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nRi sat on Dyon’s lap facing him, laying her head on his shoulder as she took deep breaths.

nThey had moved to her private bathing area and currently sat at the shallow end of a large pool.

nThe space was more like its own bath house rather than a normally sized bathroom. The pool was large and had an interesting curved and abstract shape to it. Elegantly crafted tiles covered the surface of almost everything as a faint layer of steam hung in the air.

nDyon felt like falling asleep just like this… his arms wrapped around Ri’s waist and her breasts pressed against his chest.

n“How many hours has it been since this morning?” He asked.

nRi was silent for a while, as though she had fallen asleep herself. But, she suddenly wiggled awake, reminding Dyon that he was very much still attached to her.

nDyon reached down, relishing in the soft feeling of Ri’s plump ass before slowly pulling her up.

nRi moaned as she felt Dyon slide out of her entrance, before collapsing into his arms again.

nTaking a deep breath, she finally spoke, “you woke up around 10… it’s at least 4 right now…” she said softly.

nDyon nodded and brought some soaps over, gently rubbing them onto Ri’s soft skin as she closed her eyes in pleasure. She allowed Dyon to clean every inch of their bodies. The feeling of his hands gliding across her almost raised her excitement again… but, the dull ache between her legs made her think against doing something about it.

nAfter Dyon spun Ri around to spend a conveniently long time lathering her breasts with foam – much to her amusement – he finally washed everything off.

nThen, he gently picked Ri up bridal style, his feet lighting in a faint wind and fire will.

nNow dry and comfortable, the two of them fell into a deep sleep in Ri’s large bed.

n**

nDyon awoke to an amazing fragrance. His nose buried itself into Ri’s hair as he slowly gained his bearings.

nRi shifted in Dyon’s embrace, her canine teeth shining as she yawned.

nDyon smiled, feeling two bundles of flesh press gently against him. Ri was truly adorable in her sleep, she had even draped her leg over Dyon, breathing soundly.

nLooking through the drapes across the room, Dyon realized the sun was beginning to set which meant Ri’s birthday banquet would be starting soon.

nRi slowly opened her eyes to the feeling of Dyon rubbing his hand across her thigh – she giggled, feeling a bit ticklish, “pervert.”

nDyon grinned, “How can I wake up next to a naked beauty and not touch?”

nBecause of her leg position, Ri could subtly feel something hard pressing up between her legs.

nRi smiled, gently grinding against Dyon, “Do you want to stay here? Or go to my birthday banquet?”

nDyon tilted Ri’s head up, kissing her deeply.

nBut then, he pulled back and sighed, “I know you want to go,” Dyon smiled, “So let’s go. How could I ever want to disappoint you?”

nRi’s eyes shone as she looked up at Dyon before she leaned in and lined his jawline with soft kisses, “I’ll repay you later Mr. Jaws.”

nDyon laughed, Ri hadn’t called him that since the first time they met. At first he was confused, but her meaning was pretty obvious now.

nRi swung herself to the edge of the bed, letting Dyon watch her alluring back as she walked to a large walk-in closet.

nTo Ri, she wouldn’t have wanted to go to the banquet while Dyon was in his coma. But, it was different now.

nWhile the Elvin Kingdom was in turmoil, Ri hated everything that reminded her of her past as a princess. She avoided dresses, social gatherings, and mostly focused on her training. And although now, casual clothes like sweat pants had grown on her, with the problems of the kingdom settled, she was opening up to the idea of re-entering society as a princess should.

nMuch to Dyon’s happiness, Ri’s love of sweat pants and sports bras wouldn’t die so easily – but, at the same time, she wouldn’t cringe at the thought of a dress anymore.

nThat being said, Ri wanted to attend this banquet for reasons any woman would. She loved the idea of walking in with Dyon by her side with people who loved her around her. At the same time, she wanted to properly reconnect with Primrose.

nAlthough Primrose had been her helper for years now, Ri always felt somewhat distant. A bit as if she still held a faint grudge against major families like Primrose’s Aedre family for essentially ruining her childhood. However, her perspective on things began to change when she learned of Dyon’s story. In fact, she shed more tears thinking about how he moved forward despite his past pains than for him having gone through the pain in the first place.

nIf Dyon could put things that hurt him aside to do such great things, Ri didn’t feel like she’d be worthy to be with him if she didn’t do the same. As such, she saw this banquet as a good first step to a brighter future for her and the Elvin Kingdom.

nThinking through these things, Ri slowly got ready under Dyon’s eyes, laughing to herself because of his heated gaze. Well, that and the fact Primrose had filled her closet with so many ridiculous things. Ri could almost see her best friend winking at her from wherever she was now, ‘Mithrandir influenced you too much,’ thought Ri, giggling.

nFinally finding a pair of undergarments that weren’t too ridiculously risqué, Ri put them on. She smiled to herself, admiring their blue lace in a nearby mirror.

