As we walked down the stairs, I approached Lavender and took her by her hand. Surprised, she warmly smiled.

"My Dear," I started with mischievous tones in my voice. "You didn't really think you'd be able to get away and not show us your office, did you?"

"I hoped to avoid that..." She smiled cutely. "But if you really want to see it..."

"I know that you are travelling to Westwood each time."

She sadly lowered her head, like a child caught doing something they shouldn't. "I simply can't part with that place. Especially now, when it's changing so much with each day. I am a Dryad, Theon..."

Lavender grabbed my arm tighter as if she needed to lean on me. I noticed that she was trembling. She gathered her thoughts for a moment before she was able to continue.

"Westwood was my home for hundreds of years, but while I was able to find the determination to chase after you, I left my home with a heavy heart. Yes, I put on a brave face, but in the end, I couldn't sever my ties with my home."

"I would never expect you to do that, Lavender." I grabbed her by her waist and pulled her closer.

"I know..." She leaned closer to me. "My place is at your side, my Dear. But my heart is still longing for my home..."

"You can visit Westwood anytime. But, Sweetie, you shouldn't have your office there for various safety reasons. I know that Blair wouldn't dare to say a word. You are not only his Queen but the sister of his beloved wife. But despite being the region's capital, Westwood is very close to the border." I tried to vocalize my thoughts with abysmal results. Nonetheless, I tried. "Don't get me wrong, my Dear. You can visit Westwood and your sister whenever you like; the company of Praetorians that accompany you are more than enough to keep you safe, but they are woefully unprepared to protect the Green Palace, even with the help of the defenders of Westwood."

"I... *sigh*"

"Lavender, in case something wrong happens, you might be unable to teleport away. What will Blair do if Westwood gets besieged or even breached with you inside?"

"He would try to protect me..." Lavender replied very quietly after a moment.

"At what price?" I asked equally quietly.

"I don't want to even think..." She closed her eyes and stopped for a moment.

"Me either," I admitted and hugged her. "But while the Praetorians can't protect your entire entourage, they can protect you. Even if you got caught in Westwood, Blair would simply lock you in the Palace with his wife, where a hundred Praetorians would guard you."

"You are tired, my Darling." She finally sighed and smiled. "But despite that, I think I understood what you are trying to tell me. Thank you..."

We entered the carriage, and Lavender sat close to me, lost in her thoughts. I also had my share to think about. I was still mentally tired, which showed during my sloppy attempts at explaining why Lavender should move her office. Or at least tried to tell her about the dangers. The problem with Westwood was its location; technically, it wasn't the furthest city west of Arcadia but it was the most important. I cared very little about the small countries that bordered us from the southwest since the inhospitable and harsh mountain ranges served as the natural border between them and us. However, in the northwest, behind another mountain range, was a vast sea of Trees. If the tales and captured maps could be trusted, it occupied an area larger than all of Arcadia. Beyond the line where my kingdom had drawn its western borders was no man's land. No one dared to settle in the dreaded shade of the ancient forest, which was disturbing since it was the nature of people to expand their domains. Understandably, Blair had no intention of sending any expedition forces to fuck around and find out. Mainly to avoid the case where they might really find something out. I don't blame him; hell, he is right not to provoke anything hiding out there! He worked on reinforcing that border and was very close to building an actual wall. However, whatever or whoever lived in that forest respected our border; a sporadic monster or a beast wandering to our land hardly counted as aggression. Yet, the danger remained. According to some ancient texts, devastating monster raids would originate from there. I would have discarded such past tales for lack of credibility if not for Kirin...

"Hmmm... If I remember correctly, a few hundred years ago, when I was a child, a monster raid reached our refuge inside the Dungeon of Snares. It was also one of the first times I heard Kirin's voice," Lavender interrupted my chain of thoughts, and I looked at her surprised. Then I looked around, and all my wives were staring at me curiously.

Amber finally laughed. "You were speaking aloud, Theon."

"Impossible." I grinned and took a deep breath. "But if you say so..."

"What did Kirin tell you?" Aoi nudged me to continue.

"That Sea of Trees is not natural. He probed the fringes of that forest, and he was more than sure that deep inside was at least one dungeon. Probably even a few of them, but he suspected at least one could be similar to me in its power. If there are multiple dungeons, they all serve another, the true King of the Forest. Kirin never found solid evidence or traces to follow and decided to leave it be. But I won't ignore Kirin's words." I concluded. "It's also another reason why I want more ships. The road between Westwood and Avalon is long, and it would take weeks for an army to get from place to place. But Westwood is only three days away for Victory."

Lavender heavily leaned over me, crossing her arms in front of her. I saw mild annoyance battling with sadness over the right to adorn her cute face, but after a while, she exhaled, defeated, and lay across my lap. She raised her hands, grabbed me by my cheeks, and looked as seriously into my eyes as was possible in her goofy position. "But promise me that I can visit Westwood anytime!"

