"Revenge? Well, in a way, I will." Marcus replied. He was a bit cryptic.
"You Royals never do it simply." Leila shook her head. She was expecting something similar.
"Well, after what happened to me and my sister, you could say that I would shout something like 'I will destroy Britannia', and all that stuff."
"I was expecting that, yes." She nodded, playing along.
"But what I will do is crush the whole Empire with overwhelming might."
"..."
Leila wanted to comment on how the empire is around ⅓ of the whole world, and it has the most advanced military in the entire world.
But after seeing what his machine can do… she is no longer on the Britannian side in this very specific conflict. She is leaning towards the Prince's technological prowess.
"So you want to crush your Father's Empire… how do you even do that? Fly to their military bases and blow them up?" She joked, but then midway she realised that he can do that… and most likely be successful in doing that.
"...I don't need to do any of that." He shook his head.
"This is Japan, the only place in the whole world that surrendered to Britannia."
"And what does that suppose to mean?" Leila frowned.
"It means that this land is a full bed of rebels and insurrections, and my dearest brother is incapable of handling them."
"So you are going to use them in some way…" The blonde nodded, realising what he meant.
"Indeed. I will simply join the fun, along the way… make Britannians terrified of the idea of even going to a conflict in fear of the mysterious machine joining the conflict and destroying their military assets."
"...playing with the prey. I see…" The blonde realised what this vengeful prince was thinking.
"And what should I do? My Prince?" The girl playfully bowed, expecting him to be annoyed. She does want to get back at him!
He shot her, AND THEN kidnapped her from the army! One thing is that she should be pissed, but that didn't manifest from the sheer terror and awe she had for his talent and creations. One thing is for sure: she should be careful.
But it doesn't mean she can't bite back from time to time!
"Hah, no need to be so coy with me, Leila. Though I do find you more beautiful when you try to play like that."
His response made her blush. The girl got flustered for a second, but then she coughed into her fist, controlling herself.
"I was not. You do realise that you shot me and then kidnapped me! At the very least, I should try to beat you up!" She showed him an angry look.
"Yes, that is why I patched you up and took you away from suffering." He replied, making her stop for a second.
Think over his words.
"...I suppose."
She realised that she doesn't need to answer now to Malcal's family. Her arranged marriage no longer exists.
"In the end. The only issue is my new boss is a bit insane." She replied, still snappy at him.
"I take that as a compliment. No sane man would build a miniature sun under his house." He chuckled, making her look around, looking for something.
"Interested, aren't you? Follow me." He got up and motioned for her to follow him.
Leila followed him as they went one floor below.
Her eyes widened as she saw robots… these machines were working on an array of things!
That moment, she realised how he was able to build his machines! He simply made robots!
"Impressive, isn't it? On your right, behind that black wall, is an automated Assembly Lines, a miniature factory and a forge. It's where things get assembled; it's where my machine was built." He explained to her as he saw her watching it.
"...I see… and that light over there. I assume it's the reactor?" She saw a bright light coming from a window at the end of the corridor.
"Indeed, follow me." He began to walk towards the source, and the girl followed, slowly starting to feel a growing trepidation.
Will she see a small sun? Or it's something from science fiction she read in the academy, with her friend Anna, who got inspired to pursue robotics.
When they arrived at the window, it was too bright, so Marcus handed her googles that were hanging on the wall.
Once she put it on, she saw four pink rods 'holding' a ball of fire. Around this fireball, there was a ring that was rotating.
Even if she can feel the heat, just looking at this makes her start sweating.
"...How much energy is this thing generating?" She asked him after staring at it for a while.
"I do not know the limit, as that's exactly what these Bots are trying to figure out.
Sakuradite is quite the material; it still finds ways to surprise me." He chuckled, making her slowly nod.
"It is a revolutionary material, I can guess it's because of this material that you can advance so quickly in your technology."
"Indeed. Though I can do all the same without Sakuradite."
"Hn." She nodded, realising this was the clue she needed.
"That is fascinating. But how were you able to do all this? In mere 5 years? I find it very hard to believe." Leila said with a sigh.
"Interesting, isn't it?" He smirked as he saw her take off the goggles and look at him.
"It is, but at the same time, it makes me a bit terrified about what you can do."
While it was very fascinating to her, it was concerning as well.
"Indeed. Now that we are reaching this subject, I have an idea what your job will be in Anaheim."
"Oh?"
"You are going to be my assistant and Secretary. I always wanted a beautiful girl next to me all the time." He joked while turning around and walking towards the stairs.
"...Assistant?" Leila frowned. This was well…
"...You perv…" She exclaimed, with red cheeks.
"Oh, please. I am a healthy male; it shouldn't be a surprise that I want you around. Besides, you will be a great barrier for me in school."
"...School? You can't be serious… I already graduated!"
