Chapter 81 – A Two-Faced Prince in a White Tiger Mask

“Flag?” Vanessa looks at me even more confused.

“Just a saying. Don’t pay too much attention to it.” I wave my hand dismissively. “I have quite a few people who I hold dear and whose well-being and safety are my utmost priorities. I’ve gone through plenty of tales about people choosing to ignore the problem in hopes of it going away and I’m not the one to take such stupid risks. Especially if it can bite me in the ass with tenfold strength in the future, pardon my language.”

“I’m afraid that I still don’t follow…”

“Right. I apologize if I come out as insensitive, but would you mind telling me more about your brother?”

Her eyes widen in realization after a few seconds. “You know something.”

I nod at her. “I won’t lie to you, yes I do. But, before I share it with you, I need to understand you better. You might have gotten close with my friends, but it’s pretty much the first time the two of us have met and I don’t know a whole lot about you. If you would please answer some of my questions, I promise you to, in turn, answer all of yours and tell you everything.”

Vanessa observes me carefully for a moment, most likely gathering her thoughts and nods.

“Alright. I’ll play along for now. Would you mind recalling these restraints?” The straps wrapped around her arms retract back into the ground, leaving the rest intact. “I guess you really don’t trust me,” she comments, putting the glass on the table and moving her hands to her lap.

“I apologize, but the only thing that I can personally judge your character by is your family. And they certainly didn’t leave a favourable impression on me.”

She furrows her brows at me and then sighs softly. “What did that idiot do while he was here… So, what do you want to know?”

“What kind of person was he?”

“He wasn’t perfect, but he was a good man. A proper prince in the public, you could say. Always paying attention to etiquette and handling himself as royalty should. Since he was going to succeed to the throne, Father was teaching him everything he should know, and that included interacting with people and managing the kingdom.”

Vanessa glances outside the window and shakes her head with a faint smile.

“But, those who knew him better, would instantly tell you that he was a huge womanizer. The only reason he even considered going out to the common people was the chance that he could meet a nice girl to flirt with. And since you have to admit that he was quite handsome and charming—combined with his status as a prince—he almost always found some pretty woman to accompany him for the day. Or night. When our parents weren’t watching, he even tried hitting on me from time to time. Seriously...”

“I see. Did he have any hobbies besides chasing girls?” I ask.

She chuckles lightly. “Oh, yes, he did. One that would be considered so unmasculine that it made him extremely tense and embarrassed whenever someone asked about it, even indirectly. Perhaps due to his obsession with women, he somehow got into tailoring. And by tailoring, I mean creating quite obscene lingerie and underwear for girls. Most likely for all those ladies he courted all the time. I can definitely see him begging them to wear it.”

“That’s… certainly something he might have wanted to keep to himself, considering his image,” I comment, not exactly fully convinced about that part.

“I know, right? He was so secretive about it that literally no one was allowed to even take a peek into his personal workshop in the castle’s dungeons. It was to the point of obsession. He hired powerful magicians to put seals and arrays all over the place. No one could even think about entering it without his approval. I once approached it alone and was sent flying by some invisible force, having to use my own magic to defend myself.”

Right. He definitely was so shy and embarrassed about making underwear that he rigged his own studio with offensive magic. I bet he had quite the collection of tools and products down there. He must have let his creative instincts go wild with zero supervision there.

“You have mentioned earlier that your kingdom isn’t as hostile towards demi-humans as Evalitia. Do you perhaps employ them in the castle? Or let non-human slaves do some work?”

“While they aren’t treated with as much hate as here, they still aren’t welcome enough to function in many public or governmental places. To avoid any possible complications and conflicts, the castle’s servants consist only of Humans. Demi-human slaves can still be found in the cities, in a similar position as in Evaneheim for example, but people don’t abuse them as much. At least publicly.”

Yeah. At least publicly. I think that’s the keyword here.

“Alright. What about your brother? What was his stance on the topic?”

“While he wasn’t really hostile towards them, you could definitely tell that he had a slight aversion towards non-human races. In public, he could often be caught squinting his eyes at women of other races. Sometimes he felt disgusted even to the extent of having to cover his mouth as it would involuntarily twist in displeasure, to not let people around notice his true thoughts slipping out and destroying his image, portraying him as someone calm and neutral.”

