Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

She leaned forward, sniffing the air around his collar with an exaggerated scowl before planting her hands aggressively on her hips.

"You smell like expensive perfume, jasmine flowers, and... is that another woman’s perfume?!" Lia demanded, her eyes widening in mock outrage. "Which woman have you been spending your time with all night?!"

Silas raised both hands in a placating gesture, clearing his throat awkwardly as a guilty sweat-drop formed on his brow.

"Lia, listen, it’s not what it looks like. I was just—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Lia grabbed the sleeve of his shirt with surprising force, yanked him over the threshold, and kicked the front door shut behind him with a solid thud.

"Save your excuses, Mister Big-Shot Lord!" Lia huffed, locking the deadbolt with a decisive click and pointing an accusatory finger straight at his chest. "You’ve been out gallivanting across the upper city while your poor little sister has been sitting here worried sick! So here is the new law of the house... you are officially grounded!"

Silas blinked down at her in disbelief.

"Grounded? I’m an Awakened Lord, Lia."

"I don’t care if you’re the Emperor of the Universe!" Lia declared with authority, stomping her foot. "You are going to stay right here in this apartment with us for at least a full day or two! No meetings, no shady business, and absolutely no running off!"

She narrowed her eyes, delivering her final non-negotiable ultimatum.

"And if you try to sneak off into the Sovereign Realm before your sentence is up, Big Bro... I swear to the gods, I will legally disown you!"

The solid front door of the Silverleaf residence clicked shut with a definitive latch that echoed softly through the quiet foyer.

Lia’s slender fingers remained clamped around the fabric of Silas’s sleeve, her small knuckles whitening against the dark cloth as she tugged him forward into the warm illuminated hallway.

Her slippers scuffed lightly against the polished hardwood floor and her messy brown hair bounced with each step she took.

’Haah... What a cute girl...’

Silas allowed himself to be dragged a few paces with his large frame towering over the eleven-year-old girl.

A wry smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he looked down at the crown of her head, though the territory-focused thoughts in his mind didn’t simply dissolve.

Between the eight tons of Astral Void-Titanium Alloy sitting in his Lord Inventory, the seventy battalion sets of Frost-Drake gear, and the pending construction blueprints for the Umbral Basin’s outer perimeter, his schedule was practically bursting at the seams.

"Lia," Silas began, his deep baritone rumbling in the quiet corridor as he gently checked his momentum. "What about the territory? You know how critical the developmental phase is right now. I—"

Lia abruptly stopped.

Her grip on his sleeve loosened, her small shoulders sagging as she slowly turned around to face him.

The scolding frown that had dominated her expression moments earlier melted away entirely, replaced by an expression that instead looked fragile and painfully earnest.

Her large brown eyes, usually brimming with quick wit softened into an aching gaze.

She looked up at him, her lower lip trembling just a fraction before she pressed it firmly together.

"I was really worried about you, Big Brother..." Lia murmured, her voice dropping into a quiet hesitant whisper that carried none of her earlier bluster.

She reached up with both hands, clutching the front of his shirt tightly, her fingers bunching the fabric over his chest. "You didn’t come back yesterday. You didn’t send a ping. I know you’re strong now, and I know you’re a Lord with big things to do, but... it was quiet here... Too quiet. So please... at least stay tonight and throughout tomorrow for me. Just... be home."

The lingering urgency in Silas’s chest evaporated instantly.

Looking down at his little sister, the memory of her smaller, frail self shivering in the rainy dumpsters of Sector 4 flashed unbidden behind his eyes.

’Haah...’

No matter how many billions of Spirit Credits flowed through his fingers, no matter how many items he got, and no matter how vast his domain grew across the Sovereign Realm, this eleven-year-old girl remained his anchor to the earth.

Silas’s expression softened into a gentle warmth. He reached out, resting his broad, calloused palm over her messy brown hair, ruffling it affectionately until she let out a soft, embarrassed huff.

"Alright," Silas said softly, his lips curving into a genuine smile. "I’ll stay. Tonight and all of tomorrow, I’m completely yours."

