~ Chapter 55: A Princess’ embrace ~

[Illsyore's point of view]

 The two moons of this world were shining brightly above us surrounded by the countless twinkling stars sprinkled over the vast dark void of space. I couldn’t recognize any constellation, but all in all, it was a perfect night for stargazing, especially since there were so few clouds to obstruct that majestic view. The light cast down by the moons was bright enough to shine our path as we moved farther and farther away from the Elora.

Lunaria was the moon always present in the dark sky. Its yellow face filled with craters reminded me of the old Moon back on Earth. Many stories of the old focused around it. Although I knew a few of them, I had yet to read or hear any myths and legends surrounding the beautiful moons of this world. Lunaria was yellow, but her smaller sister, Lunoria, was like a beautiful, uncut ruby. The shadow of the big moon was cast upon the one behind it, partially hiding it.

We stopped in a small empty area that wasn’t too far from the city and wasn’t too close to the forest either. We weren’t near the road, but we weren’t too far from it either. It was a place right in the middle, and here I spread my Dungeon Territory over a short distance around me and recreated the room from yesterday.

Stepping inside, I turned on the lights with the help of a Light Power Crystal and summoned a small fire in the middle. Since I didn’t have a storage crystal like Nanya, I was left with creating a chimney for the fire. I also added a small Power Crystal meant to control the air around it. This way, I created an upward draft to pull the smoke out.

“Make yourself at home.” I said as I walked in after Ayuseya.

I locked the door behind me. If I remembered right, I gave the key to our room back at the inn to Nanya, so there shouldn’t have been any problem with that. Tomorrow they will probably glare at me for sneaking out like this, but I had a feeling I would survive.

Ayuseya looked around for a bit and then took a seat in front of the fire like she did the night before. I did the same and poked the embers with a fire iron to stir the flames a bit. There was a grave-like silence between the two of us, only the crackles of the wood could be heard, and as a result, I was starting to feel rather uncomfortable.

This situation… it’s a bit awkward, isn’t it? I thought as I gazed over at Ayuseya.

Her cheeks were bright red, and her eyes were focused on the dancing flames before her. That big chest of hers was moving to the rhythm of her breath, and she was playing with her fingers in her lap, fidgeting as if unsure what to do or maybe say.

If it was like this, I felt as though we wouldn't take a single step forward by the end of the night, so I decided to be the one to break the silence.

“Is everything alright?” I asked and looked for the smallest change in her behavior.

She flinched and gazed back at me. When she met my eyes, she quickly looked away.

“I-I-I’m alright.” she stuttered a bit.

“Hm?” I narrowed my eyes.

Another moment of silence washed over us, threatening to drown our conversation in the dead of the night.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked her and placed the fire iron next to me.

“Erm…” she looked down, then back up at me.

What is she thinking? I wondered.

[Ayuseya’s point of view]

 Illsy led me away from Elora, the capital of the Aunnar Kingdom, and recreated the small house in which we slept the day before, however, I could feel my heart beating like mad in my chest with every step we took farther and farther away from Nanya and the others. This was also the first time I was alone with him since that time when he found me playing in the middle of the forest near Fellyore. It was embarrassing, and I could barely stand still.

My mind was filled with all sort of thoughts about what I should do and what I should say. The more I was alone with Illsy, the more I felt like Nanya’s words were true. She was right, I wasn’t ready.

Being raised as the Princess of Teslov Kingdom, I was never properly taught how to approach a man in a romantic way. My purpose was to simply offer myself up to his desires, so seduction was one of my least applied and cultivated skills, unlike Shanteya or Nanya. Those two could easily charm Illsy, not to mention the fact that the demoness could be a real cunning fox if she put her mind to it.

On the other hand, I was struggling… The role of a Teslov Princess was to be taken, not to take. I was supposed to let Dankyun have me, not run away from him. Although I was taught in many things, combat and love were two of which I had never approached. Now I was suffering from the consequences.

What did I come here for? What’s the purpose? Why? I then imagined one of the situations Nanya told me about, the one about me revealing myself completely to Illsy. I can’t do something like that! I can’t! I screamed in my mind more embarrassed than anything, then I remembered that night in Illsy’s Inner Mind when I approached him wearing nothing but a nearly transparent piece of cloth. I felt like I wanted to dig up a hole and hide in it. Where did I muster the courage to do something like that? No! No! I closed my eyes and clenched my hands into fists.

