"Ha... Hahaha!"
The loud roars of laughter coming from presidential candidate and former mayor Joseph Hayden were loud, loud enough that each of his hearty breaths seeped from his office and reverberated throughout his entire campaign building.
How could he not, when he was just given the updated poll for the presidential election, and he was now the No. 1 pick by miles? The only way he wasn't going to win now is if he dies or forfeits — the former was almost impossible, and the latter wasn't going to happen.
He was initially the second to last candidate in the previous polls. On the outside, a lot of people were agreeing with his campaign to give Lowborns and everyone equal opportunity, but the data taken in private actually shows the opposite. But now, he was going to win by a landslide.
All thanks to Rhys Wilder.
"It would seem your bet was the right one, Mister President," Assistant Dan adjusted his glasses while congratulating Joseph. Dan was no longer busy now, as he did not need to handle the promotions anymore because there was no longer any need to — Rhys Wilder did all the work for him,
"Sponsoring and making Rhys Wilder indebted to you is the best course of action you have ever taken in your life."
"Please, Dan. Give me more credit," Joseph once again let out a hearty fit of laughter, causing Dan to hold his glasses in fear of it being blown away by Joseph's breaths, "I am a genius mastermind."
"I think that is too much credit," Assistant Dan sighed, "So, what are you planning now that your seat at the presidency is guaranteed and assured?"
"What else?" Joseph scoffed as he looked out the window, "Rhys did all of this in the discomfort of prison, it is best we reciprocate in kind."
"I do believe you no longer owe the boy anything," Assistant Dan shook his head, "Any further assistance and help would probably anger... some people."
"At this point it's no longer about lending a hand with each other, Dan," Joseph then let out a big sigh as he approached Dan, completely towering over him in both height and overall size; his hand that he placed on Dan's shoulder, almost covering all of it, "It's about mutual benefit, a partnership."
"For a mutual benefit to work, the two of you must be equal."
"Give the boy some more credit."
"You are actually the one below in this scenario," Assistant Dan shook his head, "Rhys Wilder is the face of the Lowborn. Although unofficially, he is already one of the top 15 Strongest Explorers in the world. He has not only one but three members of the royal family of Enkland infatuated with him.
He is in a relationship with the former Grand Commander of the Underworld Corps, and now also the pseudo-ambassador between the Surface and Underworld...
...You're just the president of Amerka."
"You didn't have to do me like that, you know," Joseph scoffed before smiling and walking back to his desk, "You underestimate the authority of what the seat will give me."
"You already have a seat," Assistant Dan sighed, "You should—"
"Enough."
And all of a sudden, the playful tone in Joseph Hayden's voice disappeared; replaced by a cold, almost piercing groan as he glared at Assistant Dan. Assistant Dan looked at him for a few seconds, before just bowing his head and taking a step back.
"I overstepped," Assistant Dan apologized.
"No." And as soon as he did so, Joseph waved his hand; his voice quickly returning to normal, "The very reason you are here is to overstep. My daughter, is she here yet?"
"Which one?"
"Who else!? I only called for one!"
"I am not telling you — I am ordering you," Joseph's tone did not change at all, "I am going to give you a very substantial reward."
"Fuck you," Hannah forced out a chuckle while shaking her head, "Fuck you, Dad. Let the others do it."
"Who? You are already acquainted with Rhys," Joseph leaned on his chair while also shaking his head, "This is not up for debate."
"If you want me to get close to him, then I'll do that without even asking for a reward and—"
"Okay," Joseph shrugged as the tone of his voice once again became friendly.
"What...?"
"Okay. I order you to get close to him," Joseph smiled, "I am truly glad that you are doing this without even any reward, Hannah. This is why you are my favorite child out of the 30 of you. I am planning to set Rhys free sometime this week, you're going to be the one fetching him."
"..." Hannah could really only stare at her father for a few seconds before just shaking her head and leaving, "I hope you rot in hell, Dad."
"I already am," Joseph once again let out a hearty fit of laughter, making Hannah just cover her ears as she quickly escaped the room. And as soon as she was gone, Joseph immediately stopped laughing and looked outside the window,
"And what a beautiful hell this is."
***
"Bro... you had sex with a lion!?"
"A cenleon."
"That's practically the same thing, shit! That is wild, yo. That is really, really wild."
"Please, lower your voice."
Back in the prison, Rhys could really only quickly cover Dominique's mouth before anyone could hear her. He needed to tell someone what happened to him so that it would leave his mind; sadly, Dominique was the only person he could really think of to tell it...
...and that was probably a mistake.
"I mean... Fuck, Rhys," Dominique wiped the imaginary sweat on her forehead, "I'd rather fuck a man than fuck a female human lion. How did that even work?"
"She's... extremely flexible."
"Wait..." Dominique's eyes started to widen, "...Actually, you know what... I think that's kinda hot. I'm actually eyeing one of the female cenleons you brought with you and—"
"What sort of corruption are you whispering to the Fuhrer now, Dominyke?" And before Dominique could continue her words, Talia suddenly approached the two of them.
"That's not my name."
"I could not choose between your name and dyke, so I just combined it," Talia scoffed before just ignoring Dominique and approaching Rhys, "Can we talk?"
"I told you not to call me Fuhrer," Rhys sighed, "What is it?"
"The outside world..." Talia's voice, surprisingly, became meek for the very first time,
"...I do not think I am ready for it."