Bullshit. He fed them with so much bullshit. Twist in displeasure? I bet he was grinning like the creep he was and that’s what he didn’t want people to see. I’ve always been against too strict parenting, but they must have literally left him alone to do whatever he wanted and never checked anything.

I sigh and rub my temples. This situation is just hilarious. And tough to unravel. Especially with Vanessa’s views of her brother, which most likely aren’t that far from the public and their parents too. No wonder Ross came up with that heroic stunt of saving civilians by him.

Well. I need to start confirming things now. 

“Okay. I think I’ve heard enough. Let me ask you a question related to your investigation. If the person responsible for your brother’s death was still alive, what would you do?”

“That’s obvious. I’d bring them to justice. Life for a life. I’ve seen my brother’s body. He was literally split in half with a clean cut, head to toe. I can’t let such a dangerous person roam free if they somehow survived the King’s operation. And I won’t lie that I do not wish to avenge him,” Vanessa declares with a cold expression.

“Justice, you say. But what if justice was completely different from how you perceive it?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“What if during your investigation you learned that your brother wasn’t necessarily in the right?”

“Why would he not be?” she asks confusedly. “He was trying to protect the people running away during the chaos and even clashed against a very strong Berserker. How can that be wrong?”

“In the public version of events, yes, he did.”

Vanessa stops for a moment while furrowing her eyebrows at me. “Are you implying that it was different?”

“Do you always announce things to the people exactly as they happened? No matter how it happened? With all the little details from start to finish, including the unsightly parts?”

She again doesn’t answer for a moment, which clearly confirms my statement. That’s the first rule of governmental propaganda—focus on the positive aspects and the end result while omitting or slightly altering the uncomfortable parts. Operations on this scale rarely go perfectly as planned.

“So, that means King Rossberg lied to us.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he knew how you and your family viewed your brother. And he knew you would most likely not believe the truth, choosing to give you the same version as the public to avoid complications and possible conflict with Ronerulle. Which we can now see how turned out. And is what I’m currently trying to prevent from happening to me.”

“Considering everything you’ve said and implied, you do know the actual truth behind my brother’s death. Is that right?”

“Yes, I do. But, I think it would be better if you heard the story from someone else—an actual victim in this scenario.”

Just as I finish my sentence, the door to my chamber opens and Elea walks inside. I have asked her if she would be willing to talk about that horrible night while we were conversing here with Vanessa, and she agreed, arriving in front of my room and waiting for the proper moment.

The dark elf lady moves to my side and stops slightly behind me. I glance up at her.

“Elea, just grab a chair or I’ll be the one to do it.”

“That’s not necessary, Master. As a maid, I—”

“I didn’t call you here as a maid but as one of my precious lovers. I won’t let you stand while recalling that day.”

She nods with a soft smile and moves one of the free chairs next to mine, sitting down as I asked of her. I move my hand and place it over hers since our armrests are close. She glances at me with a smile for a moment before turning to face Vanessa.

“Hello again. You might be wondering why I am here. As you already know, an illegal slave auction took place under Evaneheim. I took part in it. As a slave, of course.”

“Ah. I’m sorry to hear that,” Vanessa nods at her politely.

“It’s fine. Those were some tough times for me and my friends, but I like to look at it as a trial that led me to a much happier conclusion.” She looks at me and uses her other hand to stroke mine from above. “Nevertheless, to keep it short, my village had been exposed to malicious Humans and we were captured to be sold to various slave merchants. I and five of my friends ended up in that illegal auction as they deemed us the most profitable.”

I can spot a slight change in Vanessa’s emotions even though she seems to be holding them well in check. A bit of sorrow peaks from behind that calm expression. Even though it’s not what I was looking for, I might be unintentionally bringing in some psychological plays into this conversation by letting her listen to a story from the victim’s perspective.

Elea glances at me again. “Where should I start?”

“From the moment you stepped onto the stage is fine. No need to go further than after the incident,” I answer.

“Alright. With just a semi-transparent cloth covering my breasts and private areas, I was brought in manacles onto a stage in front of many people in ball outfits and wearing masks. According to the presenter, I was a very rare product, but before everyone could start bidding, one person loudly announced that he would purchase me for 500 gold coins. After that, no one dared to even speak, as if scared of going against them. That is until one of the women sitting around Alastair raised the price. I think to 800 gold?”

I smile wryly when recalling that part. I’ve gone and brought that bunch with me to make myself fit the atmosphere more. Those women actually played a much bigger role than I first thought.

