Time seemed to have passed for a very long while, yet it also felt as though only an instant had gone by.
When his consciousness finally returned, Riezel remained in an absent-minded state for several seconds, staring blankly as he struggled to understand where he currently was.
No, it was not that he did not know where he was—rather, he was simply unable to accept the current situation, leaving him dazed and bewildered.
He knew he was inside the royal palace in the royal capital of Jinas.
He knew that before carrying out dimensional travel and returning to the world of Danmachi, he had been lying on the bed inside Lizbeth's bedchamber.
He also knew that before the dimensional travel, both Lizbeth and Euryale had been lying beside him, sleeping together with him.
But...
'...Can someone tell me what kind of situation this is supposed to be?'
Lying on the bed, Riezel's entire body had stiffened to the point where he did not even dare move.
And the reason was simple.
Whether it was him or the two girls lying beside him, all of them were currently in a rather dangerous state.
Firstly, there was not a single thread of clothing on his body, and secondly, the two girls lying on his left and right were equally naked.
Now, the three of them lay together beneath a single blanket.
Although it barely managed to cover the most important areas, as the man trapped in the middle and tightly embraced from both sides by the sleeping girls, Riezel could clearly feel just how maddeningly soft, delicate, and smooth the two bodies pressed against him were.
"Fuu... Huu..."
As they slept, the two girls continued breathing in a steady rhythm, their warm breaths brushing against Riezel's face while a sweet fragrance filled the air.
"..."
Riezel remained silent, his entire body stiff, and for a brief moment, he even began questioning life itself.
'Could it be that while I wasn't aware of it, I did something totally messed up to these two?'
It couldn't be helped that he would think that way, considering the current scene was simply too easy to misunderstand, to the point that even Riezel began suspecting whether he had committed the mistake every man would make.
But if that were really the case, then would that not be far too distressing?
After all, he had absolutely no memory or feeling of it whatsoever.
With his thoughts in complete disorder, Riezel suddenly recalled something Lizbeth had once said after a long while.
"Miss Euryale not only dislikes wearing clothes herself, but she also doesn't like letting me wear any. Whenever I sleep together with her, I somehow end up stripped naked in the middle of the night without even noticing."
Remembering those words, it felt as though he had finally discovered the truth.
Just as Riezel's thoughts were becoming increasingly chaotic, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.
"Your Highness, are you awake?"
It was the voice of Luna, Lizbeth's personal maid within the royal palace.
"You've stayed inside your room for an entire day and night already, Your Highness. Are you feeling unwell?"
A faint trace of concern could be heard in Luna's voice.
"I'm coming in, Your Highness!"
Half a second later, the maid made up her mind, pushed the room door open in one motion, and walked in—moving so quickly that Riezel did not even have time to stop her.
As a result, Lizbeth's personal maid saw everything clearly.
She saw a man and two women lying tightly together on the bed beneath a single blanket, with their exposed shoulders and arms showing no trace of clothing whatsoever, making it obvious that all three of them were completely naked.
"..."
Just like that, the two sides stared at each other—one side frozen in shock while the other remained silent, causing the air itself to fall into an awkward silence.
"Y-Y-Y-You—!"
Only after a long moment did Luna finally cry out in shock and fury, as though flames were about to burst from her entire body.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
As she shouted those words, Luna actually pulled a dagger out from beneath the maid's skirt at the root of her thigh and charged toward Riezel with tears glistening in the corners of her eyes while her face was filled with rage.
One glance was enough to tell that she had misunderstood the situation completely.
Riezel neither explained himself nor had the time to do so.
Naturally, he was not in a hurry either.
During his dimensional travel, he had not remained completely defenseless, after all.
*Clang!*
In the next second, the dagger Luna thrust toward Riezel was knocked away by an invisible figure using spider-like limbs, sending it flying toward the ceiling.
"Kya!"
Luna let out a cry of alarm as a powerful force traveled through the hand holding the dagger. Not only was the dagger knocked away, but her entire body was also thrown backward and sent tumbling onto the floor.
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
At the same time, several invisible figures darted out from the walls, ceiling, and corners of the room. Raising their blade-like legs, they slashed toward Luna's head, heart, abdomen, and other vital points without hesitation.
Needless to say, these figures were precisely the Eight-Edge Assassins Riezel had summoned with Summon Monster 7th before carrying out dimensional travel. They had remained guarding the surroundings the entire time, silently protecting him.
