Chapter 263: Colorful (5)

"Dad! Look at this! I made it!"

Arus showed me a doll made by weaving stones, paper, and wood together. I took the doll and examined it from all angles. Yellow hair and red eyes.

"It's dad, huh?"

"Yes! I wanted to give it to you as a gift, dad. Hehehe..."

"Arus. Aren't you a little too excited that dad is here? You never did something like this for your mom."

"Hehehehe..."

Arus stuck her tongue out and grinned. Did they say even a hedgehog thinks its own young is pretty? I was starting to find Arus cute and affectionate as well. She was several times larger, stronger, and more terrifying than a normal baby, but she could speak and had a lot of cutesy charm, so it wasn't bad at all. I gently poked Arus's cheeks. Arus playfully bit my hand. Her teeth lightly touched my hand, providing a stimulation like an acupressure massager.

I could see why people called children puppies. My second day in the lair was spent like that, accompanied by Arus's cutesy charm.

"Let's eat."

Ati was a good cook. It was only natural since she had hoarded a bunch of high-performance magic tools and collected spices. I watched Ati cook the steak and asked.

"Ati. How did you buy all these ingredients?"

"Deorgon bought them. I ordered him to. Living alone in a place like this is no fun, you see? I cooked, tried building a house, and did so many things."

Ati skillfully flipped the meat on the frying pan. Even if she didn't have sexual intercourse in her human form, it seemed she spent quite a lot of time playing around. Arus was jumping up and down in front of the dining table with her mouth wide open. I patted Arus near her tailbone and spoke.

"Arus. You need to take your seat."

"Okay!"

Arus answered with a loud "Okay!" while opening her mouth wide and sat down. It was an incredibly domestic scene. Suddenly, I missed my territory. I wanted to eat a peaceful meal like this with my wives and children in my territory. It wasn't that I disliked Ati's lair, but the place I had grown most attached to since coming to this world was strictly my territory. Should I make a baby with Eve when I get back this time?

"Here, it's all done."

The food, moved by magic, was placed on the dining table. Arus looked back and forth between me and the meal. It seemed Ati had trained her thoroughly, so I smiled and called out to Ati.

"Ati. Hurry up and come."

"Alright."

Ati took her seat. The dining table was a luxurious item, strangely out of place inside the cave lair. I sliced my meat and glanced at Arus. Arus sank her teeth into the warmly cooked meat and devoured it in large bites. It looked like a crocodile or lizard in a zoo chewing and swallowing a massive creature. I found that sight cute as well, so I cut the meat into smaller pieces and tossed them to Arus.

When Arus swiftly caught and ate them, Ati scolded me.

"Lucius! You shouldn't feed her like that. We must maintain proper manners during meals!"

"I'm sorry."

But were such human-like dining habits considered proper manners for dragons too? I asked while slicing my meat.

"Ati. My coachman should be sleeping in the warehouse, but since he was put to sleep by Deorgon's magic, I'm not sure if I can physically wake him up. I'm sorry, but could you wake the coachman for me?"

"Deorgon did? Honestly, that wicked dragon only ever causes trouble. Just a moment."

As Ati snapped her fingers, a square portal appeared in the empty air. When I peeked through the doorway, I saw the coachman sprawled carelessly on the floor, snoring under a piece of bedding. When Ati clapped her hands, the coachman jolted awake in shock and sat up.

"Whoa! Aigo, aigo! Dra... What in the world?"

"Wow!"

Arus stopped eating and ran right through the portal. When the coachman saw Arus approaching, he screamed in sheer terror.

"Waaah! A monster! It's a monster!"

"Monster? D-Dad, am I a monster?"

Arus was on the verge of tears. When Ati snapped her fingers, the coachman's mouth was sealed shut. She looked slightly offended, but it seemed she held back for my sake. I stroked Arus's head and spoke.

"Who called our Arus a monster? Hmm? Our Arus is an angel. A beautiful angel princess. Understand?"

"Really? Hehehe..."

Arus laughed and gently bit my hand again. I glanced at the coachman. The coachman, his mouth gagged, flinched under my gaze and hastily nodded before springing to his feet. I sat Arus back at the dining table to eat, gave a quick kiss to the sulking Ati's cheek, and approached the coachman again. Meanwhile, Ati casually cooked some meat in the kitchen, put it on a plate, and haphazardly tossed it toward the warehouse. The meat, half-sliding off the plate, scraped across the floor.

I lowered my voice and spoke to the coachman.

"Coachman. Stay quiet and listen to me."

The coachman nodded hastily. I shot a glance at Ati and Arus. Ati cast a brief look in this direction before resuming her meal with Arus. I spoke.

"She's my wife. And that's my daughter. Understood? You know very well not to make disrespectful remarks."

The coachman nodded. The moment I stepped back out, Ati snapped her fingers. As the coachman hesitantly approached the meat, the portal closed. I spoke.

