Thirteen and Princess Aracelle were now on the couch. The young man was seated, while the lady was laying down, using his lap as her pillow. She was currently asleep, perhaps tired from crying so much. Despite her peaceful appearance, her eyes were swollen, and there were still tears on her face, which the teenage boy had wiped her tears away. There was also a faint dark circle under her eyes, which was likely because she struggled to sleep after seeing Prince Zorren's tragic fate that closely resembled hers. In order to not wake her up, he had put his communicator into silent mode, which prompted it to only vibrate when a message, or a call connected with his number. And at that moment, his communicator was vibrating non-stop. The contact attempts were all from Princess Laventia, who was asking him the time and place for their meeting where she would "lend" her Nightkiss Moth to Zion to compensate him for the recent conflict between them. Thirteen tapped his communicator and replied to her message, replying they could meet on the same day he would return Prince Zorren to the Skavari Race. Princess Laventia readily agreed because she also wanted to see the Prince, who had suffered terribly in Zion's hands. Sherry had also returned to the room when he said it was fine for her to return to his side. Seeing that Princess Aracelle was sleeping peacefully on his lap, she understood that her lover somehow managed to calm her down. She then sat beside her lover and rested her head on his shoulder. Thirteen wrapped his hand around her waist and gave her forehead a kiss. "Are the soldiers training properly and not slacking?" Thirteen inquired. "Yes," Sherry replied. "They are training properly." "How about Vincent and Penny? I asked Cristopher to make them do squats for an hour." "They're still doing squats, but they both look quite aggrieved. It's pretty interesting to look at their faces." Thirteen smirked because he was punishing the two for the complaints he was getting from the Commanders of the other Battalions. The two troublemakers were always trying to get under the skirts of the lady soldiers, which made their comrades envious, jealous, and furious. Vincent and Penny were exceptionally handsome guys. They were mobile pheromone-spraying creatures, who could easily make even the most seasoned lady soldiers fall for their charms. However, within the 69th Battalion, there was an anomaly. Ms. Emma Gency was completely immune to them, making the two guys very frustrated. As for Siri and Stella, who were also exceptional beauties in their own right, the pair of troublemakers simply didn't dare to target them. For some reason, their primal instincts were telling them that they should never set their sights on them, or else, it might lead to their happiness getting chopped off completely. Suddenly, Thirteen's communicator vibrated once more. When he saw the caller was Cristopher, he knew that this was something very important. "Yes?" Thirteen asked as soon as the lines had connected. "Aaron Ashford has arrived at the Headquarters of the Griffin Clan with Norman Stallard," Cristopher reported. Thirteen nodded to acknowledge Cristopher's report. "Anything else?" "Shasha had secretly asked me if she and Mikhail could come here to join the 69th Battalion during the duration of the war against the Jinns," Cristopher added. Thirteen pondered a bit before nodding his head a second time. "Tell them they can come. But why didn't she ask me directly?" "She's worried she might disturb you since you're always busy," Cristopher replied. "I will now reply to her message and tell her she can come here with Mikhail." After ending the call, Sherry looked very happy that her sister-in-law, whom she admired very much, was going to come earlier than she expected. For most ladies of the current generation, Shasha Leventis was their idol. In fact, her popularity was now equivalent to Shana's and Erica's, who used to be considered the most popular young ladies in the world of Pangea. There was even a secret poll set up online, where millions of young men had posted their own beauty rankings in a website Thirteen made in his spare time. And to his surprise, Shasha's name was actually at the top of the list, followed closely by Shana and Erica. However, since he didn't want his sister to be in the limelight, he placed Shana on the number one spot, Erica on the second, and Shasha on the third. No one suspected anything since Shana and Erica were indeed very popular. The mere fact that Shasha was in third place was enough to secure her title as one of the most beautiful and most talented Wanderer in the current generation. Sherry was even her self-proclaimed number one fan. Feeling that her soon to be sister-in-law was very cute, Shasha requested for Zion to