359 I really, honestly love Senesica?
Would love to hear people's thoughts on this chapter
---
(POV: Lumiere)
Allegedly, I'm... well, a father...
To be honest, I hadn't really gotten the full gist of things, but Lilith and Senesica did their best to explain things to me.
Any other day, I might have believed Silica was my child, due to some "fortunate" circumstance or the other, but it looked completely off this time.
The one and only thing that made me doubt the legitimacy of this was the fact that Silica was five years old.
It made zero sense for me to be her father.
The only way that'd be remotely possible, was if I slept with Senesica when I was thirteen years old... and I'm pretty sure my excalibur didn't enter any thick, slimy dungeons until I was eighteen.
Besides that, I slept with Senesica nearly two weeks ago, there's no friggin' way she could've gotten pregnant, given birth and nurtured the child to a full-grown girl child.
I'm aware we're in a magic world and anything was practically possible, I'd have to see it for myself in order to believe.
Well, that was what I thought anyway.
But Lilith and Senesica made it clear to me through one thing,
Time dilation.
There was a significant time dilation between the two worlds,
Tenebrous Slade and the Blue World.
Time dilation occurred as a result of differences in gravity or velocity, just the basic general relativity.
In the case of the Senesica's world, time ran much faster due to the existence of increased energy pressure, and as a result, higher gravity as well as other exotic physical conditions.
So on a basic setting,
If the time in Tenebrous Slade passed 10 times faster than the Blue World, then 2 weeks in there would correspond to 5 years in here.
This would mean that for every 1 day in this world, 10 days would pass in Senesica's world.
So, in order for Senesica to return after almost 2 weeks with a 5-year-old Silica, time in her world would need to pass around 3650 times faster than in my world.
I nodded slowly, absorbing the surreal revelation.
Then, I turned to Senesica and murmured, "I'm sorry, I should have realized sooner."
"It's okay," Senesica said gently, her expression unreadable.
I couldn't tell if she was happy, angry or sad. Then again, I didn't know much about Senesica, and now that she was the mother of my child, I wanted our relationship to go beyond the physical horn-rubbing, back massaging, butt smacking relationship.
But how exactly was I going to do that, there was a lot going on in my life as it was.
Meanwhile, Lilith rose from her seat and said, "I'll be outside."
Stellaria, however, remained on my work chair, observing the interaction with keen interest.
Suddenly, Lilith turned to Stellaria.
"Stellaria?"
"Yeah? You need anything?" Stellaria casually asked.
Lilith then said, "I need your help with something."
Stellaria raised an eyebrow. "What do you need?"
"Anything that doesn't involve prolonging our stay here," Lilith replied.
I understood what she was trying to do, and at this point there was no need in hiding it— she wanted Senesica and I to have some privacy.
Stellaria nodded in understanding and promptly disappeared.
Turning back to Senesica, Lilith gestured for us to continue our conversation.
However, Senesica hesitated and walked over to Silica, crouching down to meet the eyes of the adorable little girl.
She smiled at Silica and said, "Alright, Silica, Mommy and Daddy need some privacy. You'll go with Auntie Lilith for a little while."
Silica shook her head adamantly, puffing her cheeks and insisting, "No, I want to stay with Mommy and Daddy. I don't want to go with Auntie Lilith."
Lilith placed a hand over her heart dramatically and muttered, "How cruel."
Senesica's smile widened as she coaxed Silica gently, "But don't you like Auntie Lilith?"
Silica nodded.
"And you love me too, right?" Senesica asked.
Silica nodded eagerly.
"And you want to be Mommy's good girl?"
"I do!" Silica nodded vigorously.
Senesica patted her head and convinced her to go with Auntie Lilith, promising that they would talk later.
Silica relented, stole a quick glance at me, and darted off to join Lilith, who led her out of the room, leaving Senesica and me alone.
"Interesting development," Senesica murmured, breaking the silence.
This was certainly going to be a long, complicated day.
Still... that little girl was my daughter, it made me happy for some reason, maybe it's because I wanted her to get the chance to spend time with both her parents, something that I didn't have the privilege of enjoying.
I really wanted that for her.
Senesica joined me and sat next to me on the edge of my bed.
The air around us was totally awkward. It reeked of unspoken emotions.
And there I was, struggling to find the right words.
At this point the tension could kill me.
Senesica's gaze roamed around the room, and I found myself facing the same predicament.
I knew she was looking at me; it was almost too obvious.
