Hestia took custody of Cahrona, and I simply waved it off after the Succubus took her oaths of loyalty and became my resident. She was put under additional gaesa until we decided she could be trusted. After all, she was Hestia's devotee who quite calmly processed the fact that someone whom she had worshipped her entire life shared only her name with the real goddess. After all the misunderstandings were cleared, Cahrona was angry on behalf of her goddess, whose name was tarnished by the unworthy. Since Amber and Irene seemed indifferent to that woman's fate and only Luna held a grudge, I decided to let Hestia take her. In turn, she promised me to keep an eye on the Devilkin. It was the middle of the afternoon when Irene finally allowed me to return to my office. Inside, I found Lanka and Gloria alongside the entire army of scholars, young officers, diplomats, and God only knows who else they managed to capture. My huge office had turned into a cramped area where additional desks and chairs were added, filling up the last vestigates of space. The two women managed to divide the work between the people efficiently, and I even noticed Eva following them and learning. She asked tons of questions and even made notes, which surprised me somewhat. However, my desk was miraculously empty. Well, it wasn’t exactly, since a lonely piece of paper was waiting in the last document tray on my desk. That was still counting as an empty desk in my book. The people inside seemed unaware of our presence, and I silently admired their work. I just knew that Irene, who was gently holding my arm, was now smirking victoriously or at least with satisfaction, but I was absorbed by the work being performed in front of me. I noticed a few University and Military Academy teachers looking through the young people's work in the room, and I shook my head in disbelief. It was no wonder that Irene was able to sleep so carelessly...

"See?" she whispered.

"Sorry..." I lowered my head in shame. "You are incredible..."

"Mhm..." she purred in satisfaction.

"My King! My Queen!" Lanka finally noticed us and bowed with a wide smile.

"Thank you, Lanka." Irene let go of my arm and slowly walked through the middle of the room, glancing at the people she passed by.

The people gathered in the room returned to their work with a simple wave of her slender hand. I was impressed by her majesty and grace as she simply walked towards Lanka and Gloria, who had a single piece of paper prepared for her. Irene took it, and after glancing at it, she nodded and exchanged a few words with Gloria. After a moment, I realised it was probably about time I moved, so I did just that. I slowly walked towards my desk, picked up that single piece of paper, and read its contents. It was a situation report from the Empire of Metaka informing me that the Emperor's health had deteriorated and he might be dying. Whoever was preparing this report suggested intervention by providing the Emperor with an elixir that should buy him and us more time. Since I wasn't ready for another war, even if my forces shouldn't be involved in it, I agreed instantaneously. It looked like even Princess Vettalia and Prince Guad had started panicking as it was too soon, so helping them couldn't hurt us, no matter who would win afterwards. My hand automatically reached for the next report, but the tray was empty. I looked around but saw only a busy silence and an encouraging smile from Irene, who wanted me to check the work of my new helpers.

I stood up from behind my desk, unable to recall the moment I sat in front of it, and approached the closest table. I found the pile of already processed documents, took the first one, and started reading it. It was a report from Ebonrock. The local lord was complaining about the Hilgvarians and my order to lower the tax rate for food exported to that country. I couldn't recall the name of the person in charge of that border city. Instead, I found the fairly extensive note attached to the report from the person who reviewed that complaint, suggesting replacing the local lord with a more fitting candidate. I paused and took a deep breath. Technically, I agreed with that idea... However, whoever reviewed that shot down that idea and demanded a better solution. Wait a second... I returned to the original report and reread it; it was purely just an extensive complaint without giving me any reason about why.

"Eva?" I asked with the report in my hand.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"If I remember correctly, the lord of Ebonrock is a man who previously served Cridia. I left him in charge for the time being, but it looks like we have to take some action. Prepare a report about Ebonrock. I have a feeling that this person should be replaced immediately..."

"At once." Eva grabbed the paper and turned towards her desk. Lanka cleared her throat pointedly and gave her a dismissive look, catching everyone’s attention.

Eva closed her eyes and shook her head. After taking a deep breath, she turned again, found someone, probably the person who previously worked on the report, and relayed my request. I looked dumbfounded at Irene, who was most likely silently giggling from behind the papers she held. She waved her hand at me to come closer, so I did just that after exhaling heavily.

"Eva needs to learn as well," Irene explained in a hushed voice.

"Uhm..." I confirmed uncertainly.

"Excellent work, everyone. We will leave you now," she said aloud and nodded towards Gloria and Lanka, teleporting us away.

•••

I was looking at the steaming cup of tea with the blank expression of a person whose entire worldview was shattered. There was no Santa Claus, no Toothfairy, we were not in Kansas anymore, and most certainly, there was no need for me to do all that work myself. I sighed heavily, unsure of what I should do now. Mentally, I needed this idleness; I needed a moment to catch a second breath and move forward with my plans. However, as I suddenly got this abundance of free time, I found myself unable to do anything. Unconsciously, I knew it was just a shock, but how could I react otherwise, seeing that Irene needed just to give a single order to solve my months-long problems? It was so absurd that I wanted to laugh and cry in turns, which finally made me realise how close I had come to a mental breakdown. Irene was sitting in front of me in silence, carefully observing my admittedly brittle state of trying to stay calm.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"You know I always thought you had an army of helpers?" she finally broke the silence and slowly stood up. She took a few steps with the grace of a cat around the table and sat near me, looking carefully at me. "I was always certain that you keep that work going with the help of an entire battalion of scholars, officers, and other officials who serve you with dedication, relentlessly digging through the piles of the endless stream of reports... But you were always alone."

