After they finished dressing and talking about that earlier matter, Minos' group made their way through the halls of his house, heading for the dining room.
It was already night in Dry City, and after several hours of intense sex, the four were starving. Not only that, as soon as they left the place where everything had happened, they smelled the delicious fragrance of dinner.
So, in the blink of an eye, the four arrived at the dining room, where Abby's parents, Dillian and Eda, came to dine with Minos and his wives every night.
Sometimes some high-ranking soldiers, or people close to the three leaders of this state, as in Brooke's case, would come to have meals there as well. However, on this day, none were around, only those four people closest to the royal family.
"Young Minos you..." Nicole was about to say something to the king of the Black Plain when she saw the figure of a beautiful redheaded woman walking behind him, along with Abby and Ruth. "Archbishop Frost!"
Everyone there looked at that beauty, surprised to see her in this place.
They knew of Gloria's arrival, obvious. But not everyone in the royal palace knew that Minos had carried her on his shoulder earlier and come to this residence.
And since they thought Gloria would be staying in some local hotel, they could not help but be surprised to see her there.
"Archbishop Frost, will you be joining us for dinner?" Abby's father asked respectfully.
Dillian continued beside Eda without saying anything, while his wife more or less understood the situation. 'It seems that these four were not just talking...' Her cheeks turned red, and she looked at Nicole.
Nicole looked back at Eda, also blushing, extremely embarrassed to 'notice' her daughter's sexual affairs. 'Abby, why aren't you more like me?' She looked at her husband at her side. 'Eliot has always been in line since I met him.'
'Ah, Ruth is a good girl, but it would have been so much better for you to be his only one... I failed as a mother!' She felt depressed.
On the other hand, hearing her father-in-law's question, Minos answered in Gloria's place. "She will be living with us from now on, so she will be dining with us."
"Oh?" Eliot opened his eyes wide, while only Dillian was not surprised by this information.
Even Eda was surprised. After all, these four having fun together was not a condition for Gloria to come and live in the same house as Minos and his wives!
Gloria blushed after Minos said those words but was even more embarrassed by his following line. "From today, Gloria will be my third wife. But publicly, we will not marry... At least not for the moment."
"Hehe, congratulations, Your Grace!" Dillian stood up and greeted Minos, pleased at this young man's success with this woman.
"Congratulations, Archbishop Frost, or rather, Your Grace..." Eda greeted Gloria as they moved to make room for this woman to sit near Minos and his first wives.
"Hmm, thank you. You can just call me Gloria." She said in an embarrassed tone.
Gloria might be a high-level Spiritual Emperor, but when it came to matters of the heart and relationships, she was an amateur, less experienced than some young 16-year-old lasses.
Hell, Alison, at that age, had probably already had months of experience at the side of her man, Lee.
Whereas this woman of just over 60 could not take this situation with the same composure as in other times and naturally felt a little embarrassed. Especially considering that the parents of Abby, a competitor for Minos' affection, were there...
"Well, Gloria, I hope you like your new home," Nicole commented after putting her earlier lamentation aside.
She then smiled and pointed to one of the plates on that large dining table between them. "Please try the food prepared by chef Alex. Of course, we still can't compare to the Flaming Empire, but the food prepared by our low-level grade-3 cook certainly won't embarrass us."
After that, they began to eat, sometimes chatting about everyday matters and the Black Plain.
"Your Grace, we already have reports of possible competitors coming from dozens of regional families arriving in the satellite cities of Dry City," Dillian commented about the upcoming tournament.
Hearing that, Eliot added. "Even the powers of our state are sending many members to compete for spots in the army, young Minos. My Miller family is sending over 20 youths."
"That's not bad at all..." Minos smiled as he picked up his drink and tasted it.
Gloria looked at him and asked. "Are you going to have a tournament?"
"Yes. I need talented people on the Black Plain, but my population alone doesn't have what it takes to provide me with that." He explained to her.
Ruth, who was organizing this event, then added. "Besides, this is not only a tournament for us to bring new talent to our side. It's also a method for us to connect with regional powers without relying solely on the region's fear of us."
"This is a chance for us to create grateful relationships and improve our ranks' average quality."
"Oh? It looks like you intend to take all the Spiritual Tournament targets then..." She smiled as she looked at Minos. "Are you trying to replace the sects of the Flaming Empire?"
"No, I am only creating the means for the regional powers to strengthen themselves while their descendants have the chance to grow up in their own homes and later give back to their families."
"Still, the sects of the empire will see you as a competitor..." She insisted.
Abby then asked. "Is there a problem with that? What fault will we have if the people of this region eventually prefer to stay around here rather than taking their chances in the empire?"
"Say what you want. The Edwardstone family will not look kindly on this Black Plain action. To them, this region is a testament to their power and name, something they even dispute against the high-level kingdoms neighboring this region."
"So, you think this family will ignore this?" She asked Abby.
Everyone there was silent after she said that, thinking that, indeed, this had its potential to create trouble.
Minos then said. "No matter, the last Spiritual Tournament just happened, and naturally, it will take some time before the effects of my competition become noticeable."
"Besides, not everyone in the region will have the ability to join my army. In that case, there will still be people competing in the Spiritual Tournament."
"The difference is that more talents in this region will have the chance to join an organization that can nurture them beyond the 6th stage. So, at most, the next Spiritual Tournaments will have smaller numbers of highly talented people."
"By the time they realize that it's my fault and not that a bad generation was born in this region, we will have completely settled down." He smiled confidently.
Not knowing how to counter the points raised by Minos, Gloria sighed and accepted that this could indeed take a while to generate some disagreement with the imperial family of that state.
She remembered her agreement with Minos and thought he would also steal the Church's future targets. "Will my organization get anything from the Black Plain after this 20-year agreement of ours?"
Hearing this, Minos looked at the people around his table and smiled. He then focused his attention on Gloria and said. "Sure, after all, we will have much more talent when this agreement is fulfilled. But you probably won't get the best ones..."
"That's what I thought..." She laughed at her own mistake, but there was nothing she could do in this situation. Minos had not broken the contract, and she was in love with him, so she could only find this all funny.
'Ah, no problem. The Church has no expectations about this deal I made, so as long as the region keeps improving, I'll gain merit one way or another.'
'Besides, the stronger the Black Plain Army, the better for our future children.' She blushed as she thought of this desire she had, which, even during her many years as a virgin, had always been on her mind.
Gloria had never met someone like Minos or fallen in love before she met him. But she genuinely dreamed of the day she would become a mother.
That was so important to her that she had not even bothered to destroy her gametes when she had sex with Minos.
And with this dream of hers, Gloria naturally did not think it was terrible for Minos to strengthen the Black Plain, the state of her future children.
'The Church is great, but it is undeniably better to grow up in a royal family where there are few to divide resources and meritocracy is less important.' She thought about how it would be more important to her children for Minos' state to gain more from the agreement she signed with him.
She then advised him. "You are too clever, but don't try to do this to others in the future. Not everyone will be like me..."
