Sitting near the throne in the center of the continent, Daneel smiled as he saw young Dalia and what she was up to.
The game was quite interesting, and just as he got the thought, he heard Eloise speak.
"What is it that amuses the king so?"
Around him, the sovereigns were all seated with wine gla.s.ses in their hands and varied expressions on their faces. Many of them looked tired, while some were thoughtful.
When they heard her voice, though, everyone looked up and waited for Daneel to answer.
Along with the sovereigns, the ancient Dragon, his father, and Arafell were also present. They were the only ones who had been talking among the group, but even they fell silent now.
Looking at them all in turn, Daneel got an idea and flicked his fingers.
A large bonfire much like the one below appeared in the middle of them, but seeing it, everyone got puzzled expressions as none of them needed fire to keep themselves warm at their power level.
With another flick of his fingers, a few logs of wood appeared all around it, and getting up from his throne, he walked toward one and sat down on it.
One last flick made a few marshmallows appear that floated over the flames, and after seeing his delighted expression, Eloise seemed to read his mind.
With a demure smile, she, too, got up and came to sit on one side of Daneel, while Xuan sat on the other.
These past few weeks had pa.s.sed very quickly, but the highlight of each and every day was definitely the nights that he spent with these two incredible women. They had gone through the ancient texts about the erotic arts well, and he was proud to say that they were close to mastering all of the ancient learnings that had brought them much pleasure and joy.
There were a few nights when they had decided not to spend their time together. During these occasions, the time that he spent with Xuan was always so wild that many objects would break in the room. But when he was with Eloise, the experience always left a sweet taste in his mouth as it was more lovingly pa.s.sionate than destructively avid, as was the case with the young G.o.ddess.
Right now, he was tempted to raise his hands and embrace them both, but telling himself that there was a time and place for everything, he waited for the others to come and take their own seats all around the fire.
The days had been spent in enacting all of the plans that he and the Emperor had come up with together, and to this day, he was still proud to look back and see that most of those that they were deploying had been created by him. However, it could be said that the Emperor was behind them all as he had gotten many ideas from the man"s vast list of plans left behind after the destruction of the Empire, and even now, he has proven his expertise by refining each and everything that Daneel came up with until it was so perfect that the two could only step back and marvel at it.
All of the sovereigns, and even all the other people that he had called on that day when they had been treated to a taste of a truly legendary G.o.dbeast aura had all been put to work so extensively that a few of them had even fainted in the middle of the tasks that they had been given. Such dedication was to be admired, but since then, Daneel had asked the system to keep an eye on them so that he could tell them to take rest when they needed it.
The last person to sit was the Emperor, who gazed into the flames for a few seconds and broke the silence first.
"Three days. In three days, we will know whether it was all for naught… Gentlemen and ladies, I must say that it has been a pleasure working with you all. In those days of the Empire, I spent each and every second frantically making sure that my plans were going well… Not for a single second did I pause and ensure that I spent some time with all the people who were going to go to their death due to my mistake. On the last day, I was forced to drop everything and relax by some near to my heart… and that was when I wished that I had actually taken out the time to sit with all of the people closest to me. Now, I have the chance, and I shall not waste it. Come what may, I"m proud of everything we have done. I could never have asked for anyone better to stand by my side."
Everyone listened to the Emperor"s solemn speech with small smiles on their faces. When he was done, he took a long swig from the gla.s.s in his hand.
Even though the man had not known why Daneel had set up the entire thing, he had brought about the right atmosphere with his words.
"Down below, thousands and thousands of people are sitting around bonfires just like these with their friends, loved ones, or even strangers. I don"t know who started it, but there is a game they"re all playing. A large flagon of wine is…"
After he was done explaining it, everyone present happily smiled and nodded.
"Let us take a few minutes to get our answers ready, then. After that, I"ll begin pa.s.sing the flagon."
Saying so, Daneel made a few marshmallows float to everyone present before munching on his and thinking about what he was going to say.
What desires did he have? Of course, the first one that came to mind was to find out just how he had ended up on Angaria from Earth, in the first place, and just how the World Domination System had gotten into his head…but he could hardly mention them here, so he kept looking.
By the time he did find his answer, the others were ready, too, so Daneel made a comically large mug appear in his hand.
It was half his size and filled to the brim with the same beer being drunk by many of those below, and see it, many around him chuckled.
With a smile, he pa.s.sed it to Eloise, who went first.
"My dream is to help build a world where everyone can achieve their dreams with hard work, no matter who they are. I grew up seeing so many oppressed people die hopelessly...so I want to create a paradise where that will never happen. And of course...I want to marry the love of my life."