Leila aced her school and academy, skipping years just to get into the army and away from the Malcal Family…
Now she is going back!? To Britannian school no less!
"It's not about graduating, as my secretary and assistant, I will be paying you, on top of paid holidays. I do, however, expect holidays to be with me."
"..."
She looked at him for a second before shaking her head.
"I will think about those holidays. I still didn't get over this." She showed him her wrapped hand.
"Let me get you a doctor." He sighed. That hand needs checkups.
"...I think it's fine." She looked at her hand. It was a good job. At the very least, she knows that he is feeling guilty… can't say about all those dead soldiers on both sides.
"No, I will see my doctor. Someone I trust with my health." He shook his head before taking her other hand.
"Come, let me show you my place; you will find it fascinating."
She looked at him; her curiosity was piqued. What does he mean by that?
~~~
"...School? You live in school?" Her eyes were wide as she looked through the window before her was a fancy-looking school.
Not only that, but under the clubhouse is his workshop! The very same workshop that had a miniature sun!
What if something cracks or malfunctions? The centre of the explosion would be all of the school kids!
'This guy is extremely reckless!'
"You do know that what you do is absurdly reckless! You have a literal sun under this building!" She hissed, worried if anything would happen, it could blow up!
He smiled hearing that, but then he realised that she was a solution to one of his newest projects!
"That is why I made you my assistant. You have brains to help me with something." His smile morphed into a bloodthirsty grin.
"...What?" She was worried even to hear it!
"You will help me to build a base in one of the islands in the Pacific, preferably close to the equator."
Leila looked at him as if he were speaking gibberish.
"How am I supposed to do that?" The blonde inquired; she had no idea where even to start.
"My tech, I will provide you with technology, what you will need to do is logistics, figure out if Britannians have presence there, crunch those numbers, geological studies and stuff.
I can provide materials, manpower, transportation; what you need to do is make those materials turn into buildings on the island."
His explanation made her relax immediately.
"If that's the case, I can do it." She replied with a stiff nod. While she was nervous, it was not beyond her capabilities.
Organising, observing and issuing orders is something she is good at.
"Wonderful."
"I assume you will take the miniature sun away from your workshop?" She asked, hopeful that he would agree.
"Maybe. We will see how it will progress; we can plan, but plans usually don't progress as we envisioned." He sighed, recalling all the times his plans failed, mostly when it came to tech.
"I do want you to remove that thing from the school. Do that for me, please."
He looked at her for a second. It would seem the blonde beauty before him was starting to move her weight.
"If you want to have me around without me glaring at you, then you will do this small request."
Marcus chuckled after hearing her request.
"We are not even married yet, and you are already making such requests." He rolled his eyes before sighting.
"Fine, I can do that. But only after my base in the Pacific gets online. Powering these reactors is like feeding a blackhole."
The girl blushed hard for a second before taking a deep breath. How can he speak so bluntly!?
"Very well."
'Good. At least he can be reasoned with.' Leila commented to herself. This was a good sign to her. Maybe she can lower that insanity level he had.
Time will tell.
~~~~~~Later~~~~~~
Milly puffed her cheeks as she saw a blonde girl getting her whole arm checked.
"Who is the girl?" She asked, with a frown, getting annoyed.
"Leila, a girl I got from Europia United." He replied with crossed arms.
"And?" She motioned with a hand to continue.
"And what?"
The blonde rolled her eyes at him before sighing in resignation.
"And? Explain more!" The girl exclaimed, a bit angrier.
"What? I found her gorgeous, so I picked her up, since you're running away all the time." Marcus clarified to her, making Milly puff even more before walking away.
"...Can't you not say that with such a blunt tone?" Leila, whose arm is getting checked by a smirking doctor who was enjoying the 'show' between Prince and the girls.
"Do apologise, but I practised martial arts and swordsmanship; speaking bluntly is a side effect." He shrugged, making her sigh as she realised that he would embarrass her a lot.
"Whatever…"
After a while, the doctor was done with the check-up and was putting on new bandages. He looked at Marcus.
"The wounds will heal, there are no complications, you did well, my Prince, in patching them immediately." The man closed his bag as he explained to the Inventor Prince.
"Good, that is a relief." Marcus nodded after hearing that. He was relieved that there were no complications.
Well, the bullets that are in his machine are designed and forged at home. So he knows that they don't have any bacteria, even if those shots are simple grazes.
"Yes. Now, if you excuse me, I have other things to do." The man respectfully bowed before leaving.
Marcus looked at Leila, who inspected her hand.
"It would seem everything is fine." He said with a smile.
"Yes." She stood up and looked at him; there was a certain expression on her face.
"I wonder, who is the girl who ran away?" The blonde asked about the other blonde.
It was… interesting, as Leila and Milly are blondes, so she wonders if he has a thing for blonde girls?