Back in the castle away from anyone's sight, Asuka and the rest of the maids were restlessly watching over Stella as she slowly fell asleep. Having had their master taken away for treason to the crown, their heart pumped filled with angst showed no sign of calm. Cradling the child in her arms, Asuka kept a stern watch over her to not disappoint her master.
'Fay and Master's child…I wonder if I can have one someday?' Despite knowing the true story behind Stella's birth, Asuka couldn't help feeling jealous whenever someone called the child Fay and Haruki's daughter. 'Even though everyone knows, he adores me the most, the thought of bearing his offspring feels like a much different kind of bond.'
"Miss Rose?!" Squealed out one of the many maids surrounding the bed Asuka was laying on with the child.
Lost in her thoughts, the voice didn't register in her mind. Thus, glaring at the little angel in her arms, her eyes numbed up a little as she felt a strange motherly bond. The maids, however, scattered to the sides to make way for the dragoness.
Since her truth was out of the bag, she made no effort to hide her true nature. Peeking out of her head were a pair of smoldering dark horns. Retreating her expansive wings flowing with veins of lava, she quickly made her way toward the bed. Latched onto her shoulder like bats, were the youngest of her two, keeping her company.
"Ohhhh! Is that the baby?" Tiara exclaimed, jumping off of her mother's shoulder.
"Wait! I wanna see her too!" Doroke followed soon after.
Finally brought back to her senses by the loud voices of the two, Asuka shook her head and turned towards the noise. Upon noticing Rose walking towards her in a battle-ready dress made of igneous rocks, Asuka almost jumped off her feet, but then realizing she was holding Stella, she made sure not to move too haphazardly.
'What is that dress?' Laying Stella on the bed, Asuka stood beside the bed with her eyes locked with Rose.
She wasn't the only one confused by Rose's attire, in fact having never seen the dragoness in her humanoid battle dress, each one of the maids was just as confused as her.
"Is there something wrong?" Stopping right in front of Asuka, Rose tilted her head and asked.
From the edge of her eyes, she noticed her two devils jumping on the bed to play with the sleeping angel, but using a whip of flames she caught them mid-air and pulled them away from the girl.
"She's sleeping, don't disturb her you two," pulling them closer, Rose gently flicked their forehead with her fingers as punishment for their harsh behavior. "So? What's wrong?"
Once again turning to Asuka, she asked the same question. Unsure how to answer exactly, Asuka took a brief moment to look Rose up and down. The first thing she noticed was the scrappy armor-like breastplate covering her chest from all angles, then connected with the top armor, were a pair of shoulder guards with spikes on both ends to protect her further.
"Is that armor enough for protection?" Pointing to Rose's exposed belly and then to her lower thighs sticking under her shorts, Asuka didn't seem too confident in the armor's safeguarding ability.
"Oh, this?" Gazing down at herself, Rose let out a chuckle. "You have nothing to worry about, I've used this armor enough in my youth to know that it works well against human foes."
"But didn't you lose in the end?" The moment Asuka mentioned her loss, the smile on Rose's face was replaced with an awkward expression.
Scratching the side of her chin, she still let out a few nervous chuckles before turning her attention to Stella instead.
"How is she?" Letting her own two devils back on the ground, Rose moved right by the bed to get a look at Stella's sleeping face.
"I do not to be completely honest, we've not been able to determine her race, so none of us can tell if she's well or not," upon hearing Asuka's concern, Rose reached out to Stella's bubbly cheeks and gave them a gentle poke.
"She seems fine to me," this being her only time to spend with Stella before heading off towards Aria, Rose wanted to relish a little in the moment. Running her hand onto her forehead, Rose closed her eyes to bless her. "May you never fall in battle, may your strength come not through your flesh but from your heart, may you never have to pick up a sword or a spear, and may you be even wiser than your father."
Slowly opening her eyes, Rose wore a gentle smile and stood back upright.
"What was that?" Asked Asuka.
"Just wishful thinking, perhaps, and I wish it won't be one day," turning around, Rose huffed out a heavy sigh. "I'll be going now, my eldest is in charge of teleporting the Darian army to Aria if needed, and since none of you will, I have to make sure the army is ready for the war."
Although Asuka wanted to accompany her master, and now Rose so she could be there when everything unfolds, she curled up her fingers and decided to continue the task she'd been assigned by her master.
"Can we play with her now?" Wrapping her hands around Rose's legs, Tiara peered up at her mother with the most innocent-looking eyes.
"Not now, but I'm sure since you two are gonna stay here until I get back, there will be plenty of time for you two to play with the baby, okay?" Playfully ruffling her hair, Rose glanced sideways at Asuka to hint that she would be in charge of the two as well while she was gone.
'They're both quite strong so I will have to make sure they're careful around her, but then again they can be useful if someone tries to attack the castle while everyone else is away.' Rationalizing everything, Asuka nodded back at Rose.
"Alright, I'll be off then, make sure to feed Stella well," walking past Asuka, Rose gently nudged her by the shoulders. "You seem plentiful enough to feed a dozen more babies."
The sarcastic joke about Asuka's breasts left her blushing, while the onlooking maids chuckled out a few laughs. As for the two kids present in the room, they were far too young to understand what was so funny about the statement.
"Yeah, of course, you would know!" Turning around furiously, Asuka stiffened up her arms and yelled. "You have seventeen children after all!"
"Proudly," What was meant as an insult was taken as a compliment by Rose. Still walking away with her back turned to Asuka, she waved her hand before being teleported away with a bright white light.
'Ugh… I'll get her next time.' Asuka thought as the retreating light left no sight of Roselia.
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