Night fell over the Reitdarke royal palace, standing amidst the resplendent structures, one couldn’t help but be enchanted by its unique visual appeal.
I had initially thought that I had gotten used to this world’s slow transition between night and day, but as I stood in front of what looked like a gateway to some private villa, I couldn’t help but feel a little alarmed.
…no, that probably had nothing to do with the light or dark, rather it was due to a misconception caused by what I was about to face.
After half pleading with and half persuading Breman, I finally arrived in the palace to meet with Princess Naysis as promised.
I still didn’t know why I made that suggestion then, it was as if I was under some kind of enthrallment.
If it was something dangerous or perhaps some kind of trap, Breman would have probably been able to notice it but she didn’t mention anything about that.
So, tonight’s meeting with Naysis Ferne was nothing but an inexplicable occurrence?
What the heck is up with that…somehow it felt like there was some matchmaker building a bridge between us, didn’t I already decide to cut off ties with Naysis Ferne…
Carmen: —Di Qi Ju.
After standing in front of the gate for roughly two minutes, Savile Kuine stepped out of the Reitdarke royal palace to welcome me.
She wasn’t dressed in her usual butler uniform nor was she dressed in her swordsman uniform that fought in, instead she wore a more gender neutral formal wear.
Di Qi Ju: Mhm, good evening, I see Lady Savile is still working in the royal palace?”
Carmen: Oh, that’s right, at least till the end of the Three Battles.
Carmen: Till the end of the Three Battles…it would be good if the princess is able accept that outcome peacefully when it comes.
Di Qi Ju: Ah, ah, I understand that feeling, our One’day High is in the same boat as you.
Carmen: Is that so, I assume he roughly told you guys about the situation as well?
Di Qi Ju: That’s right. No matter what, I still wish to congratulate the both of you.
Carmen: Haha, what do you mean congratulate, you make it sound like we already settled on a wedding date…
Carmen: Since he already told you so much, I won’t bore you by repeating them then. It’s just, there’s something I need to inform you about, Di Qi Ju.
Di Qi Ju: Mhm? What is it?
Carmen: I learnt of your experiences in the Expeditionary Forces from One’day High. Thanks to that, I roughly have a gauge of your abilities.
Di Qi Ju: Oh? Why bring this up all of a sudden?
Carmen: You should know, within the country of Skills, the most suitable for me to make a living is by being a fighter of the Three Battles.
Carmen: A fixed position, a wealth of material rewards and the respect from others that comes with that position. While I don’t really yearn for such things, the current me now has a need for them.
Carmen: So…in the Battle of Death, we’ll end up meeting each other won’t we?
Di Qi Ju:…
Di Qi Ju: I understand what you’re saying, Lady Savile.
Di Qi Ju: I do, however, have a different motive for joining the Three Battles, with regards to the battles themselves, I mostly just fight based on my instincts so it really doesn’t matter if someone finds out everything about me.
Carmen: Hahaha…even I’m beginning to become a little scared thanks to those words. Di Qi Ju, it’s as if you already came to the conclusion that you were so strong that no one could ever match you.
Di Qi Ju: Is that so? I, on the other hand, find that I’m still rather vulnerable, haha…
It was an accommodating laugh though deep down, I didn’t know if I should take what she said seriously.
Carmen: —it seemed like we spent a little too much time on idle chatter, come, let’s head in first.
Di Qi Ju: Alright. Looking at that outfit, are you going to participate in the banquet as well?
Carmen: I guess it can be considered a banquet, you don’t need to pay too much attention to it though, just take it as a family meet-up between the people who stay here.
Carmen: In some sense, you’re the main character of tonight’s banquet, Di Qi Ju.
Di Qi Ju:…ah?
Carmen: —ah, that’s right, I should mention this as well…
Carmen: My full name is actually “Savile Kuine”, I merely chose to use an easier to pronounce version of my surname in order to avoid being disturbed for these past two years.
(TL: It’s supposed to a homonym or euphony of her surname but I honestly don’t see how the two are even connected to each other. <- Saweier Kun vs Kawen.)
Carmen: If it’s alright with you, just call me Carmen.
Di Qi Ju: Mhm…alright then, Lady Carmen.
……
……
It was only slightly later that I understood what Carmen meant when she said, “I guess it can be considered a banquet”.
This royal family which was pretty much just royalty in name, was basically holding a feast for Sword Soul Savile.
Based on what bits of information I picked up from their conversations, it seems like prior to her big reveal in the Three Battles, only Naysis Ferne knew of her true identity.
It was because of that revelation that the king of Reitdarke started planning some activities to deepen their relationship with the Sword Soul. This feast was one of them.
Seems like she was extremely respected here. I wonder if she would end up encountering problems when she announces her departure?
