When asked what happened to the Humans, Sylvia bowed and said in low tone, "I humbly apologize for my conduct in that regards, Your Highness."
"Hmm?" Lith was slightly confused. Why was she apologizing?
Sylvia elaborated further while still bowing, "I… wiped the whole village."
There was no point trying to hide things. She killed people and accountability was something she had to take.
Fanny and Keith at the side bowed as well when Sylvia said that. They apologized too in regards to them not stopping Sylvia.
Lith was amused by the respect and submission they were showing to him.
Wiping out a whole village was slightly wrong, but really not big of a deal. The Royal Servants had a tacit understanding to not disrupt the world order. They could go and topple any race they wanted, but it wasn't worth it in the grand scheme of things.
Every race was needed, be it Humans or Werewolves.
Their apology didn't come out of nowhere, but it was also understandable as to why they would do so.
Though, what amused Lith wasn't their apology or submission, but the very fact that Sylvia went so far to kill mortals.
From what he knew of her, she was indifferent to everything and the Humans had only just tried to kill a puppy. What was the big deal in it?
Unless…
Lith raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the puppy in Sylvia's arms.
The puppy was sleeping comfortably in her embrace while Sylvia ensured to hold him properly and gently.
'I see…' Lith understood the fact.
Sylvia may have developed feelings for this puppy and it was only natural for her to kill those responsible for harming the little black ball of floof.
If Lith was in Sylvia's position and someone tried to harm his precious snowball, he too would have a similar reaction.
There really was something about these little creatures that made their owners want to protect and care for them. Was it their cuteness? It could be.
Lith remembered a thing from Earth, his previous world, where something similar had happened.
There was a species that could literally go extinct if left alone, but was thriving due to the humans protecting them.
This species literally courted death every single moment and basically ate kilos and kilos of bamboo throughout the day.
This species was none other than pandas. Their literal reason for survival was their cuteness back there.
Maybe the same was the case with Ren and this black lab?
Whatever, it didn't matter much at the end of the day.
Ren belonged to him and there was a natural obligation to protect him. Plus, his mothers were now his lover's daughters and the conviction was much stronger than before.
Looking at the three bowing people, Lith said, "Hmm… you three broke some rules, you definitely deserve some punishment for it."
The three sighed upon hearing that. It was inevitable, but it couldn't be helped.
The three stopped bowing and nodded their heads lightly in response, showcasing their approval.
Lith chuckled and extending his hand out, said, "Behold then…"
Bright light shined on Lith's hand and caught the three's attention.
Soon, as the light dimmed, there appeared… a swatter?
What? Why would the Prince summon a swatter? Did he think they were mosquitoes and wanted to swat them? What sort of weird play was this? The three were really confused.
Lith, enjoying the looks these guys were showing, smiled and wiggled the swatter.
"This is my newest artifact, something I found after great hardship."
Obviously he was lying. This was no artifact, just a normal swatter that he himself put some spells on.
The three, hearing that, actually believed Lith because of how seriously he said it.
Lith laughed internally seeing their attentive gazes and continued on with a wink, "Right, this is called the Unholy Swatter. It's used to punish naughty and holy girls."
"Holy?" Fanny accidentally blurted.
It would make sense if it was naughty and lewd, but holy? That didn't make much sense now, did it?
Keith and Sylvia shot a look at Fanny for saying that out, making her shrink back and lower her gaze.
She accidentally said it, alright? It wasn't on purpose!
Lith, nodding lightly, decided to satisfy the curiosity of these little kittens. "Holy girls are too stiff, they need some love every here and then. Hence, this thing swatts some unholiness in them."
Black lines formed on the foreheads of the three ladies. Fanny cursed herself for asking such a stupid question and the other two were wondering why she would even ask that.
Nobody among the three cursed Lith though as the ones to be blamed were they themselves. It was because this thing correlated with the saying: 'Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers'.
Right after the introduction was finished, Lith got up from his seat and going right behind Fanny, pulled the swatter back and…
PAT!
"Owf!" Fanny exclaimed. It stinged, damn!
The other two were just about to wonder why Fanny would make such a noise when,
PAT! PAT!
Gasp!
The two sucked in a cold breath of air as their buttocks got swatted.
Now they realized that it really did sting!
Hot damn! How!?
Liking the reactions of these three, Lith chuckled evilly and then got back to his seat.
"In case you're wondering why this hurts, I made Fei channel some of her spiritual power into it beforehand. I knew this would come handy."
'SO IT WAS FEI!' Fanny, Keith, and surprisingly even Sylvia had the same thought.
They now knew who was responsible for them getting hurt today and were definitely not going to let things slide.
Looking at their aggrieved faces, Lith rubbed his evil hands, knowing he had successfully incited some chaos among his maids.
Anyway, all jokes apart, it was now time to get serious and finish up with things.
Sylvia had character development and Lith was glad about it. His goal was to have her open up slightly and get to have some fluffy emotions sprouted within her.
This thing was successful and the very proof of it was the black puppy in her hand.
He wouldn't lie, this puppy for sure was cute.
"Coming back to the main topic, Sylvia, the puppy in your hands isn't the cutest, but it surely is very cute. As for who or where the cutest dog is… well…"
Lith smiled and clapped his hands twice.
Space around him fluctuated and there appeared Luna, holding the white fluff ball that everyone was familiar with.
"Woof!" Ren happily let out a shout and jumped in Lith's embrace.
Lith held him and stroking this golden retriever's snow white fur, said, "This is the cutest dog in the world. As you may have guessed, cute is a subjective term and what may be cute for you, may not be on the same level of cute for me."
Sylvia nodded in understanding and the other two did so as well.
Luna stood behind Lith and looked at the three new maids with a smile as she knew that this was going to be a good experience for them.
Finishing up his things with Sylvia, Lith turned to Keith and Fanny. He then smiled and said, "You brought the things I asked you?"
The two nodded their heads. Of course, how couldn't they?
"Where is the water from?"
Fanny took out two glasses of water and said, "They are from the mountains of—"
"Alright, you two failed." Lith cut her off and said with a chuckle.
"What?" Fanny and Keith were taken aback. "But you didn't even taste it yet, Your Highness."
Lith nodded. "I didn't because I know where the tastiest glass of water is found. It definitely isn't in any mountainous region."
The two fell silent while Sylvia and Luna looked at Lith with interest.
Lith smiled and continued, "You three failed the simple test I gave you. It really wasn't that hard and easy to figure out if you didn't overthink."
He then tapped on the table he was sitting by and a glass of water appeared there.
Lith took it in his hands and showed it to Keith and Fanny. "This is the tastiest glass of water… for me."
The three were confused.
Lith elaborated, "The best things are usually what's present at home. You three failed the test simply because you didn't look in the castle and went out to check everywhere else."
"Isn't it common sense that I'd find my own dog the cutest in the world? Haven't you guys seen me hanging out with him?"
The three's gazes went on Ren, who was staring at the black puppy intently.
The three only now realized the blunder they made. They searched everywhere but didn't do so in the very castle itself. It was a pity, but at least they learnt a few things.
"Your Highness, in Sylvia's defense, we all thought that you didn't find Ren the cutest and were seeking the one true cute one." Fanny suddenly chimed in and said.
"Oh?" Lith now had an interested look on his face. "You suggested to Sylvia a few things?"
"Yes— OH, nO, NO NO N—"
PAT!
"Owf!"
Fanny shouldn't have said that!
Everyone had a good laugh at Fanny's misery and with that, the episode of finding the tastiest glass of water and the cutest puppy in the world came to an end.