RISE OF EROS

Despite all the inconveniences caused by the release of Andrew's third divine seal, the second part of the night went smoothly, but Andrew knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

The same thing had happened in the Cannaris Empire. Everything was calm until he showed something that caught everyone's attention and although there it was the rejuvenation cream and here it was divinity, the situation was no different.

In this world, everyone seeks benefits and for a country like Dunnas that values ​​strength so much, the outbreak of divinity due to the release of the seal is much more eye-catching than the profits that the rejuvenation cream could generate in the Cannaris Empire.

Taking all this into consideration, Andrew called an early meeting with his wives, guardians, and apostles, although the latter was only Sonia. Those present were not stupid, so they knew the reason for the meeting without Andrew saying anything.

In fact, they were surprised that Andrew did not call this meeting the night before, but that was something that was not worth thinking about now. Seeing everyone gathered, Andrew began to speak.

"I assume that everyone already knows that I released my third divine seal yesterday and the phenomena caused was not small," Andrew began to explain and after a short pause he continued, "Not only were the signs noticed by some powerful experts, but Daphne, Diana and Ariza were favored as my close ones, so the royal family also knows about it."

Andrew paused again to look at everyone's expressions and see if anyone had anything to say and seeing that they didn't he continued speaking, "Well, the three demigod protectors of the castle obviously noticed it too and one of their elders came to visit."

At that moment, several were surprised, because they hadn't found out. In fact, only Andrew's wives who were in the room with him the night before knew, because he told them.

"What is their attitude about it?" Oliver immediately asked, who is always worried about security. While Sansa is more powerful than him, Oliver is still the leader of Andrew's guardians and is the one who cares the most about safety.

Also, he had been with Andrew from almost the beginning and had experienced the hardships they had had so far, and if you add to that his experience as a military general, well, he really is the most suitable for the position.

Sansa may be a powerful warrior, but she is not a strategist and is ignorant of many things, having lived a life of isolation in the Black Forest, so she had no problem following Oliver's orders.

On the other hand, since she became Castor's wife, her loyalty to Andrew has strengthened and that is why she was able to receive the guardian seal, so there was no power struggle between Andrew's guardians.

"Well, I can't say for sure, but it seems like they are adopting a wait-and-see strategy. At the moment they don't seem hostile, but they are cautious, which is the best attitude we can expect from them at this time," Andrew replied.

Oliver nodded, implying that he thought the same, and continued to ask, "What do you think we should do?" Andrew didn't answer immediately but thought for a few seconds and then replied, "Well, I think we should continue to maintain a cordial relationship with the royal family."

"As long as they treat us with love and respect, it doesn't hurt to help them as much as we can. If things change, well, we'll see if we should move again because I won't put up with a situation like the Cannaris Empire," Andrew concluded.

"I think it's a good measure. We shouldn't assume that things will be the same, but it's better to have a contingency plan," Gaston intervened, drawing everyone's attention.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Gaston let out a sigh and began to say, "Moving isn't a problem, but where is the question? Gaston paused and added, "Right now we can only go to Star City or the Tampilla Kingdom, and both places have their drawbacks."

Andrew and the others didn't seem to understand. In their minds, either place was a good place and Gaston seeing that no one had thought about the problems of these two places began to explain.

"I don't want to be rude since ladies Zany and Sansa are here and they are Amazons, but in Star City, we have a strong foothold thanks to the agreement between Amazons and Barbarians, but if we reside there, they will have a lot of bargaining power, since we would depend on them."

Gaston paused, to see that everyone understood him and continued saying, "I'm not saying that they will take advantage, but it is not ideal." No one spoke, not even Zany and Sansa said anything to deny his words because they understood the minds of the Amazons better than anyone.

They knew of the crisis they were facing as a race and were sure that while they wouldn't overstep their boundaries, the elderly Amazons would take some advantage. Normally, they wouldn't worry about it and would even agree, but now as Andrew's wife and guardian, they had a different view, so they didn't refute Gaston.

