'Ina was not able to see what I saw... She could not even see the spatial crack close... What is this? Does it have to do something with the technique I cultivated? It did happen the moment I reached stage 2 of the Eternal Paragon Void Body.' Rhys pondered.
But in the end, he chose to put it in the back of his head, he did not have the necessary information to know what he had just experienced and what could have tricked Ina's senses.
'Does not matter... at least not for now.'
Rhys started to focus to see what new abilities the new stage gave him.
Knowledge immediately appeared inside of his head, besides the close connection to space and the sense of space developing more, his past abilities strengthened.
His aether reserves became larger and the aether in his dantian became purer. He could now absorb more aether and destabilize space more.
'It also seems I can now teleport short distances... but because I have no comprehension of space it uses too much aether... I need to reach the latter realms of the Saint realm if I want to use this ability well... I will only be able to use it as a last resort.'
——
The sun rose as Rhys woke up feeling refreshed, the feeling of strength in his body made him feel great. Of course, he knew he was still very weak, so he would need to get stronger faster.
'I should be close to breaking into the Low True Saint realm with the increase in my talent...'
Rhys went to take a bath and exited refreshed, his body feeling cleansed, 'I wonder what I should do today... I definitely want to go out with one of the girls so our relationship can progress and they could be more comfortable with me...'
A smile formed on Rhys's lips as he remembered how supporting Stella and Crystal were.
As Rhys exited his room he saw the Empress, Aurora, standing outside of his room wearing a beautiful white dress, reaching her mid tighs and revealing those thick legs of hers which were covered by tights, the dress fit her well enough to make her look quite tempting, especially with how it made her curves stand out.
"Hello Aurora, how are you?"
"Hello Rhys, I am good thank you for asking. I want to ask you if you would like to go out with me today. For a little chat." Aurora spoke, her voice confident but the light blush did not escape Rhys and Ina's eyes.
"Of course. I see no problem with that." Rhys spoke after a few seconds, he was thinking her daughters must know about this so they allowed it, and indeed as he walked with her he saw Stella and Crystal peaking from the corner smiling. But when they noticed they had been caught they hid and ran away.
"As I told you Rhys, she feels something for you. Have you ever heard anything about the Empress? Dressing like this? Revealing her face for such a long time? No! Make sure you don't break her heart." Ina's words made Rhys stay quiet and think she is right.
"Aurora, don't they know your appearance?" Rhys was a bit nervous since being seen with the Empress will bring a lot of attention.
"No one has seen my face but my daughters, we will leave through a secret pathway that will lead outside." Her words calmed Rhys.
"Alright."
——
They were now outside after walking through the secret pathway behind the throne, no one was in the throne room since the administrators did not want to look at Yin Moon Empress, they respected her that much.
Aurora used her soul sense to order her people around who were in the rooms next to her throne room.
As they walked side by side Rhys felt many eyes falling on them, the common people had never seen the Empress's face, they had just seen her curvy body and veiled face.
Of course, Rhys who now knew this understood that they attracted attention because of their looks and actions. Their looks were very eye-catching and they both moved with pride and majesty.
'Good looks are a curse...' Rhys cried inwardly, although he was quite prideful of his new looks. His body was quite good after all.
Aurora walked with her arms in front of her, they were close against her curvy body and her hands touched held each other as they touched her stomach. She looked very shy and nervous. Making her look more breathtaking.
Rhys felt she looked very cute acting like this and not as prideful as she usually did. He also felt Aurora stare at him from time to time and quickly look away.
'How did she develop feelings for me? There is no way such a strong woman would fall for me... Especially when her daughters and I are dating.' Rhys asked himself.
It was a bit awkward since they never talked and only walked silently.
"Aurora, what do you like about the city?" Rhys asked, trying to initiate a conversation.
Aurora pondered for a few seconds before she answered, "The moon hill, where the energy of the moon shines the brightest, it is a good place for us Eternal Moon Spirits."
"Mhm, I heard a lot about it during my stay as an alchemist." Rhys remembered a few talks between women as they talked about how romantic it was for someone to propose in moon hill.
"Rhys, sorry for acting like this, it is just I have no experience with this type of thing. But like I said before, I want to have a chat with you."
Rhys simply nodded and smiled.
"I know, I myself only have experience from the outings I had with Stella and Crystal,"
"Mhm." Aurora smiled sweetly as she saw Rhys's smile.
——
Within a private room, Rhys and Aurora sat opposite to each other, a table separating them, they sat on mats in the ground. They had gone into a restaurant and were given a VIP room when Aurora showed them a medallion.
Now they were waiting for their food in complete silence, once more it was awkward.
It was then that Aurora opened her mouth to speak, "Hey, the reason I said I wanted to chat is that as you might have noticed... my feelings for you are very strange... for me at least."
Rhys simply listened to her voice as he looked straight into her eyes.
"To be honest, I never expected my soul to take interest in you. My conditions for a partner are high, and you only meet some of them. But for my soul to ignore my conditions and choose you is very strange.
"So I used the excuse of a 'chat' so we could come out on a date. I know I'm an old woman... my daughters love you. So this might be uncomfortable... if you are not sure you can leave and I will not blame you." Aurora said as she looked down, feeling ashamed of herself. How would someone react when they know that the mother felt for the man their daughter loved?
