Chapter 1597 Strategies

"Feed me! Brother, feed me too!"

Primula jumped out of her chair and came running to him with a plate full of pastries in her hands.

"Out of the way, shorty!" Sarah stood between the little girl and her brother.

"Shorty? You're the shorty! Your whole family is shorty!"

Sarah placed her hand on her hips and looked down at the pouting little girl with a teasing expression. "I'm your sister-in-law, correct?"

"W-What about it?"

"Then we're family. If everyone in my family is shorty, you're also shorty. See, you just admitted."

"Ahhh!" Primula's jaw dropped.

Sarah turned around and the teasing expression on her face turned into a pitiful one, with moist eyes and pursed lips.

Stretching her arms toward him, the Queen asked with a pitiful expression. "Var,

I'm very hungry. My tummy hurts so much. Can you feed me?"

Looking at the plate he filled for her in which most of the food was still left, Evander looked up at the sky and cursed in anger.

'Why? Why? Why does that bastard have such a sway on my daughter?'

"…You can use this." Hazel gave him a kerchief.

"Thanks." Evander nodded with a serious expression before covering his face with it. "C-Can you imagine spending your entire life waiting for someone? And living with the fear that it might never come true?"

Hazel's expression dimmed a little before it brightened. "My life is exactly that. But I'm already very satisfied with what I have. I really have no complaints."

Evander froze and then looked at Hazel in surprise. Then, his face lit up and he nodded vigorously.

"I'm also very satisfied. But my old heart…haaah~ I guess I'll just have to survive until it happens."

Evander stood up and threw an apple at Varian.

The fruit was supposed to hit him in the face. But the cunning Varian opened his mouth and bit the fruit.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Evander left with cool words. "I'll focus on my training and live as long as I can. Pseudo divine, here I come!"

Evander leaving abruptly was the least of Varian's concerns.

Now, he's being beseiged by three parties.

"Feed me, brother!"

"Var, your Queen is very, very hungry."

Primula kept trying to jump into his lap and Sarah placed her hand on the little girl's head, keeping her down while she leaned forward with moist eyes.

But that's not it.

"Husband, it's been a long time since I rested on your lap and got fed. We only did it three million times back then."

Isadora said with a nostalgic smile while throwing out a staggering number just to frustrate Sarah.

But Isadora had her own frustration.

"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! Feed me! Feed me too! No one ever fed me! I'm a feeding virgin unlike my senior sister whose feed count is in millions."

Varian gasped and Sarah covered her face. Hazel, as reliable as always, covered Primula's ears.

Whether she meant it or not, Aurora's choice of words were…offensive, to put it mildly.

"Aurora!" Isadora grabbed the young woman's cheeks and looked down at her with a large smile.

"Eh? Eeeh?" Miss Calamity didn't understand why Isadora was pissed.

She didn't really mean anything else.

But looking at the vein popped up on Isadora's forehead, Miss Calamity had a thought.

'I screwed up!'

"Kyaaa!"

Giving up everything else, Miss Calamity ran for her life.

"Wait, you little virgin bi…"

Primula's ears were once again covered.

That day, the unintentional words of Miss Calamity caused Princess Isadora to use profane words for the first time in her life.

Varian shook his head and gestured to Sarah and Primula. They looked at each other in confusion but stepped forward.

With a flick of his wrist, Primula was seated on the dining table in front while Sarah was seated in his lap.

"Alright, open your mouth."

"Aaa~"

"Aaa~"

Taking their favorite dishes, Varian fed them with a lot of care. The two didn't clash and obediently had their food. For some reason, it tasted much better than when they ate by themselves.

"Varian, I got you the pieeee~"

Hazel, who was watching Varian feeding the two with a happy face, swallowed her saliva.

'Oh no!'

Proving her worries wrong, Sia didn't compete with the two.

"Oh you're feeding them? Then I'll feed you!" Sia sat on his other lap and began to feed him.

