"Did you manage to extort him?" Freya asked as they were now floating above the movie set, suspended in the air with Lucius’s spatial manipulation holding them steady... Lucius had teleported there immediately from the office after she’d urgently tugged on his sleeve.

She had needed to go to the restroom desperately while he was laughing maniacally, and waiting any longer would have resulted in an embarrassing accident so she didn’t know if he had managed to collect money from that man.

"Of course, I’ll never forget something as basic as extortion." Lucius replied with satisfaction, a slight smirk on his face. "I’ll report his experiments to Selene directly when we join up with them at the hotel. She has connections in the government that can bury him legally."

He planned to completely eliminate the guy from the picture using Selene’s Guild which had considerable legal and political resources that extended to the highest levels of Avalon’s government, and if Matthias was dumb enough to take it to the regular police instead of accepting his fate quietly... then he couldn’t be considered wise at all.

"I got five billion royals give or take... turns out that guy is absolutely stacked with wealth from years of illegal operations." He said casually as he floated downward to the ground below where he could see the girls gathered near the church building.

The fog had completely cleared now and soon his feet touched the cobblestones gently and Villy was running at him excitedly with her arms outstretched while Lala and Arianne were following behind her at a more dignified pace.

"Welcome back, Master Lucius." Lala said sweetly and then she gave Freya an annoyed look that could have frozen water.

It didn’t matter if she was being ordered to do this sabotage or not... that didn’t change the fact that some of the staff was still in psychological shock while she had quite some substantial bills to pay to erect the new fan as well as maintain the fog machines and repair the structural damage.

Freya got down from Lucius’s arms immediately and curtseyed with grace despite never having been taught formal etiquette, her small frame bending low as her face twitched awkwardly.

Her green hair fell over her face as she bowed deeply, almost touching the rough cobblestones with her forehead in a show of deep respect.

"I know my actions have been very troublesome and there’s no way I can simply repay you back for the damage and trauma I caused to you and your crew, but I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart." She said with genuine remorse trembling in her voice as her hands clasped in front of her. "I was ordered to do those things but that doesn’t excuse what I did. I’m sorry."

Lala’s annoyed face twitched as she looked at the small child bowing so formally, clearly feeling conflicted.

She wanted to stay angry but it was hard when faced with a young girl who’d obviously been abused... However, Lucius placed a protective hand on Freya’s shoulder gently and then turned to address Lala directly with his full attention.

"How much do the damages cost...? The money to erect the new fan and whatever she spoiled during the attack... I’ll send it over immediately so you can get the set up and running again." Lucius said and she immediately waved her hands frantically in front of her chest.

"N-no, you don’t have t-"

Arianne gave her a sharp look and she let out a helpless sigh of resignation. As much as she didn’t want to charge Lucius or seem like she was taking advantage of his generosity... she had no choice given the production company’s budget constraints.

"I think..." She pulled out her phone and began using the calculator app with focused concentration, her thumb moving quickly across the screen. "700,000 royals would suffice Master Lucius, we will mount the new fan... buy a spare for future emergencies, maintain the whole pla-"

"Your QR code? Or account number?" He interrupted, already pulling out his own phone.

She opened her bank app with a few taps, letting the QR code show on the screen.

He immediately scanned it with his camera and sent the transfer over without hesitation... Lala’s phone chimed loudly as a notification appeared showing that a total of 1 million royals had been deposited directly into her account.

"H-huh... Master Lucius, this is too much..." She said with wide eyes, staring at the number on her screen in disbelief.

However Lucius gave her a charming smile as he scooped Freya back up into his arms effortlessly and then scooped Villy up with his other hand like she weighed nothing.

"Freya is my daughter now... it’s the job of a father to clean up after his children’s mistakes." Lucius said with finality. "I hope we meet again soon... It was quite a fun experience being in Hollowmire despite the chaos."

That statement made the dwarf’s face widen with surprise and he turned over to Arianne that was standing in shock that he was looking directly at her for the first time since he’d returned from confronting Matthias.

"Thank you as well, for being kind to Villy during the tour."

And with that simple farewell, Lucius teleported and left the two women behind standing on the cobblestones... Arianne collapsed to her knees immediately.

"Fuck! I forgot to ask him for a picture to post on my social media." She let out and whimpered pitifully as Lala patted her shoulder sympathetically and comforted her.

