As Marneras and Petrisha arrived at the entrance of the Cube, they began waiting for Yuki and Yamato to arrive as well. While they were on their way, Marneras was visibly stressed.
"Are you sure his lordship is alright? I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to him…"
"Yes, I talked to him. What is it with you and this sudden admiration anyway?! It's so annoying!"
"It's because you are unable to comprehend true greatness!"
"Right, I forgot. Your relentless search for Sublimity…"
"Yes! And in him, I finally found it, I'm certain! He is the very epitome of sublimity! Have you not found a similar admiration towards Lady Yuki?"
"…"
She shrunk slightly back as Yuki was mentioned, like the abused child that she was.
"Anyhow! I am beyond relieved, knowing he is alright! Lady Yuki truly is remarkable. I hope I can be of help in what is to come. I really want to take revenge for this vile attempt on his life!"
"You really are invested in this, huh…"
"Of course! I promised a lifetime of servitude! Even if the life of a human will be but a fleeting moment to me… Imagine if I could extend his lifespan! I would also be able to serve him even longer!"
"You gross me out, honestly…"
"Hm… Well, I don't know how to help with that. Maybe we should go ask Lady Yuki. She seems to have this procedure for you, right? Therapy was how she called it, I believe."
"D-don't you dare mention this to her! Not a word or I swear on my life I will—"
"Alright, alright calm down. I will keep my worries to myself. What happens in these therapies anyway?"
"…"
As her expression went blank, her mind filling with countless memories of the Yuki treatment, which almost solely consisted of death loops, Marneras suddenly kneeled down.
"I'm incomprehensibly glad to see you are unharmed, lordship. All thanks to Lady Yuki, of course, who has my deepest respect."
As the two arrived, Petrisha was forced to snap back into her work mode. Which bordered on a whole separate personality at this point.
"M-Mistress Yuki, we have been waiting here just like you told me too!"
"…Congratulations?"
"Thank you! So, what should we do next?"
"Let's get up to the upper floor. We will be able to talk there safely without any interruptions."
"As you wish, Mistress Yuki!"
Walking up stairs at the edge of the Cube, behind the podest where Carina would be holding speeches from now on, Yamato remembered seeing something like this on the blueprints Yuki gave him but without a purpose attached to it.
"Yuki, what exactly is on the top floor? It's quite a lot of space, that you could have used for more seats to fit more people in the main hall if you wanted to."
"Oh, my silly, beloved Master… But I could not! Because there was a much more important use I had in mind for this space!"
"That being?"
"May I present to you, the most important thing for a glorious, absolutely perfect emperor!"
Arriving at the end of the stairs, she opened a door and jumped through only to turn around and present what was behind her.
"A throne room!"
A red carpet lead across the entire room, from the door a throne which appeared to be made entirely out of gold. However it was not 150 meters wide, nor long, so this room was not the only purpose of the floor. But certainly the most prominent one. Pillars on the side covered by red carped hanging from the ceiling, which only purpose seemed to be aesthetic as Yamato doubted that this structure needed support in the first place, as Yuki likely cheated with the material. The throne itself was rather plain, which was the only part Yamato did not want to complain about, as otherwise he found the scale rather absurd. But the fact that she made this just for him somewhat moved him regardless, so he wanted to live up to her expectations and the image she seemed to have of him.
"Well? Wat'cha thinking, Master? Feeling all thankful and proud of your favorite person in the world~?"
"…Yeah, I sure do, Yuki. Thank you, I'm so proud of you."
"Gasp, truly?! I love you too, Master! And I haven't even shown you the best part yet!"
"What?"
"Come quick!"
Grabbing onto his arm and suddenly teleporting them all in front of the throne, where she pushed him on. As he did, the left armrest folded to the side and a stone rectangle approximately two meters rose from the ground at that side as well, connecting to the throne in a way that Yuki then visually elaborated on. Laying on the stone, she was in the perfect position to rest her head in his lap, while he sat in the throne, which was not at all socially uncomfortable for her, but for him, it felt awkward and probably something he will never willingly make use of again with other people present.
"Look, Master, isn't this awesome!? I look like one of those greek goddesses that eat grapes while on a pedestal or whatever!"
But her excited and proud smile stopped him from expressing his dislike of the function and instead prompted him to just pat her head and praise her more.
"…I-it's great, just what I wanted… Thank you so much… And you do look like a goddess like this. If you want, I can feed you grapes like this sometime."
"Really? You'd do that just for my little roleplay? And it's just what I wanted too, so you're super welcome!"
