RISE OF EROS

Andrew thought for a moment how to answer the emperor's question, but quickly abandoned any idea of convincing them that he had no ill intentions towards the country.

He had already noticed that no matter what he said, the emperor and the ministers present would not believe him, so he decided to tell the truth, and if they believed him, he would take it as a victory and if they didn't, well he would think about it later.

"Since the emperor asked me directly, I will answer in the same way. My goal is to create a business empire in the adult industry," Andrew said calmly, but his tone showed determination.

The unexpected response surprised everyone. Even these great people with enough experience could not hide the surprise and seeing it, Andrew smiled. The emperor was the quickest to recover and immediately asked, "How do you intend to do that?"

"It's simple. I think the emperor already knows that I am expanding. I currently have Heavenly Palaces in this city as well as in the capital of the kingdom of Dunnas, the Star City, and will soon open in the capital of the kingdom of Tampilla," Andrew replied while maintaining his relaxed tone.

Everyone present had already come out of their state of surprise and was now evaluating Andrew's words. Because of all the years of experience in politics and negotiations, they felt that Andrew's words were true, but they still did not believe him.

The reason for their distrust was that they didn't understand why Andrew was telling them his plans so easily. This is the problem with politicians, they are always thinking that there is some conspiracy behind everything.

Andrew didn't really blame them for that, because he knew that these were the leaders of the country, so it was understandable that they were suspicious. He has never run a country, but his business and management were no different, just on a larger scale.

However, while he was thinking this, the emperor asked a question that surprised him, "Why do you tell us your plans and movements so easily?" Andrew's surprise was not the question, but the implications.

Just think about it, who would ask that when you know they can lie to you and you don't trust the answer? There was only one reason and that was that the emperor to some degree believed what Andrew told him and that was a great opportunity.

If Andrew could get the emperor to believe him, the relationship with them would soften and the problems in Cannaris would diminish a lot, even so, Andrew did not try to gain his trust, he just continued to tell the truth.

"Why would not? The fact that you know this does not prevent me from running my business and it is not information that you cannot obtain on your own." At Andrew's words, the emperor remained silent as if thinking about something.

In that moment of silence, Marquis Valoide intervened by asking a question, "What about Candice and your other women?" Andrew wrinkled his eyebrows at the question and responded a little angrily, "They are my wives, address them as that"

Andrew's annoyance caused some of his power to leak out and although he did not release divinity, everyone present immediately noticed what Andrew's inverse scale was.

However, Andrew was also aware that he had shown them his weak point, so with a cold tone, he threatened, "Let me be clear, I have no ill intentions towards you or the empire, I have no reason to lie and honestly, I am not interested in what you do, but my wives and my people are off-limits."

For some reason, Andrew's threat felt dangerous. The emperor and Minister Zelfit who was the strongest in the room felt that it was not the presence of a small expert as they had thought.

Andrew hadn't noticed it, but even Demon and Arturios who were hiding in the shadows of the room, felt Andrew's threat. Despite that, the emperor was not a weak-willed person, so releasing a bit of his aura he asked in a threatening manner, "Is that a threat?"

Andrew did not back down and with the same tone responded, "Take it as you will." The tension increased with those words and it seemed that a battle would break out at any moment, but what most disconcerted the emperor, Minister Zelfit and the two guardians of the empire was Andrew's calmness.

They couldn't figure out the reason why Andrew was so calm and self-assured. It was obvious that he was surrounded by powerful experts and could be easily killed.

At that moment, Arturios remembered the surge of divinity that he felt some time ago. He immediately became serious, because before he was not sure, but now he firmly believed, that Andrew was or had a demigod-level powerhouse with him.

This was a big problem because although it was impossible for them to hurt the emperor or someone from the royal family, causing problems for the empire was possible. Feeling that this was a bad scenario, he decided to show up.

The ministers and the emperor knew that the two guardians of the empire were present, but they were surprised that Andrew remained calm even with the appearance of Arturios.

"You're not surprised to see me, are you?" Arturios asked calmly, looking seriously at Andrew and he responded, "I knew you were here. I also know that there is another guardian still hidden."

This statement put everyone on alert, because not even the emperor, who was the most powerful of them, could sense the presence of Demon and Arturios, so this demonstrated Andrew's ability, but this is not his ability, it was just that Fluffy had told him about them.

Arturios, although surprised, did not show it and continued to ask, "So you could escape from here without problems?", and Andrew responded, raising the stakes, "Not only could I escape, I still can. In fact, if I wanted to, everyone would be dead in a few seconds."

If his previous words were alarming, these were cataclysmic. It was certainly a dangerous move, but Andrew was already starting to get tired of this game of appearing weak, so he decided to be aggressive.

Unexpectedly, Arturios didn't have any change of expression and instead, he asked a question again, "So you really are the owner of the divinity that I felt a while ago, right?"

Arturios had only mentioned this to Demon, so the emperor and the ministers upon hearing this opened their eyes wide in surprise. What they didn't expect was that Andrew would be as surprised as they were.

He didn't remember releasing his divinity in Cannaris, so he didn't understand what Arturios was talking about, but Fluffy clarified the situation, "Master when you released your divine seal some divinity leaked out. That must be what he's referring to."

Understanding what Fluffy said, Andrew nodded, but it was not to confirm Arturios' words but to show that he understood what Fluffy said, however, everyone present misinterpreted it.

Noticing this, Andrew decided to clarify, because although it was true that he could give his body to Fluffy and destroy everything, he did not want them to think that, especially because this trick had consequences. It was better to have a hidden card.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not a demigod, I just have my ways." Although ambiguous, Andrew's words were still effective and then everything changed. The emperor and the ministers who previously felt superior were now worried.

"Why, having these methods, do you want to create a commercial empire?" Arturios asked, he did not seem scared. At this point, it seemed that only he as a demigod had the qualities to speak with Andrew on equal terms.

"Is there a problem with that?" Andrew asked rhetorically and then added, "Everyone does what they want and this is what I want to do. I have already explained it to you on many occasions, I have no enmity with you, I just want to do my business, but that does not mean that I will be passive all the time."

It was a fragrant threat. Andrew had gone from being scared by this call to leading the conversation. He was a little slow, but he was beginning to realize that he didn't have to bow his head to anyone, he was the future god of sex and eroticism, so he wasn't the most noble thing in this world.

Certainly, his threats were somewhat empty, since he depended on Fluffy and that had consequences for him, but even so, he thought that this aggressive approach was the best option at the moment.

At that moment Arturios spoke again, "Certainly, you can do whatever you want as long as you maintain law and order, but you must also understand that you are a danger to us."

"I understand your concerns, but tell me, have I ever done anything to harm you?" Andrew suddenly asked and without letting them answer, he spoke again, "You were the ones who marked me as a danger despite having helped you. I understand your concern about having someone like me who can threaten you around, but again, if you don't bother me, I won't harm you, quite the opposite."

This last phrase caught everyone's attention because Andrew was throwing them an olive branch to make peace and Arturios reacted immediately by asking, "What would that be?"

"First of all, my business will grow, so the economy will improve. I will only focus on the adult industry, but I have a lot of good things that you can benefit from," Andrew responded.

He paused and added, "My wife is a merchant too and she is expanding, so, in the future, you will be able to enjoy products that you couldn't before, and maybe in the future even establish international relations with our help."

When the emperor heard this, his eyes immediately lit up, because these were certainly great benefits and he could not contain himself, so he asked, "What products or what relationships?"

Andrew smiled at the question because he knew that he had won the negotiation and to seal his victory he said, "Well, how does it sound to have friendlier relations with the Amazons of the Black Forest?"