With the Shadowsoul destroyed, monsters vanished from the surface of Lumaria. Thankfully, there were still plenty in the Underground Forest for us to farm. With the surface now monster-free, people could spread throughout the land without the need of shield crystals.
People were safe from monsters, but they weren’t necessarily safe from each other’s greed. I worked with Emperor Dukas to form a fair system for land allocation, so that the nobles couldn’t gobble up all the monster-free land. With so much land available to cultivate, small, family-owned farms were the best solution, and I made certain to impress this upon him and his ministers.
No serfdom. No corporate farming system. Everyone should have land to farm, if they wanted it. While I couldn’t control the other countries of Lumaria, I could at least make this vision a reality on the island and in the empire.
I also sent heralds across the world to proclaim that it was the curseborn who had felled the Shadowsoul. Soon enough, people would replace their hatred for curseborn with admiration. Maybe even love.
Speaking of love, the time had come for my wedding to Samantha. We decided to hold it in Whispering Waters. Like with the festival, I assigned each of my wives a task in order to make it the greatest wedding Lumaria had ever seen. It helped that I had over a hundred wives to order around, too.
Dukas and Samantha were certainly surprised to learn I’d amassed so many more wives in the span of a few days. But it wasn’t a sore point; as the future emperor, it was my right to take as many wives as I wanted.
Not that I wanted or even needed anymore wives. I decided Samantha would be my final wife. I couldn’t even remember all their names, let alone give them each the time, attention, and bedroom fun that they deserved.
Famous last words, I thought to myself as I waved at all the wedding guests while sitting on my throne.
“What are you thinking about, husband?” Samantha asked. “Wow, it sure sounds good to say that word!”
She looked stunning in her gleaming tiara and diamond-threaded dress, which Ruby had crafted for her.
“I’m thinking about how beautiful you are.”
“Are you sure? It looked like you were in deep thought for a moment there.”
Maybe I ought to begin our relationship on a more honest footing. “Just wondering about the world, and what’s going to happen now that there’s so much land for everyone.”
“You can think about all that stuff later. You just felled a god, married a princess, and became the emperor. You ought to take a few months off.”
“A few months isn’t going to be possible, sadly. But I can take a few days off, I suppose.”
Samantha leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “You better spend them all with me.”
It seemed Samantha had hidden her demanding side from me during our brief meetings prior to this marriage. She was a princess, so I ought to not be surprised by her expectations of me. But I couldn’t give her special treatment over my other wives just because of her high-born status.
They were each equal, in my eyes. Well, Esme had a special place in my heart since she was my first.
Speaking of Esme, I noticed her watching me from her seat at the front of the crowd. She smiled, and I smiled back. She’d done a terrific job finding the perfect wedding flowers to adorn Whispering Waters. She’d chosen desert roses from the desert floor of the Underground Forest. The roses brought so much color to the place.
Filia waved at me, and I waved back. She was sitting next to Abigail, whom I’d learned was a bit of a troublemaker. She used her charm ability in evil ways; she even tried to charm Miranda into building her a mansion, but unfortunately for her, Miranda’s stats were higher.
Ayla climbed the dais and curtsied.
“I suppose I’m not your queen, anymore,” she said rather somberly.
“You’ll always be my queen,” I replied. “This changes nothing.”
“I heard you’re managing Port City,” Samantha said to her. “Remy is so lucky to have someone like you. I mean, I’ve lived in a palace all my life, and read a lot of books while there, but I have to admit — I suck at dealing with people.”
Ayla smiled at her. “I’m sure you’ll get better at it. You’ll be dealing with all of us, now, after all.”
Samantha let out a nervous chuckle. “True. I just hope everyone is nice.”
Sherry approached from behind. “Oh we’re all really nice, except when Remy doesn’t fuck us. It’s hard to be nice when you’re horny.”
“W-Watch the language!” I said, suddenly embarrassed in front of my new wife.
Samantha laughed heartily. “You better keep fucking them, Remy.”
“Well of course,” I replied. “I’m gonna have to pump up my strength stat all the way to 100. But even then, I’m not sure there’s enough time in the day to fuck over a hundred women.”
I can’t believe I was framing this as a problem, but it sort of was. Probably the best problem to have, though.
Tara and Maria climbed the dais with trays full of cakes.
“You didn’t make those from oozes, did you?” I asked.
Maria nodded. “Of course we did. I had to get ginger from the ginger ooze on the 3rd floor.”
I shook my head in disgust. “Can’t you just grow ginger like a normal person?”
“Grow ginger?” Maria raised her eyebrows. “Are you insane? Ginger doesn’t grow on trees.”
Tara stuffed a piece of ginger cake in my mouth. It was delicious, obviously, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to retch.
I managed to hold it in.
“I read that they keep oozes as pets on the western continent,” Samantha said.
“I wouldn’t mind a pet ooze,” replied Tara. “What do they even eat?”
“Rats, I think,” Samantha said.
