Mila

“It’s been too long since we’ve done this.” Diana grabbed a piece of fried chicken from the large bucket they’d brought to the beach, and laid back on the sand, looking up at the sky.

She and Mila were on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and the plan was to just hang out—no other people to manipulate or threaten, no responsibilities other than the one mind of Mila’s participating in the Universal Auction. Even Nana Xara had agreed to leave them alone for a couple hours.

“Yeah.” Mila also lay back on the beach and, along with the chicken, she had an entire box of Cheez-Its.

The best benefit of being a Sublime Soul Succubus Empress wasn’t the exceptional affinities, the complete dual classes, or the practically stainless soul, but the fact she could eat pretty much whatever she wanted without consequences.

“Have you looked into any of the media out in the universe?” Diana looked over at Mila and smiled. “There’s so much of it.”

“I haven’t really had the time.” Mila looked up at the sky, enjoying the chance to just watch the clouds. “What with our lives being on the line and all.”

“Come on, you need to take more breaks.” Diana pointed at the sea and her leviathan shaped water spirit appeared over the water along with her nine-tailed fox light spirit. Then the two spirits merged together into a nine-tailed leviathan emitting an aura of both water and light. “I was just playing around with Isaiah one day and tried merging my spirits on a whim, and now it’s my strongest power.

“There’s this one hologram drama called Rise of the Umberlord. It was made several trillion years ago but it’s still considered one of the best of all time. Nana Xara recommended it and Isaiah and I just finished it last week. It’s so, so good.

“Have you heard of it?”

“No.” Mila shook her head. “But I have met the Umberlord.”

Diana had taken a bite of chicken while Mila was responding, and she almost spat it out, but she managed to instead chew and swallow first. “Wait? What? Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

Mila laughed. “I did. He was one of the independent gods who came to visit Joma, and, like all the rest, he completely ignored me. Joma told me about him afterwards. Apparently, he’s quite the ass.”

“Oh.” Diana looked a little disappointed. “Well, the drama is very good.”

“I have been reading a lot of history books on Nana Xara’s recommendation.” Mila looked up at the clouds again. “They are a little drier, but I do feel like I’ve learned a lot more about the universe. So, that’s been fun.”

“Bah.” Diana waved a hand at her, attracting Mila’s attention. “That’s still work.

“Life’s good now, Mila. You can slow down a little.

“With the auction, we already have most of the resources we’ll need until C rank, and everything else we can earn through the War of the Chosen and the D rank Trial Tower. We even have more than enough primal energy due to those tribble-like creatures you bought at the auction a month ago breeding like crazy in the Steel Swamp Blessed Land.

“Hell, given the blessed land’s primal energy conversion machines, we’ll even be able to export primal energy crystals in the near future.”

Mila, however, wasn’t convinced. “There’s always more Territory to get, and I need to set up the groundwork for a universe wide intelligence network.”

Diana just stared at her for a couple seconds, looking distinctly judgmental. “If you do nothing but maintain the Territory we already have, Aalam’s uniqueness will advance to Emperor during the middle of the War of the Chosen, and that’s not even considering how most of that Territory will have to be abandoned once Earth rises to A rank given the limitations of Aalam’s lord skill.

“Also, for an intelligence network, you have no way of setting any kind of solid groundwork as an E rank, and you know it.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“But if we can get Aalam’s uniqueness up to Emperor during or even before the War of the Chosen, we’ll have a much better chance of actually winning.”

“And if you keep working yourself ragged for my brother, he’ll never learn how to operate independently.”

“I don’t know about that.” Mila couldn’t help but smile slightly. “He’s gotten a lot better at social interactions over the last several years. Forcing him to work as a shopkeeper was a really good move on Joma’s part.”

“Wait.” Diana sat up and her glare disappeared, replaced by a look of shock, her aura showing the same change in emotions. “Is he actually talking to you? Even with our link, he’s barely said a few dozen words to me over the last year, saying he’s busy learning alchemy. I’ve had to rely on Isaiah to know how he’s doing.”

“Um.” Mila thought about lying, but decided against it. “For at least an hour every day. We both have extra minds, so it’s a bit easier.”

“He’s avoiding me, isn’t he?”

“Probably.”

Diana sighed and laid back on the sand again, looking up at the sky. “The nightmares are still happening?”

