He loudly sat down on the bed and expected to hear Renee's cute and surprised voice, however, contrary to his expectations…
"Huh, who the hell dares to infiltrate this old man's room?" a deep and majestic voice rang in Caesar's ear.
"Huh?" Caesar made a confused sound and squinted his eyes deeply. Suddenly, the lights came on, and both Caesar and Musashi were looking at each other, face to face while practically nude.
Confusion was reflected in both of their eyes for a few seconds before Musashi furrowed his brows and asked, "what the hell are you doing in my room?" he asked skeptically.
"I had meant to go in Renee's room. Don't worry. I'm much more disappointed than you are. Do you have any idea what it feels like to expect a beautiful girl in your bed, but instead, an old man appears?" Caesar spoke while massaging his temples.
A vein suddenly appeared above Musashi's right eye, "do you think it makes me feel better knowing that you were trying to sneak in my granddaughter's room? Practically nude at that," Musashi asked angrily.
"Don't worry, I don't bite, and besides, we've slept together for the last few months?" Caesar said nonchalantly and headed toward the door.
"Now just wait a god damn minute you bastard, are you not going to apologize for waking your elder up?" Musashi asked with folded arms, to which Caesar just looked at him with disgust evident in his eyes.
"Look, I don't want to stare at your practically nude body any longer than I have too…"
Seeing that Musashi still had an expression of "it's not enough," Caesar begrudgingly faced him and half-bowed elegantly.
"my bad for barging in your room. However, it's not my fault your aura is the same as your granddaughters." Caesar spoke, sincerely.
"Why were you heading to my granddaughter's room in the first place? Don't you have your own room?" Musashi asked curiously.
Suddenly, a teasing smile appeared on Caesar's lips as he faked a sad expression. "I had heard with your old age, you might leave us soon, so I had wanted to make sure you saw your great-grandkids before the inevitable," Caesar said sorrowfully as if he was doing Musashi a favor.
"Hmph, my beautiful girl still innocently calls me by daddy sometimes, why would I need great-grandkids so early?" Musashi asked while rolling his eyes.
A playful smile appeared on Caesar's lips. He had wanted to say, "you're not the only one she calls daddy!" But he held himself back.
"Well, all jokes aside, I think I'm going to leave first," Caesar said while picking up the clothes he had stripped off earlier.
"Alright, I didn't notice it before, but you reek of troll blood… you should take a bath," Musashi replied while holding the bridge of his nose.
Caesar didn't respond and heaved the rest of his clothes over his shoulder. He glanced at Musashi one last time before walking to the door.
He slid open the door and took one step out before Musashi interrupted him with his voice.
"Take good care of my granddaughter when I'm gone, she is the star in my sky and also my light at the end of the tunnel" Musashi's joking expression was nowhere to be seen as he said these words.
Caesar's smile also disappeared as he turned around to look Musashi in the eyes, "I can't promise that I won't make her sad or angry. However, I can promise that I will never abandon her," Caesar replied solemnly.
"That is all I want. There are bound to be hurdles in relationships, especially ones as special as yours. But, as long as you two don't abandon each other, I will be satisfied," Musashi nodded his head in satisfaction and sat back down on the bed.
"U-hmm, p-please excuse me" Suddenly, a quiet voice rang in both Caesar and Musashi's ears, interrupting their man to man moment.
They both looked to the right and saw a younger girl in maids clothing, blushing furiously. As she glanced between Musashi's and Caesar's near-nude bodies, she had just been walking in the hallways and heard some noises, so she decided to take a peek. But, never would she have thought to find the extremely handsome Caesar and Clan head staring at each other so passionately while semi-nude.
The corner of Caesar's lips twitched, "don't get the wrong idea, little lass. This is a misconception," he tried to explain calmly, but the girl's expression didn't change in the slightest.
"I-I-I understand, y-you don't want your 'preference' to be spread amongst the other men… I swear I won't tell a soul," she replied with determination.
'Sigh, what an unfortunate turn of events' Caesar felt as though he had sighed more times today than he had in his entire second life.
The young maid bowed apologetically and ran away with her tail between her legs, literally. Musashi, at the side, held his belly while laughing at Caesar.
"Haha, to think that a young maid girl would happen to pass by the hallways at this time,” Musashi couldn't help but chuckle at Caesar's misfortune.
"You're in the same boat, what are the fox-kin men going to think once they hear their clan head is into young and handsome men," Caesar asked with disdain, which made Musashi's laughter abruptly stop.
Musashi stroked his beard while carrying a contemplating expression, "you're right. How can we solve this?"
Caesar took another step out of the sliding door and shrugged his shoulders, "you're the clan head, do something about it, as for me, I am in dire need of sleep."
Caesar slammed the door shut and once again sensed for that familiar mana, this time. He had actually started making his way to Renee's room.
