Chapter 141: The Reunion in the Bridal Chamber 2

Isadora was already there.

Adam smiled immediately.

"Quick."

The duchess stood up.

"I was at the manor."

Adam put down the tray just long enough to approach her.

They exchanged a brief sign of affection.

"Welcome back," said Isadora.

"Thank you."

His gaze then shifted to Lyriana.

Then Elaria.

And finally Astraea.

She smiled.

"It’s been a while."

Astraea immediately smiled back.

"Not long enough for me to forget certain things."

Isadora froze for a split second.

Adam noticed.

He looked at Astraea.

Then at Isadora.

"Ah."

Isadora immediately pointed a finger at him.

"Not a word."

Adam held up his hands.

"I didn’t say anything."

Lyriana was already laughing.

Adam picked up his tray.

At that very moment...

A small coffee table appeared in the center of the large lounge area.

Adam stopped.

"Convenient."

The Chamber had clearly understood his intention.

He placed the drinks and pastries on top.

Then he settled into one of the large armchairs.

Isadora sat down not far from him.

Astraea sat opposite him.

Lyriana and Elaria chose the large space covered with cushions.

A few minutes later...

Another door opened.

Elena entered.

She looked quickly around.

Then she saw Adam.

Her expression softened immediately.

"You’re back."

"Yes."

She approached.

Adam also greeted her.

Then Elena saw Astraea.

"Astraea."

Astraea smiled.

"Elena."

Elena then looked at her mother.

Then at Astraea.

A hint of hesitation crossed her face.

Adam noticed.

"Why does everyone act so strangely when Astraea is in the same room?"

Isadora replied immediately:

"No reason."

Astraea smiled.

Elena sat down very quickly.

Adam narrowed his eyes.

"Okay. There really is a story."

Lyriana replied:

"Several."

Before Adam could ask any more...

The door opened again.

Selene entered.

She was still wearing her workout clothes.

Her hair was loosely tied back.

She noticed Adam.

Then the cookies.

Her gaze returned to Adam.

Then the cookies.

Adam sighed.

"Hello to you too."

Selene smiled.

"Welcome back."

She approached.

Then her gaze fell on Astraea.

Her smile vanished for a fraction of a second.

Astraea quietly raised a hand.

"Hello, Selene."

Selene remained silent.

Then replied:

"Astraea."

Adam looked at Lyriana.

"So that’s her too?"

Lyriana nodded very seriously.

Selene turned away immediately.

"Don’t tell anyone."

Adam started to laugh.

"But nobody wants to tell me!"

"Perfect."

She took a cup.

Then three cookies.

Adam looked at her.

"Three straight away?"

"I’m hungry."

"That, at least, hasn’t changed."

A few minutes later...

Shiora arrived.

She was still wearing her impeccable work clothes.

Several documents were under her arm.

Adam looked at them.

"No."

Shiora stopped.

"No what?"

"No work here."

She looked at the documents.

Then at the Room.

Then at Adam.

"I always forget that rule."

"Leave them outside."

She sighed.

Then she made them disappear from her inventory.

"Very well."

Adam handed her a cup.

"Tea?"

"Thank you."

She caught sight of Astraea.

Then the ring on her finger.

Her eyes immediately fell upon it.

"Oh."

Astraea looked at her own hand.

"That one?"

Shiora smiled.

"Yes."

Adam immediately sensed the danger.

"I forbid you to turn the Rings of Promise into an economic commodity."

Shiora took a biscuit.

"I didn’t say anything."

"I know you."

"That’s hurtful."

"And true."

The door opened again.

Vespera entered.

She had clearly left the Mage Tower in the middle of her work.

A faint trace of mana still surrounded her fingers.

Adam looked at her.

"Were you conducting an experiment?"

"Yes."

"A dangerous one?"

Vespera thought for a moment.

"It depends on the definition."

Adam closed his eyes.

"Welcome."

Vespera smiled.

Then she saw Astraea.

"Oh."

Astraea smiled again.

"Vespera."

The dragon remained motionless.

"No."

Adam opened his eyes.

"Why do you say no?"

"I know that smile."

Astraea replied:

"I wasn’t expecting anything."

Vespera remained silent.

Then she looked at Lyriana.

Lyriana slowly shook her head.

"I don’t trust her either."

Astraea sighed.

"What an unfair reputation."

Isadora calmly sipped her tea.

"It’s deserved."

Adam looked at the whole group.

He was truly beginning to understand that Astraea had probably terrified each of them at least once.

He would wait.

One day...

They would talk.

Shiora looked up.

Selene stopped eating for a second.

Adam smiled.

Everyone was finally together.

The eight women.

Elena.

Isadora.

Lyriana.

Astraea.

Elaria.

Selene.

Shiora.

Vespera.

And him.

After several days of traveling...

The group was complete again.

Adam looked around.

"Okay. Now that everyone’s here..."

Selene had already taken a fourth cookie.

Adam pointed at her.

"You, slow down."

Selene looked at the cookie in her hand.

"Why?"

"Because we have to leave some for others."

"They’re too slow."

Vespera immediately took two cookies.

"Not anymore."

Selene looked at her.

Vespera took a leisurely bite of the first one.

Shiora took one too.

Elena hesitated for a second.

Then she took two.

Adam watched the scene.

"Are you serious?"

Isadora smiled.

"You should have made more."

Astraea took the last chocolate cookie.

Selene immediately turned her head.

Their eyes met.

Silence.

Astraea took a bite.

Selene narrowed her eyes.

"That one was mine."

"It was on the table."

"I was looking at it."

"That’s not a recognized method of reservation." "

Adam put down his cup.

"I refuse to arbitrate this."

Lyriana burst out laughing.

So the conversation began exactly like many of their meetings.

With food.

