Chapter 498.2: Strategic Coaxing (2)

…

The following morning, a group of maids gathered outside the Diamond Rivière, discussing worriedly about the lack of activity inside the carriage. Grace used her authority to maintain order amongst the ladies while patiently waiting for her young miss’ news.

When Charlotte ordered the maids to leave the previous night, Grace was already aware of what her young miss was up to. As much as it had been a sleepless night for the lovebirds inside the carriage, the same could be said about the black-haired maid as well. She couldn’t help but worry about how things would turn out.

It was slim, but there was still a chance that Charlotte’s invitation might fall flat.

Over the years, Charlotte and Roel had maintained a close relationship with each other, but they had never stepped across the final hurdle to taste the forbidden fruit. This reflected how much the two of them treasured each other. It was even possible that they were saving their first time for their marriage.

For that reason, Grace woke up early at daybreak and rushed over. She waited patiently, but there had been no movements inside the Diamond Rivière at all. As the sun rose higher, the other maids buzzed worriedly amongst themselves, but she clenched her fists in excitement.

By now, she was almost fully confident that something had happened in the carriage. If nothing had happened between the two of them, even if Charlotte was unable to wake up due to her weakened state, Roel would have still come out to give them a heads up.

The fact that the two of them haven’t appeared could only mean that…

Grace cheered for her young miss in her mind, knowing that she had most likely succeeded.

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Roel had his arm wrapped around the auburn-haired woman who had fallen deeply asleep out of exhaustion. Looking at her adorable face, he pondered about everything that had happened thus far.

Thanks to Peytra’s warning, he was able to stop Charlotte from committing a foolish act in the nick of time. However, it took him a great deal of effort afterward to convince her to accept the Rings of Symbiosis. In the end, he had to coax her with a sincere proposal and their future child before she finally caved in.

He had long noticed that Charlotte was very concerned about having a child. While those of the Sia Continent had always paid great attention to continuing one’s lineage due to the unstable living environment, her fixation about it was much stronger than most people.

Half of the reason could be traced back to a key weakness of the High Elves—low fertility rate. She viewed having a child to be a huge blessing.

The other half was the emptiness she had felt from her family due to the separation of her parents. It had left her with a lasting regret, which, in turn, fueled her wish to form a blissful, complete family.

Roel breathed out softly.

He looked at the ring Charlotte was wearing on her finger, and it filled his heart with warmth. Peytra ended up imbuing the ring with her fertility blessing, but it hadn’t been activated yet. Pregnancy was still too much of a strain for her weakened body even after the formation of their symbiotic relationship.

Thinking about her current condition left home with a heavy heart. He carefully leaned in and kissed her cheek before tucking her into the blanket. Exhaustion started to settle in for him. While enjoying Charlotte’s warmth, his eyes slowly closed.

That concluded the long night they had spent together.

The two of them slept all the way until the afternoon.

The room was in an utter mess when they woke up. Charlotte looked at the red stains on the bed sheets, and it made her face heat up. It felt embarrassing to have that seen by others. Roel noticed her response and chuckled softly before lifting her up in his arms.

“Let’s take a bath first.”

“… Alright,” Charlotte replied with a reddened face.

The two of them entered the bathroom together, but unlike before, the two of them stepped into the bathtub together. They spent half an hour cleaning themselves up before Charlotte finally gave permission for Grace and the others to enter the carriage and clean up the mess.

While the maids were cleaning the bed sheets, Charlotte felt so self-conscious that she buried her head into Roel’s chest like a timid ostrich. To save her from her own embarrassment, Roel proposed heading to the dining room to have some food.

Due to the effects of the ring, Charlotte was in a much better condition as compared to before. She no longer felt so frail that it seemed like she would suddenly pass away. Even so, Roel still persisted with his usual habit of carrying her around.

… Truth be told, she could hardly walk at all.

She hadn’t had enough time to recover from the first round when the second round suddenly commenced in the heat of the moment. Her body was bound to be unable to take it after the torture it had been put through. At the very least, it would be difficult for her to walk normally today.

