Savage Divinity

The gentle sway of our ship threatens to lull me back to sleep, but the pitiful groan of my beloved wife seizes my heart and squeezes it tight, because Mila’s suffering is my suffering, even if it’s from something innocuous as seasickness.

“Here, drink this.” Stifling a grunt of exertion as I help Mila sit up, I hand her a warm cup of ginger and chamomile tea I just finished preparing, having brought all the necessary tools and ingredients into the cabin last night for this very reason. “It should soothe your stomach and maybe let you get back to sleep.”

Offering a wordless grunt full of doubt and misery, my beloved wife nestles heavily into my embrace and makes no move to take the cup, but angles her head just enough to allow me to bring the cup to her lips. Not to make light of her suffering or anything, but I can tell she’s really milking her condition for all it’s worth, so I play along and make consoling noises while she drinks her tea. How she can get seasick on this massive, gentle river barge is beyond my comprehension, but it’s almost endearing to know this strong, domineering woman has this one debilitating weakness.

If only it wasn’t for all the vomit...

Two tiny cups of tea is all she can handle, but she accepts a bit of licorice root to chew on as I lift her into my lap. “Sorry beloved,” I murmur, rocking her gently while wiping sweat from her brow. “I’d hoped that spending the night on the ship while it was docked would help you acclimate to the movement, but it seems it wasn’t enough.” Again, Mila grunts in response, one laden with sarcasm as if uttering, ‘You don’t say?’. A versatile grunter, my beloved wife is, and it takes an effort of will not to chuckle. Kissing her forehead and hugging her tight, I ask, “How about we step outside? The cool breeze might make you feel better, and you can look out into the horizon and see if that helps too. I’ll even Conceal us so no one sees you, so what do you say?”

Her response is yet another grunt, one which I take to mean she doesn’t really want to, but will go along with whatever I say so long as it takes no effort on her part. Setting her back on the bed, I wipe her body down with a cool cloth before helping her into a set of clean, cotton robe. It’s difficult to resist the urge to tease or tempt her, but I doubt she’s feeling amorous in her current condition, not to mention the fact that sweet Lin-Lin is buried under the covers beside us and will not take kindly to us if we were to interrupt her beauty sleep. Unfortunately for me, Mila’s weakened state appeals to the ingrained predator lurking deep within my psyche, one that wants to push her down and have my way with her while she cannot resist, a sentiment that does not escape her notice as my emotions betray me through Aura and Chi. While she blushes in full force and responds with amused disbelief, it’s my turn to grunt in wordless apology as I try my best not get too too excited while seeing and touching her bared body.

Though sorely lacking in resolve, I soldier on and make it through without incident, which earns me a fond brush of the cheek as my sickly wife thanks me for my efforts and restraint. Briefly taking a comb to her tangled red ringlets, a new style she’s been trying out which works fabulously with her naturally curly hair, I do what I can to tidy up her appearance even though I wholly intend to keep her Concealed at all times, because I know she’s feeling self conscious and wouldn’t mind the extra bit of TLC. Despite her infirmity after a long and restless night, my beloved Mila is as beautiful as ever and I make sure to let her know this not only with my words, but my actions and emotions as well. It’s clear she doesn’t entirely believe me, thinking me a blind fool for being so attracted to her in this state, but I’ll keep telling her from now until the day I die, and maybe she’ll even eventually believe me.

One can only hope. It pains me to know I cannot wholly express just how much I love my wives in a way they understand.

Nuzzling her cheek to show her my melancholy is shallow and fleeting, I kiss Lin-Lin’s forehead goodnight before deploying my Domain in the form of a Shroud of Reinforcement, an action which has all but become second nature after a month of dedicated practice. Honestly, utilizing Domain Plating came so naturally that I wasn’t even sure about how to practice it, but Dad suggested I work on separating the defensive aspects of Domain Plating with the offensive ones. His reasoning was that while it’s easier to manage the various different effects by consolidating them into an all-purpose exo-suit of Chi, learning how to individually manifest each effect would allow me to grow more proficient at fine-tuning them, not to mention cut down on the overall expenditure of Chi. That being said, it was trickier than expected and it took a fair amount of practice to get right, especially with External Reinforcement. The mechanics behind the skills are more or less the same, enveloping myself in a Shroud of Chi that acts as a framework to assist my physical movements, but it takes more focus to ‘disable’ the defensive aspects I would include if using my Chi Exo-Suit. In order to turn off the auto-Domain Deflection and Reverberation, I first had to figure out how I was doing it in the first place, which in turn helped further my understanding of the mechanics behind those Chi skills and has allowed me to do all sorts of fancy new tricks.

