52. Home Flowers Are Not as Fragrant as Wildflowers

The next day.

When I finally managed to open my eyes, still a bit dazed, my weary body slowly recovering from the brink of collapse, the sun had already risen to the point of baking my backside.

Instinctively moving my somewhat stiff body, I quickly realized why I felt a sudden discomfort. After all, I was still comfortably lying on a “pillow” made of a girl’s thigh. Any man would have no reason to complain, right?

“Good morning, though it should be afternoon by now, O’Keefe.”

A familiar voice roused me, and without much thought, I nestled deeper into the “depths” of her thigh. Don’t get me wrong; I just wanted to take a “nap” again. With a girl’s soft, white thigh right here, wouldn’t it be foolish not to lie on it?

“I’ll rest a bit longer, Kiefer.”

I mumbled sleepily in response.

Something felt off, but it was just too soft.

However, the next moment, Kiefer’s finger poked my cheek, interrupting the beautiful dream I was about to continue.

“Is it comfortable, O’Keefe?”

“Very comfortable~”

Isn’t that obvious? Is there anything softer in the world than a girl’s thigh!? Even if there is, it must be a girl’s chest…

Before I could chuckle, Kiefer asked me a… indeed somewhat strange question!

“Then tell me, was it more comfortable in the first half of the night or the second half?”

Hehe~ My fiancée, are you trying to teach me a lesson with a question that seems to have no right answer? How naive! Not to mention that I did feel the “change in sensation” of the thing I was resting my head on last night, more importantly, how could I, O’Keefe, possibly fall into such a trap!

I confidently replied, “The first half of the night was softer and smoother, while the second half… um~ it was very fragrant and comfortable, as if I had returned home…”

…

Before I could finish my sentence, I suddenly jolted awake, the thought of taking a nap completely scared away! Because… regardless of how Kiefer phrased her question, last night, at the moment I closed my eyes, the one who lent me her soft, white thigh as a pillow was…

Wasn’t it the queen?

Yet, when I woke up, the first thing I saw was Kiefer, who was looking at me with a “You’re awake?” expression, while asking me that strange question about “when was it more comfortable.”

Finished!

Just as I was about to make a move, Kephiel had already taken the lead, no longer smiling as she greeted me, but instead twisting my ear directly!

“Ogilid, a knee pillow, huh? Soft and smooth, right? Each has its own merits, right? The scent of wildflowers and the scent of home, right!?”

“Ouch… Ouch, please spare me, big shot!”

This is a misunderstanding! I never said each has its own merits, nor did I say the queen is a wildflower!

After finally breaking free from Kephiel’s grip, I covered my ear and fled from her, only to…

Almost bump into the queen.

“Hehe, looks like you two have had a ‘good rest’~”

Heaven knows how long the queen had been waiting here for that taunt. Upon seeing my ear twisted red, she beamed even brighter.

“Ogilid, which feels better, the first half of the night or the second half~”

Please don’t add fuel to the fire!

I wanted to rush over to stop the queen, but Kephiel yanked me back by the arm, leaving me helplessly watching as the queen gracefully spun around to evade me.

“You can tell me the answer to that question quietly later~”

The queen stood tall, still in her sparkling little dress, but her long hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she wore a hat—this was her usual convenient disguise.

It seemed that not only us, but the queen was also “well-rested.”

“Since everyone looks so spirited, then… we can ‘begin’~”

——

While waiting for the Sword Saint of the Great Yng Empire—Elf Ludwig—to find us and take action, the queen decided to first take us to “get to know” the Moon Fairy, Iris, as a part of the “will” of the Great Yng Empire.

Even I understood that, unlike the Thunder Fairy, Zius, whom we had encountered earlier—who was all about life and death, ready to fight if provoked, and after a brawl would be all buddy-buddy—the danger and power of the Moon Fairy, Iris, were not just reflected in her ability to see through people’s hearts and her chaotic laser cannons.

She was the “former queen” of the Great Yng Empire, and almost all of the empire’s “hidden power” was wielded by her. This, I feared, was also one of the manifestations of the Moon Fairy’s “great power,” making it impossible for us to “subdue” her in ordinary ways, let alone the subsequent recognition of her as our master.

Leaving Uncle Zerola’s home, we, disguised, walked along the path leading to the street.

“Kephiel, this territory was granted to your father, Zerola, as a noble of the Great Yng Empire by the royal family. But to put it this way, it’s more appropriate to say this territory belongs to your mother.”

The queen, holding an umbrella, smiled happily, “After all, your father is the one who married in~”

Kephiel rubbed her forehead in distress: “Sister Wang, there’s no need to mention such things. Besides, my father doesn’t mind; he has a good relationship with my mother.”

“Of course, Sister Wang knows~ I just wanted to start from here to tell you: unlike your father, your mother has always been a genuine person from the Moon Fairy, Iris’s side.”

“Although she is an absolutely good mother in daily life, without any conflicting interests, when it comes to conflicts with purpose, she will definitely choose to protect Iris’s interests.”

The queen chuckled lightly, “Sister Wang doesn’t mean to scare you with this, but… many hidden powers in the Great Yng Empire hold such a stance. Your mother has also been dedicated to helping Iris cultivate more new forces, and this territory is basically where she does that. You two shouldn’t hold any grievances against her for this, because the Great Yng Empire originally… belongs to Iris. Even I, Sister Wang, am just a ‘stand-in’; Iris, due to her identity, doesn’t want her existence to be discovered by her former enemies, so she has retreated behind the scenes.”

“Queen…”

I clearly saw a fleeting sadness on the queen’s face, perhaps… she herself had not yet stepped out of the shadow of the Moon Fairy, and was merely putting on a brave face…

Though I soon noticed: the moment the queen sensed my gaze, she immediately switched back to her usual smile, as if she had to maintain the image of a scheming, wicked woman in front of me.

“Don’t look at me with that sympathetic gaze, O’Keefe. I promise that I will never give up on what I’ve committed to, not because of fear or anything like that~ A queen is someone who keeps her word~”

Saying this, the queen averted her gaze. “Kephira’s mother has always dedicated herself to helping Eliza find those talented individuals within the Great Yng Empire who, for various reasons, are unable to receive a proper education and bloom. So, where do you think we can find a place with many ‘young people’ in such a vast territory?”

Kephira, being a young lady, was momentarily at a loss, but… I, who was already well-versed in scripts and street novels, immediately thought of a term that could be considered “cliché.”

“Slaves…”

“Not at all~ O’Keefe, our Great Yng Empire values civilization and elegance.”

Turning around, the queen raised her finger and shook it at me. “We should call it a ‘talent market’~”

“There, in the investigation conducted by Sister Wang, there are people who work for Kephira’s mother~”

“To find more talented individuals who have fallen on hard times, and to cultivate them directly~”

—