Familiar faces

“Indeed. Just before Seth left the kingdom to join the meeting, he officially married Maya so the kingdom would still have a royal figure in the middle stages of its expansion.” Said Henrietta, looking weirdly at Katy. “Didn’t you know?”

Katy’s face looked paler by the second, remembering all the times she talked back to Seth, but as soon as she remembered their heated moments, her paleness was suddenly replaced by a bright red color, extending all the way from her neck to her tiny ears.

It looked like her mind was overwhelmed entirely because, in the next moment, her body wobbled lightly, and she fell unconscious.

Henrietta quickly caught her before she could hit her head on the table and looked towards the others. “Oops. Will Seth be angry I ruined his surprise?”

“What surprise? She’s a fool for not figuring out even after traveling to the castle.” Added Aleena, still pouting while gazing at the two kissing on the ground.

“Hey Maya, we all missed Seth, so can you leave some for the others? Also, Seth, you might want to know your little girlfriend passed out after Henri spilled the beans.” Said Hollie, even her face starting to show a trace of irritation.

Maya showed no sign of stopping, but Seth quickly pinched her belly, causing her to flinch in pain. “Ouch.”

Smiling wryly, Seth looked into Maya’s accusing eyes and said: “I missed you, Maya, but Hollie is right. I’ll make it up to you later, promise.”

Maya licked her lips clean and nodded, finally sitting up and adjusting her clothes, before turning towards Hollie: “You’re just mad I won the bet, and now you’re looking to ruin my fun.”

Seth gave the two a weird look, but both scoffed at the same time and refused to explain, leaving him with no choice but to walk toward the unconscious Katy.

<Her vitals are normal.>

‘Thank you.’ Receiving the diagnosis from the system, Seth felt relieved and rubbed the guilty-looking Henrietta’s head. “I knew she would figure it out after taking her to the castle. Her passing out is unexpected, but she’ll be fine.”

Henrietta nodded, and her guilty figure quickly turned into an expectant one, leaving Seth with no choice but to bend down and kiss her lips. He did the same with Aleena and Tiana before turning towards Maya, who was still staring daggers at Hollie.

“What’s with you two? And what bet?”

“When you left the kingdom, we each bet on how many girls you’ll bring back, and we were going to spend time with you in order of which one of us got closer.” Said Maya.

“Oh?” Seth looked intrigued after noticing the weird looks on everyone’s faces, prompting him to ask: “So, how many did each guess?”

“I bet 5.” Said Maya with a proud look, but it was Seth’s turn for his expression to turn slightly strange.

“If you bet five and won…” muttered Seth before turning towards the others, “what did the rest of you bet?”

“7,” said Henrietta.

“8,” said Aleena.

“10,” said Hollie, but Tiana only lowered her head, not giving a reply yet.

“You really thought I’ll bring over so many girls? You are barely five in number….” Seth sighed before looking at Tiana, who was getting smaller and smaller in her seat. “How many?”

Tiana whispered something under her breath, but Seth couldn’t hear her, so Maya made sure to speak for her: “She bet you’ll come home with over 20 girls.”

Seth couldn’t understand how she would guess twenty and muttered: “I had no idea you had so many expectations of me….”

Maya quickly moved to hold onto his arm and whispered: “Is it that excessive? We already know you plan to woo all your students, but you haven’t had the time. There’s also your lust source and your status as a king now.”

“Speaking about wooing women.” Continued Maya as she turned towards Katy. “Who’s this one? And why do I get a familiar feeling from her?”

“Now that you mentioned it.” Added Henrietta. “I also felt a strange sense of intimacy earlier when I held her not to fall.”

Seth figured it must be because of his lust energy and sighed as he pushed Aleena to the side, making way for him to sit down.

“It’s a long story…” Seth briefly explained his journey north, what happened at the meeting, and Katy’s condition to his women.

“Her body was changed by your lust source?” asked Hollie, quickly moving next to Katy and examining her with interest.

“It appears so…” said Seth with a sigh.

“Oh, yeah, have you figured out what’s with the mark on our bodies? We noticed nothing abnormal while you were away.” Asked Maya, lifting her shirt to show Seth the mark on her belly, which was still as vibrant pink as on the day it was created.

Seth shook his head and said: “I didn’t. I think it might have been created since the lust energy of the fourth shell couldn’t transform your body as it did with Katy. As for what purpose it has, if it even has one, I have no clue.”

“I like it either way.” Said Maya, pulling her shirt back down. “It’s like a sign of our love.”

As they were chatting, Katy started to slowly open her eyes. At first, she was confused, her eyes instinctively searching for Seth, but then she remembered why she had passed out and did not know what to do.

