make me kill a person who has practically done me no wrong, without pay, yes?" He asked.

Laluri tried and succeeded in killing him, but Juwaira didn't know that, so this was a chance to strengthen his relationship with the princess. After all, moments like this were rare even in a time loop.

"She did you no wrong now, but she will. I assure you there is no good in that woman's heart. Whatever she wants to gain is no good."

Abdin smiled. "I understand you already. But she is at the zenith of the core formation stage - ten thousand pol years - I don't have the capability of killing her right now even if I want. And why would I endanger myself just because you say so?"

Abdin didn't expect Laluri had gotten to the zenith. His careful calculations of killing her wouldn't be possible without him losing so much.

To safely kill the woman, he might even have to wait to reach at least two hundred years. And the loss he could suffer would still be much. He needed some sort of compensation from Juwaira.

"Name whatever price you want, as long as you will kill her."

Abdin smiled. "I want you to marry me."

Juwaira widened her eyes and stepped back three paces before her expression darkened. "What did you just say?"

He had no time repeating it to her. First of all, he knew she was beautiful, majestic, and proud just like any other princess. But these meant nothing to him. He had dined with her superiors. Perhaps not as beautiful as she was, but her superiors nonetheless. And he wasn't in love with her or anything. What he needed was a political marriage, so Abd city would have immunity from those that would try to conquer it.

Soon, when he faced Biyakis, the league of level 1 empires would try to join in, to defend Biyakis.

Empires could fight each other for their differences, but as a rule, an outsider who came from some foreign region like him wasn't allowed to destroy any of them. But if he married Juwaira, the constitution would give him full citizenship of Shurein, and that would give him the chance to battle Biyakis without any league being a problem.

"I... don't... I have a fiancé," she stuttered, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

Abdin shrugged. "That's a shame. Killing the slave would have been your dowry. I will resume meditation for a few days. You will serve as my deputy and take care of the castle."