“Ayuseya?” Illsy called, and I looked up at him.

“Y-Yes?” I said and tried to smile, but my face just twisted awkwardly.

“Pfft!”

He laughed.

The unexpected reaction shocked me a little.

Was it that funny? I wondered and furrowed my brow.

“Sorry! Sorry!” he said lifting his hand up to stop me from scolding him for laughing.

Illsy is being silly… I thought and then looked down at the embers.

Thanks to this moment, some of my tension dissipated in the air, and I didn’t feel like my head would explode in a puff of smoke.

I took a deep breath in and then exhaled.

Taking a more dignified pose, I slapped both of my cheeks. The sound echoed throughout the entire room, and my face felt like it got stabbed by a thousand needles. I nearly cried.

“A-Ayuseya?” Illsy was surprised.

I have to do this… Like Nanya said… If I can’t do this, then I won’t know even for myself and keep running away… I thought and then looked at Illsy with a determined look in my eyes.

[Illsyore’s point of view]

 OK! The slap wasn’t something I expected. A blush, a funny face, then a slap, and now she was staring at me like I was some sort of criminal at the court.

Did I do something I’m not aware of? Was it because we avoided entering the sweets shop earlier? But nothing was good there! Is she worried I might attack Tamara? Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not touching her even if she is technically an adult for her kind, in my eyes she’s but a cat and a child. I like my women well-developed! But if it’s not that, then what? Where? How? Huh? as I was tormenting my mind to come up with an answer to Ayuseya’s current weird behavior, the draconian woman did something unexpected again.

Standing up in front of me, she took a step back from the fire and then took off her clothes. I could only stand there with big opened eyes as I saw the metal gauntlets falling on the ground, then the leather belt together with her sword. She took off her boots, then her dress, letting it fall around her body and revealing the chainmail armor I designed for her to be used underneath. She proceeded to remove that too and dropped it onto the pile or clothes. Her chest showed a bit of relief from being freed from the extra weight, but the holy mountains were still being covered well by another piece of garment, the frilly bra she was wearing. Without stopping, the draconian princess continued by removing her satin leggings and tossing them onto the pile. She was now left only in her white panties and bra.

I gulped and looked at the almost naked woman in front of me, wondering if it was finally time for me to make a move on her.

Did she want it THAT bad? Have I been neglecting her? I wondered.

Blushing strongly, Ayuseya looked down and fidgeted a bit before continuing with removing those two last pieces of clothing that covered the most important parts on her body. With her tail wrapped in front of her, she covered her chest with her left hand, and her nether region with her right hand, which further amplified the erotic feeling she was giving off.

I gulped again and opened my mouth like a hungry wolf. This was probably the first time in her life Ayuseya presented herself like this in front of a man. With a scrap of clothing on her, she was willingly showing herself to me, and I could already tell where this was going.

“I…” she muttered and then closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them, she took a deep breath, and pulled back her hands and tail, showing herself completely to me. There was nothing to hide her gorgeous body, but at the same time, I could see the details of her golden scales. I knew that she had some on her upper arms and thighs, but there were some around the sides of her chest too, none on her breasts. A couple of scales, smooth in appearance and of a light-gold color, formed a small protective region around her intimate parts.

So, scales replace the hair for them? I thought and then looked up at her eyes.

[Ayuseya’s point of view]

 I have done it now!

Like Nanya said, more or less, I removed all of my clothes and revealed myself completely to Illsy. I couldn’t have imagined back then how shameful this would feel like, or rather embarrassing… very embarrassing, yet it was true… I didn’t wish to hide away from his gaze.

Seeing his eyes move over my body, I could feel my core heating up, my heart pumping fast and if he were to look away… I would feel sad.

To answer Nanya’s question, I wanted him to look at me, I wanted him to hold me and bring me to the same world he took the demoness, but I didn’t know how… I couldn’t even move.

Then there was the other thing… The question about wishing to have a hold on Illsy. The more I thought about giving myself to him and accepting him as mine, the more I felt the need to protect him, to keep others from having a piece of him. I couldn’t bare the thought of a woman coming here to seduce him away from my grasp, if that was even possible, but if there was… I wanted to keep her away from Illsy.

