RISE OF EROS

Ignorant of this matter, Andrew and Candice finished their conversation and she and her loyal subordinates left. During the return trip, none of them asked Candice what she had discussed with Andrew, as they knew that their boss would tell them everything in due time.

As they suspected, once they arrived at Candice's office, she asked them to sit down and began to tell them everything they had discussed. Obviously, Candice left out the details about Andrew's identity, abilities, and plans, she only told them about moving and some changes they would be making in the running of their business.

Erick and Vala would continue their training at Marquis Valoid's mansion, while Gaston and Candice would handle business as usual during the day, and at night Candice would return to the Heavenly Palace.

Vala also told them everything she had discussed with Carolina and the other girls, which surprised everyone in the same way she was surprised because they had a similar view of harems as she had before she met Andrew's harem.

Candice for her part, was not surprised because she knew more about Andrew, so she understood the reason why his wives acted so friendly about her joining the harem.

While they were talking, at the Heavenly Palace Andrew also told his trusted staff about what had happened with Candice. Once he had reported on that, he moved on to the next topic.

"While you were gone, two men entered the establishment pretending to be customers, but they tried to sneak behind the dance room, so I ejected them," Andrew said in a serious tone.

"Any peculiarities?" asked Oliver immediately adopting a serious attitude and Andrew replied, "I didn't really notice anything, but their auras seemed powerful, almost Castor level."

This worried Oliver and Castor a bit, but since they didn't know these men they couldn't draw any conclusions, they just could reinforce security measures and be vigilant from now on.

The meeting did not take long and everyone returned to their activities. Andrew and his wives remained in the office and they told him about what they had learned about Candice from Vara and Andrew was interested.

The evening passed without much trouble and the Heavenly Palace closed its doors and everyone went to rest. Andrew amused himself and his wives in the room because Candice had left him unsatisfied, so they paid the price.

The next morning, they were up early, and after breakfast began their daily activities. Meanwhile, Teresa had arrived at Candice's store with the objective of finding out what had happened the night before in detail and verifying that Candice was well.

Candice was expecting a move from the Marquis, but she did not expect Teresa to visit her, much less so early in the morning. Gaston greeted her in a very formal manner and guided her to Candice's office, where she was already waiting.

"I really didn't think it would be you visiting me so early. It looks like the Marquis is anxious," Candice said looking at Teresa in a jocular manner and Teresa smiling replied, "Well, your move was no small one."

Candice laughed and invited her to sit down. After pouring them some tea, Gaston left them alone and the girls began to talk. "Tell me, what the hell is going on?" asked Teresa immediately, without touching the tea.

"Well, it's a little complex, but by simplifying it, Andrew became my husband," said Candice a little embarrassed, as she took a sip of tea, to calm her embarrassment.

Teresa was paralyzed and open-mouthed at the bombshell her friend had dropped and anxiously began to ask, "How did that happen?" to which Candice responded even redder, "It just happened. Don't ask silly questions."

Although Candice wanted to deflect the conversation, Teresa wouldn't let her and continued to press, so Candice had no choice but to tell her everything that happened in great detail.

Obviously, she didn't mention anything about Andrew's secret, she only told how she had fallen in love and what had happened the night before. Teresa was stunned, seeing her friend who always disdained relationships, look like a young girl in love.

She really wanted to tease her, but she knew Candice would be very upset with her if she pressed, so she decided not to do it at that moment and concentrated on asking about her situation now that she was Andrew's wife.

Candice didn't keep anything from her. She told her that she would be moving to the Heavenly Palace, but that she would be working daytime in her store as usual and that her business wouldn't change, so she shouldn't worry about that.

However, Teresa was more concerned about the fact that Andrew was considered a risk factor at the moment, so she thought her friend might suffer for it, but Candice assured her that Andrew, had no bad intentions and that she would be the first to tell on her if he strayed.

Although Teresa trusted her friend, seeing how she acted now that she was Andrew's wife, she could not believe her. It was clear to Teresa that Candice would rather take Andrew's side than the Empire's, which pained her because now, she too would be labeled as a risk factor.

She had known Candice for a long time and did not want their friendship to be fragmented by this, but she also did not have the courage to truncate her happiness, so she limited herself to warn her of the consequences of their new relationship.

Candice is a smart woman, so she already knew this would happen, but she was still happy that Teresa reminded her, because it showed that she still considered her a friend, even though she could be a threat to the empire.

Obviously, Candice knew that neither she nor Andrew intended to harm the empire, but the empire did not see it that way, however, they were confident that the misunderstanding would eventually be resolved.

Teresa left Candice's store and returned to the mansion where she reported everything to her husband, who was also surprised to hear the news. Donald kept nothing from his wife and made it clear that he would have to keep a close eye on Candice from now on and Teresa understood.

While all these conversations were going on, great events were happening in Tripia's kingdom. Demon began to do his plans and made his move, which was no small one.

Belenio was waiting in the boardroom of his castle for his ministers to discuss plans to destabilize the Cannaris empire, but he had been waiting for a while and only one of them had shown up.

Just as he was beginning to grow impatient, the door to his office opened abruptly and a pale-faced soldier knelt down and reported immediately, unconcerned about the king's discomfort, "My king, Minister Kanda was assassinated."

The news stunned Belenio and the minister accompanying him and before he could ask for details, another soldier entered with an expression no better than the soldier who had just reported Minister Kanda's death.

Noticing the second soldier's expression, Belenio had a bad feeling and it came true when the soldier opened his mouth, "My king Minister Bursas was killed."

Belenio and Minister Rima who was present were pale at the news, for one minister killed was one thing, but two was a catastrophe and before they could finish processing the reports, another soldier entered saying, "My king Minister Palut was killed."

As if a bomb had been dropped in the middle of the room, the silence was sepulchral. Belenio and Rima could not believe their ears. They did not understand how 3 highly protected ministers were killed in one night.

Like any important personage in the kingdom of Tripia and in any kingdom, they had experts protecting them, so not just anyone would be able to accomplish such a feat.

What they did not know was that Demon's men had been watching the movements of these men for some time and when they were sure they could carry out the coup they attacked.

Actually, they were not the ones who assassinated the ministers. Their mission was to gather information. Besides, they did not have the strength to evade the experts protecting them and carry out the assassination, but Demon was another matter.

Within the realm of Tripia, only the most powerful guardian and expert protecting Belenio, there was no one who could stop him, so Demon used his skills to the fullest and assassinated the three ministers with his own hands.

He was upset by the actions of the kingdom of Tripia in attacking the beastmen and elves, so he took action personally, and because of that the kingdom of Tripia lost 3 of its 5 most important members.

In fact, the minister Rima had been spared his death because he had spent the night as a guest in the castle and Demon could not infiltrate there, otherwise, he too would be dead.

When Belenio and Rima were on the verge of collapse over the news of the assassination of the three ministers, another soldier came in and practically shouted, "My king the food stores in the north and west sector were attacked and are on fire."

That was the last straw. Belenio and Rima were about to lose consciousness when an old man appeared in the middle of the office and with a calm voice said, "My king, you must protect the other warehouses, this is not the time to lose your cool."

This old man is the protector of the kingdom of Tripia, Dulma. Like Arturios and Demon in the empire of Cannaris, Dulma had protected the kingdom of Tripia for over a hundred years and his strength was not to be underestimated, so when Belenio heard him, he regained his calm and issued his orders, "Reinforce the warehouses and find the attackers."

The soldiers who had come to report immediately left to carry out the orders of Belenio and when they had left, Dulma spoke again, "My king, I warned you against provoking the empire of Cannaris and now these are the consequences."