A radiant relieved beam broke across Lia’s face, illuminating her features with pure childhood joy.

"Promise kept!" she declared, her energetic spark returning in full force as she grabbed his wrist and yanked him toward the archway. "Now come on, everyone’s in the living room!"

As Silas stepped past the entrance threshold into the expansive open-concept living area of the Silverleaf villa, the atmosphere immediately became one of a cozy household.

The soft glow of enchanted recessed ceiling fixtures washed over the plush cream carpeting and the large L-shaped sectional sofa.

A low glass coffee table in the center was completely covered in thick textbooks, colored runic styluses, diagrams of foundational mana-pathway formations, and several half-eaten plates of miniature pastries.

Standing near the kitchen counter in her immaculate black-and-white uniform, Martha turned around at the sound of their footsteps.

Her middle-aged gentle face framed by graying hair pulled into a neat, disciplined bun lit up with relief.

The silver tray she held in her hands trembled slightly before she set it down and bowed with deep heartfelt devotion.

"Master Silas," Martha breathed, her eyes shining with quiet emotion. "You have returned safely to us... Welcome home."

"Good to see you, Martha. Thank you for holding down the fort," Silas replied with an easy nod.

Sitting cross-legged on the plush floor cushions around the low table were two young girls who immediately looked up from their sprawling schoolwork.

On the left sat Kaede, her glossy dark hair tied neatly in her signature twin side-ribbons that bounced with every movement.

Her bright expressive eyes sparkled with bubbly, outgoing energy the second she spotted Silas.

She immediately dropped her runic highlighter, leaning forward over the coffee table with a broad mischievous grin that showed off her lively personality.

To her right, seated with impeccable posture on a velvet cushion, was Penelope.

Her silky vibrant purple hair was styled into elegant twin pigtails that draped over her delicate shoulders, perfectly matching her striking violet eyes.

While she carried the composed demeanor typical of her new position in this world, the warmth in her gaze revealed how comfortable she had truly become in the Graves household.

"Big Brother Silas!" Kaede chimed enthusiastically, waving both of her hands in the air. "You’re finally back! We were beginning to think Lia was going to build a tracking radar out of spare mana-crystals just to hunt you down!"

Penelope offered a polite, refined nod, closing her leather-bound notebook with a quiet snap.

"Good evening, Silas. Welcome back."

"Hey, girls," Silas chuckled, walking over to the large armchair adjacent to the sectional and sinking into the deep leather cushions.

He stretched his long legs out, letting out a relaxed sigh as the domestic comfort settled into his bones. "Hard at work, I see."

"How was your day, Master Silas?" Martha asked gently, stepping over with a crystal tumbler of chilled spring water, presenting it to him on a silver coaster. "Did your affairs in the upper districts proceed smoothly?"

Silas took the glass with his mind momentarily drifting back through the sheer, chaotic whirlwind of the past hours... The clothing spree, eating at a luxury machine, playing games, tearing through arcade claw machines, watching Harper drop astronomical billions in the Sanhedrin colosseum, the frantic bidding wars, and the kiss against the sports car outside.

’Feels like I’m living in a fantasy.’

Without fully filtering his thoughts, Silas took a sip of water and answered casually.

"It was fine. Pretty eventful, honestly. I just got back from a date."

The entire living room froze.

CLINK!

The porcelain teacup Kaede was holding rattled against its saucer.

Penelope’s violet eyes widened to twice their normal size with her pen slipping from her fingers and rolling across the table.

Martha gasped softly, pressing a hand against her apron with a look of stunned curiosity.

’Oh I knew... but I didn’t know it was going to truly be a date. Did they have sex?’

And standing right beside his chair, Lia’s head snapped toward him with such violent mechanical speed that Silas half-expected to hear a crack.

