[Author's note]
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Roll for initiative...
[Padge's perspective]
I woke the next morning to the gentle shaking of our mattress.
"Huh?" I muttered, having only half recovered from my own rage the night before.
"...-m s-s-sc-sca-ar-red..." I heard Alina's whimpering as she cried.
A gentle hand was already on her shoulders as she cried into Pomae's bust who held her in her arms.
"We're here. We're here." Pomae spoke in soothing tones.
"You finally woke?" She asked me, looking up from my distraught daughter.
"How long has she been awake?" I asked her and she gave me a scornful look.
"Well, since you didn't wake up, I've been trying to calm our daughter for the past two bells." She told me, understandably annoyed.
"I'm sorry. That siege yesterday took its toll on me as well." I replied and she nodded.
As Alina noticed I had woken at last, she flung her arms around my neck in fear and tears.
"A-A-Al-lin-na's sc-sca-r-re-ed...!" She screamed as she was completely in tears.
"It's okay, Lina... no-one will hurt you anymore." I told her and she looked up at me with large eyes, filled with fear.
Suddenly, she let go of me, clutching her arms around her chest.
She had grown in that regard as well and Alyssa and Pomae had gotten her several bras. But right now, she simply pulled her knees against her breasts, arms pulling them even closer as she sat rocking back and forth in utter fear on our bed.
[Alyssa's perspective]
After we had a troubled breakfast, Seleris took the chance to calm Alina, more than we could.
She made a vow for the girl.
One I knew from Padge's shocked response, we should not take lightly.
"Lina... listen... I swear this as a vow to you, okay..." She addressed our daughter, who looked at her with terrified eyes.
"If anyone ever hurts you in such a way, I shall bring Ragnarök raining down on them. I'll show the world my true form and destroy any country that harms you. And know that like this... I'm not even the size of a single tooth of my true form." She told her and I leaned into Padge, asking what had me worried.
"That raining down Ragnarök... is that... bad?" I asked him and he paled at the idea.
"Yes, very. Jormungandr is the world serpent, she's long enough to wrap around the entire world and hold the tip of her tail in her mouth. And in my old world... Ragnarök was considered the end of the world among the people who worshipped the gods like Odin and Thor.
If she's willing to do that for Lina... we have a massive protection and an even larger liability." He told me and I paled at the very idea of a snake so massive it could wrap around the entire world.
The idea was, frankly, terrifying if that snake went and attacked anything.
"R-really?" Alina asked Seleris who nodded, manifesting her Divinity between her hands and offering a small amount of it to Alina as a seal on her vow.
"And now that liability grew tenfold..." Padge sighed and I gulped.
Next to us both, completely unable to fathom the severity of the vow Seleris just made to Alina, was Pomae who simply sat watching as if it were a beautiful play.
She seemed oblivious to the danger that lured behind the offer Padge's sister had just made to our daughter.
"So touching..." She suddenly muttered and Padge and I jerked our heads at her.
"What!?" We both exclaimed in shock.
"B-but it was... a Goddess offering a child protection... it's so touching... isn't it?" She asked us and we sighed.
"Seleris, can we ask you to watch Lina for a moment, we have some explaining to do to someone." Padge spoke harshly and I nodded.
"Sure, take your time." She replied and Padge and I hauled Pomae to her hooves and out of the room.
"Listen, that promise wasn't touching at all... that was a vow infused with Divinity... Jorm genuinely can't go against that vow anymore. And she is the world serpent from my old life.
If she rains down Ragnarök on any nation, the entire world will be gone... got that?" He hissed at her when we were out of the room and simply in the hallway next to it.
"She mentioned her true form... Pomae, do you even know that Jormungandr is a serpent so damned large she wraps around the world and holds her tail in her mouth... if she ever shows that to the world... we're all doomed. So no... that wasn't touching at all... my sister just became a liability to the entire world." Padge continued and now I saw Pomae pale at what she heard.
"Th-that's terrifying..." She stammered and Padge nodded.
"Very much so." He spoke coldly and paced into the room again, his face contorted with worry and fear.
But the one thing I felt might just make this worth it, was the smile of relief on Alina's face.
"What's happened?" Matthew suddenly asked as he stepped into the room with Saki at his side.
His bright blonde hair and fur had made him stand out to everyone, and because of the vast difference between him and both Padge and me, we had to announce the birth of a new kin of beast folk.
Seeing he was truly the first of his kind, with the ears and tail that Miyako told us were those of the dog from Padge's previous life, the Shiba Inu, we had officially announced the Crown Prince as the first Shiba folk.
And while the boy may only be nearing his fifth summer, he was already proud of the fact he was the first of his kin.
Seleris and Miyako had begun teaching him to safely use his Divinity at the age of three, while still training both me and Padge.
In fact, because of his small, rounded ears and his curved tail, he was even the people's joy when he went out and about.
"It's nothing Matthew. Come, give Mommy a hug." I told him and he nodded, proudly running at me and hugged my legs.
