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I had actually been in bed for several hours at this point, which was unhealthy, so Rhea made me rise. But upon discovering how sweaty I had become, my lady’s maid Genette immediately sent me straight back into the bath.
To my embarrassment, she and the chambermaids clearly misunderstood why Mirea and I were so sweaty. My poor pink-haired servant insisted to them that we’d been performing a difficult magic ritual, but judging from the almost-successfully-concealed twinkles in their eyes, she only dug the hole deeper with those words.
Of course, Aira made Mireia get in as well. The chambermaids bathed us while their warm eyes sparkled with imaginary shared secrets.
Well, it’s not like Mireia and I hadn’t done such things before. But the misunderstanding simply became more awkward due to that fact. At some point in the process though, we caught the other’s eye and let out a little laugh. I’m sure that when we did so, we convinced the maids they were right, but we couldn’t help it. The situation was just that absurd.
At Rhea’s instructions, because we might need to do another round (of magic, I mean!), Mireia prevented the maids from dressing us normally for dinner. Instead, we wore yukata over juban. Actually, Mireia got a proper juban but I requested one of my chemises instead, since I felt more comfortable maintaining the ability to grow my wings without going completely naked.
This was the ordinary Dorian summer casual wear, a bit on the common side for women of our station, but it doubles as the typical before-bed clothing for commoners, since once the yukata comes off, the juban functions as a nightshirt.
Mother rarely let me use it as bedclothes, since she had such a love for fancy Atian lingerie, but my Dorian maids could understand Mireia’s desire for convenience in this case. Especially considering they continued to misunderstand why we desired the convenience.
And so dressed, we invited my husband in, wearing the male form of the same attire, to take dinner Dorian style on the tatami platform.
As we began our first course, Mireia giggled and said, “This is just like a hot springs episode!”
I knew the term ‘hot springs’, and I knew that many vacation inns in Relador feature them, but that was the extent of my knowledge. My husband was similarly mystified. And neither of us knew what she meant by ‘episode’. Mireia realized her mistake and shook her head, waving negation with her hand.
“I’m sorry. That’s from my old world. This is very much like the meals you get at such resorts. It’s expensive, so I never went to one myself, but you see it happen all the time on broadcast dramas. Most of them include at least one episode at a hot spring.”
Just for a moment, she had turned into the bubbly Mireia I sometimes envision in my head, returning from forgotten memories. I was glad to see it. But then she turned rueful and admitted, “You don’t know about broadcast dramas either. I guess it’s what we had instead of the theater.”
Now self-conscious, she concentrated on her soup. Rod watched her a while, then gave her a tender smile. “I sometimes forget that you were taken away from your old life. You must miss it a lot. I’m sorry we can’t send you back.”
She shook her head. “According to my goddess, my old body is dead, Rod. The only thing waiting for me back home is a grave.”
The topic had suddenly gone quite morbid, so I quickly moved to the subject which we had brought my husband in to discuss. With some assistance from Mireia, I described as carefully as possible to the prince what we had been doing all afternoon, and why.
Needless to say, he was controlling what appeared to be some considerable anger. While everything had been reasonable and needful from our point of view, my husband instead saw it as his pregnant wife overdoing things again.
No, I wasn’t surprised. On some level, I suppose I knew exactly how he was going to react. But that’s why I felt it would be better to get it over early, and make sure to clear things up.
“Your Highness, I am only traveling in my mind. I’m using techniques that break long before they hurt me. I have to do what I can to protect my people and my friends, and this is all I can do from here.”
“Ti, it’s Rod,” he said for the millionth time, before continuing, “We’re in private here. So explain to me why it must be you, protecting them.”
What?
“That’s my responsibility!” I declared, a little confused because it was obvious.
“As what? A Royal Knight? Your duty is now deferred, remember? For the duration of your role as a royal princess and the acting duchess of Pendor, your knighthood is strictly in name only. Until your heir takes over the duchy and I pass away, you will not bear any responsibilities as a knight. Remember back when you said ‘Me, Knight, You, Prince’?”
A little perplexed, I asked him, “I said that to you?”
“More than once, actually,” he confirmed, but then nodded. “That’s right, it should be during the time that you don’t remember. But you made the line between our respective responsibilities clear. Well, you were not wrong then, but you’re on my side of that line now, Ti. You’ll outlive me and go back to the other side eventually, but as long as I’m alive, and as long as your heir has not yet inherited, you’re royalty. Treat yourself accordingly, for the sake of your subjects.”
His eyes flicked downward, toward my midsection, as he added, “And for the sake of your daughters, too.”
In my mind, Lydia mused, <I rather wondered how your husband felt about all this. He’s been very obliging, but you are quite the willful wife, you know.>
I pushed back non-verbally, annoyed at her words. The last thing I needed was an ally for my husband inside my own head.
“Rod,” Mireia interjected gently. “I promise, I’m making sure she doesn’t do anything rash, and I definitely am not allowing her to do anything that endangers the babies. And I also promise, she didn’t do anything rash earlier.”
At least my Servant was on my side.
<I’m on your side too!> Lydia protested.
Ignoring her, I pushed back with him. “And besides, Husband, it is my responsibility, as their duchess.”
‘Husband’ was as close to ‘Rod’ as he was going to get from me, for now. I don’t know why, but calling him with such a familiar name as ‘Rod’ still made me uncomfortable.
He demanded, “What kind of a duchess goes so far as to fight on the front lines?”
