Getting a confirmation from Urian after a slight deliberation, Cecily easily got her title back after discussing the details with the newly appointed puppet king.
There was the question of whether or not she wanted to be low-key or to just to go big or go home by announcing to the rest of the Kingdom that the granddaughter of one of the most prestigious families was still alive and kicking--and even contributed quite a bit to the crusade against the werewolves.
Ultimately the eccentric King Julian decided on his own in a fit of impulse and entertainment, letting the kingdom know of her status and achievements. Though, due to the mass presence of those normal citizens of the country who were unaware of the dark side of the Kingdom he simply announced that she was a key player in capturing and executing the murderer of his father, the previous king.
Thus, her rise in the nobility was taken in a positive light for the most part as she was revered as a sort of hero.
There was no need to mention how the hunters viewed her. As expected, was the response from the majority as only one family's bloodline in the whole of Grethien actually possessed such distinctive and alluring purple eyes.
Directly after her official reinstatement as the heiress to the Lavande family, Urian also planned to announce the collaboration between the hunters and Hugh's faction to the members of the underworld.
.
.
.
They ended up heading to the hunters' headquarters in the capital via Hunters' Meet, that butcher shop run by that cannon fodder named Jeoffrey from a while back. Though Cecily had expected it, she still couldn't help raising a brow as Jeoffrey discreetly slid a block of meat on the counter to the side as a compartment seemingly clicked, causing the wall to shift. There was a passageway leading downwards to presumably the underworld--quite literally.
As she had run away from home soon after the deaths of her family, Cecily had never actually ventured into any of the hunter's headquarters as she simply travelled the Kingdom whimsically and aimlessly, slaughtering any wolf that crossed her path along the way.
So, this passageway into the capital's headquarters was quite a novel experience for both Cecily and the original.
Everyone recognized and knew Hugh upon sight. That was to be expected, as he had been a long-time acquaintance of her grandfather in the capital. If the same could be said at the other headquarters placed conveniently around the vast kingdom, Cecily wasn't sure.
Some of the hunters, as mentioned in the mission world details, didn't trust him as he was not only a werewolf, but the leader of one of the factions. Surprisingly, however, most of the hunters did. He had been in contact with them for over two years, after all. They were familiar with him personally and figured he wasn't the malicious or even the avaricious type like the opposing Northern faction. Especially after he had sent his own men out to help them out of sticky situations on multiple accounts and provided them with silver ore for their weaponry and armor.
The hunters of the association also recognized Cecily, but didn't realize she was their chief's granddaughter until they were captivated by her lavender eyes that closely resembled the elder's.
The fact that she was walking so closely beside Hugh was also food for thought.
After all, there were so many rumors stating how much she as the Lavandula abhorred werewolves; the two kings in particular. The amount of hate she held could match the entirety of the hunter's association and possibly even more. Many were worried she would act on impulse and do something insane eventually. Losing such a promising young huntress was not what the association wanted, and because she was stunning in both vibe and attractiveness, she had a rather large fanbase. Her aloofness to the association only made her more of an unattainable flower while her ferocity against the enemy served as inspiration amongst the other female hunters.
Behind their group of five (Cecily, Hugh, Urian, Mathias, and Jeoffrey) was another group. Each figure was tall and built, even the women but that only added to their magnificence. There were six in total, two women and four men. Each and every one of them adorned revealing attire--the men aside from one were shirtless while the women exposed their long legs, toned arms, and subtle abs.
These were Hugh's main line-up of his most trusted retainers. Since they had decided to declare their collaboration today, the important members of both parties naturally had to be present.
Urian had Mathias gather everyone in the canteen so that they could relay the news. Then they walked to the front so that they could be in the view of everyone within the large room. There wasn't any stage or anything, so they stood on the tables like they did in those delinquent school scenarios.
They first introduced the "newcomer" and chief's granddaughter, the Lavandula. Then they followed with Hugh as the King of the South and his loyal retainers.
