Chapter 56

When I woke up, there were three beautiful girls piled on top of me.

I could understand Ril and Karin, but why was the Princess here? I had no idea what was going on.

“Good morning, Mr. Ryu. How is your body feeling?”

Tiamat was moving without making a sound as usual—I was glad to see she was in good spirits.

“I think I’m okay. It’s hard to tell with the weight of three people on me, though.”

“That is good to hear.”

Suddenly, Tiamat bowed her head deeply.

“I am truly sorry.”

“Uh, for what?”

“Despite saying I would return immediately, I was hindered by the minions and could not come to your aid. This is my apology. I am deeply sorry.”

Ah, right—come to think of it, she did say that.

“It couldn’t be helped. We already knew Azi Dahaka was going to be a troublesome opponent. More importantly, what’s the damage to the country?”

“The civilians are safe. Some of the warriors fell in battle, but the casualties were fewer than we initially projected.”

“So people really did die… That’s a shame.”

I never expected to get through this with zero casualties, but hearing that soldiers actually lost their lives still left me with a heavy heart.

“Even so, many more were saved. That is also a fact.”

“I see. I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

If that was the case, I’d try to stay positive and focus on the number of people we managed to save.

“By the way, what’s with this situation?”

I was finally getting around to asking why all three of them were on top of me.

“Lady Ril and Lady Karin claimed that as your wives, they should be by your side. Ouka seems to have snuck in on her own accord.”

Huh. My wives were pretty cute. Did they really want to be spoiled that much?

“Ah, I just realized… Grandfather and the Pack Leader are probably going to be pissed.”

I had gone to such lengths to leave them behind, only to end up calling them to the battlefield anyway. Yikes. They might actually kill me.

“They will likely be fine. They didn’t have a single scratch on them.”

“If they did have scratches, I’d be even more dead!”

My battle wasn’t over yet!!

Just then, Ril and Karin started squirming on top of me. I guess they were waking up.

“Ryu, morning…”

“Papa, morning…”

“Yeah, morning.”

Both of them were still half-asleep, but it looked like they were finally conscious.

“Ryu, are you really okay?! Does your body hurt anywhere?!”

“Papa, can you move your arms?! Your legs?!”

“Wait, you two?! What’s with the sudden panic?!”

“Because you’ve been asleep since yesterday… we thought you might have taken a lot of damage…”

“You were so beat up right before you collapsed, I thought you might never wake up again!?”

Judging from what they were saying, had I been out for an entire day? Crap, I made them worry for nothing.

“I’m fine, really. Here, come here.”

I pulled them into a firm hug to reassure them. That seemed to quiet them down.

“Don’t be so reckless anymore…”

“I was so scared Papa would be gone…”

“…I get it. From now on, I’ll make sure to ask for help properly. So don’t cry anymore.”

As I stroked their heads while holding them, they seemed to settle down at least a little. I really put them through a lot of stress. I have to make sure I don’t make them worry like that again.

“……”

Tiamat, please don’t look at us with that gentle, smiling face. It’s kind of embarrassing.

“By the way, Ryu, who is this girl?”

Ah, she meant the Princess.

“She’s the Princess of this country. For some reason, she’s taken a liking to me lately.”

“Heeh… Are you making this girl a Familiar, too?”

“Wait, does that mean I’m getting a little sister?!”

Ril looked somewhat displeased, while Karin seemed thrilled. I guess Karin really does view “Soul Familiars” as family.

“That’s probably impossible. She’s the candidate to be the next Queen here, after all.”

“Oh, if you are willing to marry her, you may do as you wish.”

Wait, was she serious about that?! I mean, I heard Ouka mention it, but still?!

「「…………………」」

A silent, murderous aura erupted from the two of them!! Don’t pull on my cheeks without saying anything—that actually hurts, you know?

“Tiamat, were you actually serious about that talk?”

“Yes, I am. I will do anything for the sake of this country.”

I knew it—this woman is terrifying! Especially the way she approaches things with such a straight face!!

“That should depend on her own will, shouldn’t it? Surely you don’t need to go as far as arranging everything?”

“I wonder. That girl isn’t very honest with herself, so I feel like she needs a bit of a push.”

“Hmm. I don’t know about that. She’s cute enough that if you put out a call, you’d probably get plenty of suitors, right?”

“If you think she is cute, then please, take my granddaughter. I truly beg of you.”

“No thanks. It’s one thing to be approached by the girl herself, but having her guardian push her on me is a different story. Let her say it herself; I’ll give it a proper thought then.”

Seriously. It’s not right for things to move forward without the person in question knowing. She’d be miserable.

“That’s what he says, Ouka.”

When Tiamat spoke, the girl flinched. What, she was pretending to be asleep?

“Morning, Princess.”

“Umu… good morning…”

Well, if you heard talk about your own arranged marriage right as you woke up, it’s only natural for your face to turn red. I get it, I get it.

“By the way, how long have you been awake?”

“Since… around the part where Lady Ril and Lady Karin asked about me…”

I see. That would definitely make it hard to “wake up.”

“Since everyone is awake, let us have breakfast. I shall go and prepare.”

Tiamat gave a single bow and vanished like a breeze yet again. She really was a master.

“Well then… should we flirt until breakfast is ready?”

「「Yes!!」」

“Uh, in that case, I shall return to my room.”

“I don’t particularly mind if you stay.”

“I don’t have a problem with it either.”

For some reason, Ril and Karin stopped the Princess from leaving.

“Is it… alright? You haven’t seen each other in a long time, right?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I want you to tell us how Ryu spent his time in this country.”

“I’m curious about that too! Tell us, tell us!!”

This was starting to feel like I was the one who was going to be put on the spot.

“Is it really okay?”

The Princess looked at me for confirmation, but it shouldn’t be a problem.

“Isn’t it fine? They’re the ones saying it’s okay, after all.”

“Then I shall tell you! The story of how Ryu and I first met!!”

Wait, wasn’t my first contact with the Princess the absolute worst? Well, as long as they’re having fun talking about it, I guess it’s fine.

And so, we spent the time until breakfast like that.