Immediately after the speech had ended, Yamato was moved to the former Baron's castle, it serving as his temporary residence now. However he did not plan to stay there any longer than necessary. The transition having gone smoother than expected did not mean there was nothing to do now. He made big promises and upgrading their homes was nice, but would ultimately mean nothing if he could not stabilize the economy he was now expected to manage. He looked at the mountain of paperwork in front of him, which even though the office was quite big, seemed as if it was flooded by even more paperwork. Suddenly barging into the room, Yuki could not care less about minor details such as the creation of new jobs.
"Master, congratulations to your success! I expected nothing less. Though, admittedly my acting skills were not lacking either~ Let's celebrate!"
"Thank you. But I don't have time. This was just stage one. I can only start relaxing in stage three at best."
"Whaaat? But I have so many things planned… Look what I found in the basement! A bunch of gold and jewelry. I want to decorate the wall of an entire room with them and than look at how the light reflects on them!"
A chest overflowing with treasure appeared in front of her. It was so heavy that it shook Yamato's desk enough to make a tower papers fall over, which Yamato just watched happen in defeat.
"Sorry, but no. I need all the financial recourses I can get to finance all the new jobs I have to come up with. Just yesterday this whole city was a place of poverty. Some new buildings won't change that. Though that was actually great. How did you do that?"
"Oh, this and that…", she mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing… I just may have borrowed some energy from Marneras and Petrisha… And extra materials from the church or whatever…"
"Uh huh… Well, good for you. But I believe you will need to find a replacement for the church. That empty space in the middle of town is wasted space."
"Don't worry, Master! I have a vision!"
"…Do you have recourses to make that vision happen?"
"Actually… I was thinking I'd demolish this place…"
"…Sure, whatever."
"Huh? Really? Just like that?"
"Yeah, just like that. I don't need it. Actually, I need it to disappear anyway. It's a bad look and it doesn't help me bring a new image to the town. I don't want to be associated with the Baron and his rule."
"Oh… Okay then!"
"Obviously I need it for a little while longer. But I will tell you when you can start tearing it down."
"Ah, I can't wait for your praise when you see my vision become reality~ Speaking of praise, y'know what comes with praise?"
"…Mild criticism that gets overshadowed by previous praise?"
"Nuh uh. It's a reward~"
"I think praise is a form of reward."
Yuki moved around the desk, turning his chair so he is facing her. The door not even being in his field of view anymore. Her finger gently shushing him as she climbed onto his lap and straddled him.
"Shhh… They are separate things… But you always have to give me both. But only me. When you praise someone else, don't follow it up with any kind of reward. Come to think of it… Don't praise anyone else. Just me~"
"My new position makes that a little difficult… You know, I have to praise people when they do something good, otherwise it will only complicate things."
"Then praise me the most no matter what… Promise."
"I'm gonna scold you when you do something bad… But fine, I promise to praise you more than anyone else. I do have to get back to work now."
"That's no good… I deserve my praise and reward. What if I promise to help you after?"
"I'd say as 'Head of Religion', which you declared yourself as, you have enough work to do yourself."
"It's taken care of, promised. Let's see… Okay, so, if you don't throw me out the window, it means yes!"
"What…? I'm not throwing anyone out a window…"
"Great~ Now that that's settled let's just relax and…"
As Yuki kissed Yamato passionately, not planning on holding back. But, as so often in the past week, plans were altered. A knock on the door and the following entering of Lucy, Marneras and Petrisha made Yuki stop.
"Here we are, as requested, oh chosen leader…"
Petrisha spoke with unusual confidence, which was most likely only because Yuki could not be seen from the door, still being on top of Yamato on the chair that was turned away. Though Petrisha's remark made her peek over the back of the chair. Her eyes gaze threatening and devoid of the love she was expressing to Yamato a second ago.
"Is that sarcasm I hear…That's bad. Such disrespect. And here I thought our 'talk' was thorough enough… Do I need to put you back in that special therapy?"
Petrisha's confidence faltered immediately as she saw Yuki, thinking they were alone. She visibly twitched at the word "bad" and again at the reminder of their last session.
"N-no…! I'm sorry! It won't happen again, I promise! It was just… Uh… Because I was exhausted, yes, I did not mean disrespect! I will be better in the future…"
"Uh huh… Thought so. You and I will still have a talk later."
"…Yes, Mistress Yuki…"
"Whatever, we're busy. Get lost now."
