"Why did you lie to Rio about this tree?" Eve inquired, remembering the day Rio met Lia. It was Eve who had redirected Rio's teleportation destination, guiding him towards the Castle's Portal capsule point when someone else had attempted to lead him towards a dangerous path.
Lia's voice was gentle as she explained, "I didn't want to discuss Mother's memories with him at that time. We had just met, and I still had doubts about the prophecy Grandfather made."
"I understand," Eve replied, her demeanor softer than usual. The elven beauty was aware of Lia's dilemma back then and hoped that her relationship with Rio would continue to develop without any harm coming to either of them.
"Will we be staying here during our hunting adventure?" Lia questioned, aware that Rio and Nyla had lived here during the national military school tournament, as it was the safest place.
"Is there something on your mind?" Eve asked, sensing there was a reason behind Lia's question.
"What if we built a house inside?" Lia proposed, seeking permission from Eve. Although they were now a family, she didn't want to overstep, knowing this was Eve's personal property. Having her garden moved here was a kind gesture from Eve, but building a house was an entirely different matter.
"Ahh... There isn't much space here to build a house for all of you," Eve said with a hint of sadness in her voice, understanding that Lia wanted a house that included all of Rio's wives.
Lia's forehead furrowed as she tried to make sense of what Eve was saying. Her eyes darted around the lush surroundings of the wondrous forest realm, which seemed to offer plenty of space for building a cozy house.
Observing Lia's confusion, Eve elaborated with a friendly smile, "However, I can help you build a house if you provide me with beast cores. These will help me resolve the space issue here."
At first Lia couldn't understand why Eve said there wasn't enough space, her eyes sparkled with joy at Eve's response. The beast cores were a small matter for her as she was the future Empress of the Shamor Empire. She also suspected that Eve might need these beast cores to upgrade her realm, as she had needed them previously to allow others' entry into her forest. Moreover, Lia was correct in her theory.
"Any specific type of beast cores?" Lia asked for clarification.
Eve replied cheerfully, "This poor soul will gladly accept all kinds of beast cores from Her Highness. The more beast cores you provide, the more I can expand this place and even build houses for you and everyone else."
She knew that Lia was the future empress of the Asura race, and many already referred to her as Empress even before the Emperor gave her the throne. If Lia put her mind to Eve's request, she could offer a wealth of beast cores. Therefore, Eve asked without reservation, knowing it would benefit them both.
Although The elven monarch could have given her permission for building the house with the space she had right now, she had another plan when she asked for the beast cores.
"Alright, give me until tomorrow," Lia calmly requested as she began to plan how she would fulfill Eve's demand for their new home in the wondrous forest realm.
Eve agreed to Lia's request for more time, and in response, Lia asked her to open a door to the old garden so she could gather the required beast cores.
"I'll take care of a few things, and we'll be ready to start our hunting adventure tomorrow," Lia assured Rio and others.
With that settled, Lia left the castle without sharing any further details, informing Rio and the others that she had an important matter to attend to before their hunting adventure.
That night, Lia visited nearby auction houses and asked them to gather all the beast cores they could. By the next day, she had managed to amass an impressive collection of beast cores, totaling around three hundred thousand. Among them were ten thousand Red stage cores and about thirty Silver stage cores.
Lia presented the beast cores to Eve, whose eyes widened in astonishment. "Wow, Lia, you've outdone yourself! This is quite the collection!" she exclaimed, eagerly accepting the cores like a kid in a candy store.
Lia couldn't help but wonder if this elven girl was really the monarch beast or just a part-time thug in her free time.
"This is enough for us to get started on building a place for everyone to stay inside the wondrous forest realm," Eve announced, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
After receiving the cores, Eve turned to Lia with a business-like smile and asked, "My lord, when would you like to start building the house?"
"We can do it when everyone is present here," Lia replied before leaving the wondrous forest realm.
With Lia's task now complete, the group was ready to embark on their hunting adventure together.
The same day, Rio and the four elegant ladies set out on their journey to the teleporter tower. The sun shone brightly in the sky, as if offering its warmest welcome and best wishes to the group.
As Rio and company stepped into the teleporter tower, the old man behind the counter couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise at the sight of the four stunning girls accompanying the boy. The Asura warriors present found themselves mesmerized by the group, their eyes drawn to the captivating beauty of the ladies. Upon recognizing the Empress, all of them bowed their heads in reverence.
With her head held high and a calm expression on her face, Helia strode forward and addressed the old man with a firm voice, "We need a teleport glyph for the Firelands shelter."
