Primordial Villain With A Slave Harem

"It's fine, Fel. Papa is having tea with his daughter… He's not working right now."

Upon hearing Alexios' words, a giant grin etched itself across my features. Especially because based on his tone, he was no longer thinking of me as a mere pest barging in on his family time. There was interest in that voice of his.

"Phew!" Felicity breathed a giant sigh of relief, how cute. She seemed to be a very genuine little lady. Once she calmed her nerves, her excited chirping resumed. "Miss Elf is your lover? Really?"

She then bashfully coughed into her hands, her embarrassment was audible through the artifact when she said, "Although, you didn't try to hide it all too much…"

"Hehehe…" It was Seraphiel who began giggling merrily at the memory of us eating each other up in front of the grand auditorium, finally no longer hiding herself. "It's nice to hear from you, Princess. Truth be told, it was mostly me who orchestrated the scene back then, I didn't like how the Scarlet Lilies looked at my man with disgusted eyes, so I might've gotten a bit cocky in trying to give them a lesson…"

"Miss Elf!" Merry cheering welcomed her words. "Hehe, now I understand. Miss Lilith and her friends truly looked bewildered back then, you played a good prank on them!"

"Ah, I remember now. Stormlord did submit a report about that day. Is this that eccentric noble who sat next to you in the auction?" Alexios spoke up, managing to put the puzzle pieces together. Stormlord was the head of her bodyguard unit, and also the captain of the four other Aegis Vanguard members present in the outpost where we pulled off the heist of the century.

"Don't be rude, Father. Lord Black is not eccentric, just unique."

"… I see."

"Stormlord said you had a lot of fun with an elf back then, something about crafting nature items together."

"W-what?! I told him not to snitch!" Felicity cried, outraged. They crafted a nature crown together with Seraphiel, which was meant to be her gift for Alexios' 1000th birthday. She wanted to buy something much more luxurious in the auction, but I told her a loving father would be much happier with a gift his daughter made for him with her own two hands instead of some fancy artifact he could buy at a whim. "Once I catch Stormlord, he'll never hear the end of it! Hmph!"

The little lady was furious.

"He's my loyal soldier, Fel… I told him to report every noteworthy event, he was just doing his duty."

Silence reigned supreme for a few seconds, where the royal pair conducted a fierce staredown—well, at least Felicity did. Alexios was doing his utmost to hold the line without raising the white flag.

"Agh, fine!" Felicity grunted, accompanied by an audible stomp of her feet. "Here, father. This was meant to be your birthday gift. Miss Elf helped me a lot with it. Since you know about it, I'll craft an even greater nature item that'll be a surprise!"

A curiously long silence followed her words.

"… Will you put it on my head, Fel?"

<Aww… He's overcome with emotions,> Lucille commented, making her motherly nature touched by the king's tone.

<Reminds Blossom of Natalie's tone of voice when Blossom first caught prey on her own. She cried a lot. Blossom thought she'd done something bad, but Natalie was just crying tears of joy.>

<Let's not forget that this fucker sealed my fate, alright? If not for Quin, I would most likely still be chained to the basement of that slaver house…> Ayame grumbled.

Her feelings were more than justified, but… <Bear with it for me, my beautiful samurai. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.>

<I know… I just don't want us to forget who this guy is. We're privy to his delicate family man antics right now, but once he puts the teacup down and returns to his duties, he'll transform into a ruthless king whose hand is bloodier than anyone else's.>

Alexios' muttering interjected our mental conversation. "I-I don't even know what to say…"

"You should see your face right now, hehe! I've never seen such an expression from you, Father."

"Well, that's because I've never gotten such a nice gift before…"

"So Lord Black was right!"

"Hmm?"

"Back during the auction, he saw my distress when every item they brought to the podium didn't feel worthy as a present for your 1000th birthday. I was starting to panic, thinking I would go back empty-handed, and that was when he spoke to me for the first time. He said any good father would appreciate a gift their child makes for them through effort instead of paying a large sum of money for a shiny gift."

For the first time, the king addressed me directly. "… I have numerous reservations toward you, Black, and I frankly don't agree with my wife's decision to let an adult man chat with my young daughter, but I must say my thanks. It's been a long time since my old heart skipped a beat."

"Lord Black is not a bad man!"

Felicity's innocent shout was ignored by both of us.

"I understand your suspicions of me, Your Majesty. Truth be told, I grew up isolated. I had no brothers or sisters my age, and all the lowborn kids were scared to play with me. Once I tried to join their little wargame where one side played as the Aegis Vanguards and the other as beasts from the Confederation. No one dared to lay a hand on me, fearing retaliation that would come of hurting a noble's child. With my mere presence, I'd ruined the fun of other kids.

When I laid my eyes on your daughter, I saw my younger self in her. She seemed to be isolated from her own generation, which was why I thought I could befriend her. I've just recently become an adult, I'm not even 20 years old yet. While there's still an age-gap between the two of us, it's not too wide in my eyes, considering humans have the potential to live for many centuries.

Combined with my hiding my identity, I can act more like a real friend than a servant. If the crown knew who I was, I would have to fear that every word of mine might see the ruination of my family, forcing me to walk on thin ice every time I open my mouth in Felicity's presence. Donning a mask has allowed me to act like myself around her.

However, if you still find me suspicious or just plain creepy, I completely understand and I shall never call Felicity ever again."

"Lord Black…!" Felicity's emotional voice sounded, she found my words to be very touching.

"Hmm…"