"I was ordered by the princess to guide you to her personal drawing room, please follow me, Your imperial highness Theodore Ignatius"
Theo who finished taking a shower, drying himself up and changing into a new attire was greeted by a maid that was assigned to him
Her name was Shea? Right?
She wore a typical Victorian style maid outfit. She was also a head smaller than me, she had black hair, brown eyes and an attractive face, though not as godly as Selene's.
Theo simply nodded at Shea, the maid, and followed her, through the luxurious palace hallways. Bennet who was outside his room was waiting on him, he simply nodded to him and Bennet started following him from behind.
Here I thought that I had to ask her for directions. Why tell me where the floor was when you already told the maid in advance to lead me there?
Theo shook his, forgetting the small details that shouldn't really matter much.
"Big Brother Theo!"
A voice from behind called out to him, halting him from his steps and turning him around to confirm the voice that spoke of his name.
Bennet had to step to the side to reveal the adorable creature.
"Helena" Theo uttered with a smile.
Helena ran through the hallway, her maids chasing after her worried that the Saint might trip. She jumped at Theo from a surprising amount of distance away, yet landed right into Theo's arms.
Nice catch, Theo.
"So? What does my little sister want?" Theo spoke with a slight mischief in his voice.
"I just wanted to say hi and ask where you were going" Helena tilted her head as she stayed still in Theo's arms.
"I'm just out to meet a friend that I haven't seen in a long time"
"Is it your fiance?"
Since when did Helena know, I have a fiance?
"... Yes, so go back to your room or go find Sky. I'll be back for dinner"
Theo gently dropped Selene on the floor and beckoned to the maids to take her.
"Take care of my sister will you?"
The two stiffened at Theo's request
"Y-yes, Your Imperial Highness!"
Both maids bowed hastily at the same time and left with Helena in tow, who waved him goodbye as she left.
Theo waved back.
After a few seconds of waiting for Helena to be out of view, Theo asked the maid to continue on her way and followed her.
Theo went through multitudes of floors downwards and turns.
It reminded him of their own palace. It was also annoyingly too big.
He dearly wished that they had some kind of teleportation exclusively for imperial blood so he can easily get to point a to be b in an instant instead of walking for twenty minutes straight to his destination.
After a few more minutes of twists and turns, the maid stopped in front of a double door, indicating that they had arrived at their destination.
Theo and Bennet noticed a familiar figure standing outside the room.
The person waved and bowed when got even closer.
It was none other than Elsa.
"This is the room that Her imperial highness Selene has asked me to take you" Shea bowed as she gestured to the door beside her, directing Theo where to go.
Theo nodded and thanked the maid for guiding him and Bennet.
"Stay here with Elsa, Bennet. It seems Selene wants to talk with me privately."
Bennet nodded his head and stood beside Elsa who stood guard elegantly beside the door frame.
I kinda ship them. oh? Is that a faint blush of Bennet's ear I see? wait! Elsa as well!?
Theo was genuinely surprised with the results of his small observation.
Are they a thing? They did seem really close in the game, so it only makes sense.... hmmm I gotta talk with Selene about this.
Theo hastily entered the room before the two servants noticed his gaze directed at them.
He closed the door quickly and saw a familiar face, sipping on tea as she tried her best to look as elegant as possible.
"What's with the rush? Do you really miss me that much? Theo?"
Theo frowned at the lady sitting on the couch, talking to him in a mocking tone.
He simply ignored her words and sat across from her.
Then silence ensued.
Selene felt that it was the wrong comment to bring up in their current situation
Because both of their heads were suddenly flooded with the memories of their earlier actions. As well as the reason for the Dark Emperor's pettiness.
The atmosphere slowly turned weird.
It had been two years since they properly conversed and there was also added awkwardness, because of the incident back in front of the gate of the Capital of Aventus.
Their throats were stuck and afraid of saying anything that might trigger the other person's discomfort.
They did know that their feelings of each other were positive and Resonance didn't really mind controlling them, but simply removed any shame and restraint with their actions. It also conveyed the other persons' true feelings and their thoughts for each other.
But that was the reason why it was difficult to act at this very moment. They were ashamed of each other's actions even though it was inevitable.
It was still an act that their normal selves would never do, hence why there was also the feeling of wanting to apologize for stepping on each others' personal boundaries.
But it was kinda stupid to apologize, they thought, because most of the conveyed thoughts and emotions weren't really negative or nefarious, rather it was so pure and unexpected of them that they were in visible shock.
So, what was the solution to disperse this atmosphere of awkwardness?
"Agree to forget?" Theo asked with a serious expression
Selene nodded, mimicking Theo's grave expression.
"Yes, let's block it out of our memories"
Theo held his hand forward and Selene shook it, finalizing their deal with a handshake.
"Ehem, So? Where should we start?" Selene asked with a more comfortable yet embarrassed expression.
"Hmmm, how about we start with you? We still have a bet to uphold, so comparing the amount of progress and contributions is a must" Theo expressed in a snide tone.
Selene plastered herself with a grin and spoke in an obvious arrogant tone.
"Hah! Get ready to swim in sh*t, Theo!"
Theo chuckled at her threat. Happy that the Selene he knew barely changed since they last met.
"What's so funny? You think you got an edge against me? Hah! Your arrogance will lead you to your downfall Theo!" Selene proclaimed, confident with her declaration.
Same to you, Miss.
Theo didn't try to argue back, knowing that if he did, he'd get into another one of their foolish heated debates.
He would love to prove the girl- no, the woman in front of him wrong, but time is of the essence, their priority right now was to share with each other their progression.
"So I...." Selene started explaining what significant results she had during the two years
******
"You got Agnir? Seriously?" Theo asked with an evident surprised tone.
"Hehehe, look look, I can prove it by summoning him, Awaken" Selene waved her left hand and black shadow emerged from the ground behind her.
It Agnir himself, draped in his flaming black cape, staring at Theo with hollowed eyes.
Holy crap, it really is the hidden boss, The Knight of the Black Flame and the Betrayer of Aventus. That same Agnir.
Selene waved her hand once more, sinking the gigantic figure of Agnir back into the shadows.
Theo placed his hand on his chin and spoke in an intuitive tone
"And you also got the support of Rosenberg with you, not only that you've also been racking in money you got by giving them an item worth investing in."
Selene stood up from her sofa, placing her hands on her hips as she bragged about her achievements to Theo's face.
"Hehehe, Shocked aren't you? If you bow down and beg, I might lend you Agnir and cookie to help you in beating the sewer dungeon"
I am impressed though
The fact that she was able to get a undead that was previously a grandmaster and the fact that she got a backing of a Duke without her parent's help is impressed, she even prevented them defecting to the side of the demons which will save her country from easily imploding in itself.
And the information of knowing that Duke Campbell is in cahoots with the demons is also vital for them to plan ahead when dealing with them, knowing that humans weren't the only enemy that's a part of the anti-imperial faction.
They would now feel less bad wrecking them in the upcoming future.
Let's also add the fact that she's literally about to catch up to me as well.
Theo checked her status screen and saw that she was now in the beginning of Astute tier, which was completely impossible in the game. At most she would be in the middle of Adept tier. This goes to show how much benefits she got from the shared growth and beating the Red Beast.
"Alright it's my turn now, so sit down.'' Theo commented while donning an incredulous face.
"Hoh~? So, you have better achievements than I, Selene Aventus, The Saint of Death?"
Theo simply ignored her nonsensical spiel and started reporting his own side of the story
"After getting back h..."
*****
"Bullsh*t! You found a Saint!?"