Suddenly, Max was the first to crack a smile.

"Well then, future father-in-law, why don’t we talk business? I imagine you have a lot to say, coming all the way here to see me personally. I’m honored."

Nobunaga’s violet eyes relaxed, carrying the shape of a smile even though his lips barely moved. "I’m glad we reached an agreement so quickly. The rumors I heard about you were true after all."

He laughed, and the cold tone from earlier vanished as if he were speaking to an old friend instead of a ruler who could become his enemy at any moment.

"Oh?" Max stood up, the chair scraping softly behind him. "There are already rumors floating around about me? How about you take a seat next to me and tell me about them?"

He pointed at the chair beside him with his palm.

"I would offer you alcohol, but your daughter dragged me into her shadow realm before I could prepare anything." Max laughed awkwardly as he sat down first, making his position clear. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Nobunaga did not miss that detail. His violet eyes lingered on Max for a moment, quietly weighing him. He could tell Max was powerful and prideful, the kind of leader who looked like he would crush enemies from the front instead of hiding behind schemes.

Little did he know that Max knew no such thing as shame.

The news about the method he had used to take over half of the Dragon Region had not spread beyond the borders. At least, not yet.

"No problem. I brought my own."

Nobunaga pulled out a bottle from under his cloak. Max’s eyes narrowed slightly. They carried themselves like an assassin family, and if he had learned anything from his old world, fiction, and history, it was that assassins had more than one way to poison you without you knowing.

Noticing Max’s suspicion, Nobunaga popped the bottle open and took a mouthful first, letting a few drops spill from the corner of his mouth without hesitation.

"Good stuff," he exhaled with satisfaction, licking his lips. Then he slammed the bottle onto the table, his violet eyes locking with Max’s. "Where I come from, sharing alcohol is a sign of respect and a pact of alliance. And such a man as yourself, who enjoys his time with women, wouldn’t pass on my beautiful daughter, am I right?"

He grinned.

Max looked at him with amusement.

"So that’s the rumor floating around, that I like beautiful women? Heh... what man doesn’t?"

He picked up the bottle, holding it close to his lips. But then his gaze sharpened, locking onto Nobunaga’s with a seriousness sharp enough to cut.

"I know you could have easily taken an antidote and poisoned this with untraceable poison."

Max’s words made both Nobunaga and Yukino tense up. Yukino’s fingers tightened against her knees, while Nobunaga’s smile stayed in place, though the air around him grew noticeably colder.

"So you won’t drink because you don’t trust us?" the shogun sighed.

"No, I’ll drink."

Max took a large sip of the wine, feeling the alcohol’s sweet taste spread over his tongue. A scorching heat traveled down his throat, surprisingly making him feel refreshed as his mana churned with satisfaction.

Wine slipped down his lips as he lowered the bottle and slammed it back onto the table.

"If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn’t need such simple tricks, and I’m not afraid of a little poison. Future father-in-law."

Max smiled devilishly.

"Heh... what a madman. But you’re right, I have no reason to poison you. Yet I wonder how you know so much about the art of assassination." Nobunaga took the bottle and drank deeply, leaving it half empty.

"Family secret." Max smiled.

"I respect your privacy. And I respect your passion for women. A true man should know how to love many at once, or else the great gift the gods granted us would be wasted. Am I right?" His laughter boomed across the shadow realm, deep and shameless, as if the two of them had not been ready to take each other’s heads a moment ago.

"You’re not afraid I won’t be good enough for your daughter?" Max took another sip of wine, feeling it nurture his body this time.

"I love my daughter, but I understand what it means to rule. If you don’t have a harem of your own, how can you call yourself a man, Maximus?"

"I can tell this alliance will become a good friendship for both of us." Max laughed, his eyes flashing with amusement. "If it’s not a secret, how many women do you have in your harem?"

Yukino remained kneeling, as neither Max nor her father gave her any other order. Her palms rested stiffly on her knees, and her head stayed lowered beneath the hood. She wondered if they had completely forgotten about her by this point.

"Take a guess," Nobunaga smirked with pride.

"I’d say... twenty?" Max guessed honestly. He did not think this middle-aged man was much of a player.

"Pfft." Nobunaga almost spat the wine from his mouth. "Not even close. I have two hundred women in my harem, young man. Yukino is only one of my many daughters, but she is the most important to me, after all."

He glanced at his daughter, and the warmth in his violet eyes was unmistakable.

Yukino’s lips pressed together beneath her mask, but she did not dare to raise her head.

"Man... huge respect to you..." Max felt a little dizzy thinking about a harem so huge. Would he be able to build one bigger than that? How could he even manage that many women without losing his mind?

The two of them exchanged several more words about women and harems before returning to the topic of the Summit of Rulers. In the end, Max agreed to support the Hashimoto Shogunate on one condition. If given the chance, Max would not be shy about claiming the title of Eternal for himself.

Nobunaga agreed without much hesitation, as if he had expected such ambition from the beginning.

"I invite you to come collect my daughter two years from now. We need to build some more trust between our kingdoms first. Then I shall see her off to you with more riches than you can imagine. But you must keep your promise. Until the Summit ends, you will not form an alliance with Britana, Frankindia, or any kingdom that stands directly against us. Otherwise, our deal is off."

Max leaned back slightly, his fingers still resting around the bottle.

"I won’t chain myself blindly, Nobunaga. But until the Summit ends, I won’t stand with your enemies. That much, I can promise."

"That is enough." Nobunaga bowed to Max and stepped into the shadows.

Yukino bit her lip, waiting for Max’s command.

Noticing that, he rolled his eyes. "You can leave as well. Let’s see each other in two years, then."

He smiled gently, thinking about the day he would be able to slide that mask down and take in her face fully.

"Farewell, King Maximus." Yukino bowed respectfully, her pink and violet eyes lingering on him for one brief moment before the shadows began to flutter around her.

Then she stepped into the darkness.

Max saw her off with his gaze, only to feel fire brush past his ear.

The moment the shadows peeled away and revealed the real world, Max was stunned to see Agnia and Rosalia fighting the two women from the foreign kingdoms, shaking the entire room.