Some time ago...
"Well, now Sakura and Touya are officially engaged..." Sakura nodded
wordlessly at Yumina's words.
Babylon's garden had several gazebos one could spend their teatime in. One
of those was a white gazebo with an enneagonal shape, which served as the
girls' favorite spot. A variety of every flower imaginable bloomed proudly
around the gazebo, and cool, refreshing water flowed through a nearby canal. It
was the most beautiful spot in the garden.
"Now that the ninth person Doctor Babylon prophesied has appeared, there
won't be any more newcomers, correct?" Hilde spoke with a relieved
expression. She was probably relieved the ninth wife wasn't some strange,
unfamiliar woman.
"I wonder. The future has a tendency to shift at times, so I think it's too soon
to be relieved." Said Leen, sipping tea at the head of the round table with a
calm expression.
"You seem fairly composed despite that, you do." Yae furrowed her brows
grumpily at Leen's words.
"I'm just saying we shouldn't rest on our laurels, is all. I will admit I'm no
expert when it comes to romance either, but having lived ten times your
lifetime, I've seen a good share of similar cases. Love and passion can burn out
and cool, and betrayals can happen. You mustn't take his love for granted. If
you want him to always love you, make an effort to keep his love for you
burning strong. Well, that's true for both men and women."
"Wow... You sound almost like Karen, Leen..." Lu spoke up, sighing in
admiration. Leen actually had heard those words from Karen before, but
continued sipping her tea with feigned calmness. Maintaining this kind of
pretense was part of being older. Despite everything, being the only one that's
so much older than everyone else gave Leen something of a complex.
"In any case, all nine of us are equally Touya's fiancees. Let's do our best to
make up for each other's fault as we support our husband."
"Right, right. Touya has his careless moments, after all."
"True. And I would very much like it if he could settle down and not be quite
so stressed..." Lu placed a hand on her cheek and heaved a sigh.
"Is something wrong, I wonder?"
"Oh no, it's just that... Touya can use [Gate] to go freely from country to
country, yes? And he solves problems for other countries fairly often. But
countries have... procedures for these sorts of things, you see?" Even though
he's in a position where one would normally negotiate with the other country
for money or other such favorable conditions, Touya acted without regard for
that. As far as Touya was concerned, he really was fixing their problems "on the
side," an attitude Lu, who was raised as royalty, frowned upon.
"But that's part of what makes Touya who he is."
"I understand that, of course. I find that part of him to be charming, as well. I
just can't help but think of what would happen if someone tried to take
advantage of his kindness... It worries me."
"Touya is naive. A man of his character would normally be unfit to lead a
country." Sue picked a cookie from one of the plates and wolfed it down with a
gulp.
"Expecting darling to act like a king is pointless from the get-go. Even his
clothes are the same ones he wore in his days as an Adventurer."
"Oh, that. I believe he said something along the lines of, 'Gaudy, sparkly
clothes aren't my thing'?" Elze smiled wryly, remembering that time. And true
enough, a king's wardrobe often had gold or silver embroidered into it, making
it rather conspicuous at times. But that was meant to give off an aura of
majesty and wealth, and didn't have to reflect the king's personal tastes.
"I would like to see Touya in a proper outfit sometime, though..."
"Agreed. I think a knight's suit of armor would look good on him..."
"Huh? That's what you were thinking of...?" Linze looked taken aback by
Hilde's response. Maybe that was the standard in Lestia?
"I saw an armored warrior the other day, but the mask ruined the whole
outfit, it did." Yae folded her arms and tilted her head, mumbling grumpily.
"I think dressing plainly suits Touya just fine. I'd be more bothered if he
started dressing smartly and strange women would start sticking to him
because of that."
"Yes, that would be a bother." Sakura nodded gravely at Sue's words. The
others all seemed to agree on that.
"Speaking of, what is Touya doing today?"
"Let's see... I believe today he's in Xenoahs. Castle Pandemonium was
damaged during the Dominant Construct attack the other day, so he went to
help repair it, given he had a hand in some of the damage himself..." Hilde
answered Linze's question, a wry smile on her lips. Touya's battle with Gila left
Castle Pandemonium in shambles. The repair work for it began immediately,
and Touya willingly offered to help.
