CH 15

From Now On, I Can Smile (Part 3)

I let go of Daisy. Nier knew what I was planning next. She wasn’t too willing to let me go, but she knew I’d insist. I went upstairs. Lucia didn’t come down to welcome me. I thought, perhaps she was busier, because taking care of two kids was more work than taking care of one. She might’ve been breastfeeding and couldn’t come down. It didn’t matter to me. Whether Lucia came to me or I go to her was all the same.

I stood at her door and knocked. I soon heard footsteps from within. Lucia gently pulled the door open and appeared before me with a smile. She dawdled for a moment when she saw me, but then she revealed a very happy smile. She made way and, with a soft giggle, exclaimed, “You’re back, Your Highness!”

“Yeah. I’m back, Lucia.”

I walked inside and gave Lucia a big hug. Lucia leaned onto my chest, and then gently cupped my face with her hands. Smiling, she commented, “How surprising. Your Highness, you actually have scales.”

“Yeah. I didn’t think I’d have scales on my body, either. I’m worried about hurting you when I hug you, though, because of these scales. I no longer have skin, so I don’t feel soft to the touch. Lucia, I’m very worried about hurting all of you and not being comfortable to hold…”

“That’s not true.” Lucia vigorously shook her head. She then clasped my face and ran her fingers across my face. She looked at me with a smile and continued, “They’re just scales. Your face is still the same; you’re still warm, you’re still you. They’re just scales. Your Highness, it wouldn’t matter to me even if you hurt me with your scales, as I am your wife. How could I refuse to come into contact with you just because of your scales? I’m your wife. It’s a given that I’ll always be by your side and embrace you. It doesn’t matter to me if I’ll be covered in wounds.”

I lowered my head and kissed Lucia’s lips. She kissed me back with a smile then tightly grabbed hold of my hand: “You won’t leave again, will you? Will you still be leaving, Your Highness?”

“I don’t think so. All my matters have ended. I’ll always be by your sides from now.” I took hold of Lucia’s hand and smiled: “I’ll always be by your side henceforth, Lucia. In the past, I left you for a variety of reasons and hurt you, yet you have always supported me. I will always be with you from now, and stay with our children, watching over them as they grow up. I’m sorry, Lucia, I’ve hurt you too many times.”

I kissed Lucia’s hand. She gently shook her head then went up on her toes to caress my head. She softy laughed: “It’s nothing, Your Highness. I have never been angry with you, since I love you. Now then, welcome home, Your Highness.”

With my hand holding hers, I looked at her and replied with a smile, “Uhm, I’m back, Lucia. Honestly speaking, I never imagined you’d welcome me so calmly. I thought… I thought you’d react relatively emotionally… as Nier did…”

I felt slightly awkward when I finished my response, for I didn’t particularly like Nier’s way of welcoming me… since she was a bit too wild. After all, there were others around us… We’d have a problem if she did something. I was having a well-mannered conversation with Lucia, so I didn’t think my statement was a compliment to her.

And, unsurprisingly, Lucia frowned: “I’m not surprised, for I trust you. I believed you’d be back; hence, despite the fact I am happy, I won’t be that emotional. Your Highness, do you feel that I’m cold towards you? If you feel that way, I shall welcome you ther way next time.”

Lucia grumpily turned around and went over to the crib, where Nona and Vera were lying. The two of them looked full and were uniformly breathing. I walked up behind a grumpy Lucia and hugged her from behind. I placed my head on her shoulder and bit her ear. I apologised with a smile, “Sorry, Lucia, I was wrong. I was wrong. It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have said that…”

“To spell it out, what you’re saying is that was what you were thinking, correct?”

Lucia grouchily glared at me. I smiled then hugged her around her waist. I whispered, “No, Lucia, as a wife, you truly are a wife who makes me feel reassured. I think it’s fine for me to do anything as long I as have you, for I know you’ll be supporting me from the rear. I trust you more than I trust Nier, and I rely more on you. However, that’s precisely why I hope you can sometimes be more assertive, too. We’ve been together for so long already. Wouldn’t it be very bland for us to continue, like this?”

Lucia shot a glare at me. I was aware that my rhetorical question would cheer her up, nevertheless. My hand started to get naughty and undo the buttons on her shirt. I reached my hand inside her shirt from underneath and touched her belly. She grumpily glared at me. She grumbled in a soft voice, “Don’t. The girls are sleeping. You’ve just come back, and you want to do this? I don’t want to do this with you during the day. Doesn’t Nier really like it? Go ask her for it.”

