Waking up, Sael found Nee was hunched over with her silver hair cascading down like a curtain around their faces. She appeared to be sleeping but her face was so close to his that it reminded him of how Ara acted and he started trying to slide out of her lap without waking her. "As expected of one blessed with Summer's Vitality. Even suffering from mana depletion you recovered in such short time." Nee sat up as he moved to sit away from her while checking to see his blue mana bar was still mostly empty.
"Yeah. It's been really helpful." He glanced around feeling awkward. "So…"
Nee just watched him calmly waiting. "Er I mean. So what now? You going to throw yourself at me too?"
The corners of her mouth twitched up so slightly he almost missed it. "I am not as… energetic as my summer court counterparts. I understand what was done was not out of desire but desperation. Still, it does not change the fact that you now possess one of the fairy crowns." She tilted her head. "I am interested in what you plan to do with it now that you have it."
Mentally glancing up he noticed his quest was completed after all. Glancing through his logs he got distracted reading the countless experience notifications. He spotted one showing his poison resistance had increased from weak to moderate even though he'd missed the initial notice of gaining the resistance. Eventually he found the part towards the end that made him frown.
[Winter Crown Acquired]
[Titles Available]
[Title requirements unmet]
[Requirements Met: Would you like to attune to the Winter Castle?]
[Quest Conquer the Fallen Castle Complete]
After that there was just the notification of him leveling up. 'Damn, I must have killed more spiders than I realized.'
Nee eventually cleared her throat reminding him he'd spaced off reading through his logs. "Oh er what was the question again?"
Nee laughed a quiet soft laugh reminding him again of chiming crystal "I guess I don't have much to worry about. I don't think one who gets lost in daydreams so easily is one the world needs to fear."
Sael felt his ears heat up "I wasn't daydreaming. I was just reading my logs." When Nee gave him a confused look he just shook his head. "Never mind. It's not important." He stood up and dusted himself off before stretching out the stiffness from napping on the floor.
"Alright, Well my quest is done. I better get headed back. I still have to find my birth… I guess just my I fucked up gift at this point."
Nee stood up, her hands clasped down in front of her still looking dignified even though her fine gown was in ruins. "You are leaving then? Will you be taking the castle with you?"
Sael looked around and said, "Wait, I can do that?" He was already trying to store the castle in his inventory but had no luck.
"You should have enough mana once recovered for the castle to once again rise up." she tilted her head as if what she was saying was obvious.
"Er, maybe later." 'Flying in with a castle is sure to cause more trouble than it's worth' was what he really thought. " Right now I need to get back. I'm sure the others are getting worried. Plus I'm getting worried about leaving Ara with Gregory. No telling what kind of things he is teaching her." He held out his hand. "It was nice meeting you Nee. I'm sure we will see each other again."
She took his hand looking confused as she just held it instead of shaking it. "Well, of course we will. As your consort I'll need to stay by your side."
"Consort?" He croaked out. "I thought you said you understood the arrangement."
She just looked up at him and he was certain he detected the faint hint of a smile again. "I did. But that does not change the fact of the matter. You are my King. It is no different than an arranged marriage or a political one. Very similar actually now that I think about it." she was still holding his hand and he started to pull his back but she held on.
Sael just let out a long exasperated sigh and spoke the word Fairies like a swear.
*************************************************
Making his return trip to Little Well accompanied by Nee he was on the lookout for more shenanigans similar to what Ara pulled. But Nee never tried anything and seemed content to share his company. They talked about countless things from bits of life as a Fairy Princess to what his home world had been like. She rarely spoke but still somehow managed to keep the conversation flowing and Sael found himself rattling off more than he expected. Still, he was careful not to mention too much about his previous life. Mostly only talking about the years just before he was brought over, he trusted Nee but not enough to want to share everything with her.
He also learned that Winter was the opposite of Summer when it came to the blessing. The ability he'd witnessed her using before was her Winter's Grasp. Where Summer was a time of growth and life, Winter was when nature harvested life and saved it for the coming summer. It allowed him to literally drain life from a target. Sadly, it required him to be touching his target and the drain was much slower than the recovery rate of his Summer's Blessing. Which wouldn't matter much except he found whenever he was utilizing Winter's Grasp his connection with Summer was lost. So, he could either regenerate rapidly or drain life slowly. Between the two he found summer far more appealing though he made sure not to say so in front of Nee.
When he walked into Little Well he felt like he was walking in beside a good friend instead of dragging along a headache as he had with Ara. Unfortunately this time just as the previous time the first person he ran into was Beth. She took one look and groaned out "Really? Another one? What are you collecting them? Pervert!"
After trying and failing to convince Beth that he hadn't gone out to collect another fairy but yes she was technically sorta kinda his wife he made a tactical retreat. When he entered his barracks he was greeted by a yipping silver who seemed overjoyed at his return and an Ara who looked to have not slept the entire time he was away. She had dark bags under her eyes and her skin was pale making her freckles stand out. She stood and gave him a curtsy "Welcome home my King." That was all she said. She didn't act angry but also didn't try and throw herself at him. Sighing to himself he cursed every harem protagonist who made it look easy.
'Damn it… I need another quest!' he thought, hoping to hear the system's chime. Sadly, nothing happened.
**********
Sael spent most of the first evening going over the events that lead up to him being crowned and Nee being added to his Harem, it took him a bit to get over the fact that technically he had an official harem in the truest sense now. Ara just looked exhausted as she picked up Silver, gave a small one handed curtsy and dismissed herself to bed. Although since they shared the one room barracks it just meant she went to lay in one of the bunks. Seeing how bad she looked and feeling guilty for having worried her so much Sael promised he'd find a way to make it up to her. He even considered crawling into the bunk with her but when he glanced over at Nee who was calmly drinking a cup of tea he lost his nerve.
Rolling into his own bunk he opened his various menus going over his stats again. He moved to place his three points from leveling up again into his intelligence stat when he noticed that for the first time ever his intelligence had gone up on its own. Now that it was twenty seven he placed his points to bring it to an even thirty while watching his blue bar increase with each point. When he placed the last one he was surprised by the system chiming with a new message.