In a very special place, the sky glows with colorful shades that somehow look like variations of green; the sound of flowing water from a stream perfectly matches the sound of leaves swaying under the gentle influence of a soft breeze.
Birds made of green energy sing a beautiful song, while Sophia, the Queen of that world, rests her head on the lap of her beloved, an illusory version of Lucien, of course.
A beautiful smile adorns her lovely face as she looks at the 'cold' face of the 'Lucien' that only exists in that dream world.
In fact, with her current power and control over Sloth's demonic energy, Sophia could make her illusions act so naturally that even she would find it difficult to recognize what is real or not.
But she likes to keep her illusions of Lucien as lifeless as possible, as a reminder that as soon as she wakes up, the real Lucien will be waiting for her outside the dream world.
Most Sloth hosts forget about the real world because as they get stronger, they get everything they want in the dream world; it is what makes them stronger but also causes them to fall.
But that's not a concern for Sloth for once, thanks to Lucien. He is the motivation that makes Sophia seek power but not get corrupted by that same power.
So, while Lucien's lap is unavailable in the normal world, Sophia can enjoy his lifeless illusion in the dream world as she continues getting stronger.
"Ah..." Sophia lets out a long breath as she caresses the icy face of the illusion. "You help me relax, but I miss your voice..."
'Sophia, my love.' Lucien's voice echoes in her mind, making Sophia get shocked.
"HUH?!?!" She thinks the illusion spoke without her will.
'It's in your mind, you fool!' Sloth talks to Sophia mentally in a mocking tone.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Oh!" Sophia finally understands that it's the real Lucien, mentally communicating with her, so she silly smiles, making Sloth feel like laughing.
'Lucien!?' Sophia quickly responds mentally. 'Is it my turn to get some love?'
The expectant smile on her face withers a little as she hears Lucien's light chuckle in her mind. 'I'm sorry, my dear; I need your help now.'
'As long as I'm with you...' Sophia went to the dream world because she knew Lucien needed space to do his things. But if he wants her close to him, she's certainly happy to help.
'I will open the portal.' He comments.
'Alright.' She responds as she wakes up to leave her dream world.
Before she even opens her eyes, she yawns as she reacquaints herself with her real body. But something confuses her. [What is this soft...]
Sophia opens her eyes and sees Amelia's face in front of hers; her eyes are closed, and her expression is serene; Also, both sisters are hugged and naked in Lucien's bed along with some of his other wives.
[DAMN!!] Sophia is upset and embarrassed that she slept cuddled with her most jealous sister, especially when she notices Donna sitting on a chair in the corner of the room.
"My, my..." Donna looks at Sophia with a teasing and loving expression. "I never expected to see such a scene... I think nothing is impossible for our brother, not even to make you and Amelia get along so well."
"It's not..." Sophia quickly pushes Amelia back, but the jealous sister doesn't even wake up as she is both exhausted and pleased. "This is a mistake!"
Donna starts to laugh; she is pleased that her sisters are so happy. "A very good mistake, though."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"I... not..." Sophia sighs. "Just don't tell Amelia about it."
"And miss this same embarrassed expression on her face? Hahaha..." Donna asks sarcastically before laughing even more.
"..." Sophia doesn't know what to say. When she notices the purple world portal appear in front of the bed, she quickly materializes clothes with her demonic energy and enters it.
The portal takes her to an area above the sea, right on top of a magical platform of water that is transparent like glass. Over the platform, there are a few people, including Lucien and Eve.
"Morning, my dear..." Lucien hugs Sophia and kisses her forehead before showing her the pair of injured Mermaids, especially the older sister, the one who lost some body parts, including a whole arm.
Sophia doesn't need any explanation; as a very kind person and a healing mage, she quickly gets sorry for the Mermaids and kneels down to heal them.
The Mermaids, especially Nea, are grateful to Sophia for not attempting any political moves at that time. It wouldn't be strange if the demons asked for something in exchange for help, even fair, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
"Heal my sister first, please!" The younger Mermaid quickly begs Sophia, pushing her hand towards her sister.
Sloth quickly reports the Mermaids' situation to Sophia, and as the younger sister only has superficial injuries, she can focus on the older sister first.
"This looks pretty bad..." Sophia can't help but comment as she channels her healing energy into the most injured Mermaid.
The Mermaids' expressions get more concerned, and Lucien looks at Sophia. "But you can help her, right?"
"Closing the internal and external wounds is no problem, but..." Sophia looks at the other Mermaid. "Is there any chance you guys still have her arm?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})That Marmaid shakes her head with a sorry expression. "It was taken by the hurricane... I couldn't do anything to help..."
"It's no problem." Sloth materializes her body beside the girls and smiles at Sophia. "Your power has developed so much recently, and you have no idea how it has potentiated your healing magic... with your life mana, you can make anything grow."
"Mm." Sophia nods with a determined expression. "Let's do it!" She speaks to the injured Mermaid, bringing hope to her heart and the others there.