Sometimes, when a person’s relationship ended up being close despite both parties being objectively unsuited for such closeness, matters might end up like a tangled mess.
Right now, I seemed to have to grasped what that meant.
Naysis Ferne: Father, this is Di Qi Ju, he’s—
Di Qi Ju:……
She introduced me to the king, her sisters and her brother-in-laws. However, throughout all of that, it didn’t feel like I was meeting some influential member of the government, instead it felt like I was meeting the family members of a friend.
Her introductions continued in a such manner without stopping even when it came time to dine; was that what Carmen meant when she said I was tonight’s “main character”…
Yet a situation which should have originally been extremely awkward for me ended up falling on deaf ears completely.
And that was because…my attention was completely drawn to the ring on Naysis’ finger.
That ring which seemed unusually enticing to my eyes…
Atop the ring was an inlaid stone whose, shape, texture, sheen and mysterious effect on my soul, completely matched up…
…to “Starfall”. I was right after all.
……
……
Entering the bedroom of Naysis Ferne, I was struck with the sense that I had entered a different world.
Within it was a pile of white material that seemed to connect the floorboards with the bed. That unknown material had a slight undulation that seemed so soft and comfortable that you would find yourself hard pressed to pull yourself out of its gentle embrace.
If a beautiful lady were to lay on that bed, she would almost seem like a sleeping beauty lying amidst a white feathery world.
Plastered all over the four walls was a continuous painting that encompassed the entire room: a lush green forest separated by a crystal clear stream whose beauty wasn’t the least bit overshadowed by the billowing clouds above. Hidden within those clouds, one could make out a grand structure surrounded by what looked like winged fairies frolicking around.
Her dressers, chairs, tables and counters all seemed to have been crafted to suit that painting in order to craft an immersive feel for the entire room.
This bedroom, it almost seemed like a scene out of a fairytale.
Naysis Ferne: Di Qi Ju, over here, over here.
Di Qi Ju: Oh…right.
Under her lead, I awkwardly sat down on a rather low chair while she happily plopped herself down on her bed.
Hmmm? It was then that I realized that the both of us were alone in her room.
Peering up at her with my head lowered, I found that she had already changed into her pyjamas without my knowledge of it ever happening. It was a similar shade of crystalline blue to her dress but it was much shorter and lighter to the point where it could no longer hold back the bewitching charms of her silky skin.
What had previously been a skirt that stretched past knee length was now one that barely extended into her thighs. If she were to unwittingly lift up her pearly white thighs now, I would most likely be able to see the private areas of a girl which I shouldn’t be looking at…
Err, either way, I should avert my eyes first…
Naysis Ferne: Come have a feel.
Di Qi Ju: …ah?
Naysis bent forward and with both her arms extended onto my chair, she positioned her head within reach of my arms. As she did so, she unwittingly accentuated the graceful curves of her body.
Naysis Ferne: Pat my head.
Di Qi Ju: Uh…
Di Qi Ju: Alright then.
Lowering my hands like I did in the afternoon, I gingerly reached out to ruffle her hair.
Naysis Ferne: Mmm…
Naysis Ferne: Ahn….
Because of the angle I was at, I couldn’t see the look on her face at the moment but no matter how you cut it, those sounds just didn’t sound right…
As she drowned in the pleasure of my pats, her body began to slowly encroach upon my personal space…
Naysis Ferne: …mnnn.
In the end, she just leaned on my chest directly. Even through the fabric of my garments, I could feel distinct heat on my chest as she breathed out. In fact, her face seemed hotter than it had been in the afternoon by an entire tier.
Rather than patting her, it seemed like my hands were instead the main culprit in luring her into my embrace.
…but this shouldn’t be the reason why I came here, right?
Di Qi Ju: About this afternoon, can we start talking about that ring?
Naysis Ferne: Oh…mhm, that huh…
She didn’t seem all too willing to talk about it as if the ring wasn’t important at all compared to what we were doing now.
Di Qi Ju: About that stone inlaid upon the ring, where did you get it from?
Naysis Ferne: That…that was something Carmen picked up by accident while she was repairing someone’s Traveller’s Time. She thought it would make a great ring so…
Di Qi Ju:……
A single sentence. That was all it took for me to get the gist of this matter.
Di Qi Ju:Regarding that stone, have you talked to it?
Naysis Ferne: Mhm…
I knew it. Back when Hilda Karlyle mentioned the ring speaking I had begun to suspect that its will was still present.
Lowering my head, I gazed at the ring which was still worn around Naysis’s finger as she touched my thighs. Its lustre seemed even more pronounced than it had been during the banquet.
Di Qi Ju: Is it still trying to take away my wish points?