Selene wanted to know what Adam had prepared during the trip.

Shiora asked what kept well enough to be sold.

Vespera wanted to know if certain ingredients reacted differently to Sylvaris’s high concentration of mana.

Elaria immediately replied that they did for some plants.

Astraea announced that pancakes were superior to crepes.

Lyriana protested.

A completely pointless discussion began.

Adam let it go.

He sank slightly into his chair.

He had missed it.

The noise.

The discussions that veered off in different directions.

The petty squabbles.

Selene’s comments about the food."

Vespera’s questions.

Shiora’s business calculations.

And Isadora trying to maintain some semblance of order.

Finally...

Isadora put down her cup.

"Perhaps we can talk about the trip before this discussion turns into a pancake war."

Astraea raised a finger.

"The pancakes would win."

Lyriana immediately protested:

"No."

Adam closed his eyes.

Isadora sighed.

"The trip."

This time, everyone calmed down.

A little.

Adam exchanged a glance with Lyriana and Elaria.

Then he began.

"All right. Since Valoria left?"

Elena nodded.

"Since she left."

Adam looked at the others.

"Then this is going to take a while."

Selene took her cup.

"We have time."

Adam smiled.

"Okay."

He started with the Wind Riders.

The speed.

The first roads.

The villages passed through.

The first night.

Then the Red Forest.

Immediately...

Selene became much more attentive.

"What did you fight?"

Adam sighed.

"Of course that’s your first question."

"Answer it."

Lyriana smiled.

"Red Boars."

Selene nodded.

"And?"

Adam explained.

The leader.

The charge.

The weapon changes.

Selene smiled wider and wider.

Adam looked at her.

"Stop it."

"What?"

"I know that smile."

"You used what I taught you correctly. Why shouldn’t I smile?"

"Because you’re already imagining how to make my next training session harder."

Selene didn’t reply.

Adam immediately pointed a finger.

"There."

Everyone burst out laughing.

Then came the Red Wolves.

The Horned Rabbits.

The levels gained.

The progress to level nineteen.

Vespera was particularly interested in maintaining the compression.

"You haven’t released it?"

Adam looked at her.

"Almost never."

"Almost?"

"Vespera."

"How many times?"

Adam sighed.

"We’ll talk about that later."

She smiled.

Then they arrived at the mountains.

This time...

The atmosphere changed.

Adam spoke of the cave.

The first goblins.

The discovery of the colony.

The eleven rooms.

The High Goblins.

The Shamans.

And the Queen.

Isadora sat up.

"How many in total?"

Astraea answered before Adam:

"About fifteen hundred."

Several eyes turned towards her.

Astraea smiled.

"They already told me."

Selene turned slowly towards Adam.

"And you fought?"

Adam replied:

"Yes."

Selene’s smile returned.

Adam immediately raised a hand.

"Wait before you get happy."

He recounted the infiltration.

The patrols.

The outlying rooms.

Lyriana secretly followed him.

Elena immediately looked at Lyriana.

"Without telling her?"

"Yes."

Adam interjected:

"Thank you. Finally, someone understands that it was a betrayal."

Lyriana sighed.

"It was security." "

Adam replied immediately:

"Treason."

"Security."

"Treason."

Astraea calmly took a sip of tea.

"She did the right thing."

Adam pointed at the mother and daughter.

"You’re impossible."

Then he recounted the rest.

The plan against the five hundred goblins gathered around the Queen.

The smoke.

The magic.

The wind spell.

The escape of the survivors.

Then the fight against the level fifty-two Queen.

This time, Selene wasn’t smiling anymore.

She was really listening.

"And you faced her alone?"

Adam nodded.

"She was already weakened."

"It doesn’t matter."

Selene thought for a moment.

"Level fifty-two..."

Then she smiled.

Adam sighed.

"There. The smile’s back."

"You’re much further along than I expected."

"I already know I’m going to regret this conversation."

Vespera chimed in:

"And your level after camp?"

Adam remained silent.

The women who hadn’t yet heard looked at him.

He sighed.

"Forty-six."

Silence.

Elena blinked.

Isadora slowly set down her cup.

Selene remained perfectly still.

Shiora frowned.

Vespera smiled.

Adam pointed at her.

"You, stop it right now."

"I didn’t say anything."

"Your face says it all."

Selene leaned slightly toward him.

"Forty-six?"

"Yes."

"You were level three before the journey."

"Then nineteen in the Red Forest."

"And now forty-six."

"Yes."

Selene remained silent.

Then she murmured,

"Excellent."

Adam looked at Isadora.

"Can I go back to Sylvaris?"

Isadora smiled.

"No."

Everyone laughed.

Then Adam finally continued until their arrival at the elven outpost.

Lyriana’s official recognition as princess.

Elaria’s as High Priestess.

The journey into Sylvaris.

The villages built in the trees.

The gigantic physical branches of the World Tree.

Its spiritual network.

Mana flowing from space.

Then...

The World Tree itself.

This time, even those who already knew Sylvaris listened with interest to Adam’s reactions.

"I literally had nothing to say," he admitted.

Astraea smiled.

"That surprised me too."

Adam looked at her.

"Very funny."

Then he recounted the roots.

The tunnel.

The teleportation platform.

The arrival eight kilometers above.

And finally...

The encounter with Astraea.

At that moment...

Several smiles appeared simultaneously.

Adam looked at the group.

Then at Astraea.

Then at Lyriana and Elaria.

"Why is everyone smiling?"

Isadora replied calmly:

"Go on."

Adam narrowed his eyes.

"I still sense a story being kept from me." "

Astraea calmly set down her cup.

"You’ll probably meet several more today."

Adam looked around.

Eight women.

Eight smiles, some more suspicious than others.

He sighed.

"I should have stayed in the kitchen."