Vanessa glances at me with slightly raised eyebrows and I look back at her.

“I was the King’s undercover agent. My task was to confirm that the auction place was real. And well, I kind of decided to use that guy’s inflated ego to stall for time a bit. Anyway…”

Elea nods at me and continues. “Then, that person started fighting over me with Alastair, bit by bit, until they reached 3000 gold coins. I remember that clearly because they were arguing very loudly and the person in the white tiger mask was threatening him with his supposedly high standing, swearing to uproot Alastair’s whole lineage. And then, Alastair completely destroyed his remaining composure by bidding 15000 gold coins.”

Vanessa glances at me for a brief moment. I chuckle a little.

“Funds from the King. I had to return those, obviously. Just making sure that I wasn’t out of place there.”

“After that bid, the other person demanded to check if Alastair had this much money, and during that, a huge explosion shook the whole place. Someone from the hosts ran into the hall and shouted that the auction had been exposed and everyone started running away in chaos. Everyone except for the bidder. He took advantage of the commotion and rushed to take me with him, starting to struggle with my chains, locked to the stage. Some other, magical chains bound him and he noticed Alastair running towards us. He shouted to a butler that was with him… I don’t remember the name… to kill Alastair.”

“Zaeed. I will never forget this old man and his huge knives. I almost died back there.”

Vanessa’s eyes clearly widen when I mention the butler’s name, but they quickly revert back to normal. She moves her gaze from Elea to me. I’m fairly sure she is starting to realize the rest of the story.

Elea strokes my hand again. “It was a very close fight. I thought the older man would win as he had you pinned most of the time. But, you somehow beat him. And in the meanwhile, the butler’s master brought out a knife and pointed it to my throat, saying that if he couldn’t have me, no one would, and ordered you to drop your weapon.”

For a brief moment, Vanessa turns to Elea, but she soon refocuses on me. It’s hard to read her now. Almost as if she has steeled herself not to show any emotions.

“I thought this was the end for me, but then… you dropped your weapon and a loud metallic noise resounded behind me as your blade sank into the floor. The dagger the man was holding to my throat fell to the ground, and when I looked back, I screamed, seeing him split in half by a giant sword that emerged from the ground.”

Suddenly, Vanessa’s shoulders tremble and one of her hands shoots towards me while her fingers make some weird sign, startling Elea. But not me, since I was keeping my attention on her.

Vanessa’s eyes then widen as she stares at her arm in confusion. I sigh and point at the purplish belts wrapped around her body down from the chest.

“These don’t just restrain your movements. You won’t be able to use your magic and most likely your skills too for as long as I have them on you. You see now why?”

She stares at me with slightly cold eyes and tensed lips, slowly retracting her hand back. For a brief moment, there’s nothing but silence between the two of us as we stare at each other straight into the eyes.

Then, some tears start rolling down Vanessa’s cheeks. “You killed him…” she whispers, with a slightly shaky voice.

“Yes. That is a fact, unfortunately. I had no choic—”

“Why didn’t you stop him with the chains again?!” she slightly raises her voice as her lips tremble.

“If you want to hear an excuse, I was still new to this and spent a lot of mana. I didn’t want to take risks. I needed something he had not seen yet. And I would personally rather kill a malicious person to save an innocent one than watch the latter die.”

Vanessa keeps glaring at me for a moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She opens them again after slightly calming herself down.

“Is buying a demi-human slave, even in an illegal auction, really a good reason to judge someone evil?” she asks, a bit more calmly, but still visibly tense and with a cold expression.

“I’m sorry, but I spoke with him before the auction too. Just from that short conversation, he appeared to me as an oppressor, trying to act friendly but intimidating me at the same time to not get in his way. And, during the auction, his intentions towards Elea were clear. He was aiming for her right from the start. As he had told me, he loved collecting rare and exotic stuff. I don’t think he meant lingerie.”

“How could you be so sure with just that? What if you were completely mistaken? Even if he was going to buy her as a slave and keep her, what if he wanted to have her to make her wear his creations? Maybe too many women refused to do it for him. A slave would have to listen to the orders. Even if that was immoral of him, it didn’t justify killing him.”

I sigh heavily. “I understand that it’s very hard to believe in what you have heard because you only knew him from the good side. And perhaps about some of the less likeable quirks he allowed others to witness. I really understand that to you, he was just a slightly mischievous brother and it’s hard to change that perception after listening to someone’s words just once. In your eyes, I’m just slandering his name and it’s hard to accept after years spent around him. But, you are contradicting yourself here. You said he was disgusted by other races.”