"We were just speaking about it, and here he goes again... I really would wish
he would settle down for a bit." Lu sighed again.
"Shouldn't you have gone with him, Sakura?"
"The overlord is annoying, so I won't go. If I'd have gone with Touya,
something awkward would have happened. I guarantee it." Sakura averted her
face sullenly. It seemed establishing a relationship with her father didn't come
easily to Sakura. The overlord, who had never treated her as a father would
until now, suddenly changed his attitude completely. It left Sakura in a loss as to
how to treat him (even if she did know there was a good reason for that change
in attitude). But more than anything, the fact the overlord became terribly
touchy-feely all of a sudden left her rather creeped out.
"Well, fathers can be like that sometimes..."
"Hey hey, do you think Touya will become like that?"
"I get the feeling he will. I think you've all noticed, but darling can be really
doting when it comes to family. I think he'll become more of a doting father
than even the overlord the day he gets a daughter."
"Oooh, I can see that happening. He'll definitely be a doting father."
The tea party continued, the girls chatting enthusiastically about their absent
fiance. This get-together would later become a regular custom for them, and
would be known as the Queens' Tea Party.
◇ ◇ ◇
"I think it's finally coming along." I whispered to myself, watching as one of
Castle Pandemonium's towers was slowly being restored to its former glory.
It was blown away by Gila's particle cannon, after all... It's a good thing there
was no one in it.
I thought fixing this would take no time at all with Babylon's Workshop, but
like with Brunhild's castle and the bridge on Enlush Island, it couldn't design it
on its own and I had to stay behind to help it.
Specifically, I softened the stone used for building with some limited use of
[Gravity], and manufactured some of the more subtle decorations with
[Modeling].
"A fine job, milord. Pandemonium is being restored in the blink of an eye."
"Oh, hello." I turned around, lowering my head to the person standing before
me. It was Sirius, the dark elf. He was the father of Spica, who was enrolled in
our order of knights, and also the head of House Frennel, one of Xenoahs' five
great noble houses. You couldn't tell all that from how young he looked,
though.
The members of House Frennel have been masters of a special martial art
called the Shield technique for generations, which they used to guard the
overlord's dynasty. In other words, they were a clan of bodyguards.
Every member of the royal family had one such bodyguard, of the same sex,
appointed to guard them. In Sakura's case, Spica was appointed as her guard.
And needless to say, the head of the family, Sirius, also had someone he was
appointed to guard. That same someone eyed me with a sour expression on his
face from behind Sirius' back.
"Tell me, Grand Duke... Why? Why did Farnese not come with you? Since
you're coming to the Demon Kingdom, wouldn't bringing her along be the
considerate thing to do? Did you not consider bringing her mother, Fiana, as
well? Such an inconsiderate brat..."
"You know..." The overlord had been hanging around for a while now,
mumbling his complaints as if chanting some kind of curse.
That's why your daughter is avoiding you, sir. I mean, I did invite her, you
know? Properly asked her, "Sakura, do you wanna come with me to the
Xenoahs?" And you know what she said? "No, because the overlord is
annoying." You're the problem here.
"Now now, Your Terribleness. It's thanks to the grand duke here that Castle
Pandemonium's reconstruction is going so smoothly, you should be thankful."
"Hmph. I am thankful for that. You're a great help, Grand Duke. I thank you
greatly for that."
"Don't mention it. I had a hand in wrecking the castle, after all..." It was
actually all Gila's fault the castle got destroyed. The idiot was running around,
leaving havoc in his path.
According to the investigation later, Gila appeared in the mountains to the
north of here. He'd blasted a whole mountain off, and came all the way here.
The Phrase could hear people's heartbeats, so he probably rushed here,
where there was a concentration of human presence.
"Either way, you've restored Castle Pandemonium. It's almost noon, so how
about you join us for lunch to celebrate?"
"Hmm, not a bad idea. I still have much to ask you about my daughter, good
lord..." The overlord's hand struck my shoulder in a light manner. Ah, y-your
smile isn't reaching your eyes... I've been careless.
