Klaus stared at the woman in complete and utter confusion.
She had sohow managed to handcuff herself even more securely than before, and was now positioning herself on all fours with her rear raised in the air.
She was moaning loudly as if she was being pounded from behind by sothing invisible.
"What the hell?" Klaus muttered under his breath.
He looked down at the crushed pill still clutched in his other hand which was the one he’d released into the air right before she ca down into the sewers...
After getting back to the Moonstone Residence last night and sleeping off his exhaustion from the dungeon expedition, he’d woken up early this morning and experinted with a few different herb combinations to create sothing new and potentially useful for situations exactly like this.
’Let check the description again...’ Klaus thought.
「Item: Lucid Illusion Pill」
「Tier: 2」
「Description: An advanced alchemical creation that releases potent psychoactive vapors when crushed. Upon inhaling these gasses, the affected individual enters a lucid dream-like state where their deepest desires manifest as vivid hallucinations that seem completely real to them. The victim remains conscious but cannot distinguish fantasy from reality while under the effects. Duration lasts approximately 20 minutes depending on dosage and the target’s ntal resistance.」
So basically, she was currently hallucinating that her deepest desire was coming true right in front of him.
Klaus looked back at the Captain, who now had a complete ahegao expression on her face with her eyes rolled back slightly, her tongue lolling out and her face flushed deep red.
"It’s not my safe day so don’t do it insi—" She moaned loudly with her body trembling. "HAAH! It’s hoooot~! You’re so deep~!"
Klaus ran a hand through his hair beneath his hood and let out a long, tired sigh. She was literally imagining herself being fucked by the sa guy she’d been sent to arrest and imprison... The irony was almost painful.
’What a weird woman...’
He turned and walked away through one of the side tunnels, leaving her to finish her... fantasy scenario in peace.
...
Klaus soon stood in front of the Moonstone Residence in his regular civilian clothes that he had worn this morning... simple dark pants and a loose shirt which was nothing that would draw attention.
Escaping the rest of the City Guard Captains had been relatively easier than he’d expected after losing the Wind Captain in the sewers.
They weren’t even actively searching for him anymore by the ti he’d erged from a different exit on the far side of the city, so he’d simply changed out of his Heavenly Commoner outfit in an abandoned alley and walked ho normally through the afternoon crowds.
"I’m ho~" Klaus called out as he opened the front door and he imdiately stopped in his tracks.
All three girls... Taula, Mirela, and Serra were sitting at the dining table with their arms folded across their chests, all of them staring directly at him with serious expressions on their faces.
"Did sothing happen?" Klaus asked cautiously. He closed the door of the Moonstone Residence behind him and walked over to the table, raising his eyebrows questioningly.
Taula turned to face him directly and took a deep breath with her face already starting to turn red.
"Klaus," Taula started hesitantly. "Do you want to have s-se-see..."
"Sex," Mirela chid in helpfully as her own face flushed.
"Yeah, sex!" Taula continued in a rush. "Do you want to do it? I noticed that your p-penis was standing up earlier this morning and I did so studies about it in the library books too, so... w-was that because you’re horny?"
Klaus blinked several tis, processing what he’d just been asked so directly.
"Oh," he said after a mont. "That just happens to very healthy guys when they wake up in the morning. It’s called morning wood. It doesn’t necessarily an I’m horny or thinking about anything sexual... it’s just a natural physiological response."
All three girls blinked at him in surprise.
"I... I didn’t see that explained in the book," Taula said, sounding genuinely confused and a bit embarrassed that her research had been incomplete.
Klaus chuckled and shook his head with a small smile. "If that’s all you wanted to ask, then I’ll be heading upstairs to rest for a bit."
He started walking toward the stairs, then paused and looked back at Taula with a slight smirk.
"Also," Klaus added, "if you do actually want to have sex with soday, you’ll need to be a bit smarter about how you approach it than just asking directly at the dinner table."
"Hey!" Taula complained imdiately, puffing out her cheeks indignantly. "I am smart! ...Occasionally."
Klaus honestly didn’t mind the question or doing it really... It had been quite a while since his last girlfrien—
’Whatever.’ Klaus shook his head, dismissing the thought before it could fully form into sothing uncomfortable.
"Boss, are you okay?" Serra asked with genuine concern clear in her voice as she watched his expression.
Klaus gave her a warm reassuring smile. "Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry about . We’ll be heading back to Galen Town soon anyway, so you’ll get to see Garrick’s sister."
Serra let out a visible sigh of relief with her shoulders relaxing. "Thank you, Boss."
Klaus headed up the stairs, giving all three of them a small wave as he went. Once he reached his room on the second floor, Klaus closed the door behind him with a soft click and sat down cross-legged on the wooden floor.
He pulled out a specific herb from his storage ring... one he’d found ntioned extensively in the alchemical notes and according to the docuntation, this particular herb was excellent for ditation practices when chewed slowly, helping to calm the mind while gradually increasing one’s ntal energy capacity and mana control.
