Chapter 103: What's Her Type?

At the Dark Palace

Dark Lord POV:

"BOSS! PLEASE! JUST PAY HER!"

"Whoa! You look like shit! How badly did my big sis kick your ass?"

After I was banished from Walpurgis, I took some time to relieve stress by punishing that savage whom I later found out had been the victim of one of my little Noxy's tricks, before making haste back to the island. Unfortunately, my beloved had run away with the whole island in tow to an unknown location, as the witness reports stated it suddenly vanished into a spatial distortion somewhere over the border of my territory. After securing the sight for my subordinates to investigate, I felt dejected as I returned to the Dark Palace where I found my bruised and battered court mage making a fuss.

"She dropped me off the island without a parachute! But that's not important right now! Boss, did you really snub my master after hiring her?!" My court mage said as he grew paler by the second.

"WHAT?!" My brother-in-law seemed shocked and panicked at his words.

"Hmph! Of course not! I would say her payment was more than fair! Afterall, what greater reward is there, but to become the woman of this great lord!" I said in confidence.

"Pft! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" My brother-in-law laughed at my words as per usual.

If it was not for his convenient abilities and his relation to my fiancée, I would have executed him long ago.

"Stop laughing! This is serious!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! I *giggle* can't *giggle* it's just *giggle* too funny! *Giggle* He just looked so confident *giggle* when he said it! HAHAHAHA!"

As he continued laughing, I became curious.

"I do not see the humor in what I said! It is simply a fact! Ask any woman in this continent and they would surely agree!"

"HAHAHA! I think a horde of lesbians led by my big sis would have something to say about that! Pft! HAHAHAHA! I can already picture her waving a rainbow banner while leading the charge! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"WAIT! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT MY NOXY?!"

As I grew increasingly worried about my beloved's sexual preference, I began shaking my potential brother-in-law, back and forth for answers.

"CAN WE FOCUS ON WHAT'S IMPORTANT?!" My foolish court mage interjected.

"There is no issue more pressing than confirming my fiancée's preferred type! Now speak, before I wring the life out of you!" I spoke as I began strangling the giggling jester.

"Uncle! Please just say it so we can move on!" The mad mage finally saw the light as he sided with me.

"FiNe! JuSt StOp ShAkInG mE!" My brother-in-law spoke as I let go of him.

"Okay, then drumroll please!" he spoke as he used his spirit magic to create the sound of drums.

"My big sister's sexual preference is!" he paused.

"JUST SAY IT ALREADY!" I shouted as I couldn't bear the anticipation.

"That was rude! Now I don't want to tell you!" He spoke.

"WHY YOU?!" I spoke as I was getting ready to strangle him again.

"Her sexual preference is whatever she wants it to be!" My increasingly useful court mage chimed in to my confusion.

"What do you mean by 'whatever she wants'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. She can alter and regulate her own body at will! If she wants to like guys, she likes guys! If she wants to like girls, she likes girls! And if she wants to like some abhorrent creature from a dark dimension, then that's what she will be into! Now can we please focus?!" He said, revealing a crucial bit of information.

"So, everyone is a potential threat then!" I mumbled to myself.

Satisfied knowing that my gender would not pose a problem, I made to leave. Unfortunately, my court mage was not letting me leave without an answer, as he blocked me from exiting the room.

"You're not going anywhere, until you answer my question!"

"Remind me?" I inquired as I was too distracted by my fiancée's preference to recall what his initial query was.

"DO YOU OWE HER MONEY?! YES, OR NO?!" He inquired, his face turning red with anger.

"Oh that! As I recall, I seemed to have had a little disagreement with my little Noxy on the matter of her reward after she sealed my curse! It was what led up to our lovers quarrel back in the treasury!"

"How much?"

"Hmph! I don't see how that is any of-!"

"HOW MUCH!" The mad mage interrupted me, as he grabbed me by the shoulders and stared me down with his tired and bloodshot eyes.

"Very well then, I will speak, just calm yourself!" I spoke as he finally backed away.

"The initial deal was that she would assure my safety as she escorted me to Latnos, in exchange I would pay her 100 high-grade magic stones or the equivalent in whatever artifacts might have piqued her interest."

"100 FLIPPING HIGH-GRADE!!! AND YOU DIDN'T PAY?! No wonder the place was in an upheaval! She must have been pissed!"

"Before she kicked me of Walpurgis, she told me to have you cough up 90 magic stones or she will raise the Dark Palace to the ground!"

"90! Don't we get a family discount?"

"Those 10 were the discount!"

"Hmph! I don't see why you are making such a fuss over this! Surely, you're not implying that our engagement is worth less than a handful of rocks?" I spoke as I was getting irritated.

"Boss! Do you remember how I told you there are 3 taboos when interacting with my big sis?"

"Yes. Your point?"

"One of those is to stiff her pay! If you won't pay in gold than you'll pay in blood! That's her motto for such kinds of situations!"

"So, my little Noxy is upset over losing her allowance! As cute as it is, I can't reward this behavior!"

"Boss! Could you snap out of your lovestruck delusions for a second! This is my sister we are talking about! Have you already forgotten, she now has the entire island of Walpurgis at her fingertips! If you don't fess up, she might just crash the entire thing down into the palace and blow it up out of spite!"

"I would like to see her try!" I spoke, feeling confident no person alive would sacrifice the pinnacle of magical engineering that is Walpurgis over a handful of magic stones.

"Boss! We are begging you! Please just pay her before she loses it completely!"

The two of them begged me to reconsider, but if I let her get her way every time she threw a fit or ran from home, then it would never end. I have already let her get away with too much, I fear she might never grow up if I spoil her any more than I already have. That said I should probably ask.

"You mentioned there was three things that makes my Noxy tick! What is the third?"

"We'll tell you if you promise to pay her back!"

"Fine, then! I'll use whichever one of you who don't speak as bait to lure the little girl out of her hiding place!"

"It's her mask!" The jester said without any remorse, as he sold out his family.

"You traitor!"

"So, what about her mask?"

"She has this old trauma about it! She kind of loses it whenever it comes off!"

"But didn't she show her face during the tournament?"

"She wore a liquid mask back then! To her it's less about hiding her face than it is about the feeling of something covering it! She kind of goes into a berserk state whenever it comes off and trust me it's not a pretty sight!"

"Hm! Oh, so that's why she was mad!" I muttered as I recalled how she threw a tantrum when I was about to kiss her back in the treasury.

I had just thought she was bewildered by the sudden proposal and ran away because she felt insecure about her young age, but it seems my Noxy was upset by something else entirely. Maybe I should buy her some decorative masks along with her jewelry?

"Uh! Boss! I just remembered I had some important work to do so, could you let go of my shoulder, please?" The mad mage said as I caught him trying to sneak out of the room.

"Whatever it is can wait until after we catch my Noxy!"

"No, but we need to urgently fix the aerial craft if we are going to supply our men on the 2nd continent! The Crimson Eye won't fix itself you know!"

"Don't you worry Lexy my boy! Your awesome uncle will take care of it! You just go play with your playboy friend! Remember to tell my big sis I said hi!" My brother-in-law spoke while I was dragging the elf out of the room.