Sael sank into a hazy darkness devoid of sound, sight, or smell. It felt like an eternity before a voice interrupted his imprisonment in the void. "What? Now? No no I don't have time to deal with you right now. The severs reset off cycle and all the raid timers reset with it. I'm far too busy right now. Ugh. Here take some attribute points and oh right erhem…" the strange man's voice suddenly became deep and booming. "You are too weak yet! Return, defeat mighty enemies and grow stronger!" As the voice echoed it then returned to normal. "Kay sorry next time we will talk I promise but right now it's raid time!"
Suddenly the world rushed back in on him as the darkness dissipated. Smells, sounds and mostly pain flooded back. He gasped out and his eyes fluttered open as he felt the warmth of Summer's Vitality begin flowing again. Glancing down he found Ara, her face buried in his chest while Nee was knelt down beside him, her normally calm face a mess. Her eyes were puffy and red while tears streaked her normally flawless cheeks. "Ugh, no lap pillow this time? Totally not worth it." He let his head drop back on the ground still feeling like hammered shit despite his body rapidly recovering.
Ara looked up seeing him once again alive, she felt her heart give an extra strong beat as the bond between them was restored. It all just made her cry harder and bury her face in his chest again ignoring the blood and ash. Nee stifled her tears and shifted forward to gently lift his head to rest in her lap before stroking his forehead. "Maybe next time I don't have to almost die for this kind of treatment, kay?" Sael muttered out completely ignoring the fact he had been the one keeping them at a distance before. Up above the rest of the group without wings were forced to watch from a distance. Dego when he saw the change in the girls and the little bit of movement from Sael let out a loud whooping cheer that his friend was alive. While Beth dried her own tears and was forced to watch on in a mix of joy and jealousy.
Sael next awoke when a group of fairies including the queen descended from the tower to land nearby. He sat up taking his head from the soft pillow of Nee's thigh and adjusted Ara who'd cried herself to sleep to rest in his lap. He brushed her crimson hair back making sure she was alright. Although still pale she looked better than he'd seen in a while and he cursed himself for not noticing how weak she'd grown before. His fingertips were tracing along the side of her face when the queen stepped forward looking from the slain demon lord to the human then finally to her daughter sleeping sprawled across his lap. She wasn't sure what to make of it all. Slaying the demon was beyond what she expected any single king could do even with the aid of two fairy princesses.
When she looked at the demon's body again she noticed the spear wasn't the same as before. Her heart pounded in her chest as she moved towards it. She was just about to touch the spear when it disappeared, she turned to find it resting beside the human who had his hand on it while looking at her. She could feel the power flowing between it and him, she recognized the distinct aura that the Fairy King's Spear gave off when attuned. Now she had an inkling of how the human had defeated the demon lord but it just raised more questions. Her eyes darted from the spear to her daughter and then to the human.
He watched her and left his hand possessively on the spear. "You can't have it, it's mine." He then moved his other hand to rest possessively on Ara's shoulder. "You can't have her either, she's also mine." Finally he reached up to touch his brow and a crown of vines grew to encircle his brow. It was made of two vines, one of crystal like black ice and one of living crimson flames twined together. It was similar to the one Kera wore though his was made of energy while her's of gold. "You can't have this either, they gave it to me and it's mine." His voice held a bit of a growl to it.
Again Kera looked between the human, Ara, Nee, the spear, and the crown thinking. 'Even if I wanted I am not sure I could take anything from this man. My mana is drained so the castle would be of no use.' She once again looked at her daughter resting in his lap and the possessive nature of the hand that once again rested on her shoulder. 'Perhaps this human isn't as bad as the others. Maybe the fairies do only need one crown now…'
She could feel the tension in her consorts that accompanied her. The fairy men and women behind her were ready to attack if she ordered. Their tension turned to surprise as the queen curtsied. "I have no intentions of taking anything from you, Fairy King Sael."
"Twilight King." He corrected her, making her crimson brow arch in surprise. 'How does a human know about our legends? Did one of the princesses tell him?'
Instead of asking she curtsied again. "Pardon, Twilight King Sael." She ignored the murmurs from her escort. "Will you accept our hospitality. You and your's seem to be exhausted."
Sael glanced towards the now setting sun. "Can we take the mushrooms back first thing in the morning? Round two is supposed to start." Now that the disaster was over he remembered all the money he had riding on the ball.
"You might be recovered soon but the others will need more time I believe. It might be best if you stayed…."