Klaus had taken five of these ditation herbs and carefully rged them together using his growing alchemical knowledge, creating a more potent version with enhanced effects.
’It’s about ti I ditated...’
He settled into a proper ditation pose and began chewing the combined leaf slowly. It filled his mouth with a surprisingly sweet, pleasant taste like honey mixed with mint.
He felt his head and body gradually calming down... the tension he hadn’t even realized he was carrying beginning to lt away from his shoulders and neck... The stress from being chased by City Guard Captains... all of it started fading into peaceful quiet.
His mana stirred inside him in response to the ditation, then started flowing in smooth patterns through his body. Eventually it ford a faint visible aura around him which was a soft blue glow that illuminated the dim room.
’I feel at ea—’
BAM!
His door suddenly slamd open with enough force to make the fra rattle and the hinges creak in protest.
Klaus broke out of his ditation with an annoyed sigh with the peaceful mana aura dissipating imdiately as he looked up.
Zephyra was standing in his doorway, practically bouncing in place with barely contained energy.
"You fucking idiot," Klaus said imdiately glaring at her. "You almost got arrested earlier today. Why the hell did you have to go and kill mbers of the City Guard, huh? Do you have any idea how much trouble that caused ?"
Zephyra turned her face to the right, trying and failing to look innocent.
"City Guard?" She said. "I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hubby."
She was clearly waiting for him to follow up with more insults which was the kind of harsh verbal abuse she’d sohow co to expect and even crave from their interactions but Klaus just sighed heavily, he was too tired to play that ga right now.
"What do you want?" he asked in a flat exhausted voice.
Zephyra’s eyes went wide with sothing like panic or distress.
’Why didn’t he insult ?’ she thought frantically. ’Is he... is he no longer angry with ? Does this an he’s starting to actually accept as his fiancée? That’s good but I need... I need him to be an to ...’
Klaus looked at her staring at him with an expression of pure distress, like he’d just told her sothing devastating.
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused by her intense reaction. Zephyra looked down at the ground with her hands fidgeting nervously with the hem of her shirt.
"I want..." she started quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "I want you to insult . A lot. You should drag my hair too... be really harsh with , like you usually are."
Klaus stared at her for a long mont, then let out another sigh. She had helped him throughout this entire Rivera City operation, though.
She’d fought alongside him in the tournant, helped clear the Resource Dungeon, and was currently handling all the silver sales through her mysterious royal connections.
If she wanted him to be harsh with her as so kind of strange reward or paynt, he supposed he could honor that bizarre request.
Klaus stood up from his ditation position and walked over to where Zephyra stood frozen in anticipation and her face was already covered in a deep blush with her breathing getting noticeably heavier.
Klaus reached out and grabbed a fistful of her royal white hair without warning, yanking her head back roughly. The motion was sudden and forceful enough to make her gasp sharply, almost losing her balance from the angle.
"You’re completely incompetent," Klaus said coldly as his voice dripped with genuine disdain. "Utterly useless... You can’t follow the simplest instructions... You kill people without thinking about the consequences, and then I’m the one who has to deal with the fallout and clean up your ss."
He pulled her hair harder, forcing her head back at an even more uncomfortable angle that made her neck strain.
"You’re supposed to be a Princess..." Klaus continued harshly with each word hitting like a verbal slap. "But you act like a brain-dead child who has absolutely no self-control. I don’t even know why I agreed to this engagent arrangent in the first place. You’re weak, pathetic, and you constantly cause nothing but problems."
Zephyra’s breathing had beco ragged as her face flushed a deep crimson red.
"The only thing you’re remotely good at is swinging that sword around..." Klaus said, giving her hair another rough yank that made her whimper. "But even then, you’re too stupid to know when NOT to use it. You’re a liability. A burden. Every single day I regret being tied to soone as useless as you."
He leaned in close with his voice dropping to a harsh whisper directly against her ear that sent shivers down her spine.
"You’re worthless. Do you understand ? Completely and utterly worthless as a partner or a fiancée. I should just break off this engagent and find soone who isn’t a complete disaster."
Klaus released her hair and took a deliberate step backward, putting distance between them.
"Is this okay?" He asked as his voice softened slightly with genuine concern despite the harsh words he’d just said.
A crimson blush had completely enveloped Zephyra’s face, spreading down her neck and disappearing beneath the collar of her clothes.
Klaus noticed sothing else too... there was liquid dripping onto the wooden floor. Small drops were falling from between her legs, forming a tiny puddle on the boards.
"H-Hubby..." Zephyra’s voice ca out barely above a whisper with her whole body trembling visibly. "I’m... I’m wet enough now. We can consummate our marriage if you want..."
Klaus imdiately took several large steps backward with his eyes widening slightly behind his calm expression.
’First that weird Captain in the sewers,’ Klaus thought with growing alarm. ’Now Zephyra is like this too. What the hell is next?’
