After looking at the Canta Ann for a little over a minute he finally said something to break this silence.
"Uhh...your highness can I ask you a question?" Autumn said slowly and looked at her with a serious gaze.
Canta nodded happily as she heard him called her but she was a bit unhappy that he was calling her by honorifics so she said something about it.
"Sir Autumn you can call me Canta Ann or just Ann you don't have to mind the honorifics!" She said with a gentle but firm tone as she looked at him with love heart eyes.
Autumn scratched his head a little and agreed.
"Okay if that's what you want then I will call you Ann." He said with a bit of hesitation as he glanced at the girls leaning beside him and saw that they still had their eyes closed which is a good sign.
"So Ann what reason did you call me and why are you staring at me for long periods of time," Autumn said his doubts but he knew the answer as he saw and read her thoughts.
He was only waiting for a good response to his questions. He has thought of two outcomes that will happen first she will tell the truth and avoid the second question or second she will not tell the truth at all and just make up some excuse.
But she did the unexpected and choose the third option which is...
"Ah, right how could I forget the reason I called you here Sir Autumn is because I would like you to protect my niece who is gonna enter the secret realm and I would pay any price for you to protect her. And as for your second question, it's because your handsome and maybe you're the type of man that I have taken a liking too."
She said the first half with a serious tone and even looked at him with a pleading look. Autumn saw how she sincerely love her niece as Ann herself with high status has to beg him for her protection. But her tone changed quickly as she said the last part, he was speechless for a moment.
And the way she said it too was different from her cold aloof tone and look as for how to describe her...
You know those doujins who had girls that have fallen for the protagonist and always looked at him with gentle and loving expressions. The drawing even portrays the overwhelming love the girls have for the protagonist with their eyes and you know...you know what I'm talking about we are neets and nerds after all. But 3 times more intense and the love is also 3 times intense it can even compare to Mia and Sarah but still leagues behind though.
Autumn had to cover his face with his hand and suddenly fell into a deep trance and asked himself.
"Why do I keep running into different but weird girls I get how Mia and Sarah love me so much that they turned into yandere's and the universe devouring loli cause I saw her memories but this girl is just another level of weirdness. I wonder if in the future I would meet these kinds of girls again but I hope not as having two strong yandere's are enough I don't have enough strength to deal with others if they decide to join in."
Autumn sank himself into a pit of despair for a moment but he quickly got rid of those thoughts and instead thought of the five stages of grief and immediately speed run to acceptance.
"What happens, happens I guess let time tell the story I'm too lazy to think ahead of the future." Autumn thought to himself but forgot that he had a loli who was also reading his mind and also felt his despair and acceptance.
Flos was confused as to what Autumn was thinking but she roughly felt that he was suffering mentally which puzzled her but decided to ignore it.
She then turns her attention to the girls leaning beside him and wanted to read their thoughts, as soon as she started to devour their thoughts she immediately stopped as she shook in fear.
She then quickly started to think of different things to forget whatever she saw. Like clothes, food, exploring new places, etc.
Autumn didn't know what happened to Flos as he was still comforting himself about the future.
After comforting himself for a good moment he turns looked at her and gazed into her eyes, he saw his reflection but her pupils were in the shape of a heart.
He then said slowly and seriously.
"I can protect your niece but you have to prepare the price and to tell you in advance my service is not cheap. Are you prepared to pay the price?"
Canta Anm heard the seriousness in his voice and also started to feel a vast amount of pressure coming from this man.
Her face was flushed, her breathing started to become erratic, and her eyes were even filled with crazy light but she quickly suppressed it and said in a solemn tone.
"Of course it's my precious niece after all any price can be paid as long she is safe and protected. Even if the whole kingdom is used as a bargaining chip to pay my niece protection fee I won't hesitate to sell it." She said seriously and her eyes showed a gentle and spoiling look.
Mia and Sarah open one eye each and saw the same gentle and spoiling look on her face. It was the same as Autumn when he looks at Sarah and Mia but hers was 2 levels below his spoiling methods.
They then closed their eyes and just pretended to sleep and definitely not eavesdropping. Autumn definitely saw them open their eyes and then pretended to sleep he was speechless but he was really impressed by the determination and love for her niece which is hard to see in this cruel world where strength matters the most.
