บท 17: Preparation Before Departure

"I'm kidding… don't cry so much." Ardor waved his hand and laughed at first, but then his voice softened after seeing the maid cry even more.

He looked at Lance, who was trying to comfort her. "Though she doesn't need to die, we still cannot have her follow us. Remember, we only accept exceptional people."

Lance finally smiled. His face had the look of a victor. "Guess what I found about her? Take this!" he shared a Temporary Harem information sheet with Ardor's main MHS.

[Name: Minnie

Magic/Warrior Talent: None/High

Rank: None

Loyalty: 80% (steadily growing)

Remarks: As an orphan, she has little self-confidence. She is eager to prove herself.]

"Wow!" Ardor's face had a look of wonder. "What a nice find! If not for this, we wouldn't even know this about her!"

Lance nodded with a radiant smile. Even he hadn't expected getting someone useful for himself on his first day.

"Okay Minnie, you can stay," Ardor said to the maid who had stopped crying thanks to Lance.

She opened her blue eyes and asked, "Really? Can Minnie stay? You won't send me away or end me? Even though I have nothing apart from this body to offer?"

Ardor smiled. "Yes. You're better than you think. Of course, you can stay."

Minnie smiled in happiness and entered Lance's embrace.

Ardor secretly said Lance. He nodded in acceptance, already expecting this.

<So, tell me what you see,> Ardor asked him.

Right now, he knew Lance's MHS had restricted access, but didn't know the limitations. 'We now have the ability of Telepathy. Will there be more abilities once we get stronger?' he wondered.

<Okay,> Lance replied with a better mood. <So I have my Status, same as you. But 50% of the LPs I earn will go to you.>

With some resentment but no blame in his eyes, he continued, <And I need your permission to access some features, like turning temporary harem members to permanent harem members, and…>

Ardor listened carefully and nodded. Within a few minutes, they were on the same page about each other's abilities. Meanwhile, the maid had already slept on the side, tired from feeling all the pleasure from Lance and the emotional upheaval Ardor made her go through.

"Boss, what's the plan? Want to give me your ex and step mum first? Or do you want to end them?" he asked curiously, now closer to his main self.

But Ardor shook his head with a wicked grin. He had tasted the forbidden fruit. Why would he be willing to kill those golden geese that lay golden eggs for him daily?

"Let's not end them for now. That's the plan." He stared at Lance in thought. "What do you think of the magical side of this world? Do we go or not go? Take the risk or remain safe here?"

Lance considered it for a moment before answering, "But how will you reach the top by staying here? I've only known of Seasoned Warriors from you and by no means they are supreme. Won't we be just frogs in a well, thinking it's the entire world?"

Ardor nodded.

"And do you want to stay in this place filled with nothing but bad memories? Every achievement you make here will bring fame to the Flames and the one who killed your mum while your father didn't take any satisfactory action. Tell me, do you still want to stay here?"

Ardor shook his head, finally making a decision.

'It's not like I didn't want to leave,' he thought, looking at Lance. 'But I just needed enough reasons to settle on an answer.'

"Alright. I'm leaving for the Capital with Jeanne soon. You have a few days to gain the loyalty of Isabella Shadow and Alse Stone." He smirked. "Let them use the rest of their lives to repay me until we find better replacements."

He added, "You can even go for Bella Mist if you want to, but don't die under her. And don't do the deed with Isabella. Once you're done, come to the Capital with them. Our next adventure will be in the magical lands!"

His eyes looked out of the window and his gaze seemed to cross endless distances and see a flourishing city.

"Let's go to the Capital City and meet this Lord Mage!"

…

Next day, Ardor woke up quite early, just at sunrise in his training room. He thought of his next steps as he went to his bedroom, only to find Jeanne already awake and cleaning the mess they had made.

Before she could warn him, he said, "Relax, I'm not doing it now."

She sighed with visible relief. "Hah, finally! I used to have clothes to clean every morning, but now I'm cleaning our fluids after waking up. I can't help but feel how everything changed in these few days."

