Though before Marcus had done any explanations, he hugged his son, whom he had not seen for several weeks.
"How was it going, Troy?" He ruffled his son's hair, who looked annoyed at being teased and nicknamed again…
"Dad! Stop with the hair!" The kid complained as he tried to escape from him, but the Innavotor was even stronger than before; pushing him away was even harder than ever before.
"Hehe, not that easy, is it?" The Emperor grinned at the little guy.
"Mom! He is teasing me again!" The blonde boy complained as he tried to escape the grip.
"Heh, you think she can help you there?" The Emperor grinned for a second.
But then Leila walked over, crossed her arms, and looked at him with an annoyed look; her source of annoyance was not what was happening before her.
As if sensing that he let his son go and decided to send him away to do something else.
"Anyway, go and explore the base, the maids will make sure you don't go where you're not supposed to." The Emperor explained to him as he motioned for the maids to babysit the young Prince.
"I wanna see your new Gundam!" The Prince said with stars in his eyes.
"Sure, then go to the hangar." Marcus nodded as he motioned at the doors.
"Okay!"
The boy dashed away, and three maids rushed after him. By this point, it was obvious that the Prince's behaviour was something the maids were used to.
"Now that Troy is away." Leila walked over, and her finger poked her husband's chest repeatedly.
"I want to know what the meaning of engaging Euphemia AND Marybell?"
"...Umm… well, you see, Euphemia literally started spiking fizzy drinks with alcohol, to try to get my attention." He massaged his forehead as he recalled that event.
"...Uh-huh…" Leila pulled back a bit as she massaged her forehead as well.
"You should spoil them less with your attention. It was your fault that you made them like that." She pulled back and sighed before walking over and sitting down on a couch.
"From now on, Anna, Kallen and I will be rotating to stay with you." The blonde Empress explained to him.
"That is fine. In fact, I did miss my wives." He smiled, hearing that.
"Good. Because we need to catch up." She smiled slightly for a second, and moments later, one of the maids at the base brought some tea and biscuits.
Her mood dropped soon after she heard about Marina.
*Sigh*
"I do need to see this woman, who ended up part of your plans." She said, looking at him with a hint of annoyance.
"Hey. I helped her country quite a bit. In fact, I removed radicals, boosted her economy and showered her with my love. I would say it was a blessing." He shrugged, not seeing the reason to act like it was something bad.
"Yes, while it sounds fantastic, you ignored the woman's heart.
For one, you are from a foreign world. What if she wants her kid to go with her father?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's something called born into responsibility. Marina is a princess, and I am the Emperor of this world." He shrugged, knowing quite well that he was the same; in fact, it was worse for him, for he was exiled to a foreign country when he was small.
The Emperor recalled his circumstances.
"Yes, but you forgot to explain to her," Leila said to her.
"Well, if you think that you need to do something, then do it. I was thinking of slowly revealing things to her." He said while taking a sip of his tea.
"...Sigh." She sighed as she closed her eyes, recalling that her husband loves his dramatic reveals.
"Like always, you love your secret reveals, you do know that they are not good for other people's health." The blonde Empress said with a strained smile.
"Maybe, but she is a strong girl. I don't pick simple ones to be my wife, you know that better than anyone." He smirked, making her recall her circumstances.
Being picked up in the middle of a combat zone, literally the first one to experience his 'relocation' and then being made his wife a couple of years later.
"Yes. Precisely, that is why I know this the best."
With that in mind, she got up from her seat after finishing her tea.
"I am going to see her." Leila then began to walk.
Marcus looked at her while shaking his head.
"Sure, let's go." The Emperor was about to go as well
"No. You go do your thing, I am going to have a girl-to-girl talk." She sharply declined. "In fact, spend time with your son."
With that said, the girl left.
"Legion, notify the forces about Andraste. I don't want anyone to be traumatised thanks to the Goddess of Victory."
[Already done.]
Marcus walked slowly after her, as they were going in the same direction anyway, to the Gundam hangar.
~~~~~~Minutes Later~~~~~~
Not every day phone gets a mind of its own. Marina freaked out when her phone started acting strangely.
But then things got even stranger when a literal winged Gundam landed in her Palace grounds. The defence systems were down, and the stationed mobile suits couldn't power up; it was technologically superior on a completely different level.
Lastly, the machine moved closer to the balcony and assisted its pilot, a blonde woman, in leaving the machine.
Security was about to move, but Marina stopped them.
"Is that you who messaged me on my phone?" The black-haired princess asked, with a strained smile, messaging was the most normal thing her phone did…
"I do apologise for my late arrival at such an hour." The blonde slightly massaged her head as, in her rush, she forgot about time zones.
"I am Leila Anaheim."
Her surname made Marina's eyes bulge for a second.
"Are you…"
The blonde showed her a golden ring she had on her finger.
"I saw one of his women before, it was another… lady with…considerable assets..." The Princess recalled a big-breasted blonde woman on TV sitting next to him in one of the events.
But that was a year ago. It turns out that he does have several official wives.
"Milly, she is a special case with unique…talents. You could say she is his wife because of their shared past." Leila recalled the fellow Empress.
