Aetherbud—this was a magical herb seed personally offered by Selene.
This type of herb was considered top-tier among intermediate-level magical plants. It matured quickly, had stable effects, and was naturally quite valuable.
Clearly, Selene didn't offer it just to get a casual peek at the Violet Carpenter Bee's hive.
Her true goal was to make the Black Flag Territory provide ten extra jars of honey every month.
That demand was undoubtedly excessive, and Draven had no intention of agreeing to it outright.
After a round of intense bargaining—and even shamelessly leveraging Liliana's demigod backing as a bargaining chip—he finally got the monthly quota down to two jars.
Seeing the pained expression on Draven's face, Selene's chest rose and fell with each breath, clearly nearing the limits of her patience.
Draven understood well and didn't dare to push her further. He knew that getting a good deal was one thing—but overreaching could end very badly.
Others might not realize it, but he certainly did:
If that demigod father of Liliana's actually showed up, it was anyone's guess who'd be cleaned up first.
With a skipping Liliana at his side, Draven led the way with a cheerful grin.
Upon learning that the Violet Carpenter Bee hive was simply placed outdoors, Selene couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her mouth.
Even for succubi, if they came across something that significantly enhanced the potential of future offspring, the first thing they'd do was hide it with utmost secrecy.
Yet Draven? He just left it out in the open?
Viola and Martha followed Selene cautiously. Seeing her eyes practically roll to the heavens, the two exchanged a wary glance.
Their instincts told them that Draven might be in serious trouble this time.
Viola gave Martha a discreet signal, urging her to step forward and remind Draven.
Martha nodded and had just taken a step when Selene shot her a glance, immediately scaring her back into place.
In this group, aside from Liliana, it seemed everyone else was completely under Selene's control.
Viola sighed inwardly and could only pray silently—hoping nothing would go wrong for her Draven.
Draven, however, remained blissfully unaware.
To him, Violet Carpenter Bees were creatures even regional lords dared not provoke.
So what difference did it make where their hive was kept?
Clearly, perspectives differed depending on one's stage in life.
When Selene criticized the hive for being crude and unguarded, Draven just rubbed his nose and silently objected.
Crude? I literally dug this out of a hillside.
Knowing it was useless to reason with Selene, he simply stood at the entrance and gestured for her to go inside.
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Selene gave a cold snort and glanced at him sideways.
Only then did Draven realize: the Violet Carpenter Bees were indeed extraordinary—so much so that even Selene didn't dare enter their hive lightly.
And she still complained about the lack of defenses? What, did she want to be chained up at the entrance?
Draven muttered to himself and took the lead into the hive.
Aside from him and Liliana, it was everyone else's first time entering the Violet Carpenter Bee hive.
For Viola and Martha, it was even their first time seeing the creatures in the flesh.
The cave was suffused with the aura of mid-tier magical beasts, making their expressions turn slightly grave.
Draven gently held their cold hands to help shield them from the oppressive atmosphere.
Selene, meanwhile, curiously watched the Violet Carpenter Bees hovering in front of Liliana, following her commands.
Their sharp stingers were especially chilling.
Draven stood not far from her, and when he took Viola and Martha's hands, a flicker of complexity passed through Selene's eyes.
"So this is the Violet Carpenter Bee?" she murmured, glancing at the hive and then at the ceramic jars placed neatly on the ground—her eyes filled with contemplation.
Selene picked up a clay jar, brought it close to her nose, and took a gentle sniff. Then she shook her head slightly."The scale is too small, and the queen's rank is too low."
She set the jar down, her tone firm and unquestionable:"Plant the seeds immediately. Only the pollen from magic herbs can accelerate the growth of the Violet Carpenter Bee."
Draven was momentarily stunned—he truly hadn't realized this hidden detail. But with Selene's guidance, Liliana could now skip much of the trial and error. Since they had Aetherbud seeds, all they needed to do was plant them and wait for the flowers to bloom.
However, Selene's next words piqued his interest.
"Every hundred years, the Violet Carpenter Bee gives birth to a new queen. The one you see now is that new queen."
Selene pointed with her slender finger at the queen bee, which was slowly crawling out of the hive under Liliana's control. Her gaze held a trace of secrecy.
She had already sensed it when she first saw the Violet Carpenter Bee: there had to be a much larger hive nearby, housing a far more powerful queen. If Draven's people could control this new queen, then surely they had a way to deal with the old one as well.
Aside from not wanting to provoke the older queen herself, Selene chose to reveal this secret also because of Draven's identity as a Lord of Demons. Just as Draven understood deep down, the line between them had long since blurred.
Draven seemed to be flaunting his high-level authority in front of her.
But truth be told, Draven felt a bit wronged. Selene had shown up so suddenly that he hadn't had a chance to suppress his aura.
Yet in Selene's eyes, this was clearly him signaling that the day he surpassed her wasn't far off.
Good thing I've been improving too, Selene thought smugly to herself.
After inspecting the Violet Carpenter Bee, Selene frowned and turned toward two other auras she had sensed earlier. Her gaze landed on a pair of short-horned demon bulls lounging about with lazy expressions.
"These are yours too?"
"Liliana's. She's also a druid."
Draven immediately caught her implication—another criticism of his lack of management. So he pushed the blame onto Liliana, wearing a helpless smile as he started grumbling about the difficulties of developing the newly founded Black Flag Territory. Finances were tight, he claimed, and they couldn't even afford beast-control rings.
Selene rolled her eyes and completely ignored his nonsense. She remembered clearly that this guy had swindled two beast-control rings out of her not long ago. She mentally tuned him out altogether.
Under Viola's guidance, Selene toured the village outskirts with great interest. She visited the orchards, livestock pens, and fish ponds, even pulling up some cassava roots for a closer look.
Draven watched helplessly as she yanked up the cassava, quickly replanting it in the soil. He'd already noticed that Selene had a bit of a… mischievous streak.
There was no way to hide the secrets of Black Flag Territory's second village.
The orchards, fish ponds, domesticated deer and goats, and even the cassava plantations—all of it had been secretly reported to Selene by Linda before, but she hadn't taken it seriously.
She had assumed it was all just Draven messing around. But now that she was seeing it for herself, his"messing around" was surprisingly effective.
Selene was in a great mood, feeling that this trip had definitely been worthwhile. She even planned to have her people learn from it once she returned.
With her keen insight, she could tell these initiatives would bring real benefits to the development of a territory.
But things rarely go as planned—easier said than done. Draven had laid everything out in the open, showing not even the slightest wariness of Linda.
Yet inwardly, he was chuckling: Go ahead and copy all you like. When the day comes that you truly need my help, I won't be so generous.
None of these setups—especially the fish ponds—could be easily replicated.
When trouble eventually strikes, we'll see who's really in control.