Of course, I had plenty of help from Dad, Akanai, and my beloved wife who is currently nestled in my arms, for which I am eternally grateful. There are still many mysteries I have yet to unravel, like the nitty gritty details of how Concealment works, but that doesn’t stop me from using the strange and mysterious skill. Lifting Mila’s dainty form as I stand, I carry her out of our stuffy cabin and away on a long trek through the corridors and up the stairs onto the wide, sprawling decks. As I make my way slowly but surely past the sailors and other passengers, I do my best to counteract the swaying ship underneath us to help settle Mila’s delicate stomach. Difficult to say if it is my gentle efforts, the chamomile tea, the licorice, or just the cool breeze upon her skin, but my beloved wife’s sickly complexion soon shows a marked improvement in a matter of mere minutes, though I will continue to coddle and care for her until such a time as she asks me to stop. Upon arriving at the ship’s uppermost deck, I cradle my beloved wife in my arms and nuzzle her temple as we stare west over the horizon and take in the boundless beauty of the Central Plains.

When I first came to this province, I thought it boring and flat, but lately, I’ve come to see the charm in the local environment as spring and summer pass us by once again. The North has plenty of forests with towering trees and tangling vines, but the sheer variety of Central flora is truly breathtaking to behold. Given the moderate climate and lack of competing growth, there are flowers in bloom for a good eight months of the year, and these contested fields have flourished in the absence of Defiled tribesmen and Imperial soldiers trampling all over them. Every colour of the rainbow is represented somewhere in those fields, with clusters of bluebells growing side by side with cascading bushels of wisteria in a blue and violet explosion. Red roses, white lilacs, yellow sunflowers, and pink azaleas add even more colour to the mix, their vibrant blossoms dotted about the verdant green landscape in a wild and beautiful natural arrangement.

This is the sort of peace and serenity I would fight and kill to protect, so that future generations can appreciate the beauty this world has to offer, but alas, the powers that be are unwilling to leave me be to do my work and now see fit to block my way. In order to retake the West and drive the Defiled back, I need an army of Martial Warriors greater than any the Empire has ever mustered before, but despite our planned counter-attack scheduled to begin in twelve days, South and Central have yet to dispatch even a single soldier to the staging grounds in SuiHua. Staunch and valiant though the Warriors of the North might be, I cannot retake an entire province with them alone, and so I must make my way to Central and strong arm my political rivals instead of spending these precious few days before my grand campaign with my beloved family.

Which of course means I am in no mood to play nice. I intend to march into the Central Citadel with swords drawn and bows bent, and if I still do not get what I want, then I will not hesitate to spill blood.

Lin-Lin’s advice about showing strength has proven useful this past month, and I’ve garnered something of a domineering reputation in so short a time. The real estate kerfuffle was giving me enough headaches as it was, but then the merchants of Central started to band together and work against me in more aggressive ways, colluding to raise prices across the board through fabricated demand and artificial scarcity. This of course started literally the day after my wedding, and while Luo-Luo and Yuzhen suggested I take an even-headed approach, I was in no mood to get out of bed to meet with greedy merchants and war-profiteers. Apparently, they were kicking up a fuss because there were ‘bandits’ targeting caravans delivering essential goods to the Citadel, and they wanted to renegotiate our contracts to reflect the cost of increased security. The diplomatic thing would be to pretend to believe them and accept the increased costs as the price of doing business, but that was the old Legate, the kind and merciful Falling Rain who just wanted everyone to get along. Instead, I ordered Kuang Biao to lead the Death Corps out and search a number of warehouses under false pretenses, making up something about suspected Defiled sympathizers meeting in and around the area. Having ‘fortuitously’ stumbled upon caches of supposedly stolen goods, I then had the Death Corps ‘return’ said goods to their owners minus my 10% finder’s fee while Luo-Luo none too subtly implied that next time, I would not be so generous.

A warning made all the more threatening because I asked Dad to go along with her. Though Mother-in-Law Akanai is far more formidable a Warrior, she’s too beautiful to be properly intimidating, while no one looms better than Dad can.

