Chapter 200: I Hate Being King Owen?
Chapter 200: I Hate Being King Owen?
An hour after the strange woman's sudden arrival and vanishing act, Sylvia stood in the center of the garden pavilion, her brow furrowed deeply. Her spatial magic left faint trails of pale silver mana hanging in the air as she manipulated her Time and Space Area Utility spell, trying to force the surrounding area to give up its secrets. Yet, the tracking light remained completely clear, failing to reconstruct the culprit's physical form.
Ayala, Celia, Lisa, and Andra stood in a tense semi-circle, watching the magical replay unfold. Seeing the empty air in the projection made them question their own senses, wondering if they had collectively imagined the intruder.
The glowing image of the past hour shifted, replaying the exact moment of the attack. In the projection, the gathered crowd suddenly turned their heads in unison toward the side of the baby carriage. An instant later, the Day-walking Vampire maid lunged forward, her fist striking at seemingly empty air.
Just before the punch landed, the projection captured a crucial detail. The tiny hand of baby Nari reached upward from the carriage, his small fingers scratching directly at a localized shimmer of ambient grey light that suddenly illuminated his blanket. The tiny movement proved that an entity had been physically present, masking its form with specialized magic.
Sylvia canceled the spell, the silver mana dissolving into mist as she turned to the other women.
"A normal magic item or skill cannot hide an intruder that well, leaving it to either be a Hidden Gu or an Artifact capable of impossible stealth. If it weren't for everyone's reactions and the drops of blood on the ground, I would have never known an attacker was here using my magic."
None of the women questioned how baby Nari had noticed the hidden threat. Some Dhampir infants inherited exceptionally sharp nails and primal instincts alongside the elongated canines of their Vampire parents, making them far more sensitive to hidden shifts in blood and intent.
Lisa adjusted her grip on the child, her expression pale as she looked around the quiet store front.
"Should one of us go to Loki to tell him of this matter?"
Sylvia turned her gaze toward the distant spires of the Albion castle. She shook her head, a wry, tired smile touching her lips.
"Not now, as our husband is busy with royal affairs. None of us were hurt, touched, or killed, so worrying Loki over every little thing will just pull him away from his role. We will just keep our children under tighter security and won't let them leave the mansion for now."
Meanwhile, inside the luxurious chambers of the Eastern Prince's mansion, a completely different crisis was taking root.
Vali had been overcome by a sudden, heavy wave of exhaustion shortly after using his healing magic to knit the flesh of his injured hand. Seeking relief, he had collapsed onto his bed, but rest eluded him. He was now tossing and turning violently across his silken sheets, his skin flushed crimson, drenched in a thick sweat as a sudden fever ravaged his body.
Deep within his mind, a vivid nightmare held him captive. He was running blindly through a dark forest, pursued by a pack of massive, silver-furred wolves that eventually overtook him, tearing his flesh to ribbons. In the next sequence of the dream, the pain shifted as his own bones broke and reformed, transforming him into a wolf. Driven by a primal, ravenous hunger, he found himself hunting down humans, burying his muzzle into their chests to consume their entrails to sate an endless void inside his stomach.
Resting against his bare chest, the yellow-gold Dragon scale hanging from the cord around his neck began to glow, pulsing with a faint, rhythmic light that seemed to fight against the rising heat in his blood.
While the strange crime in the store was being locked down, and Vali's biological fate with his brother Nari was being silently rewritten, the grand halls of Albion castle were delivering a massive headache to Loki, who was currently forced to play the role of the missing king.
My two personal maids, Elizabeth and Meiling, walked half a step ahead of me, guiding me toward the private family room where the queens were waiting. Elizabeth, who stood barely five feet tall with a remarkably curvy figure, framed by a sharp black bob cut and matching dark eyes, leaned in close. As a Royal Healer and my assigned maid, she kept up a low, eager whisper as she escorted me through the vaulted corridors.
Pandora followed close behind, completely hidden under the appearance of the third Queen, Skogul. Beside her walked Frigg, mimicking the second Queen, Gondul, while Angelica padded along the stone floor in the shape of a massive grey wolf to pass herself off as the divine beast Fenrir.
"My King, I was so glad to hear that you still wanted us to take care of your personal needs even after the long journey, hehe," Elizabeth murmured, her hip lightly brushing against my thigh as we walked. "Meiling here couldn't stop praising your royal charisma, um, and your exceptional care during our time together."
While the two maids were flattering me in an obvious attempt to secure their old bedwarming privileges, my mind was being absolutely bombarded by my summons and Frigg, who were using our telepathic connections to vent their irritation.
