Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1313  Gratitude

Quinlan finally shifted his focus to Ria.

She stood a few steps away, caught between awe and visible thrill. Her eyes glimmered with a shine that didn't belong in a place filled with blood, gore, and misery. He already knew her name. Rosie had been tailing the group and sending reports. Thus, he knew of her existence for a long time now - or, well, technically, he did not, as he was busy recovering in hibernation after the creation of Synchra drained him.

Thus, it was Ayame and the rest who got those reports; Quinlan only caught up once he woke and skimmed Rosie's findings. But that was neither here nor there. What mattered was that he'd heard of Ria before she ever saw him. As for her part in their little gang, he had agreed with Iris's choice. A skilled assassin with a temperament that matched the group's pace was useful. And, yes, he had also been told that Ria admired him. What he had not been told was the scale of it, which was painted clearly across her face right now.

He couldn't help but wonder if his cheeky daughter and lovers deliberately skimmed over it as 'yeah, by the way, she idolizes you a bit,' so that he would be surprised when he saw those throbbing hearts that stared back at him after witnessing his violent retribution against the pair of guards.

Well, as for how first impressions went… Quinlan didn't know what to think of a girl who got so animated upon witnessing the brutality he committed.

'… Eh.' he shrugged mentally. It wasn't like he was surrounded by sane women to begin with.

Then, a grin touched his lips as he looked at the woman in the eyes. He raised his hand and cast [Warp Gate]. A ripple formed in front of him, smooth and silent. He stepped into the distortion and appeared behind her.

"Kya?!" Ria jumped with a startled squeak.

However, he angled the portal so that he stepped out with his back toward her.

Quinlan did not turn toward her immediately. Instead, his attention drifted to the four girls in the center of the cell. Lyra, Iris, Feng, and Felicity sat close, huddled together, unmoving. They watched him as if the room had narrowed to only this moment. Magical torches crackled in the distance, accompanied by the loud echoes of fighting, yet none of them reacted to any of the noise. Their focus sat squarely on him.

He met their gazes one by one. Lyra's fingers tightened. Felicity's chin trembled. Feng's eyes glistened. Iris held her posture straight.

Quinlan's expression warmed at the sight of these four miscreants. He gave them a wink.

And just as he did that, the system prompt landed in their minds with a loud ding.

[The Primordial Subjugator wishes to Subjugate you! Do you accept?]

[The Primordial Subjugator wishes to Subjugate you! Do you accept?]

[The Primordial Subjugator wishes to Subjugate you! Do you accept?]

[The Primordial Subjugator wishes to Subjugate you! Do you accept?]

None of them moved. Their chests rose sharply, as if they had been holding their breath without noticing.

But it didn't even take them a moment's consideration to come to a decision. Instinctively, as if it wasn't even a move they should think about…

Four confirmations echoed in Quinlan's mind.

[You have Subjugated Lyra!]

[You have Subjugated Iris Ravenclaw!]

[You have Subjugated Feng Jiai!]

[You have Subjugated Felicity Primrose Amabelle Valorian!]

These were the same links they had once cut away, the same ties whose absence had pushed them into capture. Now the connection settled again in their very souls, feeling steady and warm. Their hearts, having been in an extreme state of disarray for the last couple of hours, calmed suddenly, inexplicably.

The mark of his [Subjugation], his slave spell, granted these four women and girls an extreme sense of safety and belonging that they hadn't even known existed to this degree until this second.

Quinlan's smile remained on them for a bit before his smile turned into a playful grin as he finally turned toward Ria.

She didn't know a thing about what had just happened. The spell he cast had no incantation, no finger gestures, no mana signature. As a result, all she saw was a man who should have been in Greenvale now standing inside a moving fortress on the border of Ravenshade and Elvardia.

Her brows pulled together. Confusion pushed through her excitement, and then a memory clicked. His earlier words - spoken with a primordial fury the blonde had never experienced in her entire life - repeated in her mind.

"My women?!"

"My girls?!"

Ria's thoughts stuttered. Admiration was one thing. Delusion was another. She was quite the rational girl in general, having a good head on her shoulders. So, naturally, she wasn't foolish enough to think she belonged in either of those categories. How could she? They had never exchanged a single word until today.

Ria forced her thoughts to settle and glanced toward the four women who had been traveling with her for two months, sensing that something was going on there.

Or rather, she tried to glance toward them.

Quinlan's frame blocked all four completely. Broad shoulders. Tall stance. And for some odd reason, the girl did not want to step around him. She didn't understand it herself… As such, she ended up shifting left, then right, then leaning a little to the side as if that might help. Her face gave away every tiny attempt.

Quinlan noticed, of course, and the corner of his mouth tugged upward. She was a very expressive girl, not just with her eyes or facial expressions, but her whole body…

He found her rather cute in this moment, though he did wonder how effective she might be at her job. But then he realized his own blonde assassin was as expressive as one could be, and Blossom was a true professional when she was at work.

Ria's track record also suggested that she was a serious woman who could be trusted with important tasks.

So he moved on.

"Thank you," Quinlan said.

She jerked. Her whole body twitched from the surprise, and she snapped her head up to look at him.

He was tall. Taller than she expected. She had seen sketches and knew his expected height, but none prepared her for needing to crane her neck at such an angle. Ria was around Ayame's height, compact, quick, meant for shadows. He was the opposite.

"Th-Thank me?" she asked timidly.

"Yes. For keeping my companions safe."

Her mouth fell open. No sound came out at first, and to her embarrassment, she started making mouth motions as if she were a fish on land, closing and opening her lips over and over again.

"I-I knew something was off about them!!" she rushed out after deciding enough was enough. This was the moment of her dreams; it was time to stop bringing shame on her entire bloodline. "They looked too mysterious… especially Nulle. There was something very strange about her. I didn't pry, but-"

She made another attempt to peek past him at the purple-haired girl on the floor with eyes full of disdain. She couldn't believe what her teammates were hiding from her!

She failed to look at the girl again. He did not move an inch.

Quinlan let out a low hum. "Nulle?" Then it clicked. "Ah. You mean Felicity Primrose Amabelle Valorian, Third Princess of the Vraven Kingdom, daughter of King Alexios Valorian and Queen Morgana Ravenshade?"

Ria froze.

Her eyes widened.

Her mouth opened.

Then…

"W-W-W-W-W-W-WHAT?!"

It came out loud and sharp, echoing off the stone. She slapped her hands over her mouth, stared up at him, then dropped them again in disbelief.

"Why is she… No, how is she with you?!"

Indeed, a royal princess and the most wanted criminal… They were a strange duo.

Quinlan shrugged and smirked. "Well. If you were to ask the king, I may have kidnapped her. In reality, she just escaped home because her mother is a nasty bitch."

Ria's brain shut down for a moment.

Before she could process what she truly heard, movement stirred behind him. The four captives finally pushed themselves up from the ground. Their legs were stiff, their hands still bound, but they moved.

Felicity was the first to rush forward.

If rushing could still be called rushing when her arms were tied behind her back and her legs felt as if they were made of noodles. She leaned her body into Quinlan, helmet pressing awkwardly against his chest, trying to hug him anyway.

Ria blinked. Hard.

Quinlan reached out, letting his fingers brush the latches of Felicity's helmet. He lifted it off gently.

Soft purple hair spilled out. Her face came into view. Young, delicate, shaken yet weirdly regal even now.

And most importantly… Unmistakable. Ria had seen that face before, painted with elegant colors, framed with titles and speeches and diplomatic notices.

There was no mistaking it.

The girl pressed against Quinlan was the princess.