I looked at my map over and over several times.
"There was no hot-spring here yesterday. Yeah. I"m absolutely certain. Unless the person who drew the map was blind, there was definitely no hot-spring in sight, on the small hill near the city!"
I looked Vyvyan, who was by the side, playing with her hair while humming a tune.
I then looked at the bubbling hot-spring on this hill.
"My gut tells me that this person definitely had a part in this! It was definitely you! Vyvyan definitely used her magic to make this appear overnight! I"m absolutely certain that"s what happened!"
Elizabeth came up behind me, pressed her hand on my shoulder and asked, "Do you want to warm up first, Son?"
"Alright. Luna…"
"You don"t have to call for Luna. Mommy will help you wash…" Elizabeth dipped a sponge into the hot spring and then I felt a warm and moist sensation on my back. Elizabeth hugged me around my waist from behind and then slowly scrubbed my back…
"Don"t! Don"t scrub my front-side! I can scrub my front-side on my own! Don"t glue yourself to me now! I"m getting squashed by you!"
Vyvyan shot a grumpy look this way. She then snorted and said, "What rough hand techniques. You"ll damage my son"s skin like that. You"re as rough as ever. That"s my son, not your sword!"
"Kyah?! Son… Son… how did you skin become so red…? Mommy… Mommy didn"t do it on purpose… does it hurt? Does it hurt? It"s Mommy"s fault. It"s Mommy"s fault… Mommy… Mommy can"t control Mommy"s strength properly…" Shocked, Elizabeth tossed the sponge in her hand away.
I let out a heavy sigh. My body isn"t as tough as Mom"s, Nier"s or Lucia"s. But I"m not so soft that a sponge could wound me. I"m not a porcelain doll. And that"s a very rare heredity disease…
"… It"s okay Mom. It"s just because of the water." I cupped a handful of hot water and splashed it on my body before wiping it.
It honestly does feel great to dip yourself in a hot spring in the freezing winter. Except I can"t shake off the feeling that it"s a little weird to strip down outside.
The Valkyries had set up a simple screen.
"The empress can"t bring her sword into the water, so the Valkyries kind of need to come out of their nest."
There was a Valkyrie, with a drawn sword, on guard-duty every three to five steps. The elven shadow squad had spread out at the foot of the mountain, as well.
If you wanted to a.s.sa.s.sinate the ruler of this continent right now, I imagine you"d need to bring an army.
Nier looked over this way and shyly stripped. She softly said, "My body… Your Majesty… you already know… that I have lots of scars… and muscles… it doesn"t look good…"
"It"s fine." I looked at Nier and shook my head. I chuckled and praised her, "I really like you, Nier, both your body and your soul, so don"t mind it. The scars on your body are a symbol of honour. They are scars of glory. They"re not something you should hide. Plus, your body is very nice, Nier."
"Your Majesty!" Nier jumped into the water blissfully and swam over to my side. She hugged my arm as she snuggled up in my arms.
I let out a big sigh of relief and leaned on the stone wall.
Soaking in the hot water helped me sober up a little after feeling a little dizzy from the drinking last night. The fatigue I had built up recently disappeared with the steam as well.
Lucia came from the other direction and hugged my arm. She then mocked Nier, "Hmph. Isn"t that just fat? … Elves are all about proportions and symmetrical bodies. A chest full of fat can"t compare! What"s the point of having them so big?! Cow-t.i.ts!"
Lucia"s body is really nice, too. If you were to compare, her body is just as nice as Nier"s. But Nier is quite a bit taller than Lucia, making Lucia look a lot smaller… in all places…
"Don"t get jealous because you don"t have them. Jealousy is a sin, you know? His Majesty particularly loves my body. Otherwise, we wouldn"t go at it from night till dawn! On the other hand, sleeping with you must be like sleeping with his daughter, huh? How are you going to raise your child with His Majesty, when your body is so bad?" Nier didn"t give her an inch.
"It looks like Nier has become more talkative after knowing Lucia."
You must know that at the start, Nier wouldn"t say much before getting into a sparring match with Lucia… a sparring match in name only, though. In reality, they would try to kill the other with wooden swords… Lucia… always gets beaten to the point where she would come to me, curl up in my arms and tremble.
"Cow-t.i.ts!"
"Better than a little kid!"
"What are you all chatting about?" My two moms from the other side entered the water and looked in our direction.
I looked at their bodies… and then Lucia"s and Nier"s…
"Hmm… it looks like… these two are just a level below… Who said elves had pet.i.te bodies?! I think Vyvyan"s body is better than Elizabeth"s! Elizabeth is slightly taller than Vyvyan, but she still loses to Vyvyan. It looks like Lucia"s body is just normal…"
The two of them went silent… They had no right to flaunt their bodies in front of my two moms.
"Aahh… it sure feels good… Vyvyan, your magic isn"t useless after all." Elizabeth suavely stretched out her back and then sunk into the water.
Luna gently set down a plate of fruits and then said with a smile, "Please enj-, ahh!!"
Before she knew it, I had already pulled her down into the water. And in a moment of emergency, Luna grabbed Freya who was next to her.
The two girls shrieked and fell into the water together, creating a ma.s.sive splash.
"Your Majesty!!"
"Onii-sama!!!"
The two girls found their footing in the water before they could calm down and then looked at me angrily.
I chuckled mischievously as I waved my hand and said, "Sorry, sorry. Don"t be angry. Don"t be angry. I just thought that you two could relax for a bit since you both do about the same amount of work as I usually do. Your clothes are wet now anyway, so how about relaxing in the hot spring? Today is the first day without any work, so have a good rest."
"But… but… It is okay for Miss Freya… but I…"
Luna looked at Lucia and Nier fearfully.
"Luna seems to always be really afraid of these two. I think their savagery when they dueled left a big shadow in Luna"s heart… Perhaps she"s afraid of being beaten to death by the two if they find out about her dark past…"
"It"s okay…"
Lucia looked at her ears. She seemed to have a certain curiosity for them.
Nier looked at me, tenderly touched my chest and said, "His Majesty"s orders."
"I… Alright then…"
Luna shyly took her clothes off in the water. Freya who was behind her also undressed and then sunk into the water. They let out a big sigh of relief.
Hot springs really are a good thing… None of us spoke for a while. We could finally have a short respite and some peace, after being busy for so long.
Vyvyan closed her eyes and faced up to the sky in a daze.
Elizabeth held a cup of wine and accompanied it with a plate with fruits floating on the water.
Nier and Lucia hugged me left-and-right and kicked each other"s legs every now and then.
Freya and Luna leaned on each other"s shoulders and hummed in a relaxed fas.h.i.+on.
Why does this scene… feel oddly harmonious…?
Dear person lying about me not supporting the author,
The author has been offered support by me on more than one occasion. It was offered from the day I spoke to him where he gave me his permission to translate the series and use Patreon (which I provided proof of when I posted the conversation). I"ve provided proof of another scenario I tried to offer him support in the comments below. The only reason I never mention this is because I don"t seek acknowledgement for it from anybody, but I can"t have you lying. Check your facts first next time. Hugs and kisses.
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