Novel Full Chapter 1469 Rewarded
Chapter 1469 Rewarded
The light faded, and Greenvale’s deep forests welcomed him back.
Quinlan took a slow breath through his nose, filling his lungs with air that carried the scent of pine, damp earth, and the faintest trace of wildflowers from the meadow beyond the estate grounds. It was thinner than the primordial realm’s ancient atmosphere, younger and less dense, but it was familiar in a way that settled something in his chest.
He smiled.
“This is still home.”
His girls emerged from the soul realm portal one after another, stepping onto the grass of the stronghold grounds with expressions that ranged from relieved to content. Vex stretched her arms overhead. Seraphiel rolled her shoulders and sighed happily. Kaelira’s ears twitched as she took in the familiar treeline.
Blossom stepped out with her nose already working. Her nostrils flared in quick, sharp pulls as she catalogued every scent in the immediate area, tail swaying behind her in the comfortable rhythm of a dog returning to its territory.
Then she stopped.
Her nose twitched toward Quinlan. Once. Twice. Her head tilted.
“Master, Blossom smells milk on your lips…” She blinked innocently. “Are there cows in the primordial realm?”
The tender smiles his girls had been wearing turned wry in perfect unison.
Every single one of them knew exactly which ‘cows’ had been drained of their milk in the primordial realm. The two primordial ‘cows’ in question had been clinging to their son with tears in their eyes not long ago.
Ayame’s lips pressed together. Seraphiel grinned at Quinlan. Vex narrowed her eyes at him. “How was the taste, Quinnie?” Kitsara inquired.
“Heavenly,” Quinlan admitted, then followed up by ignoring any further remarks or wry looks.
Shamelessly.
Effortlessly.
He didn’t even blink as he stepped forward.
Before the collective exasperation behind him could find words, movement at the main entrance drew his attention.
The doors of the estate opened, and a line of women emerged in neat formation, aprons pressed and hair pinned, their steps quick and coordinated as they crossed the courtyard. At their head walked Emily, her posture straight and her hands clasped before her, leading the group with a quiet authority that the others seemed to defer to naturally.
The doors of the estate opened, and a line of women emerged in neat formation, aprons pressed and hair pinned, their steps quick and coordinated as they crossed the courtyard. At their head walked Emily, her posture straight and her hands clasped before her, leading the group with a quiet authority that the others seemed to defer to naturally.
They stopped at a respectful distance and bowed in unison.
“Welcome home, Master,” Emily spoke clearly, lifting her head with a warm smile that carried genuine relief. “Congratulations on your success.”
The others echoed the sentiment with murmured congratulations and bright, earnest faces, every one of them visibly glad to see him standing before them in one piece.
Some noted the change in his exterior, but his tattoos were covered, so the most they could tell was the platinum eyes and the slight shift in aura. However, as professional maids, they made no vocal note of it. Such things would have to be for when the maids were done for the day with their work, and it was time to begin their daily gossiping session with many wild and baseless rumors passed around.
“It’s good to be back,” Quinlan replied to their greeting.
Emily straightened further. “Master, I’d like to give you an update on what occurred in your absence, but…”
Quinlan grinned. He’d had an inkling already. “Not much time has passed, huh?”
Emily smiled and dipped her head. “Master, you were away for about three hours.”
‘Three hours,’ Quinlan noted inwardly. Time didn’t pass in the primordial realm during normal visits, but he’d spent days in the Goddess’s domain due to being kidnapped unjustly and then having to be healed when he lashed out and branded the Goddess with his corruption…
Then he also spent over a week locked inside the trial dome with a slutty demoness. Logically, two weeks should have elapsed in Thalorind. But it appeared the dome did not make time pass, at least not at a normal rate, and the Goddess’s realm operated on its own rules. She was the divine administrator of an entire world, overseeing countless systems and duties simultaneously. It made sense for her domain to dilute time so she could accomplish more within each passing moment in the mortal plane.
He filed the thought away while thoroughly ignoring the numerous wry stares still lingering on his lips.
Thoroughly.
He stepped forward, and the maids instinctively straightened, giving him their full attention.
“Before anything else,” Quinlan said, his gaze moving across them, “I want to say something to all of you.”
The playfulness left his tone.
