Amidst all the preparations, Andrew found some time to restart his training routine, which he had been neglecting for a while now, thanks to all the recent events.
He also finally got to officially greet the independent merchant residing at his station.
Of course, he already knew that she was one of the leaders of the Ilinian collective, but he decided not to reveal this information to her.
Venra, on the other hand, was truly immersed in her merchant work and blessed the few days that the Kinokians had bought her to go through the list of available items, which was impressively long and very detailed.
The items she was most interested in were the clothing items from Earth, which she fell in love with, and was even more delighted to hear that there were a few dozen seamstresses on the planet who would be more than happy to make a personalized outfit if she so desired.
-I'm sorry that you had to wait so long for an audience, and I hope that this wait didn't make a bad impression about my empire.
The emperor apologized after the greetings.
-Your Majesty has nothing to apologize for.
The merchant shook her head slightly.
-In the battle-verse, this sort of thing is normal, and waiting for these few days allowed me to browse through the merchandise list and find many items that piqued my interest.
-I'm glad to hear that.
Andrew sighed in his mind, as the last thing he needed was to make a bad impression on an independent merchant and one who was a part of the first thousand.
-As for the trade arrangements that you inquired about.
Andrew continued speaking.
-My empire is open to all honest merchants willing to do business with us.
-I'm happy to hear that, and by the same token, the Nersew kingdom will also happily greet Lantean merchants when they arrive.
Venra said with a pleasant smile.
As much as she didn't wish to ruin her sister's fun, she could not hold herself back from doing business with this empire.
What's more, this young emperor, who looked not much younger than herself, intrigued her.
Not to mention that he looked pleasing to her eyes.
After that brief audience which lasted only a few more minutes, these two encountered each other a few more times.
However, the most memorable for Venra was their encounter in the training module, which was just a hangar filled with all kinds of training equipment, either brought from Earth or bought from merchants.
Three days after the audience, the two of them just so happened to meet there.
Andrew intended to practice martial arts and use some gym equipment from Earth, while Venra went there to conduct her daily training, which, by the way, she would love to skip, but unfortunately, her sister would find out very quickly if she neglected her training.
She didn't want to experience the punishment for that once again, as the memories of the last time she did that still made her shiver from fear.
-Is Your Majesty up for a little sparring match?
She asked after she finished her training and watched as Andrew trained on the wooden dummy.
-I see no reason to refuse, and drop the whole Your Majesty, since this is not an official meeting.
Just call me by my name.
Andrew agreed and turned to the young alien.
-Alright.
The merchant agreed happily.
She hated all these titles nearly as much as he did, so she preferred this arrangement.
-So, do we establish any rules or simply go all out, short of killing or seriously injuring each other?
Venra asked.
She was curious about this human's hand-to-hand combat skills.
-Whichever you prefer.
Andrew left the decision to her, as with the regeneration tanks, they could heal any injuries that were not immediately fatal.
He quietly hoped that she would choose to go all out.
The reason for that was simple.
Thanks to his martial arts and still-progressing evolution, which made him much faster and stronger during the last few months, he had a hard time finding any sparring partners.
Lastly, he observed her training just now, and that was enough to confirm that she was also a skilled fighter, which piqued his interest.
-Going all out it is then.
Venra said happily, as it was a long while since she could go wild.
Both of them moved to the sparring area of the hangar, and just to be on the safe side, Andrew called in a few medical droids.
This, however, immediately brought his ladies over, since the moment he called the droids, Iliana was notified, and she contacted the rest of the ladies.
-Don't worry, I won't hurt him.
The merchant said, seeing all the ladies come in.
-Much.
She added with a confident smile.
-Oh, we are not here to stop you.
Aelita answered, also with a smile.
-We came to enjoy the show.
Nairin added and sat down outside the sparring area, and the rest of the ladies followed her.
Lanarine even took out a camera to let the admirals join in on the fun.
-As for hurting him, we will need to see if you can do so or not.
Ilia said with a grin.
-And if you can, we can simply toss him into a regeneration tank.
She explained, and all the ladies nodded in agreement.
Venra was stunned, hearing this, especially since she knew that all of them were his empresses, so it made no sense for them to encourage her.
The ladies, on the other hand, were hoping that this demon-like alien could put Andrew in his place, as he was getting too proud of his hand-to-hand combat skills.
Regretfully, neither of them was his match anymore, so they had to hope that someone from outside could teach him a lesson in their place.
Not to mention that it would be satisfying to see him brought down a notch or two.
-I don't mind having an audience.
Andrew shrugged.
He knew why they were there, and he was not planning on giving them the satisfaction of seeing him getting a beating.
-Me neither.
Venra agreed.
-Ready when you are.
The emperor said with a smile as soon as he was ready and stood in the middle of the mat, bowing to his opponent, who did the same, right before the first punches were thrown.