My Servant System

To none of our surprise, the amethyst jungle was laden with hundreds of impressive geodes, thick trees, diverse flora and a vast amount of monstrous fauna that investigated us whenever they could, only to leave us be the moment they smelt that herb.

It was a fascinating thing, but we only had a limited supply of the herb to last us however long we were going to be here, and clearly some of the biomes simply were not going to allow us to utilize the fragrance of this monster repelling leaf thanks to being extremely dangerous to anything that dared to live within their premises.

Nothing had really happened over the long night besides complete consumption of the tiger that we had made into stew, the tents we had providing protection from the elements while the incense urn remained situated in the middle of the campsite, overseen by the two people on watch.

During the night I had to come to terms with the fact that this was the second day in a row that I had gone without sex, and while that didn't sound that bad it was already showing its signs of becoming a problem with how tingly I was. Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

It was an itch paired with a slight heat deep inside me that needed to be relieved, and considering how accustomed I had become to being embraced every single night since the last forever I was becoming a little worried... especially because of the skill I had apparently been blessed with because of my innate nature.

A double edged sword that was currently cutting deeply into me if it was left unchecked, but there wasn't exactly a way I could sneak myself away from this place to rub one out each night to keep myself in check, nor was it going to be easy to try and explain that I was so addicted to sex that I needed it every single day.

Besides being embarrassing in front of the person that I had come to consider and love like my Mom, there was the obvious lack of desire to do so in front of someone like Lady Fenyras, and then also having Lilith being as eccentric as she was, that was an issue as well.

So I had a bit of a problem to try and figure out as we marched through the amethyst jungle, and while I had already plucked a few of the shinier, far more potent gemstones off of the various geodes there was little else for me to do besides hold the incense urn and keep us protected.

My eyes were constantly scanning our surroundings and I was walking between the vanguard and the Demoness lugging the carriage forwards, currently by myself and left to my own thoughts and realizations, though thankfully Draka eventually slowed her speed and fell back enough to talk to me, probably just as bored as I was.

She began to speak in a quiet voice so that she didn't distract anyone else or attract any ire, but she didn't even need to do that since Anput - who was bringing up the rear alongside Leone - was having her usual fun as she passed the time with flirting and teasing, while Lady Fenyras constantly tried to get under Lilith's skin as she asked and repeated dozens of questions about where we were heading.

"It has been a long time since I've seen all of you, but the one who has changed the most and had the most happen is certainly you. Last time we were chatting you were just a maid to the eventual Marquess, but now you are a Baroness..."

The Dragonkin glanced back at me and flashed me a smile as she added "Fresca was quite happy about that, and it spurred on some interesting discussion amongst all of my wives about what their titles were meant to be. Quite fun, sometimes exhausting... but most certainly worth it."

"I am happy to hear that, and I do look forwards to seeing Fresca again. I just regret not keeping closer contact after everything that happened, but... we were both quite busy, no?"

Her smile faded at that, her eyes flashing as the memories came back - memories that none of us held in high regard - and causing her to say "That is still something that I am... regretful of. Neutrality is both a blessing and a curse, is it not?"

It was something that someone who was far more petty and less caring of maintaining connections would use to blame Draka and hold against her forever, and while I certainly was petty and wasn't against burning bridges, this was a bridge that definitely had value.

Besides, I didn't hold it against her that much, and while I would have loved to have had her by our side during the whole spat with Jillian, what was done was done and there was no changing that now, so I decided to let bygones be bygones.

"It certainly is. People could blame you for wanting to be neutral, and while I can say I definitely would have appreciated the aid of either just you or the Duchess it likely wouldn't have changed much. Besides, it's not like I can't understand why you did it; children on the way would definitely change everything."

That got another smile from her, but this one was far gentler and brighter as she nodded, the look on her face reminding me of my old parents as well as Mother, sparking a bit of a warmth in my chest as I asked "They've made everything better, haven't they?"

"They most certainly have. That's why this... It's exciting, yes, but more of me wants to be back home in peace with them then here making history... But here I am, right? I can say this though, the surprise we all had when we learned she was with child so early was a blessing beyond belief."

I smiled at Draka, recalling the news being broken to us way back when, and when she gave me another smile I chuckled since she added "And I imagine the party that will be thrown when you break similar news might just be enough to spread throughout the Empire, hm~?", the 'conspiratorial' tone amusing me greatly.

We continued to chat quietly as we walked through the jungle, until we eventually emerged from the dense purple vegetation into a grey, dry landscape of ash, feeling quite at home after hearing the various bursts of flame ripping out of the ground to spew even more ash around; it felt like Zhu'Rong Caverns without the ceiling, and that was... quite the feeling to have.