“Each of you came to this household from circumstances that should never have happened to anyone. Anna, Beatrice, you survived the Wraithclaws as vulnerable teens. Dorothy, your husband worked half to death as a construction slave. Eira, the Greenvale twins had you under their boot. And Clarisse…”
His eyes found the eldest among them, the proper, dignified woman who had refused to train children as sex slaves and lost everything for it.
“You chose your principles over your livelihood. That takes more courage than most soldiers ever display.”
Clarisse gulped, the motion full of unsaid meaning.
Then he looked at the final three women, the goblin breeding captives. ” Emily, Ilde, and Cecily, you… It doesn’t even need to be articulated.”
All three of them nodded solemnly, knowing they lived and survived literal hell.
Then he addressed the entire maid brigade. “You’ve been loyal to a fault since the day you entered this house, and I owe you a great deal for it.”
Emily shook her head instantly. “Master, with all due respect, you saved our lives. Every one of us would be dead or worse without you. The debt runs in only one direction.”
“She’s right!” Beatrice added quietly.
Quinlan nodded, already aware of their feelings.
“I hear you. But let me say this regardless. You came from humble backgrounds, most of you with no training in service, no education in etiquette, and no experience running a household of this scale. And yet you taught yourselves. You studied under Clarisse, you practiced until your hands were raw, and you turned yourselves into prim, proper, respectable servants who would not embarrass this house in front of anyone, be they noble, royal, or divine.”
He paused.
“You did that on your own, even though I offered you money to start over as a wealthy citizen of the Vraven Kingdom. You did it because you wanted to thank me, to pay me back in the only way you could.”
A few gazes dropped as emotions crept into expressions that were trying very hard to remain composed.
“Any tyrant from history could explain that the servants who prepare your meals, make your bed, and move freely through your private spaces need to be people you can trust absolutely. And trust isn’t bought. It isn’t forced. It’s earned. You’ve earned mine, and I intend to repay that.”
Cecile, one of the youngest among them, spoke up with a shaky but stubborn voice. “Master, this is nonsense. You could easily buy a thousand servant slaves and use slave magic to ensure they never betray you. Our loyalty isn’t special, it’s just… normal. Anyone would be loyal to someone who saved them.”
Quinlan nodded at the girl. “Maybe so. But magic isn’t foolproof. More importantly…” He glanced back at his girls, who were watching the exchange with soft expressions. “Every one of us can attest to the joy of returning home, and that feeling comes from being greeted by women who smile because they want to, not because a collar forces them to. A bed made with adoration and a bed made with fear might look the same, but how one rests in them is a world apart.”
The courtyard went quiet.
Ilde pressed a hand to her mouth. Dorothy’s shoulders trembled. Even Clarisse, who prided herself on composure above all else, had to look away for a moment to blink rapidly.
Emily’s voice came out thick. “We… didn’t realize our presence meant so much, Master.”
Quinlan simply smiled gently in return, letting his expression do the talking.
He let the moment breathe, then exhaled and shifted his weight.
“Anyhow. I’m speaking too much.” He gestured, and Aurora stepped forward from the group with a small pouch held carefully in both hands. “There’s something I want to address.” He looked at the maids again.
“I want you to support this household for as long as you wish. But there’s a problem with that.”
Confusion rippled through the line. A few exchanged worried glances. Emily’s brow creased.
“Is there an issue, Master?” she asked carefully. “Something that would force us to-”
“Time,” Quinlan replied.
The word landed heavily.
“You are low-level women with a life expectancy of roughly seventy years. With the healers we have access to, that might stretch by a decade or two. But your bodies will still weaken. You’ll grow frail. Your joints will ache, your hands will shake, and one day you won’t be able to carry a tray without help.”
The maids went still.
Clarisse’s jaw tightened. Among all of them, she understood this truth the most intimately. She was the eldest, and the years were already beginning to show in ways she worked hard to conceal. Her hands still moved with grace, but the effort behind that grace had grown quietly, steadily, over the past year.
“The only conventional way to extend your lifespan would be to gain levels by fighting monsters,” Quinlan continued. “But that’s not who you are. You aren’t warriors. You shouldn’t have to become warriors just to keep living.”
He let the weight of that settle before he spoke again.
“Now, I don’t expect eternal service. You can leave any time you wish, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of regardless. But I want that decision to be yours. Not something time forces on you.”
He looked across their faces.
“Do you agree?”