To become a king and a magician

"If I do it myself, it's too slow. Anyway, you have so much magic that you can't use it all up, so it won't hurt to share some with me."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this is a huge problem!" Natsukawa Torato hurriedly crawled out from under Aozaki Aoko. "Aoko, do you really think this is okay? You're a woman, have some self-respect! Take your reputation seriously!"

"Why are you even more slow-paced than me...?"

Aozaki Aoko sat on the bed with a somewhat helpless expression: "Of course I made this decision after careful consideration. Do you think I'm the kind of woman who would do this for anyone? Although there were some compelling circumstances... at least this matter of replenishing mana with you was indeed my own decision."

"Then...then why don't you just not fight?" Natsukawa Torato said. "Whether it's the other me or Sajou Aika, I'll handle it. Aoko, you just stay here and wait for things to be over, OK—"

Snapped!

Before she could finish speaking, Aozaki Aoko punched Natsukawa Tora, then sat on his waist and punched him a few more times.

"Don't be so arrogant, you stupid, idiotic junior. I would never accept being treated like a precious gem by you. I came here to help you, but in the end, you have to protect me. What does that mean?"

Are you looking down on me?

"No, I didn't..."

"There's another thing that bothers me!"

Grabbing Natsukawa Tora by the collar and pulling him up, Aozaki Aoko continued, "Saving the world, when did it become your sole prerogative? Who gave you permission to take on such a heavy responsibility? What I hate most is people like you who take on everything on their own and then happily let others rest."

Who do you think you are?

"Saving the world... I wouldn't dare say I can do it for you, but at least half of it, I, as your senior, can take on the responsibility for you."

As if she were talking about a trivial family matter, Aozaki Aoko's tone was neither intense nor bland, but her words carried a strong emotion, leaving Natsukawa Tora momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

She wanted to help herself. That's why she came.

"Don't make people worry about you, okay? Grey is still waiting for you to come back outside."

My life no longer belongs to me alone; it needs to be lived for the sake of more people.

Taking a deep breath, Natsukawa Torama grasped Aozaki Aoko's wrist: "I understand, Aoko... I'm sorry, I spoke without thinking just now, I was indeed a bit presumptuous."

"Good that you've figured it out. Let's replenish our mana."

"Uh, I think we don't really need to rush—hmm!"

Before she could finish speaking, Aozaki Aoko lowered her head and covered Natsukawa Tora's mouth, as if she wanted to suffocate him and make him faint, almost savagely plundering the air from his body.

With her face flushed red, Aozaki Aoko raised her head as if she had used up all her courage. Only then did a hint of shyness appear on her face. She turned her gaze away and said, "I'm really embarrassed too. Please, I'm begging you, can you be more decisive?"

"My sense of shame is almost at its limit..."

It's over.

The shy Aozaki Aoko—Natsukawa Torato felt he couldn't take it anymore; this scene was simply too lethal for a man.

[Hey, you vixen, don't fall for me! Where's your willpower? What happened to your promise of unwavering loyalty?]

Sajō Aika couldn't help but get a little anxious. She could let it go with the time she spent with Merry in the dream. Dreams don't really matter; you can just erase the memory once. But this time it's in reality!

My prince is going to have sex with another woman right in front of me... I absolutely cannot do that kind of thing!

We must stop it!

"Om-"

Just then, a glimmer of light suddenly emerged from the flower on Aozaki Aoko's chest, instantly disappearing into Natsukawa Torato's body. Immediately afterwards, Sajō Aika heard the voice of the nightmare—

Okay, okay, stop bothering them, little sister Aige.

Merlin! How could you push him away like that!

"Wow!"

Aozaki Aoko's scream drew Sajō Aika's attention again. The moment she turned her attention back to reality, Sajō Aika saw Natsukawa Tora picking up Aozaki Aoko and throwing her onto the futon.

Click!

That was the sound of something breaking inside Aika Sajou's heart.

128. I want them all!

In a dream.

Inside the courtyard.

Aozaki Aoko and Merry sat facing each other. The latter looked at the former with a big smile on her face, like an old mother seeing her daughter finally get married. This made Aozaki Aoko feel extremely embarrassed and indignant, and she wished she could punch her twice to make her never smile again!

After thoroughly enjoying the mage's embarrassed and indignant expression, Merry finally calmed down and said, "This way, my magic power is replenished, and this amount should last for four or five days without doing anything, though it's a different story in battle."

"Only four or five days?!"

Aozaki Aoko couldn't help but frown.

"I... I've already done all that! How come it's only been four or five days? Shouldn't it be permanent?!"

"Oh? They never said that it would last forever after being replenished once. Besides, spells can't last forever; they have to keep replenishing their magic." Meryl laughed. "But even if we run out of magic again, it's okay. We can just have some fun with His Majesty the King sometime, right?"

"Why can you talk about something like this so casually... It's not like you're the one replenishing his mana. My back felt like it was going to break last night. Does he have inexhaustible stamina?"

"Uh... I totally agree. Sleeping in the same bed with him is definitely not good for your health."

In her dream, Mei Li also suffered a great loss in this area. She rarely admits defeat, but in front of Xia Chuan Hu, she truly lost gracefully and didn't even try to be stubborn.

