Chapter 42: The Widow Falls into the Claws of the Magician (Part 1)

The morning sun shone in the clear blue sky, and a fresh breeze blew through the trees.

It was as if the air was telling her that today was the start of a good day.

Thinking about such things, Lou was on her daily morning walk.

He walked around the palace gardens, about a 500-meter radius from Keith's room, and then returned home.

It was a cat's territorial instinct.

Lou was continuing this daily routine as long as it wasn't raining.

He walked the same route, with the same steps as usual.

However, the cat noticed that the atmosphere was different from usual.

A tense, somewhat hectic atmosphere was drifting from inside the palace.

"Hmm?"

Tilting his head, Lou returned to her room and called out to his master, who was lying on the bed in only his underwear and reading a book.

"Master, master."

Keith said without taking his eyes off the book.

"What's the matter, you idiot?"

"There's a commotion in the palace. Is something happening?"

At Lou's words, Keith put the book on his chest.

"You didn't know? A dinner party is being held today."

"Meow."

A dinner party is a large-scale party held once a year in Seymrad.

The main purpose is to invite state guests from each country and deepen friendships.

King Masha, who doesn't really like such events, is also holding this annual event with a bang.

For that reason, preparations for the food, the great hall, and security procedures for the guests must begin several months in advance.

This year in particular, Nia will be showing off her magic, so the facilities are even more extensive than usual.

The big day is finally upon us.

It's no wonder the atmosphere is tense.

Meanwhile, Keith was lying on the bed in only his underwear,

"You don't have to do anything, master?"

"Me? What am I supposed to do? The princess has a personal teacher for her song, and this palace has perfect magical defense. There's nothing for me to do."

That's true.

The court magician is an advisor when there are magical problems or matters related to magical power, and to be honest, he's a nuisance at this banquet.

If he wanders around carelessly, he'll just be told to "go away."

All he has to do is remember the seating order and the proceedings at the banquet. So he has no choice but to stay in his room.

"You're in a good position."

"I think so too."

And with that, Keith started reading his book again.

It felt like he'd been in his room like this for almost a week.

Since Nia's performance is coming up soon, she's been practicing singing and taking etiquette lessons for a while.

Aisha is guarding her and then discussing security procedures with the soldiers until dawn.

So Keith hasn't seen the two of them for almost a week.

He has no choice but to watch Aisha's video and jerk off with his masturbator, but he's starting to miss human skin.

"I want to embrace the princess's body and stick it in her tight pussy... I want to fuck Aisha's tsundere pussy while sucking her big tits."

As usual, he was spouting the worst things and flipping through the pages of his porn magazine.

§§§

In the afternoon, a soldier came into the room.

He said that it was about time for the magician to sit down at the dinner table.

It was only natural, since he was from the hosting country.

Keith agreed, took a bath, shaved, and changed into the guiding suit that had been made for this day.

It was a Seymrad-style version of the guiding suit worn by the Order of the Dead's Dawn, which he was a member of, and everything from the fabric to the thread was first-rate.

The color was black, by the way. This was the one thing he couldn't compromise on.

Putting it on and brushing his hair back, he said,

"Master! You look like a low-ranking evil executive! It's like, 'This isn't supposed to be like this!'"

Lu had praised him so much that he vowed to make it into a stringed instrument next time and left the room.

Yawning, he walked down the hallway to the venue.

When he arrived, the venue was already prepared.

As he remembered where his seat was, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Master Keith!"

He turned around to see Nia running up to him with a big smile on her face.

She looked like she was going to hug him, but because she was wearing makeup, Nia held back with all her might.

In her dress, Nia looked like a pretty flower, and the light makeup made her face look a little more mature.

"You look even more beautiful today."

Nia was happy and embarrassed by the compliment.

"It suits you, Keith! You look great!!"

This was what he was saying in all sincerity.

But what Keith thought when he saw Nia like that was, what could he do to do something erotic in this tiara, long gloves, and dress?

As he was thinking about that,

"I'm sure I can sing well! So... please listen to me, okay?"

"Yes, of course."

Nia tried to hold Keith's hand as he nodded, but

"Nia! Get ready to pick you up over there!!"

Aisha, who had been watching the two of them with a sullen look on her face, interrupted him.

When Nia was stopped, she muttered "That's mean" to Aisha,

"Just keep watching! I'm sure of it!!"

Aisha pulled him away while saying that.

Keith smirked at Aisha's pouting face, and when he saw her in a formal knight's uniform, which was different from her usual look,

"That's nice too..."

That was all he could think about.

Soon afterwards, state guests from various countries began arriving at the palace one after another.

The species ranged from elves, of course, to sub-dragons, fishmen, fauns, and dwarves.

All of them were welcomed by Mashua, Mia, and Nia.