Vanessa keeps looking at me with the same, cold expression, and I sigh again. Emotions. Even the calmest and most logical people get swayed by them in the end, during tough or critical moments. And I don’t blame her for it. 

As I have said, two visions of her brother clash against each other. It’s only natural she will find it hard to accept the flawed one. It wouldn’t be that surprising if she held a grudge on me forever. I did kill her close family. But, I need to make sure that she only aims for me if that happens.

“Since we won’t get anywhere just staring at each other—and trust me, I don’t want to keep you restrained forever—would you please consider telling me one thing?”

After a short moment, she makes a stiff nod.

“Did you check his workshop after his death?”

“No. We decided to leave it be, as a memorial. And even if we wanted, the magical formations are still active, even… after my brother’s death.”

I swipe a hand down my face while sighing, stopping it at my chin. “That’s… very unfortunate... and sad to hear…”

“Why do I feel like you don’t mean the memorial part?” Vanessa raises a faintly sarcastic question.

“Okay. Let’s do it like this. I have a suggestion for you. Please, hear me out in full before responding. I will set you free. But, you have to promise me two things. I will put my trust in you to keep your word. First, you have to promise not to bring others into this. Focus only on me. I will understand if you hate me forever, but please, leave people precious to me out of this. They had nothing to do with my decisions and actions. And that includes Shino.”

“Alasta—”

I raise my hand to stop Elea and keep staring at Vanessa.

“You don’t have to ask. I would never go after innocent people to hurt the one that has wronged me, no matter how badly. I’m not that kind of person. I will not think less of Shino or the others just because they know you.”

I nod at her. “Then, the second part. After I let you go, I want you to go back to your home and break the barriers restricting access to your brother’s workshop. Please, let me finish.” I hold my hand up again after seeing Vanessa going to interrupt me. “I will make a promise too. If after seeing what’s inside you will still think the same of your brother and of me, still believing that he did not deserve his fate even the tiniest bit, I will turn myself into your custody without resisting, to receive a just-in-your-eyes punishment.”

“Ala—”

“Elea,” I stop the dark elf again. She has even stood up in protest. I glance at her and stroke her hand, still in mine. “Please.”

Albeit not without hesitation, Elea sits down again and I turn back to Vanessa.

“How can I be sure that you will honour your word? That you won’t just run away while I’ll be gone?” she asks.

“How can I be sure that you won’t instantly attack me the moment I lift the chains? I’m trusting you, based on the fact that you get along with my friends. And the fact that Shino and Natalie think highly of you as a person. I just ask you to do the same for me, if you still believe in whatever they told you about me.”

Silence falls on us again. Vanessa clearly ponders over my suggestion. After a moment, she takes another deep breath.

“Alright. I promise to respect your two wishes, for the sake of those two. I will see for myself what is inside my brother’s workshop. Now release me. I don’t want to waste any time. I will be back. You can be sure about that.”

I nod and slowly retract the chains. Elea starts preparing some kind of a spell at the same time, with a seriously focused face, but I don’t stop her. 

After all of the straps disappear, Vanessa stands up, looks me straight into the eyes again, and starts walking away.

“Life for a life. Remember that,” I throw at her as she opens the door.

She stops for a brief moment and then closes it without looking back. I sigh in relief, releasing all the tension that kept building up during this conversation.

“Alastair…”

I turn to look at Elea, who has worry written all over her face.

“Why did you make a promise like that? What can she find there to change her mind enough to stop going after you?”

“Weeks after his death? Bodies… Plenty of bodies…” I answer with a somber tone.

Elea pulls my head into her chest and begins brushing through my hair with her slender fingers. I let her dote on me for a moment. I know she is worrying a lot about me and I would lie if I said I wasn’t stressed during this conversation too.

A few minutes later, someone knocks on the door and Shino enters inside, clearly fresh out of the bath. She took her sweet time there. But, who can blame her? A relaxing dip after our little session surely was bliss to her. Maybe I should take one too.

“Sensei? Is everything alright? I saw Vanessa-san going out. She looked... tense... And I also felt… like you were very sad and worried not that long ago… Did something happen?”

