Chapter 1542 – Lovable Conspiracy
They offered Lulu a service she perhaps hadn’t even known she wanted. First Aclysia, then Beatrice, the maids bowed down over the empress, claiming her lips. Perhaps Rave would be annoyed that it was the maids who claimed the first sapphic kisses of the empress, but John could hardly deny them. After the previous orgy, during which they had only ever played with the sensitive throat that John had previously claimed, the maids had a hunger that required sating.
Two dragon maids made out with the dragon sovereign, swapping back and forth, until Lulu could no longer be forced to choose and pulled both of them close. John could not just sit there and watch – he had to add to the scene. His hands roaming Lulu’s body once more found their way down to her crotch.
He made her close her delectably shaped thighs. The warmth of the pliable flesh enveloped his cock. While his fingers rubbed her clit and softly squeezed her petite, left breast, he rocked back and forth. His cock glided over her pussy lips. Minutes passed, filled with Lulu’s ever increasing moans, until she came again.
The Master and his maids watched the imperial tomboy spasm between his arms. Holding her in a gentle embrace, he kept lightly teasing her sensitive areas, until the last of the aftershocks had run its course.
“I am an overthinker,” John admitted. “I also get quite easily distracted by women too attractive and daring for their own good.”
“Oh, I think this is for my good,” Lulu disagreed in a dreamy tone. Then, she cleared her throat and opened her thighs. “But!” she said as she stood up. “That’s a bit too close to the line not yet to be crossed.”
John, feeling her sticky love juices on his cock, could fully understand. He watched her cross the tiny divide between the two chairs. Aclysia and Beatrice looked at his erection, but stood patiently in front of his armchair, awaiting instruction before just kneeling down and taking care of it. “This place had a closet full of games, yes?”
“”Affirmative,”” the maids answered in unison.
“Could you see if they have chess?” John turned the question to Lulu before the maids actually walked away. “You wouldn’t mind a game of chess, would you?”
“Hmmm, we can play a few. I don’t fancy my chances though. You strike me as the kind of superhuman that would memorize all of the winning sequences by accident.”
John could only let out a dry chuckle. Even if he hadn’t, his erudite Intellect moved a bit too fast not to figure out most moves in advance. “By pure numbers, we’re evenly matched,” he revealed to her. It wasn’t exactly true. Her Intelligence was just above 1000. Since that was a ‘combined’ Stat representing his Intellect and Wisdom, as close as those Stats could map onto a ‘regular’ person, his equivalent would be somewhere between 1000 and 3600, all buffs accounted for. Since chess was mostly a game of pure logic, Intellect would help a lot more here than Wisdom.
“Yeah, in your numbers,” Lulu answered. “To be honest, though, I never was especially good when it comes to pure logic games. My strengths are in reading the complications of court life and other such stupid things.”
John hummed, one eyebrow raised. He could not believe that someone of her Intellect was not at least somewhat able to play chess, but if she did not think it would be a balanced, fun game, then he had no interest in forcing her. “Try to find something with at least a bit of randomness involved,” he instructed the maids. “A board game, preferably.”
“”Yes, Master,”” they answered in unison yet again, before making their way to the second level, where the games were stored.
In the meantime, John turned back to Lulu. His own cock was still hard, protesting his decision not to have anyone serve him. That was the only distraction, though, otherwise the mood in the room had once again cooled. Lulu sipped on her drink; he leaned back in his armchair. “I really don’t want you to regret anything we do,” he confessed. “That’s what made me hesitate earlier.”
“I get that.” Lulu’s response met his sincerity. “It’s honestly a bit confusing how… straightforward things are when I’m alone with you.” The Heavenly Jade Empress put the drink down with measured force, creating a satisfying ‘clack’ of glass on wood. “Love,” she mused, “you wanted me to love you and I feel myself getting there. It takes control out of my hands and I don’t like that… but somehow I don’t care that much.” She shrugged and smiled at him, fangs showing. “If you break my trust, I’ll break you over my knee.”
The threat wasn’t idle, neither was it completely serious. John let out a weak chuckle and shook his head. “I’ve had relationships that didn't work out before,” he said. “Well, I had one relationship that I considered to have potential sink before.”
“Only one?” Lulu asked.
“Only one – You might not believe it, but I am picky when it comes to my haremettes,” the Gamer told her.
