Ch.181Time Flows #2

In the early dawn as the morning sun began to dimly rise, I got up alone from the bed and took time to stretch my stiff body.

Despite having passed the age of thirty, dealing with Helena, whose sexual desire had grown even stronger than before, always left me like this.

Come to think of it, perhaps it was precisely because she had passed thirty that her libido had reached its peak.

“Good, so good…”

Afterward, I went into the bathroom to wash off the filth on my body. There was something particularly refreshing about doing this so early in the morning.

I had long grown accustomed to soaking in the large bathtub that wasn’t originally there—I’d even feel disappointed without it now.

“Ugh!”

While relaxing in the hot water, a burning sensation suddenly flared in my lower abdomen, causing an involuntary groan to escape my lips.

It might have been concerning if I didn’t know the cause, but I was aware it was due to the magic circle that Eve had painstakingly inscribed to help Ellen and me conceive a child, so I didn’t worry.

I’d experienced this fleeting sensation several times before.

The only troublesome part was that after this burning feeling subsided, my desire to embrace a woman would intensify.

I’d heard it was a result of enhancing my masculine functions, making it an ambiguous side effect that didn’t quite feel like one.

At any rate, thanks to that, I still had abundant energy.

“That’s mean… going to bathe alone.”

When I finished washing and came out, Helena, who had apparently awakened from her unconscious state, sat on the bed with her lips pouting.

It made me smile to see her unchanging demeanor despite her age, but I couldn’t help it—if I had gone in with her, there would have been no end to it.

“If we went in together, we’d probably end up doing it again.”

“Would that be so bad…?”

“Well… probably not possible. If it were just the two of us living together like before, maybe, but not now. We have children too.”

Children. Upon hearing those words, Helena hung her head in disappointment, then nodded weakly as if realizing there was no helping it.

Seeing that expression reminded me vividly of the jealous look she had shown when she was just a baby, but there were benefits to this as well.

Perhaps because she wasn’t blindly attached to her own children, she didn’t even look unkindly upon the children born between Ellen and Eve.

Considering how often legitimate wives sharply react to concubines and their children, this was truly a blessing.

Thanks to that, I was inwardly grateful that we had been able to maintain a peaceful household all this time.

Even though Nix was the child who would succeed the duchy, she treated all the children equally.

“That’s so mean. Are the children more important to you than me?”

“You’re both important. Now go wash up quickly.” “…Okay.”

Whether it was because she had given birth or not, every expression of Helena’s was imbued with her unique beauty, making it hard to resist.

Even when she pouted just like before, the feeling it gave off was quite different, often making my heart race.

Moreover, her hips had grown wider, and I sometimes recalled the faces of people who would blush and leave after seeing Helena.

After Helena left, I chuckled as I cleaned up the empty bed.

The thought crossed my mind that it had been years since I’d had to remove sheets heavy with moisture and that distinctive smell.

What would be an unbearable odor to others was somewhat different for me and the women who had borne my children.

Repeatedly telling myself, “You shouldn’t be doing this, get a grip,” I neatly placed the removed bedding in a basket in the corner.

If I left it there, the servants would come and take it to be washed soon enough.

“I’m done washing. It was hard finishing all alone because of mean Jion, but anyway.”

In the meantime, Helena approached me wearing a thin, snow-white gown-like nightdress that emanated the scent of perfume after finishing her shower.

Her face clearly showed that her dissatisfaction had not yet been resolved.

I thought for a moment about what to do, then wrapped my arms around Helena’s waist as she came close, pulling her in strongly.

As a result, Helena sat on my thighs in a face-to-face position, creating a peculiar atmosphere.

“Master…”

Master. The fact that she used this title—normally reserved only for the bedroom—made her intentions quite clear.

From her expectant gaze, to the way she brought her lips close as if nothing had happened, to the flesh pressing against my thighs—every aspect was provocative.

Because of this, the urge to forget about the day’s schedule and just do it grew stronger and stronger.

However, we ended with just a light kiss, without soiling the freshly made bed.

The thought that we should stick to the plan had won out.

“We just did plenty earlier, didn’t we? So please be patient until tonight. Ellen and Eve aren’t here anyway.”

“…That’s so mean.”

Though she verbally complained, the way she rested her head on my shoulder suggested her anger had subsided.

While it wasn’t the intense activity Helena wanted, she seemed to enjoy this in its own way.

.

Dark elves fundamentally do not match the temperament of elves who seek tranquility.

This is because they tend to build up frustration if they don’t move their bodies more actively than regular elves.

And since this couldn’t be settled by just being slightly more active than regular elves, it caused friction with the elves, leading to poor impressions of dark elves.

In the past, those who didn’t know this fact treated them as filth, disliking both this friction and their ash-like skin color, but that treatment was gradually improving.

“So, how was it outside? Was there any danger?”

For this reason, Ellen had sent her daughter Lachesis out as an escort for a merchant caravan, and since she had just returned yesterday evening, there hadn’t been time to talk.

Only now, in the morning, did they have the leisure to face each other and converse.

“Yes, it was fine. Some thieves appeared when we were passing near the mountains, but when I shot them with my bow, they ran away on their own.”

Lachesis, who had a face that closely resembled Ellen when she was young, had a similar temperament, but because she often traveled outside, she had become a child who smiled frequently.

The only concerning thing was how casually she talked about shooting and killing people, but as parents, they had prepared for this and could take it in stride.

