Chapter 458: A Spousal Dispute?

What was supposed to be a simple shopping trip between two ladies around the city ended up taking up the whole day instead. There wasn’t even a trace of either Paliseth or Mo Ning during this time. Had it not been for the fact that Mo Ning preferred females, I would have honestly thought that she was kidnapped by some weird male Dark Elf.

What a boree… I really need to find something to do. Maybe I should ask Lanbael to do some soil sampling… or maybe just bread sampling, that works too. She seemed rather happy with the previous bread sampling, what with how elegantly she gobbled down the entire bread without even me saying. Not like she had a choice… unless she wanted to do some soil sampling…

I ended up spending the night over at Jezsere’s room in a very comfortable embrace throughout. Now, if only my pee pee was back from its holiday… In the morning, we ran into a decidedly excited Zurnalin who so happened to be out on a stroll. I could tell that she was excited by how she leapt at me with arms wide open…

“Your holiness! I’m back!”

“Welcome back.” I said while deftly dodging her embrace and pushing Jezsere between us. “Now, is there anything I can help you with, as long as it’s not a hug.”

Seeing how I pushed Jezsere out to block her advances, Zurnalin couldn’t help but pout in dissatisfaction. “Hmph. Not even a hug… at this rate, having children together is going to be difficult.”

“Who said I was planning to have children with you?!”

If there was a word that could describe the character that was Zurnalin, it would be heroic. Whether it was her words or her bearing, they all perfectly fit the mould of a female hero. Yet from what I’ve heard about her, she was still single, the kind who had no experience with another man no less. Perhaps, rather than saying that she did not wish to have a romantic relationship with the opposing sex, it would be more accurate to say that she abhorred the opposing sex.

The question of whether or not she liked females instead had crossed my mind before, but while she might not have hated females as well, she had no intimate relationships with them either. And I would bet my bottle of chili oil that she was still a functioning female. As for why I was so sure… let’s just say that I could see it.

Honestly, I was sure of all that because of the state of her soul. When a male and female mated, it wasn’t just simple physical contact, each side would leave a mark on the other’s soul as well. Zurnalin’s soul was impeccably clean, pristine even.

In order to prevent any further indecency from this Dark Elf, I quickly took control of the conversation. “Have the Murloc Tribes been integrated successfully?”

“Yes. The two biggest Murloc Tribes have been integrated.” Having said that, she turned towards me with tears in her eyes. “Your holiness, I’m about to head off to battle, if I do not make it back this time…”

“You’re joking… I know the Minotaurs and the Harpies aren’t weak, but your Blood Drake Riders are clearly stronger. You even have the Murlocs and Half-Elves to aid you. There shouldn’t be any problem at all.”

“But what if…”

“I guess that’s true as well. The battlefield is a capricious mistress, no one can say for certain what might happen next.”

“And that’s why…”

“And that’s why?”

She turned her puppy dog eyes to me once more. “As a precaution, please bestow unto me the honor of bearing your child! Even if something were to happen to me on the battlefield, I would at least have a descendant…”

“Are you saying you can give birth to a child within a day?! Do you think they are bread or something?!”

I swear… is she insulting my intelligence?

“I can’t even have a child to begin with!” I practically yelled at this point.

Someone please take this indecent woman away right now… My pee pee is not even back yet. If it was, we wouldn’t even be talking right now! We would be in bed!

“That’s enough horsing around now. I’m going to be a part of the battle as well.”

“Your holiness is taking to the battlefield?”

“That’s right, I am.”

The moment she heard that, her once jovial expression was immediately tempered by a tinge of worry. “But the battlefield is a dangerous place to be, and those monsters do not know the holiness of your person. They might even frighten you…”

“There’s no need to worry about that. I may look like this, but I got to where I am by climbing a mountain of corpses.”

That was true too. Literally. I climbed a mountain of corpses in the Blood Sea. Whether it was the Blood Sea or the Prison of the Dead, when was my journey ever easy? Even if my experience up to Sable Radiance might not have raised my Star-level much, it had at least hardened my heart to the toils of war. At the very least, I wasn’t about to be scared by some battlefield.

“Is your holiness sure about that?” She tried once more to persuade me. “The battlefield has dangers lurking in every corner…”

“My mind is set.” I firmly said.

Seeing that her persuasion had failed, she finally gave up as well, steering the conversation to another topic in the process. “Then at least allow Zurnalin to bear your holiness into battle. Zurnalins swears on her life that your holiness will be safe!”

