Healing after using that skill seemed to be a long process. Unable to use my body to its best, I got an opportunity to create a base on things with the direction I wanted to take them to. Thanks to the Duchess, Persephone's help along with the extensive Imperial Library that I extorted access to from the Emperor, I managed to pick up quite a few things over the next few days.
All that made me realize a few things that I compared with the data from back on Earth.
The fact that all these energies were present in Earth beyond just Mana and Ki was already a great discovery, but I had managed to learn more. It was, in fact, possible to convert them from one form to another.
It was a very contradictory realization to come to, especially considering the fact that back on Earth, research had ascertained that Mana and Ki are two different opposing forms of energy.
A lot of further research was necessary in everything.
Aside from that, my days went rather peacefully. Except that I wasn't allowed to go back to the Adventurer's guild and drink due to some doctor's complains. Naturally, I told the doctor to shove it, but it cause a pretty big event where the doctor and hs assistants fell at my feet and begged me to not wreck my body any further.
I could have gone over to the Hall family's mansion since it had Vienna and Billy there, but precisely because that place had Vienna and Billy present, I decided against it.
In the end, I was staying with the Acacias in the Royal Capital.
I was always called to eat together with the entire family which I gladly indulged in. The Duke, Hades, also invited over Vienna and Billy quite often to share some meals and talked behind my back about something. But it was obvious what it was about, especially since all of them had been calling me 'son-in-law' and 'brother-in-law' over and over.
Speaking of a brother-in-law, Acheron von Acacia, who had recently come to his senses along with his mother was actually two years older than Lethe. Now that he had regained his health, Lethe wanted him to take the seat of the heir back.
"It won't be good, Lethe. You have trained for it for so long, and you're also very capable. I shouldn't take the seat of the heir."
"No, just take it. I don't care."
"And what about you—"
"I'll be enjoying my time with my Eugene, so you can handle it yourself."
With that excuse, she easily shrugged away her position.
Aside from it all, Duke Hades also asked me for a favor. I would usually discuss politics and business with him now and then, so it wasn't completely out of the left field.
Since Acheron had come to his senses after so long, he wanted me to help train him. Just a crash course in some basics since I was near their age and also the strongest they knew of. I gladly obliged since I was a good person concerned about the next generation.
"Brother-in-law, isn't this too tough?"
Eh, who am I kidding? I just wanted to whip him up a bit.
"Just get used to it, brother-in-law. Eugene will just hit us more if we complain."
Oh, and Billy had also joined those sessions. They had found solidarity and were calling each other 'brother-in-law' as well.
It was quite the scene, to be honest.
"Alright, you two, now get lost. You're hogging too much of my time."
And with those simple words, Lethe would dive in and get rid of them all.
That wasn't really the end of things.
Lethe would only really sleep when we held hands, we sometimes even cuddled. From breakfast to dinner, every meal had to happen together. Or at least, she would only eat after making sure I had.
The time I used to slowly start working out had started to become half working out and half teaching her how to work out. And just yesterday, Lethe had left her official duties halfway through and decided to fool around with me, much to Luthr's deep chagrin.
"So, what you're saying is, she has greatly overbearing?"
Pointing the fork toward me, the head receptionist of the Deep Down Town branch spoke with cake filling her mouth.
I leaned ahead and took a bite of the cake she offered before continuing.
"How to say, she has become a simp."
"Man, that was quick."
"No, look," I waved my hands to calm her down. "That's not it. I am happy, alright, it makes my chest pound every time she does any of it. I definitely like it, but well. It's a hindrance."
The receptionist leaned back at that. It was an action she usually did when she smiled slyly.
"I want to support her and her to support me, not for her to lose sight of her goals because of me. If I just end up as a distraction then I'd rather not be around at all."
The receptionist sipped her coffee with a trembling hand. Was it too cheesy? It probably was, but it was also honest.
"Don't worry, my dearest Dusk. I know just what it is. Your lady is sick."
"S-sick..?"
"Yes. It's a disease I call, the 'First Love Fervor,'"
"F-first love fervor..."
The receptionist leaned closer and so did I.
"It happens to everyone. Love rushes to their heads and fills their minds. All they can think about is their lover, it's similar to how a child plays with a new toy."
"Oh..." I sighed. A woman's heart was strange.
"It's not really a gender thing," she continued as she bit into another bite of the cake. Was she casually reading my mind?
"I am sure that before expressing things, you were constantly thinking about 'how pretty' or 'how cool' that, right?"
She wasn't wrong. No, she was on point.
"Different people have different ways of expressing their love. But well, she would lose interest with time, at that point, unless something big happens you won't be able to salvage things well."
"Lose interest. You're not making sense now."
"Don't trust me if you don't want to."
Fuck, how could I not?
"The best thing to do would be to go away before she can lose interest. That way she'll be left longing, you know?"
"Ahhh..." A gasp left me on its own. I didn't want her losing interest in me. I also didn't want to go away just to make sure she doesn't. That wasn't genuine at all.
"What should I do...?"
The receptionist suddenly leaned ahead and placed her hand on my head. She ruffled my hair with a smile.
"Drama has never been this novel's forte. If you're going to solve it, do so with a conversation."
A conversation.
The banquet that we had initially come here for was finally being held tonight. There was no better place to hold a conversation.
I grabbed the receptionist's hands, pulled it off my head, and smiled.
"I'll do it. Thanks."
A conversation was in order. We had to keep our priorities straight.
If we were going to indulge in a romance, it had to be thought out. Nothing too hasty, nothing that could kill itself. Something based on pure attraction and conversation, that was how it would be lasting.
"Also, can you not break the fourth wall, please?
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