She was interrupted. "I'll be fine. We have business to attend right?" Ara sat up to look to Sael and felt her heart flutter when he instead of taking his hand back pulled her closer. She leaned against him feeling herself getting stronger with each moment they were together.
"Very well." Kera signed up. "But know that after this your little trick with the circle won't work a second time." She was looking at Nee now. "You will need to find a proper circle if you want to visit. And please, next time leave the demons where they were."
Nee stood up to give a curtsy of her own. "Sorry Queen Kera, I was a bit desperate…" Kera just nodded not holding a grudge against the winter fairy since it was her daughter's life that had been in danger.
**********
Once they returned to the Summer Castle it lifted up rising into the clouds for increased security. Sael and the princesses were given a massive suite that included a huge pool-like bathtub filled with sweet scented water. Dego and Beth were given there own rooms though much smaller and less grandly decorated. Since the queen demanded they at least dine together Sael was excited for the bath. He was covered in sweat, blood, and ash while reeking of a battlefield. When he asked if the girls wanted to go first they had insisted he go first. Nee was polite about it but Ara's wrinkled nose let him know he must have stunk even worse than he thought. Slipping into the warm water he planned to wash up quickly but once submerged in the soothing waters he lost the will to rush out. Dunking into the water to wet his wild mane of hair he surfaced just in time to hear the door open.
'No no no that's too cliché…' Slowly turning back towards the door he was worried he'd find the girls wrapped in towels coming to join him. He was only half right, the girls were there but missing towels. His face flushed as he stood up shocked. "Wait! I'm not ready for this!"
To his shock Nee was the one to respond as Ara's face turned almost as red as her hair. "Doesn't look like it to me."
**********
Sael sat at the long dinner table opposite of Queen Kera feeling grumpy after having to rush out of his bath before he finished. On his right sat Ara who focused on her plate only to occasionally look at him then focus on the plate again as her face flushed. Nee sat beside him on his left wearing a smug look instead of her normal blank slate which annoyed him. "Damn fairies getting big heads just cause they caught me off guard." He muttered while eating another bite of the delicious roasted veggies.
"What was that about a BIG HEAD?" Nee smirked at him while Ara's flush moved to the tip of her ears.
"Damn it woman. I don't think I like this change in personality!" He grumbled under his breath before pointing his fork at Nee and saying louder "Nothing!" She just gave him that crystal tinkle of a giggle and took another bite of her own food.
Further down the table Dego was currently flirting with a fairy woman sitting across from him who wore a perfect mask of restrained annoyance. While Beth, who was also near the middle of the table and away from Sael and the fairy princesses, kept watching them while her heart tightened. She was still riding the high of Sael surviving but the more she watched him with the princesses and how their interactions had changed the tighter the feeling around her heart became.
Kera for her part watched the human and how he treated the fairies. She was shocked to see that he didn't seem to treat them as lessers. She never saw him belittle them or use his greater size to intimidate them. Nor did either of the girls seem afraid of him. She recognized the longing looks in her daughters brief glances that made her parental guard go up despite her daughter being nearly a hundred more than able to make her own decisions. Or the interactions between him and the winter fairy, she couldn't even imagine a winter fairy acting the way the former queen was. 'Just what kind of human are you? No, what kind of King are you?'
**********
After dinner everyone was too exhausted to linger. Conversation had been light for the most part throughout and Kera had asked only a few questions. Mostly about his plans. When he explained the Ball and that beyond that he didn't really have anything else planned she seemed shocked. Still, it had been a nice dinner. Even if Nee's sudden shift in personally had been annoying Sael felt like they were all closer than ever before. Still, he was a bit nervous when he collapsed into bed only to be joined by the princesses. "It's not like there are other beds you know." Nee stated before snuggling right up against him. When Ara quickly did the same on his other side he was sure he'd get no sleep that night but with a full stomach and exhausted from the fight he passed out almost immediately.
The next day after again trying to convince them to stay longer Queen Kera reluctantly sent them back to the human city. Instead of arriving in the restaurant they appeared outside the city wall under a tree that had a Fairy Circle of mushrooms growing from it. Nee pointed out it was a permanent circle and they could use it to travel to any other circles they'd been to before. Sael was excited by the thought of a gate system and already trying to recall if he'd see any other such circles while traveling.
Once back inside the city they discovered that round two had been delayed for a few days due to the attack. Many people were currently fleeing the city no longer feeling safe and the city guard as well as both the mage and adventure guilds were busy making sure everything was in order. Sael wasn't the only one glad for the delay. While his body was fully recovered due to Summer's Vitality he still felt sluggish plus he hadn't had time to test out his new skill.
