Chapter 105 : Girls' Whisper Time
I had initially been on guard against Chris, but when she was simply using a towel to wipe my exposed back with my hair pinned up, I relaxed slightly, which was when Chris launched her surprise attack.
I suddenly understood. Chris had done this to make my back wet with water and become more slippery, since I hadn't soaked in the hot springs yet.
Although I couldn't confirm exactly what happened... I think Chris's index finger traced from near my neck, following the curve of my spine, sliding down to my hips at an even speed. Rather than directly touching my back, she maintained a certain distance in a way that was almost there but not quite, so the evidence of her fingertip's trail included not only my tensed nerves, but also a faint tingling sensation.
...Making that embarrassing moan wasn't my intention.
It feels like Chris is... very experienced?
I pretended nothing happened and resolved to maintain high vigilance from now on.
"Meow?!"
This time it was Carol Cat who cried out.
"My tail, meow..."
"Um... I wanted to help wash your tail."
"I appreciate the thought, meow... but my tail is sensitive..."
Carol Cat curled up her tail to prove her point. Cat people's tails extended from the tailbone area, but I hadn't realized they actually had nervous systems.
"Eh? Really? I've hardly had any contact with beastkin."
Chris immediately became interested.
"So beastkin actually feel it when their tails are touched."
"Of course, meow... but aren't there quite a few beastkin in the Kingdom of Michel, meow?"
"The Kingdom of Michel and Arcadia are friendly nations, that's true, but Ende isn't really a place worth visiting. The adventurers who usually come for my quests are only humans, rarely beastkin, let alone elves."
"...I came to the Kingdom of Michel with other intentions."
While scrubbing Lily's back, Sigrdrífa joined the casual conversation.
"But I don't have time to pursue that now... anyway, we elves are all long-lived, so putting it aside temporarily doesn't matter."
"Long-lived elves... Midgard... I'd really like to see it."
"I'd recommend not going recently. Midgard has changed."
"Mm, I know. The Elf King is at war with the Kingdom of Garuda, and our king has also sent support. You won't be angry talking about this, will you?"
"It's fine. By the way, is it due to the Abrahamic Faith's responsibility to aid fellow believers? The Kingdom of Michel married off the Third Princess and still has to send troops for support. It doesn't seem profitable no matter how you look at it."
"His Majesty and the King of Garuda must have signed agreements where the public content is only partial. Duke Valois also went to the Kingdom of Garuda with the knight order. He's probably there to complete His Majesty's mission."
The King of the Kingdom of Michel had his own considerations. Forming a marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Garuda, marrying his own daughter to a playboy prince, and sending troops to assist the Kingdom of Garuda… If there weren't sufficient reasons, you could only say the King of Michel was a really good person.
But regardless, it was very unfair to the Third Princess whose life had been arbitrarily decided.
"The Third Princess is about my age and will have to leave her homeland in a few days. Royal destiny can't be controlled by oneself. The First Princess was also arranged by the king to marry Duke Carolingian to maintain good relations with the great nobles within the country, but fortunately Duke Carolingian is quite a decent noble."
"Was being royalty always so hard, meow?"
"Yes, princesses and royal daughters have no value other than marriage alliances unless their families have no heirs. The Kingdom of Michel's royal family has always been this way."
The inheritance laws of the three great human kingdoms differed slightly. The Kingdom of Michel used male primogeniture, while the kingdoms of Azrael and Garuda used other inheritance systems, though hereditary aspects were largely similar. For example, in the Kingdom of Azrael, ducal and lower titles were hereditary, but the king was elected by the nation's nobles.
Corresponding to the Kingdom of Michel's seven great dukes, the Kingdom of Azrael had seven great [Electors], with voting rights held only by the seven most powerful nobles, who elected a new noble from within the nation to serve as the king ruling the Kingdom of Azrael.
Due to the electoral system, the Kingdom of Michel found it difficult to maintain friendly relations with the Kingdom of Azrael across generations, so royal princesses were often married to great lords within the country.
Lily carefully scrubbed Carol Cat's back while earnestly listening to Chris tell stories. Chris's content was quite proper, but her constantly groping my butt left me utterly helpless. I gritted my teeth to prevent myself from letting out strange moans, concentrating on washing Sigrdrífa's back to distract myself.
"Sister Chris, what about the Second Princess?"
Lily raised her hand to ask. The current King of the Kingdom of Michel had three daughters: The First Princess married the great noble Duke Carolingian within the country, the Third Princess was about to marry far away to the Kingdom of Garuda, and as for the Second Princess—
"The Second Princess... uh..."
Chris's movements stopped for quite a while.
However, the more this happened, the more the girls' talent for gossip couldn't be stopped.
Sigrdrífa asked with great interest: "What happened to the Second Princess?"
"I heard there are bad rumors about the Kingdom of Michel's Second Princess, meow."
Carol Cat was equally interested, and with everyone's attention on her, Chris could only sigh.
If she hadn't taken the opportunity to slip her fingers under my arms, I would have believed Chris was truly helpless. Regarding the Second Princess, discussing her in the Kingdom of Michel wasn't explicitly forbidden by written law.
"Being anticipated by such cute girls, I can't refuse. You absolutely must not randomly talk about this outside, okay? The Second Princess... was most likely cursed by the [Demon Lord]."