"Where are Frieren and the others?"
"They're still asleep."
"You're up early."
"I had a feeling you'd come back."
"Really?"
"It doesn't matter now."
Übel stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Shichen.
He held her, scooped her up in a princess carry, and sat down with her on the living room sofa.
He had come back again.
Once he finished up the last few things here, he'd return to welcome his child.
Übel felt soft and warm in his arms. She was wearing nothing but a slip dress, with her pale collarbone and smooth legs on full display.
Shichen held her without restraint, his hands roaming naturally.
Übel didn't mind at all. She circled his neck with her arms and looked at him with soft, damp eyes.
"Did you miss me?" Shichen leaned in and asked.
"You guess~" Übel smiled playfully.
"I'm not guessing. I want to hear you say it."
"Then feel my heartbeat and you'll know."
She took his hand and pressed it to her chest.
Shichen could feel it right away. Her heart was beating fast.
"So you did miss me." He smiled.
"Mm." Übel nodded without denying it.
"Are you hungry? I can make you something. No need to wait for Frieren and the others to wake up."
"I'm not hungry yet." Übel shook her head.
"You should eat something first…"
"No rush. With a moment like this, why bother with food?" Übel rolled her eyes at him.
"You need energy for the important things."
"I can manage without eating first."
"I don't agree."
"We can handle the important part first, and eat afterward~" Übel looked at him with a teasing smile.
"Hm?" Shichen raised a brow, studying her.
Übel didn't say anything else. She shifted in his lap and slowly slid lower.
Soon, all he could see was the top of her head.
A moment later, he leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes.
After a while, Übel came back up into his arms, licked her lips, and looked at him with a sly smile. "Yeah… definitely not enough."
"…" Shichen opened his eyes and pinched her cheek. "You're getting bold."
"Yep, absolutely." Übel nodded cheerfully.
"Where'd you learn that?"
"From Fern. I saw it by accident once," Übel admitted.
"So you were peeking."
"You're really going to say that? Weren't you the one who made sure I saw it?" Übel called him out.
"Nonsense," Shichen replied with mock righteousness.
"Hmph. That only works on yourself."
"Careful, or I'll leave you unable to move today."
"Go ahead~ I'm not scared of you."
"So you're ready, then." Shichen finally understood what she meant.
"I've been ready for a while. You're the one who kept dragging your feet."
"Alright. Just don't cry later."
"I won't."
"Wait here a second. I'm sending Stark off to train first."
Shichen carried Übel back to her room, then went to wake Stark and dropped him outside to train.
Still in his pajamas, Stark didn't complain at all. The moment he saw the horned puppets, he got excited.
That was because he had already successfully hunted a demon himself and cut off every last horn.
The only problem was that his technique still wasn't refined enough. Sometimes he'd taken the whole head off.
He didn't want to be some "head-chopping maniac." He wanted to be a true horn-breaking maniac.
So he needed to perfect his technique and take it to the next level.
With Shichen personally training him, Stark couldn't have been happier.
The moment Stark picked up his axe and charged the puppets, Shichen left him to it and went back to Übel's room.
And the second he stepped inside, he was met with a dazzling view of pale skin.
At some point, Übel had shed everything.
Shichen didn't hold back anymore and pulled her into his arms.
"Kiss me," Übel said, tilting her chin up.
"No."
Übel froze. "What?"
"Tiger's poison doesn't harm its cubs," Shichen said with a perfectly serious face.
"…"
At that point, Übel wanted to fight him.
If he wasn't going to kiss her, then they'd settle it another way.
But there was no way she could beat him.
They did clash, but it didn't take long before she lost and nearly cried from frustration.
This was not how she thought it would go.
Why had Fern looked like she was enjoying herself so much?
…
By noon, Fern finally woke up.
She glanced at Frieren, who was still sleeping soundly, and sighed as she got up.
Lately, she'd started falling into bad habits too, sleeping in later and later.
She'd decided it definitely wasn't her fault, and it wasn't Shichen-sama's fault either. It had to be Frieren's influence.
Still, since Frieren was basically an overgrown child, Fern couldn't really blame her.
Sitting up, Fern was about to go make food—then suddenly paused.
She felt Shichen's presence.
He was outside.
Shichen-sama is back!
Excited, she got out of bed and hurried from the room.
But the living room was empty.
Following the direction of the presence she sensed, her gaze landed on Übel's room.
Why was Shichen-sama in her room?
And then—
Fern wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but she thought she heard something familiar and very wrong.
It was a sound she herself had made before.
The answer was obvious.
She went completely still.
Shichen-sama had finally been lured away by Übel.
When had this happened?
She hadn't noticed at all!
That shameless Übel!
Fern knew Übel had been after him all along.
And she still hadn't been able to stop it.
To be fair, she had expected it sooner or later.
Even so, now that it had actually happened, it still felt too soon.
She couldn't accept it.
And with those voices loud enough to be heard from outside, it was almost like Übel wanted her to hear.
Fine.
Then Fern wasn't going to be polite about it either.
She stormed up to Übel's door and pushed it open without hesitation.
Inside, just as she'd thought—
they were together, in a way she herself knew all too well.
"Übel, what are you doing?" Fern demanded from the doorway.
"Oh? What does it look like?" Übel asked, her voice husky, looking at Fern with an openly provocative smile.
Shichen was holding Übel upright in his arms.
She looked flushed and perfectly pleased with herself, like she'd suddenly recovered all her energy.
A second ago, Shichen had been wondering how Übel had gotten her strength back so suddenly. Now he understood—she had noticed Fern coming.
He hadn't noticed at all.
To be fair, Übel was inexperienced, and he'd been focused on taking care of her.
Besides, this was home. He didn't need to stay on guard.
Stark was shut outside inside a barrier anyway. Without Shichen, he wasn't getting back in.
"'What does it look like'… You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Fern glared.
Übel laughed softly. "Weren't you the one who said I didn't have more charm than you? Well, now Shichen's the one holding me."
"You… Shichen-sama!" Fern turned to him with hurt eyes.
"Ahem. Fern, you're awake," Shichen said, a little awkwardly.
Being caught by Fern still made him feel guilty—especially in a situation like this. He couldn't really move, but not moving was even worse.
"Shichen-sama, how did you let yourself get seduced by her? Am I not better than her?"
"That's not it. You're both attractive."
"Both attractive… You've changed, Shichen-sama. Before, you used to say I had more charm than she did."
"Well…" Shichen couldn't deny it.
Now that Übel had become one of his women too, he had to treat her fairly.
Before, it had been different.
"I guess I came at the wrong time." Fern turned to leave.
"No."
Shichen froze Fern in place, then pulled her over.
"Fern, your timing is perfect."
"?"
Both Fern and Übel looked completely confused.
What kind of thing was that to say?
But Shichen didn't care. He closed the door behind them.
Three people. Perfect for a high-stakes round of cards.
~~~
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