Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

"Not exactly. I was running and flying so fast that I didn\'t pay attention to anything. Why do you ask?" he wondered with a curious and confused look on his face.

"Did you… also, enter the throne room in the dream?"

"I was on my way to the throne room when I decided to slap myself. What\'s wrong? You look… scared…"

"That was not this palace, but an exact copy of this one, or rather, this palace is the copy of the palace where great grandmother, Queen Nyxia used to live."

\'You mentioned this when we were taking a bath. But still, why do you think that was Nyxia\'s palace? It could just be a normal dream, you know?"

"I am not sure if that was the old palace. But dreams are never normal. We, vampires, believe that dreams are a way to the netherworld. Some call it dreamland, but that\'s a cute name. The real place is not as cute as it sounds.

Many used to dream walk in the early days after this world was created by the Lord. Dreamwalk is as it sounds; diving into dreams and controlling them."

"I think we humans call it Lucid dreaming."

"I don\'t know much about dream walking as it\'s obviously a forbidden knowledge. But you should ask Queen Nyxia about it."

"Yeah, I will do that."

Rudy kissed Jane on the lips and then on the forehead before leaving the room.

\'Why would someone make a big deal out of a dream? I get it; it\'s a cultural belief for the vampires, but I am a human. Still, I will ask Nyxia about it if I get a chance.\'

Rudy made his way to the royal hall, which was filled with colorful lights and decorations from the start of the hallway.

While he was walking, someone hugged him from behind, and he knew it was Rias without even looking.

He pulled her in front of him and chuckled as he said, "You used to jump onto me like this when you were in the human world."

"Yeah."

"Where is Jane, by the way?" Rias asked.

"Changing."

Rias looked at Rudy\'s open long hair and asked, "What\'s with your hair? If they see you from behind, someone will mistake you for a girl."

"I think I should cut them. I don\'t have any need for long hair, and it\'s actually quite troublesome to have them. My respect to the girls with long hair."

Rias got behind Rudy and did a basic hairstyle for Rudy.

"There you go~"

"You know everything, unlike Jane…"

"Yeah, she is a spoiled brat."

"I just imagined how she would have acted when she was ten years old."

"Oh, don\'t remind me of that." Rias let out a weary sigh and shook her head as she said, "Her rebellious phase was…. Rebellious."

"..."

They both entered the hall together, which was filled with royals, nobles, elders, Rias\' friends, and a few guests.

However, most of them didn\'t care about Rias; they only came to eat, drink, and celebrate.

Rudy glanced around to look for Nyxia, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Nyxia?" Rudy asked Rias. "And what did you talk about with her?"

"Just random things. She asked how I was feeling and checked my body to ensure everything was alright."

"Did she mention anything about me?"

Rias squinted her eyes and said, "She did. But that\'s personal, and I am not going to tell you."

"Fair."

"And I asked her if she will be at the function tonight, but she said she will sleep early because she has something to do in the morning," Rias responded calmly.

"I wanted to ask her a few… many questions, questions. But they can wait. I am not dying to know."

"What are they? I may not seem like one, but I have acquired knowledge from her. She told her the tales of her adventures, and this world changed drastically every thousand years."

"Oh, no. It\'s not about knowledge." Rudy hugged Rias from behind and whispered, "She made a few requirements to join my harem, and her first one was that I will have to convince you."

"Heh!" Rias leaned back and said, "She is just playing with you."

"What do you mean…? Don\'t tell me she never plans to join my harem!" Rudy slowly moved his hands to Rias\' chest to squeeze her breasts, but Rias smacked his hand.

"Nyxia herself told me that she wanted to join my harem but needed a reason. Love is not enough for her," Rudy added.

Rias raised her brows and squinted her eyes as she glanced at Rudy from the corner.

"So you get invested in a girl who doesn\'t give you much attention, huh? Maybe I shouldn\'t have agreed to join your harem on the first day and caused some unnecessary drama."

"They thought the same would happen," Rudy scoffed softly.

"Who are they?"

"You know, Virgil, Jane, Nyxia, Niti, Vriti. They were worried about only one thing: you learning about my relationship with Jane. Say, are you actually angry at Jane?" he asked calmly.

"Obviously. She is my twin sister, and she did the worst thing a sister could ever do to her sister— to steal her lover. I have every right to be angry at her, do I not?"

"I am not talking about that. I meant… uhh… \'hate\' would be an accurate word for it?"

"Oh!" Rias exclaimed and shook her head. "No. I am not that angry. It wasn\'t entirely her fault as I have known her since birth. She was never interested in Love and romance."

Rias walked to the food stalls, and Rudy followed her behind. She handed Rudy a glass of blood moon milkshake and took one for herself.

"And you also confessed that it was you who made moves on her, so technically, I should be mad at you, not her," she said while sipping a milkshake.

"Oh, spare me, my dear wife."