The Lords returned to the Village. The Orcs who were guarding the village noticed the Lords. They already had instructions from Azekiel that these were his trusted people. The lords were allowed inside, and they were taken to the house where Azekiel was staying.
Lia stood at the entrance of the Village with her arms folded. She didn't follow the Lords inside since she could already decipher everything from their expressions. They hadn't seen any army.
****
Raphael was still inside the house with Azekiel and Leor. He was keeping an eye on Leor, who was just sitting in the corner, seemingly lost in some thought.
She looked really defeated and not very happy. Then again, after what happened to her, how could someone even look happy? She just sat in silence, watching Azekiel sleep.
Thanks to the protection of the Mark of Servitude, Azekiel could sleep in the same room as Leor without having to worry about being attacked.
As he gave his mind some rest after a long day, Raphael and Lia kept an eye on the surroundings. They were told to wake him up in case he was needed, or something significant happened.
Knock knock~
Leor heard the knocking on the door. She glanced at the door before looking back at Azekiel, who was still sleeping. She stood up and opened the door.
"What?" She asked, seemingly irritated.
Almost all the Lords were taken aback to see Leor in the same room as Azekiel. They all misunderstood, thinking that Azekiel slept with the Triad.
"Not bad," Luna chuckled. "And here I thought, only King Liam was frivolous."
"We need to talk to King Azekiel," Layim informed Leor. "Step aside."
He didn't even wait for her to answer as all the Lords barged inside the house.
Hearing the commotion, Azekiel opened his eyes. "You're back. Any news?"
"Nope. Not a single sighting of any Triad along the way."
"Those Triads... They are just wasting my time for no reason. It's alright. They'll come tomorrow. Even they can't be idiot enough to not realize everything."
"You all, go and rest as well. If anything happens, you'll be informed."
There was not much he could talk to the Lords after he had his answer. He allowed them to go and rest.
The Lords left. They were shown places where they could stay. Each of them was also given something to eat. It was like a feast for them after working throughout the day.
Sending the Lords away, Azekiel once again closed his eyes. He had already been half asleep even as he talked to the Lords.
He went to sleep again, telling Leor to sleep as well.
Leor didn't listen to him. She just closed the door and went back to the same corner where she was sitting before, staring at Azekiel. She didn't know what it was, but this man really was different.
When she was given this mark of Servitude and told to stay in the same room as him, she had a bad feeling that Azekiel was going to want to sleep with him or use her for his erotic pleasures, but he didn't do anything like that. He didn't even look at her with bad eyes.
There was something inside her that was happy that she was safe like that. However, there was also another side of her that wondered if it was really because Azekiel was a good person or was it because she wasn't attractive enough for him. She wondered if he would've done the same thing if her sister was before him.
'Hmm?'
As Lia was lost in thoughts, she felt something. There was a ring on her finger that was made from grass, but through that ring, she felt some kind of connection. Her sister had the same ring as well.
The rings worked by allowing the two sisters to contact each other as long as they were in close proximity. As for how close that proximity was, it was unclear.
Leor just closed her eyes, appearing as if she had fallen asleep. However, in her mind, she was talking to her sister, informing her of everything that had happened and how she had been taken hostage.
She also informed her sister that Azekiel was after Liam and that he was a really complicated enemy who always seemed to be two steps ahead of them.
****
'Be careful. I don't know what's the range, but they appear to have something that can alert them when someone gets closer to the village. So if you come, they'll know.'
'Is that so?' the Triad Queen stopped, not too far from the boundary that was established by Lia.
'What is that person doing now?' she further asked.
'He seems to be sleeping. He was waiting for your arrival all day. He only recently fell asleep. What do you want to do?'
'My plan? It's simple. I'll destroy his mind,' the Triad Queen answered. 'He hurt my people, and I'll hurt him.'
'It's not easy. And you can expect what it means when it's coming from me. This man... He is very strange and very strong. I think we should hand over Liam. We shouldn't risk our people for Liam.'
'It's not about Liam anymore! It's about our dignity, and no, I can't let him trample on our dignity! No matter how strong he is, he won't live to see the day!'
'And how will you do it?'
'I can't tell you that since you're under his control to some extent. Because of the mark, you might create some problems unintentionally. So I'll keep the plan to myself. All I need from you is one help. Other than that, the less you know, the better!'
'What help?'
'Heixu Plant... Make it grow as close to Azakiel as possible! I'll handle the rest.'
'Haixu Plant?' Leor didn't understand what they could do with one place. That plant wasn't known to be very special after all.
Still, she did as she was told. She couldn't do anything that could kill Azekiel, and considering that problem, the Triad Queen only asked her to create the Haixu Plant, which in no way could kill Azekiel.
Leor opened her eyes. She placed her hands on the ground. Even though Raphael observed Leor, he couldn't see anything strange. He couldn't see a plant appearing under Azekiel's bed, growing bigger with each passing second.
As the bed was so massive, it allowed the plant to avoid being seen by Raphael.
After the plant appeared, Leor informed her sister that she did as she was told. Everything was in place.
Not too far from the village, the Triad Queen also made a similar plant appear before her.