"Sure… If you would like me to."
Yamato smiled down at her in his lap while wondering how she even came up with that.
"Ahem… Uhm… Mistress Yuki? Was there not something you planned to discuss once we all gathered here?"
"Urgh, shut it, Trishy."
"Y-yes, Mistress…"
"Anyway, Master, I just found her."
"Alright then, bring her in."
Just having arrived in the imperial capital, Lucy was teleported back in front of them by Yuki. Though the scene seemed to be not at all what she was expecting, having only been away a couple of days and already finding a completely new room which she naturally assumed was Yuki's doing. This was supported by the throne scenery Yuki seemed to be so comfortable in. And she did not even see the whole Cube yet.
"Welcome back, Lucy! Sorry for the sudden teleportation."
"…There are many things that I feel I need to say right now… But first of all, what is this…?"
It's a church, obviously!"
Yuki said in such a matter-of-fact-way that if she were not just with her head in Yamato's lap but instead in a more serious position, Lucy would have an easier time respecting her. She then noticed Yamato's slight expression of discomfort, and got the general idea of what was going on.
"…Okay, honestly whatever… Why did you bring me here now? I thought it was of upmost importance to find out about the deity supporting the Holy Empire of Humanity."
"Yes, that is true. But as Yuki just told me, the deity is Natsumi, so there's that."
"And how do we know that all of the sudden?"
"Because they fought. Just a moment ago, actually. But it wasn't a serious fight. She just meant to distract Yuki so she could blow a hole into the castle and try to kill me. Or rather, give someone else the opportunity to without having Yuki intervene. Hana, I'd assume, based on the scale of the attack and our knowledge that they are part of the same faction. I don't see any other candidate right now, but it ultimately doesn't matter. All that's important is that it failed, thanks to the quick thinking of Yuki. Great job, love."
Yuki's eyes beamed with pride and happiness at the nickname and praise. If she had more space, she would roll around right now. But she would fall of, so she contained her excitement for the moment.
"Ahem… T-that's right! It was I, that saved the day~!"
"Alright… So what you're telling me the past couple of days I drove across the country were for nothing?"
"No, I wouldn't say that… After all, Yuki only had time to safe one person in that moment. So if you had been in the castle at that time, you would have most certainly not survived."
"I guess. So what's preventing them from attacking again? She would only be able to save you this time as well, right?"
"Let me explain that to her, Master!"
"…Okay? I don't know why either, so please enlighten us."
Yuki, though against it at heart, stood up and left the comfort of being in Yamato's lap, to perform a little demonstration.
"Ahem… As you all know, except Lucy, I guess, I hurriedly built this place because we were in desperate need of a church! After a certain trio destroyed the last one…"
"I'm sorry, Mistress…", Petrisha said apologetically.
"I'm sure you are glad it turned out this way anyway.", Marneras said calmly.
"Whatever… As I was saying. That was not the only reason! Yes, because in my infinite wisdom and love for my Master, I expected our enemies to use such cowardly tactics! Which is why I prepared this place, as the center piece of his rule and the ultimate fortress, with the exterior solely built out of Divinium! Get it, cause it's divine? I made that up! Though I had hoped to use it to prevent this scenario, not counter it… But yes, it is a superior element with properties beyond your wildest dreams. It's the same material my weapons are made of as well by the way~ Pretty much indestructible and it's melting point is at 1.416784 × 10^32 °C, as that's about as hot as it gets. Don't try to picture the number, it'll only hurt your little heads. However, the temperature must be focused on at least a square meter for five hours, to achieve the effect of melting. As otherwise the energy just gets absorbed. So, dare I say, no random surprise attack beam is gonna harm us in here~? And, since I'm sure you are very interested already, I've prepared a sample for you to experiment on already. Though I could probably tell you everything you want to know about it already. Maybe you will surprise me, Master!"
"What kind of super material is that…"
"Well, it's Divinium, Master!"
"And how did you get that?"
"Obviously, I synthesized my own, using materials from the castle, as you know, and pure mana!"
"…I'm sure it's not as simple as you make it seem… But never mind that. Now that you are all here, Yuki and I will be gone for tomorrow. We entrust you everything else for the day."
"And where are you going?"
"It's a rsther urgent matter, and there's no need to discuss any details. I don't know when we will be back, but it might be less than a day too. So just try to last for as long as possible. Yuki will make a list of task and give them to you at the evening. We are in a bit of a tight spot right now, so please just trust us."
"Alright, I guess…"
"Yes, Sir and Mistress!"
"Of course, lordship, leave it to us."