Chapter 79: Graduation and Return
"Siu!"
I'd half-expected it, but sure enough, waiting right at the front of the warp gate was Queen Sharfria Palania.
Her elegantly wavy blonde hair fluttered in the wind. The half-exposed swell of her breasts, soft enough to make any man's mouth water, jiggled dramatically up and down, asserting their presence.
She called out not to her daughter, but to me—and threw herself into my arms.
"Whoa! Careful, Your Majesty. Running like that could hurt you."
"Heehee. This much is still fine."
"You're pregnant. You've got the baby to think of—you need to be careful."
"Oh... you're right."
Sharfria gave an awkward laugh at my words.
Truth be told, she still couldn't quite believe it herself.
She was six months along now, well into the middle stage of pregnancy. Everyone's belly swells differently, but hers had puffed up just right—not too cumbersome for daily activities, yet unmistakably pregnant to anyone who saw it.
"You know what? The royal tailors are in an uproar thanks to you."
"Huh? Why?"
"Heehee. My belly's getting bigger bit by bit—I can't exactly keep wearing my old clothes, can I?"
"Ah."
"Some of them even cried, saying they finally got to make something they'd never dreamed of in their lifetime."
Sharfria chuckled softly as she said it.
If even the person herself couldn't wrap her head around it, how must those around her feel?
Her two grown children had both been born via holy magic's external incubation, not carried in her womb. She'd never needed maternity clothes before. That meant the palace's fabric consumption had spiked dramatically over these six months.
"A baby... our baby is really in there."
"Heehee. Yes, that's right. Our baby♥"
Sharfria smiled with a cuteness that belied her age.
As I stroked her belly, hidden beneath her dress, I stared straight at her face.
"...Siu?"
"I missed you, Sharfria."
"Ah... me too, Siu♥"
Without a word about who started it, we closed our eyes and brought our lips together.
"Mmwah... mm, smooch. Mmwah, smack."
"Smack. Mmwah... slurp, mmwah."
After nearly half a year apart, our lips explored each other fiercely yet tenderly, savoring the warmth. Our tongues teased just barely past each other's lips, playing a tantalizing game of patience—until our gazes grew too heated, forcing us to pull apart far too soon.
"We'll save the rest for later."
"Shall we? I wonder how far my body can go these days, heehee."
She tossed out a lewd little joke.
I chuckled lightly, then remembered something belatedly.
"Sorry it's late, but... I'm home."
"Welcome back... my lord."
Sharfria whispered those last words so softly only I could hear.
Blood rushed straight to my groin, putting me in a real bind.
It didn't help that it'd been less than two hours since I'd fucked Hildear. If I'd poured enough seed into her pussy to be truly satisfied, maybe, but we'd only had about an hour of sweet, lovey-dovey sex. Pushing further would've been too much.
"You're getting punished in bed later."
"Oh my♥"
The queen's sweet gaze swept over my body and dropped lower, landing on my bulging crotch.
"......"
Princess Sharina of Palania Kingdom emerged from the warp gate a step behind me.
She'd had to watch from start to finish as her mother—practically her peer in age—and that young man flirted and flaunted their affection. She understood it on a rational level, but as a daughter, her feelings were inevitably complicated.
Especially when her mother hadn't spared her a single glance for a good ten minutes.
'She likes him that much...'
Glancing aside, she spotted her father in the back.
The pot-bellied King Consort stared at his wife and her lover with a complicated expression.
For a fleeting moment, she felt a twinge of pity for him—but the moment she looked at her own fiancé beside him, such thoughts vanished cleanly from her mind. Even amid the crowd, his shining beauty lit up her face with a happy smile.
'Evans!'
Mother and daughter were spitting images in how love made them blind.
"Our greeting took the longest."
"What can you do when the queen's meeting her baby daddy after half a year? Heehee. Go on ahead. The people will cheer for you."
"Yes, Sharfria."
I called the queen by name as naturally as ever.
Pushing down my reluctance, I passed her and approached the thick crowd behind.
Unfortunately, the ones at the very front were three men.
The King Consort, the prince, and the princess's fiancé.
"Glad to see you again."
His hand jutted out from beside his plump belly.
Unexpectedly, the first to offer his hand was the King Consort. He'd looked so conflicted just moments ago, but now he greeted me with a hearty smile, like it had never happened. I hadn't seen that expression from him even half a year ago, so it threw me off.
I flinched slightly before taking his hand.
"...The pleasure's mine, Your Highness."
"No need to be so formal. I'm speaking casually, aren't I?"
"Well... thank you. Still, this feels more comfortable for me."
"I see. That's a shame."
The King Consort's unexpectedly jovial demeanor pricked at my conscience, just a little.