The man who was about the same height as Hugh and had long, unruly striking red hair and deep blue eyes was Alef; the shorter man beside him with short curly blonde hair and pale icy blue eyes was Kris. The last man, Hill, was taller than Hugh and Alef and covered himself up somewhat with a long black cape, its hood covered his strikingly handsome pale white face and his lengthy braided chestnut brown hair. His half-lidded, jade-green eyes were overshadowed by lush lashes giving him a lazy sort of charm as he stood in silence in front of the crowd.
Since Cecily was now standing beside her grandfather as Hugh was introducing his group, the two werewolf women had promptly draped themselves around both his left and right arms boldly and provocatively as they glared daggers at Cecily who was still caught up in Hill's introduction. She only looked their way when she felt their eyes unpleasantly on her self, but her eyes held no emotion as the girls rubbed themselves seductively against her now-fiance's body.
Though she herself could care less about their interaction, the air around her had turned heavy and gloomy almost instantly. That was because both of her doting elders were also standing at her side and they were not impressed with the future grandson-in-law's lascivious behavior. Urian and Mathias's gazes met in mid-air and they spontaneously came to a tacit agreement.
This engagement can't go through.
But before they could nod to each other to start their plan to annul everything without affecting the collaboration, Hugh didn't miss their small exchange and had already taken the initiative to throw the two women forward and off of his body. They fell off the table in an unsightly manner as they weren't expecting such an action and landed awkwardly on the floor in front of the crowd of hunters.
Alef also didn't expect this, but he hurriedly and helplessly inputted before it was too late, "The black haired-chick on the right is Iren, and the blonde on the left is Kris's older sister, Uruk."
Then he looked to his king to make sure he completed his job satisfactorily only to find that Hugh wasn't even paying attention to them in the first place and only had eyes for the Lavandula and the two elderly men standing by her side as if he were a domesticated dog who was seeking praise for doing something good. Alef had black lines running down his face as he considered his own situation just then. He was no different from his boss, ah!
There were some opposing voices, however Hugh's terms were stated clearly and he also said he didn't need the hunters per se; he just didn't want them getting in his way and obstructing his forces.
Eventually they finished with the announcement and everyone dispersed to do their own things. Urian and Mathias had gone back to the office to finalize everything and to send some men to the other headquarters to relay the new information.
The group of werewolf men had gone to explore the place accompanied by other hunters who were slightly wary of their natural nemeses on their turf. The girls actually brazenly walked up to Cecily and started to provoke her.
"You have ideas about our king?" The blonde, Uruk scoffed as she looked down condescendingly with her sapphire blue eyes with a smirk.
"Lowly human, let's see if you are worth it. Unless you don't dare accept a duel with one of us." Iren chortled mockingly with the back of her hand against her lips.
Throughout their tirade of jeers and taunting remarks, Cecily simply crossed her arms and her expression remained impassive as if the one they were insulting wasn't her.
[Are they seriously two of Hugh's most trusted retainers? They are kind of dumb, saying something like "lowly humans" in a den full of h-u-m-a-n hunters ah.] 001 knew his host seriously didn't care about whatever they had to say. Furthermore, they sucked at insulting. The most they could do was to look down on her from their tall height and challenge her to a duel?
Pei! His host could obviously deal with both of them at the same time, if not Hugh's entire band of followers.
Seeing that the victim of their derision did not show even the slightest reaction, they got physical as Iren grabbed her by the shoulder and extended her claws into her flesh, drawing blood.
Suddenly, Cecily burst out into sarcastic laughter as she lifted an amused brow at Hugh, "These are your reliable top-dogs?"
She deftly shifted her shoulder and perfectly executed a spinning hook kick towards Iren's right neck; the impact throwing her down and forcing her filthy claws out of her shoulder as she grunted uncouthly. Unluckily for her, Cecily courteously returned the previous favor and did not retain the hidden blades within her boot with that one kick, so although not lethal enough to warrant death, Iren's neck was flowing with blood through the newly-formed gash caused by the silver blade.
Witnessing her sister-in-arms taking such a blow, Uruk was enraged, "You bitch!"