Rhys chuckled and grinned, "No need to worry, I'm sure your daughters would be fine with this. I know they love you as much as you love them. They probably wish for your happiness. Although it is a bit sudden since we rarely talk, I'm all for it if it will help you."
Aurora let out a very loud sigh of relief, she felt better knowing Rhys didn't think anything bad of her.
"Mhm, so Rhys, let us get closer to each other and bond." Aurora smiled as she spoke. She wanted to give this a try, and see how things would play out.
"I see why not, the more we know about each other the more it will help I'm understanding each other." Rhys smiled, making Aurora's heart beat faster and her soul cry in pain of being unable to be closer to him.
"Right." It was at this moment they heard a knock before a woman dressed in high-quality robes walked in with a tray of food and alcohol, what they had ordered to eat and drink.
As she placed the food down elegantly, Aurora and Rhys looked at each other, they felt like this was a genuine date, even though they weren't as clear on their feelings. Not yet anyway.
The moment the lady left, Rhys and Aurora began eating, slowly but surely they finished their food, the only thing that remained was two bottles of alcohol with two glass cups.
The moment they finished eating they began to talk once more. Their likes and dislikes, how much life has changed for them. Although in Rhys's case it had only changed recently.
They laughed, frowned, and sighed when they spoke about each other. Their emotions were on full display thanks to the alcohol.
Their cheeks slowly flushed as their conversation changed from likes and dislikes to their goals and aspirations.
"I want to make my Empire great, want women to stop being mistreated and used as nothing but gems. They have the same if not more potential than men, but are suppressed and their cultivation is stripped via the use of evil dual cultivation arts." Aurora spoke, the last few words were filled with disdain.
Rhys nodded, he understood that much since even on Earth women were used as toys.
"Mhm, in my case. I want to become strong enough to protect the people I now hold dear. As well as get rid of any enemy in my way." Rhys's goals were not as grand, it was something typical. To protect and kill his enemies.
In reality, he also had to save the whole universe, but with his shitty cultivation, if he were to speak this Aurora would probably laugh.
"I want to make sure Stella, Crystal, 'Mother', and 'Sister' are fine. But I guess soon you will be included, no?" Rhys laughed as he saw Aurora flush. He did not understand how such a prideful woman could act like this, even fall in love with him.
'Fate is truly weird...' Rhys felt blessed to have such a beauty interested in him. Especially a milf, he loved mature women, personal preference.
Rhys and Aurora continued to drink, slowly their cheeks flushed as they got drunk. They started to say cheese love lines that made them laugh. In the end, they felt pretty well together, but Rhys knew he would have to dedicate some time to her to make sure they could get closer.
——
Rhys woke up and found himself in a room, his head ached, but circulating his cultivation quickly got read of his hangover. As Rhys was going to wake up he felt heavy, no... it was better to say something was clinging to his body, making him feel heavy.
Looking at his right, Rhys saw Aurora, wearing a sheer dress with a white lingerie and garter belt, this made her look very sexy and made Rhys feel lust. But right now, his mind was trying to remember how she ended up here. Yet he failed.
As he pondered over yesterday, he heard a moan. It was Aurora who was waking up.
Rhys looked at Aurora who woke up and slowly used her hands to push herself up... when she saw Rhys she smiled, showing no shame, the shy woman yesterday was gone!
'What the hell happened yesterday!? We have our clothes on so we did nothing dirty.' Rhys was confused seeing Aurora smile.
"Morning future husband." She spoke with a voice filled with seductiveness, she was trying to charm him.
As Rhys was about to ask what happened he saw Aurora hug him and push him down in the bed. Rhys saw Aurora touch his forehead with hers and memories from her point of view rushed into his mind.
What he saw made Rhys feel he really was dominant. Overbearing even.
He saw himself and Aurora drinking until at some point he moved next to her and they talked about how their developing feelings. Moving on from that he saw Aurora and himself leaving after paying, once they got to the castle they separated.
But as he was about to go to his room he turned around and went into Aurora's room, who had taken her dress off and had her sheer dress on, her white lingerie and a garter belt under it.
Rhys saw Aurora smile as they got closer and kissed! They then started making out, they only kissed and hugged but that was still something! The alcohol made them ignore any natural boundaries or even reject each other.
'This... I see... It seems I accepted her. Being older I felt much more confident in moving our relationship this fast. I guess now I have a third woman...' Rhys spoke in his mind as his hands moved to hug Aurora's waist.
"You are awfully happy... don't you think we rushed things too much?" Rhys spoke teasingly.
"Heh, It is fine. I felt no disgust or reservation yesterday, so I let things progress." Aurora smiled. Her mature body shook alongside her as the chukled.
They both laughed, how had things changed, over a month ago they did not know of each other, now they were a couple. Rhys had the whole family pack, making him laugh.
'Next time I will take Stella and Crystal out...!'
"I guess your daughters will be happy no?" Rhys used his hand to caress her hair and smell the floral scent on it.
"Yes~ But you must make sure to get closer to them as well." Aurora seemed over the moon, she felt happy being with Rhys, somehow. Even though they had not known each other for long, but then again, she felt it was okay.
"Don't worry." Rhys gave Aurora a kiss before they both stood up.