episode_0196

Early morning.

I woke up naked, as usual, in the soft embrace of the blankets.

I shifted in the luxurious bed of the inn I always stayed at, twisting my head to look out the window.

The chirping of birds and warm morning sunlight seeped through the window frame.

A cool breeze and the scent of grass wafted in through the slightly opened window, the fresh air slowly invigorating my body.

I tried to sit up, but felt a heavy weight on my left arm, which was stretched out to the side.

Gently lifting the blanket, I found a naked girl with tousled, light-green hair lying there.

She was sleeping soundly, breathing softly, but perhaps due to her sensitive senses, she read my gaze and slowly opened her eyes.

“Mmm… Good morning, Your Highness-♡”

“Sleep well?”

Instead of answering, Aspi smiled softly and leaned in to kiss me.

Soft and sweet saliva flowed slowly into my mouth, and I involuntarily gasped, savoring her essence.

*Chup- Chuuup-*

Slowly bringing over my right arm from under the covers, I caressed Aspi’s thighs, across her groin, and up her belly and chest.

“Mmph…”

Gently flicking her perky breasts, which lay nestled together on the bed, she shivered with pleasure.

*Pinch-*

I pinched her nipples with my thumb and forefinger. Unable to contain her moans, she covered her mouth.

I pushed her hand away, preventing her from hiding her face, and soon she let out a hot breath, overlapping her thigh with mine.

“Haa… Haa… Your Highness, I…”

“Alright. Do as you please.”

“Thank you…♡”

Aspi curled the corners of her lips into a sweet smile, then quickly took my arm.

It was a bit unexpected.

I thought she’d immediately climb on top of me and start gyrating her hips, but she looked into my eyes and, holding my hand, began rubbing my fingers against her crotch.

“No sex?”

“We had sex yesterday and the day before— Ugh—Haa… Sometimes, I too, would like Your Highness to touch me… Ugh—♡”

I recalled what happened the day before yesterday.

Aspi and I were walking down the streets of the Divine Kingdom when we briefly ran into Tier, who’d stepped out for a break.

They quietly exchanged glances, then had a brief conversation that excluded me.

I didn’t know exactly what they talked about, but I could roughly guess from Aspi’s tear-filled eyes when she returned.

Sure enough, she started begging me to pin her against the balcony like Tier.

“Oops—This time it’s flat-chested noona—”

“Shhh—Don’t say that—”

She must have heard everything that happened that day.

From the almost twenty hours of sex and public exposure sex, to me holding her and touching her genitals.

As her connection with me was later than the other wives, even if she didn’t show it outwardly, Aspi secretly harbored a competitive spirit in such matters.

She wanted to firmly establish that she was mine, and sometimes her eagerness was almost touching.

I pulled Aspi closer, pushing my arm deep between her legs and starting to fondle her crotch.

“If you want, I’ll do it anytime. But…”

“Yes, Your Highness’s cock is mine…”

*Poke- Chup- Squelch—*

As I slid my fingers into her soft vagina, scraping the inner walls of her moist passage, Aspi also grabbed and stroked my cock with both hands.

“Aspi, open your mouth and stick out your tongue.”

“Yeeees…♡”

The act of touching each other’s pleasure spots while looking into each other’s eyes was more fulfilling and satisfying than I imagined.

.

.

.

I spent the entire morning intertwined with Aspi, and together, we entered the bathroom to thoroughly cleanse each other.

We left the inn before noon, as today was the day we returned to the kingdom.

After gathering the knights of the First Diocese and having them stand by, I went to a small village outside the diocese.

As the country has a mountain range that rises towards the center, the altitude decreases as you go outwards.

Some places had sheer cliffs meeting the coastline, while others had vast plains stretching out.

*Whoosh—*

I slowly walked along the wide beach.

Mountains to my right, the sea to my left. A truly excellent village for settling the long-standing summer resort debate between the sea and the valley.

If you adjusted the viewing angle carefully, you could see the terraced rice paddies carved into the hillside and the fishing boats docked at the pier simultaneously—a quite novel experience for me.

“Whew… A bit chilly.”

Compared to the sea of the free trade city, Liberty Port, it didn’t exactly fit the image of a summer sea. The port wasn’t very developed, and the climate was quite cold, with a chill in the air from early autumn.

Fastening my collar, I walked along the sandy beach, past a village where warmth and kindness seemed to radiate from every house, until I reached a secluded, deserted lot.

There stood a very old house. It wasn’t so much that the house itself was old, but rather that it hadn’t been properly maintained for a long time.

Vines covered the roof and walls, causing the wooden support beams to rot and collapse in various places.

*Creak-*

I passed through the rusty gate and entered the courtyard.

Tall weeds pricked my thighs, and as I paused to look around, insects scurried between my toes.