I cursed my own thoughtlessness. I should have never joined them for this
meal. I wished I could go 30 minutes back in time and whack that idea out of my
stupid head.
"What is it, Grand Duke? You're not touching your food."
"N-No, it's nothing... Ahaha, this looks delicious...." I sit there petrified, the
spoon I dipped into the soup in front of me gripped in my hand. As I picked the
spoon up from the purple liquid, I found an eyeball, the size of a marble,
floating in it. I had to praise myself for not dumping the spoon away right there
and then.
At lunch, they treated me to Xenoahs' national cuisine. Their... national
cuisine. That's an important part, so I'm repeating it twice to make that very
clear.
Xenoahs' climate was inhospitable to most living things. Of course, that
applied to their crops as well. This being the environment they lived in, it was
customary to eat anything you can eat. And if you can't eat something, well,
you make an effort to eat it anyway. Taste wasn't much of a priority; the stance
was that if you can eat something, you eat it.
So magical beasts were perfectly good game, and any part of them that was
remotely edible was to be eaten. The Syrupy Purple Lizard Soup and Eyeball
Garnish that lay in front of me was one such piece of cuisine born of those
customs.
Anyway, the eyeballs were a no-go. They might have actually tasted good for
all I knew, but visually speaking - a no-go.
Yeah, I'm a wimp! Got a problem with that?! I put my spoon down, and
submerged the eyeball back into the sea of soup. And this time I tried to eat just
the soup. It was purple and looked like polluted marsh water, and the smell was
pretty pungent too! It smelled like someone who just came out of gym class!
"What is it? You're not going to eat it?"
Urged by the overlord's chiding, I steeled myself and pushed the spoon into
my mouth. For a moment, everything in my field of vision waved and distorted.
W-What even is this flavor. Was it bitter? Or no, maybe salty? Sour? I-I don't
know! It was Saltybittersour! "What do you think? Good, isn't it? This delicacy's
hard to come around even in Xenoahs."
"I-It's... really something... The taste is so... overwhelming, my body won't
stop shaking..." My hands wouldn't stop trembling, and I was sweating
profusely. Eating any more of this would kill me! I stealthily opened my
[Storage] and took a wooden deep bowl out of it, placing it on my legs hidden
beneath the table cloth. I then opened a small [Gate] in my mouth, carefully so
he wouldn't notice, so while it would seem like I'm eating, all the soup would be
transported into the bowl. It got rid of the taste, sure, but the smell was still
terrible! As I silently worked my way through the soup, the dining hall's doors
opened and Sirius walked in.
"Pardon my delay, there were some documents I couldn't put off for later...
Oh?" Sirius, who had arrived late, paused when he saw my plate.
"Is that the Syrupy Purple Lizard Soup?"
"Y-Yeah. It's uhh, a real treat."
"I'm surprised you managed to eat it. Even demonkin barely eat it."
"...Say what?" My spoon paused at Sirius' words.
"Wasn't this a rare delicacy of Xenoahs' national cuisine?"
"A delicacy... Well, I suppose it might be to those who like it, but the majority
of demonkin won't touch it. I do recall hearing that in the distant past, a certain
clan's coming of age rite involved drinking this, and you wouldn't be considered
an adult otherwise. I suppose you could call it a test of courage."
A test of courage? I fixed my gaze on the overlord as Sirius answered with a
smile, but he just looked away and whistled innocently. That little... this is a
crime of conscience!
"I personally love this soup. Yes, indeed, it's a treat. I'm glad you liked it too,
Grand Duke."
"Probably because your lineage can cut their sense of taste to a degree, Your
Grace. Us dark elves have no means of doing that."
The lying...! This is plain bullying! Well, if that's how he wants to play this
game...
"Oh, I forgot, Sakura made me a lunch so I could eat here." The overlord's
hands twitched and stopped.
"O-Oh... Farnese's handmade lunch... ha... ha... ha... My, am I envious of
you..." The overlord lifted his face, a stiff smile on his face. Oh, he's excited,
good. I pulled a basket out of [Storage], took a sandwich out if it, and offered it
to him.