[Illsyore’s point of view]

 The most stupid thing I could have possibly done in this case was to ask her why she removed her clothes like that. It was clear what she wanted, and I could read it in her body language, the fidgeting, the blush, her gaze, everything screamed out of how embarrassed and how much courage it took for her to do this.

Then, I had to remember the fact that she was a Princess, a royal. No matter what, the way she was brought up was different from the way other people were. Maybe sleeping in the same bed as me and the other girls offered her a bit of courage, but in the end… what mattered most was how well she hid her own desires and fears.

Up until now, I never thought about it too seriously. We traveled together, we fought together, we slept and ate together, but trying to figure out what steps I should make towards strengthening my relationship with Ayuseya was never something on my To Do list for the day.

All this time, she probably thought about all of these things by herself, maybe wondering if she was good enough for me or I for her. The political game was also something she had to carefully think about. I was a Dungeon Lord and she was draconian Princess. We were more or less like Romeo and Juliet minus the whole poisoning thing and stupid old men deciding stupid things on their own. Then again, if anyone in Teslov intended to make a tragedy out of my love life, I was sure to introduce them to a pissed off Godlike Dungeon Lord. Well, Teslov could do without its capital, right?

Thus, I didn’t wait for words to leave my lips or questions to be asked in vain. I simply approached the beautiful goddess in front of me and gave her a soft kiss. Our lips were glued to each other for an eternity and when we parted, I looked at her feverish gaze. With a simple touch, I moved my fingers over her bare skin and when I arrived at the base of her chest, I gave her a light squeeze.

“Ahn~!” was the sweet moan that escaped her seductive lips.

I guess that crazy old man was right about one thing, a woman’s heart was revealed when the man she loved touched her body.

From then on, the play was history… I undressed, and we both made use of the comfortable bed in our room. Because we were so far away from the city, there wasn’t even a need to use some sort of noise-canceling enchant.

Also note to self: use noise-canceling enchant next time instead of rebuilding the room with sound absorbent materials.

The following morning, long after sunrise…

Ayuseya had her tail wrapped around my legs like Nanya usually did after waking up. I had come to learn that this was their way of saying they hold claim over me as their partner. On another note, the draconian was surprisingly flexible and had a fierce stamina. The extra stats from my buff made wonders, but when we did it for the first time, she acted awfully shy about it. I took it slowly and enjoyed every moment and inch of her body. The pleasure meter was set to max all the time without fail.

Unfortunately, comparing the two was a bit out of the question. Ayuseya had her own pluses, but so did Nanya. They were inexperienced, but they both learned fast. Size and difference in body shapes were what probably offered them a different taste. Either way, it was a night to remember and a most enjoyable one at that.

“This was… quite surprising.” I said as I stroked her back.

Being the bigger one, she was embracing me.

“Yes, I never… I never thought we would do something like this… It was…” she stopped and then continued with a kiss.

Ayuseya, unlike Nanya was a bit more on the cuddlier side.

“I will take that as ‘amazing’.” I nodded and gave her a squeeze.

“Ahn~!” she let out a cute moan and then kissed me again.

For some reason, she was also a better kisser… or a very fast learner.

Once our lips parted, she pulled my head into her big, comfy chest.

“You know, I never expected we would do this tonight.” she said and then giggled.

“What were you expecting?” I asked.

“A simple talk… I wanted some time alone to speak about how things are between us. I felt a bit… out of place, but after tonight, I know what I really wanted…” she purred seductively.

“And that is?” I asked.

“You… I wanted to make you mine, and now you are.” she kissed my forehead and coiled her tail around my waist.

The scales were smooth, but she expertly kept the sharper parts from hurting me.

“Glad to be yours, but you know you have to share, right?” I told her and gave her another kiss.

“With those who are your women, yes, but with vile women who want to trick you or take you away from me… I’ll rip their guts out!” she declared and for the first time ever, I felt killing intent being emanated from the beautiful dragoness.

It was a bit scary, and if I were to add the demoness to the count, things would certainly not end up well for anyone who dared to seduce me with ulterior motives.