Elea lets me sit up again and I pull Shino onto my lap after she comes closer, starting to explain everything to her, from the very beginning. She already knows my side of the story about the underground raid, but I now fill her in on Vanessa’s involvement in it. Or rather, her brother’s. And also about our recent conversation.

Shino stares into her thighs for a short while after I finish before raising her gaze up again and meeting my eyes. She looks slightly anxious.

“I… I trust you, Sensei. It’s very unfortunate, but you have done what you had to. Please, don’t put yourself down with it too much. Although I really don’t like that promise you made, I can see how it was the best choice. You forcefully gave Vanessa-san time to think about everything. I really hope what she finds in that workshop will be enough… Actually, I now feel bad for saying that…”

I brush her cheek with my thumb. “Don’t. It already happened and can’t be changed. If I’m right, that is. Part of me wishes I wasn’t since that would save a lot of lives, but… I just have this weird confidence that my guess is correct…”

She pulls herself closer and gives me a gentle kiss, followed by a bunch of soft pecks. We stay together like this for a few more minutes and stand up. There’s no use in just sitting down and moping around. Until Vanessa returns, I have to forget about this and focus on my other issues. Especially one related to a certain catgirl.

I send Whispers around, asking how Paul, Marcia and Natalie are doing, and receive responses from their respective guides.

Elea first informs me that Marcia was catching her breath after over half an hour of intense exercises with the use of various appendages and tools in the Pleasure Chamber when I called for her to come into my room. She seems to have had a lot of fun, judging by Elea’s vivid descriptions, making Shino blush heavily.

Paul got somehow roped into a shooting contest with Filue, our archery specialist, and they are still going at it, unable to choose the winner of their friendly competition. I ask Cornelia to bring him back to the recreational section after they are done, hopefully soon.

According to Astrea, Natalie stumbled on the satyr sisters in the garden and they quickly noticed that she is a bard. They started chatting about music and even playing some tunes to each other. Neira somehow found them and started painting the trio with their instruments. Meiya and Neiya got themselves wooden flutes and ocarinas from the joint effort of Elea and Sirgia sometime ago.

Our little group—Shino, Elea and I—stop by the recreational area to wait for the others. Before they arrive, Sirgia joins us, also sensing my anxiety from before and wanting to check on me. I use that opportunity to fill all my lovers in on the situation, partially through Sweet Whispers. They got so much more useful after I managed to learn how to keep the sentences coherent.

After ten more minutes, everyone is back, including the residents that accompanied our guests during their fun activities. Sirgia, Cornelia, Elea, Neira, Astrea and Shino all take spots by my sides. What do I have to go through with them…

Natalie asks about Vanessa and Shino informs them that she left to do something important and that she will fill them in on the details later. And since the heroic trio keeps sending me glances from time to time, the girls take it upon themselves to explain that they are all in a relationship with me. Even Ailish materializes herself during the introductions.

Paul seems to be the most confused and slightly awkward about it from the group. Natalie is just slightly surprised that there’s this many, but she remains calm and collected as usual. Marcia though… starts begging me to let her live here as she definitely can’t function without all the toys anymore. 

At one point, she even throws herself at me, clearly smushing me with her breasts as she hugs me tightly from the front, but Shino manages to peel her off me after a short moment. She then explains that they would have to leave for their journeys anyway so she can’t just stay here forever.

I use that opportunity to confront Shino about her plans for the future and she explains that while she would love to stay with me all the time, she is sure that their team would get much weaker without her around and that would make her worried about Natalie and the others. Therefore, she is still going to join them. Most of the time.

To fix the mood of the heartbroken Marcia, I tell her that as long as she gets permission from the residents, she can live here during their stays in the capital. And I offer to give her some of the toys and gadgets for a takeout. Those that can fit in her spatial storage ring, at least.

She quickly grows a wide smile and starts thanking me, saying that she will welcome me with open arms—and legs—whenever I would want to have some fun with her. She clearly states her strong intention to fuck me while still abiding by her rules and not forcing me into it. I really respect that part of her.

Since the atmosphere started growing slightly awkward, at least for the only other man present in the meeting, I quickly let them know that I’m not holding anyone here and they are free to leave anytime, after having enough of this little sightseeing tour. They decide to depart as a group and Shino joins them to escort Natalie back to the castle.

I ask Cornelia about Elisee and she leads me to the room our new employee has picked. We enter while our new receptionist is still unpacking and give her a helping hand while we chat a little about random things connected to the establishment and me generally.