Now that Riezel was under attack, they naturally rushed out without hesitation, prepared to dismember the assailant on the spot.
"Stop."
Only then did Riezel finally speak, causing the blade-like legs of the Eight-Edge Assassins to halt abruptly in front of Luna's throat, chest, abdomen, and other vital points.
"Ow!"
Completely unable to sense the existence of the Eight-Edge Assassins, Luna fell onto the floor with a thump, the tears in the corners of her eyes becoming even more obvious from the pain.
"Go back."
Riezel took the opportunity to cancel the summons of the Eight-Edge Assassins, causing each of them to disappear from where they stood.
"Mnn..."
Just then, the sleeping girls were finally awakened by the commotion. One suddenly opened her eyes while the other rubbed her eyes and sluggishly sat up in a sleepy daze.
"What happened? It's so noisy..."
Lizbeth rubbed her eyes and sat up defenselessly, allowing the blanket to slide down from her body and reveal her fair, alluring skin along with her petite yet voluptuous figure.
"..."
Euryale tilted her head slightly, her crimson eyes staring fixedly at Riezel as though silently asking him what exactly had happened.
Seeing their current appearance caused the corner of Riezel's mouth to twitch several times.
'Seriously... how the hell could she even look at me like that? If it weren't for her, would this maid have gotten the wrong idea about me in the first place?'
"Your Highness!"
Unaware of the complaints Riezel was making in his mind, Luna let out another startled cry the moment she saw Lizbeth wake up and rub her eyes while her fair and alluring body was completely exposed to the air.
"No! You can't get up like that, Your Highness! Everything's going to be seen!"
Ignoring the pain in her rear from the fall, Luna threw herself toward Lizbeth.
'Sorry to say this, but I've already seen your princess completely naked a long time ago... more than once...'
Riezel continued complaining inwardly.
Now, the previously quiet master bedroom inside the princess's bedchamber became filled with noise and commotion.
And so, the first day of Riezel's return from dimensional travel began under such circumstances.
===
"Nothing really happened?"
"N-Nothing really happened."
"Really...? Really nothing happened?"
"Really, nothing happened!"
"He didn't succeed in doing anything bad to you?"
"Master isn't a bad person..."
"No, he is. He's the worst kind of bad man."
"Don't say that about Master, Luna..."
About half an hour later, everyone had left the master bedroom and gathered in the sitting room outside, where they each took their seats.
Now fully dressed, Lizbeth's face was bright red as she finally seemed to realize what had happened earlier, becoming thoroughly embarrassed as she looked extremely restless while awkwardly responding to Luna's relentless questioning.
"Hwaahh..."
Euryale was also fully dressed and sitting beside Riezel while yawning.
Even though she had only just woken up, she somehow still looked unbelievably sleepy.
As for Riezel, he naturally had his clothes on as well.
Since his clothes had originally been created through Create Greater Item, he could put them on neatly with a single thought at any time.
At the same time, he now looked as though he had already forgotten everything that had happened earlier—or perhaps he had permanently stored away that somewhat intimate experience and locked it inside a private, hidden folder somewhere within his mind.
At this moment, he sat calmly beside Euryale and across from Lizbeth and Luna, leisurely drinking tea.
But that calm appearance only caused Luna to glare at him repeatedly with a deeply resentful expression.
"Alright, Luna, don't blame Master anymore..." Lizbeth could only speak up for Riezel from the side. "In the first place, that wasn't Master's fault. It was Miss Euryale's bad habit. Master didn't do anything wrong, so don't wrongfully accuse him."
"How is this a wrongful accusation, Your Highness?" Luna immediately argued back instead of calming down. "Your Highness is someone of such noble status, yet not only did you stay alone in the same room as this shameless man, but that... that kind of thing even happened. According to kingdom law, ruining the reputation of a royal princess is absolutely punishable by execution!"
As she spoke, she puffed up angrily.
Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought that the one who had been naked and hugging Riezel earlier had been her rather than Lizbeth.
"But I'm not a princess anymore..." Lizbeth could only respond weakly. "And besides... there's no way Master would ever be interested in someone like me..."
Clearly, the girl had once again fallen into her habitual inferiority complex, and that immediately stimulated Luna.
"Your Highness, what are you saying? How could anyone possibly not like Your Highness?" Luna said emotionally. "Even if you're no longer a princess, you're still the most beautiful lady in this world. You're more than worthy of someone like him—no, it should be said that nobody is worthy of Your Highness at all!"
