Video Call

Cynthia may have entered a dreamland but it was one where there was only darkness. She only felt like she was there for a moment before she willed herself to get out and open her eyes.

She looked at the ceiling that wasn't recognizable so she turned her head to the right. She felt that someone was holding her hand and saw that Lilly was taking a nap. The girl had snuggled into the bed and was actually hugging Cynthia like a body pillow.

She just didn't feel it well because her body had already gotten used to this for the past hours. Lilly is also quite light.

'Did she climb in unconsciously?' she thought. There was a chair next to the bed so it could be assumed that Lilly started off there.

A warm smile surfaced on Cynthia's face as she could feel the heat emanating from Lilly's body. She could feel the slightest breaths from her little sister and hugged her back.

"Mmmm...." Lilly grumbled and tightened her grip and pulled Cynthia closer as lifted her leg and put it on top of her.

"I really am her body pillow!" said Cynthia as she looked at the little angel in arms. She took her arm and rubbed the cute one's head. There are fewer things more satisfying than rubbing the top of your child or sibling's head.

"Mmmm...."Lilly grumbled again. Cynthia stopped this time as she didn't want to break this scene. She wanted to take in this moment of relaxation as the past days have been hectic.

'The butterfly effect is damn strong!' She complained in her head while thinking about the events that had happened in the past.

There were times when Lilly was involved in dungeon breaks but those were much later. She hadn't expected such a dangerous and life-threatening event to happen this early. She hoped that her actions hadn't caused the timeline to be pushed forward.

"Big sis?" asked Lilly, breaking her thought process. Cynthia looked at the girl huddled into her arms and went back to rubbing her head.

Lilly smiled in return and showed a gratified expression as she really enjoyed these head pats. She felt that they were strangely comforting.

After drowning herself in the pleasure of care from her sister, Lilly took out her smartphone and initiated a group video call with Antoine and her dad.

-------

In a towering skyscraper that was over 200 floors high, there was a room dedicated for meetings involving the higher-ups of the Duketh Business Group.

On a long conference table were around two dozen people split between two long sides with Alexander Duketh at the very head of it. On his left was Antoine who was currently speaking.

"For this quarter, we will be increasing the funds of our mana crystal research facility by 200%. Any objections?" he said while scanning the room.

The investors and company advisors all fell into a hubbub of discussion as they take each other opinions and thought about the upsides and downsides.

After a while, the noise was gone as the members of the board had decided what they wanted. In this scenario, one man usually spoke for each side.

"Before we make our decision, we need to know what the reason for such a sudden proposal is?" said an elderly man who represented the companies, major investors.

Even though they had their initial ideas, these experienced businessmen needed to know more context. They knew that such an experienced man such as Alexander would not just suggest something without basis.

Alexander did not make any changes to his facial expression and just looked coldly at his colleagues. Seeing that his father would not speak at this meeting, Antoine did so for him oce again.

He knew that his father was waiting for Lilly's call so he wouldn't speak in case he has to pick it up. His children mattered more than all the people in front of him but he knew it would be rude to cut himself off when speaking to them.

"We have secured a stable source of mana crystals from a foreign entity. The board doesn't have to worry about the price since we will be paying for them with our won money."

Antoine revealed the fact that they had gotten a large number of mana crystals but lied about where they were coming from. As they say, the best way to fool someone was with a mix of lies and truth.

His sentence caused everyone to once again resume their hushed conversations. as they reevaluated their options. A couple of minutes later, the room had been emptied as only Antoine and his father sat at their seats.

Everyone else had exited as they had come up with a consensus that they would provide a larger budget to the research department.

As the Duketh family was spending their own money to provide the mana crystals, it was agreed that they would receive a larger share of any profits that come from the facility's research.

The father and son duo were quite pleased with the outcome as they technically getting the crystal for free from Cynthia. They had to give nothing to make the investors surrender a good chunk of the profits.

As they were talking about the specific details that built up this new project of theirs, a computer screen sprung out from inside the large table.

It blinked on as it showed that they were getting a call from Lilly's device Alexander did not hesitate to accept the call by touching the screen.

"Daddy, big bro, sis is awake now," said Lilly as she put both herself and Cynthia in the camera's frame. They were both laying down on the bed together and had their backs to a wall and of pillows.

"Good afternoon big brother, father." Cynthia gave polite greetings as her tone had a sense of distance that Lilly doesn't have.