That was merely the first of many such events as I geared up for my righteous crusade, but now, Central and South have decided to stop even pretending to play the game. By ignoring my orders to dispatch their armies to SuiHua, they’re doing the military equivalent of taking their ball home to sulk. This is technically treason, but as with so many things in regards to the law, might makes right in this twisted, backwards world I’ve found myself in. I could go to the Disciplinary Corps and ask them to arrest Shuai Jiao, Marshal Yo, Marshal Quyen, and all their lackies to boot, but even if the Justicars play along and the criminals go away quietly, which is unlikely considering Shuai Jiao’s backing, I would still be left with the monumental task of running three provinces and an extended military campaign while short on managerial and Martial talents.

Like it or not, I need Shuai Jiao and the two Marshals on my side if I want this counter-attack to go as planned, but if they’re hell-bent on opposing me, then I’d rather work with lesser talents than delay my plans too much. It’ll take time and effort to get things working smoothly under new leadership, but if I need to replace all three of those bastards to see my vision through, I’ll do it in a fucking heartbeat. The trick is to kill or neutralize them without sparking off a civil war, but I think I have a pretty good plan in place.

“So much anger,” Mila murmurs, drawing me out of my thoughts. Her gaze of concern is like a tidal wave of icy cold water poured over the smouldering embers of my pique, and I melt before her touch upon my cheek. “I know your heart is set upon saving the people of the West, but do not forget that the people of North, South, and Central need your protection as well.”

There’s plenty I could say to make my point. Going on the offensive is the best choice here, since it moves the lines of conflict further west instead of leaving it here on our doorstep. The people living along the border have suffered too much already, so a victory away from the Wall will do wonders for morale, as it will signify that they are no longer in so much danger. Secondly, an offensive campaign means we have the initiative and can fight battles on our terms instead of playing passive and only responding to Enemy movements. We don’t need to take and hold every Western port along the Azure Sea, we just need to fortify one and use the rest as rapid response posts, ones from which to launch raids against the Defiled supply lines or abandon as needed. What’s more, with Runic Cannons, trained Irregulars, and a host of new ranged weaponry to wield, we finally have the means to counteract the Defiled advantage of numbers in the field, and if we’re fighting in the West, then we can ensure most of the damage is done away from our fortifications, which even as we speak are being improved and reinforced in all manner of ways.

Lastly, for every Westerner we free from captivity, we not only free a suffering innocent, we also deny the Enemy a potential recruit, and possibly even add another Martial Warrior to the Imperial Army, if Lang Yi and his cohorts are anything to go by. Major General Gao Changgong is also adamant that there are elements of Western resistance still fighting the good fight, and while I hope he is right, I am less than optimistic about their chances. He’s been out of the province for more than a year now, and to call the picture he painted of his time there ‘bleak and foreboding’ would be a gross understatement.

However, instead of going off about this and more, I instead nod and press my cheek against Mila’s hand to better savour her tender touch. “Of course, beloved. I’ve thought long and hard about this and have a long list of concessions I’m ready to make, so I’m sure I can come to an agreement with the Commander General.” Not entirely true and Mila knows it, but to be fair, it’s possible Shuai Jiao surprises us both and concedes for something silly like the opportunity to lead the invasion or something. I honestly have no idea what he intends to gain by forcing my hand like this, because were I anyone else, his refusal to heed orders would be tantamount to daring me to have him killed. This is not a move I expected from the otherwise level-headed Commander General, and while my orders were given in secret to preserve what operational security we could, certain peoples have already noticed something hinky afoot. I’ve been gathering Northern soldiers in SuiHua for some time now, which is not something you do lightly. It takes a lot of time and effort to feed and house so many Martial Warriors, not to mention the growing fleet anchored just outside the harbour bay. I made it clear I intend to head west at the head of a conquering army, and it’s obvious to anyone watching that I’m getting ready to make good on that promise, which makes it strange that South and Central have yet to act. It’s not just a lack of armies heading to SuiHua, they’re also not gathering soldiers or supplies in the Citadels themselves, or at least not any more than what’s needed to defend the border. There are plenty of other clues hinting that all is not well between the outer provinces, but hopefully, I can put out all the fires and convince Shuai Jiao to support my efforts to retake the West.

