I end the phone call with the Japanese Prime Minister and collapse in the chair. There's something deeply crushing and frustrating about not being able to do anything. Erik and Gotrid are caressing my wings, comforting me that there's nothing I can do. But I can't help feeling I should be able to do something.
"You're doing it again," Erik frowns. "You're putting all responsibility on your frail shoulders."
"I can at least try reaching out to local Celestials?" I suggest eagerly.
"It's too late for that," Gotrid shakes his head. "They either feel it because they're in the vicinity so they're heading there as we speak or they are too far away to intervene."
It's hard to describe how I feel right now. New York was the first, I didn't have time to think about it when we went to the battle. Greece and Korea were over quickly and it happened when I was sleeping. Prague was a personal thing, it's my home. But Japan is my birthplace, it's also a personal thing.
"We were too slow establishing battle units," I regret.
"No, we weren't," Erik strongly disagrees. "These attacks started just a few days ago. I know it feels much longer but it's been barely a week."
I shiver when the Prime Minister sends us the live video stream from one of the police drones that are monitoring the situation. Local Draconians showed up after all but it's obvious they lack a commander. Their attack patterns are chaotic and they don't cooperate effectively. At least there's no tripoderra but two heligorrs and at least two dozen filandras are giving them a hard time.
"I can't watch it," I bury my face in Gotrid's wing because one Clawfang gets badly injured by a heligorr's claw.
"More Draconians are arriving," Gotrid comforts me. "There are many high-level players in Tokyo, they'll be fine."
"But why Japan right after Prague?" I shake my head. "It can't be a coincidence. Is my father sending me a message or something?"
"We still don't know if he's responsible for these rifts opening," Erik reminds me. "There's no technology to do that."
"There wasn't technology for transforming millions of players into fantasy races either," I oppose.
We continue watching the streaming but it's unnerving to observe. If I was there, the battle would be over already. Instead, the first heligorr goes down after hellishly long thirty minutes and many Draconians got injured in the process. The second heligorr takes even longer because filandras started going after humans so local Draconians had to divide their forces.
"See? They could do it," Erik celebrates when all the monsters are finally eradicated.
They could, fortunately, but I'm afraid the price for that was too high. There will be many casualties—humans and Draconians alike. Unless we seriously level up and get organised, these attacks will get out of control. And what if stronger monsters start appearing as well? Heligorrs and tripoderras were only low-level monsters in the game. Not even I could defeat a manticore with my current level.
"We have to...," I get up from the chair but the moment I straighten, my head spins. I wobble but Erik and Gotrid hurry and catch me in time so I don't end up on the floor.
"Love, you're exhausted," Gotrid is worried. "You shared too much mana with me."
"I'm okay, just tired and hungry," I murmur wearily.
"Why didn't you say something?" Erik sighs.
"Give me a sandwich and I'll be fine," I wave my head. "With Liana out of the picture, I have to..."
"You're going to bed, Your Majesty," Luviael speaks up and purses her lips similarly to Liana. It seems she learned more than politics and administration from her mentor.
"Nonsense, there's too much stuff to..."
But Vermiel is already telling the guards to open the door for me while Luviael calls Taranah to help her out. Gotrid smirks and takes me into his arms, using all the necessary force because I struggle with him.
"It's no use," Erik chuckles and helps carry my wings. "The Emperor needs to rest and that's final. You know you have to listen to us in these things, love."
"Your Majesty, put your trust in us," Luviael pleads. "Your doctor is right, we can't keep overworking you like this. A functional government can't stand on two people alone. We'll do our best until newly appointed ministers arrive and we establish proper departments."
"You heard her, they'll take care of it," Gotrid says impatiently. "You would only worry, worry, worry even though there's nothing you can do about Japan right now."
We cross the corridor and the guards have to constantly assure the onlookers that I'm just tired so that there's no panic erupting. I usually love being held by my partners, I just don't like having so many witnesses.
"Seriously?" the maids get angry the moment they see us entering our apartment. "Why didn't you come right after the battle? We were waiting for you, we had food prepared."
"There's been an emergency," I explain quickly because nothing good ever comes from angering my maids. "Didn't you hear about Tokyo?"
"We did. So?" Ayala clicks her tongue. "Let your subordinates take care of it."
"See?" Erik winks at me. "Things are slowly changing, they realised you can't be expected to deal with everything that comes up on your own."
"You did the maximum you could today, hon," Gotrid says, putting me on the sofa in our living room. "Now's the time to rest. You deserved it."
