Chapter 773: Truncating a bit…
*Bing-Bong*
Oh, hey! Got over that food poisoning?
$Let it be known, never get sushi from an inland gas station.$
Ah…anyways…
We interrupt this chapter to inform the reader that the travel scenes between Pearl Tusk and Emerald Eye has been removed due to being incredibly boring.
There are only so many ways one can write random ass flirting in the middle of a desert road trip and not get bored with it…or at least not vomit over the fact that you’ll never get a relationship that healt-
|THE FUCK DID I SAY ABOUT GOING OFF SCRIPT?!|
Okay, fine…back to the script, the scenes involving Zhen Liu and his clan heading to Emerald Eye were removed because nothing happened.
However, while the Zhen Clan was staying at Emerald Eye City, they decided to go and meet up with the Goldshire Family since it had been some time since they last caught up with them.
During this short exchange between familial friends though, Zhen Liu made a rather surprising discovery.
As it turned out, while the Zhen Clan were travelling and dealing with their issues over in Roaring Tide, his fiancees had ended up spending time together and became close friends.
In other words, all three of Zhen Liu’s fiancees, and both of his girlfriends, had ended up meeting with one another due to a simple pit stop.
Instead of leaving too much to the imagination though, we’re just going to pick up the story at this scene.
Well, right after this short conversation between the kaijin.
Thank you for your time, we now return to your regularly scheduled chapter.
*Bing-Bong*
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[So… we’re all in agreement that we’re not going to say shit for the duration of this tea time so we can enjoy watching the maestro getting teased like this?]
[I wouldn’t put it that way, but sure.]
[I…guess…]
[It’s been long enough, I can now enjoy the romantic woes of other people again.]
[I’m personally against it, but I have no compelling reason to refuse.]
[Yahtzee.]
[Wait…,] Screamira interjected. [Just to be clear, Nepherage’s core come from that redheaded girl over there, Alicia, right?]
[That is correct,] Nepherage confirmed. [I was born from her desire from a hero.]
[Does that technically make you her daughter?]
[This has actually been asked before, no. Logos and Pathos explained that while our lord likes to treat us kids, we are not related in any manner to him not or desire sources that would imply a parent child relationship other than emotional.]
[A bit wordy, but yeah,] Hurricroak agreed. [That’s more or less the case.]
[Ah, so does that mean you’re aware of Alicia’s mild levels of lust directed towards you?]
[…say what?]
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“So…just to get things straight, you decided to marry Zhen Liu because he was one of the few people willing to fight you…,” Alicia asked with a surprised tone.
“And because you thought it was the best way to end the feud between the branch clan’s patriarch and your older brother?,” Bellona added.
“Yup, well not exactly like that. Believe me,I know there is a hilarious parallel between the fact that our future grandfather-in-law eloped with my brother’s fiancee, only for me to marry his grandson so many years later, but if there’s one thing I learned from my father, is that love waits for no one. That it’s always better to at least try and get rejected then to never try at all. Then again, that might be why I have siblings in the double digits…well, siblings that I know of,” Jinju Ren mused. “The plight of royalty and having a horndog of an emperor for a father…”
“I can relate to that,” Bellona said with legitimate sympathy in her voice. “Nothing says ‘pain’ like a succession war.”
“You know, I used to muse on the idea on being a princess and all the perks that came with it, but hearing how much of a pain it is from you two, kind of kills that fantasy of mine,” Alicia freely admitted.
“Yeah-wait a minute, Bellona, are you by any chance related to another sheep bloodliner by the name of Iona? She participated in the Zhen Clan competition.”
“She’s my cousin!
“Oh really?”
“H-hey girls? It’s great that you’re getting along, but can you let go of my cheeks? They’re starting to get numb,” Zhen Liu pleaded.
“Not until we feel that you’ve been sufficiently punished for your infidelity,” Bellona and Alicia said in surprising unison, in a tone that suggested that they weren’t actually angry, they just loved teasing the poor boy.
