The Milerva Question

Answering the Milerva question was easier said than done, however.

There was no way to seduce her like Edrick did for Jania and Tylia. She was not so inexperienced in matters of the heart. Furthermore, she was sharp. From the very beginning, she had realised that Anoteros was not to be trusted, and even if her reasoning in that matter might not be correct, it did not change that she had been right to be wary.

Since charming Milerva Oie was not an option for Edrick, he needed to make use of trickier means. He needed to lure her to him in some way. But this could not be done in a brutish or unrefined manner. The city’s First Lady may be emotionally driven, as her wish was to protect her daughters from a man she deemed untrustworthy, but she retained her intellect and wouldn’t fall for something obvious.

Anoteros was on a bit of a time constraint. He did not know when the secret realm would open, and felt that giving Milerva ample time to think and act without him around would be a bad idea. After all, she would definitely attempt to put some order in the heads of her daughters, which would prove ineffective since they had already bound themselves to him with the familial dual cultivation technique... Not to mention that he had left a very good impression during their first night together.

Failure to set them straight would inevitably put Milerva in a perpetual bad mood, which would only make things harder for Edrick. The challenge wasn’t easy, and the secret realm was placing him on a time limit. He could hardly be more excited about something right now. The pressure was exhilarating! He wasn’t even thinking about the potential rewards for the system quests, only about the challenge itself...

Following his little discussion with Shu, Edrick came daily to the Oie Manor, almost certain that Milerva was keeping an eye on her daughters. He decided to throw subtlety out of the window and taught more tricks to Jania and Tylia individually, the nature of their encounter all too obvious even to the dullest of people.

Naturally, seeing how easy it was for Anoteros to have his way with both her daughters in broad daylight, and how content those relations left them afterwards, Milerva felt like pulling her hair out. Somehow, it was already too late. Not only were both of her beautiful daughters enamoured with a young man she disapproved of, but they had already taken their relationship to the next level.

But what was there that could be done? Take action against a scion of the Elt clan? That would be madness... Milerva was not so insane as to even consider such a frivolous idea. In fact, it seemed like there was nothing that could be done by this point, especially when she saw how happy and unbothered Jania and Tylia were about the whole thing. They didn’t seem to mind in the least that Edrick was playing both sides.

The two sisters had never seemed closer than now.

‘What sort of sorcery did this man employ? I didn’t raise my daughters like this… Did I?’ she definitely did not. Even Galdon, with his thoughts of political marriages for their daughters, never would have taught them anything that could have led to such an absurd situation.

Milerva knew that her husband would be against intervening at this point, too, so there was only one thing to do.

‘I guess I should just speak with him. I need to at least secure proper marriages for Jania and Tylia… Urgh… Both of my daughters married to the same man... This will definitely be a subject of conversation amongst other nobles for a while, without a doubt…’ Milerva shook her head. Edrick’s status was just too high for her to do anything else. Even if he was an unheard-of descendant that had been banished to a remote village...

He was still an Elt, and he was currently an ascending name. His cultivation was soaring, and his future achievements would certainly be numerous. So, for all intents and purposes, he was to be dealt with like one would deal with genuine Elt--Like he was one of those old monsters that were more like creatures in human skin- More akin to hellhounds that were just waiting for an enemy to maul.

‘At least, he seems a bit more mentally stable compared to the rest of his family’ she thought. Whether that was a good or bad thing in the grand scheme of things was uncertain. But, as long as he treated her daughters correctly, then she didn’t care what else he got down to.

So, a few days after Edrick had ascended the manor in the dead of night, Milerva had a servant fetch him whilst he was discussing cultivation with Jania. Since the Oie family had become so thoroughly intertwined with him, they needed to make a good show of the unconventional union. Showcase that for the first time--The Oie bloodline, rulers of the Oie satellite city, amongst the four most prominent cities after the royal capital--Would forever be united by bonds of blood to one of the great clans.

The idea was to discuss a lavish marriage ceremony with Edrick.

They would be able to use the entire city for this purpose. The people were fond of the Oie family, the city prospered under them, and the law was upheld. Few were the serious complaints that citizens made each year, so the whole city would be celebrating the event... And as far as marriages went, it was sure to be a grand one, with much means put toward it.

Galdon and Milerva may be put off about marrying their two daughters to the same person, but they would not hold back on the budget for this reason. If Jania and Tylia were going to spend the rest of their lives with Edrick as their husband, then the event had to be memorable.

Indeed, Milerva had only called him for that purpose. It would also serve to silently bury the hatchet and show that she would not make things difficult as his stepmother…

That was all it was supposed to be.

Yet, somehow…

The study room they met in ended up locked from the inside, the curtains drawn tight... And Milerva Oie, the proud lady of the city, was on her knees, a flaccid ‘dragon’ lying against her face.

“Come on, Lady Oie… Show me that you mean it” Edrick’s voice seemed so loud in the deathly silent study.

‘How… How did it come to this?!’