Chapter 12: Isekai Life & Cake Slicing

“What!?”

Katriana’s eyes went wide and she just stared at me, so I repeated myself.

“I want to be king, and I want you to be one of my queens.”

There was another long pause.

“I don’t even know where to begin with that statement,” she replied flatly.

I let another moment pass. “I notice you’re not saying no...”

Katriana stood up, and started pacing the room rapidly. “I’m your sister. You know, I behaved! I saved myself! I knew that you might need to offer my hand in order to seal an alliance or something in order to get us the support we need!”

“I appreciate your dedication, but we will learn to do without. You’re still not saying no.”

“I’m your sister. You’re my brother. Incest is illegal practically everywhere.”

“Well, when I’m king, I’ll get to make the laws, so I can allow us to get married. Hell, we can go and do it right now, if you wanted. Nobody around here knows who we are, so we can go to a temple and get it done right now ... but I understand if you don’t want to do this right this instant. Also, you’re still not staying no.”

“Okay ... but what did you mean by, ‘queens’?”

I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts. “Well, for one ... I know I’m weak ... and if we were to have a child, the chances of that child inheriting my weakness is more likely because we’re family. If nothing else, another wife would mean we, collectively, are more likely to produce a good heir.”

“That’s another good reason for us not to get married. You should save yourself for a wife you can get a good heir from.”

“My second point is ... We’re going to need a lot of strong allies, and if we work hard to make a loving family for other adventurers who are willing to fight for their husband...”

“If that’s the case, why shouldn’t I just have a whole pile of husbands?”

She was getting angry now, I guess because I was disarming her arguments so rapidly.

“Do you want that?”

I didn’t want that. But I don’t think she did either.

Katriana sighed. “No, no I don’t ... I didn’t mean that seriously...”

“I do, though. Well, wives, at least. I think ... it’s just the kind of person I am. I want to leave my heart open for other people who want to belong there, I guess.”

“And you want one of those people to be me.”

It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes, I do. You’re more than my beloved sister ... you’re my sworn protector. You’ve fought so hard for our dream, and you’ve put your life on the line for me so often, and you’ve never given up hope. You’ve always looked out for me, and you’re so courageous ... How could I not fall in love with that person?”

She blushed and broke eye contact, which had to be a good sign.

“ ... I need to think about it.”

“I understand, take your time.”

She turned towards the door. “I’m going to go for a bath now, and I think I should do that alone.”

“That’s fine, go ahead.”

I tried to be nonchalant, but in reality I was disappointed that I wouldn’t have another chance to see her in the bath. I suppose things were going well, overall, though.

Having nothing better to do for Katriana’s bathtime, I lay on the bed and quietly contemplated the two potions we had gathered. Identifying items was a service that cost 1,000 gold. Even the Identify spell, which I didn’t have, require components that cost 100 gold per casting- it was not cheap.

Potions could be identified by taking a small sample of them ... but the core rules didn’t have a mechanic for doing this, it was more of a vague allusion to allowing it. Worse still, there was such a thing as “potion miscibility”, which was the unpredictable effects of combining two potions. They might combine really well, having increased strength, or eve making one effect permanent. But then, they could combine to make a lethal toxin, or even produce an explosion. You had to let one potion digest completely before taking another.

Well ... at least I could identify one?

Katriana returned to the room to find me retching over the chamberpot, spitting occasionally.

Immediately she ran over to me and laid a hand on my back. “Theodore! Are you okay? Did something happen!?”

I spat in the chamber pot one last time. “I identified one of the potions.”

“What!?”

“It’s an oil that neutralizes acid.”

“Why did you do that by drinking it!?”

“Uh, well, it seemed like the thing to do...”

Katriana sighed at me. “But you’re okay, right?”

“I think so ... it just tasted nasty.”

“What a troublesome little brother ... go have your bath, they’re waiting for you downstairs.”

Leaving the two potions in Katriana’s care, I went down to the bathing area and had a relaxing, if solitary bath. I enjoyed the hot water’s ability to relax my tense muscles, and it wasn’t until the wash water came away with threads of black and brown in it did I realize how I was covered in soot and grime.

Adventuring is dirty work, I guess.

My two robes were soiled, so before my bath I had to give a serving girl two gold to go buy me a clean robe and get my laundry done. She waited nervously on the other side of the screen for me to toss over my robe, so I had the excuse of waiting on fresh clothes while I luxuriated in the hot water.

I also took the time to enjoy myself, thinking of Katriana in a modern wedding gown the whole time. After all, privacy was a luxury for an adventurer.

When she returned, I had a nice, dark-blue dyed robe in contrast to my two brown “travel” robes. I gladly changed- I had long since started to turn pruney- and was informed my laundry would be ready on the morrow.

I returned back to the room, to find it empty. Katriana, the potions and the quest reward were both gone ... so I assumed at some point the servants came to tell her the private dining room was ready.

So I went downstairs and had a serving girl direct me to the dining room.

When I entered, a sumptuous feast was laid out before me. A whole roast chicken, dripping with butter and gravy, dominated the table, but there was also a tureen of some kind of cloudy broth, a plate of steaming slices of ham, a plate of roast potatoes and a bowl of various fruits and cheeses. A steaming fresh loaf of bread accompanied everything, with a butter so finely whipped it spread like whipped cream. Katriana and Voss were there, already tucking in. The latter levelled a chicken leg at me with his unbandaged arm and smiled widely.

“There he is! We thought you had been in the bath so long you might have washed away.”

I smiled back as I lowered myself into the chair next to Katriana. “Well, I had to make myself presentable for my fellow adventurers, right?”