‘Should I bow? Kneel? Ask for forgiveness? Not even the king’s wife has the right to speak to her husband as I did. Probably not even the big-breasted one who jumped on him as soon as we arrived would speak to him like that. What do I do? What do I do?’

Everyone at the table suddenly turned towards Katy, a strange look appearing on their faces. Seth quickly noticed that as he was about to ask Katy how she was doing and asked the girls instead: “Did something happen?”

“You didn’t hear it?” asked Henrietta, making Seth appear even more confused, but the same couldn’t be said about Katy, who already realized what had happened due to it not being her first time. She turned to look at Maya’s large chest for a moment before passing out once more.

Henrietta giggled while supporting her again and continued: “We somehow managed to hear her thoughts, I think.”

“You as well?” asked Seth with a frown, quickly removing his mental barrier and asking: ‘Can you hear me?’

The girls all nodded, a somewhat lustful look on their faces. Maya even bit her lower lip as she exclaimed: “If you do that again, I might jump you again.”

Seth blocked his mind again and muttered: “It seems that the mark has changed something for you too. Can you try talking to me, but in your mind?”

An awkward silence was instilled at the table for a couple of seconds before Hollie exclaimed: “It seems to only work one way.”

<The lust energy inside their womb appears to act as a receiver for soul transmissions, but since they don’t have the host’s knowledge about souls, nor Katy’s full link between soul and body, they can only receive and not send messages.>

“It would appear so.” Said Seth, “but we at least know that the mark is not simply cosmetic.”

“Can you tell us how it works?” asked Hollie again, a thirst for knowledge emerging on her face.

Seth nodded and explained how the lust energy had imprinted into their souls and a little about soul transmissions.

“Interesting. I want to read more about it. Can you make me some books about soul knowledge?” Asked Hollie.

Seth was about to agree when he realized something and asked the system. ‘Can you still give me knowledge information?’

<Former timeline data is saved inside the system and is still available.>

Nodding towards Hollie, Seth said: “I’ll make some books for you when I have time. To be honest, my knowledge of souls is also not that deep, so let me know if you come up with any ideas about either Katy’s situation or my lust energy.”

Hollie nodded excitedly, and Aleena quickly asked from the side: “If you start giving books, can you make some for me as well?”

“Don’t you have enough books at the library? What do you need more for?” asked Seth with a raised eyebrow. Soul knowledge was not something he planned on letting the others see, but novels that would interest Aleena were plenty in the city library.

“Yes, but there are not many about you. I want to read about your adventures. Also, I want some about that Tower.”

Seth sighed and nodded: “Fine. I’ll make you some books as well.”

A few minutes later, as they were chatting casually, mainly the girls asking him questions about his journey north, Katy once more woke up.

Seeing her trying to hide away, Seth teleported to her side and held her in his arms. “Are you alright? Why are you acting so shy all of a sudden? Everyone here is family.”

Katy held onto Seth’s clothes tightly and bowed her head towards Maya, doing her best not to let her thoughts project outwards. “Queen Maya, I apologize for my rude words earlier.”

“Queen Maya?” said the girls with a chuckle.

“Rude words?” asked Seth, not knowing what Katy had said.

“You mean the comment about my breasts?” asked Maya, proudly raising her ample chest. “I don’t get what was rude about it. Quite the opposite; you should tell me more about it.”

Seth chuckled and lifted Katy’s head: “See? What’s there to worry about? Also, you don’t have to speak so subserviently to others. You’re all my women.”

Katy blushed and nodded, not expecting Seth to call her his woman in front of the others. She wanted to yell at him again for not telling her his identity, but she felt that she had embarrassed herself enough for one day and chose to remain silent.

Maya looked at Katy’s red face and muttered: “You really have a thing for shy little lasses.”

Feeling Aleena’s gaze digging holes into her side, Maya giggled playfully and asked: “What? Did I strike a nerve? There’s Tiana, you, and Henrietta. You and Henrietta got a little bolder lately, but look at Tiana; she’s still as red as a tomato most of the time Seth is nearby.”

“Can you not make me look like a pedophile?” asked Seth with a sigh, eliciting a small round of giggling from everyone around the table, even Katy smiling shyly in his arms.

The girls continued asking Seth questions about his journey north, even addressing some of them to Katy from time to time so she won’t feel so awkward.

After about half an hour, Maya finally couldn’t take it anymore. Sitting up from her spot, she moved to sit next to Seth and asked: “Are we going to chat here all day, or should we move somewhere more comfortable?”

Suddenly, Seth felt stared at by five predatory pairs of eyes and knew that the plans for his return to the capital would have to be delayed for at least a couple more days, the time in which he hoped to satisfy his lovers.

A round circle extended from his body, covering the entire ground and everyone on it, and Seth exclaimed with a meaningful smile.

“You asked for it.”