“Nier. Lucia.”
My two moms returned to the ship to make preparations for the day’s battle. Nier and Lucia returned to the shrine after dealing with the corpses. I called them over after. Lucia sighed a breath of relief upon noticing I no longer had my shoulder bandaged. She inquired, “Your Highness, has your injury healed?”
“Yeah, it’s fine now. Mommy Vyvyan healed me. It wasn’t a deep wound; it was akin to being stabbed by a piece of wood. There wasn’t any venom, either. Don’t worry, Lucia.”
I gave Lucia a hug, and she touched my shoulder as if it caused her heart to ache. She apologised again: “Sorry, Your Highness… I was right next to you, yet you got hurt… Sorry… Sorry…”
I kissed Lucia’s lips then rubbed her head with a smile: “It’s all right. I don’t blame you. Lucia, go and have a rest.”
Lucia pouted and hugged me: “Don’t wanna. I want to always be by your side. Say whatever you want to say to Nier. I won’t disturb you. I want to spend my time by your side so as to make up for my guilt. I promise I will train as I did before once we get back. I won’t let you get hurt! I promise!”
“There’s no need to, really. You’re my wife, not my bodyguard. I needed you two this time, for my guards weren’t here. You just need to lay back and enjoy your status quo. You’re the mother of two girls. How would you have time to train? Just relax, and take care of the girls.”
“Mm, you need to promise you won’t go anywhere dangerous, then.”
“I promise.”
Nier, who was on one side, pouted and looked at me to say, “You say that every time, Your Majesty. In reality, you still go wherever it’s dangerous. We can leave already, yet you still want to help Ying, no?”
“Isn’t that your fault?! If you didn’t suddenly lose it and kill so many people, His Highness wouldn’t feel so guilty towards Ying!”
“Wow, I don’t want to hear that from you. You got violent sooner than I did!”
“I only killed the person who hurt His Highness. I wasn’t as cruel and brutal as you, killing everybody in sight!”
The two angrily looked at each other. Nier’s brutal way of dealing with the corpses got on Lucia’s nerves, since Lucia didn’t like to witness murders. Lucia added, “Moreover, His Highness had always planned to kill that w-w, whatever. His Highness has always been that kind. I, too, like His Highness’s kindness and gentleness. He’s different to you, you lunatic murderer! Always killing people over everything, you’re basically demented!”
I noticed Nier’s hand reach for her long sword at her waist. Nier furiously gritted her teeth: “Your Majesty, please allow me to cut this woman down. This useless piece of trash failed to protect you, yet she has the gall to criticise me!!”
I chuckled and grabbed Nier’s hand: “Nier, I’m a little worried about you right now. Those children’s minds were twisted, because they touched Ying’s sabre. Are you all right? Do you feel anything unusual at all?”
Nier looked at my hand with a tinge of puzzlement. She then checked out her body: “No. I feel quite fine. Nothing feels out of the ordinary for me. The sabre is no different to any other sabre to me. Oh, wait. There was something different. It’s a really nice sabre to wield. I want one like it when we get back.”
Nier placed the sabre aside. The blade had been cleaned. It was a very ordinary sabre except that it was the straight blade type, which was different to Nier’s curved blade. The sabre was the type used in ancient times. However, this particular blade appeared to be the very, very ordinary type. It didn’t have any power or dark aura around it. Besides feeling heavy when picked up, nothing else could be felt.
I pondered, “So, is this an ordinary sabre? What about Ying’s sabre, then? Does Ying combat the wyrm with this sort of ordinary sabre? She uses her previous sabre? I’ll have to ask Ying about that if she’s willing to tell me, that is. Perhaps she didn’t want to use her former sabre due to the past incident. That sabre was a weapon to protect the villagers in name, but it became a weapon that took the lives of five kids. I would assume she recalls those five kids when she takes it up.”
I nodded then hugged Nier. She followed along and leaned onto my chest. In a soft voice, she said, “As long as you are by my side, my lover, I won’t transform into anything else. Even if I did turn into what they did, I won’t hurt you. I won’t hurt you no matter what I become, as protecting you is in my nature.”
“Thank you. Thank you. Nier, I love you. I’m very reassured with you by my side. Really.”
Nier tightly hugged me. Suddenly, she grunted and looked up at the same time, because Lucia grabbed her hair from behind with an irate look. Nier managed to give me a peck despite Lucia tugging on her hair. Lucia coldly looked at her, and then yanked her ponytail. In an aggressive voice, she exclaimed, “You’re covered in blood, yet you’re getting so close to His Highness. Don’t you think you reek of blood? Not even I said I wanted to kiss His Highness at this time, and you think you can take advantage of that to just waltz in? You should go and wash off your hostility. Not throw yourself at my kind Prince!!”
“You best let go before I get mad!! Let go!!”
Nier released her hold on me. Lucia hopped a few steps away to avoid letting Nier catch her. Nier raged , “Your Majesty, please allow me to amputate the hand she grabbed my hair with! I’ll cut my hair short when we get back. I’d love to see you grab my hair again! I’ll rip all of your hair out!”
I grabbed Nier: “Don’t, don’t, don’t. I think that you look really good with long hair.”
“Really…? I won’t cut it, then. However… Mm, Your Majesty, I am going to wash off first.”
Nier minded the blood stains and smell on her. I nodded; then, I pointed to the well in the rear. I used the water from the well there for as long as I had been on the island. There was lake or river in the village, and you couldn’t bath in sea water. Nier whipped her hair, and then called for a few Valkyries to come over. She ordered them to heat up water as the Princess.
I stood up: “Lucia, you go wash up, too. I won’t join you two. I want to go and see Ying. I wonder how the two of them are doing. I’m slightly worried. After all, Nier massacred the entire village last night, so…”
Lucia grabbed my arm and, in an earnest tone, said, “I’ll go with you, Your Highness. That crazy murderer massacred an entire village last night. If Ying has feelings for the people of the village, she would surely hate Nier to the core by now. Nier isn’t with you at this moment, so Ying may attack you if she holds ill-will toward you.”
“I don’t think she will…”
“No!”
Lucia looked at me with pleading eyes: “Your Highness, just let me protect you for a while. I just made a mistake. If nothing happens this time, I won’t feel so guilty anymore. Your Highness, look at Ying. Could you bear to let me end up the same way?”
I gave Lucia a smile and took hold of her hand: “All right, then. Come and guard me, Lucia. I trust you.”
“Sure.”
Lucia wrapped her arm around mine with a smile and snuggled up on my shoulder. She revealed a bright smile as though we weren’t going to Ying’s place but heading out onto the streets of Duargana.
My lover was still by my side while the sun overhead was the same. It would’ve been perfect… if Lucia didn’t have blood on her…
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