For six months, I'd felt no guilt or excitement over fully stealing Sharfria from him. But now that he was acting like this, I started to feel sorry. Not that I thought he was blameless, of course.
"I must seem awkward to you."
"Y-yeah... a bit."
"Haha. Truth be told, I feel the same. I've done a lot of thinking these past six months."
"......"
"I still love her... but honestly, aren't you better than me in every way? My kids don't seem all that eager to inherit the throne anyway... Yours would surely make a fine king."
"......?? Are... are you serious?"
His words were so absurd they bordered on ridiculous.
Sharfria was queen, but not born of royal blood. She was simply designated as such by law. If a child of hers and mine inherited the throne, it would mean changing the royal bloodline entirely.
"Or... you could help ensure one of my blood takes the throne."
He bared his white teeth in a grin.
"......???"
I wasn't an idiot—I knew exactly what he meant.
The queen was trying to set him up with her daughter, and now even the King Consort was pushing it. With the fiancé standing right there, no less. A quick glance confirmed the displeasure on his face.
'What's going on? Bad blood with that family?'
Unfortunately, I was clueless about the palace and noble intrigues.
I couldn't rely on my first-life knowledge here, and I hadn't studied up much yet.
I'd promised to revive Palania Kingdom, but there was plenty I didn't know about the inner workings. I'd need a lot of help from the queen and the others here.
After exchanging greetings with the pot-bellied King Consort uncle, I moved on to the prince and the fiancé. A quick handshake and perfunctory words with the shy prince, but things got a bit tense with the fiancé.
"......?"
"Urk. As... as expected of a hero... your... grip strength, ow... is impressive..."
'What the hell is this guy's deal?'
I hadn't even done anything, but he squeezed his own hand hard, winced in pain, and muttered something like "not bad." I couldn't fathom the blonde hunk's intentions.
His face was stunning enough to impress even me, another guy. But that only made it impossible for me to like him. Unless he had an amazing personality, I had zero interest in befriending some pretty boy weirdo.
'Not that I'm worried about anything else.'
My women—or candidates, at least.
I trusted them. So after finishing with the three men up front, I turned and headed forward without a backward glance.
A lavish welcome from a sizable crowd.
I took my time heading to the palace, soaking it in.
I didn't know if the royals had gathered them or if they'd come on their own, but the throng welcoming us academy graduates was massive—maybe too massive.
Even I started feeling overwhelmed at some point, despite the royal guards' help keeping things leisurely. Without those dozens of guards, would this many people have rushed me outright? The thought crossed my mind.
As we neared the palace, someone caught my eye.
Not in the crowd, but among the guards.
'Huh...?'
A vaguely familiar face.
But not someone I knew for sure. Still, I felt like I recognized her, so I called out.
"Captain of the Guard...?"
Lubblestone Countess, the Guard Captain, turned her head.
"What is it, Hero Siu?"
"Uh..."
An unexpected encounter with Hildear's mother.
I'd called out to her on impulse, but now I had no idea what to say.
In the end, this was all I could come up with.
"...Your daughter. She was delicious."
"......Goodness."
The countess's face flushed bright red.
'Ah, damn it.'
I felt cold sweat trickling down my back.
What kind of first words were "your daughter was delicious"? It made me reflect on my own stupidity. Probably because I'd just put on that massive sex show with Hildear at graduation—my mouth had blurted out the first thing that popped into my head.
Guard Captain Lubblestone fanned her reddened face in embarrassment, but the awkward atmosphere kept her from calming down easily.
"...I, uh, heard you... did it with my eldest at the graduation ceremony today..."
"Oh, y-yeah. She was... tasty."
"......"
"......"
"I... see. ...Well. The timing isn't ideal, but thank you, Hero."
"Huh? For eating Hilde delici—no, wait, uh, what? Pardon?"
"...I meant for forgiving her rudeness and accepting her as your escort knight and party member."
"Ah... haha. Yeah, of course. Aha ha..."
Awkwardness hung between us once more.
The other guards watched with keen interest. They all knew about Hildear, of course, and found the whole saga endlessly entertaining. Seeing their captain this flustered was a first for them, too.
But the countess broke the tension with a hearty laugh.
"...Haha. How did the conversation veer this way? No need to be so tense, Hero."
"Y-yeah. ...Sorry for the rude remark. It just slipped out."
"Haha! It's fine. I was just caught off guard by the phrasing—I'm actually grateful."
"R-really?"
"My eldest was so worried. But now she serves a fine man like you."
With that, the countess turned back to me with a grin.
A smile similar to her eldest daughter Hildear's, yet distinctly different.
I thought she was beautiful as I looked at her.