Chapter 239 - Two Years
After the birth of our two children, I, Rudeus Greyrat, once again found myself living a life of shameless indulgence.
How to put it. Roxy and Sylphie seemed determined to make up for those ten months of absence.
Almost every day, they were conspiring with Eris and Aisha to seduce me.
And I am exactly the kind of man who cannot resist.
Even knowing full well it was a trap, I walked right into it. But when the trap is set by your own wives, you accept whatever consequences come.
In short, our five-person sessions became even more frequent than before. Our ages kept climbing. Our appetites did not........
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Two years of that shameless living later, Windsor turned ten.
On the day of her birthday, my wives and I sat around trying to figure out what to give her.
None of us could land on anything.
That child runs cold on the surface. She practices swords in the morning, goes to school, comes home in the evening, practices swords again, then eats dinner.
Things she likes....... swords, family, and........ Pursena's tail?
Still, we came up with something.
Eris prepared a new scabbard. When Finger Sever was forged for Windsor, it never came with a sheath worthy of the blade itself. Now that Windsor had started training with it in earnest, a proper scabbard was exactly what she needed.
As for me, Aisha, Roxy, Sylphie....... and technically Nanahoshi,
The five of us developed a magic spell for Windsor together.
An upgraded version of purification magic, essentially. It restores a sword's edge to the same sharpness as a freshly honed blade.
No more trips to the blacksmith. I was pretty confident she'd love it.
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That evening, Lara Greyrat and Lucy Greyrat told Windsor that their teacher needed to keep them after school for something, and sent her home ahead of them.
Then the moment Windsor was out of sight, the two of them used a teleportation circle and came straight back.
The whole family was waiting at the door. Even Lily and Sieg, who were barely two years old, were standing there ready.
Detection Magic picked up Windsor and Pursena approaching.
"Windsor's back."
The moment I said it, the kids snapped to attention.
But Windsor, still on the other side of the door, seemed to sense something was off.
She turned to Pursena.
"It's too quiet....... Pursena, fall back a little."
Hearing that, the corner of Lara Greyrat's mouth twitched.
"Big Sis Windsor has really trained herself into a paranoid wreck lately......."
Then she shoved the front door wide open and yelled,
"Welcome home, Big Sis Windsor! Happy birthday!"
The rest of the kids piled on immediately.
"Happy birthday, Big Sis Windsor!" x4
Windsor blinked, seemed to register what was happening, and slowly pulled her hand away from where it had drifted near her scabbard.
...Well. That's my daughter for you. She's gotten sharp.
With sword instructors coming out of every corner of her life, I'd heard Windsor had already reached advanced proficiency in 3 separate sword styles. And according to Aisha, even that description might be underselling it.
Anyway. Windsor hauled Pursena inside, and the birthday party began.
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At the party, we taught Windsor the spell.
Her face lit up exactly the way I'd hoped.
She was just as happy about Eris's scabbard.
The younger kids had brought their own gifts too, homemade snacks, hair accessories they'd picked out, a novel about swords....... and a whetstone.
The whetstone was from Lara Greyrat. She'd enhanced it with her own magic, which meant it was no ordinary whetstone. It was a whetstone Windsor could use for the rest of her life. After Lara's enchantment, a blade needed only the lightest touch against the stone to come away sharp again.
When Lara Greyrat found out about the spell we'd prepared, she threw her hands up.
"Then my gift is completely pointless!"
Windsor looked at her.
"Thank you. I really do like it. If my mana ever runs out someday, I can use Lara's whetstone."
"Big Sis Windsor....... there is no scenario where you run out of mana. You don't even use magic."
"I'll use the spell Father and my mothers prepared for me."
"If you use that spell, then what is my whetstone even for?!"
I laughed listening to them.
Hm.......?
Hold on.
Father?
Father as in me?
Why Father? Why not Papa? Since when?
I cut in immediately.
"Windsor. Why are you calling me Father?"
"Isn't that the proper way?"
"But....... you've always called me Papa."
"I noticed the kids at school all call their dads 'Father.' It's more polite. And less embarrassing."
"No, no — 'Father' is way too formal, isn't it?"
"But Father, you call Grandpa 'Father' too."
".......Windsor. Think of it as Papa begging you."
"...Fine. Papa."
"And?"
".......I love you."
"I love you too!"
I pushed out of my seat, crossed the room, and pulled Windsor into a hug, rubbing my face against hers.
Thank goodness. I'd thought our father-daughter bond was starting to go cold for a second.
She's only ten. If this is already the lead-up to a rebellious phase, I don't know what I'll do.......
"By the way — did Big Sis Nanahoshi help with the spell?"
"She did. Go thank her when you get to school tomorrow."
"Okay."
Beside me, Aisha pressed her palm to her forehead and physically pulled me away from Windsor.
"Brother....... you keep this up and your daughters are going to hate you someday, you know."
Roxy nodded along in agreement.
"She's right. Children between 13 and 15 commonly start pulling away from their parents. I've watched it happen at the school. The teachers call it the rebellious phase. Rudeus, you really should dial it back."
Sylphie covered her mouth, laughing.
"Well~ knowing Rudeus....... I doubt he'd actually be hated."
Eris just said it straight.
"Doesn't matter! Even if all the kids stop liking Rudeus, he's still got us!"
.......Am I really coming across as that kind of annoying dad right now?
Let me think about this honestly.
If Paul had been like this toward me.......
Yeah. Gross.
I was still sitting with that image when Tina raised her hand.
"I would never hate Papa!"
Tina....... my wonderful daughter.......
Honestly, if I could have my way, none of my daughters would ever get married.
Each one of them is harder to let go of than the last.......
While I was busy thinking nonsense, Lara Greyrat chimed in.
"I don't hate Papa being like this at all. Love you. Now stop overthinking it."
Tina shot a glance at Lara Greyrat, then whipped back around to face me.
"Big Sis Lara's such a cheater! I love you too, Papa!"
Then came Lucy Greyrat.
".......Papa is fine just the way you are. We like it. And what Blue Mama called the 'rebellious phase' — that's not going to happen."
Last was the guest of honor, Windsor.
She gave a single nod, easy and certain, carrying herself exactly like the eldest sister she was.
"That's right. My siblings and I will never hate Papa. Not ever."
I sat with that feeling as the party slowly wound down.
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And then, at the end,
For some reason, even though it was Windsor's birthday party,
My wives decided to use it as an excuse to demand a five-person session.
Well. What can I do. I'm a rotten man who never learned to say no.......
Petite Roxy lay against my chest, her voice carrying the unmistakable edge of jealousy.
"Rudy~ I've been getting the feeling lately that you pay more attention to our daughters than to us."
Aisha heard that and nodded immediately.
"Exactly! Brother, that is way too much! So......."
She reached downward as she said it and launched her opening assault.
Eris said nothing. She didn't have to. I was already lying with my head in her lap, and she was breathing hard, cradling my face in both hands, looking fully ready to start.
Sylphie delivered the final word.
"Rudy. To make it up to your jealous wives, you'd better give it everything you've got tonight."
No one said anything after that.
My wives attacked all at once.
➤ Next: Another Year