Ardor smiled, knowing she was slowly getting out of her 'slave' role. Before, she never shared such thoughts with him after all.

"And it'll get better." He assured her and looked at her beautiful figure while she worked. "Pack up, we're leaving."

She stopped her work and looked at him in confusion. "Where to?"

Ardor once again looked outside the windows and imagined the location of the next part of his journey. "To the Capital!"

Jeanne remained confused, before asking him in realization, "Do you want to get your talent tested?"

"Yes."

Her head dropped low as she began packing. Ardor noticed the change in her mood and asked, "What happened? We're going together, you know that, right?"

She quietly asked while working, "Just to the Capital? Or even beyond that?"

"Of course, even beyond that! We'll both get our talents tested and go to the magical lands and become mages!" He assured her with sincerity. How could he leave his true love behind?

"B-but, what if I don't have the talent? I'm just a lowly slave…How can I have what even many nobles fail to possess? I'm just not-"

"Stop right there!" He instantly admonished her strictly.

He went to her and held her chin, making her stare into his loving eyes. "You're no longer a slave! You're my lover! And so what if you don't have that talent? I even have a Soul Flower for you! Never think less of yourself. Got that?"

He dominated her, like a male cat would do to its mate. Her instincts screamed at her to submit to him, to be devoured by his love, to be satisfied with just his care and affection, and she followed them.

"Okay." She wiped the moisture off her eyes and stared back at him with growing confidence. "I won't think that way ever again!"

Ardor smiled in satisfaction. 'Yes! She's simply the best' He especially enjoyed her obedience, understanding nature, and pure affection. It was something he never felt before.

Ardor soon caught Jeanne staring at her knife collection.

"You want to take them?"

"Yes, I want to continue cooking for you."

Ardor felt she deserved an upgrade. "Leave them here. I'll get something better for you. And leave your spare clothes as well. Just take the memorable stuff."

Jeanne nodded, and they soon left the estate in the wintry morning. They quietly walked past the sleepy guards as Jeanne carried a small bag in her arms. It held some of their best memories.

Ardor took one last look at the Flame estate. 'I'll probably come back after a long time. Then it'll be your turn, Gawyn. Until then, stay alive. Don't let anyone kill you, cause I want to personally do it!'

He smirked after imagining the look on their faces when they get his letter.

The duo went south, seeing the dark brown, earthen streets of Westray that had not changed one bit since the time they first saw it. It was all still the same, but time had not been kind to them.

They recalled their old memories, and felt nostalgic after knowing they would leave their homes, the backing of their status, and everything behind.

Jeanne looked at Ardor's back as he walked ahead and remembered her past.

'All those nights training to kill, murder, and when I finally achieved it all, they sent me away, to those traders who broke my will, made me forget who I was, what I trained for and when they saw me tame, I was ready to fulfill my purpose.

'They finally gave me away as a gift, a gift to repay a favor done to my family. I don't even remember much of my clan anymore.'

She remembered all those bitter days at the Flame's upon her arrival, the oppression from the First Madam, and others, then compared them with the sweet days right now.

Her heart beat faster than it had ever been, knowing she was finally going to a new place with him, a place where her past identity didn't matter, where no one would judge her by her past status.

'Where I am no longer a slave, no longer the young mistress of the Shadow's, but the partner of the one who gave me hope, who gave me love.' She etched his broad, dependable back in her mind. 'The lover of Ardor Flame. The man to whom I will give my all!'

Ardor remembered his other past, a secret only him, and the one who sent him here knew. A past so tasteless and bland that he didn't want to remember it nor relive it ever again.

'But it is what made me. An apathetic family, one driven by achievement and not by love. No one cared if I worked hard, but only cared about my result. This life was the same. A bullied child with no mother, and no caring father. One whose daily existence was a nuisance to others.'

He remembered his other life.

The cruel days of being beaten up, sleeping hungry, and still having to pretend to the world that everything was okay, that his parents were not some psychotic killers who stored bodies in their freezers and showed them to him when he was disobedient.