"I have an idea," Erik murmurs more to himself than to us and runs off somewhere.
Gotrid raises his eyebrow but he takes it as an opportunity to cuddle with me privately. To be honest, I'm not in the mood for cuddling right now. I can't stop thinking about how many people died in Tokyo during the attack and the potential consequences. Gotrid is considerate of that and changes his efforts to petting my wings. That's always pleasant for a Celestial no matter what.
"Love, don't fall asleep yet," he has to tickle me when he notices that my eyes are closing. "I know you're tired but you have to eat something before we let you sleep."
"Let's... leave it... for breakfast," I yawn.
"Aefener," Gotrid whispers into my ear which makes all my feathers stand up. He rarely uses my name so it's much more precious. I open my eyes again only to find him leaning over me, preparing for a kiss.
"Dinner is ready, Your Majesty!" Ayala interrupts us at the worst possible moment. Gotrid looks at her with a killing intent but she only grins and leaves the door open.
Erik is waiting for us in the dining room and I finally understand why he left so strangely. The light in the room is dimmed and there are candles on the table. If he wanted to create a romantic atmosphere in just a few minutes, he certainly succeeded.
"And the bath will be ready by the time you finish eating," Cien reports proudly.
"Oh, the bath?!" my eyes sparkle. So far, I only took a quick shower in our new bathroom but the jacuzzi was there, hard not to notice.
"But dinner is a priority," Cien says. "Please, eat as much as you can, Your Majesty."
I nod but I'm a bit apprehensive hearing that, to be honest. It's not that I don't like eating, I just don't like eating certain kinds of food and I absolutely hate overstuffing myself. But when Ayala takes off the lid with a huge smile, she reveals a dish I could eat anytime and in huge quantities (huge for me, at least).
"A pizza!" I celebrate and smell it. It's heavenly.
"Baked freshly in the skyscraper," Ayala smiles. "Her Excellency wanted to make a surprise for you, she bought a pizza oven for the kitchens."
"This is really the best!" I appreciate it and take a slice immediately. For a moment, I forget all my worries and just gobble.
"Enjoy, love," Erik bites into his own ham pizza. Gotrid and I got a cheese one as only Erik can digest meat.
I manage to finish the whole pizza and even take small a bowl of salad. I'm very full but not totally stuffed so I still feel fine.
"We should have a romantic evening more often," Erik comments after the plates are cleared and we get a glass of wine. "Let's make it a weekly thing, not a rare occurrence."
"Agreed," Gotrid seconds and, for once, they agree with each other.
I notice that while Erik got his glass full, Gotrid and I received barely a half. Even in the evening during leisure time Celestials stay away from alcohol. Not that I'm complaining, half a glass is quite enough for me. An intoxicated caster could be very dangerous and my alcohol tolerance was very low, to begin with.
"Now's my turn," Erik gets up quickly and before I can do anything, he takes me into his arms.
I have to ostentatiously roll my eyes. I just got a little dizzy because I should have eaten something the moment we returned from the battle. I've just eaten a ton so I feel much better already, yet I'm still considered to be incapable of walking on my own.
"Erik, I slayed a huge spider-like monster today," I remind him.
"So...?" he tilts his head and is chuckling.
"Forget it," I sigh resignedly and let myself be carried to the bathroom.
It turns out the lights are dimmed even here and the bathtub is clad with candles. Romantic! I've never tried a jacuzzi before so this is my first. But I don't care about what it can do, I just want to comfortably fit inside and properly wash my wings.
Gotrid and Erik spend quite a long time undressing me, savouring each layer. Then I finally jump inside and it's pure heaven. The bathtub is big enough for a Celestial! Well, maybe not for long because my partners follow me, of course. Suddenly, I feel a bit cramped again. But it's a good kind of cramped since I'm squeezing between my beloved.
"Foam?" Gotrid passes me a bottle.
"Oh, please!" I grab it and apply a ton of the product into the water. "This is so nice!" I start putting the foam on my feathers and massaging my wings.
"Let me, hon," Erik moves behind me and takes over the massage. Gotrid quickly joins as well so they both have one wing to take care of.
"Did I get two partners exactly for that? Maybe I did," I joke, thoroughly enjoying the procedure and, for a moment, I forget about the world.
We spend the evening cuddling in the bath, then continue doing so in our bedroom. With my stomach pleasantly full and my wings nicely clean, tiredness went away momentarily so I'm up to some bed adventures.