nRi’s hair suddenly began to shimmer as her ice will melted into it, straightening out her bedhead.

nThen, she picked out the dress Primrose had long since bought for her, ‘This is too… princess-y….’

nHowever, when she was about to find something else to wear instead, she felt suddenly felt a strong pair of arms around her.

n“This is perfect,” Dyon said gently, “You should be a princess on the princess’ birthday, no?”

nRi looked down at the dress in her hands, leaning into Dyon.

nIt was a strapless dress, but that was hardly the problem… The waist up had elegantly arranged golds and blues, but the waist down bloomed outwards into endless and grandiose folds. Ri felt she would be hard pressed to walk properly, let alone sit or socialize.

nBut, she was in love with its silver colors of the puffs of fabric. In fact, if you looked closely, there was the slightest tinge of blue. But, other than that, she thought it was more inconvenient than anything… yet, she felt that maybe practicality was useless here.

nSo, she slipped it on, letting Dyon do up the back for her.

nRi looked at herself in the mirror, giggling to herself. The bottom of the dress was so wide her arms couldn’t even rest properly at her sides.

nSuddenly, she noticed Dyon behind her, “You’re not planning on going naked, are you?”

nDyon grinned, “Only if you want me to.” But, thinking of something, Dyon paused, “Watch this.”

nRi watched expectantly, but she was suddenly blinded as a purple-gold array covered herself as well.

nThe light slowly faded. But, the sight of Dyon made Ri’s heart quicken… it was suddenly very obvious to her that she loved him.

nDyon wore a tight-fitting Victorian style tunic and vest. It was as though it was made for a king. Its royal blue was laced with a velvety pattern that swirled elegantly throughout. The seams and buttons were embroidered with a rich gold color leading all the way to its high collar, ending in a roaring dragon. Even the pants and shoes to match, with their sleek black appearance, had a rich air of nobility. And yet… it all would have meant nothing if not for Dyon’s demeanor.

nSuddenly, a smile spread across Dyon’s handsome face as he bowed and stretched out his hand, “Would you do me the honor of allowing me to accompany you to this ball, Princess Alexandria Acacia?”

nTears threatened to spill out of Ri’s eyes as she nodded, placing her hand in Dyon’s, “mm.”

nRi pulled Dyon up, hugging him as tightly as her puffy dress would allow.

nDyon stroked her hair, chuckling, “Silly girl, is there a need to cry? Why don’t you look at yourself in the mirror?”

nRi looked up from Dyon’s embrace, turning to the mirror to look at herself standing by Dyon.

nA gasp suddenly escaped her lips, “Dyon…”

nRi’s hair now had a braided crown on it… it was a truly beautiful sight, but that wasn’t what caught Ri’s attention.

nOn her neck, there was a thin and elegantly made necklace. She touched it gently, tears glistening in her eyes… because she noticed Dyon was wearing one less band on his wrist.

nDyon smiled, “These clothes were something my father once wore. Later in his life, he was a law enforcement officer… but that was simply the aftermath of his military career. One of the only times I ever saw him smile was when he wore this to accept a reward…”

nDyon looked down to the bands on his wrist, “These were the first inventions I ever created. But, they mean more than that to me. The metal you see around it was something my mother passed down to me… it wasn’t the best material I could have used, but she always said that making more with less could make anyone better.”

nDyon kept the second band for Madeleine. He found it unfortunate that his array alchemy hadn’t reached a high enough level to do this for her back then, but he smiled thinking of gifting it to her in the future.

nSpinning Ri around, Dyon looked down at her lovingly, “This is part two of your present,” kissing her forehead.

nRi’s tears were threatening to fall as her lip trembled.

nDyon smiled, caressing her cheek, “This is a happy day,” he said gently, “Don’t cry.”

nSuddenly Ri smiled, “I don’t know if I want to go anymore…” she said quietly.

n“And I’m the pervert?” Dyon said, grinning widely.

nRi rolled her eyes, “That’s not what I meant,” hooking her arm around Dyon’s, “Let’s go.”

nLike that, they walked out of the room and into a wide hallway near the top floor of the castle.

n**

nIn a large banquet, tens of the younger generation had shown up, many of which included the elder brothers and sisters of some Dyon was already familiar with.

nActually, the only elders present were Sinaht and Uncle Acacia. The other elders of the major and sub families paid their respects but decided it might be more damaging than anything else should they appear.

nUnsurprisingly, the Eostre family made the biggest contribution to the Princess’ birthday as a sort of apology for their obvious shortcomings. In fact, much of their presents included funding and backing received covertly by the Daiyu family in order to coerce their services. As such, the Elvin Kingdom gained another massive boost in income. In fact, it might have been because the Daiyu family spent so much time bribing potential allies that they lacked resources to begin with.