After some time, Sarah decided she too wanted to feed him. So, she let Sia take her place and took hers.

Eventually, Primula felt that she shouldn't lose out.

"Brother! Me! Me! Me too!"

When Isadora returned with a battered Aurora, they witnessed the harmonious scene.

"Heh, look who's here." Sarah smirked as she licked the cream at the corner of her lips.

Isadora stepped forward and Sarah got off Varian's lap, preparing for a fight.

"I didn't really mean anything though…" Miss Calamity followed behind with her head lowered, appearing extremely pitiful.

"Husband," Instead of fighting as Sarah anticipated, Isadora clevered slid into Varian's lap and hooked her arms around his neck. "Are you really tired of me?"

Her voice was soul stirring.

"Never." Varian said with certainty.

"Then," Isadora looked into his eyes and pointed to her lips. "Will you feed me too?"

Saying so, she gave Sia a look.

Nodding with an understanding expression, Sia vanished. Unexpectedly, Enigma also followed suit.

"…Eh? Wait! Where am I going?"

With a flick of Isadora's wrist, Primula flew away from the dining table and landed near Aurora.

"It's your chance to make up." She said in an authoritative tone.

"Okay, but I still don't know what did I say wrong?" Muttering so, Miss Calamity took away Primula, promising to entertain her with a lot of games.

"Hmph! Is that a show of authority?" Sarah crossed her arms and snorted.

"No, just privacy." Isadora had a big smile on her face and glanced at the maids. As if they understood, the two vanished.

"What are you…" When Varian asked her with a confused expression, the princess bit his finger covered in bits of the special pie.

Licking the pie with her tongue in clumsy movements, she said. "I want another pie."

Thud!

Varian threw her on the dining table and and the sound of fabrics torn rang in the air.

When a tired Aurora returned with an energetic Primula, it was evening already.

"Huh? Why did the table break? And the trees? No, an entire forest! Why are they all broken!"

"That mountain too! Did brother fight them?"

Miss Calamity narrowed her eyes and observed the surroundings. To be sure, this scale of destruction didn't seem like a fight.

It's perhaps…

'Are they playing blindfold chase?'

When Varian and family gathered together for dinner, Sarah and Isadora sat on either sides of him.

Unlike earlier when they were clashing, the two women seemed a lot more calm and harmonious.

After the dinner ended with Varian feeding everyone, Primula was sent to sleep under the care of Helena and Hazel.

Varian gathered with his wives and Miss Calamity beside a quiet lake.

"It's been almost 60 days since you arrived. But only three days passed outside." Sarah narrowed her eyes. "And even though we sealed your powers for a while, you were practicing the slivers with even more passion."

Having been found, Varian raised his hands with a helpless smile. They could seal his divine paths, not his slivers. So, he trained in them, trying to gain proficiency.

"Told you so." Isadora shook her head.

"How much improvement did you see?" Sarah asked with a serious expression.

"First of all, so you knew all along that I'm training with my slivers?"

"We really wanted to give you some time off. With the timeflow difference, a 3 day gap won't be disastrous.

Isadora did expect you'd train the slivers whenever you had the chance. Still, you got time to sort your mind and calm your emotions. So, it's time well spent.

Now that you're fine and Aurora revealed about the situation, we wanted to discuss your battle with Immortal." Sarah admitted.

"…Wow." Varian was genuinely surprised. Isadora showed a 'V' "There are two strategies we prepared. One, we'll hide however longer it takes for you to reach the strength of alliance heads.

Maybe a thousand years or maybe a hundred. Honestly, all my estimtes on you have been wrong. So, I don't even try anymore."

"But how is that even possible? Isn't Hortus' stealth already falling?"

"…If there is enough sacrifice, we can keep it hidden for more than a couple dozen years." Sarah explained in a neutral tone. "This is really a special world. In my thousand years here, I only managed to glimpse a little into its potential. Thankfully, I found this provision."

Varian's eyes widened. "Sacrifice the... people?"