"I see…" Marina nodded as she saw Leila walk deeper into the palace.
The blonde noticed how stiff this Princess was. Clearly, she is lacking confidence. Maybe it wasn't her field of expertise, or it was something new, but she was nervous.
"...Relax. We are on the same boat now." The Empress tried to calm her down.
"I am here to discuss things. I doubt you know everything that is going on."
"...You could say that…" The black-haired Princess looked at Gundam, who was 'staring' at them. She had the feeling that this machine was alive, simply waiting patiently for its pilot.
Seeing that Marina was unnerved by the mobile suit, Leila decided to extend an olive branch.
"Andraste, standby, I will be talking with her for a while."
[Undestood, Empress.] The machine responded in a female synthetic voice.
With the order issued, the Gundam pulled back from the balcony, making the staff and the Princess sigh in relief.
"Empress?" Marina asked, wondering what that meant.
"Indeed. I will explain things. Now, why don't we go somewhere more appropriate?" The blonde Empress asked with a friendly smile.
"... That would be for the best. Please follow me." The black-haired princess slowly nodded as she motioned for the blonde to follow her.
~~~
Marina wondered who this lady was. She arrived here in a Gundam. A Gundam she had never seen before, it looked like a Gundam, but nothing like Celestial Being's machines.
The aesthetics aside, the machine's technology looked different.
Apart from that, this lady looked as if she were from high society.
From disposition to confidence, Leila looked like a ruler.
The pair ended up sitting in an expensive living room. Behind the Princess was her Assistant, who looked at Leila as if gauging her.
"I do want to ask, how do you know about Marcus' life?"
"..."
"I mean, did he speak about his earlier years? Like Academy, or his family life?" Leila asked as she settled into her seat. She crossed her legs and placed her hands on her thighs, like she was sitting on a throne.
"...To some extent, he did mention his other wife… Milly, yes? Apart from that, I knew that there were other women in his life." Marina looked slightly down as she didn't like this part of the conversation.
"Fufu, believe me, I know how you feel. I am one of his first girls… in fact, he kidnapped me from a combat zone." Leila chuckled as she mentioned that.
Marina gawked at her.
"You know… he was making them since he was… I think… 8 or 9… at that age, he was making mobile suits.
So he… well… when he saw me… he sort of was in shock and wanted to have me. Like a tech guy who finally saw something he never thought existed." The Empress said in a voice that was, by this point, a fond memory.
At that time, she was pissed, for sure, he kidnapped her!
"H-He kidnapped you!?"
"Indeed. He was such a wild card back then. I suppose being a ruler made him grow up a bit." Leia replied in a pondering tone.
"...What do you mean by a ruler?" Shirin asked with a small frown. Empress… Ruler… those words, they don't fit with any current known countries in the world.
"Indeed, let's start from the very beginning, and I mean very beginning because it's important. It tells you how Marcus Anaheim, the Emperor of Humanity of his world, found himself on this Earth."
Leila slightly smirked when she saw that expression. Now she knew how Marcus feels when he does his revelations.
"...You mean…"
The blonde motioned to stop.
"Let me explain from the beginning. It's related to your world's ancient history."
"..."
"First, how old do you think the pyramids are?"
The Empress's question got the pair confused; it was quite random.
"...four thousand years?"
"Not even close. At least twelve thousand years. At least. Though Marcus should know because he glimpsed at a far distant past." Leila said the last part with a bit of jealousy; she loves this kind of mystery.
"..."
"Indeed, those are relics from a previous civilisation, a civilisation extremely advanced in sound and spiritually based technologies.
In fact, they used sound and vibrations to build those monuments.
These buildings were so precise that we only recently were able to copy their precision." The blonde spoke in a praising tone. She had an incredible amount of respect for her ancestors.
"..."
The pair continued to listen.
"However, they were quite primitive in many other aspects. While they could observe the cosmos to a great level, they had no means to protect themselves from what comes from space." Leila hinted at something specific, and the assistant picked up immediately.
"...An civilisation ending event?" Shirin slightly narrowed her eyes, and Marina clenched her fist. She was getting into the story and the mystery behind it.
"Yes. Just like now, humanity most likely had several nations, because we found underground caverns the size of a city, while others… were even more extreme."
"...Extreme?"
"Portals to other Earths." The blonde seriously replied.
"!!!"
The pair connected dots.
"...You mean…"
"Marcus has found these portals and reactivated one of them," Leila said with a knowing smile, telling them to conclude the train of thought on their own.
"...So…he is from another world?" Marina does not quite believe her.
"Oh, you can ask him yourself; he should be visiting you soon. Might as well take you on a tour of his world." The Empress winked at her.
"...Umm…" The Princess wasn't quite sure how to reply to that.
"Then what was his purpose in this world? He is the ruler of a different nation, and now he is going to be the ruler of the United Earth here." Shirin swiftly concluded that something doesn't add up.
"Oh, that. You should ask yourself." Leila smiled; it told them she knew what was going on and why he was here.
~~~
500 powers stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
And so on, You know what to do.
~~~
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