I tipped my head. “My mother?”
His instant scowl made me want to giggle, but instead, I noted, “The people of Pendor Duchy are accustomed to having a powerful leader who can step up and lead from the front. First they had my father, then Mother. Knowing what sort of a leader they follow allows them to go further on their own, confident that their leader has their back. It’s why they’ve done so well in this war, so far. Without Mother, they may not continue with the same confidence unless they hear about their new duchess also wielding her strength for their sakes.”
Tipping my head again, I noted, “I thought you already understood this? You’ve apparently gone out of your way to advertise how I protected the city, and how I protected the military in Atianus. I don’t remember either, but assuming they were true stories…”
“They are!” the prince immediately insisted. “Mireia and I were present both times! You almost got yourself killed!”
“Then telling people what I did was exactly the right thing to do, Husband,” I stated calmly. “They need to know that their new ruler is also a supernatural force intent upon her people and her duchy. It gives them confidence. And, Husband…”
I put my hand on his and looked him in the eye. “It’s no lie. I actually am a supernatural force. Your wife is not a mortal, remember? Call me a fairy vampire, call me an Elder, call me whatever you want. I’m a powerful creature who will defend her own. You need to get used to that.”
He took my hand and looked straight back at me.
“You’re also my wife, whom I want to remain with me for all my life, and you are the mother of my children, who are depending upon you to give them birth.”
After a few beats, he added, “And you need to get used to that.”
“Your Highness,” Mireia uncharacteristically addressed him formally. “Do not worry so much. Please let me assure you that we all are going to great lengths to ensure she has a healthy and successful delivery.”
I understood what was going on with her change of tone, but my husband did not. He gave her a perplexed frown.
“This isn’t Mireia speaking, Husband,” I told him. “The goddess Rhea has been giving us direction. I believe it is her words you’re hearing now.”
He stared at me blankly as he processed that information, but he already knew that Mireia is not just a priestess but an oracle. He didn’t have any choice but to believe me, especially given her abrupt change of personality.
When he turned back to her, who was patiently waiting for him to understand, he removed the sharpness from his voice, to his credit. But his response was not as meek as his tone.
Raising his chin, he asked, “Why?”
“Your wife is important to us, and your children are important to us as well,” she stated, unbothered. “Not only do both wife and daughters have an important role to play in the future, they are dear to us for more personal reasons that I don’t believe I could explain to you.”
Her words bothered me, to be frank. I slipped my hand over my tummy as I heard them. What were they planning for my babies?
Ignoring my discomfort, Mireia/Rhea continued, “But the people your wife seeks to protect are endangered by our greatest enemy. It’s a terrible conundrum for us, really. We did not seek to stop them, because if they do not go into this danger and succeed, she will almost certainly go, herself. Your wife is not a being we can easily control, Your Highness. She has a powerful will on a par with our own, and it is only her own concern for her children and her respect for your wishes that is keeping her here rather than traveling there personally.”
She caught his hand and squeezed. “Even with that, she is constantly tempted to go anyhow, because her people are indeed in great danger. So we seek out ways for her to aid their success from here.”
She let his hand go while he was mulling over her words, then turned her eyes to me.
“My Lady, you need not worry so much about your children. The hope of the Immortals do indeed ride on their shoulders, but they will not resent it, having inherited your strength to bear it and your charitable nature which will make them glad for their mission.”
As if she thought such a promise would make me feel better…
<Why are you disputing with a goddess?> Lydia demanded, now sounding worried. I remembered that the person Mireia was channeling was a goddess of her world as well.
Mireia/Rhea giggled, clearly having heard her. It mystified my husband, but he wasn’t going to question a goddess.
Then she grew somber. “I did come for a reason other than soothing a domestic dispute, My Lady. Tell me about what you saw through Kiki’s eyes.”
I swallowed. “Inside Shindzha, I saw a black mass of mana and pneuma that Kiki called a ‘demon core’. Shindzha didn’t seem to think it was possible, though. She said that, as a hellspawn, she should be unable to have one.”
The goddess nodded. “Yes. It actually isn’t possible, properly speaking. At least, not in the natural course of things. A hellspawn’s demonic physique lacks the potential to generate such a thing. But that doesn’t mean it can’t host one, once it is present, which all implies that its presence is artificial. Her demon lord must have implanted it in her.”
“What’s a demon lord?” my husband asked.
“I believe the term your people use is ‘archdemon’. She was serving one, prior to serving your wife.”
I felt a cold weight in my stomach, “For what reason would he plant such a thing in her?”
“Well,” she mused, “it certainly is what allowed her to channel that proxy that attacked you, when you developed your current amnesia. That could not be his original purpose, though. If it were, he would have attacked you when you were feeding on her the first time. At that time, you were much more vulnerable than when you visited her in the prison.”
She pursed her lips for a moment, as if pondering something, then added, “So his real aim for the core could well be gone, now that she belongs to you. But once the opportunity presented itself, it enabled him to make an improvised attack on you.”
“Can he do it again?” Rod asked, his scowl now as deep as I had ever seen it.
“For safety, we should assume he can. Although without a connection to her, I don’t know what conditions allow him to do so. I shall consult my seniors about that.”
Looking from him to me and back, she then pointed out, “We could turn that danger on its head, if we plan well. But My Lady, until we do, only approach that girl through your proxies, understand?”
I nodded. I had pretty much nothing I could argue with, in that request.
