Chapter 200: A Place Unchallenged

Cassian, with Xana in his arms, shifted his gaze toward Adela, only to be surprised when she neither complained nor killed anyone.

The blonde woman simply walked past them and began tidying the room with an almost chilling calm.

"Adela?" he called.

When she neither stopped nor turned around to respond, he added,

"Is everything alright?"

The maid finally turned around, a bundle of bedsheets in her hands as she made the bed, and spoke in a gentle voice.

"Is something wrong, Master?"

A cheerful smile graced her lips, leaving Cassian thoroughly confused.

"No... nothing. If you’re fine, then everything’s fine."

"Mmm, thank you for your concern, Master."

Adela continued cleaning up the mess Xana had left behind, but the calm, almost cheerful way she went about it remained a complete mystery to him.

"Hmm-hmm..." Adela began humming. "Hmm-hmm..."

The soft melody rose as she worked.

The reason behind her behavior was simple enough. After seeing the state the wolf woman had left the room in, she was certain her position was in no danger. Rather than getting upset over the new woman at her master’s side—or the outfit she wore—she simply focused on her duties with complete peace of mind.

Seeing that no disaster was about to unfold, Cassian let out a relieved sigh. Even so, he looked at Xana thoughtfully before speaking.

"Xana, go change your clothes."

At the same time, he took out a set of women’s clothes that would fit her and handed them over.

"Owner?"

The wolf woman’s face was filled with confusion, but the moment she realized her owner was giving her new clothes, she accepted them enthusiastically and hurried off to change, leaving only the master and his maid behind once again.

"It was only temporary," Cassian said flatly.

Adela smiled inwardly but didn’t respond.

He had no intention of continuing the topic either, so he simply sat down on one of the sofas with a tired expression.

By the time Xana returned, the room had been restored to immaculate condition.

She looked around in search of her owner, but this time the woman she had completely ignored before caught her attention.

Xana suddenly appeared right in front of Adela with a smile that revealed her tiny fangs.

"Hi! I’m Xana!"

"You’re Owner’s maid, right?" she continued energetically. "Do you make breakfast and all that stuff? I can do that too!"

Her excited tail suddenly stopped wagging. She glanced at Cassian, who had his eyes closed and wasn’t paying attention, before leaning closer to Adela and whispering,

"I don’t think Owner likes it when I do it... the dishes always end up smashed to pieces..."

"I’ll take care of those things from now on. You can leave them to me."

Xana’s slightly dejected eyes immediately lit up.

"Really? I always end up asking Thalassi for help! Now I won’t have to bother her anymore! Thank you!"

Adela nodded proudly.

"It’s my duty. There’s no need to thank me."

Xana’s eyes sparkled as though she were gazing upon the Beast Goddess herself.

"Woohoo! Xana is free! Xana doesn’t have to do weird things anymore!"

Adela couldn’t help letting out a small laugh.

Meanwhile, Cassian’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly, but he said nothing, pretending not to hear the wolf woman’s cries of joy.

...

Thalassa returned much later.

When she opened the door to the room, uncertain of what to expect, she let out a relieved sigh upon seeing that he had returned.

"You’re back?"

Cassian looked at the woman who had just entered and gave a bored nod.

"Where were you? Could it be that..." Her eyes lit up, but the moment she noticed the woman she had already met several times before, her excitement quickly faded. "So Adela... right. Of course."

The maid greeted her with a slight nod.

Cassian raised an eyebrow.

"What were you thinking? That I went to kill Nereon?"

Thalassa lowered her gaze, gently biting the corner of her lower lip.

Cassian remained silent, waiting to hear what she would say.

When the royal tutor finally spoke, she did so in a quiet voice.

"It doesn’t matter what I was thinking."

"No? Suit yourself. Besides, I don’t want to leave Azure just yet. I’m having fun."

The mermaid frowned.

She wanted to scold the man from the bottom of her heart, but she didn’t dare.

Cassian looked at her, fully aware that she was holding herself back.

"Now isn’t the time, Thalassa. Stop radiating so much anxiety. You’re going to make it contagious."

"Contagious?" Thalassa repeated with a bitter smile as she stepped forward. "Believe me, what I feel like giving you definitely isn’t my anxiety."

Cassian chuckled.

Taking advantage of how close she had come, he pulled her straight onto his lap.

"Ah!"

Her startled yelp echoed through the room.

Adela watched her master’s initiative in surprise and muttered under her breath,

"So they’ve made quite a bit of progress while they were off together..."

Deciding not to comment any further, she simply let her master enjoy himself.

Cassian leaned close to the woman sitting on his lap and whispered into her ear,

"Do you feel like having your ’first time’?"

Thalassa couldn’t answer.

Her face turned bright red, and her mind completely blanked out.

Cassian smiled faintly and decided not to tease her any further.

"Did you go see that woman again?"

The woman on his lap blinked several times before replying,

"Mmm... She’s joining Azure’s council tomorrow."

"Oh?"

A quiet laugh escaped him.

"I can’t even imagine it."

Thalassa jabbed him lightly with her elbow.

"You’ll see. Mireya will surprise you."

Even her own voice, however, betrayed how little confidence she had in those words.

...

In the Midvern Empire, the four women had finally secured an audience with the Emperor.

Sylvia, with her dazzling crimson hair; Lisbeth, wearing her gentle, innocent smile; Selyne, one hand resting on the hilt of her sword while the other ran through her messy hair; and finally Cassandra, who felt like she had simply been dragged into all of this, stood before the sharp-eyed elderly ruler.

"So," the latter began, "three Transcendents and the Head of Demor’s Church have come all the way to this humble empire... for what reason?"

"Our Saint wishes to establish her faith here," Sylvia answered, "and we want Midvern to become a vassal empire of Demor."

"Oh, I see, I see..." The Emperor nodded. "I have no real objection to the first proposal if you can prove Midvern stands to gain from it. But the second..." His gaze sharpened. "Do you think I’m afraid of you?"

Sylvia remained completely unfazed, wearing nothing but a confident smile.

"No."

Silence fell over the audience hall.