Alexander and Antoine frowned on the inside as they knew that this girl wasn't even trying to improve their relationship. They didn't mind much though as it was natural as they hadn't interacted for years.

They had to give her time and make efforts on their own as relationships involved two sides and not just one.

"Are you okay now? Do you feel alright?" asked Antoine with concern. He wanted to call her by her name or a nickname like he does for Lilly but hasn't reached that level yet.

"I feel just fine. My mana has returned but I do feel the need to rest," she said honestly. She was indeed feeling the need for a long rest. This week had been beyond her expectations and made her mind feel fatigued.

"The doctor said you can be released tomorrow afternoon. I will call your school to inform them that you will be absent," said Alexander. He was very formal and said no words of care.

He just plainly said that she wouldn't be able to go to school even after this weekend ended. This meant that they would be keeping her home for a while.

'Damn it! There goes our family time at the amusement park.' The father and son duo cursed internally as their plans for Sunday were ruined and needed to be put aside for now. They could always reschedule but it felt heartbreaking to have to wait.

"I will take no longer than a week off or I will fall behind. Also, when can I get a mentor for my abilities?" Cynthia asked.

This caught the men off guard as they didn't expect her to be so eager to train. But when they thought about it, they realized that she had just gotten out of a deadly situation or a little more strength could have let her prevail.

It was natural for her to want to be as strong. Thye wouldn't mind getting her a mentor and had already decided who it would be but a schedule hadn't been sorted out.

"Since you are very keen on your academics, you can return to school after a week." Alexander was proud that his daughter took her studies seriously but as a tsundere, he would never admit it.

He didn't mention anything about the mentor as a dad, he thought he should be paying attention more to the child's grades. That's what he believed to be the concern of an average parent.

"About the mentor, we have already contacted one but have not sorted out the details. You will have to wait a little longer," said Antoine as he realized that this matter was left t him by his father.

"How much is a 'little longer?" Cynthia wasn't someone who usually took vague answers and preferred answers to precise.

Antoine thought about it and said "Two weeks. Within two weeks, you should be able to meet your mentor." He said so with confidence.

Cynthia nodded in response as she thought it was a reasonable amount of time. Mentors who were at the level that Duketh's wanted were very hard to find. Most of these masters are eccentric and it is hard to get them to agree to teach some brats.

Seeing that Cynthia had nothing else to say and his father couldn't think of anything else to add, Antoine needed to think of something to keep this take going.

It didn't take him long to find such a thing.

"How did you get to know Ryan Fronterra?" he asked. Antoine had read through the incident's report He has seen footage of her fighting alongside the boy and Karina, who he knows as Lilly's friend.

"None of your business," Cynthia said coldly. Her expression was a little more strained than earlier showing that she didn't like this question of his.

'She sure has the attitude that runs in the family' thought both father and son. They didn't mind that she was like this, only a little sad.

However, they felt odd that this boy seemed to get along well with Cynthia. They of course knew his identity and remembered how Ryan acted when he firsts saw Cynthia.

They didn't find it odd if they got along as they knew Ryan is someone who is quite soft but surrounded by people with tough personalities.

If he felt attracted to Cynthia's coldness, they were fine with it as well as long Cynthia didn't mind his presence.

They didn't talk for long as it was hard for the men to talk to Cynthia who they knew little about. They still hadn't had the time to conduct research through Lilly.

Since Lilly had gotten closer, they planned on extorting her for information on her sister who she had recently started to get along with. It would take some time but it is worthwhile.

----

Back in the room, Lilly was still sleepy as not only did she has more man than Cynthia, she had used more of it to demolish the blue apes into slush. She fell asleep again in the warm embrace of her sister.

Cynthia enjoyed this feeling of the sibling love as she stared at the cute face of the angelic little girl.

Since she had already slept enough, Cynthia was feeling bored and needed to kill sometime before Lilly woke up and left the hospital. '

She wanted to go over to Karina and Ryan and ask them how they were cousins. She had her own guess as it was easy to see the similarity between their last names.

"Hey system, open up that book. It's been a while since I've read a web novel."

[Does the host really want to write it right now?

"Yeah, I have nothing else to do anyway. I can't watch TV or surf the internet with her in my arms."

[As you wish, host. By the way, there are only 8 chapters uploaded so far. It seems the story is still in an infantile state.

Novel Title: The Princess of Gold's Lousy Harem

Chapter 1 - The Birth of A Princess ]