Luka remained silent and waited patiently for Iris to make a choice.
He ignored the strange aura leaking from Galatea as she snapped several wooden utensils while grumbling. Paid no attention to the warrior Brea, instead shifting his hand further up her thigh, kneading the soft flesh to help calm his mind.
[Oblivion Devoured Brea's Lust and Wrath]
[Desire: +10]
[Sin Energy: 175 --> 176]
'Oh?! Almost the same level as a Tier One using my father's system! Brea's Lust, huh? How interesting.'
The knight he used as a pseudo chair remained quite sullen the moment he leaned back against her breasts; somehow, he wanted to see what remained in her little head.
However, the biggest issue now wasn't how to sleep with this buxom warrior, but the petite dwarf whom he had offered marriage to a few minutes earlier.
As if reading his mind, Iris finally spoke after remaining silent for a short while.
"W-Will you get rid of the goblins?"
"Hm, what is that all you wish for?"
Iris shook her head, "No, but if you are going to get rid of the goblins, then... It will change everything."
Luka felt a tangible heat seething from her body as she stared into his eyes. There was little trace of the nervous, fearful princess from earlier. He couldn't help but wonder if his words triggered something within her.
This time, he answered her honestly, glancing at Galatea.
"Even if you weren't here, I planned to slaughter all the goblins for any sins they have or might have committed in the future."
His tone deepened as he mentioned their sins.
He gazed directly into Galatea's eyes, unable to pull himself away.
Luka understood Iris and Brea's intense rage and heartache all too well. If he could return to his former life now and reach out to caress the scarred cheek of Galatea and tell her it didn't matter what happened, he would happily accept her as she was.
Not as her master or commander, but a man.
'I never realised why she desired the divine baptism until it was too late.'
Galatea's pupils dilated the moment he spoke of their sins, both of them staring at each other without speaking.
'Why, why does she feel so different right now?'
The subtle layer of mist covering her eyes, the sharper and more vicious glance and how she looked about ready to cry any minute after his words.
'I want to know!'
However, before he could, she suddenly tore her gaze away and stood from the table, almost tripping as she walked out of the tent.
Luka struggled to see her clearly, but he was sure that the mood around her had changed.
'Was she smiling as she left?'
Bang!
A sudden noise yanked him from his momentary reflection as he turned to find Iris standing right in front of him.
She stared up at him while gnawing on her swollen lips, a bad habit most likely gained during her years as a bandit militia. Although red from the dried tears and frustration, there was no defeat or surrender in her gaze.
'She's a little different from before.'
"What must I do, Lord of Babylon?"
"It depends on what you ask of me, Princess of the Dwarves."
"Stop it!
Don't use that foul title.
I am Iris, just Iris.
Daughter of Irina and Claude Fenix, proud blacksmiths of the Dwarven realm."
Luka smirked, appreciating her newfound attitude, neither the arrogance of a princess nor the rude nature of a militia.
'Maybe this is the true Iris Fenix.'
Beside her, Brea broke free of Luka's idle paws, enjoying her thighs like a cheap rascal and knelt beside Iris.
"I am Brenna, a former Templar of the Dwarven order. If my Liege takes your hand, then I, too, will set aside our differences and accept your orders. Lord Luka."
'Templar, Templar, Templar
A stiff bunch who love rules, regulations and my brother.
Screw them all!'
"I have one question, Brenna. Will you serve me as Brea, the protector and knight of Iris, or Brenna of the Templar Knights who serve Michael?"
Luka despised the Templar Knights, an organisation that ignored your race and only asked you to follow their tenets.
If Brenna chose the Templar.
He would have her bow out of this scenario via accidental death.
Her gaze appeared confused, she stared up into his eyes without a word, before spitting on the floor and unbuttoning her tightly bound chest.
"I have long abandoned their annoying ways. It is a past that only brought me frustration."
Once she stopped, Brea remained silent as if waiting for his input.
'Well, they do prefer only men...'
He found her more appealing as she showed more of her wild and unkept side, something that neither of the women he'd taken an interest in held.
She resembled Furia.
His mount.
Luka nodded, accepting that this wild woman would hate those strict rules and forcing women to dress like men to accept his inferior blessing.
"Then what is your current goal?"
"My only desire is to protect the Princess and our people who remain lost."
"Very well, for now this is enough."
He lowered his body and covered her ear, whispering into the small gap. "In the future, I will ask you to denounce Michael in front of me in private."
Brea shuddered with a rough gasp.
