Everything will be my way!

A mature man and two obscenely beautiful girls were sitting at a table with cards in their hands. They looked at each other like Wild West shooters pointing guns at each other.

«I'm raising it.» – Kyon said lazily.

«I'm doubling it down.» – Eve added.

«All-in!» – Leila confidently declared and moved all the chips to the center of the table.

«Me too.» – the little fairy replied coolly, which greatly angered her sister.

«I am calling it.» – Kyon smiled softly.

«Are you kidding me?!» – Leila stamped her foot. – «Every time I bluff, you don't get fooled! Damn crooks, it's not fair!»

Eve rolled her eyes: «You shouldn't stare at your hand like it's a dead pig and then try to convince us that it turns out to be made of gold.»

«Eve is right. You need to learn how to hide emotions.» – Kyon nodded.

The missing three cards appeared on the table.

«Shit!» – the pixie demonstratively cast the six and the eight and turned away.

With a sly gleam in her eyes, Eve smiled triumphantly: «Four of a kind! Daddy, what's your answer?»

«Four aces?! Why not five?!» – the pixie was indignant, expressively throwing up her palms.

«Royal flush.» – with a slight victorious smile, Kyon laid out the highest combination on the table.

The girls with their mouths agape stared in amazement at the table with eyes as big as saucers.

«Thanks for playing. It's a pleasure doing business with you.» – Kyon politely thanked his opponents, grabbing all the chips on his part of the table.

«The chance of getting a royal flush is one in half a million!» – the little fairy squeaked. – «Then how?!»

«Y-you're a crook! Pot-bellied crook!» – Leila accused the man of cheating, knocking him down and starting to playfully box with his belly, apparently punishing him like that. – «Tell the truth, how did you do it?! Come on!»

Over the past six months, Eve has become much bolder, therefore, giggling merrily, she also did not miss the opportunity to pounce on top to hug Zosimos.

The trio tumbled, laughed and had fun for a few more minutes.

Finally, Kyon looked seriously at his daughters: «Bunnies, today is your birthday, so here's a gift from dad for you.» – he handed each daughter a box.

The girls opened the gifts and gasped in amazement: there were beautiful rings inside! So exquisite that they made their hearts rejoice. They seemed vaguely familiar to the sisters.

In fact, the gift of Lovr is the spatial rings that he took from the heads of the Dance and Virgo sects before healing. He saw no point in keeping them. It is impossible to get the contents intact without knowing the password, because if they are destroyed, they will erupt, and then hardly anything will remain from the contents.

«Are you trying to appease us?» – Leila charmingly raised her thin eyebrows.

«With my gift, I want to thank you for your good behavior and obedience.» – Kyon patted his daughters condescendingly and then hugged them tightly.

Eve and Leila blushed and clung to the man's chest. His scent acted on them like a narcotic substance. They even closed their eyelids in blissful peace.

Kyon took out two small cakes, lit candles and asked them to make a wish before blowing out the candles. In fact, they haven't spent their last wish yet, which he promised them in exchange for learning how to use energy.

«I want… I want… Oh, what do I want?» – putting her finger to her lips, the pixie thoughtfully rolled her eyes, sometimes looking searchingly at her father, as if she intended to think of something immodest, but did not dare, being wary of the consequences.

«I want my dad to stay with me for the rest of my life.» – the little fairy said confidently, blowing out the candles.

«Then me too!» – Leila blew out all the lights. – «Dad, this is the wish of your beautiful daughters! So from now on you must always be with us! So quit your clan and spend more time with us. I will become your new employer, and my sister will be your secretary. How do you like my offer?»

Lovr was touched by the sincere desire of the girls. With every minute spent with them, he felt more and more like in a sweet dream, and if the pixie had not tried to seduce him with enviable regularity, he might have considered them his real daughters.

«Good suggestion, I'll consider it.» – Kyon promised. – «You know, I also want to make a wish, or rather, even ask you for something…» – he gently hugged the beauties by the shoulders and spoke with all seriousness. – «You are sisters. You can't fool genetics. And sisters should be the closest people to each other. The only thing I ask: when your memory returns to you, and sooner or later it will happen, please forget past disagreements and resentments. For me. No, for yourselves. I don't want you to fight, risking your lives because of unnecessary enmity.»