It was simply not easy for Roel to exert self-control in a moment of intense passion, especially not when his partner was exuding far greater charm than usual.

Prior to their trip, Charlotte had driven Roel out of her bedroom to prepare something. He had forgotten all about it due the following series of events that happened subsequently, but he unexpectedly received the answer to that last night.

What she had secretly prepared behind his back were actually clothes, but not just any clothes. It was the kind of wear that stimulated a man’s libido, ranging from stockings and anklets to maid and nun cosplays.

Charlotte wasn’t sure if her charm was enough to do the trick given how composed Roel always appeared around her, so she prepared these items to boost her chances of success. It turned out to be an overkill, nearly causing him to lose control.

Such kink wear paired with Charlotte’s beauty and disposition had a destructive prowess on par with nuclear weapons. It induced a mini eruption in Roel’s head right away. Just recalling the various stuff they had done with different clothes made blood rush into his head.

Roel immediately put a halt to his thoughts and turned his attention back to the dining table.

As usual, the two of them began flaunting their love for each other during the meal through their intimate gestures, but their interactions looked much sweeter than before. Charlotte had become coyer after deepening their intimacy whereas Roel was much more doting.

It didn’t take long for the atmosphere to turn cloyingly sweet.

The maids keenly noticed the faintly glowing crystal rings they wore on their fingers. They had seen their fair share of precious jewels as servants of the Sorofya House, but this was the first time they had seen anything as beautiful as that.

Grace had a stronger impression of the rings, being a high transcendent herself. She could tell right away that the rings weren’t just a simple alchemic product; they were forged from the blessing of a god. She understood their significance, and she was happy for Charlotte.

After all, it was rare for any relationship in the world to receive the blessings of a god.

Little did Grace know that this wasn’t enough to satisfy Peytra at all. She was already impatiently waiting for a child from the blessed couple.

After sharing a romantic dinner, Roel carried Charlotte to the tea room under the glowing eyes of the swooning maids, but what happened behind closed doors wasn’t continued flirting but a further discussion of their plans.

“Charlotte, we can’t return to Rosa for the time being.”

“I understand,” Charlotte replied with a nod.

She was out of danger for the time being thanks to the Rings of Symbiosis, but the price they paid for that was Roel’s weakening. The Fallens would surely exploit this opportunity to eliminate him should they learn of his vulnerability. To be safe, they had to quickly resolve things here.

For that, they had to first lure the responsible member of the Six Calamities out.

Returning to Rosa was not an option for that as the immature calamity was not strong enough to deal with a major country yet, so it wouldn’t make a move there. The same logic applied to other major cities too.

This brought about the question: What was the most likely place the ancient monster would be willing to make a move at?

It was hard for Roel to make any speculations on that due to his lack of information about the ancient monster’s nature, but there was a much easier and convenient way about it. After all, they did have a seer with them here.

“Darling, you mean that…”

“Indeed. We’ll be relying on your divination to decide on our next destination,” Roel said solemnly.

Feeling his trust for her esoteric ability, Charlotte tightly clenched her fists.

Their fates were tied together from the moment they decided to face future difficulties together. For her beloved, Charlotte would surely give it her all. It was just that the thought that her divination result could spell the difference between Roel’s life and death intimidated her.

“Darling, i-if I make a mistake…”

“I doubt that there’d be any other seers in the world who could divine it correctly if you really made a mistake. If that really happens, I’m willing to bear the consequences with you… That’s what a family does.”

“!”

Charlotte’s body trembled at the calm response. Before she knew it, her eyes had already started turning moist.

“Family?”

This simple word imbued her with a mysterious surge of power that drove away her fears and nervousness. Her emotions transformed into a vehement desire to protect her family members.

“I understand, darling. Leave it to me.”

Taking a deep breath, Charlotte took on this heavy responsibility with a smile. She invoked her bloodline ability to divine their next destination, and soon, the Diamond Rivière started rattling down the paved road.