The dragon's harem

Unlike Cerilla and Jasmine's room, Isdis's room was much smaller as she didn't spend any time there besides sleeping. She had asked for a cold and dim room away from the sunlight where she could take a nap whenever she wanted.

Besides the large and beautiful wooden door, two maids stood there. The moment they saw Arad, they bowed and opened the door. Inside the room, Isdis was asleep on her bed, wearing a blue nightgown. Beside her, two exact copies of her wearing the same nightgown.

Rey and Ray were using a ring to morph themselves to look similar to Isdis so they could make any assassination attack harder. The maids standing beside the walls were all awake, watching the room like hawks, especially the wide open windows.

Arad looked around, and the maids bowed to him. One of them approached the bed and shook Rey and Ray first. If she had touched Isdis first, the two assassin maids might've acted on instinct and attacked her.

When Rey and Ray opened their eyes, they sat up without even yawning or stretching as if they were never asleep in the first place. But the moment they saw Arad, their expressions relaxed.

"That's not a threat we can deal with," Rey said.

Ray pulled a dagger from beneath the pillow and pointed it at Arad, "We'll fight to the death then."

Arad couldn't sense any threat or malice from them. They weren't serious and never were serious before outside of their work.

"I'm looking for someone, two people, actually." Arad looked around, "All I have is words from Sena and a vague trail to follow. Magic and bodily features."

"Like unbridled beauty?" Rey said with a smug smile. Arad shook his head, and Ray sighed, "Then we aren't the ones you're looking for."

Arad looked back at the other maids, "Do you mind me taking a look at you?"

The maids didn't mind, but they wanted to know what caused this sudden inspection, if it can be called that. If Arad himself is looking into something, does that mean it's dangerous or important enough to warrant his personal involvement?

All of the maids here knew exactly how powerful Arad was. That if he wanted, he could blow the whole world. He was a power beyond almost anything this world had to offer. So he wouldn't be looking for a petty thief or a bad player among the maids. That would be the guard's job, or at least, the queen's job.

They paled as they realized that something among them might be dangerous enough to need Arad's attention, meaning it could evaporate all of them and the castle as well with ease.

Arad noticed them and shook his head, "I don't think it's that dangerous, but they're powerful."

"Powerful, like what?" One of the maids asked, and Arad shrugged, "Strong enough that I'm here. But don't worry, I doubt they mean harm."

Arad then went on and inspected each of the maids, one after another, but he still couldn't find anything. Lastly, he was about to leave but then turned back to Rey and Ray.

Baltos's family was known for having some metallic dragons among them, like Kin and Gin. Would it be a stretch to think that there are many more? Mana Dragons came from the daughter of the metallic god. So they might work for them.

He doesn't see himself working for Tiamat, so it was a stretch to think that Mana Dragons worked for the metallic god.

"It's our turn?" Rey jumped down from the bed. Unlike Cerilla and Jasmine's fully armored guards, Arad didn't need the maids here to strip as he could see much of their bodies without needing to do that- Like their necks, hands, and even legs sometimes.

But Rey was already stripping down, and so did Ray beside her. The two maids were more daring than the other because they were Isdis's personal guards.

"You know you don't need to." Arad sighed, and the two sprawled on the bed, almost waking Isdis up. She had exhausted herself through the day and was now deep asleep. Anything short of a fireball won't wake her up.

To not waste time, Arad started inspecting the twins immediately. Unlike the other maids, the twins were far more athletic than the rest, with defined muscles and a lean build.

Their skin was silky smooth and didn't know any sign of scales, and so did their magic, which was weak like the magic of all humans. Arad could sense the polymorph magic caused by their rings and ignored it. It wasn't what he was looking for anyway.

"You're clear." He sighed, "I'll go and keep looking."

"Please wait a moment!" Ray called him, and he looked back at her.

"What is it?" He asked, and the twins looked at each other.

"It's about the maids. We have a lot of them, enough to run the castle in a stable way, but that is putting a bit of stress on everyone." Rey looked at the maids standing at the walls.

Ray nodded, "We wanted to bring this to Isdis, but she is too busy and always falls asleep right away. Look." She turned around and slapped Isdis several times on the face. She didn't wake up.

"See? Out cold."

Rey finished speaking, "We wanted to get more maids and lower the working hours of everyone a bit. We know that'll cost more and probably strain the already tight budget- but at this rate, they'll be overworked before long."

Arad looked back at them with a smile, "Got it, I'll have some hired. Money shouldn't be an issue."

"Not an issue?" Rey looked at him with a worried face, "How will you solve that?"

"We've been mainly hiring maids and servants from this kingdom, Ruris Kingdom. We didn't hire that much from the other kingdoms." He smiled, "I bet I can get some from there and pay in many ways."

Isdis yawned and opened her eyes, "Arad, you're here..." She rubbed her eyes and looked at him, "Did you want something?"

"I was looking for someone among the maids. It's not a big deal. You can get back to sleep."

She then looked aside and saw the naked Rey and Ray. "Why are you two like this?"

"He was cheating on you with us," Rey replied, and Ray nodded. Isdis looked at them with a tired, bored face, "Really? Good for you. Now, be quiet and let me sleep." She went back to sleep, and Arad headed out to keep searching.

Later, he returned to his room, disappointed. After such a long search, he still didn't find the drakainas. He laid back on the bed beside Merlin and Amber and closed his eyes, thinking about what he'd do next.

Arad was still busy in other places, of course. Selica, Sena, Betty, and Sara weren't that easy to satisfy.