By the way, there would also be a separate meeting to determine how Merinard as a nation would act next. That one involved not just the women, but the civil servants and military officers from every department. Sylphy would gather their opinions and then make her final ruling as the queen.
This meeting though—the one in her chambers—was something else entirely. All the women had gathered to determine where and how I would be deployed as a strategic piece. Officially, the meeting was said to concern “matters of the queen’s chambers,” which in plain terms meant her private life and bedroom affairs, if you catch my drift. Still, my skills were fairly open knowledge at this point, and these meetings were fast becoming the foundation for Sylphy’s inner circle, quietly supporting her authority as the queen going forward. It felt weird to say this about myself, but I was basically a joker card, someone whose power ignored the common sense of this world in both military and domestic matters.
“Grr…”
Elen, the lone voice of dissent, was still sulking. I’d have to make it up to her later, with some quality time and pampering. Fortunately, most of the long-lived women in my life were fairly patient. They could wait, and they often deferred to the shorter-lived folk like Elen and the harpies. Obviously, that didn’t mean I could neglect them either. I still owed them plenty of my time and attention. After all, I only had myself to blame for getting tempted in the first place—even though I felt like they were the ones who forcibly devoured me—but I digress. Either way, I was truly a blessed man.
✦ ✦ ✦
“That said, reclamation work is a big job. You’re not going to have me start tomorrow or something, right?” I asked.
“Of course not. I wouldn’t ask you to march out tomorrow and start clearing wasteland or forest,” Sylphy said with a small smile.
An hour after deciding how I’d be deployed, I was in the bath with her—we needed to decide where I’d be sent.
There was a lot of prep work to be done before departure: sending word ahead to the local lord, having them gather all the former demi-human slaves, and choosing exactly where within their territory we’d begin development. It would take time, so I’d decided to spend that time doting on the “family members” who wouldn’t be accompanying me on the trip.
Sylphy was first in the rotation.
This “family time” schedule would unfold over several days: Sylphy tonight, the harpies and Elen tomorrow, and after that, Serafeeta, Doriada, and Ira, since they’d be holding down the fort here back home.
By the way, Melty was last on the list. Not because she was the least important, but because she was buried in prep work for the massive land-development project she’d suddenly found herself burdened with—the one that doubled as a cover for recruiting talented personnel—which meant she didn’t have the time to get lovey-dovey with me. Since she was so busy, she’d be getting more “family time” with me later.
“We’re really putting a lot on Melty’s shoulders this time around,” I said, letting out a low sigh.
“Agreed,” Sylphy replied. “We need to send letters to the regional lords and have them designate areas for development, if they haven’t already. And, if the intel we have on each area is outdated, we will need fresh surveys. We’ll also need to recruit pioneers and allocate funds from our treasury. It’s a great deal of work for Melty to have to deal with, but…”
Building a pioneer village meant confirming accessibility to nearby villages and towns, and researching what kinds of creatures roamed the area—especially dangerous monsters. Even the most promising site would be all for naught if it was too isolated or constantly under threat by monsters.
“It really is a privilege to get to soak in a nice hot bath.”
“Try not to go too hard on the liquor,” she chided lightly.
Sylphy must have planned for a long soak; the water in the royal family’s large bath was lukewarm. The water’s temperature was maintained by fire spirit magic, and it kept it just right. Honestly, using spirit magic for something this indulgent struck me as kind of wasteful, or at least luxurious.
“In that case,” she murmured, “you can swap out the alcohol.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll give you a nice massage—or whatever else you’d like.”
And so we got thoroughly lovey-dovey in the bath, doing everything Sylphy wanted. Both of us had been busy as of late, so I really needed to make a habit of taking time out to relax with her like this. No matter how much work we both had to contend with, it wasn’t healthy to forego this kind of thing.