She watched Luka pull away with wide eyes, as if unable to comprehend someone who would denounce a god.
"Understood?"
"Y-Yes, My Lord."
"Call me Luka, not Lord. I shall not ask you to serve me yet. I only wish for genuine followers, so until the moment you yourself desire to serve. I will accept the little disgrace of such a powerful warrior calling me by name."
"Warrior?" Brea's lips curled upward as she slowly stood.
[Oblivion devoured Brea's Pride]
[Desire +1]
'I see, that's what you desire.'
[Princess Iris la Fenix has improved her opinion of you!]
[Loyalty, Affection and Corruption Increased!]
[Brea Phalanx has gained a deeper understanding of your nature—her opinion has improved greatly!]
...
After the two women offered their servitude, Luka rejected one and tentatively accepted the princess, though his available slots weren't enough.
'I need to grow stronger somehow...'
But the first thing he needed to do was convince the Dwarf Princess fully.
"So, you wish for me to save the villagers, despite their hellish torture, mental damage and physical trauma?"
Luka leaned back on the makeshift seat, crossing his legs on the table while letting his hands rest on Brea's warm thighs.
It seemed that after he accepted them, her resistance waned.
Rather, he could swear she seemed to enjoy it when he slid up and down underneath the table outside of everyone's eyes.
Sitting on the opposite side of the table, Iris is now facing him as a negotiation partner and equal. She'd completely transformed herself. No longer aggressive or violent like the militia and bandit act from earlier, but a well-trained and educated lady of the palace.
"I would very much appreciate your assistance."
Iris then tapped the map and leaned forward, her nightgown loose enough that her pink buds peeked from the gap.
'Her areola is small and pretty.'
[Oblivion has devoured your excessive Lust]
[Desire + 10]
A burst of clarity restored his mind as she drove a dagger into the map beside his from earlier in the conversation.
"My forces will take the brunt of the attack. I only ask that you spare a dozen knights and archers to aid me and my people to launch a blitz through the hidden entrance from the underground."
"Mmmn~"
Brea stifled a moan as Luka squeezed her thigh. His fingers sank into the flesh beneath her nightgown and found a dagger inside a leather strap.
'Oh? Good thing I didn't go too far before.'
"What's wrong, Brea?!"
Of course, the princess wouldn't miss such a strange reaction.
"N-nothing, it's just a little c-cold, Princess!"
When Brea glared at him, he slipped his hand around the dagger and pushed the handle against the damp stain on her cotton undergarments.
He rubbed the handle along the outline of her petals each time she tried to complain with her eyes, which caused the little Templar to tremble and clamp her thighs together.
"Understood, speak with Vaun and Gerard for the direct numbers, but I won't allow anyone unprepared to die to join you. I only planned to attack with a small number of forces; most of the men here are amateurs."
Suddenly, Iris giggled before speaking in a brighter, more intimate tone.
'Honestly, this side of her is cute.'
He found her to be like fresh air compared to Luvia the vixen, Galatea the fierce knight and Brea the wild barbarian.
"To be honest, I never expected you to be this kind of man. Though a little crass and rough around the edges, I respect greatly how you value your men's lives. Thus, I won't ask them to risk their lives more than needed, Lord of Babylon."
"The feeling is mutual, I believed you to be a foolish girl, though my offer for an oath, or promise, remains."
That's when Iris tilted her head and tapped the map, her fingers danced across Babylon, Amol and then to the dwarven lands across the massive southern mountains.
"I do not have to ask you to help me take revenge on the dwarves, but as my spouse, I ask you to remain open to such a possibility should they learn of my existence."
"S-Spouse?"
"Hahaha, what? Are you scared now? You should have thought about that before proposing to me like that. Though I am but a fallen princess, I still need to keep my blood at a certain level, and you are the only noble who has asked for my hand."
'Did I step on some kind of trap!?'
The aggressive Iris took his mind off controlling his hand, and he suddenly felt a silky damp spread between the fingers grasping the dagger inside Brea's thigh.
'Hmm?'
He turned to the side, finding Brea leaning against the table, her face buried with both arms, while her entire body quivered uncontrollably as she squeezed her thighs so tight she almost snapped his wrist.
That's when he heard a sudden sound play inside his mind.
[Bandit Brea has gained the Passive Skill - Masochist (Level 1)]
[Bandit Brea has gained the Passive Skill - Excessive Moisture (Level 1)]
[Oblivion has devoured Bandit Brea's Lust]
[Desire +20]
'Wow... was she that horny!?'