Unfortunately, while Luo-Luo’s reports still arrive every day without fail, many of my Central allies have also fallen suspiciously silent, such as the Marshal’s younger brother and my business partner Yo Shi-Woo, and the Ryo Family Matriarch Jeong Hyo-Lynn. Even Ishin Ken Shibu, Tam Taewoong, and Fung have stopped responding to my friendly correspondences, which means someone is either intercepting my messages before they arrive, or more likely stopping their responses from getting back to me.

Hence why I need to visit the Central Citadel in person to sort this all out, but that doesn’t mean I have to be on edge the whole trip there. Having received my Sending to come join us, Yan soon arrives nearby and I bring her into my bubble of Concealment alongside Mama Bun and Blackjack. The bicorn bunny is particularly enamoured to see me again, hopping about in a circle to chase her tail before flopping onto her back for belly rubs. Mannerisms she picked up from Buddy and their time together in my Natal Palace, so I reward her adorable efforts with plenty of the love and attention she so desires. Once properly greeted, she hops into Mila’s arms and graciously allows me to greet Yan and Blackjack as well, the latter of which is more than content to remain perched atop her head. His chubby cheeks are pressed so tightly in between her twin horns that I doubt he can even see, and the sight of his razor-sharp bucktoothed incisors does much to add to his goofy charm. After looking a little closer, I realize he’s actually fast asleep, though I’m not sure if it’s because he’s tired or because he has nothing better to do while wedged between Yan’s horns. He never perches on my head, or Mila’s either, and not even Li-Li can entice him to ride around in her hair, but now I suspect it has something to do with our lacking structural support. Only Yan and Lin-Lin possess the right attachments which allow him to stay up their heads without falling off, and it’s clear whose head he prefers, but at least he’s made the best of his situation and is getting in a few z’s.

“You can put me down now,” Mila says, her complexion much improved from when she woke up this morning. “You must be getting tired.”

“Not at all, beloved,” I reply, making no move to set her down and instead giving her thigh a cheeky squeeze. “I’d hold you in my arms all day and night, if only you would allow it.”

“Well I don’t,” she replies, wiggling away from grasping hand and mock glaring at me until I set her back down. “And you can stop Concealing us too. I want to play with Ping Ping and the quins.”

Despite her brusque tone, I know she’s only concerned that I’ll overuse Chi and wake up with a massive headache come tomorrow morning, or worse, be exhausted by the time we arrive at the Citadel later today. There’s plenty of work still to be done, and seeing how I’m gearing up to butt heads against a Living Legend, she wants to make sure I’m as fresh as can be, even if it means she’s stuck being miserable and seasick. Fortunately, the tea and licorice seems to have done the trick, and my fiery beloved is back in high spirits as she leans over the deck railing to call out to the quins swimming below. Soon enough, she catches big Mafu’s attention, who leaps several meters out of the water to latch onto the side of the ship and chitter happily for treats.

“Mother in Heaven,” Yan mutters, shaking her head with a grin as the wood creaks and groans under Mafu’s prodigious weight. “I swear he gets bigger and fatter every time I see him.”

Wrapping one arm around her slender, supple waist, I pull her in close and gently hip bump her as punishment for maligning my sweet, chonky quin. Okay, so he looks more giant sausage than water-weasel, and sure he can’t run as quickly or as far as he used to, but he’s still the same gentle, mild-mannered floof we all know and love. “He’s not that fat,” I lie, unable to do so without looking away from both Yan and Mafu to stare up at the sky, an obvious tell if there ever was one. “And I already strictly limited how many treats I give him every day.”

“That you did, but you failed to account for the treats everyone else feeds him.” Reaching out with her foot to prod Mila’s calf, Yan laughs as the other woman scowls with mock ferocity at having been called out, and only then do I notice the fistful of dried fruit she’d hidden away from my sight. Mafu’s chubby cheeks barely have to work before swallowing the delectable treat, and the sly beast even has the gall to pretend not to notice my glare, resting his many chins on the railing while rocking his otter head back and forth in supplication of scritches. Ignoring Mila’s pique, Yan reaches over to provide said scritches and adds, “Mila’s not the only one, nor is she the worst offender, so I think it’s high time you put this obese quin to work before he grows too fat to move.”

