Arletta was quickly plucked up and whisked away by Hera and Zephyr once the trial was over. The Ebrusian delegation, with far more serious problems to discuss, decided to make use of the mansion I offered them earlier. Since no one had the mental capacity to discuss serious stuff any further, I proposed to schedule the NATO leaders' meeting to take place the next day. Cahrona decided that our family was still too angry to resume our duties and we took the rest of the day off. She was right. The intensity of the recent events left me mentally spent and, while I wouldn't call myself exhausted, I had to admit I was close to it. Certainly Amber and Luna were tired beyond measure.

"She had some nerve..." Luna grumbled and bit her apple as we sat under Yggdrasil.

"She was like most of the so-called gods in the myths of my previous world. How you managed to be remembered as a benevolent-Hestia and not a controversial-Hestia is quite the achievement." I just sighed and nestled myself more comfortably on the thick blanket.

Hestia simply shrugged as she dropped off her light dress and fixed one of the straps of her swimsuit. She let loose her long auburn hair and shook her head with relief as she stepped near a small pond.

"There was still a lot of bullshit I never wanted to happen. Of course, the Romans had to rebrand my cult and create some ridiculous rules that resulted in the horrible death of many young girls. The fact that I chose celibacy was not grounds for killing all those poor girls!" Hestia huffed and took a dip in the water.

"Why do you even choose eternal virginity in the first place?" I asked, intrigued.

"Pfff... Eternal is a strong, and totally inaccurate word for describing it." She chuckled. "I was waiting for you, my Dear husband."

"I'm flattered but I think you just wanted to ignore everything and lie on the couch all day." I chuckled, making her splash water towards me with a giggle. Only thanks to Cahrona, who covered me with her wing, did I remain mostly dry. "Hey! Thank you, Cah..."

"No problem." She giggled but, then, looked at the sky and slowly tapped her lips. "We have to think about something different for you to call me. I don't think I like Cah... Maybe Cate? I just don't know... I want a cute nickname though."

She turned to lay on a blanket and rested her head on my chest. In the meantime, the rest of my wives changed their clothes or set up themselves comfortably nearby.

"Cate sounds a bit better, my Angel..." I smiled at the Succubus and put my arm behind my head as I leaned to take a better look at Hestia and Luna.

"Theon! You can't just betray my elaborate plan, even if you guessed it right." She laughed in fake outrage and looked skeptically at the water until it started slowly steaming. "Now it looks better..."

The Kitsune sat on the bank of the pond and submerged her legs to her knees in the warm water. I focused on Luna and warmly smiled. "As I said, Arletta didn't surprise me in the slightest. I had to rethink my ideas about Earth's myths and legends when I was approached for the first time by the former Olympians. I still don't know if those stories reflected them well, but in every legend there is a grain of truth, I guess."

"I read some entries from the encyclopedia you recreated and it was hilarious how accurate they described the stories your people considered as fiction." Hestia chuckled.

"Still, it's outrageous and preposterous behaviour." Luna snorted angrily.

"By the way... What did you do to Godd- Ekhm... To Arletta when she tried to charm you?" Mia asked as she and Tia prepared a chessboard; they had recently discovered the cabinet where Irene put most of our board games and the twins were taken in by most of them.

"You drained her?" Lavender tried to guess as she walked towards the young ash tree.

"It wasn't exactly a simple Drain," Luna slowly replied. "Yes, I absorbed some of her power and even took more than she would normally spend. The thing is, it wasn't just raw power. I basically took part of her essence which triggered my advancement. It's not a racial skill, or any skill for that matter, but a tool needed for my advancement as a Kitsune? It's hard to explain, but it's not something I could use normally during a battle."

"You stole her essence?!" Hestia was shocked but smiled at the Kitsune. "No wonder your power spiked so much."

"Well..." Luna smiled and wagged her six tails in a fluffy wave of silvery-white fur with shining black tips. "I regret nothing."

"You shouldn't." Amber mused as she joined Hestia in the water.

"Yeah. She deserved that." Hestia nodded with confidence. "One more thing, Luna. Why was she preposterous?"

"Because she could have completely avoided it! For the Heavens, she is a Goddess and he is a prince. You know, she could have negotiated to enlist him into Royal University and he would have found a competent girl who would like him in no time!" Luna put away the apple core and huffed once again. "I bet there would be a line of girls who would like to become a queen one day."

"Most of them would prefer to become the next Empress of Arcadia." Aoi pointed out. "You should talk with them. Some of them are quite crazy about it..."

"Maybe. But some would want it anyway. Ebrus is not the poorest or most backwater country of Aderon. So, if the Goddess promised to bless them forever, they would, then, form an alliance with Arcadia, Metaka, and Iceleon, and their rule would be set for life." Luna stretched out with a far more relaxed exhale than her still-outraged tone suggested and started lazily kicking the water. "That's why it was stupid and preposterous."

