Gently stroking Emma's soft white hair, Erik looked at Zohran with a lazy smirk. "Yes, actually. It's a very comfortable seat, especially after expending all that effort saving your asses."

Zohran's smirk quickly faltered, his body flinching slightly.

But Erik didn't wait for a response. He cocked an eyebrow. "It actually makes me wonder why none of you took it for yourself." He waved his hand at the triangular table standing at the foot of the throne. He'd seen this setup when he came here last, and it was obviously intended for sharing power equally.

"Did you never consider seeing who was the strongest among you three and having them take the throne?" he asked, cocking a curious eyebrow. "I find it surprising that three people stylising themselves as allied warlords wouldn't have the ambition for such a thing, even if you three get along quite well."

Astrid watched their exchange lazily, leaning back in a chair as she continued eating.

Meanwhile, Emma ignored the newcomers but suddenly looked up at Erik, blinking. As if seeing something no one else saw, she quickly got off Erik's lap, something Erik barely took notice of as he was used to her behaviour.

At the same time, Elora flew down from the walls and sat down on Erik's shoulder in her fairy form. She was looking at Zahra curiously. "I bet it has something to do with that one having inherited some control over this city, just like Naeku."

The trio blinked, their collective gazes now focused on her. At that point, Zahra took the word and nodded wryly. "I suppose it's not surprising you figured that out, nor that your city had something similar."

Nasir continued, his tone having returned to being a little colder again. "In this city, Zahra has the power to defeat us both, so a contest would only complicate things."

Zohran continued with a gruff nod. "We're not actually sure which of us is stronger right now. If we held the contest and Zahra won, then great, but if not, then either Nasir or I would lead Zahra, despite her ability to easily defeat both of us inside our capital. It'd be a mess only capable of brewing resentment."

He looked at Zahra with some gratitude. "Fortunately, Zahra didn't decide to press her advantage and agreed it'd be better if we simply ruled as a triumvirate."

Nasir nodded and also turned to Zahra. "I'd say Zahra is the only one of us without any real ambition beyond this city, and I think that's the only reason our alliance has been so successful."

At this point, both Nasir and Zohran's gazes had turned a little strange as they looked at Zahra. Despite the conversation being about her, she didn't seem interested in it at all. Instead, her gaze was fully focused forward, not at Erik, but at something next to him.

Here, Emma was just handing Erik a large glass of the alcoholic beverage she regularly created for him, a gentle smile on her lips. This was the reason she'd jumped off his lap, as she'd retrieved a glass and bottle from her storage ring.

"Thank you, Emma," Erik chuckled warmly. "It's still a wonder how you always know when I'll be thirsty."

Emma's smile made way for a cute pout. "What kind of maid would I be if I didn't, Master? You should have more faith in me…"

Taking psychic damage from the disappointed look she gave him, Erik's mouth twitched a little. "S— Sorry…" he muttered strangely, quickly sipping his drink, knowing it would placate her to see him enjoying what she brought him.

Emma's pout disappeared like snow in the sun, her face now splitting in a wide smile once more. "It's okay, Master! Can I do anything else for you?"

Relieved, Erik quickly recovered and grinned. Grabbing her chin, he gently wiped his finger across her soft red lips and whispered loud enough for the trio to hear. "Nothing that would be appropriate with our three guests here…"

Barely skipping a beat, Emma wrapped her comparatively smaller hands around Erik's and smiled with a strange mixture of shyness and boldness. "If you ordered it, Master, an audience wouldn't stop me…" she whispered softly, with a hint of mischief. "You know that…"

After saying so, she took his thumb between her lips and sucked on it gently, never taking her eyes off his, hands still wrapped around his. For a moment, the whole room fell into a strange silence. To Erik and Emma, only they existed in that moment.

Everyone else was either amused or stunned… except for one person, who never lost her apparent fascination: Zahra. "That's so… over the top… and weird…" she suddenly muttered softly, breaking the silence. "She's a powerful third ranker…!"

With that, the spell was broken, and everyone focused on Zahra.

"It's just who she is, you'll get used to it," an amused Astrid shrugged.

"I think it's cute," Elora chuckled genuinely.

Nasir and Zohran said nothing, unable to think of a proper response.

Erik chuckled along with Elora and shrugged. "I'd be careful about judging the relationship between your emperor and one of his wives, you know?" Despite his casual tone, there was a hint of danger in his voice that made the trio flinch. Having seen his power, they were none too keen on facing his wrath.

Emma, however, didn't bother with any of it. Since Erik didn't need anything more from her, she unceremoniously hopped back onto his lap and sank back into his chest. Yet, the careful observer might notice she was sneaking glances at Zahra with mysterious intentions.

Meanwhile, Zahra, freed from her strange fascination, appeared flustered. It didn't look like she herself fully understood what came over her, or why Emma fascinated her so.

"I, uh—" she muttered, blinking. "Frick… Sorry?"

Erik smirked, having gone back to stroking Emma's hair with one hand and sipping his drink with the other. "It's fine. Though, you should know that I won't tolerate any kind of discrimination in my empire, especially not about the way people choose to enjoy each other's bodies or what relationship they designed for themselves."

Then, he chuckled. "So long as it's at least more or less consensual, that is. I've been known to skirt those lines, myself, but it's still important not to cross it."

Finally, he indicated at the city outside, some black smoke still twirling into the air and turned a little more grim. "Either way, we've got much more important matters to deal with…"