NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1488
“I have called back my troops.” King Roth declared. “I will give you 24 hours to prepare, and then the battle will begin.”
Although it sounded like King Roth was being magnanimous again, didn’t he just change his general to the magician? She’d need at least that long to transition her power, so he was doing it for himself. If we didn’t desperately need just as much time, then I might have made some comment about how foolish he was.
The lioness formerly known as First slowly worked her way back up to her feet, but her head was kept down. She had bruises on her face, and by the way, she held her body, it looked like her ribs had been damaged. The magician girl was looking at her mockingly, but she had her eyes on me for some reason.
“M-master… I’m so sorry. I thought… after what he did to Mother…” I heard Celeste speak for the first time, her voice still croaky after being choked for so long.
I closed my eyes for a moment. I had been so focused on my anger and determination, that I hadn’t paid attention to the girl’s feelings. In a way, I was using them as tools, just like King Roth had been doing. I had promised myself I would be more concerned with their desires and feelings, and then I went right back to making mistakes. Wanting to change was one thing, but changing was quite another.
All of the girls likely suffered greatly hearing what had happened to Lydia. Celeste, especially, would have been furious about what they had done to her mother. She was so angry that she went behind my back, thinking to use her superior speed to assassinate Roth. Meanwhile, I had been clueless about her feelings. No, I deliberately ignored them because I had to focus.
When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t stop a tear from falling down my cheek. “Celeste, it’s not your fault. I should have understood your feelings.”
“I… didn’t want Master to know how I felt,” Celeste responded shamefully. “Master, I went against you and did something I shouldn’t. Please punish me. I deserve it…”
After seeing Lord Roth punish First, Celeste felt she deserved as much. After looking at the sincerity in her eyes for a moment, I gave a nod.
“I’ll give you your punishment.”
“Master…” Miki looked on tearfully.
The other girls were watching too. They looked sad, but none of them fought back. Deep down, they agreed that Celeste deserved to be punishment. They weren’t just harem, they were slaves, and that made their disobedience even worse. Celeste had worked outside my plans and had only caused me trouble. They didn’t like it, but they understood it didn’t happen.
I raised my hand, and Celeste winced as she closed her eyes. I then brought my hand up to Celeste’s forehead, and I flicked it.
“Owie!” She cried out.
However, as her eyes popped open in surprise, I brought my lips down and kissed her forehead. I already released healing magic, not just restoring her headache, but the damage from King Roth too. When I pulled away, I hugged her, whispering in her ear.
“I would never…”
Celeste’s face turned pink, and she looked away, the girl who never hesitated to cling to me or throw her body at me suddenly became squirmy in my grip like it was embarrassing her. Her body shrunk, and then she flew away, hiding behind Terra’s large golem body.
“Fool…” The mutter came from the lioness’s lips.
She seemed to be looking at me with disappointment, despite what had happened to her. King Roth snapped, and several women kneeled around him, reached into the grass. It was only at this point I realized his chair was on a palanquin, but the handles had been hidden in the grass. The girls lifted, and King Roth was brought up into the air.
“Hmph… what a weak man.” King Roth declared as he looked down at me. “In 24 hours, I will take all of your women, and show them what a real man is like.”
With that, the women began to disperse, leaving us alone in the clearing. The magic that scrambled the mana in the area seemed to dissipate too. I had nothing else to do but portal back home.