"Busy how…?"
Lucy asked leaning her head to the side, trying to look past the back of the chair. Which is when she saw there position and Yuki grabbing Yamato's head possessively away from their view.
"Busy like that."
"Actually, I—"
Yamato was cut off by Yuki's tightening hold on him, pressing his head into her chest as she leaned over the back of the chair.
"—He remains occupied. Come back in an hour or so."
"But he summond us here…"
"Oooh… I understand. That must suck for you. In that case you can just wait outside~"
Just as she was about to turn back around, expecting them to leave on their own, she was once again interrupted.
"But how could a humble servant such as I, miss the moment where my sublime Lord connects with his loved one?"
Marneras spoke theatrically, sounding so much like Yuki that she wondered if he stole her line. But then she realized she had not used that line yet, which made her feel robbed of the opportunity to be the first to describe Yamato like that.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard right, angel."
"I admit you seem to grasp the greatness of my master intuitively, unlike your… More disappointing counterpart… But make no mistake. If you ask again if you can watch, I will kill you."
She gave Petrisha a disappointed look, who in response just made herself seem small and insignificant, hoping Yuki would focus on Marneras instead. Which she did shortly after.
"I will keep it in mind, and apologize… Know that it is not my intention to disrupt your relationship, but it remains imperative that you let us speak to him now."
"Apology rejected. But whatever, fine, I guess. Your weird fanatic attitude creeps me out."
Yamato could not help but mentally comment on that double standard, but chose not to say anything out loud. Weather Marneras only acted that way to turn off Yuki, or if he was genuinely like Yuki in the regard of devotion, Yamato could not yet decide. But he would keep an eye on it. Yuki did eventually get off Yamato, but stayed behind him and leaned on the back of the chair, as she followed the conversation.
"Anyway… Now that you guys came to an agreement on that, let's focus on why I wanted to talk to you. Lucy, I need you to do research about all surrounding towns and counties. Like last time, I will need many details regarding their government and infrastructure. And if you could get me an accurate map, that would be great."
"On it."
"Great. Marneras, I need you to keep an eye on ohr internal affairs. I want every person working in the castle to be gathered this evening. This place must have a hall or something used for balls or ceremonies, use that."
"Your wish is my command!"
"That… Was a command… Anyway, Petrisha… I didn't actually plan on you surviving the encounter with Yuki… I don't have anything specific for you."
Yuki leaned over the chair to face Yamato by being upside down in front of him.
"Ooh, Master, Master, I know something! She could be a maid! Preferably the lowest rank… But I guess it'd be a waste of her abilities, so I will accept head maid as well… Isn't she perfect for that?"
Petrisha momentarily forgot herself, her pride as an archdemon showing despite just being scolded.
"A maid?! Me?! I'm an ancient demon that has forced entire nations to its knees and—"
Yuki's playful demeanor immediately shifted as she looked up from Yamato at Petrisha, who immediately died down realizing her slip up. Yuki's eyes, even darker than earlier, matched her tone which was devoid of any sympathy.
"Who asked you for your opinion? I could have sworn I just told you we will have to talk about your previous behavior later, and you already fail again? Now we will definitely repeat it."
"N-no… I… I'm sorry… I understand…"
She looked at the ground as she started crying, which she tried to suppress immediately, surprisingly well.
"Well… I'll just leave the decision to you, Yuki…"
"Really? Thank you~! Let's go, Trishy. You and I have some training to do…"
Yuki jumped off the chair exitedly, walking towards Petrisha who was visibly uncomfortable. Yamato thought about stopping her, but then he really thought about it and discovered he could not care less. He also had more important matters to worry about, so if Yuki was busy with Petrisha, he might actually finish something today.
"O-okay… Misstress, Yuki…?"
"What?"
"N-nothing… It's just… Everytime you call me Trishy, it feels like you say trashy… It's not the name itself, but more the tone…?"
"Oh, you noticed? Great job! I had no idea know you understood things like that. Dumb and worthless as you are."
"I… Uh… Thank you…"
"You're welcome. Now stop talking unless spoken too, or if you have something important to say."
As Yuki closed the door behind them, Yamato was alone again. Finally able to continue his work. In retrospect, he did miss Yuki a little. Even if she would have hindered his work a little, her help would have actually helped him in the end. And her company was nice. Next time, he would ask her to stay instead.