The temperamental blonde werewolf bore her fangs and dove in towards Cecily's neck, to which Cecily performed a series of flexible backflips; the blade hidden within the toe cap of her right boot was exposed and wedged itself straight through Uruk's chin but not enough to puncture through her entire mouth out of consideration and sliced outwards. Her chiming laughter throughout the ordeal instantaneously dazed even some of the women hunters who were still in the canteen to witness these werewolves being shown their place, "Um, excuse me, Blondie. You should be thanking me for not slicing her head cleanly off. Even though I clearly hate you filthy dogs, I must leave grandfather some face."
She landed perfectly on her feet and started walking out of the canteen to explore the rest of the place like the wiser werewolf men had done, uncaring about the consequences of their one-sided beatdown. On her way out, she didn't forget to ridicule Hugh, "Next time, make sure to properly discipline the members of your harem, Your Majesty."
"Jealous?" Hugh chuckled as he ignored the bloody mess that was now two of his retainers.
Cecily disdainfully snorted, "You can only wish."
Hugh muttered under his breath, "Indeed." But Cecily couldn't hear because she had already exited the room. He followed her out after helplessly smiling at the gawking crowd who hadn't yet registered that their new comrades were bleeding out on the floor.
They were obviously happy that Cecily had done what she did in a show of power. Her display wasn't just for the two women, but also for those hunters who didn't believe in her capabilities. Also, when Iren and Uruk had muttered "lowly humans" earlier, they were itching to beat their muscly and firm asses out of anger. Thankfully, Cecily had humiliated them thoroughly. This didn't stop them from humiliating the two even more by throwing snide remarks and contemptuous glances at them on their way back to their posts.
Noticing that Hugh was following her at a distance once again as she was walking through the long corridor, Cecily spoke up without stopping and looking back, "I will be the one to kill him in the end. Valentine, I mean."
"Oh? What makes you think I would give up my points for you?" Hugh narrowed his golden eyes in contemplation at her statement. It was truly hard to compromise this even if he felt something for the woman in front of him. The mission or feelings, ah, which should he prioritize?
Just give her the points ah! You already won the previous competition! 001 complained inwardly. But he knew that both his host and Hugh weren't the type to just let things pass so freely. They always had to make a big deal out of nothing by making a competition over the smallest things! As if they weren't already competitors in the void competition!
"You don't have to. I will steal the kill if you won't let me have it," Cecily confidently declared. She didn't expect him to hand over the kill in the first place. It would have been nice and easy if he would let her take it, but knowing him nothing was ever going to be smooth-sailing.
There was a unknown glint that flashed through Hugh's eyes but it quickly went away. He was looking forward to how she was going to put up a fight against him in the future.
At the precise moment the messengers that were sent to deliver the memo that Hugh's faction and the hunters were now acting as one combined force against Valentine, there was a ding! in Cecily's mind notifying her of yet another task.
I really like this world. Are all Level 3 worlds this generous?
[Actually, host, yes. Because the consequences for failing are larger there naturally must be cushions for the off-chance hosts fail.] Answered 001 in all seriousness.
[Side Task 6: Save humans. Reward: 1000 (100 points per human)]
Cecily was confused over one point, 'Why didn't I get this task before?'
[Because you didn't meet the qualifications]
'Which were?' She soundlessly lifted a brow.
[Cecily's original objective was never to save humans. She wanted revenge. However, Hugh saved humans from his own kind to end the conflict between humans and werewolves. It was a starting point to the peace between the races. I bet you got this quest to help him out.]
Why does it seem like the worlds keep pushing us together? - w -"
Cecily took a quick side glance at Hugh, who was smiling innocently back.
Anyway, the two went around getting rid of Valentine's forces and saving humans at the same time as a part of their strategy to draw the snake out of its hole. King Julian had ordered the knights to cooperate with the hunters who at first disdained the knights since the knights had ignored their plight at the beginning of the werewolves' reign of terror. The knights had to prove their worth, which they eventually did.
The couple never had time to indulge in any sexual activities because Cecily always jumped into battle and Hugh didn't like forcing his way into her anyway. Nevertheless, he stuck to her like glue.
His "harem of six," as Cecily started referring to his loyal retainers after that day she obliterated Iren and Uruk, were nowhere to be seen under Hugh's direct orders since he wanted to be alone with his beloved to court her properly.
All of this went on for half a year until Valentine finally decided to make his move.