make a fan card for fun and asked that he give the Top 1 Fan card to Sherry. Since he had already created a bunch of cards, Thirteen decided to put them to good use and put them into auction. He didn't expect that the single digit cards that Shasha had officially recognized as the top numbers of her Fan Club would start a bidding war that raised its value in the tens of millions. In the end, Thirteen gave half of the auction's earnings to his sister and kept the rest to fund his projects. "You really like Shasha, huh?" Thirteen said with a smile. "I do." Sherry nodded. "Then, who do you like more?" Thirteen smirked. "Me or her." "… Meanie." Sherry immediately pouted, making the smile on the teenage boy's face widen. Just as he was about to apologize for bullying her, his communicator once again vibrated. This time, it was Colbert who contacted him. "Sir, the bishops of the Church of Destruction have finally made contact with 'him'," Colbert reported. "Took them long enough. So, when and where?" "They are still waiting for the Archbishop to make a decision." Thirteen nodded. "Keep me updated. Those fanatics are a rowdy bunch." Colbert nodded in agreement because the Church of Destruction was indeed a pain in the bum. However, since this was a task that Thirteen had assigned to him and Cristopher, they would do it without fail and even make some sacrifices as long as things went as planned. "Colbert, make sure to prepare for the worst," Thirteen stated. "Aaron and Norman have arrived. We don't have much time." "Yes, Sir," Colbert replied in a serious tone. When the call ended, Sherry looked at the teenage boy, whose smile had disappeared from his face. She then reached out to hold his hand and gave it a light squeeze. "It's going to be alright," Sherry said firmly. "Yes," Thirteen replied. "It's going to be alright." However, deep inside the depths of Zion's eyes, an emotion that rarely appeared had briefly surfaced. Most people think that Thirteen had the situation under his control, but that wasn't necessarily true. At most, he only made as many preparations as he could for the upcoming war. But with unexpected variables popping up everywhere, he even felt like he hadn't prepared enough. While the teenage boy was currently being encouraged by his lover, Aaron, Douglas, and Norman were having a serious talk inside the Griffin Clan's headquarters. "Are you mad, Aaron?" Douglas looked at his comrade in disbelief. "No. You've always been mad." Aaron chuckled. "I already gave you a proposal, so it's up to you whether you accept it or not. However, remember this—Norman and I are in this together." "That's right." Norman nodded. "Make sure to think about it carefully. After all, the future of the Griffin Clan is at stake." The two Monarchs then left Douglas' office with smiles on their faces. When he was certain that they were no longer around, Douglas smashed his fist on the table in front of him, breaking it in half. "Bastards!" Douglas growled. "F*cking bastards!" He had already expected something like this to happen to him, but his guess was still way off the mark. Douglas knew that Aaron and Norman were greedy for power, but he didn't expect that they would not leave him a way out. If he disagreed, then the Cygni Continent is as good as doomed. But if he agreed, he and the rest of the Griffin Clan would become their dogs for the rest of their lives. Both choices were very difficult for him to accept, and frankly, Douglas might have to choose the lesser evil between the two. He wanted to smash and destroy a few things in his office, but he knew that it was futile. In the end. Douglas sat back down and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to find if there was a way out of his predicament. Suddenly, Zion's image appeared on his head, making the Monarch of the Cygni Continent fight an internal battle inside his head. After nearly half an hour of contemplation, he finally made his decision. Tapping his communicator, he waited for someone to reply from the other side. When the line finally connected, Douglas was the first to speak. "The Griffin has been shackled." A brief moment of silence descended inside the room before a crisp reply reached his ears. "Understood. Prepare for Plan B." A second later, the line disconnected. Douglas sighed before walking toward the window of his office to look at the capital city of the Cygni Continent. He didn't believe in God, for the Gods of their world had chosen to forsake him. In the end, Douglas understood that the time had come to finally make a decision, and he had chosen the third option. Although it was a gamble, with no guarantee of winning, he chose to believe that a kid, who had not even reached twenty, would have the ability to make the world a better place to live in.