"Fair." Hestia shrugged and then she looked at the ash tree. "Just how big is it going to grow, Lavender?"

"I have no idea. But if Yggdrasil keeps growing at its current pace, it will reach enormous heights... Likely, it will be a hundred metres tall in just one year... But..." The Dryad hesitated.

"But?"

"Well... The tree is not only growing in our dimension." Lavender answered carefully as she put her hand on its trunk. "The roots of Yggdrasil reached out to the Dragon's Gate and fed on its flow of mana. However, the flow of mana has not diminished in the slightest - on the contrary, the flow has increased and the Leylines are rebuilding themselves. The trunk is healthy and it drinks water from Avalon's lakes and rivers while also supporting its growth with magic."

"Why do you sound so concerned?" I asked.

"I have no idea where else Yggdrasil is trying to grow." She admitted as she gracefully climbed up the already quite hefty trunk.

Her light and slightly transparent dress waved in the warm breeze and I enjoyed the sight with a smile. Lavender, however, wore a focused and serious expression as she reached toward one of the small branches and she, effortlessly, snapped it. She pressed her other hand to where the branch was attached and, with a green glow that came from her palm, she healed the tree. Without a word, she jumped down and lightly landed on the grass. Lavender inspected the branch she snapped as she slowly moved closer to me and Cahrona. We adjusted to make room for her on our blanket and she handed me the branch. I carefully examined it myself but, no matter how I looked at it, it was just a branch. A slightly heavier than a branch should be and I could sense its magical properties but, otherwise, it was just wood.

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"It's just wood..." I grimaced but she just put her head on my shoulder as she pointed to the branch.

"Exactly." She agreed with a sigh. "Well, a magical tree but still just a tree. Some of its branches reach across time and space to places I don't know. Dark and corrupted places filled with suffering and despair where Yggdrasil's branches wither as the tree tries to stabilise the place. That's why you are holding a dead branch, Theon. This is what living Yggdrasil is like."

She took off her locket and opened it, taking out a short and young twig. She gave it to me and I had to brace with my other hand to support myself as the world danced before my eyes. The small twig was brimming with power unlike the dead branch that was lying in front of us.

"How is that possible?" I asked as I gave her back the twig no bigger than half of a toothpick.

Lavender let the other Empresses examine the twig and they were as astonished as I was.

"Every piece of Yggdrasil is connected with the Tree of Worlds. As the name suggests, Yggdrasil is connecting worlds and planes. But this sapling is young and it's rapidly growing to replace its predecessor."

"Is this something we should be worried about?" Hestia asked as she compared the pieces.

"If you are asking then how should I know?" Lavender sighed and shrugged. "I really have no idea. I feel when a branch needs to be trimmed but I don't know if this is something good or bad."

"Well... We could try to ask Vali." Freya proposed, making everyone look at her in surprise. "What?! He is, or was, a Nordic deity! He should know something about Yggdrasil. Especially since he is the son of Odin and Yggdrasil literally means The Horse of the Terrible One or the Gallows of Odin. Ygg is one of Odin's many names. It's not the only etymology of that word and, while it is interesting, it won't help."

"Oh..." Lavender beamed with a smile and, once Tia handed back her living piece of Yggdrasil, with a thoughtful expression she stood up and took the dead branch. "Let's go and ask him, Freya!"

"Sure!" It wasn't hard to convince her and both of them disappeared.

"I guess she has it under control..." Irene mused and opened a book she was reading.

The rest of the day passed quietly, allowing us to relax and recover. While Lavender did not learn anything substantial, Vali, at least, assured her that nothing could use Yggdrasil without her permission since she was now its guardian. However, he warned her that she had to practise her magic daily because Yggdrasil was empowering her as it grew. He retold Lavender and Freya many stories of Asgard and his own theories about Yggdrasil and Bifröst. The very next day, after a very pleasant night, I was left with Cahrona to draft the accession rules for any country aspiring to join NATO. In retrospect, I should have expected that they would leave me with the problem but I wasn't even sure if it was a problem at all. Cahrona was eating breakfast wearing a special, silky bathrobe that allowed the free movement of her wings. She was seated comfortably in her chair as she lazily finished her cup of tea. I observed her cautiously with a warm smile, causing her to blush.

"W-what?" She stuttered cutely.

"Your wings are getting whiter." I made the observation of the month.

"Oh, right!" She spread them proudly with a feathery sound.

"You are also getting prettier..." I smiled.

"I want to show you something." She grinned and stood up.

She closed her eyes for a moment and, suddenly, transformed. Her amazing white wings turned pitch black as she donned her armour. It was a set very similar to the custom sets of Mia and Tia, however, instead of being silver and gold, it was pitch black with gold details and purple amethysts forming incredible flower motifs. Cahrona held a slim, orichalcum-mithril alloy rapier and a short wand made of orichalcum and dead Yggdrasil wood. She was simply stunning in her armour and it, perfectly, fit her body while revealing nothing. There was no single gap in her armour or a pointless edge in its slim form. From her hips to her knees, it was a black and purple dress split in the middle so as to not block her movement but, despite its fragile look, it was lined with a mithril-based alloy. Even the most vulnerable parts of her wings were now armoured under the light but unimaginably durable adamantium-mithril alloy chainmail.