"As long as you have the entire company of the Praetorians with you." I smiled, and she relaxed.

"Good enough..." she mumbled and stretched herself out.

"And you tell someone from the present here that you are going..." I added, after some consideration.

"Fair," she agreed shortly and turned her head at Aoi, who was staring at the Dryad absent-mindedly. "Something wrong, Aoi?"

"Ummm... You said that this monster raid happened a few hundred years ago when you were a child..." Aoi muttered sheepishly, looked at Lavender, and then moved her gaze at Hestia. "How old are you, exactly?"

Lavender straightened instantly, sitting in a perfectly dignified manner right next to me. She put on a serious facial expression, but there were sparks of silliness dancing in her eyes.

"Twenty-one," Lavender and Hestia answered in the exact moment, with profound conviction in their voices.

"But..." Aoi was clearly confused, and Luna put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sister, it's not that important..." the Kitsune tried to explain softly.

"But you are also anc..." Aoi was hushed by Luna, who put her finger on the Dragonkin woman's lips.

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"Twenty-one. I'm also twenty-one!"

Aoi looked at me, still confused, and I replied with a chuckle. "Darling, I beg you. Don't involve me in this. I want to live..."

Irene and Amber started laughing, and I joined them instantly. Soon after, Aoi was the only person not laughing, still confused. I had missed such careless moments. We stopped before the gates to the Upper Castle, where we stepped out from our ride. The wide, several hundred-metre-long road connected the gate to the Palace with the City's main square. When I expanded Avalon for the first time, I had no idea what to do with this particular part. It was too close to our home and admittedly too prestigious to build something haphazardly here just to plug that hole. For the lack of good ideas back then, I simply left it, which would come in handy now. On both sides of the road were empty plots of land where we could build a government centre. The people rarely wandered here since the undeveloped meadow was boring compared to many parks of the Middle Castle.

"What do you think?" I asked my Ladies who followed me.

"About... What?" Hestia asked, looking at me uncertainly.

"Hmmm... It's nicely located." Luna looked around. "I like it."

"But... What?!" Hestia looked around.

"A new place for our Government Centre, Sister." Aoi smiled at the clueless goddess.

"Ohhhh... Right... Irene?!" Hestia looked at the Saintess with begging eyes.

"Relax. People will still mix up our departments, so I will help you." The Elf rolled her eyes.

"It is going to be located in a very symbolic place..." Lavender took a few steps into the meadow. "After all, just behind these walls is our home, and only a few have the right to cross these gates."

"That is true." Amber nodded her head. "But it's hard to abandon what we have already built..."

"Hahaha! Speak for yourself, sister." Aoi giggled, and after making a spin, she leaned over her. "Finally, more space!"

"Riiiiiiight..." Amber smiled at the youngest Queen and hugged her.

"I thought I should show you this place so you could have more or less an idea of what we can build here."

"Let's go home and start planning!" Aoi's excitement was contagious as Luna and Irene started laughing and turned towards the carriage.

•••

While my wives were absorbed by the new office building project, I sneaked out to check what was happening in my office. To my surprise, after opening the doors, I found no one and nothing except for a handwritten letter admonishing me for peeking.

I started to read the letter aloud. "Tsk, tsk, tsk?'- Ah, Irene!" I exclaimed, and an echo in the empty, vast room returned my voice comically, making me snort. Soon after, I started laughing. "God, she knows me so well..."

I teleported away and sneaked back to the room, only to be caught by Irene, who wagged her finger at me. I smiled awkwardly, and she winked, which confirmed she was not angry at me for not listening to her. She put her other hand on her hip and approached me with a smile that played on her lips. "Theon, I told you to rest. Arcadia is not going to collapse without you for three days."

"Are you sure?" I asked nervously. "Cause, I'm not sure..."

"Stop, you silly!" She rolled her eyes and pulled me by my hand toward the table. "Take a look at what we... Hmmm... have almost decided."

I obediently followed her and saw plenty of models sculpted using the magic of the war table. It was Aoi who had discovered that ability before playing with it frequently, creating whatever she could imagine. As I was towed closer, I instantly recognized a few historic castles and palaces from my previous life. Unmistakably, there stood Neuschwanstein, or at least its main building or palace, accompanied by its towers. I tilted my head and furrowed my brows. I knew the second one, for sure, was a French one... Château de Chambord! Again, it was just the main building alone, without its fortifications. The third one was tough, but I was not going to give up easily. Bojnice? Probably... Those blue roofs were quite distinctive. Yeah. Most probably. The fourth one was almost out of place, and I was curious about who proposed The Pentagon. I mean... There would be more than enough space for our purposes. The next one was a Japanese castle. You just know when you see one. The fine, white building looked majestic, but it absolutely did not fit the rest of Avalon's architecture. Himeji Castle! Uhum, the knowledge of what I had in my books and reports always needed a few moments to emerge from my mind when I needed such information. Funny feeling... Anyway. Somehow, the Pentagon was more architecturally fitting than Himeji Castle. The last one... Purple roofs, neo-gothic? Or neo-renaissance? Umm... Both? A picturesque pond and gardens. Ok, it looks fairy-tale, I'm not gonna lie. I had to wait a bit longer for my 'memories' to kick in this time—Palace in Moszna.