I kissed her Lucia’s and laughed: “Don’t be angry, Lucia. You’re my wife. We haven’t seen each other for a month. Just a simple ‘hello’, and ‘welcome back’, is too bland, don’t you think? I can’t be with you at night, so isn’t the only time we have with each other right now?  Lucia, you’re my wife.”

I continued to slowly undo Lucia’s buttons. She gave up in the end and turned her head around to kiss me. The two of kiss gently kissed each other. It was different to Nier’s wild kiss. Lucia’s kisses were very gentle, which give me an urge to get a little rough with the girl.

Lucia released me; she pressed her hand on mine. She whispered, “Don’t leave… again… I have faith in you… But I only feel happiest when you’re by my side. Though I am happy you trust me, I… I can’t help but worry when you’re out.”

I smiled; then, I kissed Lucia’s neck: “I know; I know, Lucia. You’re my wife. I won’t leave you again, and I won’t make you worry again. I’ll always be by your side henceforth. Always.”

“Uhm…”

Lucia’s breathing began to be erratic, while my hand became livelier. Honestly, I was sure that nobody would be willing to see others playing with their dinner. Consequently, I felt I needed to finish being cosy with Lucia before my two girls woke up. Fortunately, Lucia was wearing white; else, it would be pretty obvious with a big wet blotch, wouldn’t it?

“Don’t do this… Your Highness… What are we going to do… if we wake the girls?”

Lucia’s speech had become muddled. I aggressively picked her up from her waist and placed her on the bed. She looked at me with a fearful and shy expression. She quivered as she stretched her arms out to indicate she wanted me to hug her. Her expression brought down my restraints, so I leapt on top of her.

I wasn’t certain if telling her to be assertive sometimes weighed on her mind or what, but we both really enjoyed it that time. In the past, Lucia would cry at the end due to the pain and sensitivity. That time, however, she reacted as Nier would; she even got on top of me and rode me one for an extra round.

I covered her mouth with my hands when she began to instinctively moan. Otherwise, she would’ve woke Vera and Nona. Afterwards, Lucia hugged my arms with a firm grip and looked at me through the thin blanket. I hugged her back. The two of us were too drained to speak. Lucia slowly drew circles on my chest with a calm, yet blissful, smile on her face.

We began our session close to noon. We didn’t even have lunch; we even ignored the maid outside. The sun was now coming down. As a matter of fact, the sun was barely visible at the moment. Night fall was coming. We heard Vera’s cries. Lucia quickly sat up and rushed over to carry her up in spite of being nude.

I sat up and, with a smile, I asked, “Are my moms doing well? I hope the dragon is doing all right. Although I’m slightly reluctant to admit it, she is indeed considered my mom, so I brought her back this time. With that said, she’s always lived in the desert, so she doesn’t understand our etiquette and whatnot.”

“She does have a name. You keep calling her ‘Dragon’, ‘Dragon’. ‘Dragon’, are you not the one who is showing her the least respect?” Lucia turned around and shot a glare at me.

I was worried for nothing. Lucia and Dragon Mommy got along very happily. Perhaps Lucia respected Dragon Mom a lot. Dragons weren’t considered a gentle wild beast to elves, were they? Even if they weren’t Lucia didn’t allow me to be so disrespectful to Mommy Dragon.

I laughed: “Where’s Mommy Vyvyan, then? What about Mommy Elizabeth? How’s her relationship with the two of them? You seem to be getting along very happily, so I’m now worried about whether my moms’ relationship will be too poor. That would be a very difficult issue for us to resolve if they didn’t get along.”

“I think they’re all right… Queen Vyvyan appears to get along peacefully with your Dragon Mom, but I’m not sure about Empress Elizabeth. Oh, right, Your Highness, I need to inform you that Empress Elizabeth has gone missing. In order to be the first to see you, she… We don’t know where she is, either; however, Rosvenor Empire needs her. If we can’t find her… something might happen, right…?”

I swiftly sat up and revealed a dumbfounded look. I exclaimed, “What did you say? Mommy Elizabeth is nowhere to be seen? Lucia, Lucia, I’m skipping dinner. I need to head out. I must find my Mom, not because of the Rosvenor Empire, but just because I want to find my Mom!! She’s my Mom!!”