“Oh, I can already tell we’re going to get along great,” Jinju Ren mused while sipping from her cup of Stampeding Bison style tea, completely aware as to why they enjoyed teasing him.
The man had the demeanor of a puppy dog and face like one too, it felt wrong not to tease him.
Anyways, shortly after the Zhen Clan arrived to Emerald Eye City and made contact with the Goldshire Family, Zhen Liu was sent off to go and meet up with his fiancee, Alicia Goldshire.
While he was able to keep in contact with her and Bellona via the usage of letters, there was nothing that could replace proper face-to-face interactions.
However, at the time of coming to this decision, Jinju Ren decided that she wanted to tag along because she wanted to know what one of her future sister-wives looked and acted like. After all, the key to any healthy relationship was communication and understanding, especially when it came to something as complicated as polygamy.
However, much to her surprise and Zhen Liu’s chagrin, Jinju Ren wasn’t going to just meet Alicia this day.
When Zhen Liu went to the courtyard where Alicia was enjoying an afternoon tea with a friend, he learned in that exact same moment that Bellona Ecaredies was that aforementioned friend.
Which is why, after all three of these women in Zhen Liu’s life met up with each other, they decided to continue their tea time to better understand each other. Granted, Bellona and Alicia also agreed that in order to “punish” Zhen Liu for his “infidelity”, that they would simultaneously pull on his cheeks like something out of an anime.
When asked where they learned about this particular behavior, they mentioned that Pathos had shown them some things.
…
‘When I get back to the library, I am going to strangle you.’
∆Oh, I’d like to see you try.∆
=Please stop antagonize our lord, Pathos.=
∆But it’s fun!∆
…
Off to the side of all of this though, Jin Fang and Rianna were simply watching these events unfold with semi-formal expressions on their faces.
The reason for their non-participation was twofold, one practical and obvious while the other was a bit more…personal.
On a public level, Jin Fang and Rianna were known as Zhen Liu’s attendants and his fellow disciple, respectively. The only ones who knew that there was a level of romance involved were Zhen Liu’s family members, and Zhen Liu’s fiancees. When asked as to why they insisted on maintaining this secrecy, the two of them gave a weirdly coordinated answer that summed up as, “there was something exciting about maintaining an air of secrecy and immorality to their relationship”.
After receiving an answer like that, much of their curiosity about the matter died.
As for the personal level, well…it’s better to hear it from the source itself.
“So… we’re not actively participating in the teasing of Xiao Liu, because it gives us an opportunity to get closer with him?,” Rianna asked.
“Something like that,” Jin Fang began to explain. “To put it in other words, did you ever read up on those books Logos recommended?”
“A few of them,” Rianna replied while scratching the back of her head. “But a lot of them were filled with big words that caused my eyes to hurt.”
“Understandable, but did you read up on that guy named Pavlov?”
“Uhh…I think so, he was the guy who got dogs to drool over the sound of a bell, right?”
“Yeah, so similar concept to that. Right now, Xiao Liu is being subjugated to a lot of teasing from the others and will be more or less in a negative mood. Not necessarily angry or sad, but not happy either. You get me so far?”
“Yes…?”
“Good. So assuming, Xiao Liu is still in this negative mood, the two of us can swoop in and provide a level of comfort that makes him more appreciative of us on a level deeper than those three,” Jin Fang explained. “It’s kind of like how a dog will actively be aggressive towards everyone except the people who pet and feed them.”
“That…is surprisingly devious of you,” Rianna pointed out.”Did you actually come up with this from that book about Pavlov or did you learn this from elsewhere.”
“Would you believe me when I say that Madam Daria told me that this was how she managed charm Master Zhen Yan?”
“That…explains a lot actually…”
“I know, right?”
As this moment of levity was happening though, a slightly more serious conversation was happening not too far away.
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“I’m sorry, you’re telling me that Aranea was the one who said I gave the go-ahead?”