Their silence was easier to understand than Gaston's words and he, understanding that, proceeded to explain Tampilla's shortcomings, "On the other hand, the kingdom of Tampilla is an old and close ally of the Cannaris empire, so they may pull some strings that make things difficult for us."

After hearing that, Andrew fell into deep thought. It was true that he hadn't thought about that and now he was glad to have such an experienced person like Gaston in his group of guardians.

In fact, Andrew had been starting to think for a while now that Gaston wasn't as simple as he seemed. Candice had told him that she met him as a merchant a decade ago, but even she didn't know his past personally.

They consider themselves family, so it was strange for Andrew that they didn't know about Gaston's past. In this silence, Gaston could see Andrew looking at him with some suspicion.

Gaston is an experienced man and he knew that Andrew wanted to know something, but he didn't dare to ask. It wasn't that Andrew doubted Gaston, as his Eros eyes showed him the man's loyalty, but he was still curious.

Seeing this, Gaston smiled and began to speak again, "I feel that the young master wants to ask me something. Speak with confidence." Hearing Gaston's words, everyone looked at Andrew in surprise, as they were discussing a topic and now the conversation seemed to be going off track.

Andrew looked at Gaston with an apologetic expression and asked, "I'm sorry to ask this, but Gaston, you seem like a person too well versed in politics and forecast, I don't think that comes from your experience as a merchant, where does it come from?"

Everyone knew that Gaston had a mysterious past that not even Candice, who was practically his daughter, knew about it, and that made them curious, so they looked at him expectantly, even though it required suspending the topic of the problems that were coming.

Gaston, noticing everyone's curious look, couldn't help but smile bitterly and, letting out a sigh, began to speak, "I suppose I can't continue hiding my past."

"Not even Mrs. Candice knows this, because I don't like to talk about it, but I don't see the reason to continue hiding it either. I wasn't always a merchant, more than a decade ago, before I met Mrs. Candice, I was a noble in the kingdom of Candelaria southwest of here."

Such a revelation surprised everyone, because, although that kingdom is not far away, it is not close either, since there are some countries in between the kingdom of Candelaria and the Cannaris empire.

Normally, a trip of that caliber would take a few months, and even more so the fact that Gaston was a noble was surprising. Not because they couldn't see him as such, but because they were curious to know the reason why he was no longer one.

Gaston understood their thoughts and continued to explain, "At that time I was the heir to a marquisate." At that moment everyone took a deep breath, as a marquis is practically the highest noble status in a country.

There are certainly duchies, but they are in their own category, as duchies are practically independent of a country. To be more exact a duchy is more of a vassal state of another, which while linked has a lot of autonomy.

Marquisates are different, as they are nobles under the crown and are subordinate, but their high status is no joke, which is why everyone is surprised by Gaston's great background.

"My father was already preparing me to hand over power, but then a woman crossed his path. They soon got married and had a son, who due to some tricks of my stepmother became close to my father, causing him to delay handing over power to me," Gaston continued.

Although it seemed like a heavy and difficult subject to talk about, Gaston did not show much emotion when telling it and continued with his story, "Over the years, my father grew attached to my stepbrother and suddenly I was replaced as heir."

The office fell into a deathly silence. No one dared to breathe and only Gaston could break the silence, "Obviously, my stepmother was behind this, but I could not do anything, and little by little I was displaced until I was expelled from the family."

"I do not want to go into details, because I have rebuilt my life and I have no intentions of revenge or anything like that. That is also the reason for not telling it because it is not worth getting into past battles and reopening old wounds," Gaston concluded his story.
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Everyone was silent for a few minutes, until Andrew spoke again, "Gaston, thank you for telling us. If that is your wish, we will not intervene, but I must ask, is there really nothing you want back?"

Andrew didn't ask because he wanted to see if Gaston wanted to get his inheritance back, but because since Gaston joined Candice a decade ago, he has had no partner, no family and Andrew wanted to know if this had anything to do with that.