Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 2037: Properly Established

"Hubby..."

Vex came in from the hall, with Orianna and Raika following behind her. Her white hair lay loose over a soft red dress, and the smile she wore as she approached him was full of trouble.

"Our daughter walks all over you whenever she feels like it."

Quinlan raised a finger to his lips, looking pointedly at Vex.

The witch giggled.

"You may silence your wife, but she speaks the truth nonetheless~"

At the kitchen doorway, Nessa stopped with the tea tray in her hands.

The three adventurers were staring at Black.

"You’re a father?!" Tavi blurted.

"You have a daughter?" Brena asked, while Della looked from him to Vex in astonishment.

"A daughter, sir...?" Nessa echoed.

Quinlan couldn’t help smiling at the thought of his little girl.

"Yes. I’m the proud father of a wonderful little lady."

"Where is she?" Della asked.

"Back home for now. Maybe I’ll bring her over later."

The casualness in his voice left the visitors smiling helplessly at him. Along the table, his wives kept their smirks to themselves.

Rosie’s roots already spread beneath the whole of Iskaris. When her father was ’ready to bring her over’, it wouldn’t be a jovial visit but the start of his true invasion, extending her roots through Avaranth’s soil.

Nessa remembered the tray and carried it to the table while Vex slipped her arms around her husband’s neck.

"I’d like that," she murmured. "I miss her."

"So do I."

His hand settled at her waist, and Vex rose onto her toes as he bent to meet her. She kissed him softly, smiling against his mouth when he drew her closer.

"You look lovely."

"Do you like my dress? It’s locally made; I bought it from a friendly seamstress."

"I... Yeah." He was struggling to find the right words, prompting a joyful smile from the white-haired beauty.

She smoothed a hand over his chest, pleased enough by the answer to kiss him again. Quinlan lingered with her, enjoying the warmth of his wife in his arms while she hummed against his lips.

His hands slipped down to cup her ass.

"Ahem."

Alexios was watching him from across the table.

"You shameless bastard. My daughter is sitting right here. You’ll corrupt her."

Still holding Vex, Quinlan glanced at Felicity.

"Your daughter is about as innocent as a convicted murderer."

"????" The girl’s eyes widened, then she slapped both palms onto the table and sprang to her feet.

"ADVENTURER BLACK!!!"

Her voice filled the dining room.

"You’re forbidden from ruining my perfectly innocent maiden image in front of my father, understood?!"

"Your what image?" Feng asked.

Felicity turned a murderous glare on her best friend. "Jiai."

"Hi." Feng waved back, smiling pleasantly while laughter broke out around the table.

With a furious little huff, the young queen dropped into her chair.

"Father, don’t believe him for a single second! Your loving daughter is as innocent as a newborn babe!"

Alexios looked at his daughter with such profound exhaustion that he seemed ready to enter the afterlife.

" I preferred it when you were eating."

...

While Nessa poured the tea, Quinlan settled on a cushioned bench beside the dining-room windows.

Ayame stopped in front of him with a plate balanced on her palm. She offered him a pastry, then pulled it back when he reached for it.

"Won’t you let me feed you, husband?"

He obediently opened his mouth.

"Good boy~ Today you haven’t caused any issues... yet."

Across the room, Tavi watched him take a bite from the samurai’s fingers. Brena said something into her ear, receiving a wounded look in return.

Quinlan chuckled around his mouthful.

"Enjoying yourself?" Ayame asked, receiving a nod in return.

"It’s fun being here. I like Sarthal and its people. Even if that scaled lunatic soured the experience a bit, overall, I’m happy with our honeymoon thus far."

He slipped an arm around her waist as she sat on his thigh, balancing the plate on her lap. From here, he could watch his women enjoying the house they’d chosen together, with their new friends at the table and the travelers they’d brought from Iskaris finally able to relax among them.

Felicity’s laughter rose from the table. Whatever story she was telling had Feng trying to interrupt and Della struggling to swallow her tea before she laughed too.

His home sounded right already.

Lucille came in from the kitchen with a platter of sliced meat, accompanied by Nessa carrying the bread.

Quinlan watched the maid help arrange the food, pleased by how readily she was settling in. And best of all, anyone asking about his new employee could trace her back to the inn.

The trio’s visits served a purpose too. They’d witnessed Black helping Alexios’s group recover the girls and could explain why those travelers were now staying in his home. To anyone watching, friendships were developing between those who’d met on an expedition, risking their lives together.

As Alexios and his group were migrating to Sarthal, it would not be strange to house them in his large mansion for the time being.

And just like that, Quinlan brought over more than a dozen extra people and had them join him without gathering further suspicion.

But he also enjoyed having the yapper trio here; they were fun. At least for an hour or two. Then they might be too much.

As for Emily and the other maids, they would remain in Iskaris for now. He could arrange their arrival later, once he had a way to introduce them without making a household’s worth of unfamiliar servants appear inside a watched mansion out of nowhere, hence their lonely servant.

Nessa tucked the empty serving tray under her arm and turned toward the kitchen, only for Lucille to hold out a croissant.

"Would you like one?"

"Thank you, my lady, but I shouldn’t eat while serving the guests. There’s still work to-"

"Oops~"

Lucille tucked one end of the croissant between the maid’s parted lips.

"Mmph!"

Nessa caught the pastry in her free hand. Her cheeks flushed as she narrowed her eyes at the woman smiling so innocently before her.

"Aww. Now we can’t eat that," Lucille lamented.

The maid tried to maintain her reproachful look while chewing. Unfortunately, the pastry was warm, buttery, and very difficult to resent.

She turned toward the kitchen with the tray still under her arm, taking another bite as she walked. By the time she reached the doorway, Nessa was munching her croissant with the happiest of smiles.

...

The meal stretched into the evening. When the plates were cleared, Brena asked Aurora about the herbs, and the alchemist offered to show her the beds.

Della followed Brena and Aurora into the garden, while Tavi stayed with the younger girls, listening to Felicity’s increasingly elaborate account of how annoying Feng could be.

Feng supplied examples of her own.

Later, Quinlan accompanied the three adventurers to the front gate, where they were still laughing about the argument.

"Thank you for having us," Della said.

"You helped make it a good evening."

"We only brought a teapot."

"And good company," Black added. "Let us not forget that."

Tavi caught Brena’s arm.

"Did you hear what he just said or was my mind playing tricks on me?"

"Yes," Brena whispered.

"That’s not an answer, woman! Which is it?!"

"I don’t know!!"

Della looked ready to fall over, her knees shaking.

With the departure of their lovely cover story trio, it was time for the invading forces of Iskaris to assemble for a serious discussion.