Adventure King (R-18) - Ch 125. Waking

I felt a headache coming on, despite the fact that such a thing should have been physically impossible for me at this stage. “Two days? You aren’t kidding me now, are you Belle?”

Belle’s already distraught face soured even more, tears staining her cheeks.

“Belle not lie! Master hate Belle now… call Belle liar.” Her ears laid flat while her tail drooped despondently, hugging the plush-sized mousekin in her arms like a teddybear.

“Calm down and come here Belle.” Coaxing her over from her corner with some difficulty. “I wasn’t ignoring you Belle, I was only a bit… indisposed. You’ve always been my favorite little cat, and you always will be, so come here now.” Her nose sniffed now that she was closer, examining me more closely after she had calmed down some. Timidly allowing my hand to stroke her hair and trace my finger under her chin.

“You smell like a woman.” She stated plainly, eyeing Tammy who I had tucked under my arm. She hadn’t come to yet, but two days without sleep and without rest would do that. I would be worried if not for the fact that I had supplied her with vitality throughout it, my fluids were high-potion quality ingredients now and she had more than her share. If anything, she should be the healthiest she’s ever been.

“A different woman.” She wondered now, her eyes drying up now that she knew she was not abandonded. In truth I never expected to have such anxiety over being seperated, even if it was only for two days, we had never been apart for so long before.

“Is that a problem?” Genuinely interested in how she viewed my infidelity, I couldn’t help but feel a small bit of regret. Truly I never intended for it to end up the way it did, in fact… I still wondered why I even did it in the first place. And those feelings that came over me. The lust, the cravings, it was like something primal had come over me. And father’s gift… the object mother found. I knew it had done something, it was easy enough to tell. Whenever those feelings came over me it seemed to bring me back to the edge of rationality.

Belle shook her head with conflicted with emotion, trying to find the words.

“Master strong, too strong for just Belle.” She said while her tail swished with a forlorn passion.

Me being strong matters that much to her? “Why does it matter if I’m strong? Didn’t you still love me when I was weak?”

Belle’s eyes glinted with an uncomfortable truth.

“Belle liked master, but Belle like master more now. Strong male. Strong male give Belle strong kittens. Master strong now, needs mark many women, make territory.”

The inner workings of a beastkin’s mind was a mystery to me, but it seemed like she respected personal strength above all else. Their society was the rule of the jungle, and even Belle who had been raised entirely among humans still had that instinct hardwired. Certainly not what I was expecting. Remembering now the catkin who had mocked Belle earlier for serving a human willingly, would they ‘shake their tails’ for me if I could shatter their concept of who was strong and who was weak? I knew I didn’t exactly look all that strong physically, but I was about average height and I had been slacking on physique training before the system. Unlike my brothers who weighed probably twice as much as me from muscle alone, my power came exclusively from the system’s influence.

A topic for another time. “Come along Belle, I need a bath.” Scooping her up in my other arm as walked the halls. There certainly was no lack of maids to guide us along to the bath. Having not had the chance yet to acclimate to my new home I had no clue yet where anything was.

Feeling a touch of familiarity for the feeling of being washed by multitudes of nude and willing women. It was like I was back at the Marcet mansion all over again, except for one major difference. Looking into the eyes of these maids was like staring into a vacuum, what it was exactly was something I couldn’t place, but I knew they were under Bael’s mental influence. No matter Belle’s inquisitive looks, seeming to be asking me whether I would take them there or not, I wasn’t interested in these brainwashed robots. No matter how good their figure might be.

Dressed and cleaned, smelling of the floral bath I had just taken, I roamed the interior of my chamber. Stopping at an odd sight. Marcella dressed in her underwear, seated very comfortably, eating what looked like a meal of honeyed oats and milk as maids fanned her obediently. Freezing up once our eyes met. Her mouth still full she chewed quickly but the words stuck in her throat.

“Comfortable?” I asked her, watching her shift uncomfortably. “That’s my influence you’re dining on.” Her chewing stopped, like a deer in the headlights. We had a deal, Marcella would get what she earned, but taking it too far would cost her. I’ve never allowed her to order around maids like servants. She was getting much too close to her original personality, these two days on her own hadn’t been good for her development.

Regardless, I had bigger fish to fry. Returning back to my bedroom in a hurry, intent on confronting Palantia once and for all. She used something on me, I just knew it. And I couldn’t let it stand, opening the locked double doors in a hurry, only to be greeted with an empty room. Nothing on the bed, nothing in the room. Searching for an instant before giving up.

Spying the crystalline pyramid on my dresser I snatched it up quickly, the smokey substance within swirling around excitedly, like it was trying to tell me something. I knew by now this was no ordinary thing, it would be wiser to keep this close from now on, shifting into from my hand into my pocket. Inconvenienced by the fact that it would not go into an ordinary inventory.

Where exactly had Tia gone I wondered. She came here… nude, into a locked room, and escaped just the same. Not wanting to tip off the maids I tried to ask if they had seen anyone, as inconspicuously as I could. Only to hear back that nobody had been sighted, aside from Belle, Tammy, and myself of course.

This Palantia… for being an ordinary human she sure had a lot of tricks.