“I think so.”

Diana looked over at Mila and raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”

“I stopped asking after it became clear he didn’t want to talk about it.” Mila also laid back on the sand. “He’s feeling guilty over his actions, and he should be, even if he’s resolved to never do something like that again, so I don’t think there’s anything other than time which will help.”

“I shouldn’t have kept asking?”

“No. You’re his sister. That’s your role.” Mila started to frown. “I’m his chamberlain.”

“Who he talks to for at least an hour every day.” With her sensory domain, Mila could see Diana roll her eyes even though she’d looked back up at the clouds. “Yeah. You’re definitely just his chamberlain.”

“I really am.” Mila didn’t bother to look at her friend. “We just talk about work.”

“This is Aalam we’re talking about, Mila, and we now live in a fantasy universe.” With her sensory domain, Mila could see Diana shake her head. “How is what you talk about now any different than what you’d talk about back when you were dating?”

“There’s more specifics about alchemy.”

Diana actually laughed, but then she also turned her head to look at Mila. “You do too much for him, you know?”

“It’s not like I get nothing in return.”

“No, Mila, I mean emotionally. You’re always there for him, but he doesn’t treat you in the same way.”

Mila couldn’t help but start to smile. “That’s not true. I wouldn’t have actually formed up a relationship with my grandmother if it weren’t for him. And I can feel his emotions through our bond. He cares about whether I’m happy or not.”

“Oh?” Through her sensory domain, Mila could see Diana show a surprised expression. “Wow. Is my little brother actually becoming emotionally mature?”

But then Diana seemed to realize something and she looked back at Mila. “Getting you to talk to your grandmother, was that actually intentional?”

“No.” Mila shook her head. “He thought I was torturing myself because I was feeling guilty for being evil, and said as much, directly to my face.”

“Okay.” Diana’s aura showed her excitement fade, as did her expression. “I was worried for a second there he’d actually become a functioning adult.”

They both started to smile, the joke not quite funny enough for a laugh, and then Diana continued. “Still, that sounds more like a friendship. Are you not interested in dating other people?”

This time Mila turned to look at Diana, raising an eyebrow. “Who would I date?

“Anyone on Earth is technically my subordinate and out in the universe I’m always in some kind of disguise. The only people I can truly be myself around and not have the power dynamics be awkward are you, your boyfriend, my grandmother, and Aalam.”

“Oh.” Diana paused for several seconds, obviously not having thought about Mila’s situation before. “Well, that sucks.”

“Yeah.”

“Stupid leadership positions and responsibilities.”

“Yeah.”

“Still, that’s no reason to—” Diana stopped mid-sentence and her aura showed mild annoyance. “Sorry, I almost threw up there a little bit. Maybe the chicken’s not so good.”

Mila reached over and grabbed Diana’s wrist, pushing in some of her qi to check Diana’s body as Diana continued.

“Things are going well. It’s okay to take a break every now and then.”

“I don’t know.” Mila started smiling, far, far wider than she had in a long time as she discovered just why her friend was feeling nauseous. “I think I should probably work harder in the future.”

“What?” Diana turned to look at her with a confused expression as Mila took her hand back.

“While someone’s off playing housewife, one of us at least has to keep this planet functional.”

“Again, what?” Diana still looked confused, but then her eyes widened and she looked down at her stomach. “Wait. Are you saying?”

“Yes.”

“But we’re two different bloody species.” Even though her words sounded frustrated, Diana’s aura was radiating happiness as she jumped to her feet. “Shouldn’t this not be possible?”

Mila sat up and looked up at her friend. “How do you think Isaiah was conceived?”

“I’m going to be a mom.” Diana’s aura lit up even more as she started jumping up and down, but then she seemed to realize moving rapidly might not be the best idea and sat back down, a huge smile still on her face. “I’m going to be a mom.”

“Yeah.” Mila was sharing her friend’s joy, but then, as Diana hugged her, she started to get nervous.

Diana was right. Things were going well. Too well. And, from Mila’s experience, blissful times didn’t last.

Something was going to go wrong, and she’d have to be ready for it. One of the A rank forces the Violet Mountain Sect was subordinate to might figure out who they were. Joma could betray them. Or maybe Aalam would make another huge mistake.

Whatever the case, Mila had to be ready. She had to prepare.