“Good idea. You hear that mister? Diet and exercise are coming your way, because I want you to live a long and healthy life.” Giving Mafu’s cheek a vigorous rub, I resist the urge to hug his fat head, if only for the sake of propriety. The Legate can hardly walk around soaking wet and smelling of wet quin for the rest of the day, and I’m not willing to risk waking Lin-Lin just so I can change. My sweet wifey is an amazing woman who I love and adore, but everyone treads lightly around her in the mornings. Only a fool would risk her ire, not because she’s particularly mean or vindictive, but her reprisal always arrives when you least suspect it, and never in any way you can predict. I myself experienced it first-hand when I bit into a freshly steamed dumpling and found the innards packed with foul tasting soap, which was payback for teasing her about her unladylike language while speaking about a gaggle of nagging merchants who kept making contrived excuses to bother me. Then she got me again with the same batch of dumplings after assuring me she only made the one soap dumpling. This was true, as the rest were filled with all manner of different, foul-tasting concoctions, just to make sure I’d be punished on the first bite.

The worst part? Lin-Lin couldn’t have done it without help from sweet Tali, who laughed harder than anyone else. Oh the humanity. My sweet, precious, innocent niece is now a dyed in the wool prankster and delinquent. Where did it all go wrong?

As lunch time rolls around, the mastermind herself ambles out of the bedroom to come find us, arriving just as I raise the bucket used to pull Ping Ping up from the waters below. Pong Pong needs no such help to get out of the water, but he enjoys the ride nonetheless. Even though both turtles are more than capable of feeding themselves without my assistance, I am sorely lacking in floofs at the moment as I left most back at the Citadel. With Blackjack fast asleep, the laughing birds content to fly about, and Mama Bun commandeered by Mila, who is once again looking a little green around the gills, Ping Ping’s lovable demeanour is the only weapon left in my arsenal to combat my sweet wifey’s morning blues. Shuffling over to sink into my embrace, Lin-Lin grumbles in wordless dissatisfaction while gnawing on my bicep, expressing her deep-seated ire over some grievance which I have yet to understand.

When the moon sets and the hour grows late, my amorous Lin-Lin is all smiles and sunshine as we retire to our marital bed alongside Mila and Yan, and she’s just as cheery when secretly visiting my Natal Palace later in the night, but come morning, she’s always in this dark and dour mood for some reason or another. Maybe she’s not getting enough sleep, what with visiting my Natal Palace every night. Does it take some effort on her part to come over? Maybe, but try as I might, I cannot convince her or my subconscious to take the night off, because it’s just too wonderful spending time with sweet Lin-Lin, awake or asleep. Inside my Natal Palace, I can do almost anything she pleases, and it’s been amazing bringing her around to see the sights, sharing with her my emotions and memories of all the familiar places we grew up around, as well as bringing her out and about to hang-glide, surf, para-sail, sky dive, and more.

Not to mention all her insightful help regarding the Martial Path, because she has a very unique way of looking at my problems, allowing me to see them from a different perspective and overcome them with little to no effort at all.

Cupping her chin and kneading her pliable cheeks with one hand, I gently extract Lin-Lin’s teeth from my bicep and stare fondly into her half-lidded eyes, so full of love and resentment as I hold her firmly in place. “Some day, wifey, you’ll tell me exactly what I’ve done to wrong you, and I’ll move heaven and earth to make things right.” It can’t be the sex, which was my initial worry, because she is only growing more enthusiastic and adventurous as the days pass, but I must be doing something to pique her ire between the time she leaves my Natal Palace and she wakes the next afternoon.

My joking tone earns me a fetching scowl and hard nibble on my fingers as my sweet wifey escapes from my grasp to throw herself into Yan’s embrace. “Yan-Yan, hubby is bullying me! Beat him up for me.” To which Yan handily responds by bonking me on the head with the blade on her hand, grinning from ear to ear and all but daring me to retaliate. However, in spite of her playful and challenging smile, I can tell Yan’s heart isn’t in it as she’s distracted by other thoughts, which of course Lin-Lin already picked up on, leading to her efforts to draw my attention towards it.

Yan’s worried, for me and for Grandpa Du, who we haven’t seen since returning to the Northern Citadel after the wedding, who stayed behind to help Jeong Hyo-Lynn stabilize the Ryo Family following the death of the Sword King, Ryo Dae Jung. Though he laid down his life defending the Central Citadel from Bai Qi’s besieging army, the memories of Central Nobles are short-lived and their gratitude even shorter, meaning many have long since started targeting the Ryo family holdings. Despite displaying strength above and beyond what most Peak Experts can match and earning herself the title of ‘Sword Saint’, Jeong Hyo-Lynn does not command the same respect and veneration her deceased husband once enjoyed. The people of Central are very... traditional, to put it politely, though chauvinistic would be more accurate. Being a woman is enough for most to dismiss Jeong Hyo-Lynn’s contributions in favour of men who are less powerful yet somehow more influential, once again showing how might doesn’t actually make right.