Watching from a distance, Keith was surprised at how broad the king's face was.

Among the state guests were famous people that Keith knew, and seeing Mashua talking intimately with them made Keith think that this king of a small country was not to be underestimated.

As more and more customers arrived, suddenly it became noisy, and he saw Nia embracing a small elf girl with joy.

Behind her came a similarly elven woman, chatting intimately with Mia. Seeing this, Keith muttered,

"Who's that...?"

"It's Lady Roana and Lady Elne."

A voice suddenly rang out from behind him, and he let out a cry of "Whoa!"

He turned around, his heart pounding, and saw

"Mr. Berna."

Berna was standing there in her maid's uniform, her usual expressionless face.

"I'm sorry I startled you."

"N-no, it's nothing... By the way, Lady Roana and Lady Elne..."

"Lady Roana is the Queen's older sister. Lady Elne is her daughter, isn't she?"

"Really..."

Looking at them again after hearing that, it's true that Roana and Elne look a lot like Mia and Nia.

Translucent white skin and platinum hair.

But what makes them different is that Roana has a large chest despite her slender body.

Looking at Roana, who was smiling softly and talking to Mia and Nia,

"Berna-san, um..."

I turned around and said,

"Whoa! She's not here!!"

There was no one there anymore.

Moving without making a trace, like a ninja.

Thinking about that, Keith turned his gaze back.

§§§

After all the guests had gathered and the courtiers had taken their seats, King Mashua gave a speech.

Keith felt sleepy as he listened to what the principal had to say when he was in school, but he managed to hold it in with a sour look on his face and, after the signal for a toast, he ate his meal.

The original purpose of a dinner party, to deepen friendships, did not apply to a human, especially a court magician.

So he continued to eat and drink while the others were talking happily.

After a while, the sound of the court musicians' instruments stopped, and Nia stood up shyly.

After Mashua's introduction, Nia began to sing.

Nia took a deep breath and looked for Keith.

The black magician sitting at the end of the table was watching the princess with kindness.

At least, that's how it looked to Nia.

Nia's courage surged forth and she sang softly.

Just like she had practiced, she wasn't bothered by people's gazes. Keith had trained her to be that way.

So Nia sang for her beloved Keith, and for her father and mother.

As she sang, she summoned sylphs and transferred her magical powers to the song.

Then, drawn by the sound, the sylphs began to dance happily.

It was a success. It was a success!

Her voice became stronger with joy, and the sylphs danced even more happily.

The audience was surprised, as they had thought this was just another singing performance like before.

Nia, who cannot use magic, was calling the sylphs and making them dance.

She looked unmistakably like an elf.

When the song ended, the spirits disappeared, and Nia bowed her head, the hall was filled with thunderous applause.

Mashua ran up to Nia and stroked her head, while Mia and Roana sat next to her in tears.

Even Aisha was happy to see them and had tears in her eyes.

Keith had drunk too much and was asleep.

§§§

Keith woke up after dinner was over and it was time to escort the guests to the guesthouse.

Keith woke up to the sound of people moving around in droves, drank the rest of the alcohol in his glass, and returned to his room.

Nia had gone to see off the guests, so he was unable to meet her.

He returned to his room and took a bath, loosening up his stiff body that had become stiff from sleeping in an odd position.

When he got out of the bath, Lou was fast asleep.

Keith lay down in bed to go to sleep as well, and was dozing off when he was woken by a knock on the door.

He looked at the clock and saw that about three hours had passed since he had returned to his room.

Has Aisha come?

That's what I thought, but Aisha wouldn't come to Keith's room on her own unless there was a very good reason. So

"Who is this?"

I called out.

"Sorry to bother you so late at night."

A woman's voice came. It was a voice I didn't recognize.

Thinking suspiciously, I got dressed and opened the door, and an elven woman I'd never seen before was standing there.

She was wearing maid's clothes, but the design was slightly different from the maids who served this court.

"Umm..."

The elf bowed her head and said,

"I serve Lady Roana, and my lord wishes to speak with you, Lord Magician."

"With me?"

"Yes. So I came here in the middle of the night, but I'm sorry. What do you think? Would you like to accompany me?"

Lady Roana to me?

Many questions appeared in my head.

To Roana, Keith was merely a magician employed by her family.

What business could she have with a human magician she had never spoken to?

She was beginning to get a little scared of the incomprehensible situation.

However, she couldn't just refuse,

"C-can you wait a moment?"

Keith, a natural coward, put all the small magical tools he could think of in his bag, and also grabbed his magic wand.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

With that, he headed to Roana's room with the maid.

Roana's room was not in the guest house, but in a room in the palace.

When the maid arrived and knocked on the door, she heard a voice from inside say, "Come in."

It was a gentle, calm voice.