"At least he remembered you existed this time," Lala offered weakly.

---

About an hour later, Lucius was in a serious dilemma that he hadn’t anticipated.

"Papa... should I have this dress or this dress?" Freya asked while holding up two different options for his consideration.

They were standing in a brightly lit section in the New Avalon mall dedicated to getting children’s clothes, surrounded by racks of colorful outfits and displays showing happy children modeling the latest styles.

Right now, Lucius was meant to make a critical fashion choice between two beautiful dresses that would both fit her nicely based on the size tags.

One was a soft blue with white lace trim and the other was a sunny yellow with flower patterns.

’Where’s Villy when you need her?’ He thought desperately, realizing he was completely out of his depth. He could fight A-rank monsters without breaking a sweat but children’s fashion was a different beast entirely.

Then he remembered... Freya didn’t have any undergarments at all since she’d been living in a sterile laboratory wearing only the bare minimum of proper clothes, so Villy had taken it upon herself to go to the intimate apparel section on the other side of the store and get them for her.

He couldn’t do the same because he felt very weird and inappropriate about a grown man browsing children’s underwear alone, like he’d be arrested just for being in that aisle without a female companion.

Lucius cleared his throat awkwardly and shifted his weight.

"Just buy the both of them." He suggested for what felt like the hundredth time, and she shook her head with determination.

"Papa, you said that ten times now. My cart is almost overflowing with dresses." She said as she brought the first and second ones forward for him to examine more closely. "So Papa, which one do you actually want...? The blue one or the yellow?"

Lucius let out an exhausted exhale. "Take the yellow one. It’ll fit you a lot better with your complexion."

She dropped the blue dress back on the rack carefully and happily placed the yellow one in the growing pile in the cart.

"I liked the yellow one too papa..." She said as she pushed the cart forward a bit with both hands and they moved to the hats and accessories section pretty quickly, navigating around other shoppers.

"Again... What do you need a hat for?" Lucius asked as he looked around at the overwhelming selection of headwear ranging from practical to ridiculous.

"A disguise... you’re using a disguise that covers your distinctive hair color and that makes your face look different from the wanted posters all over the world." Freya said while reaching up to take down one of the caps from the upper racks with her small hands, it was a beanie cap in dark green that would cover her hair completely. "Since I’m your daughter now, I’ll need a disguise too Papa. What if someone recognizes me from the lab?"

"Didn’t we kill everyone from the lab...?"

She paled immediately.

"Just to be sure papa..."

After that, she wheeled the cart forward and took another hat from a different display entirely... this one was a pretty large hat with a wide brim that looked like it belonged to a witch from a children’s storybook or a fantasy movie.

It was black with purple trim.

"Any particular reason for that one though...?" He asked.

She looked up at him and tried putting on a pleading expression, though the keyword was tried... her face squeezed strangely with exaggerated puppy dog eyes and trembling lips, and she looked more like she desperately wanted to use the bathroom rather than beg cutely for a hat.

The expression was so distorted and disturbing that she practically scared him into agreeing just to make her stop making that face.

Her face went back to normal immediately, looking pleased with herself.

"Please papa... I really like this one." She said earnestly as she dropped it carefully on top of the cart, it was the last accessory she needed and just then Villy came running down the aisle at full speed like she was being chased, holding several pairs of bras in one hand raised above her head and multiple packages of panties in the other hand.

Other shoppers turned to stare at the girl sprinting through the store with armfuls of underwear. Lucius cringed visibly as he saw her approach looking absolutely ridiculous.

Villy skidded to a stop beside them, breathing hard, and placed all of the undergarments into the cart as well, dumping them unceremoniously on top of the clothes pile without any attempt at being subtle.

"You know you looked like a pervert just now right?" Lucius asked flatly, and her face reddened immediately with embarrassment as she realized how she must have appeared.

"I was just... hurrying up so we wouldn’t be late for meeting the others at the hotel." Villy said defensively while tapping her foot on the polished floor shyly, looking anywhere but at him or the growing crowd of amused onlookers. "The line was really long at the fitting room consultation desk."

Freya gave her a grateful bow, completely unbothered by the attention.

"Thank you very much for your help, Villy."

"You’re welcome my lady." Villy said formally. "So are you going to test out these clothes in the changing room? I’ve analyzed all of them and they should fit you nicely, Lady Freya."