“No, I do believe you,” Lulu assured and tilted her head. “I’ve seen powerful eunuchs and noblemen gather harems for themselves by claiming serf maids and unfortunate but attractive villagers. The character of those harems and yours are entirely different. I wouldn’t be interested if they weren’t.”
“Glad to hear it.” John turned his head as Aclysia and Beatrice returned with a boardgame of some kind. The maids put it up, while the conversation continued. “I suppose the only thing we can do is let you continue to move on according to your intuitions?”
“Yep.” Lulu stretched, her small, shapely breasts looking wonderful as she did so. Yes, jiggling tits were gorgeous, but there was a lot to be said about petite chests and the ways their shape was affected by the movement of the shoulders and curving of the spine. “Hasn’t failed me so far. Besides, if we leave out the strip club part, I like the way my first kiss sounds.” She put on a husky, romantic tone, as if narrating a noir novel, “It was a hot summer day. My secret lover and I sought protection from the eyes of the public in a building at the edge of town. There, we embraced, and as I laid in his arms, I simply could not resist any longer. He offered a kiss, he gave me the choice, and I took it. A sweeping moment and the beginning of the tragic story of how I found him murdered.”
John laughed at the sudden end. “Why do I die?”
“It’s not much of a noir story if no one dies a tragic death, is it?”
The Gamer hummed thoughtfully and grabbed the instruction manual. For a few minutes, they distracted themselves by learning how the game was played. It was a variant of Carcassonne, so the principles were fairly easy. They began to put down tiles and continued their conversation.
“You said eunuchs at your court gather harems?” John asked, interested. “How does that work?”
“You know, this way or that way,” Lulu answered, while sorting through the hand of tiles she had been given at game start. “The tradition of making eunuchs has met a great amount of difficulties over the years. To start with, there was always debate about whether you take it all off or just the scrotum.” John tried not to twitch at the mention of balls getting sliced off – he mostly succeeded. “Then there are the eunuchs that circumvent the issue by having healers help them afterwards. They’re not supposed to, but who cares to check?”
“I won’t lie, I find the practice barbaric anyhow.”
“I understand, but it is tradition,” Lulu answered. She ran a hand through her greyish black hair. “I haven’t resolved yet if that one is worth touching. The idea behind the inception was that officials that can’t pass down any wealth accrued would be less prone to maximizing their personal gain.”
“Seems to me that people that don’t have a good name to pass down are more likely to surround themselves with material pleasures,” John stated.
“Yeaaaaaaaah,” the Heavenly Jade Empress shrugged, “can’t say you’re wrong, but touching the core of our administrative system goes beyond my current political capital. We have bigger issues. Perhaps after we get married? I could justify a few things if the way you ran Fusion proved to be more successful.” She gave him a teasing wink.
“I’ll consider being your sacrificial lamb.” John chuckled and put down the next tile. “You’ve made being one enjoyable so far.”
“My Gamer attractor was a full success.”
“…Did the other girls tell you that’s what they called your butt emphasis thingy?”
“Did they?” Lulu laughed. “Your harem is so wise.”
“Well, they can’t be that wise, putting up with me.”
“Everyone has their sins,” the imperial tomboy bantered back immediately. The jade dragon on her skin wound its way up to her shoulder, looking over the tiles she was holding. “We do not desire perfection, only something good, something prosperous, something that endures in the chain of legacies that spans from past to future.”
“I’ll do my best to offer that,” John said sincerely.
“Yes, you will.” The Heavenly Jade Empress looked up, dragon and woman, from the game. Her pupils were slit, the irises surrounded by white, surrounded by a dusting of jade green. Subtle scales rose from her skin, framing her attractive features like the strands of her open hair. “That is why you were chosen pragmatically. We have confidence in your ability.” She blinked, and all green beyond her eyes was gone, the pupils back to round dots. “I have growing confidence in your character.”
John smiled, exceptionally pleased. “A change of topic, before you flatter me to death.”
“Oooh! That would be a good way to bring about that tragic death!”
“Would you be willing to share with me what you know about the movements in Japan?”
Lulu froze in the middle of her motion of putting down the next tile. It only lasted a split second, then she placed down the tile. “You and your harem will hear this, no one beyond,” she told him. “If Fusion makes undue preparations, we will know.”
