"So, Will you accept my help?" Asked Lilia.
Alex stayed quiet, pondering whether he should agree to her proposal.
'Why am I stressing about this? I already wanted to win her over, but I didn't know how. Maybe with Lilia's help, I can make it happen'.
Having made his decision, Alex informed Lilia.
"I'll accept your help, but why are you so insistent?"
"Simple, being with Ava will help you gain points to get stronger quickly, so you can protect yourself and achieve your goal of overthrowing the Fiore empire," replied Lilia.
"So, you're only helping me so I would get stronger?"
"What other reason could there be besides that?" wondered Lilia.
"Helping you regain your powers, for example."
"Oh, right, you can do that too. Hovever, focus on boosting your strength for now; it might take time to fully heal me from my 'condition' after all".
'She's helping me for my benefit alone. I'm really lucky to have her,' thought Alex with a grateful smile.
"Hold on for now, I promise to deliver you from your sufferings" said Alex, planting a kiss on Lilia's forehead.
Lilia made a soft sound of acknowledgment and laid her head on Alex's chest. After about half an hour of silence in this position, she spoke while still resting on his chest.
"You plan to be have sex with other women in your family to gain extra points, right? What about the girls?"
Alex suddenly froze.
While Lilia spoke in a gentle tone, her voice now carried an edge that wasn't present before. Suddenly, Alex felt an invisible force pressing on him, attempting to suffocate him.
"O-Of course I won't do anything with them, they are my daughters, after all!" Exclaimed Alex.
Lilia nodded her head, and the pressure Alex was feeling suddenly disappeared.
"I trust that you won't do anything with them, but if it were to happen..."
Alex felt the pressure again and quickly said:
"I said that nothing will happen!"
"Mm" acknowledged Lilia.
'What the hell was that?' wondered Alex.
'She was just pushing me moments ago to accept her help to seduce my mother, but her attitude changed drastically when it now involves the girls, isn't it a bit hypocritical?' thought Alex.
'Sigh, I guess it's understandable, she has always been overprotective of the girls'.
'Even if it's a bit hypocritical, who cares? We're all hypocrites anyway, and I never intended to be with any of the girls in the first place.'
While he would surely obtain many additional points if he slept with the girls, Alex had no intention to do it because even him had limits and his limits were his daughters.****
'Although the situation is going to be difficult with that one' thought Alex thinking about Alice.***,***********
Alex wasn't oblivious to the fact that Alice's behavior hinted at wanting something more than their current relationship. This was a significant issue, as Alex wasn't sure if he could control himself.
From the moment he started using the system, Alex noticed that his lust kept increasing as days passed, and he was worried that it would push him to do something stupid in the future.
'I should deal with her before it's too late,' thought Alex resolutely.
"I should go for now," said Lilia, separating herself from Alex.
"Hm? Where are you going?"
"Training. You should do the same," chided Lilia.
"Later. For now, I need to find a way to bottle up smoke," replied Alex.
"Then see you later," said Lilia as she leaned in and kissed Alex.
"Don't miss me too much, wifey~" teased Alex.
"And don't miss me too much, my big baby."
"...."
"Hahaha..."
While laughing at Alex, Lilia exited the bedroom.
Alex observed her leaving figure and stood up after she had left.
"I should also get to work."
He dressed himself and left the bedroom, heading straight to the laboratory in the mansion. Since it was located near 'Scarlett bedroom' (the Library), it didn't take him long to get there.
When he entered the laboratory, he was surprised to see Amelia there.
"Why are you here?" asked Alex, walking towards her.
"He tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away and then pointed towards the direction he came from."
Alex glanced toward the location she was pointing to and found Scarlett sitting on a chair next to the door, looking towards them.
"U-Um, what is going on here? What are the two of you up to?" Alex tried to change the subject while quickly distancing himself from Amelia.
"I'm trying to understand how Aunt Amelia's residual blast ability works to see if I can create something with functionality similar to her ability, and the test was going really well. That is until you decided to barge in here and interrupt us," said Scarlett with a deadpan expression.
"Oh, sorry to have interrupted you."
"What are you doing here anyway?" questioned Scarlett.
"I need to find a way to bottle up smoke, so I came here," replied Alex as he walked toward a lab bench on which there were glass tubes placed.
"I have thought about it since you spoke about it, and the answer is quite obvious," stated Scarlett.
"Huh? What is it, then?" asked Alex excitedly.
"What will I gain in exchange for telling it to you?"
"..."
'I should never have accustomed her to expecting something in return every time she does something for me,' thought Alex with a bitter smile.
"Just be a good girl for once and give me the answer without trying to get me to give you something in return," said Alex.
"And why should I do this?"
"Because you love your father?"
"Love doesn't fund my research."
"...."
"Help him out just this time," said Amelia, interceding for Alex.
"Sigh, okay, I will help you freely just this time, and it's because Aunt Amelia asked. The next time, be ready to pay!"
"Just say it already, what is the solution?"
"Your mana," answered Scarlett.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Sigh, Mom was right when she said that you need to study, you-"
"Just answer the question," said Alex with an irritated expression.
"Alright, alright; as you may know, to use or control our abilities, we need mana. That means our mana carries the property to let us activate and control our abilities. In your case, your mana has the property to let you control your smoke ability. So, if you inject your mana into the bottle, it should be able to stop the smoke from dissipating, at least in theory," explained Scarlett.
"In theory? You were boasting just a second ago, and now you are saying that it's just a theory?"
"You are getting this 'theory' for free, so don't complain," grumbled Scarlett.
However, Alex wasn't listening to her and had resumed walking toward the lab bench while muttering, "Humph, she wanted to make me pay for a 'theory', how shameless."
"Hey! I heard that!"
"It was intended."
"...."
'They really look like friends more than they look like a father and daughter,' thought Amelia with an amused expression, listening to Alex and Scarlett bicker.
Meanwhile, Alex got to the lab bench and snatched one of the glass tubes on it. He then opened his mouth, and a portion of the rainbow-colored smoke resulting from the explosion caused by Amelia in the final emerged.
He imbued the interior of the glass tube with his mana and then pushed the smoke inside the glass tube.
"Well, that should be it. Now, we wait and see what happens."