New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Getting up from the bed, Astaroth could feel his body was still weak, and that it would be this way for a while.

He could feel the mana concentration in his body was much lower than usual. The skill he had used had clearly drained much more out of him than he thought.

But he still had to show a strong facade. So he straightened himself up before leaving his room.

When he pushed open the doors, the guards at the entrance saluted him, before telling him where the queen was, and that Lady Grove had said she would come back on the morrow, to speak with him.

Already, Astaroth could feel a headache starting at the thought of her inquisitive questions.

But he owed her an explanation, to say the least.

Although she had tried overpowering them with her own domain, she was only letting out steam at that point, and he knew it. He wasn't against that, either.

He also knew he had technically cheated. That skill was never his own, to begin with.

*Sigh*

'What a hassle. Like I didn't already have a lot on my plate…'

Astaroth walked down to the main floor, heading toward the throne room. He knew Phoenix was there, thanks to the guards, but he could also sense her and could have guessed, as well.

They had a busy day, today, and he had pushed off a lot of things by accepting Lady Grove's combat request.

He knew Phoenix would already be there, taking care of matters.

Turning toward the hall that led to the throne room, Astaroth could see the open door in the distance. And out of it came three young men and women, rushing away, their faces filled with nervousness.

He could guess who they were and expected the meeting with them to last longer. He couldn't have been passed out that long, right?

Astaroth walked up to the guards, giving them a curt nod, before turning into the throne room. There, sitting on her throne, Phoenix looked a bit disappointed.

She was lost in thought, with a scrunched-up face, and only realized Astaroth had entered the room when she heard his footsteps on the stone.

Looking up at him, her face went back to a smile.

"Ahh. You are awake. I hadn't expected you to be up so soon. I thought you'd be out for the day, at least."

Astaroth smiled back at her.

"I'm not one to skip out on responsibilities. I wouldn't have left you alone to deal with this busy day. I saw the kids rush out. Did anything come up?"

Phoenix's face scrunched back up a bit.

"Nothing came up, per se… But I'm not sure giving titles, land, and responsibilities to what are basically children is a good idea. I know we aren't much older, but I feel like we are jumping the gun."

Astaroth could feel the worry in her voice.

As he sat down next to her, he took her hand and squeezed it lightly, before caressing the top of it with his thumb.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. It's not like we are asking them to become big-time nobles now. We only want them to be ready for the kingdom's expansion when that comes up. And it will, that I'm sure.

"The Elven forests are vast, and the Elves stay clustered together. This means their lands are far from safe. Making our kingdom's territory bigger will step on a few feet, but it will ensure nothing comes out of these forests to take over the rest of the continent."

The confidence in his voice reassured Phoenix a bit. She knew the goal behind expanding their kingdom.

It wasn't to wage war. It was to make a larger safe area, both around themselves, and for the rest of this forest that took almost a quarter of the light continent.

With how the forest was spread, covering the southwestern coast of the continent, if demons suddenly popped out of it, they would have easy access to so many kingdoms that it would spell disaster.

Leon had originally been the one to suggest enlarging the safety perimeter. However, he only wanted them to patrol further.

It was Edmond Finnegan, who had suggested doing it as traditional kingdoms did, and anointing new nobles and making them deal with it. It would make their kingdom bigger and more stable within itself, and also promote natural growth.

They knew he wasn't exactly wrong. But one factor that they had no control over was weighing on Phoenix's mind.

When the next update came around. How long would they be gone from this world?

She shook her head, trying to focus on the now, rather than the later. What use was it to worry about something they had no control over?

Astaroth could tell she was regaining control over her mind as the creases of her forehead lessened.

"So! What's the next matter we need to worry about?" he asked, startling her a bit, trying to make her focus on their day.

"I think it was complaints? I had told the guards that they could open the doors to the inner city today, so we could talk to concerned citizens. And apparently, we have got quite a few lined up outside the palace…"

Astaroth was about to ask her why on God's green earth she would do that, but he remembered Phoenix wanted them to be open with the residents. It would foster good faith between them and the lower rungs of their kingdom, assuring a peaceful relationship.

Phoenix had made a point to him, reminding him how many rulers were shut out from their citizens to a point where rebellion bred in their kingdoms under their noses. So many rulers on earth had fallen to rebellions.

It was stupid to make the same mistakes.

But it meant they would have a long day ahead.

Feeling the fatigue in his bones already, Astaroth put up the nicest fake smile he could muster.

"Then let's meet them, shall we?"

Phoenix had to control herself not to laugh. Anyone would see this wasn't an honest smile.

"Just keep a straight face. You are terrible at faking a smile. Let me do most of the talking."

Astaroth went back to being serious, and nodded at her, making a little thumbs up.

Phoenix turned her head to the throne room entrance, where two guards were waiting inside.

"Start letting in the citizens."