Chapter 84 - A Spa Retreat

"Your Majesty, that is almost my entire territory!!", a Count shouted jumping out of his seat, "How are we to pay the Crown without being able to levy taxes!?"

"At least you have something left, mine would be completely gone!", a Baron protested as more and more nobles started voicing their issues.

Noticing several of the Shadow Agents begin to move closer to the noblemen, they appeared ready to execute anyone that was stupid enough to attack the Queen. Paying close attention to how the Queen would react, she didn't show any signs of wavering to their demands. Happy to see that she wasn't going to budge, I wanted to help her out and prevent any bloodshed today. Rising up from spot, I turned around and unleashed a torrent of Killing Intent upon the nobles. Watching them drop like flies, dozens of them fell to the floor convulsing and foaming at the mouth.

"Your Queen and King have spoken, disobeying the Crown is treason!", I roared at those that were still conscious, "Count your blessings and be silent! Most of you should be dead right now for your crimes, but the Queen showed you mercy and allowed you to live. Continue berating their decisions at your own peril…their kindness may wear out."

Taking a second to think about things, a few men quickly realized that the Queen's Shadows were close by ready to kill them. Deciding that living was more important than their territory, the nobles sat down and remained silent. Now that calm had returned to the Throne Room, the Shadows relaxed and quickly got the unconscious nobles seated again before taking their original positions again.

"Now then…", the Queen said with a sigh, "The territory I have bestowed upon Cole needs a very capable person to rule it and restore it back to its former glory. As for the rest of you, the remaining two-thirds of the nation will be divided accordingly to your Court Rank and the loyalty you have shown the Crown. Those of you that remained loyal through these turbulent years will be rewarded handsomely with the best territories."

"As for those that betrayed us, you will be given territories that are in need of care. It will fall on you to restore them to their previous standings or better.", the King added, "If you are unable to do so in five years, you will be stripped of your rank and territory. You would do well to remember that you will be under our watchful gaze the entire time. Any further betrayal to the Crown will see your heads swiftly removed from your shoulders."

Acknowledging the Crown's orders, Mirellia asked her servants to begin passing out the new land assignments. Carefully watching each person's reactions, it was easy to see that only a small handful of nobles had been faithful to the Crown. Dismissing the nobles, the King ordered the Guards to carry those still unconscious out to their wagons. Waiting for the last noble to leave, the two let out a sigh once the door was shut again.

"We apologize for making you wait so long, we had a few troublesome thorns to remove from the Court. There were a few remaining Church Followers in our Court that have been removed permanently.", the Queen said with a smile, "It is a strange feeling to no longer worry about the Church's movements, and fear that our nation will tear itself apart."

Knowing that the Queen and Melty had long been worrying about it, I was happy to assist them in resolving the problem. Now that centuries of corruption had been removed, it was on them to maintain this momentum and keep the corruption out.

"I completely understand.", Elouise remarked with a nod, "You must have also had the best sleep in years last night too."

"Oh yes!", Mirellia wholeheartedly agreed, "I was able to take a long soak and savor my meal for the first time in ages."

Wanting to prevent the two of them from looping this subject, I quickly interjected myself to move the discussion along. If I didn't, we would be here for a while listening to the two of them talk about their qualms with being rulers.

"Has Melty had a chance to get you up to speed on Malty's situation?", I inquired.

"She has…", the King replied rubbing his eyes, "To think a deceased Goddess has been guiding our daughter down a dark path this entire time, it was a hard potion to swallow. Is there truly nothing that can be done to save her? Surely you must know a method to free her."

"Unfortunately there isn't, without a suitable replacement fragment she'd never recover.", Esmeralda stated.

"We…we understand…", the Queen acknowledged with a sad look, "We will have to continue looking for a method then."

Moving on to the reconstruction of the territory I had been assigned, Gearnia brought forward documentation for them to review. Going over the timeline for the construction projects and roadworks we had planned, the royals looked a bit pale as we went over everything. Having based the layout on my Kingdom, I thought they might have been a bit overwhelmed by the number of cities we were planning to build. Reaching the end of our update, Sapphire asked them if something was wrong.

"This…this is a lot to get done in six months' time.", Mirellia stated, "Twenty major trade cities, hundreds of villages, and these co-op farms…it's a lot to do in such a short amount of time."

"Not really…we have probably close to a hundred thousand tradesmen and laborers working on this six-month project. This endeavor has to have such a tight timeline as families are moving by the thousands to the territory, and all of them need homes.", I remarked with a proud grin, "Every family needs a safe home, a job, and food…I am working hard to ensure they have it."

Leaving at that, Mirellia asked if there was anything else. Telling her that was all I had for the time being, we were about to leave when Melty spoke up.