Ryo Da’in had the same issues, because despite her prodigious talents, no one in Central ever treated her like the Number One Talent of her generation, someone to befriend and empower to become the leader she so obviously could be. Instead, they all saw her as a prize to be won and a woman to be conquered, which is just all sorts of wrong. They treated Yan in similar fashion, and perhaps even worse on account of her half-beast heritage, but I never thought it made sense to treat female Martial Warriors differently from their male counterparts. Everyone can be equally strong once Chi enters the equation, and some of the strongest Martial Warriors I know are women, so why the big disparity?

Then again, intolerance rarely has roots grounded in good sense, so I’m probably just wasting brain cells trying to understand it.

“Hey,” I begin, reaching out to take Yan’s hand while Lin-Lin comforts Mila, who had a bit of an unpleasant reaction as soon as she thought about food. “You alright?”

“Just... eager to see everyone again,” she replies, squeezing my hand tight. “It’s odd that Grandpa hasn’t written back, especially after I mentioned not having received a reply.”

Meaning she knows that Grandpa Du would go to great lengths to let her know everything was fine, unless, you know, they weren’t.

“Well, I’m sure he has things well in hand, assuming Auntie Jeong even needs his help in the first place. From what I’ve seen, she’s not a woman to cross lightly, and if they suffered any losses, I will ensure the Ryo Family is made whole.” Even Shuai Jiao wouldn’t be so bold as to cross blades with the Ryo Family, openly or from the shadows, which means that so long as no one has died, I should be able to help them get back what they’ve lost.

“You don’t get it.” Smiling sadly as she leans against me for emotional support, Yan sighs and shakes her head. “You’re a man. How can you? You’ve gone on and on about how you’re sick of people underestimating you because you’re young. Being a woman is like that, except worse because not only do your enemies underestimate you, they also want to dominate and take control of you while others scorn you for not ‘falling in line’. Uncle Ryo’s ashes were probably still warm when Auntie Jeong received her first offer of marriage, and I doubt circumstances have gotten any better since then.”

Ew. That’s horrible. Men are the worst, and I’m not helping things much by taking so many wives. Honestly, the only fair thing to do would be to accept Yan’s request for a future husband harem of her own, but I don’t think I can. Even the mere thought of another man laying their hands on her is enough to send me into a murderous rage, because I am a petty, jealous, and insecure person who never learned how to share. I am also fickle, lecherous, and never satisfied with what I have, still intending to take more wives despite already having three wonderful women agree to share me between them. I ought to be happy even one of them was willing to accept me, but even then, I continue to act in a way that makes them wonder if there will come a day when they three or five or whatever are not enough to satisfy my greed.

And to think, I even kind of enjoyed Mila and Yan vying for my attention and affections... Disgusting. Thankfully, the addition of Lin-Lin to my harem has calmed things down, as she is the great equalizer and a wonderful mediator without having to work too hard at it. I still need to do better though, as I should never let my wives feel like they need to earn my love. Instead, I need to make sure they know that they will always have my love, if not my attention at any given moment. If only I could split myself into three copies so that each of my wives can have a husband to themselves, but depending on how triplicate me works, I would probably end up fighting myself to the death.

“My previous statement still stands,” I say, as soon as I shake myself out of my funk. “The Ryo Family has my full support, no matter what.”

Of course, that won’t solve the crux of the problem, that of the misogynistic nature of the world we reside in, but that’s a tough nut to crack which I have no idea how to approach. I’ll still try, but I have no idea what anyone can do to actually fix the issue and empower women everywhere in a meaningful and long-lasting manner. Yan seems to feel the same way, and it pains me to see her calm, accepting, yet pessimistic smile, as if to say ‘Thanks for trying, but nothing will come of it’.