Sitting on the bed in their room while Ara and Nee debated dinner he was scrolling through his menus when he noticed several strange things. He'd originally gone to inspect his new skill in detail but found a new quest that made him frown.
[Demon Lord: ???????????]
'What the hell. I swear this stupid quest system give me less detail each time.' Thinking about it made him remember the strange voice from when he'd passed out, or died as the girls claimed. Flipping to his attribute menu he found five unassigned attribute points that hadn't been there before. He quickly scrolled through his logs but didn't see anything mentioned there, nor had he leveled up past five. Just as he was about to check his skills someone tapped him on the shoulder. Looking up Beth motioned for him to follow before she left the room. Shrugging he got up and followed while the fairies continued to argue between two restaurants.
"What's up? You swallow a frog or something?" Sael teased Beth over her nervous fidgety appearance. It got the response he expected as she calmed down immediately and scowled at him.
"No. It's time you pay up!" Her face was so serious Sael didn't even have a taunt to reply with.
"Huh? I guess I have a little money left since we kinda bailed on paying our bill the other night. If you need money for something…." She cut him off.
"No, remember… you are supposed to take me on a date." She practically whispered the last part but he heard her loud and clear. Sael swallowed the snarky comment he almost responded with out of habit and remembered his resolve. It wasn't just Ara and Nee he'd been avoiding facing.
'I really do owe her a lot. I'll go on the date with her then let her down. Ara and Nee are one thing, we are kinda stuck together already. I can't keep leading on Beth. Maybe I shouldn't even take her out now.' Looking at her serious face he couldn't bring himself to dump her at that moment. 'Fine, I'll treat her to a nice meal then let her down gently. She deserves at least that much…. Hopefully she will still make me armor though…' Sael hated himself for not being able to worry about his own wants knowing he was about to hurt someone he cared about and further steeled his resolve.
"Ok. Let's go quickly though. It will be a pain ditching the others!" Giving her a mischievous grin that made her chuckle the two fled out the inn. That night they ate dinner together at one of the restaurants they'd been talking about trying. It was too expensive for all of them but for just two Sael could swing it on what they had. The night was pleasant and all the tension that had been building between them since the day he returned with Ara seemed to disappear. They laughed, teased, taunted, and joked just like before. They talked about things from the old world and Sael got to hear her go on excitedly about the new abilities she'd unlocked with her crafting skill.
It would have been a perfect night except with each happy smile or joyful laugh Sael felt his conscious dig at him. Several times his resolve to finally end things properly so he wasn't just stringing along Beth almost broke. But as they ended their date walking along the edge of one of the town's parks he finally steeled himself. "Beth… You know Ara and Nee… we are kinda…."
"In a harem...what? I watched plenty of anime, don't give me that look.. Not like I've never seen a harem before… well not a real one but… ya know." she was staring intently at him as if daring him to deny the truth of her words.
Shrugging under the intense gaze. "Yeah but… you know I liked… like you. But now it would be wrong of me to lead you on any longer. I'm sorry Beth but I think it would be best if we just stayed friends." He couldn't even look her in the eyes.
"Screw that. I'm not being left behind. I was here first." The intensity of her rebuke forced him to look at her as she stared fire back at him.
"Er I can't break up with the others…" He started.
"Why cause you don't want to hurt their feelings?" He started to reply it was more the magic but she continued. "But it's ok to hurt mine right?" again he started to reply but was cut off. "So I'm just not good enough to be in your harem? Is it because I'm not pretty enough? Am I not curvy enough for you? Or wait… they are both so flat… am I TOO curvy for you?" Her rant finally petered out.
"Huh wait you were willing to be in a harem?" He was confused. "I'm still getting my head around this mess. Gah, Now I'm not sure what is a cliché and what is normal." He groaned and grabbed his head. Of all the things he'd expected from Beth, being upset he hadn't tried to drag her into his weird harem situation wasn't one of them.
"So, does that mean I can be?" her voice was soft and sounded scared.
Looking up he found her gazing at him with such a vulnerable look he threw up his hands. "Fine, do what you want. All the women in life seem to be just doing whatever they want. Why not you!"
With a squeal Beth rushed forward and hopped up to wrap her arms around his neck dragging him down into their first kiss. When she broke the deep kiss she quickly added breathlessly. "Let's get a room for tonight. I want some privacy for the first time."
"Mmm ok." Sael's mind was still slightly overloaded and thanks to all the recent events he wasn't sure he was thinking with the right head. Suddenly her words made it to his thinking brain. "Wait WHAT!"