Once they arrived home, Hannah turned to him, her silvery-gray eyes narrowed just slightly.

“Why did you expose your bloodline like that?”

It was clear she wasn’t mad; she was curious.

Sokram looked at Brunhild and Margiory and saw the same curiosity in their eyes, so he was honest.

“At first, I believed that if Whiteland and Frostaxe lost some of their power, they would back down. But that didn’t happen. So I believe they have some other trump card up their sleeves. But to gain time, I think we should use this legend about me as a tool to strike fear in their hearts and hold them back.”

“I’m here. Don’t you think that this would be enough to cause Frostaxe and Whiteland to fear us?” Hannah wasn’t gloating, but it was a fact that a powerhouse like her would cause enough fear.

“What if they have a backer? What if their plans are being pushed by someone else’s agenda, someone who could face you at your current level? Wouldn’t it be best if they believe that, besides you, they also have to worry about me?”

Sokram’s words made sense to them.

Yet, a flicker of unease told Margiory that there was something obviously wrong with Sokram's line of thinking.

The contracts they had signed were ironclad, but a nagging feeling told her he was missing something crucial.

“Baby, the Red Moon wouldn’t leak that information, especially with the contracts we signed.”

Hearing Margiory’s words made both Hannah and Sokram remember that neither she nor Brunhild had Dragon Sight.

“There was a spy among their leaders. One of the three Wood Elves wasn’t a Wood Elf at all. He was a human wearing an artifact similar to Second Mother’s Mask of Magnus.”

Sokram's words, so casual yet so terrifying, caused Brunhild and Margiory to go pale with worry.

They hadn't seen a thing, and the knowledge that such a person had been so close, so perfectly hidden, sent a shiver of dread down their spines.

Hannah nodded, “Yes, it was probably King Afonso who activated the artifact before dying. But I’m surprised your eyes could see through it, darling.”

Knowing she would frown at the reason, Sokram only offered her an awkward grin.

“The only reason I could see through it is because my Dragon Sight improved a lot after unlocking my Mind Locks.”

But before Hannah could even react to what she just heard, a familiar voice filled the room as if it came from the walls.

“Don’t worry, Marg. There was also an agent of the Pavilion there. And I was there too.”

With a faint shimmer, a silhouette detached itself from the shadows in the corner of the room.

Sayuri materialized, her form solidifying with a soft whoosh as the shadow magic that had concealed her dissolved into the air like a foggy fabric.

“Yes, I was wondering why you were following me silently when you arrived at the Red Moon. Didn’t you miss me?”

Sokram grinned at her teasingly, extending his arms toward her for a hug.

Sayuri didn’t miss the chance and rushed into his arms and pecked at his lips.

As she clung to him, Sayuri had to tip her head back further to meet his gaze.

“You're taller…” she whispered in awe, “And yes, I missed you so much.” She nuzzled against his neck, her warm breath tickling his skin.

Her presence carried the faint scent of Night Lilies and Frozen Lotuses as she hugged him even tighter.

He savored the familiar warmth of her body, the soft press of her against his chest.

His arm tightened around her waist, and he buried his other hand in the silk of her cascading, long hair, his fingers caressing the back of her head and tracing the curve behind her fox-ears.

“I missed you, too,” he whispered softly.

"That’s enough for now," Hannah's voice came out sharp and cracking with an undisguised tinge of jealousy in her tone.

Sayuri reluctantly broke their embrace, but her attention remained solely on Sokram.

Seeing how skinny he looked, she couldn’t hide the worry in her eyes.

However, Sokram caught on to it, “Don’t worry, it will take less than three weeks for me to go back to normal. Whatever medicine you fed me, it had this effect. It sped up my growth, so to nurture itself, my organism had to consume most of my body mass.”

Sayuri nodded, but her concern didn’t vanish completely.

Instead of expressing her concerns, she chose to change the subject back to their previous talk.

“What do you want me to do about the spy?”

“Capture him, extract all the information he has, and replace him with one of our own. Or… Do you have a mage that specializes in illusion and hypnosis? Because if you do, I can create a runic enslavement contract; all you have to do is trick him into signing it.”

Sokram explained as he led her to the sofa, but even before they could sit together, Hannah was there, pulling him close to her.

Sayuri could only chuckle in frustration, but also because of how funny the scene was, “Dragons are truly possessive, hm?”