"Ati. This happened because I didn't tell him I had a child with you. I'm sorry. Could you find it in your magnanimous heart to forgive him just this once?"

Ati stared at the spot where the portal vanished with a sullen expression. Then, she reluctantly nodded and spoke.

"If that's what Lucius says... Arus. Since you're done eating, it's time to brush your teeth, right?"

Fortunately, it didn't seem like she was in too bad of a mood. I finished my remaining meat and started playing with Arus again. There was plenty to do in the spacious lair. Perhaps wanting to nurture Arus's sensitivity, Ati had created various spaces inside the lair—a small hill-like area overgrown with grass, a swimming pool, and even a frozen, snow-covered space. All these spaces could be accessed using portals.

I splashed water with Arus, and entered the water with Ati to share leisurely kisses. We all took a nap together on the grassland, and threw snow at each other in the snow-covered area. The playtime lasted until evening. Returning completely drained, I leaned against the sofa and let out a deep sigh. Arus was fast asleep on my lap, her tail swishing gently.

I leaned against Ati's thighs and took a leisurely rest.

"Fufu..."

Ati stroked my head and spoke.

"Lucius. You worked hard today too. Were you exhausted because of our Arus?"

"No. She's my daughter, after all."

Arus was sleeping soundly. When Ati snapped her fingers, Arus floated gently into the air and slipped right into her own room. Ati casually adjusted her hair and spoke to me.

"You're tired, right?"

"Yes."

Ati was lightly rubbing my temples. It only looked nice in appearance; it was no different from receiving a massage with my head jammed in a press machine. An act where if Ati exerted even a little strength, my head would have no choice but to pop. Did they say puppies show their bellies to express submission and affection to others? I was essentially Ati's male puppy right now.

At that moment, the thought of the Oath of Meiga came to mind. Just how was Ati planning to undo the Oath of Meiga? Was she going to massage her head like this and force it out?

"Ati."

"What is it?"

"How are you planning to break the Oath of Meiga?"

"Hmm... there's no choice but to dig through her memories. Actually, to completely blow away memories with magic, you would need to inflict that much shock on the brain, but there's no way they'd apply such a shock to the head every time they use magic, right? It's probably a principle where a specific implicit command is placed to erase the memories inside the mind."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Something like that naturally depends on the scope of the contract, and how the pressure is applied, but you said it was the Elf Queen, right? No matter how strong elves get, they're still elves. Messing with her head will be a piece of cake for me."

"What if an entity on a similar level as Ati was subjected to brainwashing?"

I asked, recalling Mimir, who was brainwashed at the bottom of Ahildern. Ati paused at those words as if pondering something. Was I too overt? However, she soon closed her eyes gently and spoke.

"If it's on that level... I don't know for sure yet, but we'd probably only be able to attempt it after completely severing the subject of the contract. Though I have no idea how a formidable opponent on my level... could have fallen to that brainwashing."

I stared at Ati. Ati was grinning back at me. I had to tell her about Mimir. I opened my mouth.

"How close are you with Mimir, Ati?"

"Mimir is pretty, isn't she?"

"Yes."

"Mimir, myself, Dagon, and Sioter—we had all only heard each other's names back in the Demon Realm. We fell to the surface and faced each other just once. You could say we found common ground then, right? You can consider that promise to be continuing to this day. We aren't exceptionally close, but we're close enough to look out for one another."

If they were that close, it seemed there wouldn't be a huge problem if I told her right now. I called out to Ati.

"Ati."

"What is it?"

"You won't get mad after hearing what I have to say, right?"

Ati smiled softly and stroked my head.

"I won't get mad at you."

"Ati. Um... I met Mimir..."

As I broached the topic, she seemed to roughly grasp what I was going to say from those words alone. She bit her lip slightly, closed her eyes, and let out a sigh. Anticipating the thunderous command that was about to fall from Ati, I shrank back.

"Mimir was already subdued. They said they used the [Oath of Meiga] on Mimir."

"...Is that so?"

A freezing chill swept through. A terrifying sensation washed over me. She was merely sitting there silently without saying a word, yet I felt a feeling of pressure as if someone was trampling on my chest. My field of vision shook, and it felt as if dark clouds had cast over the entire cave. She rolled her eyes back and forth, pondering something. After being lost in thought for a while, gently stroking my hair, she smiled again and spoke.

"The elves. They are ungrateful children."

Those words sounded like a death sentence. As I struggled not to show my terrifying dread, Ati's hand came down warmly onto my head. Her hand, resting as lightly as a feather, slowly stroked down my forehead as she spoke.

"It's fine. Lucius. I am not angry. You know that, right? Because my wrath is directed solely at Deorgon, I will not personally attack Ahildern or go on a rampage. However..."

Ati spoke.

"Could you bring Mimir here? I need to fix that child."