"But the pain..." Sloth comments, making the younger Mermaid concerned again. "Growing entire limbs is a very painful thing; you could use part of your mana to lessen that pain, but that would make healing far less efficient..."
The injured Mermaid barely hears that part because the possibility of having her body restored so she can fight for her people again is unbelievably good.
Using the rest of her strength and a hand with only three fingers remaining, that Mermaid grabs Sophia's arm. "Please... I can take it... or my life wouldn't be worth it anyway."
"But the pain!?" The other Mermaid quickly asks, fearing that her sister will suffer too much.
"Lucien can help with that!" Lust quickly suggests and then looks at him. "It's not going to be like when you helped Sophia heal Daisy. You just need to give some of your energy to this Mermaid so she can bear the pain."
It is evident that he has no problems in giving the Mermaid some energy, but before he can say anything, her sister bows to him and begs. "Please, Lord Lucien!!!"
He tries to speak, but she quickly continues. "I beg you, help my sister!! I... I had doubts about you myself, but she believed that your arrival was a gift to our people! She believed all the stories the Nagas told about your greatness and honor. Also-"
"That's enough." Lucien taps the Mermaid's head as he smiles at her. "I'll help, of course."
"..." Saria's eyes get brighter as she looks at Lucien, but Nea doesn't look happy at all.
While the Mermaid Princess admires Lucien for offering help without asking for anything in return or even hesitating to give his own energy to one of them, the Queen sees it differently.
Nea understands that the more good Lucien looks, the more seductive he is to the Mermaids, not just to those below the platform watching but also to the hundreds of other Mermaids who are coming from the camp to see the show.
Lucien can't ignore the fact that the situation is quite beneficial to him, but now he's totally focused on helping that poor girl, so that's what he does.
He kneels beside Sophia and gently places his hand behind the injured Mermaid's neck before looking into her eyes. "Trust me."
"Mm." She can barely speak, so she makes a slight movement with her head while moaning as a sign of acceptance.
"You can start." Lucien talks to Sophia.
Then she begins the healing session, first placing her hands over the Mermaid's wounds and then channeling her energies and healing skills.
As Sophia's intention is not just to close the woman's wounds but to restore her body, she focuses her energies on that, and under the incredible power of her life mana, the Mermaid's skin, flesh, and even bones begin to regenerate.
The speed of that level of healing shocks the Mermaids and even Maya, which is just used to her own powerful healing skills. Yet, that process also brings great pain to the poor injured Mermaid.
She is already a tough woman as she suffered all those wounds without hesitation when she saved her sister from the hurricane, but that kind of pain is something new and scary.
She tries to be even stronger and resist the urge to scream, but in her current state, that's impossible. She feels very afraid, but then the warm touch of Lucien's hand holding hers brings a mysterious comfort.
"AHHH-" She starts to scream in pain, but Lucien quickly seals her lips with a gentle kiss, bringing her body not only an exceptionally pleasurable experience but also an awesome power.
That Mermaid experiences the same things as any other woman when being kissed by Lucien for the first time. He is especially kind to her due to her fragile state and also gives her as much life mana as possible.
Thanks to that and his powerful sync with Sophia, the healing session is greatly boosted and ends earlier than the Mermaid would like.
The entire process is watched by thousands of Mermaids, which greatly increases Lucien's fame among them. His kind and caring way of acting also affect the way Maya sees him, but it doesn't change Saria's already high opinion of him that much; she is already totally fascinated by the Handsome Devil.
Nea, on the other hand, maintains a neutral expression the whole time. When the Mermaid is no longer in pain and her limbs are restored, Lucien lets Sophia heal the other Mermaid and stands beside the cold Mermaid Queen.
"Why do you still look at me like I'm a villain that plans to steal your breakfast?" He asks in a playful tone.
"I know what you're doing..." Nea speaks in a low tone, so the other Mermaids don't hear. "And I won't let you seduce them with your so-pure generosity."
Lucien shakes his head while maintaining the teasing smile that makes Nea so angry. "I'm not at all generous; on the contrary, I like to do things that benefit me... but those things can benefit others as well."
Nea bites her lip in anger, but then her eyes light up as she has an idea. "Then show it to everyone; accept something in exchange for this help... but be reasonable."
"Sounds good..." Lucien's eyes also sparkle as he continues to smile. "But what could I ask in exchange for that..."
Before Nea can suggest anything, Lust materializes her body in front of them. "Lucien gave kisses to help the Mermaid, so a fair thing in return would be..."
"I won't kiss you!!" Nea quickly exclaims as even she can't stop a little blush from appearing on her usually serene face.
Lucien makes a disappointed expression at first, but then he smiles again as he turns to Saria. "If the Queen doesn't want to pay a debt, maybe the Princess..."
"I can do that!!!" Saria quickly exclaims, not hiding the excitement in her bright smile, making thousands of Mermaids jealous and Nea even more upset.
