“Welcome back, Will,” Arwen hugged her son tightly before pulling back to look at him from head to toe, as if checking to see if he had any injuries on his body.
“I’m fine, Mother,” William commented. “I’m not hurt or anything.”
“That’s good. I heard from Skyla that you won against Felix and Ahriman, but I didn’t know the details of the battle. Can you tell me about it?”
William nodded. He already planned to stay a day or two with Arwen before going to the Underworld to look for the souls of his wives and Celine.
Arwen listened patiently as William told her about his battle with the Heir of Darkness as well as the Primordial God that he served. The Half-Elf didn’t cut corners in his storytelling, making sure he included the part when he had gone berserk during his battle with Aka Manah.
When he said that the other half of his soul had stepped up to deal a killing blow to the Primordial God of Darkness, Arwen was already weeping due to sadness and hugged her son tightly for a second time.
She felt as if her heart was breaking due to the hardships that William had been through, and she wasn’t there to offer her support to him during his time of need.
The black-haired teenager didn’t resist and allowed his mother to pamper him as much as she wanted over the next hour. After that, he went to the Springs of Life to visit Acedia, as well as the bodies of his wives, and see if the spring had done wonders for them.
When he arrived at the spring, William took off all of his clothes and walked into it. Little by little, his body was submerged under water, until he came upon the sleeping Elf, who was hugging Chiffon’s body like a hug pillow.
William shook his head helplessly after seeing this scene. His other wives also treated Chiffon like a hug pillow, so he didn’t mind it too much.
For the time being, he walked towards Ashe’s body and lightly held her hand. The Half-Elf was surprised when he felt that they were soft, and even warm to the touch. A moment later, another realization hit him, which made him hurriedly press his ear against Ashe’s chest to confirm whether he was right or wrong.
A heartbeat.
William listened again and again to the strong beating heart that was telling him that his wife’s body had somehow, miraculously, come back to life.
He thought that the Spring of Life would only preserve their bodies, but he was greatly mistaken in his assumption.
The Spring of Life was responsible for sustaining the World Tree, which was also called the Tree of Life. This was a secret that had been passed on from one Saintess to the other, but only they knew this fact.
Also, even if a dead body were to regain its bodily functions when soaked in the springs for a long time, it would be of no use if the soul was gone.
This was the case with William’s wives. Even if Ashe’s, Princess Sidonie’s, and Chiffon’s bodies were to regain their heartbeats, allowing their blood to circulate inside their bodies, they were nothing more than living husks that held no soul inside them.
However, for William, this was already a good thing. As long as he was able to bring his wives’ souls back, they would be able to assimilate with their bodies which were only waiting for their true masters’ souls to return to them.
After checking Ashe’s body, William went to inspect Princess Sidonie’s body next. A minute later, the Half-Elf sighed in relief when he found out that her body had also recovered just as much as Ashe’s.
The Prince of Darkness then stared at Chiffon’s body, who was now wrapped up in Acedia’s hair, forming a cocoon.
Clearly, the lazy, sleeping, bum, didn’t want her hug pillow taken away from her.
“Let me inspect her body first,” William said through telepathy as he started to poke Acedia’s cheeks. “Or would you rather let me inspect your body first?”
Acedia wasn’t fazed by William’s words, and remained in her position, while hugging her hug pillow.
The Half-Elf sighed after seeing this scene, so he lowered his head and talked to Acedia using the most devilish voice he could muster.
“If you don’t let her go, I’ll make you pregnant.”
The Half-Elf then pulled back to see Acedia’s reaction. Just like he expected, the beautiful Elf opened her eyes and gazed at him in a sleepy manner.
The two stared at each other for a full minute before Acedia closed her eyes to continue hugging the soft, little Dwarf, who had become her favorite pillow.
“Fine, have it your way,” William said through telepathy as his naughty hand slid under Acedia’s nearly transparent clothes that clung to her body.
The lazy Elf’s brows briefly moved when the Half-Elf started to grope her left breast, pinching and flicking the pink tip that was starting to harden under his touch.
Acedia didn’t budge and simply allowed Wiliam to do whatever he wanted. For her, keeping her hug pillow was more important than stopping the black-haired teenager, who now had a devilish smile on his face, from groping her breast.
William laid behind Acedia and this time, he used two hands to grope, and knead her breasts that perfectly fit his hand. But, no matter what he did, Acedia didn’t budge, and just allowed him to do whatever he wanted.
The Dark Prince then used his powers to push the water around him, Acedia, and Chiffon away, creating a dry place within the Spring of Life.
“This is your last warning,” William whispered in Acedia’s ears. “Let her go, or I will get you pregnant for real. Since the only thing you do is sleep, it will be a good idea to let you raise my child in your womb, while I am away.”
A moment later, the sleeping Elf faced him with eyes half open.
“Can you?” Acedia asked. “You’ve been married to your wives for a long time and you’ve only managed to get Celine pregnant, who is not even your wife. Just where is your confidence coming from?”
Acedia’s challenging tone made the corner of William’s lips curl up. The reason why his wives weren’t getting pregnant was because he had asked Optimus to control the virility of his seed to prevent it from happening.
Back then, he had unlocked this restriction because he wanted Celine to get pregnant with his child, making him his woman.
Now that Donger had merged with his body, he could get any lady pregnant just by releasing his seed inside their womb.
Due to William’s request, Donger and Optimus worked together to prevent William from siring women left and right as the Prince of Darkness. This was why even though Lira had kept his seed inside her womb until it swelled, making her look like a pregnant lady, she still wasn’t able to conceive William’s child due to the restriction he had imposed upon himself.
“Are you sure you want to get pregnant?” William asked as he caressed the side of Acedia’s face. “The world is not safe to raise a child right now. But, if you want it, I will make it happen. Can you raise my child during this chaotic time?”
After a few minutes of silence, Acedia unwrapped her hair from around Chiffon’s body, presenting her to William for inspection.
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Acedia said. “I’m not letting you inspect her because I am afraid that I will get pregnant with your child. Since I sleep at the roots of the World Tree, I can sense, and feel the pulse of the world.
“This world… is afraid of something, but I don’t know what it is. Until this issue is resolved, I don’t want to raise our child when I am unable to protect them from things that are beyond my control.”
William lowered his head and planted a kiss on Acedia’s lips for a few seconds before pulling back.
“I believe you,” William replied. “But, make no mistake. I will have you bear my child when things have settled down. For now, just keep everyone safe for me. You can do this, right?”
Acedia nodded her head, earning her another kiss from William.
After inspecting Chiffon’s body, it was now Acedia’s turn for inspection.
An inspection where the lazy Elf offered no resistance whatsoever.