Freya gave her a nod and Lucius’s phone pinged with an incoming message... Selene had just texted him that she and the others had arrived at Moon Hotel 5 and were waiting for the two of them at the rooftop pool.

He placed his phone back in his pocket and looked at the two girls. "Let’s head to checkout now."

They wheeled the cart toward the escalators and rode downstairs to the checkout area on the ground floor, the cart bumping slightly as they transferred it from escalator to floor.

There was a noticeable lack of visible security guards as everyone shopped naturally and peacefully so one would think that they could easily get away with stealing merchandise and walking out, but Lucius could sense the multiple Awakened guards watching everybody from concealed positions throughout the store and waiting patiently for someone to fuck up and try something stupid.

They reached one of the four checkout counters available and the receptionist gave them a professional smile, her name tag reading "Sarah."

"Please let me scan everything for you..." She said cheerfully as they began placing the contents of the overflowing cart atop the desk and she used a handheld scanner to scan the price tags before placing each item carefully on the bagging side of the counter. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

A toothbrush and other bathroom necessities like soap, shampoo, conditioner, and a hairbrush were added to the growing pile of clothes as well during the process. Freya watched the total climb on the register screen with wide eyes.

After several minutes of methodical scanning and beeping sounds, she showed him the final total on her register screen.

"Sir, that will be 46,000 royals." She said and he handed her his black credit card without hesitation or even looking at the number.

She swiped it through the machine and it beeped approval, and soon they were walking out of the New Avalon Mall with Lucius holding two large shopping bags full of everything they had bought while Villy carried a smaller bag with Freya’s toiletries clutched to her chest.

"Now we will be heading to meet the other girls at the hotel." He looked down at Freya seriously, making direct eye contact. "I want you to be on your absolute best behavior when meeting them. They’re important to me."

"Okay Papa, I promise." She gave him a firm nod of understanding and instantly in front of several people making their way toward the mall entrance through the automatic sliding glass doors, the three of them vanished into thin air without a trace, leaving behind only shopping bags floating for a split second before disappearing.

---

They reappeared at the top of Moon Hotel, specifically on the luxurious rooftop that had been converted into a private resort area, and it seemed all the girls were gathered here to relax as they were in their various swimsuits and lounging in the large pool that overlooked the city skyline.

The sun was setting, painting the sky in oranges and purples.

Luna was doing laps in the pool while Amber sunbathed on a lounge chair. Vanessa was reading a book by the poolside.

"Welcome Dar-" Selene started from where she was floating on her back in the water, however her words hung in her throat as she looked over at Freya standing next to Lucius... the small girl was standing there cutely and trembling slightly under the sudden attention of multiple powerful women. "Who is she?"

"My daughter." He simply said as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and he swore the air got noticeably heavier as several girls stopped what they were doing and glared at him with various levels of suspicion, confusion, and outright accusation.

Luna stopped mid-stroke in the pool while Amber sat up abruptly and Vanessa even lowered her book.

However Freya raised her small hands on each side in front of Lucius protectively in an attempt to physically shield him from the intimidating glares, like a tiny bodyguard protecting her charge.

"Papa saved me from a bad place where they did experiments on me... and he made me his daughter legally... Please don’t be mad at him." She said with genuine desperation in her voice and the terrifying auras receded completely as if they never existed in the first place and the oppressive pressure practically vanished like morning mist under sunlight.

Selene left the pool first with graceful movements, water falling off her athletic body and her silver swimsuit, and shook her silver hair making it sway beautifully in the evening light, droplets flying.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Selene said as she walked toward them dripping wet, her bare feet leaving wet footprints on the tiles, and Freya found herself captivated by how beautiful this woman was, like a goddess stepping out of sacred water in ancient myths.

Lucius on the other hand grinned internally with satisfaction.

’It’s time to secure the final part of the plan.’ He thought while hiding his satisfied grin behind a neutral expression.

He would use Selene and her Guild to completely put Matthias out of business permanently and make sure the fucker wasn’t able to launch another experiment again on innocent children... eliminating any future contender for his own plans while also appearing heroic.

"Ah darling." He started with his most charming smile, making her cheeks redden noticeably despite her attempt to stay stern. "You won’t believe what happened today..."