"A DATE?!" Lia shrieked, her voice pitching up an entire volume as she lunged forward, slamming her hands down on the armrest of his chair. "Big Bro! With who?! Since when do you go on dates?! Who is she?! Is she pretty?! Is she annoying?!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Kaede squealed, scrambling onto her knees on the floor cushion, her side-ribbons fluttering wildly as her face flushed with gossiping excitement. "A real date?! Like a romantic, fancy-restaurant, holding-hands date?! Big Brother Silas, you have to tell us everything! Was it with a noble lady?! Did you go to the sky-gardens in Sector 1?!"

’There are sky-gardens?’

Penelope leaned forward, her sharp perceptive gaze narrowing as she scrutinized Silas’s face with a slight knowing smirk forming on her lips.

"Given the faint scent lingering on your collar, Silas... I suspect my elder sister might have had something to do with this ’eventful’ evening?"

Silas felt a bead of sweat form on the back of his neck as four pairs of intensely inquisitive female eyes bore into him like high-powered lasers.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, all of you," Silas said, raising a placating hand with an awkward defensive chuckle. "It wasn’t an interrogation scene... It was just dinner and an event in the central district so it’s nothing scandalous."

"Uh-huh, sure," Lia muttered with extreme skepticism, crossing her arms and leaning in closer.

Her sharp eyes immediately caught the dark metallic shimmer peeking out from beneath the open collar of his shirt.

Her brow furrowed with her finger pointing straight at his throat.

"Then what is that? You never wear jewelry. I’ve never seen you wear one..."

Silas blinked, looking down at the heavy, dark obsidian chain resting against his collarbone.

The deep void-chrysolite gem sat comfortably against his skin, pulsing with a soothing mana-current.

"It’s just a gift," Silas explained, coughing lightly into his fist as he remembered Seraphina’s furiously blushing face and her strict declaration that it was a mandatory spousal tribute. "A token given to me at the end of the evening by an associate. It accelerates core mana recovery."

"An ’associate,’" Penelope echoed dryly, her purple eyebrows arching with amusement. "That is high-tier Abyssal Void-Chrysolite, Silas. There are few crest-artisans on the continent who cut gemstones in that specific geometry. It seems your evening was remarkably diverse."

Lia puffed her cheeks out, glaring at the necklace with deep protective suspicion, though before she could launch into another round of frantic cross-examination, Silas quickly turned the tables.

"More importantly," Silas said smoothly, gesturing toward the sea of charts and diagrams scattered across the coffee table, "how is your academy project coming along? Aren’t you three supposed to be finalizing the territory logistics for the project?"

The deflection worked like a charm.

Lia groaned loudly, throwing her head back against the sofa cushions, while Kaede collapsed dramatically onto her stomach over the carpet.

"Uuuugh, don’t remind us!" Kaede whined into the plush rug. "The resource allocation numbers for sustainable territory expansion are so complicated... We tried to get a source from another country but that place uses a completely different administrative framework, so my brain feels like it’s melting trying to translate everything!"

Penelope, seated cross-legged on the floor with a sleek holographic projection floating before her, looked up with calm composure.

"We are actually in the final phases of the schematic assembly," Penelope clarified, tapping the glowing projection to rotate the complex territorial grid. "The theoretical framework for the supply chain is complete. We were struggling with the defensive perimeter resource allocation earlier, but my elder sister, Harper, reviewed our drafts yesterday like you told her to... She provided an optimized sequence that bypassed the volatile supply conclusion that we came to initially so we don’t require any further assistance."

Silas smiled with a warm sense of satisfaction settling over him as he saw the genuine teamwork between the girls.

"I’m glad to hear that. Harper knows her territory logistics inside and out. You’re in good hands."

"She was really helpful, actually," Lia admitted, her voice softening as she uncrossed her arms and leaned against the arm of Silas’s chair. "She explained the resource conversion ratios in a way that actually made sense, instead of using all that stuffy academic jargon the professors use at Valoria Academy."

Kaede rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling with a dramatic sigh.

"At this rate, we might actually finish before the deadline. Penelope’s sister should come teach at our school!"

"Don’t get your hopes up," Penelope replied dryly with a dry smirk tugging at her lips. "Harper has more important matters to attend to than lecturing a bunch of Second Year students."

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