Her words were as firm as I had been just a while ago. Her eyes peered right at me and I could see the genuine worry reflected within them. It touched me. But I still turned down her offer in the end.

“I’m afraid not.”

Having been rejected multiple times already, Zurnalin was starting to break down a little. I could see her eyes begin to water up as she asked, “Why must your holiness reject me so?”

“Because dearest already has me.”

A set of steady hoofsteps echoed sonorously from behind me, out came a fiery redhead girl that had to at least be two meters tall judging by the shadow she cast. Her face was beautiful and had a wildness to it, like a proud, untamable stallion. As she got closer, she smiled in my direction, a thick waft of scent blowing in my direction. It was an unfamiliar scent to me, but I knew that any normal man would immediately fall to her charms from just a whiff of it. The redhead girl gently wrapped her arms around me then lifted me up onto her back in a manner you would expect of a pillion rider on a bicycle.

All that was fine and all… but how should I say this… she’s a half person, half horse… and I was now sitting atop what looked like her skirt…

“You… you’re… Mo Ning?” The moment I recovered from the shock, I hurriedly slid off her back and looked at this smiling but unfamiliar face with a heart that was about to implode right about now.

The Mo Ning standing before me right now was no longer a black horse but rather had a humanoid upper half!

Her lower half was covered in a wide, white skirt that practically covered up the rest of her horse bits, leaving only her beautiful hooves visible from underneath. Her torso was dressed in the typical garb of the Dark Elf, similar to Jezsere’s own. If there was one thing different, it would be those mountains barely hidden behind her garb…clearly a facsimile of Paliseth’s…

Ever since her makeover, Mo Ning’s smile had a wild charm to it. Her skin was milky white and she had the typical pointy ears of an Elf. Her ruby red eyes seemed to draw you in as much as her smile did while her fiery red hair flowed freely behind her, spoiled only by a couple of cow licks sticking proudly upwards…

Her current appearance was a conundrum for me. She was definitely beautiful… but there was still the matter of the horsey bits…

Honestly speaking, I was a strict adherent of the “what’s outside is what matters” philosophy. Despite being a member-for-life of the Waifu for Laifu club, my tastes were still rather normal so monster girls were a little out of my strikezone. As the old adage went, 2D is fine…3D? Maybe not.

“That’s right, dearest, how do I look?” Mo Ning smiled bashfully in my direction. “I know dearest is put off by my non-humanoid form, but look, I have the same body as dearest now, so…”

Mo Ning immediately latched onto me and refused to loosen her grip, barely giving me any chance at all to breathe.

Realising my harried state, a sense of duty suddenly swelled from within Zurnalin’s heart. She immediately stood forth, separating Mo Ning from me. “Who are you? Can’t you see that his holiness is uncomfortable around you?”

“Who am I?” Mo Ning immediately felt a spark of hostility with this obviously aggressive Dark Elf. “Dearest and I have an engagement pact together.” She sneered. “What about you? Who are you? What is your relationship with my dearest?”

“Me?” Zurnalin confidently flashed her a grin. “I’m the one to bear his holiness’s child in the future!”

“Hah! You wish to have a child with my dearest? Have you sought my permission?” Mo Ning said, words dripping with scorn for the foolish confidence that this Dark Elf displayed. “I bet you don’t know that dearest and I already have a child.”

“What?! Impossible!” That simple revelation was like a bolt of lightning to a now visibly distraught Zurnalin. The blood quickly drained from her face as she stammered with disbelief, “But you’re clearly that… either way, there’s no way you can bear his child!”

“Hmph, our child’s name is Mo Na and she’s very cute.” Having said that, the confidence in Mo Ning’s voice only grew surer, as if the existence of this mythical daughter ensured her a spot in posterity.

Come to think of it, is the relationship between Mo Na and her actually that good? Did something happen in the few days that I was gone that made them such close friends?

Hold on… that’s not the issue here! When did Mo Na become mine and Mo Ning’s child?! She’s clearly Mo Ci’s child!

Just as I realised that something was amiss here, Zurnalin recovered from the colossal shock that was Mo Ning’s revelation as well. “As if. You know better than I do that you don’t have a child. Hmph, trying to act all experienced in front of a Dark Elf -laughable.”

“At least she’s my stepdaughter.” Mo Ning gave her a lofty stare as she said that. “What about you? I bet you don’t even know who Mo Na is.”

(Say no to content thief!)

“His holiness might not have told me who Mo Na is, but I dare say that your relationship with this Mo Na isn’t all that good to begin with.”