nThat aside, the atmosphere was lively. It seemed that if those in attendance weren’t smiling while watching the orphans play, they were having amiable social interactions amongst each other.

n“Do you think Ri will actually come?” Mithrandir sat near Primrose, questioning her as Zaltarish almost comedically prepared her a plate of food. He was so diligent that even Ores, Kymil and Darcassan couldn’t help but snicker. And yet, he was too focused on pleasing Mithrandir to care much for anything else.

nPrimrose giggled, glancing periodically between Mithrandir and Zaltarish, giving her friend a knowing look, “I don’t know… She’s quite worried about Dyon. So, it depends on if he wakes up or not.”

nMithrandir sighed, accepting an expertly designed plate of fruit from Zaltarish, “That boy has always been reckless… I hope he’s okay.”

nZaltarish would have pouted at Mithrandir’s words if it wasn’t for the fact he wanted to uphold an image, ‘I’m feeding you with my heart and soul and you’re worried about another man?! Where’s the justice?”

nSuddenly, Zaltarish felt a pat on his should. Turning around, he found his elder sister grinning at him, “If you want her heart little brother, you should dominate her. What’s this nonsense about you becoming her waterboy?”

nZaltarish’s elder sister was… unique. She had faint grey skin and red eyes much like the rest of the Sigebryht family, and you could tell by her facial features that she should be a world class beauty… but she was a bit… muscular…

nAkash Sigebryht was only twenty-five, and yet she had already broken into the second layer of essence gathering. But, with that genius came her eccentric personality.

nUnlike many other girls and even boys, Akash would fight in campaigns even if there was no glory or ranking to be had. To her, the battle field was the only home worth having… and that excessive push to be the strongest made her forego ladylike techniques she shunned as ‘nature’s sin.’

nSome tried to explain to her that techniques for women weren’t weaker, it was just that they maintained an outer appearance of beauty, but, Akash was having none of it. She insisted on practicing the most domineering techniques… thus resulting in her appearance now.

nTruth be told, she was still quite beautiful… if you didn’t notice the fact her legs would crush your head in an instant.

nBut, it was exactly because of this passion that she became the chief head of the Elvin Army just recently. To not just be a campaign leader, but a head at such a young age was something anyone could be proud of. And it was especially unprecedented since Akash was a woman.

nThat being said, although Zaltarish was proud of his elder sister, her appearance now made him blush. Her words led to an unconcealed laughter raging through the table… It was right about now that Zaltarish hated how charismatic his sister was.

nHowever, noticing Ores’ eyes glittering, he took this opportunity to change the subject, “Big sister, I believe Ores had something he wanted to tell you. You should speak with him.”

nOres’ eyes snapped to Zaltarish so quickly that his flaming red hair lifted off of his shoulders. But, Zaltarish pretended not to notice his glare, already preparing another plate for Mithrandir much to his sister’s dismay.

nAkash rolled her eyes. She had absolutely no interest in Ores. To her, he was just a kid who was slightly bigger than other kids. She had already crushed all the men of her generation, or else why would she be chief? It obviously was of no help to Ores that he lost to a human boy even younger than him. In fact, Dyon might be the only kid in the younger generation she was curious to see the growth of aside from her own little brother.

nSuddenly, Akash felt two hands tickling her sides causing her to turn back in agitation, “Bele, can’t you be more like the rest of the Grimbold family? Imagine coming from a family of warriors and still being a dainty little girl.”

nBele giggled at Akash’s words her red hair bobbing. She had long since become used to this, “There’s nothing wrong with acting like a woman,” Bele cupped her small chest proudly.

nAkash scoffed, “Woman, or little boy?”

nBele pouted in agitation, stomping her feet, “Hubby, Akash is bullying me again!”

nA gold haired young man sitting nearby with a group of friends looked up but could only shake his head. Bele knew fully well that he was no match for Akash, so why get him involved? In fact, he wasn’t even really Bele’s husband! Marriages between major families were never the norm… but when Bele found out that Mithrandir and Zaltarish were betrothed to each other, she pounced on him… claiming ‘dibs’ as she called it.

nThe worst part was that when he looked over to his sister for help, he only found Celine giggling at his misfortune together with Opal.

nSo, he could only accept it as Bele walked over and plopped down in his lap, “Gael, did I ever tell you that you have such a dashing name? If our first child is a boy, we should name him Gael Jr.!”

nOne of Gael’s friends nudged his rib, “How could you say no to a beauty like Bele? If you don’t want her, give me a chance.”

nBele pouted unhappily at the boy, “Gael is the only one for me. Hmph.”

nDespite her antics, Bele meant what she said. Because she was part of the Grimbold family, she actually had no choice but to participate in the campaigns unlike the other girls.

nDuring one such occurrence, Gael had saved her life as well as many of the soldiers under her charge. If it wasn’t for the previous taboo against members of major families wedding, she would have long since given herself to Gael.

