Chapter 250: Mission Accomplished
After Luna and her siblings left to speak with the king, Mark stayed alone with Ely in the throne room.
And with the place in silence, his intrusive thoughts didn’t take long to surface.
These caused his gaze to end up settling on the throne that stood empty before him.
’No,’ he thought, trying to hold himself back. ’Don’t even think about it.’
Mark kept staring at it a moment longer.
’Well... a quick sit can’t hurt anyone, right?’
And before his common sense could stop him, Mark walked up to the throne and dropped into it, making himself completely comfortable.
He let out a satisfied sigh as he did.
"I have to admit it... Luna’s father had good taste," he murmured, stretching. "This is way more comfortable than the one I have back home."
Mark shifted slightly, sinking further into the seat.
"The elven throne may look very elegant, all gold and fancy, but after ten minutes it destroys your back," he said, feeling as if he were sitting on clouds. "This one, on the other hand... this is how a king should be treated."
Ely, standing before him, watched him with an amused smile.
"I must say you look quite good sitting there, Master," she said, approaching.
"Don’t I?" Mark replied, resting his cheek on a fist and striking a deliberately imposing pose. "I think I just found my place in this world..."
"You’ve been sitting there for less than a minute, Master," she said, laughing.
"Let me enjoy the moment, Ely."
Mark drummed his fingers on the armrest, thinking.
"Hey..." he said in a mischievous tone. "Do you think we could take it with us?"
"The throne?" Ely asked, surprised by her Master’s sudden suggestion.
"Yeah, just think about it for a moment," Mark confirmed, nodding with complete seriousness. "I store it in my inventory, we take it home and swap out the uncomfortable one for this... maybe nobody notices."
"Master," Ely said, holding back a laugh. "I don’t think keeping the throne of the kingdom you just brought to heel is the best way to start a cordial relationship."
"Minor details," he replied, waving a hand.
Mark was enjoying the moment when a voice interrupted his mind.
’Master, Princess Luna and her siblings are on their way back,’ Yuki said through the mental link. ’They’ll arrive in a few seconds.’
Hearing her, Mark leapt off the throne as if the seat had just caught fire.
In barely an instant he crossed the platform, descended the steps, and positioned himself beside Ely with an expression of absolute innocence just as the door opened.
Ely glanced at him sideways, biting her lip to keep from laughing at her Master’s shamelessness.
And barely a couple of seconds later, Luna appeared through the corridor with her siblings behind her.
The three dragged Jack, still unconscious, and took him out through one of the hall’s exits toward somewhere.
Luna, meanwhile, separated from her brothers and walked directly toward them.
"Well, darling?" she said upon arriving, her usual smile back on her face. "Did you miss me?"
"Those were the longest fifteen minutes of my life," Mark replied with irony. "How did it go with your father?"
"Being honest... it went much better than I expected," she said with some relief in her voice. "He gave us his blessing to form the new government, and while he did set certain conditions regarding Jack’s future, he accepted everything else without a word of protest."
"Mission accomplished, then?"
"Almost... I still need to talk to the other half of my siblings, the ones who weren’t here today."
She shrugged with confidence.
"But I’m not worried. Once word gets out that Jack has fallen and the other three are on my side, none of them will want to be on the losing side."
"I love happy endings," Mark said with a half smile. "Now I just hope you hold up your end of the deal... I helped you get the throne, now it’s your turn to prove you’ll be the loyal ally you promised to be."
"Consider it done, darling," she replied, winking at him as she drew closer. "A deal is a deal, and I always pay my debts... As soon as I finish putting everything in order here, you’ll have the full backing of my kingdom."
"You’d better make sure of that," he said with an obviously exaggerated seriousness.
"By the way, you can return to your kingdom whenever you’d like," Luna added, sliding her arms around Mark’s neck and bringing her face close to his. "I can handle things on my own from here, darling."
Ely, seeing how affectionate Princess Luna had gotten with her Master, gave a soft cough, reminding them she was still there.
Making both of them pull apart at the sound.
"Are you sure about that?" Mark continued.
"Yeah. Once I stabilize the situation, I’ll get in touch with you to iron out the final details of our new alliance."
Mark looked at her for a moment, not entirely convinced.
"Alright, but... I think I’d feel better if Yuki or Ely stayed with you at least for a while," he said, trying to convince her. "Just in case things get complicated."
"I appreciate it very much, darling, but it won’t be necessary," she replied, shaking her head. "Besides, you have important matters to attend to in your own kingdom, don’t you?... Starting with my dear friend the elven queen."
Ely, who had been listening in silence, raised an eyebrow.
"What’s going on with Emilia?" she asked, fixing her gaze on Luna.
"I’ll explain later..." he replied, letting out a sigh.
Ely looked at him with curiosity, clearly not entirely satisfied with that answer, but decided not to press for the moment.
And just at that instant, Yuki materialized beside them.
"Master, the druid has just arrived," she announced in her usual flat tone. "He’s waiting outside the palace to take us back home."
"Very well," Mark replied, nodding. "Let him know we’re on our way."
"As you command, Master," Yuki said with a small bow before fading away again.
With that settled, Mark turned toward Luna.
"I suppose the time has come to say goodbye," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "And to be honest with you, I’ve never been very good at these things, so... take care of yourself and try not to lose the throne it took us so much to get for you. That’s good enough for—"
Mark had barely started speaking when Luna launched herself at him.
She knocked him flat on his back against the floor, and before he could even protest, she took his face in both hands and kissed him.
Princess Luna’s tongue pushed its way into Mark’s mouth, tangling with his, while she pressed herself against his body and dug her fingers into his hair to keep him from pulling away even an inch.
Luna deepened the kiss even further when she felt him kiss her back, purring with pure pleasure against his lips, as if she wanted to leave the memory of that last moment together burned into him.
Luna surprised both Mark and Ely. However, while he was still processing what had happened, Ely composed herself almost instantly.
"Alright, that’s enough," Ely said, trying to hide her jealousy.
She crouched down, grabbed Luna by the collar, and lifted her in one clean pull, removing her from on top of her Master and holding her in the air as if the princess were a cat.
The princess was left dangling from Ely’s hand, legs swinging, with an expression of absolute satisfaction on her face, licking her lips without the slightest hint of shame.
"Killjoy," Luna said with a playful pout.
"You had your farewell," Ely replied with a vein pulsing at her temple, setting her back on her feet with a sharp thud. "And quite a long one, at that."
Mark, still on the floor, blinked a couple of times before sitting up.
"That I definitely wasn’t expecting," he murmured in amusement.
"We’d better get going, Master," Ely said with a tense smile as she grabbed him by the arm and practically yanked him to his feet. "It’s getting late and we shouldn’t keep Yuki waiting any longer."
And without giving him room to argue, Ely began dragging her Master toward the exit.
"Easy, Ely, I can walk on my own," Mark protested, letting himself be dragged along anyway.
Behind them, Luna watched them leave with one hand raised, waving in farewell.
"Come back soon, darling!" she exclaimed with a radiant smile. "And give my regards to all your adorable wives!"
The two kept moving toward the exit without stopping, until their figures disappeared down the corridor.
Once she confirmed nobody could hear her, Luna lowered her hand and brought one to her abdomen, narrowing her eyes as she thought.
"Now the real question is..." she murmured, stroking her belly. "Were our encounters enough to leave a little ’gift’ of yours before you left, Emperor of Death?"
A mischievous smile spread across her lips.
"Meh... time will tell."

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