Chapter 1361 Hope Has Many Faces [Part 1]

Just as William was about to wake up from his slumber, he felt something soft, and fragrant touching his face. 

The Half-Elf sleepily opened his eyes, and found himself locked up in a warm embrace, with his head pressed over a soft bosom.

The memories of what happened several hours ago appeared inside his head, which made him realize that he had fallen asleep while Princess Aila was comforting him, with his face buried in her chest. 

That was as far as his memories took him. 

However, there was a problem. 

He could feel another pair of arms hugging him from behind, and two soft mounds were pressed against the back of his head, making him wonder who their owner was.

Right now, William knew that he needed to make a choice.

Either stay nestled between those soft, and fragrant peaks, which made him feel very comfortable. Or get out of bed, and do what he needed to do for the day. Truth be told, the red-headed teenager was very reluctant to move because he felt so comfortable right now. 

Judging by the faint light that was coming from the window, the Half-Elf assumed that the sun had just risen, which meant that it was still early morning.

'Just fifteen more minutes,' William thought as he buried his head deeper into Princess Aila's softness, feeling her warmth, and enjoying the skinship with his angelic lover.

Just as William's consciousness was about to go back to sleep, a pair of soft lips nibbled his ears, making him shudder.

"Don't go back to sleep, Will," a sweet and teasing voice whispered in William's ears, making the Half-Elf open his eyes abruptly. "You have many important things to do today, so it's time for you to wake up."

"Shannon?" William turned his head to look at the fox lady who was laying behind him, only to find his face buried on a pair of voluptuous breasts that were a little bigger than Princess Aila's.

"Awwww, I didn't know that you wanted it so early in the morning," Shannon said mischievously as she set her hand on the back of William's head, guiding his lips towards one of her pink tips, and holding him in place.

"Okay, I'll let you enjoy it for fifteen more minutes, but after that you need to wake up and have breakfast, okay?"

William, whose lips were pressed over her left breast, only gave a muffled reply. Princess Aila, who was sound asleep earlier, felt that something was missing, so she opened her eyes to see the Half-Elf in Shannon's embrace.

The angelic Princess yawned sleepily, and scooted closer to the Half-Elf, hugging him from behind before closing her eyes again. She was still tired from their night of passion, so she didn't mind whatever Shannon was doing.

Two hours later, William left the room alongside Princess Aila, and Shannon, after taking a bath with them.

When they arrived at the dining room, Medusa, Erinys, and Cherry were already eating breakfast together. 

Cherry grabbed hold of Erinys' arm as she moved her chair closer to her. Clearly, she was still afraid of the Half-Elf, whom she still treated as the Prince of Darkness.

Seeing this scene, William couldn't help but smile bitterly because he could clearly see the deep-rooted fear in the little girl's eyes. He knew that it would take time before Cherry would be able to overcome her fear of him, but he was feeling optimistic about it.

With Medusa and Erinys as her two playmates, the Half-Elf was sure that it wouldn't be long before the little girl had a favorable opinion of him.

"What would you like to eat, Will?" Charmaine asked. "We have fried eggs, bacon, sausages, and pancakes."

"I'll have fried eggs and bacon," William replied. "Thank you, Charmaine."

"I'll have pancakes please, Charmaine," Princess Aila commented.

"Eggs and sausage for me," Shannon said, placing her order as well. 

"Understood, I'll be back soon." Charmaine smiled as she walked towards the kitchen to prepare the food for the three people who just arrived for breakfast.

William's other wives and lovers were not inside the Thousand Beast Domain because he wanted to have some time for himself for the time being.

Chloee had lost her permission to freely enter the Domain because her authority was also erased when the Holy Light by the Pope hit William. 

Shannon had escaped to the Thousand Beast Domain earlier because she didn't want to deal with Wendy, Estelle, and Belle. When she found out that William had arrived at the villa, she snuck inside it at dawn, when she was sure that the Half-Elf and Princess Aila had finished their session together.

William's lovers seemed to have developed an unwritten rule that they wouldn't disturb each other's "alone time" with William, as much as possible. 

After finishing their breakfast, the Half-Elf spent some time with the three little girls and played with them in the theme park by riding the bumper cars.

Although Cherry was still feeling wary of William, she joined Medusa, and Erinys, in bullying him by hitting his car repeatedly for the duration of the ride.

An hour later, William was finally ready to return to the world outside of the Thousand Beast Domain, and deal with the problems that he needed to face.

"It will be fine, Will," Erinys said as she held William's hand. "I'm also curious about what will happen if I meet the girls that you told me about earlier."

Since Erinys was part of the seven ladies that the Half-Elf assumed would lead him to Hope, he decided to tell her about the other ladies that she would be meeting today.

After hearing the Half-ling's encouragement, William smiled and opened the portal that would lead him back to the Ainsworth Empire. 

—----

"Your Majesty, Pearl has just arrived," Nisha reported. "She is already on her way here to the throne room."

"Thank you, Nisha," William replied while sitting on the throne. 

Inside the throne room, several men and women were gathered. All of William's wives, lovers, and Pseudo-Gods, including the white-robed woman, who had attacked William during their battle in the Palace of Light, were present as well.

Haleth, Amelia, Priscilla, Vesta, Anh, and Erinys, were standing at the center, and waiting for Pearl to arrive.

William had explained to them the reason why they were gathered, which made all of them, with the exception of Erinys, wonder what Wiliam meant when he said that they would help him find hope.

"Let's just wait for Pearl to arrive," William stated. "Everything will be revealed then… at least, that is what I hope will happen."

Even the Half-Elf was unsure if something would really happen once all seven ladies, that Optimus told him to gather, were in the same room.

Since he was as clueless as the rest of them, he decided to just wait until the final piece of the puzzle arrived.

A moment later, the doors of the throne room opened and a pretty Elf, who was also Charmaine's older sister, arrived.

"I was told to come here in haste," Pearl said with a frown. "Did something happen to my sister?"

The Elf ignored everyone, and simply stared at Charmaine, who was standing at the base of the stairs, leading to William's throne.

"Nothing has happened to Charmaine," William replied. "I asked you to come because I need to ask a favor from you."

"A favor?"

"Yes. Can you please stand next to the ladies over there?"

William pointed at the place where Haleth, Amelia, Priscilla, Vesta, Anh, and Erinys, were gathered. 

Although Pearl didn't understand what the Half-Elf wanted from her, she decided to follow his instructions for the time being.

When the Elf was only a meter away from Haleth, a look of surprise appeared on Pearl's face.

It was not only her, but all the seven ladies all had similar expressions on their faces. 

"This is weird," Pearl said as she held Haleth's hand. "It is as if being around you completes me."

"Yes," Haleth replied. "I have that same feeling too. This is the first time I've felt like this."

As if being pulled by a mysterious force, all the ladies held each other's hand, forming a circle. A moment later, all of their bodies glowed and turned into particles of light, merging together as one.

William immediately stood up from the throne because he was caught completely by surprise at what just happened.

Worry and anxiety could be seen on his face because he didn't want any harm to come to any of the ladies that he had gathered.

However, there was nothing he could do, except stare at the particles of light that were merging together.

Finally, after two minutes of waiting, a blinding flash of light erupted in the middle of the throne room, making everyone cover their eyes.

When the light receded, a giggle reached everyone's ears, making them feel as if they were meeting a long lost friend that they hadn't seen for years. 

It was at that moment when William came face to face, with the person that was said to bring him Hope.

"Hope has many faces," a voice filled with mischievousness said. "It's nice to see you again, Will."