I slowly turned my blank face towards her, and she pressed her forehead to mine. We sat like that for a few moments in the silence of our living room, which seemed like an eternity, after which she quietly asked.

"Why?"

I lowered my head, unable to answer that simple question. "I... I don't know... At first, there was not much work at all. But with each day, the pile grew... Before I noticed, it was as tall as the walls of Avalon, ready to crush me..."

"Oh, Theon..." She kissed my forehead and pushed me to rest my head on her lap. I obediently laid down on the sofa and allowed her to pat my head. "You were way too close to stop functioning."

"You are right..." I admitted with an empty voice.

"You have to rest. I asked a Maid to summon Luna. You will sleep the entire night, and I will check on you when you wake up." I simply nodded or tried to nod and succeeded as much as possible with a head resting on someone's lap. "I will also have to deal with Amber and Luna. They are as lost as you are, Theon."

•••

The next day, I woke up in a state of panic. There was so much work to do, and it was already past eight. Then, I felt something I hadn't felt for so long- an overwhelming calmness. I felt a movement on my right, and when I slowly turned my head, I noticed Amber and Luna sleeping soundly, holding each other in their arms. Hestia, Aoi, and Lavender were already gone, but their side of the bed was still warm.

"Good morning." A pair of large, blue eyes looked at me from above; Irene was lying on top of me, smiling widely. She giggled quietly and fixed her long, black hair.

"Hello, my Sweetheart." I smiled back and took a deep, relaxed breath.

"How are you feeling?" She slowly moved upwards and crossed her arms on my chest. Irene took a good look at me, and I felt a warm sensation traversing my body, originating from her index finger pressed near my heart.

"Better..." I admitted, observing her curiously.

"Mhm... Physically, you are fine..." She was focused on examining me, using her powers. For a moment, she looked perplexed, but she smiled brightly soon after. "Looks like you regenerated impossibly quickly... Again. Your physique is astonishing. Even Hestia's body doesn't have such regenerative properties."

"That's good, right?" I asked uncertainly.

"Normally, that might be a problem," she corrected me with a gentle smile. "Mortal bodies sometimes have to get rid of damaged or used-up tissues. Overpowered regeneration would throw the entire system off balance, creating problems or leading to serious illnesses. Fortunately for you, you don't have such bodily problems. So... Yeah. That's good." She smiled and hugged me tightly. "But your mental problems are a totally different story. You have to slow down, Theon, take a few days off, and just relax."

"I'll try..." I sighed and patted her head with affection.

"You have to. Theon..." Irene hesitated momentarily and then extended her hand, shaking off a strand of hair from Amber's face. "Theon, both of them were in terrible condition. I think that Luna was almost as bad as you were."

"Oh, no..." I looked worried at the two women sleeping next to me. "I..."

"Don't worry. It's nothing I couldn't fix. But they will have to admit they were wrong. While Amber shouldn't had much problem with that, I'm afraid that Luna would try to be stubborn..." Irene sighed. "Also, you don't have to hush your voice, Theon. They won't wake up until I allow them."

"You put them under a sleeping spell?" I looked at her, surprised.

“We are resistant to such spells. But I put them to sleep with a Regenerative Trance. This is an advanced healing spell that heals not only the body but also the mind.” Irene sighed in resignation, caressing Amber's cheek as she took a ragged, restless breath. “My naive, misguided sisters… Overworking will do no good to our kingdom and our family.”

"It's my fault..." I closed my eyes.

"Don't be silly. They are grown-up girls," my Elven beauty chuckled. "But... They were not prepared for the responsibilities of Queens like the rest of us." Irene carefully studied my face again and played with her long, black, velvety hair. "Lavender was a Queen before she even met you. Aoi was a princess, and even if some of her own people detested her, she was still prepared to rule her people. Hestia is a Goddess; you couldn't be more royal than that. As you know, I was born into a noble family, and during my entire childhood, I was prepared to aid my future husband as a ruler. I won't lie, my Darling, the education I received came in handy." She laughed, but there was no joy in that laughter. "Surely they never dreamt I would be a queen, but I do not suspect them to be proud or happy. I still hate my mother and father for what they tried to do to me, you know? They are looking for me. I know this."

"I won't allow anyone to take you from me." I closed her gorgeous body in my arms and felt her tremble.

"I know..." she replied with a dreamy voice and hugged me even tighter. "I am safe and happy with you."

•••

We spent most of that day in our bed, closely watched by Irene, whose gentle touch sent waves of healing magic inside our bodies. It was a strange experience as she forbade me to get out of bed or even switch to the RTS view and tinker with my dungeon. However, I discovered our situation was grave when Irene shunned me as I tried to kiss her. She was primarily focused on Amber and Luna, but according to her, I should rest and refrain from doing anything. At some point, Lavender joined us, wearing her seductive nightgown; however, that little detail almost flew over my head when I saw a massive tray of various potions in her hands. Some even gave off a vibrant green glow, which was quite scary.

"I prepared all the potions you asked for, Irene," the Dryad said as she sat on the fringe of the bed.

"Thank you so much, Lavender." The Elf smiled with a tired expression, and, of course, she picked up the glowing green potion and gave it to me. "Drink this, Theon."

I took it with a trembling hand, unable to contain my fear. They wouldn't poison me... Right?

•••

It tasted like a mint tea.