Few minutes after the debacle that happened at the door and after they had the maid show Sol and his group to their room, Athena, Ares, and the Duke Highland, Tyr, sat facing each other in the main office used by the Duke.
Filling his glass with some liquor, Tyr downed it all in one go and let out a sigh of pleasure.
"Ooh. I must say, drinking something strong always helps relax my nerves."
Saying so he twirled his shoulder before finally addressing his two grandchildren.
"So, what do you think?"
"He is a little rash…" began Ares.
"But he is powerful…" continued Athena.
"He most likely saw that our test had a double meaning…"
"Indeed, and he acted decisively…"
"His threat at the end was a little too much…"
"But I must say that it was really incredible to look at…"
Tyr smiled at this scene and began to pour another glass before swirling the beautiful amber liquid while marveling at how much the dwarves were a boon for this world.
"So, your conclusion?"
"He seems interesting."
"I like his personality."
Silence settled between them before Tyr turned to Athena.
"So, are you interested?"
"So you are really trying to sell me, shitty old man?"
"Sigh, understand me. I already basically presented you with most of the bachelor noble who is our ally and some of the most promising soldiers. Despite that, you are still alone. Not even a fling. Hell, I even tried to hook you up with some women in case you weren't straight."
Athena's flushed at those words before glaring at her twin brother to stop him from laughing.
"You shouldn't laugh." This time, Tyr faced Ares, "I know you have a crush on the Duchess, but I already told you it was impossible between you."
Sipping on his drink, Tyr let out another sigh as he pinched his eyebrows. The goddesses had blessed him with smart, talented, and upright grandchildren, but in matters of love, those two were really a royal pain in the ass.
Sometimes, he couldn't help but fear that the Highland lineage would end up with them after his death.
"Anyway, enough of that. As you can see the prince is no pushover like his grandfather. So at the very least, the chances of another Puppet King emerging are rather low."
"But what if he was already a Puppet? No matter how you look at it, Queen Lilith's willingness to let go of the throne seems fishy."
Ares expressed his doubts. A doubt that plagued close to all the nobles in Luxuria. Even though Lilith wasn't blessed, it wasn't as if a case of someone getting his blessing in their later years didn't happen. Even without that, most people were sure that she had a very large control over the prince.
"Lilith is…" The Duke hesitated before sighing. "Lilith was never interested in power. She is a free spirit and if she didn't have to keep the kingdom for her nephew, I am pretty sure she would be exploring some other part of the world."
Looking wistfully at the ceiling, Tyr remembered the cute little bumble of joy who would call him uncle with a cute haughty voice and order him to put her on his shoulder.
Sadly, the moment she grew old enough to understand the circumstances of her father and after her awakening, she gradually became a cold and detached woman.
"So, now that we have a preliminary understanding of his personality, Athena please, go escort him and pass some time with him. It should calm his anger by the time banquets begin."
The three of them nodded at that and got up before leaving the room.
What they didn't know and had no way of knowing was…
There weren't only three people in that room.
----
Floating in the now-empty office, Sol chuckled as he remembered the discussion that happened. At the same time, he couldn't help but marvel at how incredible his power was.
As of now, it didn't have any attack power. But, the abilities it gave him were simply insane.
After obtaining it, the first thing he did was to learn how to read lips. It was a necessary skill since sound didn't transmit from the normal dimension to the mirror dimension.
The flow of events that brought him here was rather simple. After he entered the room given to him and assured him that there was no one monitoring them, he asked Milia to create a doppelganger to replace him and then phased into his dimension.
The sad thing was that, as of now he couldn't really interact with objects in the dimension. They all seemed illusory and all he could do was float and observe things.
p
This dimension twisted everything.
From what he gathered, aside from him, anyone who entered had their feelings and minds inverted. This means that the more they loved him in the real world the more they would hate him in the mirror world. He didn't wish to die after being killed by the people he loved.
He was also sure that this dimension had other negative effects. But he didn't have enough samples to understand it. There was only so much he could gleam by using animals as test subjects.
"Well, this is enough for now. At least I know that even though the Highlands can't be called steadfast allies, at least they are leaning towards my side.
This was enough for him. He would have been very sad if all the nobles' family were traitors. What's more, with what they were planning to do, having too many traitors would without a doubt affect the overall strength of Lustburg too much.
Humming a little, he slowly advanced as he floated toward the door of the office room. He wanted to explore the castle a little more.
----
While Sol was going on an adventure in the mirror world, Setsuna and Milia sat facing a smiling Sol.
At first glance, there seemed to be no particular difference between the doppelganger and the original. But a more cursory inspection would reveal many flaws.
"This is really incredible."
Setsuna complimented as she continued to inspect it. As one of the people closest to Sol, even she couldn't say with assurance she wouldn't be fooled for at least a few seconds after seeing the doppelganger. For warriors like her who could reach or surpass sound speed, few seconds were basically an eternity.
"Fufufu~! This is nothing. My doppelganger skills rely on my understanding of the one I am copying. The more I know him the more realistic I can make it."
Setsuna smiled at how Milia was basically bragging about her understanding of Sol. She respected Milia a great deal, but her smug face somehow irked her, making her eyebrows twitch in irritation.
Milia, being apt at observation, didn't miss this but feigned ignorance as she asked, "What's the matter? Or perhaps, are you doubting my words?"
Setsuna scoffed at that. "I don't doubt that. But don't act as if you know him the best."
"Ohoh?" This time it was Milia's turn to be a little irritated, she raised an eyebrow as she continued, "I am not acting as if I knew him the best. Because I do know him the best…"
Saying so, her eyes seemed to darken as she murmured, "Perhaps even more than he understands himself. His likes, dislikes, fears, his goal, his insecurities. I know everything. Absolutely. Everything."
Setsuna took a step back at that. She felt as if the darkness in the room seemed to thicken with Milia at the center. Her fur bristled as she crouched down and began to growl lightly, "Calm down or I will make you calm down."
This seemed to snap Milia out of her trance. The atmosphere in the room went back to normal instantly.
Taking the hem of her skirt with her fingers, Milia gave a curtsy her face now impassive. "Forgive me for my unbecoming actions."
Setsuna observed her for a while, still crouched down and ready to pounce on her at the slightest anomaly. It was the first time she had felt so much danger from the usually affable maid.
Then again before today, she did not even know that Milia could use magic. So she shouldn't have been surprised.
Sighing, she took a few steps back to increase the distance between them before standing upright. She wasn't Sol. Even though she believed in Milia, aside from Sol she would never give her back to anyone she deemed threatening. Being betrayed once was enough.
"I don't know what happened and frankly, I don't want to know. But if you don't inform Sol about that. Then I will."
"Inform me about what?"
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