“Protective. Sokram is not of age yet.” Hannah countered.

“Alright, focus, girls.” Sokram’s tone sharpened a bit, but his displeasure was ignored.

“We have an illusionist who specializes in interrogation. Tricking someone into signing a contract should be easy enough. I’ll contact her right away.” Sayuri summoned a communication Crystal and excused herself.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Sokram leaned back, settling comfortably into the soft, heavy mounds of Hannah’s chest, and picked up a book.

Seeing that Hannah remembered something, and leaned over his left ear whispering, “I found some books that may interest you in King Afonso’s spatial rings.”

Sokram’s eyes sparkled with childish enthusiasm, turning to her immediately, “Can I see it?”

Hannah nodded, “Yes, but not now. I stored them somewhere safe, but I’ll have them ready for you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Nana. You’re the best!” Sokram turned his head to her and pecked her cheek.

Margiory and Brunhild glared at her, jealousy and competitiveness filling their gazes.

Hannah's lips curled into a smug, gloating grin.

She leaned forward, mouthing the words to her rivals with a silent, triumphant chuckle, 'He said I'm the best. Me!'

Once Sayuri came back, she returned to sit beside him and raised his legs, resting them over hers.

Sokram chuckled, "You all truly make me feel like a King. If I get too spoiled and the rest of my harem can’t handle me, it will be your fault, you know that, right?"

“That’s the goal, darling. That’s the goal.” Hannah joked back, but there was a sliver of sincerity in her tone.

A flicker of a smile passed between the four women, a shared, complicit grin despite their rivalry.

A quiet conspiracy that made Sokram chuckle inwardly.

They clearly had their own ploys for the future, and he had a feeling it was going to be as chaotic as it would be fun.

Turning back to him, Sayuri informed them, “The Illusionist will arrive in three days.”

“Is she famous? Anyone we might know?” Margiory’s expression and words were full of curiosity as she could use the help of someone like that from time to time.

“She is not affiliated. And yes, I can introduce you to her. But no, she’s not famous, at least not in the circles you would frequent.” Sayuri answered all the questions she could predict Margiory would ask.

“Oh, and her services can be quite expensive. But that wouldn’t be a problem for you, right?” Sayuri grinned at Margiory, who nodded, grinning back.

At that moment, Sokram remembered something hearing them speak about money, “Nana, is Riella in the city?”

“Yes, she is. Do you need something?” Margiory, who couldn’t accept a loss to Hannah, was eager to help him.

“I’ll make a list of ingredients. Some of which can be tricky to find in the open market, but I need as much of it as possible in equal quantities. Do you think Riella can help?”

Margiory nodded promptly, “Sure, just give me the list and I’ll speak to her.”

“What are the ingredients for? Why not use what you need from my storage?” Hannah argued.

“Because, part will be for our people to use. The Runic Blood Marks I sold are temporary ones. But the one for our people will be semi-permanent, or rechargeable.” Sokram explained, “And besides monster cores, they will be able to feed their Runic Tattoos with their own energy too, with a slightly weaker effect, but it shouldn’t be much.”

Sayuri couldn’t help it as her tails tips swayed slightly.

Yet, Sokram only grinned at her teasingly, “I’ll gift it to the Pavilion too, if… You bring Lucille to see me tomorrow, too.”

“Two foxes? Son…” Brunhild frowned, and her tone carried as much warning as it carried her worries.

“Haha, I know, Nana. I was teasing her.”

Sokram smirked, “Besides, the ring with the techniques is already in the inner pocket of her robe.”

“You?!” Sayuri hadn’t even felt it.

She looked at him wide-eyed until she realized what truly happened and blushed, pouting and averting her gaze from his.

“Haha,” Sokram chuckled at her reaction and told his grandmothers, “See? You don’t need to worry about her intention; her devotion is sincere.”

“Hmph, I never said I didn’t trust her. The womanizer here is you.” Hannah pinched his ears.

“Well, if that’s the case, then yes, you should be worried. All of you.” Sokram grinned and calmly returned to his reading, while his grandmother exchanged looks of surprise, and they blushed slightly.

The rest of the night was calm, like the relief that comes after a storm.

Sokram rested, bathed, ate, and enjoyed being spoiled by the four of them.

The next day, he woke up early.

After eating to bulk and training in the backyard, he meditated in deep cultivation until midday.

