204 Troublesome
"The best wife, huh?" Two voices echoed outside the carriage. A moment later, the door swung open, revealing two stunning beauties on the other side.
"So she's the best wife huh?" Amelia questioned with a raised brow.
Anna didn't say anything, but she had the same expression on her face as Amelia.
"That's the perks of being the first wife, sorry ladies," Lilia said, flashing a grin while raising her hand in the peace sign gesture.
Amelia and Anna raised a brow in surprise at Lilia reply, 'She seems to have slightly changed.'
Lilia appeared happier than usual, and that simple gesture of hers was evidence enough.
Unbeknownst to them, a hidden burden had weighed heavily on Lilia's heart throughout the passing years. It stemmed from her loss of powers and the stagnation in her training in Zid. However, with her recent breakthrough in the control of Zid, that burden seemed to have vanished, or at the very least, lightened significantly.
"So, how's everything going?" Alex inquired, swiftly changing the subject.
"Before we get into that, how are you feeling? And what happened back there? Grace refused to give us any details, just mentioned that you fainted," Anna asked in an even tone, though Alex could sense an underlying worry in her voice.
'It would be surprising if she disclosed what actually happened,' Alex chuckled internally.
"Nothing happened, I just fainted due to overexertion," he lied through his teeth.
He did want to say the truth to his wives, but he was certain that Grace could probably overhear them, so he refrained from saying the whole story.
"See, you should have let me support you; you wouldn't have ended up so exhausted," Anna lightly scolded.
Alex grinned and drew Anna closer.
She didn't hesitate, granting him permission to proceed with his intentions.
Alex brushed his lips against hers, planting a gentle kiss. "Apologies, I'll heed your advice next time."
"You better, otherwise..." Anna's words trailed as a frown appeared on her adorable face.
"Your eye color changed?" She asked, her tone filled with curiosity.
When they met in the circular room, Alex was wearing a smoke mask, and since he couldn't conceal the true color of his eyes like he could with his hair, Alex's mask didn't have a visor, so the girls couldn't notice the changes then.
"His eye color changed?!" Anna heard two shouts from behind her.
Before she could do anything, she was flung aside by Amelia and Grace.
Each of them grabbed one of Alex's cheeks and peered deeply into his silver eyes. As seconds passed, the expressions on the faces of the grandmother and granddaughter twisted in displeasure.
Witnessing their reactions, Alex scratched his head with a wry smile, pondering, 'But why does Sis look sad?' he wondered.
While he could understand Grace's disappointment, as it wasn't a secret that she particularly liked him for sharing the same hair and eye color, he couldn't fathom why Amelia also wore a sour expression as she gazed into his eyes. She had never expressed any fondness for his eye color before.
"They really changed color; they're no longer gray," both Amelia and Grace mumbled with rotten expressions.
Both of them released Alex's face and slumped onto the seats across from him. "How did this happen?" they asked simultaneously.
'It's the first time I see them so in sync,' Alex chuckled internally.
"I also want to know," Lilia chimed in as she rose from Alex's lap, allowing him to sit comfortably and then she settled to his right.
"I'm also curious," Anna remarked as she took a seat on Alex's left side.
Alex wrapped his arms around the waists of both Lilia and Anna, pulling them closer until their chests were pressed against his bare torso. "Much better," he smiled, relishing the softness of their breasts against him.
Amelia, seated across from them, clicked her tongue in envy, but refrained from taking any action. It wasn't wise to attempt to get too close to her brother while their grandmother was present, as she might deduce the true nature of their relationship.
This caused Amelia's already sour expression to worsen.
"There isn't really much explaining to do," Alex shrugged. "Inside what I thought was the second treasury of the base, I found a pitch-black heart in a chest. Before I could react, the black heart shot into my chest, enhancing my body, mind, and soul. It's probably the cause of the change in my eye color. That's it."
"...."
"...."
"...."
"I know, I know, it sounds like bullshit, but an unknown black heart really did invade my body," Alex said after a moment.
"So this black heart is currently inside your body?" Amelia inquired.
"That's the shocking thing here; there's no second heart in my chest, or any other part of my body for that matter. It's as if—no, it's not as if—this heart practically disappeared once it entered my body. If it wasn't for the enhancements I received, I would really begin to doubt if it wasn't an illusion," Alex chuckled. "Has anyone of you ever heard of something like that?" he inquired, particularly looking at Grace.
She was the oldest here and claimed to have seen so much that not even the Lust Artifact truly shocked her, so he thought she was the most likely to have information about it. Unfortunately, much like the others, Grace shook her head.
"Never heard of a heart or any living organ able to enhance someone's strength," Grace stated.
"Then I'll try to find out myself what that thing was," Alex retorted. He already had a starting point for his investigation, and it was the Night organization. He just needed to locate one of their bases, and with some luck, there might be information about the other bases in the treasure he obtained from their treasury.
"Forget it," Alex waved his hand, "tell me, how are things going with our news subordinates ?" Alex inquired.
"Well, after we brought the carriage down, Amelia checked on them to see if there was anything wrong, fortunately, none of them seem wounded or sick. After that, we divided them into groups, and they are currently waiting for the food Anita is cooking," Anna reported.
"Anita is cooking? I thought you would be the one to do so," Alex remarked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"She insisted, claiming that she was a good cook," Anna shrugged.
"Anita? New recruits?" Lilia looked at the two of them curiously.
"Ah yes, I forgot to inform you. You see, after I found your unconscious body..." Alex then proceeded to explain to Lilia what had happened.
"So we gained a bunch of new recruits, each of them at least at level 1, that's good," Lilia remarked after Alex recounted everything that had happened to her. "But what do you intend to do with these new recruits?"
"I'm also curious about that," Grace added, her tone reflecting genuine interest.
"I plan on training them as soldiers, but fighting isn't for everyone," Alex explained. "There are bound to be some among them who either can't fight or are better suited for something else. Those individuals will be directed to another field." Meanwhile, his hand subtly moved and lightly squeezed Anna's plump butt, playfully teasing her.
'What is he doing right now?' Anna wondered with a speechless expression as she felt Alex fondling her butt while they were sitting just in front of his grandmother!
'Heh, don't look at me like that. I know that the exhibitionist you are probably likes it,' Alex thought when Anna glared at him.
He really enjoyed teasing that wife of his because of her reaction, but he also liked the feeling of her soft butt, so it was a double pleasure for him.
In the end, Anna could only shake her head and try her best to concentrate on the conversation while her buttocks were being played with.
"Where do you plan to keep them, though?" Grace inquired. "I don't have to tell you, but both cities under our possession are heavily monitored by either the main branch or the imperial family. Bringing in such a large influx of people, each of them at least level 1, is going to arouse suspicion."
Although the power, resources, and other assets their branches had access to were not as abundant as before, the emperor and the current patriarch were still very wary of their branch's activities. They were closely monitoring everything happening inside and outside of their territories, and they surely wouldn't overlook a convoy of carriages containing hundreds of people entering either city.
'Tsk, it's going to be troublesome.'
