My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 446: Personal Desire

While Elysia and her friends were visiting Rosa, Emperor Arthur held a secret meeting attended only by his executives and other important higher-ups via a long-distance meeting.

In a heavily guarded study room, the Emperor who ruled over the Aeddoterra Kingdom, one of the six Human Emperors, sat in his seat with several people facing him on the hologram screen.

"The divine group returned today. I would like to know your opinions on what we should do now." Arthur clasped his hands and rested his chin against them, speaking in a solemn tone.

"Your majesty, we should grandly welcome their return. Their group leader is the newly ascended Goddess with good chemistry with us. We can take advantage of this."

"Yeah. Even though they saved the world, they are a very dangerous variable. We need to consider a countermeasure in case they turn their back again on us."

"The Goddess of Blessings will bless us once again. We need to draw the others to our side and utilize their divine powers for humanity’s causes."

"I think, we need to put them under control. A way that can reassure us, but won’t offend them."

"..."

Arthur frowned as he didn’t like the direction this discussion was going. He knew everyone could be greedy for power and afraid of the greater being that could kill them at any time.

Since the world was free from the Ruvoid’s terror, the current world was more or less peaceful.

The Sea God went against the entire world and became a scourge, but they could still handle this threat well. Not to mention, they could gain countless benefits from hunting those clones and minions for those cores and shards.

The Goddess of Blessings had no dangerous offensive skills and was easy to manipulate because of her compassion for humanity. The Goddess of Nature possessed a fatal weakness despite her great combat power, and the Goddess of Life had great restrictions on her divinity.

These three Goddesses could be put under control by exploiting their flaws, just like the Beast God, Polluted Sea God, and Evil God.

The only concern was Elysia. She held the title the Goddess of Magic, but she recruited all the Goddesses under her auspices. Not to mention, Elysia was accompanied by her Goddess sisters. There was close to no information about their true power.

"The difference between the God and the mortal has become thin now. Why do we need to worry when we have a god-slaying weapon of mass destruction? Not even a God can survive it."

"Hum, that’s right. We should act accordingly. Since they returned in peace, then we should welcome them warmly. However, if they went against our favor, then we should eliminate them."

"Just imagine the divine cores they painstakingly cultivated over thousands of years. We can ascend directly to godhood and achieve immortality."

"Aren’t you getting so arrogant now? Don’t try to do anything crazy. Don’t even think about it. I need an opinion on how to please them, not anger them!" Arthur felt angry and his voice became heavy.

"Tell me, can you survive if you anger them? Their followers and believers will not remain silent if their Goddesses are hurt. We haven’t even talked about their servants. They, including the Goddesses, are united under Elysia’s command. She is the calmest and also the most dangerous one! Have you forgotten the situation in outer space after the decisive battle five years ago? She only needs one move, and our world will turn into dust!" Arthur slammed his hand onto the table, emphasizing his point.

He was not a God’s follower like those believers, but he respected the Gods as the strong ones worthy of his respect. Even though there were some concerns regarding the lingering danger beyond anyone’s measure, they should try to gain the Goddesses’ favors to ensure the Goddesses would remain as the world’s Patron Goddesses!

"..." Everyone in the secret discussion suddenly fell silent.

"I’ll pretend you haven’t said anything. I’ll restart this discussion. Share your opinion about how we please them. We need to tie them to this world, especially our kingdom." Arthur tapped his finger on the table as he really needed a lot of ideas.

He was pretty greedy because he wanted to gain all the Goddesses’ favors, and it would all start with the divine group’s leader, Elysia.

Since discussions started again, everyone devised a plan to draw the Goddesses to their side. Once the meeting was over, Arthur closed the intercommunication and turned off the hologram screen.

"Sigh... I feel too old for this. Am I just afraid they will abandon us? If they are a threat, we are already perished for good. Who would have thought those old geezers harbored that kind of crooked idea. That old man will beat me to a pulp if he knows this." Arthur sighed and thought about some solutions.

It might be easier if he could eradicate those stupid people from his kingdom, but they held relatively large authority. It would be a great pain if they disappeared.

"I need to keep an eye on them." Arthur made a decision and got up from his seat as he had several things to take care of.

The Goddesses didn’t want to see him, nor did they want to announce their arrival. That was what Evelyn and Ella said, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t go to meet them.

That day, an impromptu festival was held in the downtown area. The citizens were curious because it wasn’t any special day. The imperial guards could only say it was a sudden folk party or enrollment festival because the Emperor wished to hold a fiesta.

"Hmm, what is that brat planning this time? I just hope those old fools don’t cross their lines." Alexander, the Holy Pope, stared out of the window after reading a letter.