“What if I do the seducing?” I asked with a weak smile.

“I’ll make you change your mind.” she then lowered her head and gently bit my neck.

“Ouch!” I said, but it didn’t really hurt.

“Hehe! You are mine, Illsy! I’ll share you with Nanya and Shanteya because I know the two will share you with me, but I won’t give you to another woman. If you dare step in a whorehouse, I will hunt you down and drag you from there. If those shikak dare to touch you, I’ll hurt them really bad~!” she then squeezed me in her arms.

“I understand.”

I had to admit, I loved this possessive part of her, Nanya's too. As long as they didn’t ever end up in a fight over me, it was going to be great to have them around! Then again, I couldn’t help but give my draconian wife another good grope of her round behind, but doing it again was out of the question. We were both sore. I could regenerate, but meh… sometimes, you had to enjoy the moment as it was.

“I wanted to ask you something, but what is a shikak?” I asked curiously.

I heard it countless times. I knew it was a curse word or an insult of some sort, but I didn’t know the actual meaning behind it.

“Oh that… Well, you know what a prostitute is, right?” she asked.

“The type of woman I will never ask the services off on account of my cute draconian wife?” I replied in a way I saw as safe.

“Good answer! Well, the shikak is a type of woman who offers a similar service, but who is employed to offer it to slaves or at times to the pets of those who employ them. It is a highly demeaning term compared to which a whore sounds like a respectable lady. The women who usually do these sorts of jobs are thought to be broken in the head or undesirable by even the lowest of the commoners. In many kingdoms, their practices are seen as illegal by the local religious groups, and in my kingdom, they are completely banned and even sentenced to death by beheading if found guilty of such acts. Of course, the word remains as an insult. Calling me or a noble a shikak would grant you at least 50 years of torture before being killed, or well that’s what the law says at least. I didn’t really witness any such executions during my time in Teslov or outside of it. But I understand that some kingdoms have legalized this sort of… practice.” she then shook her head at the last part.

“In other words… it’s extremely insulting.” I said furrowing my brow.

“Indeed, but my dear, let us not speak of such things now.” she said and showed me a sweet smile.

“Not my intention, I was just curious about it… But I guess slaves aren’t allowed to marry, right?” I looked up at her.

“They are. It’s the act of paying someone to do those demeaning things that upsets the people. However, slave marriages are very rare and usually need the approval of the master or them to release the said slaves. If a master falls in love with his slave, he can release her, but people won’t look at him with good eyes, and his family might object. Marriage is often seen as a good way of bringing more power to the family. This applies mostly to noble families though, for some adventurers hailing from a commoner family, a slave might be their only way of finding a marriage partner.” she explained and with that reminded me of her own situation before I released her from that curse.

Basically, even though she held the rank of Princess, she was used by her family and country to align the intentions of a Supreme with those of the royal family. They would have received protection from him and then he would have been granted limited authority and control over the nation. It was a win-win sort of deal, but the decisions and opinions of the parties involved didn’t matter.

The Princess only had to nod and wave like a good little puppet.

I gave Ayuseya another kiss and let her chase away those disturbing thoughts.

About half an hour later, we were finally thinking about getting out of bed and maybe heading back to the others. My stomach was growling and so was hers. After a night like that, we needed energy and maybe a wink of sleep, but the last part wasn’t mandatory.

Instead of the fire in the middle of the room, I made a bathtub big enough for both of us. The water was heated up at just the right temperature, and we slipped in. We ended up going for another round rather than properly washing, so to be fair, I helped regenerate myself a little bit. After the fun in the bath, we got changed. Ayuseya made me summon one of her big chests, and she dug out a plain-looking red dress with no frills, gold string or stuff which made it look like it cost an arm and a leg. She had a lot more prettier ones, but if she were to wear those, then everyone would know she was of noble origins.

I only washed my clothes and quickly dried them off before putting them back on. After walking out, I absorbed the whole building, and we casually walked back to the city.

“Ayuseya, I’ve been meaning to ask you, but…” I looked up at her “did I ever give you the feeling that I was a bit… off lately?” I showed her an awkward smile.

She blinked and tilted her head “No, why? Is something the matter?”

I sighed and looked up at the sky.