Naysis Ferne: No—not anymore! I already told it not to!
Di Qi Ju: —!?
She suddenly reached out to hug me tightly as if she was afraid I would grow to hate her and leave. She then begun recounting what she knew about the stone.
That stone, Starfall, communicated with her via its own methods and told her what occurred between the both of us.
In relation to that, it also mentioned its own wish, the wish to return to Westrealm and the center of the Divine Hall.
Right now, Starfall could only communicate with the person wearing the ring and at most manifest itself as a one meter tall stone lifeform. Other than that, it couldn’t do anything else.
The first time it awakened was because it came into contact with wish points that didn’t originate from itself.
That man known as Nine Heaven touched Starfall which led to his wish points being stolen. Soon after, it discovered my existence via Nine Heaven and took away some of my wish points as well.
This indirect method of absorbing wish points only worked on me because the majority of wish points came it in the first place.
As for how it did so, no one knew the answer to that. Perhaps that was its own unique secret.
Yet after coming into contact with Naysis Ferne, it seemed to have chosen to compromise and be patient instead.
It probably realized that if it ever wanted to fulfill its wish, it could only do so by relying on that human.
Di Qi Ju: Then…what you plan on doing with it?
Naysis Ferne:Me…
Naysis Ferne: I don’t intend to fulfill its wish
Di Qi Ju: —huh? Why??
Naysis Ferne:Because…
Naysis Ferne:I’m afraid if I do so, I’ll no longer have any connection to you.
Naysis Ferne: The reason you came here today was because of it, so…isn’t it a great way to bind you to me?
Di Qi Ju:……
It was then that I realized that Naysis Ferne was already sitting on my lap without my knowledge of her having done so.
By now, her upper half was closely pressed against me to the point where I could feel the curves of her body with just that bit of contact.
Furthermore, it wasn’t some airport runway I was feeling but rather a set of impressive peaks and valleys. Each time her thighs twisted, my lower half would react with an excitement that forced me to divert all my willpower into suppressing it in order to halt its excited jumping.
I had to admit, the fact that it took such intimate contact for me to realize that she was a girl wasn’t a good thing at all…
Di Qi Ju: This…I don’t remember you were the kind of person to cling so closely to another, Princess Naysis…
Naysis Ferne: That’s true. Before you, I had never experienced such intimate contact with another man. At most, we would only slowly work our way up from holding hands.
Naysis Ferne:I had always assumed that was the proper way to date, and that those who crossed the line too early were all filthy…
Naysis Ferne:However…after experiencing it for myself once…I found that it wasn’t like that at all.
The sensation of her hot breaths blowing onto me stopped and instead it was replaced by its polar opposite, a suction force.
(TL: Half of the awkwardness is from the author himself so don’t blame me…)
Naysis Ferne:For example, this scent…your scent, it’s not bad at all…
Her neck and nose tip took turns rubbing against my chest and until finally, she moved onto my nape. That tender, almost intoxicating caress was truly difficult to hold my own against.
“Experiencing it for myself once”? Was she talking about that time when I didn’t have my shirt on and I accidentally pulled her into my chest while trying to free her from Hilda Karlyle?
In other words, it all started because of me…
Di Qi Ju: Honestly, it looks kinda bad from my perspective…
Naysis Ferne: Hey…since we’ve already done all this, you’ll take responsibility right?
Di Qi Ju:…what responsibility?
Naysis Ferne:……
At that, she dove into my embrace and her already burning hot face grew even hotter.
Naysis Ferne:The kid…what should we name it?
Di Qi Ju:—HUH???
Naysis Ferne:We’ve already reached this point so there’s no need to pretend anymore, don’t you know. Won’t we have a child after hugging with so little clothes on?
Di Qi Ju:…
Eh…so your knowledge regarding sexuality is still stuck at the same level of the world depicted in those paintings?
Di Qi Ju: No we won’t. We won’t have a child just like that.
Naysis Ferne:—then what do we have to do to have one?
Di Qi Ju:……
Di Qi Ju:Hey…what you’re—
Naysis Ferne:—since I can’t confess because of that loss, then all I can do is use my actions to speak, right?
Her soft arms wrapped around my neck and with barely an inch between us, she gazed passionately into my eyes without any intention of letting go.
She wasn’t kidding here; she’s going to pull out the big guns soon!
Naysis Ferne: I had already given up but you chose seek me out instead…I’m sure you’re prepared to take responsibility.
Naysis Ferne:So…will you use your actions to teach me how to have a baby?
Naysis Ferne: Once we have a child together, we’ll be forever bound to each other, right?
Di Qi Ju:……
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Footnotes:
Credits:
Special thanks to Kaung Thant Win Naing!!