"All right... I see you found some books." I started uncertainly as I sat behind the desk.

"Yes. At first, we wanted to choose one of them," Amber admitted blatantly. "But..."

"Yeah... 'But'. None of them meet our standards." Luna shrugged. "So we will copy what we like from each and create something we like."

"Makes sense." I nodded with a faint smile.

I first watched them create something horrible, which could only be described as a neo-renaissance Pentagon with gothic and baroque elements, and God only knows what else. So far, the Japanese style had yet to show itself, but I was sure it was a question of time. However, more time passed, and after listening to my few pieces of advice, the monstrosity in front of me started taking a more elegant form. There were a few arguments, but my Queens proved they could work together flawlessly. After a few hours, we stood before a very promising model. It looked like a cross between Neuschwanstein and the Palace in Moszna but scaled up, and instead of a pentagon shape, it was composed of ten buildings. The three of them formed a C-shaped front that was supposed to be adjacent to the main road. There would be located offices that I could only describe as public-related. These offices would also serve as meeting spaces, complete with the requisite honours, in case of visits from lower-ranking officials from other countries who could not meet with the Royal Family. Behind the front complex, the following two buildings would be erected, forming the entire complex into an H-shape. From here, an enclosed area would begin, where different departments could have their offices. The inner courtyard contained within could be used during some less official ceremonies. Luna and Lavender debated closing it under a giant glass dome, but they couldn't decide. Right behind it would be another four buildings creating a square, inside of which would be an even slightly taller building.

The structure would be accessible only through fully controlled access points, and less than one hundred Guardsmen would be more than enough to secure it. The building concept was exciting, and I couldn't be more proud that they had created it by themselves. It also fit the general style in which I had built Avalon, but at the same time, it was far more grandiose, giving it the distinctive look of an official building. The big, mostly five-story complex, with a seven-story towery building at its back, was over three hundred metres long. It provided an absurd amount of office space, conference rooms, two cafeterias very close to being called restaurants, and an open-air courtyard with a charming inner garden and a few birch trees to provide pleasant shade and help the Dryads acclimate. Additionally, the exterior of the building was diversified with half towers marking the conventional boundaries between the external buildings and impressive towers ending the external wings of the complex. The ease of the internal navigation was also put under extensive consideration, leading to the creation of simple but elegant solutions. The straight corridors, narrowed down by checkpoints, ran across the entire length of the complex, allowing everyone to reach their destination quickly. With that last problem solved and a general idea of how the office space should look formed, my wives officially called their project finished. Foolishly, I believed it was over, but I was wrong...

After my wives finished the project, they swiftly began to take their dibs on particular buildings of the structure. The three front buildings were general offices, and no one would reside there. But Hestia and Irene almost instantly picked up the next two buildings. However, Lavender and Amber were not going to give up that easily. Lavender wanted access to the green courtyard inside for her Dryads; after all, she insisted on that space for their sake. Amber was adamant that the central building behind the courtyard was perfect for her needs as Prime Minister. To my surprise, Hestia and Irene just shrugged that off and announced they needed just one of the off-limits buildings. They planned to take that complex's left or right wing and one of the publicly accessible buildings, depending on which one Lavender wanted. Aoi decided to put her flag on the building facing the City from the four buildings forming a square around the towery structure. From the start, that square-like tower was designated as my office. Luna decided to take the building at the back of the complex, adding an additional entrance that the mixed forces of Guardsmen and Living Armours would heavily guard. One of the buildings would stay unoccupied, but once we settled our rule in Arcadia, I was sure it would be filled by the people working for a new department yet to be created.

"Oh, my..." Amber looked at the clock and rubbed her cheeks. "It's no wonder I'm so tired!"

"We can go sleep now." Irene proposed and smiled. "Tomorrow... Well, in the morning today, we can drop our plans in the Architects Guild. I want Beryl to take a look at them."

I agreed, and surprisingly for me, I yawned, tired. I thought it was a thing of the past, but maybe my mental condition was influencing my body? Still, I already felt a bit better, so Irene was right all along. I was recovering mentally much slower than physically. After taking a shower, Luna sent me to the realm of dreams...