New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Astaroth proceeded inside the room, where he found Rodney sitting at his desk, with only leather pants and a plain white shirt on. It was obvious he had been sleeping moments ago, with how the drowsiness still clung to his eyes.

But his sharp gaze was all but asleep.

Rodney was thinking about repercussions. He knew how the matriarchs thought.

"Sit down, sir. We have much to discuss."

"I was only coming to cancel out the lockdown order. I need to go back to my world to warn Phoenix about this as soon as possible."

Rodney nodded at him.

"I already cancelled the order. When the guard rushed in to start the lockdown procedures, they woke me up. And from there, I learned you were already on the scene. So I ordered the lockdown to be annulled."

Astaroth wasn't sure whether this was a sign of trust or mistrust.

"I was told of what happened briefly. Alena and her son are going to be very unhappy. It'll take a lot of effort and bureaucratic pussyfooting to keep them away from the cells. I hope I can get your support on this matter," Rodney asked, giving Astaroth an expectant look.

"Sure. Whatever keeps them from murdering or torturing the fool. I'll make sure Declan stays in the loop as well."

Rodney nodded once more, rubbing his tired eyes.

Astaroth sent a quick message to Declan through his friends list.

**

"Incident in the palace. Already resolved. Commander Alena and her son need to be kept away from the prison on floor three."

**

He hoped this would be enough for Declan to understand the situation, and use his weight to keep Alena at bay. But he doubted it would work completely.

Castien was friends with a few soldiers from the other regiments, and somehow, Astaroth knew he would eventually bypass the measures in place and land in the prison cell they would throw Gerald in.

He only hoped that by then, he had calmed down enough not to outright murder him. Otherwise, it could complicate things greatly.

"Listen, commander. Let me go warn Phoenix, and I will be back in the morning. Can you deal with this in the meantime?"

Rodney looked aghast at the question. He also wanted to rest.

But he knew the king had a right to ask this of him.

"I'll do what I can, Your Highness. But once this matter reaches Commander Alena, which I'm sure it will, soon, given you had the girl sent up to the sentinels, things will get complicated."

Astaroth felt guilty for shoving this into Rodney's lap. But he needed the rest.

The Natives only had one world to live in and care about. Players like him led two lives.

And managing both could be a hassle.

"I'll try to come back as early as I can," he promised the commander.

Leaving the office, Astaroth went back to his room, before laying on the bed.

'I'll have to log back in as soon as I can. If this matter waits too long, it could blow up in our face…'

"Log out."

Feeling his body plunge toward the floor, Alex reopened his eyes to his gaming pod's familiar interior. He sighed before opening the top.

As he rose from the pod, he saw Kary on the bed, eyes closed and enjoying a bit of sleep.

'Lucky her…'

He didn't want to wake her up right away, so he went to take a shower first, hoping it would wash away a bit of the shit he had landed himself in. But aside from making him clean, the shower did nothing to appease his mind.

When he came back into his room, he saw Kary was stirring awake. Looking at the time, he saw it was a little past nine.

'We are staying inside longer and longer… At this pace, we eventually won't sleep much or at all on this side.'

Alex slinked up to the bedside and slipped into bed next to Kary, embracing her. He was hoping he could put her in a good mood before telling her what had just happened.

"Hm? You are finally out of there? What time is it?" Kary asked, snuggling into his embrace.

"Just a bit past nine. I had to stay in a bit longer. But everything is fine now."

Kary smiled, digging into his chest with her head. Until she pieced together his words and her head snapped back.

"Wait. Fine, now? Did something happen? Oh, my god. What happened? Alex, tell me you didn't cause a diplomatic incident. This is not the time for this crap."

Alexander looked at her, trying to smile. But she saw right through him.

With a sigh and a low growl into her pillow, Kary knew it was bad.

"Just tell me what happened."

Alex looked at her pleadingly.

"Can we at least discuss this over breakfast and coffee? I haven't had a wink of sleep."

"Fine. I'll go make coffee. You make breakfast. I want pancakes. And you better make me the best pancakes. I deserve a treat with all you are putting us through lately."

Alexander chuckled, nodding his head.

"I'll make you the best pancakes you ever had," he boasted.

It took him half an hour to have breakfast ready, and he and Kary had already started talking about the incident over coffee, as he was making the pancakes.

When she heard the start of his recounting, she was frowning deeply, her forehead creasing.

Once he had told her everything, she took a moment to internalize the information and come to her conclusions.

"So, let me get this straight. He physically assaulted our servants and then raped the royal maid, Coral. You attacked him to get him off her, but then his goons tried attacking you? You offered them to surrender. They didn't. You killed them. And then you asked the douche to come willingly, and he tried burning you alive?"

Alex took a bite of his pancake, nodding his head.

With his mouth still half full, he replied, "Sounds about right."

Kary slapped his arm.

"At least finish swallowing, you numb nuts. If you choke, who is going to take responsibility for this?"

Alex swallowed his bite before chuckling a bit.

"Is that what worries you about me choking to death? Having to take responsibility?"

"For now, yes," she replied, giving him a fake stink eye and pulling out her tongue.

"This is a colossal mess. But at least, with how you treated the situation as you did, we still are within our rights to imprison him. As for sentencing him, I think that will be a tougher matter. I hope Rodney can enlighten us a bit about this when we hop back in."

Alex was wondering why Rodney seemed to know what would happen, and now, with her saying this, he became even more curious.

"Why would he know so much about this?"

Kary looked at him with a dumbfounded look.

"Did he not tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Alex asked, confused.

"I'm surprised you didn't try to learn more about him. It's crucial you know your men more, dear."

Alex frowned.

"What is so important about him that I should have asked?"

"The reason he knows more. Rodney grew up in Themiscus. His father was a Royal Knight there. He only left because he couldn't wield magic. Rodney is Themiscus nobility."