Angelica's voice echoed in my head, dripping with thick sarcasm. [Let me guess, you slept with Elizabeth because she was the Healer I sent you to after Taki Tsuki's resurrection, and you just gave her a pity fuck, right? After all, I know your tastes perfectly, and I know you do not actually like the small, petite girls, haha.]
While Meiling and Elizabeth rambled on about the technical details of our return voyage aboard the SDF-One, I shot a sharp telepathic retort back to the wolf beside me. [Angelica honey, did you happen to notice that you are currently walking through the royal halls totally naked?]
The massive grey wolf gave a sudden, undignified start, her form instantly vanishing into the shadows of the corridor as she fled the immediate line of sight. Even in beast form, the embarrassment was palpable. Angelica's voice vibrated in my mind again, tinged with genuine shame. [It is only awkward when you point it out, damn you, haha.]
Before I could enjoy the silence, Pandora's voice sliced into my consciousness, filled with professional disdain. [Master husband, these two local maids cannot even follow the baseline rules laid out in the Perfect Maids Guide properly. Their lack of posture and discipline is entirely unprofessional. My maid heart is breaking just watching this; I want to revert to my true form and manage your household myself!]
Frigg immediately hijacked the link, her thoughts jumping to an entirely separate matter as she spammed my mind with her own anxieties. [Loki, do not even think about playing another game of Twister with these two girls tonight. And more importantly, do not ignore me—do you think our little Valkyrie will inherit three elemental affinities like your other children when she is born, or will she be restricted to just Death and Ice? If you got me pregnant right after your extended stint with Queen Blue, our child might also have a natural grasp over Time magic, right?]
Maintaining King Owen's appearance—complete with the black eyepatch and a single, expressive blue eye—I struggled to hide the genuine exhaustion creeping into my expression. I felt like my various wives and maid lovers were deliberately starting a harem fire right under my feet, entirely oblivious to the fact that my stress levels were already peaking. And I hadn't even stepped into the room to face Ariel, Leandra, and Xia Bing yet.
The ridiculous reality of my situation was that I absolutely needed Elizabeth and Meiling to guide me through the palace. My sense of direction was entirely nonexistent, and without them, I would get hopelessly lost within the massive layout of the castle. If I tried to find Owen's actual bedchamber on my own, I would probably stumble into the wrong queen's room by accident, making an already complicated situation completely disastrous.
We passed several squads of royal guards and court staff, all of whom dropped to their knees or bowed deeply as I walked past. Finally, Meiling, using her natural affinity as a Gravity Mage to lightly manipulate the heavy brass handles, pushed open the double doors of the private family room.
The moment I stepped across the threshold, my active Summoner Link flared. I scanned the interior and immediately identified the woman resting on the far couch as the real Xia Bing, confirming that her twin sister, Xia Gu, wasn't pulling a switch on me this time. All three of Owen's primary queens were seated in high-backed armchairs, sipping Earl-grey tea from porcelain cups as they awaited my arrival.
Xia Bing sat elegantly in her white and blue sect robes, her long white hair catching the light as her pale blue eyes locked onto mine. A faint, knowing smile played on her lips. Because she was my direct summons, she was fully aware of the ridiculous truth regarding my triple identity as Loki Sky, Hao Hun, and my current form as Owen Balder, making my internal panic highly amusing to her.
To her left sat Leandra, the exceptionally tall, blonde, and blue-eyed High Elf who currently held the title of Owen's first queen. She was dressed in a pure white kimono, her exceptionally long legs crossed at the knee. Her massive, heavy chest pushed aggressively against the silk fabric, the deep V of her neckline straining as if begging to be torn open to welcome me home. Leandra was fully aware that I was Loki, and she knew Xia Bing shared that secret, but she had no idea that the fourth queen, Ariel Blue, also knew I was an impostor.
Ariel Blue, the tall mermaid with striking pink hair and vibrant blue eyes, sat on the third chair, her fingers trembling slightly around her teacup. Her expression was a mess of nervous tension. Having spent the last month interacting closely with me under my true identity of Loki Sky, she was terrified that the man entering the room might actually be the real King Owen returning to claim his place. She had no idea that her real husband was missing in action, nor did she know that Leandra and Xia Bing were already working directly with me. The sheer density of the secrets in the room made my head spin.
To make matters worse, the entire castle was crawling with political spies. For all I knew, even Elizabeth or Meiling were feeding information to outside factions, meaning we couldn't risk dropping our disguises for even a second.
As the three women stood up to greet me, I forced Owen's familiar, enthusiastic otaku grin onto my face and stepped forward with open arms.