“You’re welcome to send me an ambassador of some kind. Someone loyal to you that you can use to keep an eye on things – and that we can use as a middleman for meetings like this,” John offered. To invite a spy into the heart of his realm was an unorthodox move, but they were already putting many of their cards on the table. Plus, even with their mutual confusion at the fact, they were unified by the wish to move towards the assumption that they would eventually be truly in love with each other.
“We will consider this offer. Do you swear your oath to secrecy?”
“I swear by my honour.”
“Your honour, so we hear, is stained, John Newman.”
The Gamer took a deep breath, while Lulu took a sip of her drink. “I’ll accept the accusation that I have interpreted some agreements liberally to my advantage,” he said. “But I am not an oath breaker and I have not yet done anything that would dishonour me.”
Across the table, Lulu smirked, fangs showing. A moment later, they were hidden behind her jade fan. “You must excuse us, it is entertaining to test you,” the Heavenly Jade Empress stated. “On your honour, then, we accept. We have no concrete information regarding the rise of a new shogun in the lands of Japan. However, we do have our theories because of that lack of information. Are you familiar with the twilight twins?”
“Serestra and Peranthis, First of Shadow and Light, eighth and eleventh of the Metracanas. Originally servants at your court...” He looked specifically at the dragon when he said ‘your’. “…but eventually exiled because they caused civil strife, leading to the warring states period.”
“An apt summary and where this story begins. Their exiling occurred around 1440 of the western calendar. Of course, our spymasters at the time kept an eye on the Metracanas. We opted not to slay such ancient forces, for their seeking of a worthy king was a tradition that runs deep in this world. However, our patience is not endless, and the tradition of slaying those returning from exile runs deeper. They were wise enough not to test us. They moved east instead.”
“To Japan,” John realized immediately, putting down the next tile.
“Hey!” Lulu complained. “I wanted to put mine there.”
“Too bad,” the Gamer teased her.
“And I can’t even flash my cleavage at you to bribe you, naked as I am,” the imperial tomboy lamented. “See, this is why I wanted to try and take things slowly, what do I seduce you with now?”
“Your entire continued existence?” John suggested.
Lulu gave that a moment’s thought. “That will probably work.”
“I’m still not giving you this tile.”
“Insolent cur.”
John just laughed and continued. “They moved to Japan and about twenty years later the Sengoku Jidai began,” he laid out his thoughts.
“Japan was long a land where the Abyss could work freer than elsewhere in the world. Shintoism and its traditions lend themselves to believing the magical with greater frequency and thus eased the punishments Gaia’s wrath bestowed. A rich fabric of Yokai was born from this understanding.”
“Huh.” John hadn’t considered that more spiritual countries were more forgiving when it came to ‘miracles’ occurring. The border between the Abyss and the mundane was only as thick as the ignorance of the mundane masses about the depth of the magical society underneath them. This was the basis of phasing the entirety of humanity slowly into the Abyss via magical children born to mundane parents, after all. A gradual migration, to prevent the catastrophe of magical and non-magical society meeting suddenly.
“The twilight twins influenced both sides. Serestra whispered to the ambitious, that they should prepare daggers in the dark. Peranthis appealed to the dutiful, that they could leave no slight to their principles unanswered. Where the selfish and the calcified meet, civil war is inevitable, and so we watched it unfold.” Lulu thought long and hard on where to place her next tile. “After the Onin War, things get murky.”
“War isn’t conducive to easy observations,” John remarked.
“It is not,” the Heavenly Jade Empress agreed. “As the clans splintered and the Daimyos assumed control over local areas, we lost sight of the twilight twins. Certain is only that they were eventually dealt with in some way, for they did not support those that would unify the island in due time nor would they allow the following period of isolationism to last as it did.”
“And you believe they are involved in this new upheaval?”
“Our spies are dealt with too efficiently for a newcomer to do so. We are blind to the ongoings on an island off our own coast, regularly raided by our closest ally. We cannot be blind to such events, unless someone knows the colour of our eyes and how to pluck them.”
“Another king candidate?” John mumbled. After the trouble Sigmund had given him (and likely would give him, considering his Lorylim-consumed form was still at large), he did not look forward to another Latebloomer with Metracana support getting in his way. Considering the character of those two, such a king candidate had to get in his way to find out who was more worthy of the domain of Akkad.
“Perhaps.” Lulu shrugged and re-sorted her tiles. “All I can say is that their involvement seems likely.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” John said. “Thank you.”
They kept playing, until their time was up.