They had vaguely sensed that Lachesis would someday become an escort, and had taught her many things in preparation for that.

“I see. I’m glad you weren’t hurt. What did you see in Caliwood’s duchy?”

“Since it’s a territory that imports fabrics from the beastkin country, there were so many clothes. Even though it’s also a duchy, it was very different from our duchy, which felt refreshing.”

The temperament of dark elves becomes calmer with age, eventually settling to just slightly more excitable than regular elves.

Lachesis still had a long way to go before reaching that stage, but Ellen was relieved that she seemed unlikely to suffer much until then.

It was thanks to the lack of shadows in her bright smile and cheerful chatter.

“Yes, I’ve visited there a few times myself, and the atmosphere was quite different from here. Even duchies can vary greatly depending on who rules them.”

“Right. So it was interesting, but…”

“But?”

Ellen tilted her head, looking at her daughter who suddenly trailed off while happily talking.

She seemed to have something on her mind, though her expression wasn’t particularly gloomy.

“While chatting with the caravan people, I suddenly became curious about something…”

“What are you hesitating to ask? It’s fine, just tell me.”

What could it be that made her hesitate like this? Ellen wondered curiously what would come from her daughter’s lips.

When thinking of conversations from caravans, money-related topics came to mind first, but judging by her hesitation, it could be something completely unexpected.

So Ellen waited with anticipation, and then:

“How big is the Grand Duke’s… father’s cock?”

The shock felt like being hit hard on the back of the head, causing her to involuntarily cough painfully several times.

It was so painful that Lachesis, who was watching, raised her voice in concern.

“W-why are you suddenly asking that…?”

Ellen finally calmed down after a long bout of coughing, but still asked with a trembling voice, showing that the shock hadn’t completely subsided.

Since Lachesis was quite discerning for her age, Ellen’s heart raced at the thought that this wasn’t something said out of ignorance.

Whether aware of this or not, Lachesis spoke with a rather calm demeanor.

“I overheard the caravan people talking. They were discussing what’s important in married life.”

“Oh… is that so?”

“Yes. I was about to sleep but it sounded interesting, so I decided to listen. So I quietly listened inside the tent, and they were saying that for both men and women, bigger is better.”

“Umm… I see, I see.”

Ellen knew well that merchants and mercenaries could be quite uninhibited, but to think her daughter had heard such explicit talk.

It was shocking for Ellen, but on the other hand, she began to compose herself, thinking that this was bound to happen eventually.

Nevertheless, she asked with a still trembling voice:

“So, what happened next?”

“Next? After that… someone asked how big his cock was, and the man who answered said it was fucking huge. But another man who interrupted snickered and told him not to bullshit, and there was talk about taking off pants and such.”

She continued with unrestrained words that seemed unbelievable coming from a child’s mouth, saying that for a man to satisfy a woman, being big and thick was best.

Ellen felt her composure wavering again, but somehow managed to maintain her calm and listen to everything.

“…Anyway, they said women should have big breasts and buttocks, and men should have big cocks to please women… so I suddenly wondered how big father is. Mom must know since you’ve had children with father, right?”

“Well, I certainly can’t not know…”

“Right? So I was wondering how big he is. Since mom has big hips, it would have been problematic if father’s was small, right?”

Indeed. How could she not know when the shape of the organs inside her lower abdomen had completely changed?

Ellen felt both pathetic and relieved that she couldn’t talk about things she could confidently discuss in front of Jion with her daughter, and slowly took a breath.

The conversation was so shocking that she hadn’t realized it, but she could sense her daughter’s worry about whether there might have been dissatisfaction or discord in their marital life.

“Hmm… are you perhaps worried about me?”

“Of course I’m worried. Father may be kind and handsome, but they said if his cock is small, it’s useless…”

“…I’m not sure how to respond to that.”

Apothecaries say that size only needs to exceed a certain threshold, but even they would mostly answer “bigger” when asked which is better, big or small.

Ellen shook her head, recalling conversations among mercenaries, then resolved to speak honestly. She thought it was better than unnecessarily beating around the bush with a child who already knew so much.

“Well… the Grand Duke, your father’s thing… is still substantial.”

“Substantial…?”

“Yes. And…”

Ellen calmly yet in detail explained about being loved in the past and still being loved now, causing Lachesis’s cheeks to turn bright red as if they might burst.

Though she thought she had become accustomed to bedroom talk thanks to the caravan people, the intensity of Ellen’s story was incomparably stronger.

Especially with her gestures and detailed descriptions.

“…Anyway, that’s how it is. So I’m very happy, and sometimes even find it overwhelming. Does that reassure you?”

“Y-yes… I understand… very well.”

This time, Lachesis, who had initiated the conversation, showed her embarrassment by using formal speech that she normally didn’t use with Ellen.

She was clearly realizing that the difference in experience was insurmountable.

“Um… so how do you find a well-endowed man? After all, to live without fighting for a long time, it’s better to meet someone big, right?”

“Though they say physical intimacy isn’t all there is to a relationship between a man and woman… don’t worry about that.”

“Huh? Why not?”

Ellen, finding her daughter’s wide-eyed questioning cute, answered with an unconscious smile curling at the corners of her lips.

“If someday in the distant future, a man who matches your heart happens to be physically lacking… Eve or the Duke will bestow arcane assistance.”