«O-okay… I promise…» – Eve agreed, flapping her eyelashes in surprise.

«All right! What's gotten into you? Yes, we compete, but it's not serious… To fight with my sister to the death? This will never happen!» – Leila snorted.

«I am glad.» – Lovr hugged the girls tighter. Something told him that the fairy tale could not last forever. And although he regularly poured Synergy into their minds every day to prevent their memories from returning, anything can happen.

«And now let's celebrate!» – Kyon announced, clapping his hands.

The fun began: dancing threesome, board games, eating treats and watching movies. Leila insisted on playing cards for wishes, and Eve warmly supported her, but after three defeats in a row, the pixie lost all enthusiasm. She went with her sister to the restroom and agreed to join forces, but even so they never defeated Zosimos, he beat them so skillfully, over and over again.

Kyon could have made Leila fulfill any wish, even a very vulgar one, but he deliberately demanded something harmless from her, like crowing or pretending to be a monkey.

Late at night, Lovr, being in his chambers, checked his mail, but did not find any new letters from Valeera. She sent the last message three days ago along with the monthly revenue of the megaclan. Very strange.

The message was literally filled with loneliness and despair with notes of madness. Obviously, Weber has already come to terms with the fact that she will never see her precious Zosimos. Moreover, both personalities of the young man have almost merged together in her subconscious, as evidenced by previous letters. The girl assured that she had forgiven Kyon, begged him to return to her, promised to share a bed with him and accept him as her husband and man, even if he was the person she used to hate.

"…You gave me an unforgettable life that I never dared to dream of. You and only you showed me what true female happiness is. But the higher you fly, the more painful it is to fall. Now I am left alone with nothing, alone with the inner demons eating me. I'm so sad and lonely. I seem to be going crazy. I can not go on! Please tell me, beloved Kyon, is the Black Queen worthy to see her Black King just one more time?"

Kyon reread the last lines of the letter. He would be lying if he said they didn't hit him to the core: {She changed faster than I expected… She's almost ready to accept me.} – initially, he planned to ignore her for a whole year, but now he has concluded that even half a year is more than enough.

However, all this did not explain the reason for the absence of letters for the third day.

Maybe she wants to make him worry and come to her? No, she's not manipulating like that, risking everything. It wouldn't even occur to her, especially in such an emotionally unstable state.

Maybe she was kidnapped? No, it's unlikely. Firstly, the key clan members are fine and they say that nothing strange has happened. Secondly, recently Weber transformed the soul into the imperial phase, and it is almost impossible for the authorities of Rosarrio to catch such an elusive and powerful person.

{Should I wait until the end of the week or do it now?} – after hesitating, Lovr made a decision, took out a sound transmitter and organized an urgent meeting with the most trusted people of the clan early tomorrow morning.

Closer to dawn, Kyon went into his daughters' room, and seeing how sweetly they were sleeping, decided not to wake them up. After all, even if Valeera was caught, no amount of torture would make her crack in just three days. It is completely out of the question for anyone to find out about the secret routes leading to the underground headquarters.

Lovr kissed Eve and Leila and left.

At the appointed time, Kyon, just in case, called the trusted people again and even demanded a password from them, after that, activating invisibility and using "The eyes of truth", he went to the headquarters by one of the most secret underground routes.

One of the strings in the soul was strained to the limit. And what will happen if the meeting does not bear fruit, and Valeera will not be found? What if she doesn't come back, say, in two weeks? He was getting nervous.

Suddenly, Kyon felt something sharp pierce his back… A moment later, the consciousness, as well as the whole body along with the keys, was struck by lightning. And then the darkness came.

"Alarm! Alarm! An unknown energy effect on the spinal cord and central nervous system has been detected! An emergency mechanism for returning the host to consciousness has been launched!" – Synergy tried to bring the owner to his senses, but the impact was so powerful that it had to hide in the soul, otherwise it would have been used up in futile attempts to fix something.

After a certain period of time, the impact significantly weakened. Synergy got out and began to restore the host.