"Wow..." I was genuinely impressed as I nodded at her. "The Spell Blade... I was certain that no one would be able to use that class but, oh my God, was I so wrong... It fits you perfectly!"

"Thank you." She giggled and once again put on the usual dress she wore to official meetings. As she approached me and snuggled to my side, her smile faded. "But I still have much to learn... My swordplay is not good enough. It's funny, though. I never considered that I could be a warrior class but you were right. I feel far more confident as a magic warrior on the battlefield. I always admired Amber and Irene, who were so relaxed in their roles, while I was always insecure. But now... It's a different story."

"I'm happy for you." I smiled and rubbed her side. She gave me a sensual kiss.

"Let's go, my Emperor, and meet our allies." She winked at me with a warm smile.

"I would rather do something else..." I said and slid my hand on her waist, making her smile.

"Well... If you manage to deal with it swiftly..." She purred in my arms and drew a circle on my chest with her finger.

"I'll hold you to your word." I said sharply and inhaled while she nodded in confirmation.

We moved to the conference room in Triskelion where our allies were already waiting. Theresa was with Victor while Guad was with a mid-rank diplomat from the embassy. They were relaxed but weren't chatting. We took our seats and, after exchanging pleasantries, everyone looked toward me. Even Cahrona, but her smile was very distracting. To my surprise, Guad crossed his arms and sighed.

"It's frustrating, Theon." He started with a serious voice. "There are a lot of things that I would like to keep secure from other countries who would like to join our alliance but I can't name even half."

"I totally understand you." Theresa nodded nervously. "We spent half of the night trying to simply make a list of things we would like to discuss but we gave up after midnight."

"It's understandable." Cahrona nodded with a bright smile that eased everyone. "The unique relationship between our countries allows us to build a lasting peace in the region that will, hopefully, allow our nations to thrive. Any additional parties that would like to join our organisation might disturb our balance."

Cahrona was not just a Spell Blade but also a very talented Diplomat and natural-born Queen. Her racial skills were terrifyingly effective during any negotiations and considering that she, like each one of my wives, had the might of Arcadia at their disposal, made her a perfect choice for any hard negotiations. Even among the friends, her calming influence was a helpful thing, allowing everyone to focus on the matters at hand without being distracted.

"Indeed." Guad sighed and shook his head as he numbly stared at the middle of the table. "I tried to find a solution that would be fair for any new side of the Treaty but I failed. I can't find a balance between defensive treaties and any economic agreements that could follow."

"I must agree with Guad." Victor cringed.

"Why?" I gave them all an incredulous look. "NATO is one thing and the remaining agreements are separate things. Economic agreements, trade deals, and, most importantly, the eventual transfer of technologies and education agreements are wholly separate matters. I deliberately left them out of the focus point of NATO, leaving it as a purely military agreement between the nations."

There was a dead silence in the room as my voice died down while Guad and Theresa exchanged awkward stares.

"Well, yes..." Guad cringed slightly. "But there are things that need to be regulated like the movement of allied armies, logistics, and a, somewhat, unified manufacturing basis which will require some agreements..."

"Don't forget about the danger that some countries might betray us." Theresa sadly shook her head. "It's not rare to find records of allies that turned on each other."

"If some of our would-be allies plot a betrayal, it would be treated more seriously than anything else," I said with a stern voice. "Article five would be enacted immediately and, I can promise you, we will destroy everyone responsible. Between the three of our nations, I can guarantee you that, as soon as I catch wind of something like that, you would be alerted and I will spare no effort to bring justice."

"So you would like to guarantee the upholding of the Treaty?" Guad hummed. "No... What you are proposing is mutual help to even prevent something like that from happening."

"Yes." I smiled but I knew it wasn't enough. "We can always add a caveat to the rules, that if a signatory country betrays the others in the treaty, it would be expelled from the Organisation and receive a declaration of war from all remaining countries of NATO. It might as well be done automatically."

"Hmmm... But what if someone wants us to fight? In that case, it would be easy to stage an attack under a false flag and use an underhanded tactic to destroy our alliance." Cahrona furrowed her brows and put together her hands in a thoughtful gesture. "I believe that we would have to investigate every single case individually and according to the circumstances."

"I must agree with Cahrona..." Guad lowered his head in acknowledgement. "While the solution proposed by you, Theon, is far more satisfying, I'm afraid that your wife is correct."

"Undoubtedly..." I sighed. "Still, the fact remains that the guarantees given by the Organisation have to be absolute."

"In that case, we have to discuss everything separately." Theresa nodded with confidence.

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