He soon reached a relatively simple door, he delicately turned the knob and stepped inside the room, it was pitch black and smelled like cherry blossoms.
He quietly closed the door and threw his clothes on the ground before making his way into the bed.
"Hmm, what are you doing in my room?" Renee, who was still half asleep, asked curiously once she felt someone get in her bed.
Caesar wrapped his arms around her waist and closed his eyes, "to sleep," Caesar replied curtly and pulled her closer.
Renee, who was already used to Caesar's embrace, nestled closer and went back to sleep. She was too tired to resist, nor did she want to.
Soon, only the sound of their calm breathing escaped from their mouths.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The next morning, the light that emerged into the room woke Caesar up. His eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes and yawned loudly.
He could feel something slightly substantial on his chest, so he tore the covers off of his body and could see that Renee was comfortably nestling atop his chest.
Caesar smiled wryly and gently brushed Renee's hair for a few minutes before her eyes abruptly opened up. She raised her upper body and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Ger folded ears on top of her tired expression created quite a cute image.
"Good morning, no, good afternoon," Caesar whispered as he also raised his upper body.
"Good afternoon, how come you came to my room last night?" she asked, still half-asleep.
"I can't seem to fall asleep without you in my bed…" Caesar said teasingly as he got out of bed and stretched his limbs.
Renee, who was now fully awake, scrutinized Caesar before giggling, "liar, you probably forgot where your room was"
Caesar's actions momentarily halted as he looked at Renee with surprise; a woman's intuition was indeed dreadful.
"Haha, did I get it right?" Renee asked playfully as she got out of bed and walked to her closet to pick out a few pieces of clothing, her past embarrassment of being nearly nude in front of Caesar was practically gone.
Caesar didn't respond and just smiled wryly. He took out a luxurious suit that was dyed black with red pinstripes, the stripes were delicately engraved into the suit and looked similar to chains. He finished off the outfit with silk gloves, brushed his hair, and sat back down on the bed.
By the time he was finished dressing, Renee was also dressed up in an elegant looking kimono. It was raven black with a burgundy sash around her waist.
"You are certainly looking excellent toda
y, what's the occasion?" Renee asked curiously. Caesar didn't always dress so nicely.
"Haha, I'm going to be the center of attention today. Naturally, I have to look the part," Caesar replied while chuckling softly.
Suddenly, loud knocking interrupted their conversation, and a respectful voiced sounded out from behind the door.
"Empress, your grandfather has called another meeting... "
Caesar opened the door and surprised the young maid; he examined her face for a moment and realized it was the exact same maid that had spotted him and Musashi last night.
She possessed medium length brown hair and was probably only about 4 ft tall, she looked up at Caesar with surprise and glanced between him and Renee for a few seconds before blushing furiously.
"T-two timin-" before she could finish her words, Caesar put his hand over her mouth and radiated a deep killing intent.
He leaned toward her and whispered in her ear, "don't create a misunderstanding, who knows how hard it will be to explain to her."
The maid nodded her head enthusiastically, seeing this, Caesar let go of her mouth and could see two small streams of blood exit her nose.
"S-sorry, I'll be more careful next time," she said while bowing apologetically.
Renee was a few feet away from Caesar, walked up and glanced between Caesar and the maid skeptically… "you two know each other?" she asked.
"Negative, she just reminded me of someone I knew back in Rahvin kingdom... " Caesar explained with a calm smile.
"Hmmm," Renee hummed mysteriously as she studied the young maid girl before wrapping her arms around Caesar as if she was declaring her territory.
Caesar smiled wryly, and they all walked to the meeting room in a strange atmosphere.
About 5 minutes later, they reached the large double doors, the young maid slid open the doors and gestured for both Caesar and Renee to walk in.
Before stepping in, Caesar leaned down and whispered into Renee's ear… "are you sure you want to show affection in front of the clan heads? I had assumed you wanted to keep our relationship a secret," Caesar asked slyly.
"It's better this way. I'm tired of the clan heads bringing up the marriage thing," Renee replied firmly and led Caesar into the meeting room.
The 13 clan heads at the table all directed their attention to Caesar and Renee as they walked in, at the side of the table, another creature was joining them in the meeting room, this was, of course, the kobold elder.
"Sit," Musashi motioned to the seats on his left.
Caesar and Renee both nodded their reads respectfully and sat down where Musashi had directed them. Once seated, Musashi tapped his armrest and commenced the meeting.
Right as Musashi tapped his armrest, one of the clan heads at the corner of the table stood up, he had long flowing green hair and looked much more feminine compared to the others.
"I believe we should address the issue of mister Caesar speaking for the clan, and creating an alliance with the kobold tribe without addressing any of us first," The man said while looking at Caesar apathetically.
"What's the problem? We need more allies to fight in the war, anyway," Faust rebuked.
"The problem is that we are giving him far too much freedom, what if he was a spy placed by the trolls?" the man with green hair snapped back.