“Well… recently there’s been something on my mind…” I said, but then I stopped and closed my eyes.

Is this the right thing to do? To tell her about the Darkness? I don’t wish to worry her needlessly… I already know there’s nothing she can do about it. I already know this is my burden to carry… this is my trial… but…

While my thoughts swum around in circles, something warm touched my cheeks and lifted my chin up. Opening my eyes, I saw Ayuseya looking at me with a worried expression on her face.

“What?” I asked surprised.

“You can tell me anything. I am your wife.” she told me.

I blinked surprised and then showed her a soft smile.

“Yes… Yes, you are.” I nodded and took her hands into mine. “Now, where should I start?”

“From the beginning.” she told me with a soft and gentle tone in her voice.

“I think you heard from Nanya about how I came to be?”

“Yes, you were built by the headmaster of the Fellyore Magic Academy, Tuberculus. May the gods rest his soul.” she made a sad face for a moment.

Ah! I forgot she was there when he got killed by Dankyun’s men. I thought, but I continued to tell her about my hidden secret.

“Well, he made me from the various parts of other Dungeons. I wasn't born like any other Dungeon out there and maybe thanks to that, I'm a little special. However, there was a problem…” I let out a sigh and looked down.

“Problem? Is this about you stealing Nanya’s panties?” she asked me.

“NO!” I retorted.

“Then?”

“Well, you know that a Dungeon is born with a Crystal Body or Core. The mind of the said Dungeon is located in the entire body unlike a human’s whose can be found in the brain. When a Dungeon is destroyed, the core shatters, but pieces of its mind remain in each and every single one of those crystals.”

“This I didn’t know.” she said.

“Yeah, not many do… including Tuberculus. He pieced together my initial Crystal Body and then used a spell to… bring me to life.”

“So you are an undead?” she asked blinking surprised.

“Did I feel like an undead last night?”

“No, you were quite alive and hard!” she giggled and blushed.

“So, when Tuberculus cast that spell, I was born, but the memories of the former Dungeons weren’t erased.”

“You are saying that inside your mind there’s another mind?” she asked furrowing her brow.

“Not only one, but countless… They form what I call The Darkness. To put it simply, I didn’t have a better name for whatever those minds had became.” I shrugged.

“Are they a danger to you?”

“No, at least not now. Unfortunately, I don’t have any sort of control over them, and they don’t like the idea of me being so kind and good with you and everyone else. They want me to start building deadly dungeons, capture adventurers, you know… the usual stuff other Dungeons do.” I sighed “On the bright side of things, they aren’t able to control me either.”

“That doesn’t sound good…” she said.

“No, it sounds like I’m losing my mind…”

“Yes.” she nodded.

“I hope not… I don’t want to…” I looked down “I don’t want to end up hurting you, Nanya, Shanteya, or Tamara…” I clenched my fists “That’s my biggest fear.”

Her gentle arms embraced me and pulled me close “Illsy, you’re not going to either hurt or lose us. I trust you.”

I wish it to be true, but this fear won’t go away so easily… I thought.

“Why did you tell me this and not Nanya or Shanteya?” she asked me.

“Out of all of them, you are the only one I can trust with such a secret. Nanya would go berserk, Shanteya would over worry… or try to sneak back to her guild to see if there’s a secret document about this.”

“But why am I so special then?” she asked curiously.

“To be completely honest, until today, I didn’t want to tell you either, but your skills in bed changed my mind…” I smiled and gave her a small grope “Besides, you are the only one out of all of them who won’t overreact to this. I also trust that you will keep this secret from the others and when the time comes reveal it if necessary. You have that ability…”

“I think Shanteya would have been better, she is a former assassin, after all.”

“Yes, but as I said… she will overreact. Meanwhile, even after telling you this, you are still calm and composed, not panicking or going mad about it.” I showed her a soft smile.

“It appears so…” she lowered her head and gave me a kiss.

After our lips parted she smiled and pulled back from her embrace.

“I won’t tell them if this is what you wish, but if I see you worsening, I will. If there’s anything we can do to help you, we will… no matter what. After all, you are our husband.”

With this final line from her, we headed back to the city before Nanya formed a hunting party with my name as the target. In more than one way, this night with Ayuseya turned out to be a blessing.