His strict yet grave expression soon melted into warmth with joy when his golden talisman shone, showing a message from his granddaughter.

Ella would visit him at dusk for dinner. The Goddesses would come as well.

"Wonderful! I should welcome them well. But, where are that stupid son and daughter-in-law of mine? They still haven’t returned despite my emergency message? Should I drag them and bring my baby grandson back home now?" Alexander couldn’t contain his excitement. He waited no more and contacted his son via the emergency line.

"Yes, father? I know. We will immediately return once we finish our duty in-" Alfred, Alexander’s son and Ella’s father, responded calmly.

However, Alexander suddenly interrupted. "Leave all your duties for now and return home this very second. You can assign someone to take care of those things. If you still haven’t returned in an hour, I will drag you home."

"Woah, what? This is an emergency line, and you just asked me to go home. I’ll be there before sunset. Can you just tell me the reason first?" Alfred gasped in surprise at his father’s heavy tone. He knew his father would really do it.

"Bring your wife and son as well. I want you to return now. Ella and the entire divine group have just returned, and we need to welcome them well." Alexander laughed while stroking his long beard.

"Uh-huh? Is it real? Then, we’ll be heading back now!" Alfred stumbled and almost fell because the information was so surprising.

He blamed his father for not saying it earlier, but he immediately went to pick up his wife and son as they had to return to the Aeddoterra City’s Holy Cathedral as soon as possible.

---

"Nee, Erina, did you know the people of Vrelenia are blessed with long lives?" Elysia changed the topic and brought Erina to a light conversation.

"Is that true? The average lifespan on Earth is seventy years, so what about here?" Erina was intrigued.

"For those below level 20, that’s eighty years. But, for apprentice-level and above, their lifespan is usually five to six times their level. Unfortunately, despite the blessings of this world, it’s hard for them to obtain an heir."

"Oh, so that’s why the world’s population is relatively small despite living in a super big and wide world."

"Yup. Let’s take Rosa as an example. She is at level 50, and if she stays lazy and nothing happens to her, her lifespan will be at 250."

Elysia pointed to Rosa who was busy talking with He-Dao.

"Gentleman, are you-" Rosa was just about to try to get to know more about the handsome gentleman He-Dao, but Elysia suddenly dragged her into the conversation, and it intrigued her.

"Ah, so it’s like that. Rosa’s age is 27, and she has at least 223 years left to live." Erina felt enlightened.

"Hey, why does that sound wrong somehow? It’s as if you’re trying to calculate when I’ll die." Rosa expressed her protest and rushed to Erina in dissatisfaction.

"Then you need to do something about it. You are a wealthy lady already. At least, aim for a higher level and extend that lifespan of yours." Elysia smacked Rosa’s with a tender headchop.

"Owwie! Okay, I’ll try to focus on my cultivation, alright? That’s just raising my level. Since I’m not a combatant, then several energy cores will suffice to raise my level easily." Rosa held her head.

"What about me, Ellie?" Erina pointed at her face.

"You cheated your way with our technique. You’re at Saint-level by Vrelenia’s standard and almost 6th Rank by Quadtria’s standard. If we use the Quadtria formula, your lifespan is around 768, and 805 by Vrelenia’s formula." Elysia did the rough math, but the numbers weren’t absolute since countless factors could affect one’s lifespan.

"Uhm, I became a hermit without knowing it. Then, what about you, Ellie?" Erina looked at Elysia with a sparkling gaze. She would live a long life with countless adventures with Elysia and everyone.

"There are no numbers that can be used to measure the one who has attained godhood. Our master will live an eternal life. So, you need to cultivate diligently and ascend past the mortal boundary. I don’t want to bury your cold body one day." Yuuki shook her head.

"I see... I will do my best!" Erina was so motivated as she knew the aim and purpose of this conversation.

"Uh, please spare this little mortal a little slack. I don’t understand the divine’s mindset, but I just want to find a husband and build a harmonious family until my old age." Rosa sighed and sat on the sofa.

"Heh, but no one asked you. You may die one day, and we will forget about you." Sylvia smirked.

"You’re so mean as usual, Sylvi. Can you please refrain your devil side from relapsing?" Rosa pretended to be hurt and wiped her fake tears.

He-Dao smiled unconsciously at the random and casual conversation between the girls. He didn’t expect the Supreme One to be so fond of hanging out with people like this, enjoying life. If compared to him, the carefree life was so distant from him.

"Hey, don’t you have an appointment for a duel at the guild arena at three o’clock? It’s already past two o’clock." Amy pointed at the wall clock.

"Ah, it’s time to teach them a lesson, huh. Let’s entertain them then." Sylvia clenched her fist with an evil grin on her face.