I’d had enough ooze talk for the day. “Excuse me.” I stood up. “I think it’s time I made the rounds.”
I approached Emperor Dukas, first. He was chatting with Alfonso and Miranda near the half-finished fountain that Miranda had constructed.
“Remy,” Miranda said. “Have you decided what pose you want for your statue?”
Oh no, not this topic again. Sherry had given me a good idea, though. “Umm, me tossing a flame spear, I guess.”
Dukas slapped me on the back so hard the ginger cake almost shot up my esophagus. “My son-in-law needs to become far more decisive if he’s going to make a good emperor.”
“Oh, I can be decisive… Father.” Dukas certainly liked when I called him that. “It’s just that in all the time I’ve been alive, I never imagined someone would build a statue of me, and so hadn’t given it much thought until Miranda asked me about it out of the blue.”
“Well obviously if you’re to be the emperor, then you must have a statue,” she said. “It’s common sense, isn’t it?”
Alfonso laughed. “Remy did not win his throne using common sense, that much is obvious. It seemed he defied common sense at every turn. Building his capital city in a dungeon, marrying over a hundred curseborn women — are these things any sensible man would do?” He gave me a playful grin.
“You’re not wrong, Alfonso,” I replied.
“Common sense does not make a man into an emperor,” Dukas said. “That much I can certainly tell you.”
I noticed Filia watching me, again. I went over to where she was sitting. She stood and gave me a polite bow.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. It’s about my past.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d been hiding something. Not every day I marry a woman with her own island inside its own pocket universe.”
“I’m just going to say it. I’m… also a princess. My father was the former emperor.”
That wasn’t what I was expecting to hear. I thought she was going to tell me about how she used to steal stuff from rich people, or something.
“If that’s true, why doesn’t Dukas recognize you?” I asked.
“Because the last time he saw me was when I was a child. Remy, please don’t tell him or anyone else. This is a secret between you and me, okay?”
I had so many questions. “What happened to your father?”
“He died fighting monsters. Dukas took over right after, and I was sent to live in the mountains, since I was a curseborn. The island is the only thing I own that used to belong to my father, so please take care of it, Remy.”
“It’s not mine, Filia. It’s yours.”
Filia shook her head. “No. I gave it to you, and it means more to me that way. You’re the emperor now, and also my husband, so it’s with its rightful owner. That’s what I believe.”
I gave her a kiss and hug. “I won’t tell anyone, Filia. Thank you for confiding in me.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Remy. For everything.”
With the Shadowsoul destroyed, monsters vanished from the surface of Lumaria. Thankfully, there were still plenty in the Underground Forest for us to farm. With the surface now monster-free, people could spread throughout the land without the need of shield crystals.
People were safe from monsters, but they weren’t necessarily safe from each other’s greed. I worked with Emperor Dukas to form a fair system for land allocation, so that the nobles couldn’t gobble up all the monster-free land. With so much land available to cultivate, small, family-owned farms were the best solution, and I made certain to impress this upon him and his ministers.
No serfdom. No corporate farming system. Everyone should have land to farm, if they wanted it. While I couldn’t control the other countries of Lumaria, I could at least make this vision a reality on the island and in the empire.
I also sent heralds across the world to proclaim that it was the curseborn who had felled the Shadowsoul. Soon enough, people would replace their hatred for curseborn with admiration. Maybe even love.
Speaking of love, the time had come for my wedding to Samantha. We decided to hold it in Whispering Waters. Like with the festival, I assigned each of my wives a task in order to make it the greatest wedding Lumaria had ever seen. It helped that I had over a hundred wives to order around, too.
Dukas and Samantha were certainly surprised to learn I’d amassed so many more wives in the span of a few days. But it wasn’t a sore point; as the future emperor, it was my right to take as many wives as I wanted.
Not that I wanted or even needed anymore wives. I decided Samantha would be my final wife. I couldn’t even remember all their names, let alone give them each the time, attention, and bedroom fun that they deserved.
Famous last words, I thought to myself as I waved at all the wedding guests while sitting on my throne.
“What are you thinking about, husband?” Samantha asked. “Wow, it sure sounds good to say that word!”
She looked stunning in her gleaming tiara and diamond-threaded dress, which Ruby had crafted for her.
“I’m thinking about how beautiful you are.”
“Are you sure? It looked like you were in deep thought for a moment there.”
Maybe I ought to begin our relationship on a more honest footing. “Just wondering about the world, and what’s going to happen now that there’s so much land for everyone.”
“You can think about all that stuff later. You just felled a god, married a princess, and became the emperor. You ought to take a few months off.”
“A few months isn’t going to be possible, sadly. But I can take a few days off, I suppose.”
Samantha leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “You better spend them all with me.”
It seemed Samantha had hidden her demanding side from me during our brief meetings prior to this marriage. She was a princess, so I ought to not be surprised by her expectations of me. But I couldn’t give her special treatment over my other wives just because of her high-born status.