She said, "Excuse me," and went inside, where Roana, who had changed into her own clothes, was sitting in a chair drinking tea.

Even when I looked at her again, she was a beautiful elf.

She only looked five or six years older than Keith, but being Mia's sister meant she was at least 300 years old.

Although she looked slim, her breasts were still large.

It was hard not to look at her.

Roana smiled at Keith and said,

"Sorry for calling so late. I really wanted to talk to you, magician."

"No, it's fine."

"Elne will be here during the day, so we won't be able to have a long chat."

Indeed, when she was with Nia, she seemed like a lively girl.

"What about Elne?"

"That girl insisted on sleeping with Nia."

Roana smiled with a troubled look on her face.

She urged Keith to sit, so he sat down in the chair in front of Roana.

Loana had the maid make tea for Keith,

"Phil, sorry, but could you take a break for a bit?"

She said this to her maid, Phil, with an apologetic look on her face. Phil bowed his head and said, "Yes, sir," and left the room.

The two of them were left alone.

What? What was going to happen now?

No matter how much she thought about it, he couldn't come up with the right answer.

He was suddenly called by someone he had no connection with, and the only thing he could do was break out into a cold sweat.

So he couldn't help but stare at Roana.

At first she stared, wondering, "Why did you call me?", but before long he was captivated by Roana's beauty.

There was an adult beauty there, with no girlishness, unlike Nia's childish and cute impression.

"Is something wrong? Is there something on my face..."

"S-sorry. I was mesmerized by your beauty."

Roana was confused for a moment, then said, "You're good at it," and giggled.

Her expression was so cute.

Keith took a sip of tea,

"So, the story is..."

"I wanted to thank you. Mage, you were the one who allowed Nia to use magic. Thank you so much."

Roana bowed her head,

"I was just doing what a court mage should do."

"No, you can't tell me how happy it made Nia... Even with today's song, Nia, Mia, and King Mashua looked so happy... it's all thanks to you, Mage."

Keith didn't feel bad when he heard that.

"Nia was always talking about the magician during the meal and even after the banquet was over. She kept telling us how amazing you are, you know? Elne was just jealous."

Roana smiled happily as she remembered.

Keith was relieved that the princess hadn't said anything strange.

Roana looked really happy and said,

"I couldn't have children for a long time... I thought of Nia as my own daughter, and that hasn't changed even now that Elne was born. So really..."

Her hand grabbed Keith's hand.

"Thank you, magician."

Looking straight into her beautiful eyes, Keith was a little embarrassed.

Keith slowly handed his hand back and said,

"If I can repay even a little to the king for hiring a human like me as a court magician, then that's enough for me."

He'd get more than he deserves for doing that much for the princess and her guardian knight.

But of course, Roana had no way of knowing that, and she said, "He really is as wonderful as Nia said."

"No, no, not at all." Keith finished his tea and searched for words. "By the way, Lady Roana's husband is..."

When Keith heard that, it felt like a shadow had fallen over Roana's cheerful face for the first time.

Keith wondered if he had asked something stupid, and then she said, "My husband died. Ten years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. It's my fault for still dragging it on after ten years."

Roana gave a bitter smile, and Keith wondered if he should ask her more about this or find a different topic. "Um... was it an accident or something?" he decided to ask.

"No, he died of old age."

"Dying of old age?! Ah, your husband is much older than you."

Roana looks to be around 35 or 36 years old.

That means he's probably in his late 300s to 400s.

The average lifespan of a noble elf is 800 years, and even a normal elf is 600 years, so I thought she must have married an elf who was almost twice as old,

"My husband is younger. Much younger than me."

Roana said as if she was reminiscing about some fun memories.

"Younger?"

"My husband was a human, just like the magician."

"What?!"

Keith was also surprised by this.

He had never heard of a noble elf marrying a human.

"My husband is a merchant, and he came to this town to buy magic stones and we happened to meet. He proposed to me on the day we met. At the time, I kept saying that I would never get married, but I realized..."

At this point, Roana looked down sadly.

"He said he would always protect me... that he would never leave me alone, but before I knew it, he had become an old man and died..."

I could hear her sniffling.

Keith couldn't say anything, because he was lost in thought.

Roana looked up, her eyes moist with tears, but her face was bright,

"But he left the shop for me, and gave me a treasure called Elne, you know? I have to be grateful."

The way she said this brightly was beautiful.

It gave him goosebumps.

Looking at her, Keith thought.

An elf who loved a man of the same human race as himself.

An elf who was by his side as he died, and lived bravely with her only daughter.

A widowed elf with a slim and pretty body, who lives her life thinking of the man she loved so dearly, hiding her sadness inside.

What can he do for a woman like that?

Isn't that to comfort her?! (In a sexual sense)

That's what Keith decided.

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