It took close to two weeks for Erich and Ayumi to return to Teutonia after stepping through the warp gate, which took them from the world of Alfheim to the world of Germania. It was only after the couple were at the doors of their home did they feel relieved.
And yet there was still a deep sense of anxiety in Erich's gut, because the day was quickly approaching that he would have to give Lunaria an answer. He had been thinking about how he was going to resolve this issue during every free moment he had up until this point. And there was only one conclusion he could land upon. He would have to accept his fate and agree to Lunaria's demands.
After all, it was only after he had time to think that Erich realized the odds of him escaping from the Alfheim Empress's clutches with his life intact were virtually zero. Especially now that she had set her sights upon him. He doubted there was anything in this galaxy more terrifying than that woman when she felt scorned.
Of course, the moment the door to his villa opened, any anxiety that Erich felt was tossed out the window. Because Erika had jumped into his arms, and kissed him with a level of passion that he had not felt since Celestia had done so in his hotel room.
Before Erich could even ask what had got the pink-haired beauty so exited, she wore a wide smile, and announced her surprise.
"Erich.... I've been dying to tell you since I first found out! I'm pregnant!"
Erich could not believe his ears. Erika was pregnant? Having thought about it for roughly three seconds, he realized how much of an idiot he was. Of course, she was pregnant. The Germanic race was designed to be hyper fertile.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtErika was not even thirty yet. She easily had another hundred plus year left of fertility inside her, and they had gone at it like rabbits the last time they were together. So much so that they had run out of condoms. The fact that he never considered this to be a possibility until now made the man feel like an absolute idiot.
Ayumi immediately felt a sense of jealousy overwhelm her. She knew that the odds of her and Erich conceiving a child were incredibly low, due to the fact that they were from two different species. It was possible, after all, life was tenacious, but it was rare for two different species to mix, and usually it required them to have a similar enough genetic structure. Which in the case of the Oni wasn't too surprising, considering they were basically just humans with horns and pointed ears.
Usually the child of two different species would also be sterile, but there were ways to fix that with the proper medical technology. Something that the Germanic Star-Empire most definitely had access to. Knowing all of this, Ayumi couldn't help but feel jealousy towards Erika over the fact that she was capable of reliably reproducing with her husband. But she did not let this show, and instead congratulated the woman.
"That's wonderful news, Erika. I am so happy for you both!" '
The false smile that Ayumi wore was convincing enough for both Erich, and Erika to believe it was genuine, and thus, Erich patted the woman on her plump bottom, before making a joke about the whole situation, which was his way of coping with this newly added burden added to the pile of irons he already had in the fire.
"Once we're married we will have to work hard to produce a child of our own, isn't that right, Ayumi?"
Upon seeing that Erich thoughts immediately shifted towards producing a child of their own, whatever darkness that ate away at Ayumi's heart instantly vanished, causing her false smile to become a genuine one, as she blushed in embarassment before speaking the thoughts on her mind.
"Can we get started now?"
Erika, however, took offense to this. The fact that Ayumi went to the Centennial Ball with Erich meant that she had most definitely had her fill of the man up until this point. Meanwhile, she had become dreadfully horny thanks to the shifting of her hormones, and thus, the pink-haired beauty quickly grabbed hold of Erich's shoulder before attempting to drag him to the bedroom.
"Oh, no you don't. Erich is mine for the evening! I know you must be sore after your little trip together, so don't worry, I will relieve his urges in your stead!"
Erich rolled his eyes. Yet again, another two women were now fighting over him. He had no idea how he had acquired the ability to cause so many women to react this way, but he was starting to regret that he had it. Luckily for him, a familiar voice interrupted Erika and Ayumi's little spat. As the curvy figure of a Germanic beauty entered the doorway.
There was a rather displeased look on Krista's face, as she gazed upon the scene of two women fighting over her beloved son, before voicing her thoughts on the matter with a stern voice.
"My son has just come home after a long and stressful journey abroad. Surely he wants some time to relax. Or are you two little girls so horny that you can't even wait a few hours? Welcome home son, come give mommy a hug!"
Erich was glad that his mother had given him an excuse to get away from his two women, who immediately pouted when he dropped his bags and embraced his mother. A woman whom he had longed to reunite with.
"I'm sorry, mother, I've been a damned fool. I should have called you and apologized. Can you ever forgive me?"
Krista wrapped her arms around her son and held him in her embrace, clutching his head to her bosom, which rivaled Erika's magnificent bust. She took a deep breath, trying to take in the man's scent as much as possible, before responding to his foolish question.
"I would not be here if I had not done so already. Which, by the way, you can thank your wife for. I may not like your... liberal idea of marriage, nor do I respect it. But, if it's between accepting your love life the way it is, or never seeing my precious baby boy again, I suppose I have no choice but to forgive and forget. Now come, Erich, I have made your favorite food, and prepared a case of your favorite beer. How about we catch up on what has been going on in your life?"
Erich smiled and accepted Krista's offer, where the woman grabbed hold of his hand and led him to the dining hall. All while leaving her son's two lovers in the dust, as they gazed upon the sight in bewilderment. Did their man seriously just choose to hang out with his mother over having sex with them?
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm---
Meanwhile, in the Alfheim Royal Palace, Lunaria sat in the bath, which was practically a large pool. She spread the suds across her immaculate body which appeared to be made out of porcelain. While she washed her sublime figure, Lunaria anxiously gazed at the clock. Any minute now, Erich would have to call her to meet the deadline that she had prepared for him. If he did not, then she would fly out to the Germanic Star-Empire herself, and drag the man back to Alfheim to have a proper date with him.
As she finished up her bathing session, and dried herself off. Lunaria entered her personal quarters, and lied down on her bed, while dressing in nothing but a bathrobe, which was made from a silk-like material. She anxiously waited for the appointed hour to draw near, and when the clock finally struck midnight, she frowned.
Realizing that Erich may have perhaps fallen to sleep, as the differences between day and night varied between worlds. Lunaria quickly pulled out her holo communicator, only to notice that she had not actually gotten Erich's number in exchange for hers.
This caused the woman to become furious as she chucked her holo communicator at the wall, which despite the force she threw it with, did not brake because it was made out of advanced composite materials which even the Germanic Star-Empire lacked.
After witnessing the device fall to the floor rather anticlimactically, Lunaria grabbed hold of her pillow and hugged it tightly as she sulked in silence for several minutes, thinking about why Erich had decided to ghost her. Eventually she let her thoughts escape her lips, which luckily nobody was around to hear.
"The nerve of this bastard, forcing this empress to wait for his response.... It looks like I'm just going to have to go collect him myself!"
Lunaria did not even bother thinking about this matter for another second. She quickly got dressed in some proper attire before departing from her homeworld in her personal starship. This was not her flagship. No, such a thing would easily attract too much attention.
This was instead more akin to a luxury yacht, albeit a small one, that was designed to remain incognito. It was only about eight hundred meters in length, which was significantly smaller than any ship within the Alfheim Navy, but it was as luxurious as a starship could get, and was faster than any other spacecraft in the galaxy.
Thus, for the first time in a hundred years, the Empress of the Alfheim Dominion had left the homeworld of the Light Elven race, and she had done so without alerting a single soul. All for the sake of pursuing a foreign man.