nCeline smiled at this scene. She liked the idea of her elder brother having someone who loved him for pure reasons.

nGael smiled, accepting Bele into his lap with an arm around her waist, “Don’t worry Idril, I’m sure you’ll find someone else.”

nFeeling Gael’s arm, Bele was suddenly oddly embarrassed. But, she still smiled warmly.

nIdril sighed, a depressed look creeping onto his face, “If the Fletcher family had any say in it… I’d marry a girl from the blacksmithing guild just so that bows and arrows were easier to come by.”

nGael laughed, mostly because Idril’s pain came from a place of truth. The Fletcher family were expert archers as their manifestations would attest. So, they often did marry into blacksmithing families.

n…

nJust like that, the banter and fun continued for another hour. Ri and Dyon were nowhere to be seen, but, this was still a good environment for most. As such, no one left early.

nSuddenly, Sinaht and Uncle Acacia stood. They had been quietly conversing amongst each other, but they thought it would be best if they just left the event to the younger generation…. That and the fact they sensed a familiar and irking presence approaching the castle.

nNot wanting it to ruin the festivities, the stood to greet them outside. As rude as that may have been, they believed they had given the Royal God Clan enough face in the past couple months.

nSinaht sighed, “We can keep the old man away… but, it’s likely that prince will want to come.”

nUncle Acacia chuckled, “That prince is quite arrogant… He knew of the start time of this event yet still came late… Why do you think he asked for Dyon so often?”

nA pensive looked surfaced on Sinaht’s features, “I believe that must have something to do with Madeleine Sapientia.”

nUncle Acacia nodded… that was the only thing that made sense.

nThe two of them flashed outside of the Castle to find a grand carriage slowly approaching the entrance.

nDue to the bird emblem of the Royal God Clan, none of the guards dared to stop them… As such, they had already neared the main entrance.

nAfter waiting patiently, a young feminine looking man and what seemed like an older guardian walked out.

nRoyalty in other settings may be granted devout respect, but the Royal God Clan system was a bit different. The Royal God Clan, for one, wasn’t that much more powerful that the God Clans. There difference was on two or three Celestial Stages at the most… at least in this universe.

nThis was a disparity that could be made up with numbers, or in the case of the Elvin Kingdom, a genius king… Although King Acacia was missing, in his reign, there was no doubt he was a match if not even more powerful than the grand and reserve elders of the Royal God Clan.

nHowever, it seemed as though his disappearance had significantly lowered the standing of the elves in the eyes of everyone… even to the point where being just a few months late to report to campaign caused them to send not their first, but their second prince of this generation to berate them.

nWith the population deficiencies of the elves… their lack of presence would hardly make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. It was clear that the second prince of this generation had come with ulterior motives… and they clearly involved Dyon. How could something like this be allowed with King Acacia here?

nAnd yet, here they were…

nThe second prince bowed politely and with a smile that made you hard-pressed not to think he was a woman…

n“I’ve come to pay my respects to the Princess on her birthday, kind elders.”

nSinaht and Uncle Acacia nodded, “That’s of course no problem. We’ve left this banquet up to the younger generation, so, you can head in. Your guardian can chat important matters with us.”

nThe prince’s long purple hair covered his face in his bow, so no one noticed the sharpness his eyes gained at these words.

nBut, he still stood and smiled amiably, “I’ll do my best to represent our Belmont properly. Getting to know those who’ll hold the future of our planet in their hands is of course part of the responsibility of a monarchy.”

nSinaht and Uncle Acacia pretended not to notice the prince’s clear provocation and instead led his guardian away, allowing a servant to escort him in instead.

nAs the prince walked to the hall following behind the servant girl, he suddenly grew an odd smile on his face.

n‘The elves are nothing but a race at the end of their ropes… To think their Princess would be so rude to me! When elder brother becomes King, I’ll be sure they’re the first we wipe out… then I can slowly play with her until death…’

nOriginally, when he had seen Ri, he was stunned. The only beauty he had seen that could compare was Madeleine… But, no one had ever heard of such a beauty form the Elvin Kingdom!

nAnd yet, she cared not for his being a Royal God Clan prince. In fact, her mouth and demeanor were foul!

nThen there was the reason he had come here in the first place. Before the appearance of Ri, Madeleine was the undisputed best maiden in the universe with her competitors only being able to match her in either talent or beauty… but never both. However, she was a stone wall when it came to those approaching her. The prince’s brother had even followed her all the way to a distant planet, hoping time would open up her heart!

nHowever, this Dyon was clearly a road block.

n‘Hmph, the best you’ve gifted such an outstanding woman is a practitioner level treasure? And you call yourself a man?

nI don’t know what sick and demented love potion you fed her, but we’ll see where you’ll be able to hide while I’m here…’

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