They were each equal, in my eyes. Well, Esme had a special place in my heart since she was my first.
Speaking of Esme, I noticed her watching me from her seat at the front of the crowd. She smiled, and I smiled back. She’d done a terrific job finding the perfect wedding flowers to adorn Whispering Waters. She’d chosen desert roses from the desert floor of the Underground Forest. The roses brought so much color to the place.
Filia waved at me, and I waved back. She was sitting next to Abigail, whom I’d learned was a bit of a troublemaker. She used her charm ability in evil ways; she even tried to charm Miranda into building her a mansion, but unfortunately for her, Miranda’s stats were higher.
Ayla climbed the dais and curtsied.
“I suppose I’m not your queen, anymore,” she said rather somberly.
“You’ll always be my queen,” I replied. “This changes nothing.”
“I heard you’re managing Port City,” Samantha said to her. “Remy is so lucky to have someone like you. I mean, I’ve lived in a palace all my life, and read a lot of books while there, but I have to admit — I suck at dealing with people.”
Ayla smiled at her. “I’m sure you’ll get better at it. You’ll be dealing with all of us, now, after all.”
Samantha let out a nervous chuckle. “True. I just hope everyone is nice.”
Sherry approached from behind. “Oh we’re all really nice, except when Remy doesn’t fuck us. It’s hard to be nice when you’re horny.”
“W-Watch the language!” I said, suddenly embarrassed in front of my new wife.
Samantha laughed heartily. “You better keep fucking them, Remy.”
“Well of course,” I replied. “I’m gonna have to pump up my strength stat all the way to 100. But even then, I’m not sure there’s enough time in the day to fuck over a hundred women.”
I can’t believe I was framing this as a problem, but it sort of was. Probably the best problem to have, though.
Tara and Maria climbed the dais with trays full of cakes.
“You didn’t make those from oozes, did you?” I asked.
Maria nodded. “Of course we did. I had to get ginger from the ginger ooze on the 3rd floor.”
I shook my head in disgust. “Can’t you just grow ginger like a normal person?”
“Grow ginger?” Maria raised her eyebrows. “Are you insane? Ginger doesn’t grow on trees.”
Tara stuffed a piece of ginger cake in my mouth. It was delicious, obviously, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to retch.
I managed to hold it in.
“I read that they keep oozes as pets on the western continent,” Samantha said.
“I wouldn’t mind a pet ooze,” replied Tara. “What do they even eat?”
“Rats, I think,” Samantha said.
I’d had enough ooze talk for the day. “Excuse me.” I stood up. “I think it’s time I made the rounds.”
I approached Emperor Dukas, first. He was chatting with Alfonso and Miranda near the half-finished fountain that Miranda had constructed.
“Remy,” Miranda said. “Have you decided what pose you want for your statue?”
Oh no, not this topic again. Sherry had given me a good idea, though. “Umm, me tossing a flame spear, I guess.”
Dukas slapped me on the back so hard the ginger cake almost shot up my esophagus. “My son-in-law needs to become far more decisive if he’s going to make a good emperor.”
“Oh, I can be decisive… Father.” Dukas certainly liked when I called him that. “It’s just that in all the time I’ve been alive, I never imagined someone would build a statue of me, and so hadn’t given it much thought until Miranda asked me about it out of the blue.”
“Well obviously if you’re to be the emperor, then you must have a statue,” she said. “It’s common sense, isn’t it?”
Alfonso laughed. “Remy did not win his throne using common sense, that much is obvious. It seemed he defied common sense at every turn. Building his capital city in a dungeon, marrying over a hundred curseborn women — are these things any sensible man would do?” He gave me a playful grin.
“You’re not wrong, Alfonso,” I replied.
“Common sense does not make a man into an emperor,” Dukas said. “That much I can certainly tell you.”
I noticed Filia watching me, again. I went over to where she was sitting. She stood and gave me a polite bow.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. It’s about my past.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d been hiding something. Not every day I marry a woman with her own island inside its own pocket universe.”
“I’m just going to say it. I’m… also a princess. My father was the former emperor.”
That wasn’t what I was expecting to hear. I thought she was going to tell me about how she used to steal stuff from rich people, or something.
“If that’s true, why doesn’t Dukas recognize you?” I asked.
“Because the last time he saw me was when I was a child. Remy, please don’t tell him or anyone else. This is a secret between you and me, okay?”
I had so many questions. “What happened to your father?”
“He died fighting monsters. Dukas took over right after, and I was sent to live in the mountains, since I was a curseborn. The island is the only thing I own that used to belong to my father, so please take care of it, Remy.”
“It’s not mine, Filia. It’s yours.”
Filia shook her head. “No. I gave it to you, and it means more to me that way. You’re the emperor now, and also my husband, so it’s with its rightful owner. That’s what I believe.”
I gave her a kiss and hug. “I won’t tell anyone, Filia. Thank you for confiding in me.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Remy. For everything.”
