"I was wondering when you’d wake up," Arthur said as he looked at his no-good grandson, who was currently eating a bowl of porridge. "You sure took your sweet time sleeping."
"Gramps, you’re making my food taste bland," Thirteen replied. "Just get straight to the point."
Arthur wanted to smack his grandson silly, but fearing it might cause him to fall into another coma, he held himself back and sighed deeply.
"What do you plan to do with the surviving Artemians and Azothralls?" Arthur asked. "We need a resolution for this problem as soon as possible. The Jinns want to enslave them, but the Wanderers want to learn more about their technology.
"For the time being, discussions were put on hold, and they are being jointly monitored by both forces. Personally, I want to make those with technical knowledge our subordinates.
Thirteen pondered for a bit before asking Arthur a question of his own.
"Is the settlement of the territories of the Jinns handled properly?" Thirteen inquired.
He already had something in mind when it came to the Artemians, and the Azothralls who had surrendered after the King of Artem was defeated.
Arthur chuckled, recalling how the Monarch of the Cygni Continent, Douglas Griffin, had wanted to give the Jinns as little territory as possible.
However, it had been quickly resolved by a single glare from Cranky. The Monarch immediately reconsidered and adhered to the plan Thirteen had submitted before he lost consciousness.
"A third of the Continent will be surrendered to the Jinns on the condition that both sides will sign a non-aggression pact," Arthur answered. "Your friends from the Valbarra Archipelago, except for Cranky, had returned to Solterra with the help of Laplace Demon.
"I never thought I’d live to a day when I’d see The One’s right-hand man thank mortals for helping subdue the Artemians. You should have seen it."
Thirteen was mildly amused after hearing this piece of information.
He owed a lot to the warriors of the Valbarra Archipelago for always being present in moments when Thirteen needed them the most.
Perhaps it was their way of returning the favor for the young man’s heroic deed of saving them from the hands of Arundel the Destroyer.
Arthur then continued to tell Thirteen everything that had happened while he was asleep.
The young man smirked upon hearing that Princess Fiora of the Dragonkin was seeing Thirteen’s right-hand man, Cristopher, a lot during the past two weeks.
The Dragonkin Princess was a proud and beautiful lady. But after being rescued by Cristopher, she took a liking to the young man, who was many times weaker than she was.
Of course, Cristopher being weak was subject to debate.
With Arundel as a trump card, no Monarch but Arthur could defeat him in battle.
"Also, there’s something I think you need to know." Arthur coughed lightly. "While I’m not a hundred percent sure of this, Shasha seemed to have taken a liking to Cranky."
Thirteen blinked once, then twice, before putting his spoon down.
"She has?" Thirteen asked.
"I think," Arthur answered. "Aside from her and Mikhail, Cranky refuses to talk to anyone—including me."
"And... why would Cranky want to talk to you, Gramps?" Thirteen asked. "It’s not like you’re someone important, you know?"
Hans coughed lightly, hiding the laughter that almost escaped his lips after hearing Zion casually roast his grandpa without mercy.
Arthur cracked his knuckles, but Thirteen only told him not to do that because cracking his knuckles at his age might increase his chances of getting arthritis.
In the end, Hans had no choice but to cough once more. Otherwise, it wouldn’t end. The young man simply had no fear of his grandfather.
"Enough," Arthur reigned in his frustration and glared at Thirteen. "Can’t you do something about it?"
"Did Cranky approach Shasha first?" Thirteen inquired.
"I don’t think so," Arthur replied.
"Then, did Shasha approach Cranky first?"
"I don’t see any problems, though?" Thirteen tilted his head. "Shasha is already old enough to make decisions for herself. Even if she likes Cranky, I don’t think we need to worry about it."
"Then... what if she approached that Tigerkin Taiga or that twerp Kane Stallard?" Arthur arched an eyebrow. "Those two have been trying to woo her ever since the war ended. The two of them even started competing, believing Shasha will accept them as her lover."
"Gramps, I’m very disappointed in you," Thirteen replied as he stopped eating. "You’re already a Monarch, and you can’t even get rid of those two little pests? Just slap them and make sure to bury their bodies in places where others can’t find them.
"If you can’t find a place to bury them, then hack them to pieces and feed them to the fishes. It’s not that hard, you know?"
Arthur was speechless. The difference in Zion’s treatment between Cranky and the two young men was like heaven and earth.
Simply put, Zion was fine with Cranky being Shasha’s lover, but if it were Taiga and Kane, he’d be plotting their deaths. The rightful source is novｅlfire.net
However, after giving it some thought, Arthur also came to the same conclusion.
Compared to having a Celestial as a grandson-in-law, Taiga and Kane looked like two annoying bugs loitering around her granddaughter.
"Is there anything else I should know about?" Thirteen asked after finishing his meal. "Maybe you still forgot to tell me something?"
Arthur pondered for a bit before a smirk appeared on his face. "Prince Aurelion wants to talk to you."
"No," Thirteen answered. "I already know what he wants to say to me, so I’ll pass."
"Okay." Arthur nodded. "I’ll pass your message to him."
The old man then stood up to look at his no-good grandson.
Deep inside, he felt truly lucky that Zion was on their side.
Although he was starting to become suspicious whether the young man in front of him was truly his grandson, he decided to no longer think about this matter.
The only important thing was that the Leventis Family had Zion, and as long as he was there, they would become the new leader among the Monarchs in Pangea.
Now that the Ashford and the Stallard Clans had become the Leventis Family’s vassals, no one would dare to mess with their family. Even the dumbest person already knew what would happen to them if they did.
Arthur left, while Hans remained.
It was his duty to serve his Young Master because Lady Callista had ordered it.
"Hans, can you call Cranky for me?" Thirteen said. "I need to talk to him in private."
"Understood, Young Master," Hans replied and left the room to do what Thirteen had ordered him.
Now that the war of the Cygni Continent was over, another was simply waiting to happen.
This time around, the battlefield would be Artem, the very world that had previously invaded but failed to conquer Pangea, following the same pattern of conquest they had used to subjugate Chandrea and force its people into servitude.
Artemians might still have thoughts about conquering Pangea again, so Thirteen decided to flip the tables on them and finally put an end to their ambition to conquer worlds far out of their reach.