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Last night, I acted completely recklessly.

The thing is, you know, since she said that in the bath, I thought it would probably be fine…

Dad, mom, uncle, aunty, I’m so sorry. Even though Mika and I are both minors, I partook in sexual acts with her. Even though I thought we’d do these things only after we’d get married.

To be honest, until Mika woke me this morning, I still thought that… I’d done too many perverted things, and that she didn’t like it. Though from how Mika looked, I apparently didn’t need to worry about that.

Well, we didn’t cross the line… Regarding that, good job, my fundamental reasoning.¹
To be honest, that last stronghold of mine… was almost blown away, several times.

We’re only 12 years old. Even if she’s 16 years on the inside… she still looks like 12² to me. That’s why… I mustn’t act in a way that might cause serious liability issues, yes.

Am I useless…? Am I a coward…? That’s not it, you know? Absolutely. I’ll say it again, that’s not it.
Moreover, I want to cherish Mika. That’s why it’s fine like this.

To change the subject, Mika and I got ready and arrived at the Mephilad castle in an instant, as always. The gatekeeper let us through, when he recognized us.

Today was the day, the king would make the victory proclamation. Mika and I would also have to stand next to him. This was tough for us, but it was tough for the king, too. We had just brought the queen back to life and they probably wanted to talk about lots of things that had piled up.

“I wish you a good morning, Alim, Mika!”
“Indeed! A good morning to you, esteemed hero and your companion.”

Right after going inside, we were greeted by a lively Karua. She looked incredibly delighted, joyous, and happy. Karuna… no, the queen was also there.

“I wish you a good morning, Karua and your Majesty.”
“Mor-… I mean, I wish you a good morning.”

Mika wavered, maybe because she was trying to greet Karua casually and the queen with polite speech, so she went with the latter to match me.

“Esteemed hero… you have quite the close relationship with your companion, have you not?” the queen asked.
“Surely… it feels like you are closer that you were yesterday, no?” Karua added.

She grinned broadly at the queen’s question, which had likely been without any concerns.
It can’t be helped, you know, she saw us when we kissed. Perhaps it isn’t a good thing that Mika and I are currently holding hands, right?

“But Mother, I also get along quite well with Alim and Mika, you see,” Karua came to us, with her blonde hair fluttering, and took my free hand.

A flower in each hand… But my own body is also that of a flower.

The castle staff around us looked on with pleasant expressions.

“I heard about you from Karua. Esteemed hero and companion. I hope we can also get along well… Would you mind, if I were to address you by your first names?”

Of course she can. To be honest, rather than being called the hero, I’d prefer being called by my name.

“Yes, by all means do!” I replied to her.
“Of course you can, your Majesty!” Mika agreed.
“Heh-heh, thank you very much. Oh, as for me… I would be glad, if you were to also address me by my name.”

I see, from now on, it should be fine to address the queen as Lady Karuna, right? Understood.

She also walked over to our side.

I thought this several times, but… is she really the mother of three kids? She doesn’t look any different in age from Mr. Ruin and his friends.
As always, skills are incredible. I had the same feeling yesterday.

“Yesterday… Karua told me many… many stories about the time I wasn’t there.”
“And last night! I slept together with Mother.”

Gotcha, Lady Karuna died soon after Karua had been born, if I remember correctly. This was likely the first time, Karua and her Mother had slept together.³ Well, even if you saw them sleeping next to each other, they probably wouldn’t look like anything but sisters sharing a bed.

“You showed up very often in Karua’s stories, Lady Alim, Lady Mika. Thank you very much for playing with my daughter.”
“No, no, that’s because we’re friends!” Mika replied to Karuna thanking us.

I also thought about saying something…

“Ah… hero… I mean, esteemed hero!”

Suddenly, there came a voice from above. When I looked up, there were Herrell, who had an item wrapped around his arm for some reason, and Elle. They hurriedly descended.

“I… I wish you a good morning, esteemed hero.”
“…A good morning to you.”

Miss Elle is clinging to Mr. Herrell’s arm this early in the morning. Though I’m not one to talk. At any rate, the two of them must have gone further than we did last night. That’s obvious.

“A good morning to you, Mr. Herrell,” I greeted him.
“T-That you’d call me that…”

Even though I don’t know him well, his manner of speaking feels somewhat off. It seems like he’s not used to speaking like this.

“My, good morning to you, esteemed former hero and Princess Elle.”
“I… I wish you a good morning, your Majesty!”
“I also wish you a good morning, your Majesty.”

As I thought, Miss Elle and Lady Karuna…
They have the same atmosphere, don’t they…? Though their faces are quite different. They also have the same golden hair. Clearly, in 2 or 3 years, a grown-up Karua will give off an atmosphere no different from them.

“Oh! I wish you a good morning, everyone!”

I noticed the minister was also coming here. He wore unusually pretty clothes.
Did he have those newly made?

“My… a good morning to you too, Sir Oraful.”
“Indeed, a wonderful morning to you, my Queen. You may not have gotten used to it, but… you seem to be feeling fine, no?”
“Yes, thanks to all your efforts.”

The minister looked awfully joyous.

Well, I get it.
Currently, everyone here seemed to be happy.

Frankly, if I said that I wasn’t reluctant to bring people back to life so easily… that would be a lie. Still, I’m glad I revived them. That’s what I think, when all is said and done.

“Miss Alim, Miss Mika, you are being summoned by his Majesty. He is waiting in his private chambers.
“Understood. See you later then, Karua.”
“Indeed, till another time,” Karua let go of my hand.

Mika and I went towards the King’s room.

TL notes:
Back to Alim’s PoV. While chapters where it’s only him and Mika are best to focus on their interactions, which are (at least in my opinion) a high point of this story, it’s also nice to see the other characters again.

1. It’s funny that he’s proud, he was able to avoid crossing the line, while Mika seemed somewhat disappointed in the last chapter.
2. It says 16 here in the original. I assume this is a typo, since it wouldn’t make sense otherwise.
3. I guess he means “sleep together when she’s no longer an infant”. While royalty traditionally had servants take care of children, I can’t really see the Mephilads acting like this.