"Would you like some, Overlord?"
"R-Really?! Since you're offering, I suppose I could take one! It is Farnese's
handmade lunch, after all! As her father, I simply must eat it!"
The overlord drew closer to me excitedly. Heheheh... He wouldn't cut his
sense of taste when it's time to eat his daughter's cooking, after all.
"She said she's really proud of how the fried chicken turned out."
"Did she now!" I showed the overlord, who was peeking into the basket,
some fried chicken at just enough distance that it was out of reach.
I handed him one of them on a skewer, and he happily put it in his mouth.
"Hmm... Buh, baa, buhhh—!" The overlord wailed at the heavens, as if he was
about to spout fire from his mouth. His face was distorted in agony, his eyes
were tearing and his tongue was out, like a dog's.
"Whoops, that fried-chicken was the one Elze made. My bad..." I apologized
to the overlord with a nudge and wink.
That piece of fried-chicken Elze made boasted so much spiciness, it was
considered a form of torture. But despite the fact it was so dangerous, even I
couldn't bring myself to throw away something my fiancee cooked lovingly for
me. I'm glad I was able to put it to good use. I'd have to keep this a secret from
her, though.
The overlord grabbed a pitcher from the table and began gulping water from
it directly. Unable to help himself, he filled his mouth with the ice in the pitcher
and began chewing it down. It seemed even his ability to cut off his sense of
taste had its limits.
If I recall, taste was divided between five flavors; Bitterness, sweetness,
sourness, saltiness and savoriness. Spiciness, on the other hand, wasn't
experienced through one's sense of taste, but through one's sense of pain.
Maybe that's why?
"Heh... Heh heh... That was a very... particular taste..."
"Oh no, I'm sure this soup has it beat in that regard..." We exchanged our
impressions with stiff smiles. This man was going to become my father-in-law,
and despite the fact he was much older than me, I couldn't help but see him as
someone the same age as me. I could imagine us having a lot of these
exchanges further down the line.
"You two are supposed to be ruling a country, and this is what you're
doing...?" Sirius said, sighing with an exasperated expression.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Good, so we're all here."
"Yes. It was just a short while, but I was glad to visit home again." Everyone
who was originally from Xenoahs were gathered in front of me. Lushade from
the vampire clan, the lamia twins Charette and Mulette, Samsa from the ogre
clan and Lakshy from the alraune clan.
Sakura refused to come, but I decided I should try inviting everyone else who
were originally from Xenoahs. I invited Spica, the dark elf, but she thought there
was no reason for her to come if Sakura wasn't coming, too.
It felt wrong to only give them a few hours to visit, so I put them on leave and
brought them to Xenoahs via [Gate] two days ago.
"H-Hey, when I got me mum a souvenir, she was proper happy! When I told
'em I'm a knight in Brunhild, me little brothers were really excited."
"That's great."
"When we got back home, our parents kept pestering us about marriage and
asking us when we're planning to lay eggs, so we ended up running away."
"Right?!"
While Samsa's story was heartwarming, the lamia twins would only complain
about their parents. I guess families are the same no matter where you look.
But... lamias are born from eggs, huh...?
Either way, I opened a [Gate] to return us to Brunhild, and transported all of
us.
The demonkin returned to the barracks, carrying their souvenirs from the
Demon Kingdom. Those souvenirs aren't food like that soup, are they...?
Actually, the overlord had me bring back a gift too, but... He said I should give it
to Sakura and the other fiancees, but should I really give it to them if it's
something like that...? W-Well, I doubt a doting father like him would send
something bad to his beloved daughter.
I opened a [Gate] to transport myself to Babylon's garden.
Everyone was enjoying a tea party, surrounded by flowers in their usual spot.
I thought they might be here.
"I'm back."
"Touya! Did you just get back from Xenoahs?" Sue shot up from her chair and
rushed to greet me. Whoa there, no tackling!
"I managed to fix Castle Pandemonium, somehow... Geez, that was a mess."