"Did you sleep well?" Padge asked him as I picked our son up into my arms and nuzzled my face into his belly, sending him into a fit of ticklish giggles.
"Did, glad Big Sis is back... I missed her." He spoke softly between me and Padge.
We both nodded, softly saying, "So are we."
"Your Majesty, I have sent word to the kitchen to prepare a large feast for breakfast. It shall be here shortly." Orinya spoke.
"Very well." Padge replied and I could tell the Demonkin woman was still none too pleased that Padge had, four years ago, taken on a second wife and still refused to accept her love.
She had been angry with him since our return from our first holiday in the Chikusa Prefecture and the official announcement that Padge was due to marry Pomae as his concubine.
Ever since, she had increased her attempts to woo him.
But all this time, four long years of provocative advances, had been futile.
"Lina, take your time off from your duties as Court Mage for a few days. You've been through a lot. Take some time to recover from that, okay." Padge told Alina as he sat down next to her on the sofa.
She nodded a bit dreary, but still accepted his offer.
Pomae and I had already discussed that we would not let her work those duties so shortly after going through the terror she had from her abduction, and right as we fell asleep with Padge and Alina together in one bed, we had told him.
He too, readily agreed it was for the better.
"Hm-mh. Alina doesn't want work now... Alina wants rest." She replied.
We had been told that in her terror of the abduction, our daughter had a regression into her former speaking habits, probably induced by the terror she had felt during.
None of us could blame her.
[Padge's perspective]
A week after I had taken back Alina from Ruflourus' captivity, we received a message from a suitor for our daughter.
He was a nobleman's first son, but the name I read on it, troubled me greatly.
"Why would the Ruflourus Prime Minister wish to marry his son off to her?" I grumbled as I read the letter.
"Milord, I have the report you asked for." A voice came from the rafters above me in my office and I nodded.
"Report." I called coldly.
It was one of my Akimoto spies, the only one who answered solely to me, Akimoto Hikome.
She was truly an elite among their clan, and therefore I had requested their head of family that she serve under me directly.
"I have found Ruflourus has finalized their investigation on the raid of Icemere. The few survivors they found claimed it had been indeed His Majesty whom attacked, confirming it from the way the Hunting Pack moved about at a single person's orders. The definite confirmation was upon hearing from several survivors that the blade Tyrfing had been seen during the raid."
Her explanations were nothing I hadn't expected.
In fact, I had seen it coming, and intended for Ruflourus to know it had been me who attacked them.
"I have a new mission for you. Take this sealed letter, bring it to the Prime Minister, but simply leave it in his bed chambers without anyone noticing.
It contains a rejection of the suitor request for my daughter and a confirmation of their declaration of war by abducting my daughter.
They have one chance to back out of it through nullifying their allegiance against me, otherwise I will prepare the Y.S.D.F. upon all borders with their allies to intercept anyone who comes near.
The borders to both Ruflourus and the Sheydan Kingdom will be fully closed until further notice should they not comply with this demand." I told her and held the sealed letter above my head, feeling it leave my grasp and soon the minor presence I felt had vanished again.
After that, I rose to my feet with a feeling of despair welling inside me.
I had allies of my own in the regions surrounding Yggdrasil, but we had just as many enemies.
While Medrus and Agral were great allies, we had two larger enemies with Ruflourus and Sheydan.
But should it come to large scale battles; I feel we can win. The tenacity of our Y.S.D.F. is on a whole other level compared to Ruflourus mandatory military duties for any man who lives there should conflict arise, their armies are known for both the tremendous numbers, but also the horrendously low morale among their troops.
Sheydan has a powerful military, but they focus mostly on their archers, who seem to be unable to properly deal with magic that repels projectiles and the nation doesn't even have a cavalry. Their foot soldiers are poorly equipped and even more so, they refuse to allow mages into their army.
In short, it is a highly superstitious nation, and that weakens their army. We can easily win against these two.
If it comes to it, I feel I can try to have Pomae request her mother to apply mercantile penalties to both Ruflourus and Sheydan, while I can request military aid from Medrus.
But in all honesty, I feel this is something Yggdrasil can handle on their own.
The fact that magic is highly regulated in Sheydan makes the elves of the nation highly inept at dealing with magic in battle.
Their archers are known for terrifying accuracy but can be easily circumvented with projectile shielding magic.
I had done my research into the two nations who troubled us at the moment.
Spies from the Akimoto intelligence group had been sent to both nations and returned a lot of valuable information to me.
Everything I had on those two nations, had been noted down in a massive tome. One for each nation.
I was not planning on letting these two countries tear down the safety I had created for Yggdrasil.
It may not seem like the noblest of ideals, to intend on going to war over claims of my unrightful claim as Fenrir, but the fact that Ruflourus had tried to twist my hand by abducting my daughter, meant they had officially made the first aggressive move to us, so in line with my laws for the Y.S.D.F. we were perfectly in our right to pursue military action.
[Author's note]
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