Everything can be gain by strength no matter if it is love, friendship, women/men, wealth, kingdoms, etc. Every single thing whether it is a concept or worldly material things it can be gain by simply getting stronger and proving your power to everyone.
But true love, friendship, and comradery cannot be simply gain by just having strength but gain through time, effort, affection, and constant caring for someone.
Its foundation is built by trust, faith, loyalty, or dedication to someone it is definitely hard to find someone like Autumn or Canta Ann who cares and devote their time together to someone.
Many cultivators, beasts, elves, and even gods will be jealous of this kind of true friendship, comradery, or love as the higher your cultivation goes the more likely it is for someone to backstab you or betray you.
It hurts a cultivator or a God mentally when someone they trust so much actually backstabs them because that someone you trust betrayed you so that they can reach higher cultivation. But even if they could survive the backstab or ambush of someone they trust it will create a heart demon that will hinder their future cultivation.
Unless you can defeat that heart demon or accept that heart demon and make its powers yours then your efforts to reaching higher cultivation are practically negligible at that point.
But if you do defeat or accept your heart demon then your cultivation progress will soar through the heavens as your strength will either double or triple depending on how you accept the sublimation of that heart demon.
Okay, it's time to explain heart demons, as you may know, heart demons are treated as an obstacle for your future potential. If you ask many cultivators around the continent they will say that you must defeat or eliminate your heart demon to progress but that's not only the way to defeat your heart demon.
There is another way to defeat your demon and that is by accepting it, embracing it, or thoroughly merge with it. The cultivators who use this method are rare or close to none who use this.
But if you do use this method then you will have an extraordinary increase in strength compared to defeating your heart demons. Many people had a misconception that heart demons are evil who hinders your path for the future but it's just really your mistake or regrets being amplified by thousands of times to torture you.
All your mistake or regrets will slowly accumulate through time when you explore the wide world and experience many events that made your whole world very colorful from the rainbow color of enjoying time with friends or comrades to the bleak darkness of losing your companions and slowly realize that everyone you knew and love starts to avoid you and distance themselves from you.
Until when the last mistake you made finally made your mind break and cause that heart demon to be born. You will feel hell-like pain from your mind and soul but it's just an illusion that you yourself make but to you, it feels like it's all heavy, heavy like two mountains crushing you.
But if you embrace all that mistake or regrets in your life that you experience and conquer that heart demon then you will experience a feeling of akin to being reborn in nirvana.
Your soul will be 2 times much larger than any cultivators, your strength will 3 times higher in the same rank, and your heart demon becomes part of your strength and yourself.
Your heart demon is yourself from your past mistakes and regrets that you didn't want to let go. You held unto your past and never ever moved forward to see the present and the future.
This method is the hardest and most difficult method to overcome your heart demon but the benefits are enormous for that risk and difficulty.
Many cultivators or God are haunted by heart demons that they created even if you are a Saint, Angel, or heck even the most virtues God the God of Justice and Balance are haunted by their heart demons to this day.
Even if you beat your demon or eliminate them you will truly not forget your heart demon as it will just slowly accumulate again and formed a much stronger or sturdier demon that haunts you to the point of committing suicide.
Many Gods died in this way as their heart demons were practically as heavy as a galaxy that they always have to carry in their hearts. The only and true way to defeat your heart demon is to embrace them and accept your mistakes or regrets and let go of the past as time only moves forwards and it waits for no one.
So it's better to look forward to the present and future and don't let anyone try to stop your way of getting a better future happiness for yourself.
I am rambling at this point, sorry for that sudden outburst of long talk of heart demons. Shall we proceed to the story, sorry for taking your time to listen to my thoughts.
Autumn only wants to protect Mia and Sarah as the two of them were like the sun and moon that rotates around him. Making his life brighter and much colorful when he goes to different adventures and journeys.
He smiled at the thought of the three of them spending their time hanging out in the Mel Luna. The three of them were always laughing and smiling while constantly supporting each other. It was the most cherished memory he wanted to protect at any cost.
....
Barely finished the chapter ugh stupid hangover but I finished so go me.
Anyway, I don't know what I wrote but I will surely read them when I look at this when I'm sober.
But what I remember is that I wrote much stuff in my mind about mental health care but I don't know how that's gonna turn out.
Anyway if you read something weird about this chapter kindly mention me as I want to know too.
Welp see ya later needs Imma take a nap as I am too tired.