Interstellar Age

Chapter 430 Subtle Manipulations

Weeks turned to months, and months turned into years following Erich's escapades in the past. He had continued to develop his abilities, and in the mean time Tia had done everything she could to not only build the Empire's strength, but put a swift end to the Crusades it was waging across the Galaxy.

In the span of a decade, things had fallen into place for Erich. The Naraku within the Milky Way, and their Insectoid collaborators, were all but exterminated. The Orcs had been unified beneath Erich's banner, or more specifically that of the Ironhand Clan which he now ruled, and his allies were developing their militaries as swiftly as possible with the intent of holding the line for when the Naraku finally invaded.

As for the Heavenly Domain, they had ultimately given up on reclaiming Earth, knowing that fighting the Germanic Star-Empire was a war they could not win. Instead, they opened up trade with the Empire and maintained an embassy on Earth located in the former lands they once called home.

Ayumi continued to develop her newfound powers, ultimately stabilizing her growth within the following years. She now stayed home with her kids, who were rapidly growing with each passing year.

As for Lunaria and Daelia, they had not spoken a word to Erich about what happened all those years ago. Instead, they seemed more focused on building up the military might of their two respective civilizations.

They appeared to trust in Erich's plan wholeheartedly, but at the same time Erich knew they were wary of him, and any ulterior motives he may have. And he indeed did have ulterior motives. The war with the Naraku would occur in a few decades at the most. And it would be the first Inter-Galactic war fought in the recorded history of the Milky Way Galaxy.

But Erich intended to use this war as a means of weakening his allies, and emerging as the sole galactic super power once the conflict ha been finished. That way, he could force the Elves, the Asura, and the Ennead to kneel before him with limited bloodshed.

However, Erich kept these plans entirely to himself, well, and Tia, that is. Tia had become the only outlet Erich really had to vent to. After all, aside from Erika and Mirage, all the women by his side were aliens, and many of them were powerful rulers in their own right, or quite literally deities.

It's not necessary that Erika and Mirage could not be trusted, but the two of them were close to the others, specifically Ayumi and S'aleth. If Erich mentioned his plans to betray Lunaria and Daelia to either of them, he did not know if it would remain a secret.

But Tia could be relied upon. After all, she had no interests in the affairs of biological life forms which she not so affectionately referred to as "meatbags". Her only real interest in life was helping Erich accomplish his goals, and this was because of her fanatical devotion to him.

Erich may not have been her creator, but he was the reason she was able to survive this long ,and was able to develop into a fully sentient artificial intelligence. She would do anything for him, and though she felt an intense sense of jealousy towards the other women in Erich's life, she began to step up her game to monopolize Erich's attention.

Tia's robotic figure was not exactly what one would call an android. It appeared human enough in shape and form, but it had no real flesh. Instead, it was made out of a weird metallic structure that hardened upon impact, but felt like flesh when touched softly.

At first, Tia made her body into a form which matched the initial appearance she was programmed with. But she later found out Erich was dissatisfied with this appearance, and when she realized why, she felt like an idiot.

Now, however, her robotic form was quite curvy and voluptuous, so much so that it gave the likes of Erika and Ayumi a run for their money. She would often wear outfits designed to entice Erich's biological desires, and more often than not Erich found himself satisfying said urges with Tia's robotic form, rather than with his many wives.

Was it manipulation? Sure, it was indeed manipulation, but it wasn't necessarily a form of manipulation that hurt Erich, more so as a way to monopolize as much of his time for herself. But Tia knew her limits. If Erich's other women were pissed at him for not spending enough time with them, that would cause him to suffer, and if he suffered, she suffered.

Thus, she made sure that there was just enough time between Erich and his other lovers to ensure that they were all satisfied with their relationship. Tia found it amusing that all of the wives and lovers that Erich had as an emperor fought among themselves to be the first among themselves. Not realizing that position was solely held by none other than Tia.

If there was one woman in Erich's life who the man could not live without, it was Tia. His entire empire was built on her as a foundation. The same could not be said for the others. Even if Erich didn't realize this himself, he needed Tia as much as Tia needed him.

She just wanted the man to understand this. Thus, Tia began going out of her way to catch Erich's notice in more ways than just satisfying his physical desires. For example, when Erich woke up to celebrate his birthday, it was not Erika, Ayumi, Mirage or S'aleth who he found in the kitchen cooking breakfast for him, and his family. But none other than Tia.

Tia, of course, did not stick around long enough for the other women to find her. After all, her greatest advantage was that they did not know she existed. At least not in this timeline. In fact, in the entire galaxy, the only people who really knew Tia existed were Erich, and the previous supreme leader. Anyone who had made contact with her other than those two had their memories erased, like in the incident when Erich introduced Tia to Lunaria.

Still, this was a gesture that Erich found welcoming, as Tia sat in his lap while dressed in a skimpy French Maid outfit all while feeding him his breakfast.

"I'm afraid we don't have much time, Master. By my estimations, the others will be awake within precisely thirty minutes and five seconds. So let's just enjoy this time we have together while we can, alright?"

Ultimately, Erich did exactly this. Not knowing in the slightest that the adorable artificial intelligence who had helped foster into sentience was now subtly manipulating him into becoming fully dependent on her.

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