CHAPTER 525: DECIDING ON HIS FUTURE COUNCIL.

Ivan’s eyes widened as he glanced at Nikolai, who looked normal. His shoulders shook before he covered his face. "Something small? To make me happy." He turned away, once again reflected in the glass, and Nikolai could swear he saw a stream of tears.

’Eh, Is did crying?’

Nikolai tried to peek around, but suddenly his father swung out, hitting him in the chest. The blow lifted him off the floor, before he grumbled and glared back at his father. "Eh?"

Ivan looked back with a huge smile, his shoulders shaking with laughter, but there were no tears in his eyes or on his cheeks.

’Yeah, everyone knows that dad’s can’t cry...’

***

"You need to organise your future aides."

Those were the last words that Ivan spoke before kicking Nikolai out of the room and sending him to the archives. ’Well, this was supposed to be the archive room...’ The dark basement he spent weeks with his father researching and practising the method to revive his mother... and yet now the room had changed.

Neat, tidy and modern shelves with more computers and a huge screen at least 80 inches in size, maybe more.

The feel transformed from an old, musty archive to a modern hangout for men, with a small bar with several of the battle maids working. One behind the bar, another cleaning the coffee machine and the rest dressed in tight pencil skirts and managing the books.

’Is this the perfect library?’ Nikolai thought to himself.

But he then shook his head.

"Maybe for a single guy..."

His voice echoed in the almost silent place, and immediately all the maids snapped to his direction and greeted him with a smile.

"Master! Here are the documents Lord Ivan wished for you to look over before leaving."

A suspicious maid with nerdy glasses and a slightly swollen stomach beckoned him. Her black hair carried a sheen he’d never seen before.

Nikolai didn’t have a reason not to check it and followed her words. The moment he came close to her, he leaned down and whispered into her soft, fox ears. "You’ve been working extra hard recently Emiko. Come take a break with me while I read."

The clone of Kumiko that seemed more and more genuine each time he met her gave a polite nod and sat beside him after getting a coffee and some snacks. "Master, are you feeling well?"

"Hm, why do you ask?"

"You’ve done nothing but fight or work... I just wondered if you needed a break."

Nikolai leaned back in the leather chair, the scent of roasted beans mixing with the faint tang of disinfectant. "A break," he said, half-murmuring the words as if testing them. "I wouldn’t dare take one before you. Kumiko, Emiko... both of you work so hard for me. How can I stop when you do this for me?"

Emiko’s many tails brushed the leg of her chair as she tilted her head with rosy red cheeks.

"We just want to make you happier, master."

"And i feel the same. To me, you are more than a mere clone now." He pulled her closer while resting his chin on her head. "You, Kumi, Emi, all of the sides you’ve shown. I love you all equally."

Her ears twitched, and she smiled faintly. It was clear their emotions, bodies and hearts developed from the first time he slept with Kumiko. Once his blood and fluids fused with hers, the curse of her body started to fade, and now her bloodline reached almost perfect purity...

’Is this why her clones have become almost perfect?’

Nikolai noticed in the fight the other day that Kumiko now had two types of clones, stock clones for battle. And the ones that were pregnant, like she was. The children in her stomach and the ones in the clones... both were real!

"Do you girls feel the same about me? Or is it Kumiko’s influence?"

He’d always wondered how it worked.

Because some of them rejected him at first, especially the feisty blonde and the calm maid beside him, yet the two of them were the clones to lie beneath him first without Kumiko’s order or control.

’That’s when they changed.’

"At first... we felt a little strange, as if we were just parts of Master Kumi." The maid started to write her feelings at the same time as speaking. The subtle differences grew the more she spoke... while the written feelings were mechanical and stiff.

"I fell for you after you treated me like a normal girl. However, we didn’t understand because the Master has us for a single purpose." She tapped the desk and started peeking at Nikolai. "My existence was supposed to be... ’work’ and ’politeness.’ Not love or desire!"

