“Can I ask you something, Cathy?”
“Yes?”
“What happened to the other girls?” William inquired as he walked hand in hand with the Virthous lady of Hope. “Are they sleeping inside you or something?”
Truth be told, he was quite worried about Haleth’s, Amelia’s, Priscilla’s, Vesta’s, Anh’s, Pearl’s, and Erinys’ safety. When all of them turned into particles of light, he felt as if a heavy stone had been placed on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.
“Don’t worry, all of them are awake, and listening to our conversation,” Cathy replied with a smile and gave William’s hand a light squeeze. “They are safe.”
“That’s good to know.” William sighed internally. Now that he knew that they were safe, he was able to breathe a little easier as he continued to take a stroll with Cathy in the Palace Gardens.
“Well, aside from Amelia, Priscilla, Pearl, and Vesta, the rest of the girls love you, so you better treat them with great care,” Cathy replied in a teasing manner. “But, since I’ll be your Ninth Wife, they are bound to become your lovers sooner or later. This is something inevitable, so treat them nicely as well.”
William didn’t know how to react to the bomb that Cathy dropped just now, so he decided to keep quiet about it.
“Don’t be so tense.” Cathy grabbed hold of WIlliam’s arm and clung to him, making the Half-Elf feel something soft press against his arm. “First, let me tell you some good news. The Army of Destruction will need exactly two years before they arrive here in Hestia.
“It would take that much time to finish their campaigns in the other worlds that they are currently waging war on before they can gather their entire army and attack this world. The Three Gods of Destruction have already decided that sending a punitive force to this world would not be enough to destroy it. Because of this, you will be able to have some buffer time.”
“Two years…,” William muttered. “It sounds long, but if we tell people that the end of the world will be happening in two years, they will definitely do their best to live their lives to the fullest with the remaining time they have.”
Cathy nodded. “Yes. I’m sure that is indeed the case. So, make sure to use those two precious years to unite the residents of this world. Your chances of winning are already low, so make sure to eliminate infighting completely.”
The two continued their stroll until they reached the center of the garden where a bench was located.
William and Cathy sat there as they continued to chat about random things. The Half-Elf was surprised that the lady beside him seemed to never run out of interesting stories to tell. She was like an Auntie who had plenty of gossip to share, making her a very good story teller.
Finally, after half an hour, Cathy took the initiative to breach the topic about Wiliam’s memories.
“I will now return your memories to you,” Cathy explained. “Now, please close your eyes. You and I will go on a trip together after you regain your memories. That will be your first advance payment. For this special service.”
William nodded and closed his eyes.
Cathy took a deep breath before pressing her forehead over William to pass him the memories he had lost.
As soon as their foreheads touched each other, William’s body jolted as he felt several volts of electricity running through his brain, as if it was being rewired to accommodate the information that he was about to receive.
Scenes that came from Midgard, Earth, and Hestia flooded inside his head, filling in the gaps that had been created when he lost his memories.
This continued for fifteen whole minutes before Cathy pulled back, making William hold his head with both hands as he panted for breath.
p anda nOvel.cO,m He was currently suffering from a terrible headache that wouldn’t go away even though he was already using Life Magic to cure it.
It took him ten more minutes to regain his composure, even though his head was still hurting from the sudden influx of information that would take some time to get organized.
“Take a rest first,” Cathy said as she patted her lap. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. You will still need to uphold your part of the bargain, so rest for now. Our journey will begin after you clear your head.”
William gratefully accepted Cathy’s proposal and laid his head on her lap. The Virtuous Lady of Hope then started to hum, as she lightly brushed Wiliam’s head, singing him a lullaby, so he could rest.
Cathy’s comforting hands, and voice, lulled William to sleep. Soon, he closed his eyes and allowed his exhausted mind to repair itself from the overload of information that he received just a few minutes ago.
“He looks so peaceful when he sleeps,” Haleth said from inside Cathy’s head.
“I know, right?” Cathy replied. “Doesn’t he look like a fairy tale prince when he’s like this?”
“Yes,” Erinys commented. “William is indeed a prince.”
“Our Prince, right?” Anh said as she gazed at William through Cathy’s eyes.
“Well, it’s good that you three are getting along, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t let your emotions override my own,” Pearl replied. “I still have a grudge because he brainwashed my sister. I will not forgive him that easily.”
“Um, I’m only doing this, so that Princess Sidonie will be revived,” Priscilla commented with a flushed face. “I’m not really interested in William. Although I have to agree that there are very few men who are worthy enough to have my Princess’ love and affection.”
“My father has been telling me to seduce him as of late,” Vesta said with a pout. “It’s really a pain… but, it’s hard for me to find someone who is better than him.”
“My father is the same.” Amelia admitted. “He even talked to William’s Grandpa a few years ago, so that I could be his concubine. I don’t know if they reached an agreement…”
Deep inside Cathy’s consciousness, the seven ladies were having an internal discussion, while waiting for William to wake up from his rest.
All of them had different personalities, and they all had different relationships with the red-headed teenager, who was sleeping peacefully on their lap.
Priscilla, Pearl, and Vesta, managed to convince Cathy that she shouldn’t get pregnant without their permission. After all, once she got pregnant, it would not be her that would give birth, but all of them.
Cathy agreed because she respected their opinions as well. Just as she had said earlier, Hope had many faces, and the faces of the ladies around her represented the different faces of hope that were needed in a world that was headed for destruction.