"My beautiful wives, please, sit back down and relax. It is incredibly good to see you all gathered here, haha. I have been entirely buried under royal affairs lately, so I must apologize for not visiting each of your private chambers these past few days."
Ariel didn't hesitate. The bubbly mermaid practically launched herself across the carpet and threw her arms around my neck, instantly turning on the overly cutesy persona that the real Owen always melted for.
"Owe-kins, I missed you so much!"
She pulled my head down, forcing her lips against mine in a deep, desperate kiss. But as her mouth moved against mine, her frantic rhythm suddenly slowed, matching a familiar cadence. Her blue eyes snapped open, staring directly into my single exposed, guilty eye from inches away. In that single second of physical contact, she knew. The skin-to-skin intimacy confirmed that the man kissing her was the exact same Loki she had grown close to during our month-long voyage, and that King Owen was still entirely absent.
As the kiss broke, I felt her entire frame give a slight, involuntary shiver. A dark realization seemed to strike her heart, her eyes turning pleading as she stared at me, silently begging for answers about whether her true husband was dead or alive. Then, her gaze flicked toward Fenrir, Pandora, and Frigg standing by the door, and her expression twisted into profound confusion. A sudden, wild theory was taking root in her mind—if Owen's inner circle was entirely comprised of Loki's summons, what if King Owen had never existed at all? What if Loki Sky had been her husband from the very beginning, meaning her newborn child, Sky Blue, was biologically Loki's daughter?
Before Ariel could process her spiral of panic, Leandra stepped in. The high elf clearly disliked seeing the mermaid monopolizing my attention—even if she knew I was a fake—and used her superior strength to pull me out of Ariel's grasp. She immediately buried my face directly into the deep, suffocating cleavage of her white kimono, her voice dropping into a tender, possessive purr.
"Oh-my, Owen-kun. You just spent an entire month isolated with Ariel on that ship; it is officially my turn to receive your undivided love, haha."
Trapped entirely within the massive, warm expanse of her chest, I felt a genuine flash of panic, wondering if a 7th Circle Knight could actually become the first warrior in history to die of asphyxiation via an elf's bosom. I reached behind her back, frantically tapping my fingers against her spine until the giggling woman finally loosened her grip enough for me to breathe. Despite her playful exterior, I could feel the tight, anxious tension in her muscles.
She was terrified that Owen was gone forever, and she was clinging to my fake persona like a lifeline just to keep her sanity intact.
The moment my face was clear, Xia Bing stepped into the space. Driven by her own desires after being left behind at the Ice Palace Sect for nearly two months while I traveled as Hao Hun, she grabbed my collar and pulled me into a passionate, unyielding kiss that completely cut off the rest of the room.
Ariel watched the display, a sudden jolt of protective panic and raw jealousy flaring in her chest. Believing that Xia Bing was completely unaware of my identity, she assumed I was actively taking advantage of Owen's innocent wife while playing the role of the king. Striding forward, she grabbed my left arm and yanked me backward to break the kiss, anchoring herself to my side.
"Owe-kins, you are staying in my palace chambers tonight! I bought a brand new outfit just for your return, and I will dress up for you!"
Ariel's sudden aggression was actually a desperate attempt to protect the household. She figured that since she had already crossed that line with me during our month-long trip, she needed to act as my exclusive partner inside the harem to prevent me from accidentally sleeping with the other unsuspecting wives and ruining their lives.
Leandra’s eyes narrowed, her elven pride flaring as she wrapped her arms around my torso from behind, pulling me back into her solid frame. She glared directly at the mermaid, her voice strict and unyielding.
"Ariel, go back to the nursery and take care of your baby. Tonight, I will be the one taking care of my baby. Right, Owen?"
Xia Bing set her teacup down with a soft click, her pale blue eyes flashing with pure amusement as she read the chaotic thoughts swirling through my mind. Deciding to throw more fuel onto the fire, she leaned forward against her armchair, her voice dropping into a sultry, dangerous taunt.
"My King, we still have dynamic matters regarding Feng'er and his official Crown Prince title to finalize. I believe those details are best handled over private pillow talk tonight. Come, husband."
Standing near the hearth, Angelica rolled her yellow wolf eyes, her telepathic voice laced with deep amusement as she watched me being physically pulled in three separate directions. [Jeez, even when the real Owen was here, those three never showed this much raw enthusiasm to drag him into their beds all at once, haha.]
As the three queens continued to use my body like a literal tug-of-war rope, I rolled my single blue eye toward the ceiling and fired a miserable thought back through the link. [I absolutely hate being King Owen, sigh.]