*Rustle- Rustle-*

Going through a side path into the back garden, a breathtaking seascape unfolded before me.

A place where the rising sun shone in the morning. And inside a large window slanted towards the back garden, was the living room of a ruined house.

“…”

There was a priestess there.

Kneeling, basking in the penetrating light, she was praying. A nun in a black habit—a Saint of the Lumina Church.

I silently sat down on the veranda in front of her.

“This is it?”

“…Yeah. I came here just in case, but there’s nothing left.”

“It’s been a few years.”

This was the house where Tier lived with her parents when she was a child. It was hard to say I’d come to follow the scent of memory. There weren’t any belongings or furniture left.

“She said she left as if she were being chased away…”

“Right. Accused of a crime without reason, she lost her house and all her possessions…”

“I’ll kill them all.”

*Pfft-*

Seeing me clench my fist, Tier covered her mouth and laughed.

“You know who those people are, right?”

“I know them well. Th—what were they called again… those bastards?”

She laughed again. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand and quietly set down the cross she held.

“They… are all dead.”

“Good. Did you do it?”

“No, you idiot.”

It must have been a rather unpleasant memory.

So I made some lighthearted jokes, and Tier laughed it off, lightheartedly sharing memories.

I noticed a small wooden sign stuck in one corner of the back garden.

Some kind of marker? I pointed at it, turning to Tier.

“What’s that?”

“What do you mean, it’s just a wooden plank…”

“It looks like something is written on it… Let’s see, Tier’s—”

*Whoosh-*

Suddenly, she jumped up and ran outside. She ran so fast that her shoes were nearly coming off, tangled in the grass.

“What, what is it…?”

Without answering, Tier approached the sign, pulled out the wooden plank, and started digging the ground with her hands.

Seeing the words written on the sign, I understood why she was in such a hurry.

[Tier’s Treasure Chest]

*Crack- Thunk- Whoosh-*

Seeing her struggling to dig the hard ground with her bare hands, I reached out to help.

I didn’t want to damage whatever was buried inside, so I gathered some ether into a blunt, large hand-like shape.

*Thwack-*

The ether hand dug into the hard soil, scooping out large mounds of earth like a massive piece of heavy machinery.

Clumps of earth mixed with roots fell away, soon revealing what was buried beneath.

Tier received the small box and slowly brushed off the dirt. It was a small wooden box that could hold a few books.

Kneeling next to Tier, who was hesitating with trembling fingertips, I gently stroked her hand holding the box.

“What is it?”

“…It’s a treasure chest. A treasure chest full of memories, buried with my parents when I was little. Why did I forget about this…”

I sat down beside the kneeling girl and gently caressed Tier’s trembling hand, which clutched the box’s lid.

“I’m curious. What’s inside?”

“…”

“Shall we open it together?”

Tier nodded silently.

Our hands were intertwined as we held one corner of the wooden box and slowly opened the lid.

*Click-*

There wasn’t much inside. A small diary, children’s toys, pebbles, seashells, and…

A faded photograph.

“…Cute.”

Two people with purple hair, and a small girl barely half my height.

I didn’t need to ask to know what the photo was.

“I thought I’d lost it all… it’s still here.”

Tier clutched the photo tightly to her chest. She bowed her head, crouching down before slowly relaxing her back. She must’ve been doing it to protect the photo from creasing.

“Let me see it.”

I took the last family photo from her, placing it on my palm, and slowly drew up ether.

The photo immediately glowed white, then became enveloped in a transparent, vinyl-like film.

“I’ve magically sealed it. It won’t get wet, and it won’t get old or worn out. Even if a bombardment spell were used, it probably wouldn’t get a scratch.”

Tier carefully examined the coated photo, before hugging it to her chest once more.

“Yeah, yeah… Thank you so much…”

I didn’t say anything more.

I just offered Tier my shoulder and silently stayed by her side as she breathed out her sobs.

“I… am home.”

As the afternoon approached, the warm sunlight seemed to ripple as though guided by someone’s will.

I quietly stroked Tier’s hair.

.

.

.

On our way back, we formed a long procession—myself and Tier, priests from the Aither Temple, and the second Knighthood of Naifrantz.

Hoping to avoid a large crowd, I briefly greeted Pope Martino and the cardinals.

But the large number of knights accompanying us attracted a huge crowd.

White handkerchiefs waved from everywhere, cheers erupted, and eventually the temple officially sent us off.

Temple knights lined the streets, parting to the left and right, holding their swords and lances in salute.

Some of them trembled violently when they saw my face.

Were those the ones I’d beaten senseless? I offered a faint smile as an apology, but it only further fueled their terror.

Leaving Pope Martino and the four cardinals bowing from afar, we continued our march towards the Kingdom of Naifrantz.