Nier returned. I caught Nier - who had yet to change – sneaking into the room when I went to Mommy Elizabeth"s place to see Daisy the next day.
Nier froze up when she saw me. She then took in a deep breath and dropped to her knees with a thud before I could say anything. Her action frightened me enough to almost bring me to my knees, too. She lowered her head and sincerely apologised, "Sorry! Your Majesty! Sorry!!"
"No. No. No. Get up. It"s fine. I don"t plan to reprimand you… I was very worried, since you left without a word, but all is well as long as you"re fine."
I quickly helped Nier up. She looked at me with a blank look and sobbed: "Sorry… Sorry… Your Majesty… I just had some things to do… I have never thought of leaving you or home… Please do not think that I left you. Please do not feel that I left you!!"
I nodded, and then hugged her. I gave her a kiss on her cheeks and responded, "I Know. I know. I know that you won"t leave me, because you love me. I don"t mind what you do, and I won"t force you to tell me, since you don"t want to tell me, because I trust that you won"t do anything that would be harmful to me. I just want you to be safe and sound."
"Uhm… I am well… I am well, Your Majesty… I am all right."
"Uhm."
Nier tightly hugged me, and I hugged her back then gently stroked her long hair. I suddenly felt that her hair felt strange. I pulled my hand out to find a strand of red hair. I smiled and said, "I suppose you met Ling Yue again? You were happy around each other, right? Judging from the fact that you have her fur from her ear on you, you two must"ve slept together on the same bed, right? I thought you two would have an intense fight."
Normally, Ling Yue wouldn"t allow anyone to touch her tail and hair. The fact that her hair was in Nier"s hair proved that she snuggled up with Nier and rubbed her ear on the latter. That"s how Ling Yue expresses her friendliness to another. I truly never imagined they"d share a bed. I was amazed Nier managed to get Ling Yue to like her.
"What exactly happened between them?"
"We did fight first, but I lost."
Concerned, Nier checked her body again. She was worried she still had Ling Yue"s fur on her. I watched her feeling puzzled. I asked, "You lost to her? Ling Yue doesn"t know how to use a sword, does she? I was protecting her all the time. I can"t see how she"s strong."
"She can transform into a huge fox, one that"s very agile. She can also use magic for that matter. I guess you could say she is a force to be reckoned with once she transforms. However, she rarely transforms due to reasons to do with mana. I would a.s.sume she was willing to transform this time to protect her child."
Nier then looked at me with a slightly unhappy look and carried on: "But she turned me down when I asked her to come to the palace. It seems she doesn"t want to leave behind her tribe"s matters. I don"t understand. I, genuinely, don"t understand. Your Majesty, how can you be sure she loves you when she isn"t willing to forsake her career for you?"
I smiled: "Nier, you and Lucia are both women who gave up everything to marry me. Lucia gave up her wind elves buff for the sake of marrying me, while you basically gave up your entire meaning in life for me. Ling Yue just happens to not be that sort of girl. She won"t give up her career and dream for me even if she loves me."
"Then…"
"No, Nier. Did I or did I not once tell you that I wanted you to do other things and have your own life? You need to consider yourself to be Nier before you consider yourself my wife. I"m very happy to see you girls hold me in such high regard, but if you make me your purpose in life, what are you going to do when I"m not around? I want you to have your own lives the same way Ling Yue does. Ling Yue doesn"t just stop loving me because she has other things to do. Loving me doesn"t conflict with doing other things of your own."
Nier looked at me and I examined her expression. I gave her a kiss on her lips and added, "Live your own life, Nier. Sometimes, you have things you want to do. That"s a good thing. That includes having your own friends, your own hobbies and things you enjoy doing."
"Do you think that Ling Yue is better than me?"
"Of course not. I"m flattered that you love me this way."
Nier tilted her head, and then pursed her lips: "But I can"t love you that way in the future, Dear, for our child has been born, no? I still don"t feel as though I need my own life, as I couldn"t call it living if I didn"t have you. In the future, I will be Daisy"s mom before I am your wife."
"That"s fine, too; however, aside from being Daisy"s father, I"m also Nona and Vera"s father. For now, though, I want to see our daughter first…"
We knocked on the door. Mommy Elizabeth pulled the door open and looked at us with a strange smile. She giggled in a soft tone: "It"s nice to be young. I can"t believe you could say something so cheesy. Your healthy relations.h.i.+p makes me miss the old days… Forget it. Daisy is still sleeping. You should come and see her. Her mom wasn"t home, and her dad only visited once. It took me a lot of work to get her to sleep."
I dryly chuckled. It wasn"t that I didn"t want to come last night, but that I couldn"t…
Mommy Elizabeth"s room was a little messy. Normally, Mommy Elizabeth wouldn"t allow her room to be so messy, since she was ex-military. But nevertheless, taking care of Daisy caused her to be so fl.u.s.tered that she no longer cared if it was messy or not.
Honestly speaking, I thought it was fine to have the maids handle it. There was no point in having Mommy Elizabeth take care of Daisy - other than letting her experience the feeling of taking care of a child.
I carefully walked over to Daisy"s small bed. Daisy laid upright taking slow breaths. I carefully reached down to pinch her face. I didn"t know if it was because she felt it or not, but she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw me, she unleashed a high-pitched cry before I could smile.
"Waaahhh…"
Completely lost for what to do, I picked her up, only to end up having her smack me on my face and desperately reached for Nier. Nier froze for a brief second before she smiled. She walked up to my side and took Daisy. Daisy grabbed Nier"s collar and tried to pull it down with all her might. Nier kissed her on Daisy forehead and, with a soft chuckle, said, "You must be hungry, my Daisy. Let Mommy undress first. Let Daddy hold you for a while."
"Waah!!"
"Okay, okay, okay. Let"s not go to Daddy. How about Her Majesty?"
"Sure, leave her to me." Mommy Elizabeth withheld her laughter and took hold of Daisy.
Daisy seemed to be very prejudice against me. She showed no signs of wanting to be with me…
Daisy looked at Mommy Elizabeth and tugged at her collar with all her might, again. Mommy Elizabeth was wearing just her sleepwear. This time, Daisy successfully pulled Mommy Elizabeth"s collar down and, without a care in the world, bit down as though she was in her mom"s arms…
Nier, Mommy Elizabeth and I all froze stiff. It was just incredibly awkward…
"I"ll go outside…" I covered my face. I thought it was best for me not to say anything or do anything…
"This is better… Mm. I "ll just show myself the door…"
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