Afterwards, I sit with Astrea over the maps of the sewers and we discuss our possible routes to get to where the next community meeting will be held. It’s happening tomorrow. Time really flies fast. I remember her telling me it’s in five days like it was yesterday.

While we are at it, someone knocks on the door to my chamber and Sirgia walks in after being invited inside. She arrives by my desk and I pick her up onto my lap while Astrea is sitting on the table with her legs hanging down from it.

“Did my little dwarf need something?” I ask while brushing through Sirgia’s hair, using her favourite pet name.

“Ummm… When you returned… you promised to take me with you the next time… so… can I come with you?”

“Right. I did promise you that.”

I glance at Astrea and she tilts her head to the side. “Hmmm… I think it should be okay. But, you would have to be really careful. You are strong. And many of your skills are very destructive, right?”

Sirgia nods after a moment of thinking.

“Right. We’ll be fighting underground so that could get dangerous,” I comment and turn back to look at Sirgia while grazing her cute cheek with my fingers. “I know I promised you, but are you sure you can’t wait a bit more? I don’t want you to get hurt while holding back.”

She glances at me with those adorable eyes of hers and then casts her gaze down to think a little before speaking again.

“We Dwarves fight a lot underground. While I don’t have that much experience with it, I do know how to handle myself, Mas—Alastair… If you tell me not to go then I won’t, but… I really want to…”

“Don’t forget that you can still keep calling me Master if you want. You don’t need to be like the other girls. Just be yourself, alright?”

“Un.”

“As for our little trip, Astrea?”

“I’m fine with her coming, Alastair. We might not have to fight even once if we don’t meet any monsters or beasts on our way there and then the leader agrees to the challenge. And she is right. Dwarves do fight a lot underground.”

“Okay. I guess we’ll take you with us.”

“Thank you…” Sirgia snuggles to my chest, rubbing her face into it as I pat her head.

Astrea then jumps down onto the ground and moves closer to rub her cheek against mine while purring.

“I’ll leave you two now and come later for our training.”

I give her some scratches behind those fluffy ears and our beastgirl walks outside. Looking down, I notice Sirgia staring at me with rosy cheeks while still half-hiding her face in my chest.

“Ummm… If you want… Can we…”

I chuckle and pull her up to peck Sirgia’s petite lips. Astrea is really perceptive. It was obvious Sirgia would ask for some affection, most likely disguising it under the pretext of getting buffed before tomorrow.

Therefore, we spend some intimate time together. Since I’m usually the one making love to Sirgia, she insists on letting her do all the work today and I can’t just ignore her wish. I enjoy her sweet caresses and adorable yet utterly sexy attempts to be the one on top until she tires herself out and we go for dinner together, after cleaning up.

Afterwards, she escapes back to her forge-workshop, saying that she has to finish something since I allowed her to come with us. I let her go with a little peck for luck and motivation.

As we finish eating, I let Astrea know that I’m free if she wants to train now. The two of us walk away to my chamber. But, Shino catches up to us before we reach our destination, wanting to join us in training if that's okay. She came back from the castle shortly before dinner. 

Supposedly, Kamil is back up again and is currently slightly grumpy. Shino says that it’s because he learned that Vanessa was present during the bout while he showed his ‘true colours’ and not because of me. She explains that Kamil was trying to act nice around her. Oh well.

Anyway, after she informs me that they will stay in Evaneheim until Vanessa returns, Astrea brings us back to the main topic and says that she doesn’t mind if Shino joins in on our training. I ask her if she is really okay with that and the catgirl nods, saying that she is used to mating with multiple people present as strong Beastkin would use many girls to satisfy their heat.

That’s the point where Shino turns into a tomato, realizing what kind of training we were talking about since the beginning and runs away after apologizing to us. That was such an adorable sight. I’ll talk to her about this later.

After a very intense training session, and a short bath, I find myself with both Astrea and Sirgia in my bed. The former really enjoys sleeping with her head on my chest, wrapping her everything around my body, so I let her do that while gently stroking her adorable ears with one hand. Sirgia snuggles to my side, hugging my arm closely, as usual. I give both of them a peck on the forehead and we fall asleep.

In the morning, we take a quick bath, accompanied by quite a few beauties who love to start their day in the same way and move for an also fast breakfast. Then, the three of us head down to Sirgia’s workshop, per her own request. I’m quite excited to see what she is going to show us.

Saileri

Uh oh. What now?

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