Luna's intense reaction frightened Lizbeth enough to make her shrink her neck slightly.
"No, that's not true..." Lizbeth said quietly. "Miss Yuri is the real beauty, and Miss Euryale too. Even Elder Sister Marilyn and all the elder sisters in the royal family are much more outstanding than someone like me. I'm nowhere near as amazing as Luna says..."
"Your Highness, you..."
Luna immediately revealed an expression of frustration toward someone who simply refused to live up to expectations.
Clearly, this maid had suffered for a long time because of Lizbeth's self-deprecating personality.
Because of that, she knew very well that no matter what she said now, this little princess would never listen.
"It's all your fault!"
In the end, Luna could only redirect her anger toward Riezel.
"Sure, whatever you say."
Riezel rolled his eyes and could not be bothered dealing with this furious maid.
However, he no longer remained silent and instead asked Lizbeth something.
"I was lying there for an entire day and night. Didn't either of you get up even once during all that time?"
He had assumed that while he was carrying out dimensional travel, Lizbeth and Euryale would eventually get up and leave him midway through. But from the looks of things, the two of them seemed to have remained lying there with him the entire time.
And indeed...
"I called out to you, but you didn't wake up..." Lizbeth explained after having her attention smoothly redirected. "Master was practicing, right? Of course, I had to stay close and protect Master."
Having already learned about the existence of the Dimensional Magic Cube and not being unfamiliar with Riezel sleeping for an entire day and night, she immediately understood what state he was in after realizing that he had never woken up midway.
Because of that, she did not dare leave him carelessly and could only continue lying beside him, carrying out 'close personal protection' just like last time.
As for Euryale, after seeing that neither Riezel nor Lizbeth showed any intention of getting up, she naturally did not get up either, which was why all three of them had remained lying together for an entire day and night without anyone leaving midway.
"So you're clever at times like this, huh?" Riezel said, glancing at Lizbeth. "If only you'd been this clever earlier."
Lizbeth immediately shrank her neck again and timidly lowered her head.
She knew Riezel was referring to how she had given up resisting and even given up contacting him, willingly accepting house arrest inside the royal palace according to Hendrick's arrangements in order to lure out the hidden figures operating behind the scenes.
Riezel still remembered that matter, so naturally, bringing it up caused Lizbeth to become guilty and uneasy.
"You're not allowed to talk to Her Highness like that!"
Luna immediately stood up and blocked Lizbeth behind her while continuing to glare at Riezel.
"And what's wrong with saying it?" Riezel shot back with a faint smile. "Lizbeth's my attendant. Am I not allowed to say a few words to her now?"
Luna instantly became speechless.
It was true.
Lizbeth was still Riezel's attendant, so if even Riezel had no right to say anything to her, then who did?
Of course, Luna quickly recovered.
"Her Highness only became your attendant because of the royal family's orders. As a royal princess, she had obligations to fulfill, which was why His Majesty arranged for her to stay by your side!" Luna argued stubbornly. "Now, Her Highness is no longer a princess of the royal family, so naturally she no longer has any obligation to fulfill the royal family's arrangements or maintain a contract with you."
While her words sounded somewhat unreasonable, there was truth to them as well.
If Lizbeth truly was no longer a princess of the royal family, then what obligation did she still have to sacrifice herself for the royal family and become someone else's attendant?
Unfortunately...
"You don't get to decide that. Lizbeth does."
Riezel calmly continued drinking his tea.
"Stop arguing, Luna!" Lizbeth chimed in and hurriedly tugged on Luna's sleeve. "I became his attendant willingly. Even if I'm no longer a princess of the royal family, I still want to stay with him."
"Your Highness, you..."
Luna once again wore an expression of disappointment toward someone failing to meet expectations.
'Your Highness, you're being foolish.'
'You finally have a chance to gain your freedom, so why would you still willingly become someone else's attendant?'
'Isn't he just a Sword Saint?'
'Even if he's a Sword Saint who's only seventeen years old, and even if he's also a Tactical-Class Magician, with Your Highness's qualifications, there's no need for you to place yourself beneath someone else...'
While Luna was thinking that, Riezel, who had been drinking tea, raised his head.
"We've been lying around all day. Let's go out for a walk."
Right after saying that, Riezel stood up, grabbed the still-yawning Euryale, and casually walked outside.
"Wait, Master!"
Lizbeth quickly stood up and followed after him.
"Your Highness!"
Luna cried out in alarm and hurriedly followed after them as well.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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