Chapter 1712 - 238 - A Night with Natasha (1)

"Since this is a war, there is always a possibility that we might die," he continued, his expression becoming a little more serious as he spoke. "I would rather not die without seeing my grandchildren at least once."

So Lionel wanted me to get Trill pregnant as soon as possible, while Reilhahand apparently wanted me to do exactly the same thing regarding Kali.

I was beginning to feel like I had accidentally wandered into a meeting where two future grandfathers were already discussing their plans for grandchildren before those grandchildren even existed. It was honestly a little surreal, especially considering that neither Lionel nor Reilhahand seemed particularly embarrassed about saying it so openly.

"Well, I am going to keep working on it," I told them. "You do not have to worry."

Reilhahand nodded before continuing, apparently deciding that he had not finished explaining his expectations yet.

"You are certain that you will be able to manage it? I know you have many women under your care, and you have been spending time with them according to an alternating rotation. I am hoping Kali will receive some of your attention as well. Having grandchildren who inherit your strength would contribute greatly to the future of us Centaurs."

"I understand," I replied. "I will make sure to give the two of you grandchildren who satisfy the expectations you have in mind."

Although I said it with confidence, there was still a part of me that wondered whether I should really be putting my future children into the care of these two.

They were both incredibly powerful individuals, and neither of them exactly had what anyone would consider an ordinary personality. The thought of them becoming grandparents was already enough to make me question what kind of childhood my future children would end up having.

Still, I supposed it was not really something I needed to worry about right now.

It was not as though they were going to murder their own grandchildren.

If anything, I suspected the opposite would happen.

Both of them seemed like the kind of grandparents who would spoil their grandchildren so badly that I would eventually have to become the one responsible for discipline. I could already imagine Lionel teaching some ridiculous combat technique to a child who was barely old enough to walk, while Reilhahand stood nearby and insisted that another child needed to become stronger because "Centaurs must endure hardship."

The poor kid would probably have no idea what was happening.

Thinking about it that way almost made me feel sorry for children who had not even been born yet.

Still, I did not really have to worry about any of that at the moment.

For now, we were simply enjoying the victory.

***

After drinking with the two of them for quite some time, I eventually decided that I should return to my tent and get some rest. The celebration had lasted considerably longer than I had originally expected, and although I had enjoyed myself, I was starting to feel that it was probably time to leave before the three of us ended up drinking until morning.

I had consumed quite a lot, but strangely enough, I did not feel particularly drunk.

There was no dizziness, my thoughts were still relatively clear, and I could walk without having to worry about stumbling over my own feet. Considering how much I had been drinking, that was probably abnormal by ordinary human standards.

Then again, I am not exactly normal.

As I approached my tent, however, I noticed that someone was already inside.

I paused for a moment before entering, wondering who could possibly be there at this hour.

When I finally stepped inside, I immediately saw Natasha.

She appeared to be changing her clothes and was already halfway through pulling one of them over her head.

"Huh?" Natasha said, turning toward me.

I stopped.

She stopped.

For several seconds, neither of us said anything.

Apparently, I had returned at exactly the wrong time.

Natasha's clothes were only partially lifted up, and she immediately realized how awkward the situation looked. Her expression changed almost instantly as embarrassment spread across her face, and she hurriedly tried to fix her clothes while avoiding my eyes.

"Kuh... I should have known something like this would happen," she muttered. "I should not have come here to change my clothes, but you were so busy drinking that I did not think you would return this soon. Seriously, why did you come back so quickly?"

She glared at me as though I had deliberately chosen the most inconvenient moment imaginable to return to my own tent.

"I live here," I pointed out.

That seemed to make her expression even more irritated.

I had never really paid close attention to Natasha's appearance before, but seeing her like this made me realize that she had a considerably more noticeable figure than I had previously assumed. It was probably because I had never had much reason to pay attention to her appearance in that particular way before.

She caught me looking.

Her face immediately became even redder.

Then she seemed to remember that she was still in the middle of changing and hurriedly adjusted her clothes.

"G-Get out!" she demanded.

"Uh, this is my tent," I reminded her.

"I said get out! Enter again once I am ready!"

She was certainly feisty.

Natasha, I mean.

Still, arguing with her seemed like a complete waste of time, especially when she was already embarrassed enough, so I decided to follow her request rather than make the situation even more awkward.

I stepped outside and waited.

After waiting for a while, I eventually heard Natasha's voice from inside.

"Y-You can come in now."

Her tone was strangely soft.

I almost wondered whether I had imagined it.

I entered the tent again.

The first thing I noticed was the sweet scent lingering in the air, which was probably from whatever perfume or body fragrance Natasha had been using. Then I looked toward her and immediately understood why she had sounded so embarrassed earlier.

She had changed into a rather interesting outfit.

It was a negligee with slightly transparent fabric, and the lingerie underneath could still be seen through it. The outfit was considerably different from what I normally associated with her, and the fact that she was standing there with a visibly embarrassed expression made the whole scene feel even more unusual.

My eyes wandered over her figure for a moment before I realized that I had probably been staring for longer than I should have.

I looked away.

Then I looked back.

Unfortunately, my self-control apparently had not received the message.

Natasha noticed.

Her cheeks became red again, and she shifted slightly as though she suddenly became very conscious of where I was looking.

"L-Let's go and sleep," she said quietly.