On that sombre note, we all head off to our private dining room for lunch, though Dad, Akanai, Nian Zu, and all my other allies decline my offer to join us. A gracious gesture, since we all know how dire the situation has become, which means the days ahead will be full of trials and tribulations indeed. Alas, as soon as we arrive, Mila catches a whiff of Lin-Lin’s waiting pot of herbal tea and sets to gagging once again, a reaction I can’t really blame her for. The foul concoction possesses a strong and unpleasant aroma, not exactly stinky or disgusting, but unpalatable to say the least. It’s like smelling the food you hate most and physically reacting to the thought of eating it, which is not to say the food itself smells bad.

Like me? I hate mushrooms. Always have, always will, and I cannot stand the thought of eating one. It’s not the smell, but rather the texture, a gross, chewy, slimy sensation that’s like chewing on a chunk of solid snot. Also, they grow in shit, so why are we eating them? Nasty.

Point is, Lin-Lin’s tea is nasty as all hell, and she quickly brings it away to drink outside. I’ve never seen what goes into it, nor have I smelled this particular mix of ingredients before, but the aroma is so unsavoury I cannot bring myself to even try it. Thus, when she returns a few minutes later to find me rocking Mila back and forth to ease her discomfort, I cannot help but ask, “Hey wifey, what’s that tea for anyways? You drink it every morning, but you’ve never said what for.”

My query earns me a fierce gnawing as she fixes me with a glare so full of misery and condemnation that I cannot bear to see it, so I default to apologizing for no reason whatsoever. “Stupid hubby,” Lin-Lin huffs, and Mila and Yan chuckle along at this rare display of ire directed towards me, even though neither of them know what Lin-Lin’s tea is for either. “I’m drinking it for you, dummy, so just leave it alone.” Pulling Yan over for a group hug, my wifey sinks into our collective embrace and grumbles beneath her breath, though I don’t think she’s actually using words. That’s how bad that tea must taste, so I hope the effects are worth it, though I wish I could just magic away what ails her, while also fixing Mila’s delicate stomach and Yan’s anxious worries. Whatever, Lin-Lin’s tea is probably something silly, like some sort of beauty treatment or bust-enhancing miracle elixir, though she doesn’t need either of those effects. My Lin-Lin is a honey-skinned beauty with wide eyes and rounded cheeks, as well as more womanly allure than I know how to handle, and I tell her as much through Sending.

“Pervert,” she declares, sharing my message with both my other wives and setting them all to laughing. There’s something magical about Lin-Lin’s presence that just makes this four-person marriage work so much smoother, and I love her all the more for it. “That’s not what it’s for, silly. I just need to drink it, so just leave it be, ya?” Expecting me to agree without argument, Lin-Lin leans back to inspect Mila’s complexion and says, “You’re feeling better Mi-Mi?”

“Oddly enough, I am.” Taking a breath so deep it makes me self-conscious about my personal hygiene, Mila sinks into my chest and says, “I’m surprised it passed so quickly. Usually I feel terrible until I throw up, but this time, the feeling went away as soon as our pervert of a husband lifted me into his lap.”

Blinking a few times as her eyes glint with amusement, then speculation, and finally understanding, Lin-Lin looks up at me and tilts her head in a curious fashion. “Hubby, are you Healing Mi-Mi’s nausea away?”

“...I don’t think so? How would I even do that?”

“Mm, dunno. Seasickness is one of those things even Daddy doesn’t know how to fix, because it’s mostly something going on up here.” Tapping her head to indicate the brain, Lin-Lin continues, “But Mi-Mi said she felt better when you carried her outside earlier, and now she’s feeling better again while you hold her, so are you sure you aren’t doing anything?”

“Mm, not sure, but maybe it’s because I’m rocking her back and forth.” In response to their blank stares, I rock Mila a few times to demonstrate. “You know, like I’d cradle a baby or Mama Bun, to soothe them to sleep.”

“Idiot,” Mila declares, followed shortly by a laugh from both Lin-Lin and Yan. “You haven’t been rocking me at all.”

“...You sure?”

“Yes, because Concealment or not, I would’ve wrenched your ear off if you tried coddling me like a baby.” Nose scrunched in displeasure at the mere thought of such an action, Mila snuggles in close and kisses my cheek ever so playfully, her bright smile lighting up the room as she adds, “So thank you, beloved. You’ve been Healing my nausea away, even if you didn’t mean to, so you best keep it up or I’ll have someone to blame the next time I throw up.”

Even though I know she's joking, I can't help but momentarily panic at yet another happy accident, one I desperately hope I am able to replicate without too much effort.

Chapter Meme