Musashi suddenly waved his arms, "Charlie, tell us what happened that night," he asked curiously, and Charlie walked into the room.
Caesar's lips curled as he observed Charlie; he had two options. He could lie and make Caesar's prestige fall, or, he could assist Caesar.
Charlie walked to the end of the table and cleared his throat, he slightly glimpsed at Caesar before speaking.
"Last night, we did as ordered and successfully eradicated the trolls trying to abduct the kobold women, however, right as we were about to leave, an even larger group of trolls, alongside a ceros, attacked… Vastly outnumbered, we were on the verge of losing the battle before Caesar came in and helped us, I and the rest of the elites owe our lives to him" Charlie spoke respectfully and truthfully.
Many of the clan heads around the table nodded their heads in approval, while the man with long green sat down and crossed his legs, carrying a contemplative expression.
Charlie's words soon continued... "This brings us to the conclusion that the trolls had somehow known where we were going to strike," Charlie said while scanning the room.
The air in the room solidified, and the clan heads at the table furrowed their brows, this was a very sensitive subject that was rarely brought up.
"Are suggesting that one us has betrayed the clan?" Faust asked while scrutinizing his son.
"I don't want to think that is the case, but that is the only possible explanation," Charlie said while walking to the side of Caesar and winking at him.
Caesar rolled his eyes and stood up. He walked to the table in the middle of the room and grabbed everyone's attention.
"Whether there is a spy or not, weeding out the spies will take far too long, and the problem will be resolved too late, so I'm going to suggest a few alternatives."
Caesar paused for a second and continued… "Can we call the farmers to the meeting? I'm sure I could give some advice, my agriculture techniques are quite advanced if I do say so myself" Caesar spoke confidently, causing everyone looked at him questioningly.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Musashi furrowed his brows and stroked his long beard, "very well, I will personally escort you to where most of our farmers currently reside, that is, after the meeting, of course."
Caesar nodded his head in consent and shifted his attention to the kobold elder, "I also want to suggest creating another hunting group, which would naturally be led by the kobold leader… He and his clan will work independently. In this case, the kobolds will have a monthly quota of food they need to fill, granted in repayment, we offer protection and respect," Caesar spoke while analyzing the kobold's change of expression. To his surprise, the kobold remained calm the entire time.
The kobold leader suddenly took a step forward with a confident smile, "The kobolds are an inherently weak race. To combat our subpar physical prowess, we have mastered archery, hunting, stealth, traps, and other similar things. All of which are perfect for hunting," he stated.
Leo, who was sitting relatively close to the kobold stood up and frowned deeply, "the trolls always seem to manage to ambush us when we go hunting, are you certain it will be effective just to employ more hunters?" he asked curiously.
Caesar stroked his chin in contemplation and spoke after a few seconds of thought. "Assuming that there is a spy amongst us, if both hunting groups work independently, it would be much more troublesome for the trolls to gain information about your hunting locations, patterns, and other important information."
Leo nodded his head in understanding and sat down thoughtfully. After hearing Caesar's words, the rest of the clan heads sitting around the table all had looks of displeasure; none of them had wanted to admit that there was a spy amongst them, as they were all good friends who had known each other for a long time.
Faust at the side folded his arms and couldn't help but speak up, "are you certain there is a spy amongst us, Caesar? I have known the others for practically my entire life, and never have I doubted them"
"It is because you have never doubted them that they are taking advantage of your trust, I am not one hundred percent sure, however, there is a good chance that one of you is leaking information to the trolls… Whether you like it or not is none of my concern. I am your strategist. I am not the one that is going to hold your hand at night. I am the one that is going to help you win" Caesar replied coldly,
The clan heads sucked in a breath of cold air and focused their attention on Musashi. They were all curious as to how the clan head would respond to such a bold statement.
Musashi pushed aside the thin piece of cloth that was hiding his face and stepped out. He was wearing a pitch-black kimono with a dark green sash. The k
imono was split by his chest and perfectly showcased his strong muscles that even his old age couldn't hide.
"I had long suspected that there was a traitor in our presence, alas, I am getting old, and my influence in the clan is being thinned down by the day… The new generation is rising, and the old customs are slowly dying. Because of this, I have decided upon a solution," Musashi's deep voice echoed in everyone's ears.
Musashi swept his gaze past everyone in the room. His eyes rested on Caesar for the longest, and the corner of his lips curled.
"It has come to my attention that the leaders of our clan are, in fact, incompetent. Because of this, I will personally host a tournament to replace the current clan heads that don't deserve their position. The fox-kin elites will be able to participate, which includes all of you, which means you will be able to retain your position if you do well in the tournament. I am tired of our hereditary system, and it is time that competency and strength are what make a leader instead of their past generations" his words caused all of those current to open their eyes wide in shock.
CEO in a Fantasy World 3 Page 6