’Is this a confession...?’

He couldn’t help but smile at her honest and detailed explanation.

"I see, I am happy."

"!!!"

The clones each became more than just a part of Kumiko, and instead became like sisters or twins that all had unique personalities and desires. A strangely warm silence followed, filled only by the quiet whir of machines and the faint tapping of keyboards from the other maids.

He liked this peace and hugged Emiko’s waist closer.

"Don’t be shy, we’re husband and wife." He teased her, as the clone’s face remained bright red as if drowning in his sweet words and affectionate touch.

Nikolai then opened the book his father handed to him.

"Hmm..." He flipped the cover and smiled.

[Moonlight Alliance Clan Heirs, Sons and Talents]

It was a massive amount of information with the talents, skills, weaknesses and even personalities of the various clans who joined the Moonlight Alliance, and it seemed Nikolai didn’t have to pick the first son or daughter.

"Future aides," he muttered, flipping through. "Or replacements for my failures."

"Lord Ivan said you’d say that," Emiko replied softly. "He left a note."

[A commander without trust leaves with only corpses.]

Beneath the words was a list of seven names, none he recognised. But he nodded, the handwriting changed to something familiar. His father’s style. "Typical." He tossed the card onto the desk and stared at the ceiling. "Even after I reach this level, he’s still helping me like this."

Nikolai closed his eyes tight and took in a long breath.

Then exhaled slowly, grasping the list again.

’Thanks dad.’

"Emiko, will you help me too?" He dragged the full books over and smiled at his wife, who seemed shocked at first, but soon brightened up as he hugged her waist closer.

"It would be my pleasure, Master."

"When we’re like this, call me Nikolai, or husband."

"Eh... that’s." Her cheeks became red again.

’I can’t get enough of this cute side of Emiko...’

She then tapped her cheek and looked up at him with soft, brown eyes that were almost black, different from the usual clones. "Can I call for Emi?" That’s why her request shocked him, but also brought a smile to his lips.

"The cute blonde? Of course you can, Emiko."

Nikolai watched the maid close her eyes, then a subtle flicker of aura spread from her ears and lips... ’Is she speaking to her mentally?’ He couldn’t help but reach out, and with his fingertip, he tapped the aura near Emiko’s ear.

[Of course I’ll come~ Ah, my cute little husband can’t live without me, fufu.]

He pulled his hand back in shock, but the voice he heard was the cocky, yet absolute masochist Emi.

’Wow...’

Because of his excitement, he turned to the list to calm down.

Nikolai scanned the seven names on the page, each one linked to a clan that carried weight in the alliance. His father’s selections weren’t random. Every name was a piece in a larger design.

The first one made him smile, because he agreed with it.

Seraphina Volkova - Already a lord, but only recently replaced her mother. (Outstanding talent!)

Lyra Orlov - the wind’s daughter, cunning and restless. (Her control over the wind allows her to weave blades like threads.)

His father listed several people and suggested that some remain the same, which made Nikolai curious about the current heads, too. ’How long have they served, what do they stand for...?’ He planned to have Emi and Emiko look into these details for him.

The thing was that his father suggested a lot of females... which made Nikolai a little embarrassed.

Mikael Zorya — the flame’s successor. Controlled himself where previous clan heads failed. His control and power will be a great asset in the future.

Irina Zharkov — ice and calculation. The youngest heir on record, rumoured to have frozen an entire training hall by accident.

Nikolai leaned back on his chair again while mumbling to himself while reading. "These are the ones my dad things will help me..." He folded the note and kept the names of those he found interesting and discarded the ones he didn’t want.

"Irina, Mikael, Lyra and Seraphina... I hope that you will be the first ones to support me."

After his grandfather’s kidnapping and the two traitors, Nikolai’s trust in people who weren’t connected to him diminished greatly.

Now, he needed time and a reason to trust people.

’I wonder if Alexei and Ryan would be willing...?’