"I don’t want to... not right now..." Klaus said firmly, shaking his head.
Zephyra kept trembling in place with her hands pressed against the doorfra to keep herself steady.
"A-Alright," she managed to say through her labored breathing. "Next ti then, Hubby."
Her heart was beating so incredibly fast she could hear it pounding in her ears like drums and the blood rushing through her body made her feel dizzy and hot all over.
Being called all those terrible, degrading insults while having her hair pulled roughly had turned her on way more than she’d ever expected it would.
The humiliation mixed with the physical pain had created sothing overwhelming and addictive inside her that she couldn’t quite explain or control. Since Klaus didn’t want to do anything sexual with her right now, she’d just have to take care of these intense feelings herself when she got back to her own room.
Zephyra shook her head quickly, trying to focus on why she’d co here in the first place. She reached into her storage ring with a trembling hand and pulled out a very heavy coin pouch, extending it toward Klaus.
Klaus took hold of it, imdiately noticing the significant weight... This was way heavier than any normal coin purse should be.
"This is how much I managed to get from selling all of that silver ore to my contact," Zephyra explained, trying her best to steady her shaking voice. "2,500 gold coins total. They paid premium pricing because they knew it ca through Prince Zephyr’s royal connections and wanted to maintain good relations."
Klaus’s face lit up with a genuine smile of surprise and appreciation.
"2,500 gold?" Klaus repeated, hefting the extrely heavy pouch in his hand and the coins clinked together with a satisfying sound. "That’s incredible, Zephyra. Seriously, thank you so much for handling all of that."
The warm expression and completely sincere gratitude in his voice made Zephyra’s insides churn with a completely different set of conflicting emotions than before.
Seeing him genuinely happy with her efforts...actually appreciating and valuing what she’d done instead of insulting her created a strange, unfamiliar feeling in her chest that was sohow even more intense than the masochistic pleasure from being degraded.
It made her feel... valued and important. She didn’t know which sensation she preferred... the painful pleasure or the warm appreciation and that confusion only made everything feel more intense and overwhelming.
"S-So..." Zephyra started hesitantly, still trying to calm her racing heart and catch her breath. "Hubby. Will you co to a Festival with ?"
"Festival?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "What kind of Festival could possibly be held in Rivera City right now when—"
...
"Hehe~ What a nice young man, surrounded by so many beautiful ladies! He’s very lucky indeed."
An elderly woman walking past their group made this cheerful observation, smiling warmly at the scene before continuing on her way through the crowded street.
Klaus let out a long sigh.
He was currently wearing a traditional male yukata in a dark blue fabric with subtle wave patterns embroidered along the edges as the formal attire felt restrictive compared to his usual comfortable clothing, but the girls had absolutely insisted on proper festival wear.
Taula grabbed his hand excitedly and lifted it up high, practically bouncing in place as her pink and white kimono swished around her as she moved.
"Yeahhh! Let’s have so fun!" she shouted enthusiastically.
Zephyra imdiately grabbed Klaus’s other hand and raised it as well, though the elaborate purple kimono she wore made the movent slightly awkward and restricted.
"I agree!" Zephyra declared with equal enthusiasm. "Let’s have so fun!"
Klaus looked between the two of them holding his hands, then over at Mirela and Serra who were standing nearby in their own beautiful kimonos, both smiling warmly at the scene with obvious amusent.
"Haah..." Klaus let out another long deflated sigh of resignation. "Let’s have so fun then, I suppose."
They were all standing in front of the main entrance to the Rivera Flower Festival... a massive annual celebration that apparently took over an entire district of the city with elaborate decorations and entertainnt.
Decorative paper lanterns of every color imaginable hung from strings crisscrossing overhead, creating a canopy of warm glowing light.
Traditional festival music drifted through the evening air from multiple directions... the sound of drums, flutes and stringed instrunts blending together.
The sll of various festival foods made Klaus’s stomach rumble audibly despite the fact that he’d eaten... there was grilled at skewers, sweet candied fruits, fried dough, and dozens of other tempting aromas.
The festival grounds stretched out before them like a small city unto itself, already packed with hundreds of people in traditional dress enjoying the early evening atmosphere.
Ga booths lined the pathways with colorful prizes hanging on display. Food stalls had lines of eager custors and a large stage in the distance seed to be preparing for so kind of traditional performance.
Zephyra squeezed Klaus’s hand tighter with her eyes practically sparkling with excitent as she took in the vibrant scenery.
"Co on, Hubby!" she urged, pulling him forward. "There’s so much to see and do!"
Taula pulled on his other hand with equal enthusiasm. "I want to try all the festival gas! And the food! Especially the food!"
Klaus allowed himself to be dragged forward into the festival grounds, surrounded by beautiful won in elegant kimonos and the warm glow of paper lanterns.
’This is going to be a long night,’ he thought, but he couldn’t quite suppress the small smile that was at the corner of his mouth.
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