"Could we maybe go to one of those Hot Springs I heard about?", Melty inquired nervously, "Mother and Father have been working hard, and we could use some family time right now."

Giving her a confused look, I wasn't sure where she learned about the Japanese Hot Springs. I hadn't mentioned them to her nor did we have any literature about them in our home. As I went to clarify which Hot Spring she was referring to, Ryuko slid in front of me with a pamphlet in hand.

"How about this one? I hear the scenery is breathtaking, and we can book the entire place since it's a smaller venue.", she pitched to me, "How about it?"

"Seriously…", Shino sighed, "I told you that we had a lot going on right now and that we could book in the Spring next year."

"Oh come on, we haven't taken a break in over a year now. I am asking for one day, is it so wrong to ask for it?", Ryuko pleaded.

"Hot Springs you say?", Mirellia chimed in excited about possibly leaving work for a bit, "Please tell us more about them."

—3rd Person POV—

Taking the Royal Family to the Hot Spring that Ryuko had picked out, Cole was able to rent the facility for the day without much issue. The small countryside Hot Spring didn't have any customers when they arrived and were more than happy to accommodate the group. Handing out towels and care packages to everyone, Malty became angry when she didn't receive anything.

"What about me!?", Malty protested staring at the packages everyone else got.

"They don't let animals bathe in this facility, be grateful we didn't leave you outside.", Cole remarked pushing the King towards the Massage Parlor, "See you ladies at dinner, try not to damage anything please!"

Saying nothing further, the two groups split leaving the angry Malty pouting outside the Women's Bathroom. Taking a seat, Malty let out a sigh and looked around the room for something to do to pass the time. Listen to her sister and mother start chatting with the others, she started to regret coming here today.

"Washing dishes would have been better than this…", Malty sighed with disappointment.

Leading Aultcray into the changing room, the two men stripped down and got into the robes they were provided. Showing them to the room the masseuses would be using, the King began to panic a bit noticing that the staff were all female. Asking Cole if this was a brothel by any chance, he shook his head and assured the King that it wasn't. Telling him to just relax and lay on his stomach on the table, the King did as he was told.

Watching the masseuses come into the room a few minutes later, Aultcray started to panic as he thought this was a setup. Demanding to know what was about to happen as they slid a curtain between us for privacy. Hearing the masseuse giggle at his reaction, Cole wondered if this was the first time a foreigner acted this way for her. Hearing them roll in carts next, the poor man almost had a heart attack.

"What are you doing with those hot stones!?", Aultcray whimpered, "Those are too hot, they will scald me! This has to be punishment for my earlier transgressions! Cole, I have repeatedly apologized to you for…OH MY GOD!!"

Starting to let out creepy moans of pleasure as the massage started, Cole promptly killed the sound coming from the old man. Cole didn't want to pay therapy fees for the women, nor did he want future massages to be ruined because of this. Sinking into the table, now that it was quiet again, Cole let himself go and enjoyed the massage.

While the men were receiving massages, the women entered the outdoor bath. Walking out in only robes, Mirellia and Melty let out gasps as they saw the view before them. Seeing beautiful snowcapped mountains, majestic forests, and an amazing waterfall in the distance they were taken aback by how beautiful this place was. Taking a moment to admire the scenery, the two didn't notice Ryuko move behind them.

"Son of Gun these are huge!", she giggled in a playful manner as she started fondling the Queen's breasts from behind.

"Eek!", Mirellia shrieked as she fumbled forward, "What are you doing!?"

"Oh come on, it's only us ladies here. Don't noblewomen have skinship in bathing areas?", Ryuko inquired, "It's a pretty common thing here, it's a bonding experience."

Smacking her on the back of the head, Shino apologized to Mirellia for Ryuko's behavior. Stating that she had a rather mischievous side, Shino assured her she meant no harm. Assuring her it wasn't a big deal, Mirellia said that it just caught her off guard was all. Stating that she'd never had genuine female friends as Queen, she always had to assume they were trying to cozy up to her for ulterior motives.

"I understand that feeling, you can never be too sure if they wanted to be a friend or a leech.", Elouise stated with a smile, "That said…I hope you will eventually come to consider us friends. Some of us understand your pain better than most, and if you need to vent please let us know."

"I…I see.", Mirellia replied with a grateful nod, "I hope you won't regret that, there are decades of pent-up frustration."

Motioning for the two to join them in the shower area, Mirellia began to slowly open up to them. Knowing that their husband could take whatever he wanted by force, she saw no need for them to betray her trust. For the first few minutes, most of her complaints were about her early childhood and her treatment within the family. After that…her complaints shifted to her husband and Malty whom she had much to talk about.