Ahri did not bother responding to Caesar"s curt response, and they soon both drifted off to sleep contemplating about two entirely different matters. Ahri was worried that Caesar didn"t care about Elizabeth anymore; he seemed to distance himself more and more as of late.
The young girl tried her hardest to impress him. However, he merely congratulated her with a nod of his head. Even if Caesars didn"t realize that Elizabeth was working so hard for him, Ahri surely did. It pierced her heart to see that Caesar didn"t care for Elizabeth"s improvements, though, she did understand why he was like that.
As a man who impressed her time and time again with his intelligence, his expectations were probably much higher than most regular people. He would not congratulate his kin for accomplishing such fundamental achievements. Instead, he wants them to strive for betterment.
With these disturbing thoughts in mind, they both drifted off to sleep, descending the room into utter silence. The howling wind outside the window was abnormally ferocious on this restless night. However, Caesar wasn"t awake to admire it.
…
The next morning, Ahri surprisingly awoke before Caesar. She gazed at his peacefully sleeping figure and couldn"t help but poke one of his pale cheeks. In response, his eyes fluttered ever so slightly, irradiating a red shimmer.
A small groan escaped from his thin lips as he captured Ahri"s extended hand, pulling her under his body. He pinned her below him and put his knee between her legs, making it impossible for her to retreat. Ahri"s eyes dilated in shock as she attempted to resist, a small blush forming on her cheeks.
Caesar"s eyes were squinted as he stared down at Ahri provocatively, moving his mouth closer to hers. "It"s quite rare for you to be up so early, did you not sleep well?" he whispered in his deep, raspy voice. His voice tickled the tips Ahri"s ears, and she couldn"t help but squirm under his muscular body.
"I-I couldn"t sleep very well, so I figured a warm bath would calm me down…" she replied, quietly. The embarra.s.sment in her voice was evident, and the loud thumping in her chest rang in Caesar"s ears, causing a playful smile to form on his lips.
"What a coincidence, I was planning on taking a bath myself," Caesar said, "unfortunately, there is only one batch of warm water… what are we to do?"
The hidden meaning in his words caused Ahri to blush even harder while she rolled her eyes. She was trying to keep a straight face, but the corner of lips kept twitching. Caesar"s near-nude body that loomed over her was more provocation than she could handle.
"We can bathe together… I guess," she finally relented after a few moments, pushing Caesar"s body away and escaping to the bathroom. She usually wasn"t this abashed. However, Caesar was rather sly today.
Once she entered the bathroom, Caesar couldn"t help but release a chuckle as he stripped his clothes and joined right after. The atmosphere was slightly awkward and steamy as they both sat in the somewhat small tub.
The water rose to the very brim of the tub and Ahri was practically sitting in between Caesar"s legs. Scenes from the last time they had indulged in each other kept flashing in her head, causing her to glance in Caesar"s direction constantly.
Although she was trying to act like a fully matured mother as of late, she was still a rather young girl. Her experience wasn"t even close to that of Caesar"s; as such, the stimulation was too much for her to bear.
In contrast to Ahri"s embarra.s.sment, Caesar was relatively calm. He just wanted to tease Ahri a tad bit, since they hadn"t talked very much lately. He didn"t plan on partaking in any strenuous activities so early in the morning.
Nonetheless, Caesar continued to tease the poor la.s.s for a few moments subtly, only opting to leave the bath a quarter of an hour later. A sly smile was plastered on his face as he stepped out of the water, his body dripping with water.
"You forgot to scrub your body, dear," Caesar whispered while drying himself with a towel. Ahri glared at him fiercely, and even a small growl escaped from her lips. Her long canines fully showcased themselves, and the ears on top of her head were raised in irritation.
Unfortunately, her attempt at trying to appear imposing failed. In fact, to Caesar, she looked much cuter when angry. He whistled a melodious tone as he exited the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
He quickly dressed himself in a somewhat fancy suit and left before Ahri exited the bathroom. He had a few things he needed to do at the training grounds and military school. Although he was leaving relatively soon, he still had a few responsibilities he needed to keep.
He would not be able to train the human knights with mana once he was gone. Thus, he wanted to achieve as much progress as possible. Furthermore, Bronson and the elves were showing remarkable improvements. Many of the human knights were falling behind. However, their determination was still strong.
With this in mind, he left the palace and soon reached the training grounds. The plethora of knights were routinely waiting for him, lined up in a very organized manner — even the unruly fox-kin starting to adapt to the a.s.sembled knights.
There were three different groups amongst them: the Elves, Fox-kin, and Humans, each with their own distinct characteristic. The elves dressed loosely and carried small weapons, such as daggers, bows, and even scimitars. The humans used either western-styled swords or spears, a few of them wielded shields as well. The fox-kin were equipped with much more ma.s.sive and crude weapons.
They were Agile, Strategical, and strong, respectively. Each of their flaws was covered up by one another. However, none of them were skillful at using mana. The reason why they were knights and not magicians was due to this fact. In contrast, the female warriors of each race were busy learning strategy and magic.
For some reason, women in the world seemed to be much better at magic than men. Naturally, this wasn"t always the case. However, it was especially true for elves. The men excelled at speed and precision, while the women were great at magic.
Whether it was hurling a ball of wind or using magic to whisper into his ears, the female elves had shown it all. Thus, Caesar held high expectations for the elven men, even going as far as to insert a bit more mana into them when the training took place.
Thinking to here, the knights got into position, and they began their daily practice. Bronson didn"t train like the rest. Instead, he still focused on his foundation. Learning sword techniques and tempering his physical body.
Caesar too stripped his clothes off and joined the knights in training. He was shirtless and decided to practice his control over mana, while also exerting his physical body. Instead of meditating, he and the knights ran laps while trying to control the mana in the environment.
Their efforts were fruitless, as none of them succeeded in what they were striving for. Nonetheless, none of them felt as though their efforts were wasted. Thus, Caesar soon departed from the training grounds sullied by sweat.
His cleanliness from the earlier bath was just about washed away, and he decided to head back to the palace. His conversation with his father about the current law-system needed to be continued. Not to mention the dire need for economic growth.