"Good job, and welcome back." Linze thanked me with a smile. Yep. Just this
makes all the work worth it. Oh, I almost forgot to give them the souvenir. I
pulled a box of thick paper from [Storage].
"Sakura, this is a gift from the overlord."
"If it's got some long-winded letter attached to it, you can throw that away."
Geez. She's weary of you, Overlord. I mean, does he really send her letters?
Come to think of it, I did give Xenoahs a Gate Mirror, so it wouldn't be strange
if Kousaka got letters from them. Kousaka might have transferred a letter to
Sakura from the overlord. ...I somehow got the feeling it was thrown away on
the spot.
"There wasn't a letter... Huh? There is one." The envelope attached to the
side was the same color as the box, so I couldn't tell. But it didn't seem to be
some long-winded letter.
I peeled the letter from the box and flipped it around, finding a writing on the
other side: "To the grand duke's ladies." It wasn't addressed to Sakura.
He means Yumina and the others... right? Though they're not technically "my
ladies" yet.
While I stood there, perplexed, Leen snatched the letter from my hands and
opened the seal. That was nimble.
"I will send you some of Lady Farnese's favorite treat. I hope you will all enjoy
it. Signed, Swellra Frennel...?" Once Leen had finished reading the letter aloud,
Sakura pulled the box towards her and undid the ribbons.
Inside was a large, round pie, decorated with red raspberries on top.
"My! It looks delicious, it does!"
"A raspberry pie, I see!"
"Hmm. Swellra used to make them very often. It's my favorite." Right, Swellra
is Spica's mother, and Sirius' wife... which means it's not a gift from the
overlord, but from Swellra? Why didn't he say so, then...?
"Looks like she made us two."
"I'll have the other one later with Mother and Spica, then. This one is for
everyone."
Makes sense. Miss Fiana and Spica would definitely want to have some of this
pie, too.
We were ten people, myself included, so we would have to cut the pie into
ten pieces. That was a bit annoying. Oh wait, wasn't there an app for cutting a
cake into equal pieces?
I looked it up on my smartphone and found one immediately and downloaded
it. I then put the screen over the pie, and after marking the guide lines that
appeared on the screen, cut it into ten neat pieces.
Everyone took a plate and received their serving of the pie. And as we worked
on the pie, Sue poured me a cup of tea.
"Let's eat." I cut a piece of the pie with my fork and carried it to my mouth. It
was delicious. A bitter-sweet flavor and aroma spread in my mouth. The pie was
great, but the raspberry was delectable all on its own.
"It's so good!"
"Delicious, I say! It's crunchy and scrumptious!"
"It's great... Mmm... I wonder if I could make this, too..." Lu alone seemed to
be appreciating the pie from a different angle, but it looked like everyone liked
Swellra's pie.
"This brings back memories..." Sakura savored the pie, a faint smile on her
lips. Sakura was raised in the Frennel house, so to her this cake's flavor must
carry the memories of a warm household.
While the girls noisily discussed the raspberry pie, I noticed a piece of paper
folded in two attached to the inner side of the box's lid.
Wondering what it was, I took it out, finding a letter signed by the overlord
that just said, "If you come back to Xenoahs, you could eat this everyday".
Overlord... doesn't trying to seduce her back with food... strike you as kind of
petty...? Looking at how happy Sakura was, I decided it would probably best to
not show her this letter. If she found out the overlord tried to take advantage of
her memories with Swellra, she'd only reject him all the more vehemently, and I
didn't want her to do that, either.
"What is it, Grand Duke?"
"Huh? Ah, no, it's nothing." I smiled at Sakura's dubious expression and
crumpled the paper in my hand. The next time I meet the overlord, I should
probably advise him to avoid doing that.
I think he's anxious to win back his daughter's affection to make up for all the
time he wasn't involved in her life, but the more he tries to force himself on
Sakura, the more she'll draw away from him. As they say, slow and steady wins
the race. Taking the time to gradually deepen their relationship would be a
better way of going about it, I think.
"Sakura, how do you feel about the overlord?"
"He's annoying."
...There's a way to go until that bears fruit, though.