When our gazes finally met, we spoke at the same time, "So I..." we both said.
She was silent, so I decided to talk again.
"I was thinking ma..."
We said the same thing again and stopped abruptly before sharing a brief laugh.
"Alright, you go first."
For the third time, we said the same thing.
"You go first," Senesica said, nudging me playfully as we both chuckled at the awkwardness.
With a nod, I solemnly looked into Senesica's eyes.
I needed to pour out my heart to her, in a way that was concise and not unbearably cringe.
I had a feeling she'd laugh if it was.
Imagine if she or Stellaria heard about the short poem I recited for Lucretia when I was 8 years old.
Yikes.
I took a deep breath and then spoke up.
"I'm just going to tell you what's on my mind."
Senesica acknowledge my words with a nod. "Okay, what is it?" She stared at me with that mature, feminine face of hers that always made me feel tingly inside— her pretty gaze born from those beautiful eyes of hers, her sweet rosy lips, her butter smooth cheeks and that sexy wrinkle of her nose whenever she was confused, angry or really excited.
I thought I didn't know a lot about Senesica, but maybe I do and I just didn't know it.
I didn't need to know her story in order to have a reason whether to love her or not.
I just needed to love her...
I placed both hands on her shoulders and spoke up.
"I don't know what to say exactly, I can't promise I'm going to be the best father to Silica, but I want to try my best to be a a father worthy of her time and affection no matter how little she can spare me. I need to become someone worthy of being called her father and more importantly, I must become someone deserving enough to be called... your husband, Senesica."
The word "husband" held the atmosphere for a while.
Maybe I came off a little too strong.
It caused Senesica to repeat it in shock. "Husband? What're you saying?" she asked, a little taken aback.
At this point I'd already fucked up, so why not fuck it all the way up?
Feeling flustered, I rose from the bed, wanting to express my sincerity.
"I may or may not have much to offer you, but I never pursued you for mere attraction. Your character, your spirit—I love those even more," I declared, expressing my heartfelt sentiments.
Sure, the initial reason I slept with Senesica was for official terms and also because she had the sexiest body I'd ever seen— and that was also the main reason I slept with her for the second time.
But Senesica didn't need me to lover her at this point, I needed her to love me.
Because this woman was special...
She took care of Silica for years by herself and handled it all without once contacting me. I didn't know why, but I could tell it was because she didn't want to stress me.
The fact that Silica didn't hate a father she hadn't seen since birth easily meant that Senesica told her all sorts of good things about me.
And most importantly, when I saw the way she communicated with Silica, I was sure this woman needed to be loved more than she already was.
In my earnestness, I placed a hand on her shoulder and, inadvertently, upon he breast.
A soft gasp escaped Senesica as she struggled to contain her reaction, asking me slightly bemused, "Was that really necessary?"
Feeling embarrassed by the unintended gesture, I quickly withdrew my hand. "Sorry, force of habit," I murmured apologetically.
After a moment's silence, Senesica shrugged lightly and assured me, "It's fine, you just ruined the moment a little."
Sighing, I replied, "Tell me about it."
This conversation seemed to have taken an unexpected, and slightly awkward, turn.
As I stood up, my mind raced with thoughts of my next action.
Taking a deep breath, I immediately positioned myself right in front of Senesica, who was watching me curiously.
"Hm?" was all she uttered.
I focused my elemental magic, combining fire and earth in perfect harmony to craft two engagement rings in my hand.
The process looked seamless and effortless.
The [Fire Magic] allowed me to superheat and mold the structure of the rings, while the [Earth Magic] provided a solid foundation.
Then, with a flicker of [Water Magic], I created gemstones for the rings, each with a clarity and brilliance that was truly breathtaking.
As I went down on one knee, I braced myself.
I presented one of the rings to Senesica.
"Senesica," I began, my voice trembling slightly with emotion, "would you do me the honor of becoming my wife so that I may truly be the father of our child?"
Senesica tilted her head slightly, clearly taken by surprise.
Her usual confident demeanor wavered, revealing a softer and more vulnerable side.
The usual sexy, mommy-like behavior she gave off was gone if only for a moment.
To my surprise, tears welled up in her eyes, glistening with joy and love. "Lumiere," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion, "I'd love that more than anything."
With a tender smile, I slid the ring onto her finger, sealing our commitment.
Senesica had become my wife to be.
Visit freewe𝑏nove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience