2047 Mini Vacation
Leonel suddenly kissed Aina, catching her off guard. She hadn't been prepared for this sudden change as she was still worried about Leonel and if he was doing okay, so she was far too stunned even to fight back.
Eventually, she regained her bearings and bit at Leonel's lips.
"Ow, ow. What are you doing to your husband?" Leonel pouted.
"There are people watching, behave yourself!" Aina chided. Even so, she couldn't help but lick her lips. The taste of Leonel's blood was truly great, if it wasn't because she felt that it was too weird to ask, she would take a taste more often.
Leonel, though, had noticed the subtle, seductive action. He didn't know why, but watching Aina lick at his blood like that made a fire light within him. It was as though some repressed fantasies about being with a vampire empress were all resurfacing at once.
"What are you looking at?" Aina asked to hide her embarrassment.
"Lick your lips again, slower this time, I really want to imprint it into my memories. Take another bite out of my lip if you have to."
Aina was stunned speechless before she hit Leonel on the chest. "Be serious!"
"I am deadly serious! Come, come, take another bite."
"I'm ignoring you," Aina stood in a huff, dropping Leonel to the ground, but when she turned back, her lips couldn't help but bloom into a bright smile. If Leonel was willing to joke around like this, he was at least feeling better for now.
She felt two arms wrap around her waist, a soft cheek pressing against her own. This time, she didn't fight back, her palm reaching up to touch Leonel's face.
"Look at you, still as smooth as a baby's butt."
Leonel was aghast. "How could you poke at your husband's insecurities like this?!"
Aina laughed, allowing Leonel a nice view of her bouncing chest over her shoulder. He couldn't help but shake his head, if only those perverts didn't set up cameras everywhere. What were those old perverts thinking?!
If the Morales Ancestors knew what Leonel was thinking, they too would have probably been stunned speechless. How was this their fault, it was just the way things had always been done.
The two continued to joke around without a care in the world, forgetting the time for a moment and just enjoying one another's company. Finally, Aina asked the question that had been on her mind all the while.
"Are you really okay? You know you can talk to me, right?"
Leonel smiled. "Maybe. At the very least, it's not enough for me to stress over it like I have before. Questions about life and its meaning, they're things everyone has, right? Why should I be the one to gain answers before anyone else?"
After seeing Aina's Dream Force, Leonel understood that it wasn't something that could just breathe life into things, one couldn't create life with it, and one wouldn't be able to manipulate the personality of another with it either.
Of course, that didn't mean that there wouldn't be other ways of doing so. For example, giving someone certain affinities, or tainting their Soul Force with certain aspects, both were viable options. So, that didn't mean that Leonel's worries were entirely unfounded.
But what it did mean was that there was a path to true freedom, it existed, and it existed within every single person equally. That sort of realization was beautiful enough in its own right. As for what was beyond, it was still exactly that. Beyond him.
If everyone had the same Dream Force acting as the foundation of their life, though, then Leonel was right back to square one. How could one possibly differentiate the value of a life?
In fact, now that he thought about it, if it was so easy to just create people, what was the point of this simulation?
If the point was to have predictive models of the future and use it to avoid catastrophes, that was still acceptable, it made sense for this simulation to exist. But if the creators of this simulation were looking for existences that could help them out of their plight, then that went a long way to addressing Leonel's worries.
As for why, one only had to ask themselves a simple question.
If it was so easy to create life, why bother creating such weak lifeforms? If they needed help, why not directly create the most powerful existences they could? Or if they were worried about rebellion, why not just directly create the most powerful existences that could be safely controlled?
The answer was obvious. It wasn't that easy to create life.
Maybe he was still being manipulated, but keeping the chains on him wasn't so easy, and as long as there was a chance, he was certain that he'd be able to break free.
Leonel rose to his feet.
He was sure that this Dimensional Verse along with the others had been created for the latter reason. If it was for the purpose of simulating the future, there would have been no point in allowing a connection to exist between the universes, but those connections very much existed, the Tribulation likely only being just one of them.
"Where are you going?" Aina asked.
"You mean where are we going?" Leonel corrected with a grin.
Aina smiled. "Okay, I'll bite. Where are we going?"
"To end these Heir Wars, of course. This piece of shit competition actually gave me a mid-life crisis three decades early, I can't stand for it."
Aina sputtered with laughter. "Don't be reckless, we still need to plan things."
"If James wasn't out there being a lazy ass, it'll all be okay."
"Talking behind my back when you've just been smooching on my sister-in-law while all of us did free labor? Let's revolt, everyone. This 'King' is too much of a bastard."
Leonel grinned hearing James' voice. How could he not have noticed him already?
The others had been worried after not receiving Leonel's orders for so long, especially after they had already gathered so many materials without seeing a peep from him, so they had come here. Who would have thought that he was taking a little vacation in an underwater resort?
James threw something over and Leonel caught it. After a look, Leonel's grin widened, it was precisely what they needed to conquer the final sea.
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