"That's… Fast…" Justinia muttered, looking at the half dead Bracca whom I had dumped in front of her the morning after. "I was honestly thinking that it would take another few months before you returned…"

I couldn't even answer her because my face was currently stuffed in between Mother's boobs as she hugged me tightly.

"Ufufufu~ As expected of my little one!" Mother giggled, hugging me even tighter.

"Mnnfffff!!" Was my eloquent reply.

That only spurred Mother to hug me even tighter as she giggled, "Ara, ara~ Does my little one want a reward? Here you go my dearest little one~"

"Mnnnggghhh!!"

"Umm… Madam Nilm… I think you are suffocating Aster there…"

"Ara, ara~ It seems like I got a little carried away, ufufufu~" Mother giggled, finally releasing me from her bosoms.

Nngghh… Thank you Justinia… I owe you one.

I took a second to breathe before turning to the King, "Did we learn anything new about these people?"

Justinia smiled, "Actually, yes. But it's alright, Aster. There's no need for you to worry about this. I will take care of things from here."

I tilted my head, "Are you sure that's ok? You'll be up against Off-Worlders though… We did get some benefits from the gods themselves which might be able to overpower you…"

"You don't need to worry, Aster. Your mother would be helping me in this endeavour."

Ah… If Mother is involved then I guess there's really nothing for me to worry about then.

I looked around the camp that they were in the midst of tearing down. They had been camped right outside of Robburn town and Justinia had told me their next destination was Dolg Mining Town.

I would have wanted to accompany them but there was school tomorrow. More specifically, I had Lumenmancy classes tomorrow and I didn't want to skip that one.

"Were there any other problems on your trip so far like the other time?" I asked, referring to the first Off-Worlder we met on their journey.

Justinia shook her head, "There were none, Aster. As it should be to be honest. I would be quite concerned if we were to meet any other problems on this inspection."

I guess that's true…

"Speaking of which…" The King continued, giving me a pointed look. "I suppose I would need to reward you after you did this for me."

"Eh? I mean… I didn't do it for the reward but… If you want to reward me for it, I wouldn't say no either…"

"Ufufufu~ Does my little one want a reward from Mama too?" Mother asked.

I felt a little apprehensive about her question but I still turned to her nevertheless, "What kind of reward is Mommy giving?"

"Ara, ara~ How about a big hug from Mama?"

Mmm… Well alright…

I went towards her and she spun me around just so that she could hug me from behind with her boobs wrapping around my head.

Of course that's the hug she meant…

Justinia didn't even react to my new position and simply continued our conversation, "Is there anything you would like as your reward, Aster?"

I shrugged, which made Mother's chest bounce from the movement, "I don't really have anything in particular in mind…"

Justinia thought for a moment, "Hmm… How about an artefact from the Royal Vaults? I believe you might be able to find something that interests you there." ṝÄNՕ𝐛Êŝ

I tilted my head, "The Royal Vaults? Not the Royal Armoury this time?"

The King chuckled, "Let's just say that we've made a new place to store things and we've been moving the non-cursed items there for better storage. So how about it?"

"Oh, that sounds nice. I don't mind a reward like that."

"Perfect~ In that case, you can just head over to the palace anytime you are available and tell Levianne to guide you there. She would be able to help you with that."

"Is it alright if I head there now?" I asked, seeing that I have no other plans today anyway so I might as well just let Mary teleport me there later.

Justinia nodded, "That won't be a problem. Just… Well… I suppose you already know what Levianne is like so I doubt she would do anything that might surprise you anyway."

Surprise me? Err… Should I be worried then?

As though reading my mind, Mother patted me on the head, "Ufufufu~ It's alright my little one~ If she does anything to you that you do not want her to do, just call for Mama to help you and Mama will be there immediately~"

Now she's making me worried… But I believe she's just exaggerating things right now…

I bid the both of them goodbye before Mary teleported me to the palace. More specifically, she teleported me to the gates of the palace.

Our Head Maid gave me a bow before returning through the portal, leaving me to head into the palace alone.

I double checked that I had my [Mask Of Impossible Identity] secure on my face before heading towards the gates.

One of the guards approached me as I got closer and I honestly thought he might stop me when he lowered his head slightly when he got within conversational distance.

"Good day, Lady Nilm. May I inquire what the purpose of your visit today is?"

Oh good, they manage to figure out it's me.

"I'm here to meet the Queen. Is she in?"

"Her Majesty is indeed in, Lady Nilm. I will have a maid escort you to her."

The guard turned to nod at one of his colleagues and he rushed off to do as he had suggested.

That gave me the chance to talk to the guards so I decided to strike up a conversation with them.

"Have you guys noticed anything weird lately?" I asked.

"I apologise, Lady Nilm… But what do you mean by 'weird'?"

"Like… People acting out of place or just being weird. Maybe people who don't seem to have common sense or aren't familiar with our habits?"

I was, of course, trying to find out if the general population has taken notice of Off-Worlders yet.

The guard seemed to think for a moment, "I… Do not think there is, Lady Nilm. Should we?"

So they haven't… I guess Off-Worlders in general aren't that well known yet.

That was my thought before another guard spoke up, "Actually… I think I have."

Everyone else turned to him, obviously expecting him to elaborate.

"Remember that other day I told you about the guy I met while on patrol? There was that weird hooded guy who was standing outside the gates. When I called out to demand why he was standing there."

Another guard nodded, "Yeah, I remember now. You mentioned that he said something weird as well."

I tilted my head, "What did he say?"

"He said something like he is within his rights to be there because it's a public place and he's not being detained. That was weird. Probably someone who lost his mind or something."

Ok, that definitely sounds like an Off-Worlder… But it seems like they believe they're still locals but with some mental problems. I guess you wouldn't normally just think that these people are from another World from the get go.

I didn't need to wait long after that before a maid appeared and gave me a deep bow.

"Welcome, Young Mistress. I will lead you to her Majesty."

Oh, it's one of the maids from our family that is working here.

I thanked the guards and followed the maid into the palace.

The maid was silent the entire time as she guided me to the Queen which I was perfectly fine with.

We went through the corridors that I was relatively familiar with and I eventually found myself standing in the library where the Queen was seated in one of the couches reading a book.

Exclusive content from m,v lem|p,yr

"Your Majesty. Lady Nilm is here to--"

"Ahhhh!! Aster!!! You came to see Mama?!" The Queen cried out, literally jumping out of the couch to rush towards me before the maid could finish her words.

She picked me up and hugged me to her chest, squishing my head in between her bosoms while she twirled around.

"Mnnggghhh!!" I screamed into her boobs.

She eventually put me down while giggling, "Ufufufu~ You should come here more often, Aster~ Your Mama misses you~ So are you here to have fun with Mama?"

I coughed, "Ahem… Actually… Sister Justi wanted to reward me for helping her out with some stuff… She said I could pick out something from the Royal Vaults."

"Ara, ara~ I heard about that~ Aster is such a good child~ Well follow me then~ Let's pick something for you and then we can go somewhere where you can tell Mama all about it~"

She took me by the hand and started skipping out of the library, looking more like an excited high school girl than the regal Queen she was supposed to be.

Levianne led me through a part of the palace that I've never been to before and I noted that this part of the palace is quite deserted for some reason.

We eventually came to an ornate double door which Levianne skipped up to and prepared to open, only to pause.

"... The door is open… It should not be open," She muttered.

I looked at the door and, sure enough, it was opened a crack.

Err… This isn't good, is it?

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!

Report chapter

Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter