Ryu lost track of time. He seemed to have forgotten that he had plans to breakthrough into the Cosmic Seed Realm and potentially even attempt to finish his first Life Destruction, but it seemed that there was also a bit of a price to be paid for his newfound carefreeness.
He found that being able to embrace Eska was quite a wonderful feeling. She was a woman in every sense of the word, and there wasn't the slightest bit of imperfection in her. Ryu had called Mae's newfound master the perfect woman, but he had never said that she was the only one he knew. In fact, one such perfect woman had her legs and arms wrapped around him right this moment, riding the waves of his lust.
When he had finally vented all the emotions in his heart, Ryu looked deeply into Eska's eyes. Though they were a bit hazy, they still carried the same loftiness, as though she could exit this room right this moment and be well prepared to lead a nation into war. It was the kind of look that almost made him drift away again, but this time he managed to control himself.
"Lord Husband... You are... Very different from what I remember," Eska uttered softly, her voice akin to orchids gently waving in the wind.
Ryu smiled, but this only surprised Eska more. Ryu had never smiled at her before. In fact, whenever they embraced one another like this, the both of them were quite cold and detached. One would have never guessed that they were husband and concubine, and some might even make the assumption that Eska was some sort of escort. Though, of course, this idea would be thrown out the moment they saw her beauty and elegance. Such a woman could play any man she wanted to in the palm of her hands, why would she have to sell her body, when a King might very well sell his Kingdom if he thought he had a chance to just touch her once?
"Do you prefer the old me?" Ryu asked.
Eska paused, not answering immediately. She looked at Ryu with a deep gaze, as though trying to see through something. But even after several moments, she didn't have an answer. Just when Ryu thought that she wouldn't answer at all, her faintly pink lips, akin to the first blossom of her Immortal Sakura, parted.
"Yes", she said lightly.
Another man might be hurt by such a word, but Ryu only smiled more boldly. He seemed to feel that Eska had something more to say, and that he was very much correct about.
"It was much easier for me to separate things before. Now, it's not so easy."
Ryu suddenly laughed. "Does that mean that the mighty Immortal Sakura Sky God is falling for a junior like me?"
Surprisingly, Eska blushed slightly, looking away. Ryu had never seen such a look from this stoic and well kept woman. But he felt that maybe it made sense.
Just because he, himself, had a great love for women with arrogant bearings and Empress-like demeanors, didn't mean that Eska liked the same in her male counterparts. She very well might like this version of Ryu far more than any other.
At the same time, though, Ryu had to be open and honest with himself. If such a thing could happen in one direction, then it could very well happen in the opposite too. Ailsa was his Life Partner, so there was no need to worry. Elena and Yaana, however... they had fallen in love with a very particular version of himself. He pondered if those feelings would still be the same.
Ryu's grin faded into a light smile. If there was one thing that hadn't changed about him, it was his arrogance and his confidence. So what if they felt differently? Didn't that just mean he had to court them again?
He coughed slightly when he had this thought. The last time he had tried to court a woman... well, Elena's Ceremony had been quite a wake up call for Ryu, who was quite used to women just falling into his lap.
'There's always room to learn,' Ryu thought and nodded to himself. He would definitely refine his skills in time for his wives.
Eska recovered from her blush and almost flushed again. When had she ever had such a reaction before, she couldn't remember. How ridiculous, she was better than this.
Ryu rolled to Eska's side and pulled her into his arms. She was a bit startled, but she settled into his chest quite naturally, happy to be able to hide her face, her heart beating rapidly. It was hard to believe that such a thing was actually happening to her, but she managed to more quickly recover her composure this time.
"Lord Husband, there are still important matters to talk about."
After saying this, Eska returned to her natural element. Indeed, she had been about to say something important, but then Ryu kissed her and hours flashed by in a flash.
She hadn't gotten to say what she wanted to.
"Right, you were saying something important," Ryu nodded, his expression becoming
more serious.
"Is this matter truly resolved? It's a bit..." Eska hesitated. "Originally, my and Isemeine's plans were to be captured and brought to the Ninth Heaven. During the trip, we would find a chance to slip away because making it across the divide is a bit difficult without a lot of resources. But now..."
"Ah, so Isemeine wasn't actually talking nonsense. You allowed yourselves to be captured." Ryu nodded.
"Yes, mostly. The inheritance that we received makes us quite good at escaping, and we also gain great benefits for being of one body. We can currently, quite confidently, escape from even Dao Lords. But if we have protection from your Ancestor.."
Ryu shook his head. "Don't rely on him. He is only protecting me for 10 years to close the Karma between us and ease his bottleneck into the Dao God Realm. Even if he knows you are my woman, he won't lift a finger to help you."
Eska's gaze flashed with understanding. This explained quite a lot, it was no wonder the Tatsuya Clan of Sacrum had landed in such a sorry state, their Ancestors didn't care to defend them.