Kyon woke up… And it seems in vain. He felt a splitting headache. Nausea. His heart was jumping out of his chest. His blood pressure was through the roof. His whole body was numb. It was impossible to move a single finger.

Synergy shared all the information it collected. As it turned out, someone terrifyingly strong plunged a dagger into his spine and poured unknown energy into his body, which, apparently, spread perfectly through the blood. This is not an element or technique, but something unknown, like the ability of an innate body. As a result, such an impact would paralyze and put any ordinary person into a coma for life.

Synergy rescued the owner from a coma. As for paralysis, it is possible to get rid of a crack in the spine in a matter of seconds (by the element of the earth), but it will take about a day to eliminate all other consequences, but for now Synergy will take over the reproduction of the lost functions of the body, thereby restoring mobility.

{Fuck… What was that?!} – Kyon cursed to himself and carefully examined the surroundings. Someone stripped him completely, washed him and rubbed him down with aromatic oils. And judging by the fact that he was slowly moving up, he was placed in some kind of elevator.

Opening his eyes slightly, Lovr found himself in a small wooden box, similar to a coffin, which was in an elevator half the height of an average human. It was clearly not suitable for carrying passengers. And indeed, the smell of blood, elusive to an ordinary nose, spoke of the fact that bloodied corpses were being transported here.

Among the many smells, Kyon caught one that explained almost everything: the smell of the zeroth general! The most plausible scenario immediately loomed in his head: the zeroth general somehow found out the location of the headquarters and all the secret passages, kidnapped Valeera, and then did nothing until "The Dark Baron" organized a meeting of the top of the clan, which he immediately slammed at once.

Lovr refused to even consider the version that Valeera gave information under torture. It's completely out of the question. Firstly, she was caught by sworn enemies, to whom she would not say a word under pain of death. Secondly, in Boston, protecting her uncle, she did not break even under the influence of 2 needles, and now it's Zosim, whom the girl certainly loves much more. Thirdly, her nervous system has been modernized, and her soul has the great development of the imperial phaser. Now even 3 needles won't break Weber. There is not a single chance that she gave information, especially in just 3 days.

{Has Valeera been caught and possibly already killed? Is the whole clan at the mercy of the zeroth?} – Kyon was in despair, but he immediately pulled himself together and began to analyze the situation. Judging by the speed of the elevator and the time of ascent (Synergy suggested), it rises either to the last floor of the tall building of the Golden Pig guild, or to the Russells Palace. And judging by the fact that it is impossible to contact Eve and Leila, this is the Russells Palace, because there are no barriers blocking communication in the Golden Pig guild.

{Stop… So I'm being taken to the empress?!} – Kyon thought dizzily. Even more embarrassing was the fact that he was supposed to remain in a coma… That is, he is clearly not being taken for a heart-to-heart talk or interrogation. And if one takes into account his naked body, rubbed down with aromatic oils and placed in the coffin, which is located in the elevator designed to transport bodies… There was a feeling that he was a pig that was being delivered as food to a predator!

Utter nonsense! Half an hour has passed since the capture (Synergy does not deceive). Why isn't the most notorious criminal in the empire being interrogated? Why did the zeroth general immediately decide to get rid of "The Dark Baron"? Is Valeera enough for him? Or is he afraid that the baron might escape with his strange ability, like that time from the department? Or does he have a spy in the clan who told everything a long time ago? What if he knew all this time that "The Dark Baron" is the messenger of the goddess? No, this is completely absurd, because then why did he even start that game with the order of 4 months long; why did he give the task to look after Juno until her wedding with Roman; why did he make participation in the upcoming tournament mandatory for him?

Good news: the impenetrable fabric worked perfectly! It hid everything that was on his right hand: formations of the Stones, the high-ranking imperial investigator and the disciple of the order, as well as a ring and two bracelets.

Kyon took out a device from the ring, not a sound transmitter, but something more technologically advanced. He even managed to press the button, when suddenly the elevator stopped, and he had to hide the device back, artfully pretending to be a man in a deep coma.

All thoughts and even analysis of the situation took only one second with the help of Synergy, so even if he had taken out the device in the first place, it would still not have helped him.

{I will have a meeting with the bloody empress…} – Lovr thought excitedly.