"But Aoko, you're really bold."

"Huh? What's so bold about that?"

"Everyone said that replenishing magic only requires the first one or two steps. I originally thought you would only kiss the tiger once, but I didn't expect you to do the whole thing."

Aozaki Aoko's cheeks flushed red again: "That's all my junior's fault! I didn't mean it that way at first. I wanted to take it one step at a time, but who knew he had no patience and ran the whole thing in one go!"

When other people talk about relationships, it's a long-term commitment, sometimes lasting months or even years, with constant drama of how anxious you are to see them. But when it comes to Natsukawa Tora, it's all about how cute he is, offering a complete service right from the start.

"But didn't you stubbornly climb on top of him for a while?"

"Ugh... I guess I was just... blinded by emotion, or just acted impulsively, and went with the flow... Now, how should I treat him after this?!"

Should we continue to treat him as a junior?

That's definitely not possible!

Lover?

Uh... Aozaki Aoko felt that this was still a bit lacking. She definitely didn't hate it, and she liked it, but the purity of the feeling wasn't quite there yet.

“Just do it the same way as always,” Meryl replied with a smile to Aozaki Aoko’s dilemma. “I believe His Majesty the King thinks the same way as you, so at times like this, we should show our consideration as women and treat him with a slightly more intimate attitude than usual. That way, he will feel at ease.”

"It's starting to change little by little, isn't it?"

Mary nodded: "Take it slow. If you suddenly adopt a completely different attitude towards him, His Majesty the King will be at a loss."

"You're really experienced... Did you do this all the time before?"

"Don't let her appearance fool you, she used to be the master of relationship counseling for the Knights of the Round Table. Those princess knights who wanted to steal Her Highness's man were all—no, I personally mentored—by me!"

Aozaki Aoko felt that the nightmare in front of her was 90% to blame for the reason why the round table fell apart.

Although what she said does make sense.

"But is this alright?" Aozaki Aoko suddenly asked, "My junior likes you, right? If I do this..."

"Ah, that's perfectly fine. I don't mind at all how many concubines Your Majesty has. In fact, the more the better, so I can have my fill of watching the drama unfold. When several people's feelings are entangled, some unexpected and interesting things often happen."

Without a shred of conscience, Mary directly revealed her dark thoughts.

Seeing how heartless she was, Aozaki Aoko's slight resentment immediately disappeared. She was simply asking for trouble if she had nothing better to do than worry about this guy.

"Well then, I'll take my leave for now. You're the leading lady this time, Aoko, so I, a washed-up character, won't come out to steal the spotlight—I'll leave my king in your care for now."

As soon as she finished speaking, Merry and the entire courtyard vanished in an instant. The chaotic scene made Aozaki Aoko instinctively close her eyes, but when she opened them again, all she saw was a ceiling.

Somewhat helplessly, Aozaki Aoko sat up from her futon on the floor and stared at the clean room for a moment.

She remembered that last night, the room had been a complete mess because of her and Natsukawa Tora.

"Did my junior clean it? He really is... Waaah!"

Aozaki Aoko was about to get up and get dressed, but as soon as she moved, a wave of soreness washed over her, causing her to lie back down on the floor.

This situation is pretty bad...

"He can't even get out of bed, that bastard junior, wait until I recover and see how I deal with him—by the way, where did he go?"

She was alone in the room. She remembered that Xia Chuanhu had slept with her last night, but now there was no one beside her.

"Could he have run away? I didn't realize he was so heartless..."

"Aoko, what kind of person do you remember me as?" Natsukawa Tora's voice came from the doorway. He brought a Japanese lunch to her side and placed it down. Natsukawa Tora helped her sit up. "It's almost noon. I got up several hours ago, okay? Otherwise, why would the room be this clean?"

"Then why didn't you wake me up?"

"Hmm... I was thinking you must have been quite tired last night, so I wanted you to get some more sleep."

I'm exhausted and still sore all over, and it's all because of you, you heartless junior!

Aozaki Aoko pinched Natsukawa Tora's waist hard, squeezing him until he gasped for breath before letting go: "You've got some conscience—help me get dressed, I can't move a single finger right now."

"Yes, yes..."

Natsukawa Tora picked up the clothes and helped Aozaki Aoko put them on one by one, saying, "By the way, Aoko, I... have something I want to tell you."

"Hmm? About Meryl?"

"About us and Merry... eh?" Natsukawa Torato was somewhat surprised, "How come you...?"

“In my dream, I had one last talk with her through this spell.” Aozaki Aoko pointed to the flower on her chest. “She said something about how I’m the female lead this time and that she can’t steal my spotlight. She ran away after talking to me one last time. I also told her some things about you and what’s going to happen to you.”

Have you already spoken to Meryl?

Natsukawa Torato asked, "What...what did you say?"

"Well, she's quite happy to have a few more people with you, even if her intentions aren't good. As for me... well, I'm still planning to take it slow. We can't just jump straight to marriage, can we? What are your thoughts?"

"That might sound greedy, but I'm planning to have it all."

“Just like Meryl said, you greedy guy.” Aozaki Aoko reached out and pinched Natsukawa Torato’s nose. “Then I’ll wait for the day I wear a white kimono.”

129. An imminent situation