It was only after lunch that he returned to his lab with Hannah and Sayuri in tow.

Margiory had gone to deliver his list to Riella and deal with a few matters related to their businesses.

Brunhild went out to hunt with Liaranna.

Sokram realized this pattern.

Whenever he stated his intention of claiming all the women in his house for himself, Brunhild would become somewhat troubled and flee to hunt with Liaranna.

It was clear that he would have to sit down and talk to her sooner rather than later.

For the next two weeks, Sokram maintained that same routine.

Until he felt strong enough to start helping Kamus and Kasine with their Cores conversion.

During that period, Sokram stayed from the afternoon until evening working on his new project.

Hannah had insisted on helping him, so first he had to explain the modifications he had made to her spell.

It took her a week to learn it, and she was surprised, as not only did they fix the issue with wasting mana, but also enhanced its potency.

Still, she realized, she couldn't use it with the same mastery Sokram did, which made her feel embarrassed and proud at the same time.

Then he had to explain his idea to her without giving away the results he knew he would get, as most of the ruse was to fool Nhiria’s and now also Mentyr’s eyes.

Absentmindedly or not, Sokram refused to acknowledge that his actions had, from the very beginning, drawn the gaze of all Paragons and Lords of the Nether, so he had a lot more eyes to fool.

After teaching her what she needed to help him, which took another week, he managed to prepare thirty batches of the solution for his controlled trial.

One night, after feeding the critters in their cages underground, he went to the palace training grounds.

On the way, he had to endure another wave of fans, but he was slowly getting used to it.

The moment he stepped onto the training grounds, the twins dashed at him, their momentum knocking him flat on his back.

Their infatuation still confused him slightly since he didn’t interact with them much in this timeline. Yet they seemed to be as in love with him as they were in his previous one.

Anyway, it was nice having them in his arms like that once again.

His feelings for them didn't change either, but he still held back, both because of their age and because he was afraid time would change how they felt about him.

If their feelings didn’t change until their coming of age, he would definitely integrate them into his harem.

Kiren, being the first to get up from him, looked at him, blushing and panicking slightly, “Sorry, I just…”

Kara also stood up as if she had been electrified and nodded along, “Yes, we were just…”

“It’s fine, I’m happy to see you too.” Sokram flashed them a reassuring smile while sitting up.

Leona gave him a knowing smile that was mirrored by Karini.

Hannah didn’t seem to be jealous of the twins at all as she walked past them.

She even cast a look packed with approval as if they were an endearing sight.

But Lymus had an uncomfortable frown on his face.

Sokram stood up and approached them, leading the twins with a hand on their lower back.

“Congratulations on advancing, Sword Uncle.” Sokram smiled proudly, noticing that Lymus was now back to Tier 1.

Taking a ring from his Void Glove, Sokram handed it to Lymus.

“This is a congratulatory gift, but also study material for what is to come. So you can better use Spirit Magic with the Killing Blade Art.”

“Thank you, Sokram.” Lymus accepted the gift and offering Sokram a polite bow, and left to read through what Sokram had given him in a corner.

“Now, let me see the two of you,” Sokram turned to Kasine and Kamus.

“Not so fast,” Kamus raised his hands for Sokram to stop, “How long until you’re fully recovered?”

“Three weeks to one month. Why, Grandmaster?”

Sokram found it strange but then remembered Kamus wanted to give him a special training to test his mastery of the Killing Blade. “You truly think I’m ready to be a Master?”

“If you can understand the Killing Blade enough to create techniques like those you used to slaughter those orcs, yes.”

Kamus nodded with a calm smile, but his smile suddenly turned into a greedy grin. “And by becoming a Master, you can add your own techniques to our books, which will only strengthen our legacy. Don’t you think?”

Hearing that, Sokram realized what Kamus was truly after.

Kamus wouldn’t be shameless enough to ask or steal Sokram’s techniques. But if Sokram became a Master of their Killing Art, then it would count as repayment.

Understanding his Grandmaster personality, Sokram agreed, “Alright, I’ll be in your and Master’s care.”

Sokram lowered his head toward Kamus, which was the same as a bow when it came to dragons.

“Good! Hahaha! Our Killing Art will get a new Master, and one in the younger generation, nonetheless! We’ll definitely win against the other Killing Arts in the conclave in five years! We might even receive another inheritance from those old ghosts, Hahahaha!”