Chapter 93 - Resisting Athena's Sedu

  Nathan Evenhart:

  After the mission, my au it to the soldiers and the ander of that troop to hahe loose ends. Their task was to deal with the hired workers and those kept in captivity. My aunt’s educatiram offered orphans the ce to grow up learning a trade and earning a sary, preventing them from being criminals out of y. Those orphans had been given full-time job offers, whicluded housing and care on the farm. However, the noble in charge wasn’t treating them acc to the minimum requirements. My aunt po move them somewhere else, where they would be properly cared for. She also aimed to help the ensved children find their families, if they had any. There was even the risk that some of them were people from other duchies who had been kidnapped and brought to work in ours.

  The other workers would be detained, and if they fessed to their crimes, their sentences might be reduced. When a noble dies, it requires extensive bureaucratic work, and I learhat it’s even worse when it involves a politioble. There was a semiannual report delivered to the grand duke to ensure everything was in order. After all, a superior noble had the power to eliminate all the politiobility below him, who had been chosen by the kingdom in a ral manner, and could the new politiobles at his discretion. For this reason, the kingdom paid close attention to certain is and ces, in case politiobles started mysteriously dying oer another.

  A politioble has great influence over his nd, and the kingdom didn’t allow the duke to have full trol over them because if aire duchy worked together, they could plot a rebellion. This flict of i among the politiobles was something the kingdom, behind the ses, appreciated. After all, as long as these nobles fought among themselves, it meant they wouldn’t turn their ons against the king. This is why the kingdom didn’t intervene when Nikous Wolves tried to force my aunt to give Chloe’s hand in marriage. To the kingdom, our flict was an advantage, but at the same time, we o follow the rules of diplomacy. It’s a kind of silent flieither side wants to attract the kingdom’s attention.

  Aunt Margie wao elimihe troublesome politiobles, but not with the iion of leading a rebellion. It was more because she simply couldn’t stand what they did, and sihey formed that fa in the past to try and usurp my cousin’s marriage, she hadn’t fotten it.

  After the mission, I was subjected to a thh examination by Martha and my mother to ensure I wasn’t injured. Even the professor came over to chee. She said I had reached the limit of my mana, which was dangerous. I khat, but I pushed myself at the end because I was fident I could defeat the es.

  When I returo the castle, I went straight to bathe in a rge bathhouse with a hot pool. They said it was a reward for my good service to the duchy.

  If I didn’t know the true nature of those maids behind their smiles, I surely would have been deceived. I don’t bme you, uncle, or you, Hugo… they are all very beautiful...

  I hought much about these things, but when I grow up, I’ll have to marry... and holy, I wouldn’t mind if it were with one of those maids.

  Wait! What am I thinking!?

  I stood up from the hot water, a little perplexed by my own thoughts.

  “Am I entering… puberty?”

  I looked down at my “little friend.”

  Oh, no! This is the worst phase! It’s the phase where teenage hormones go wild!

  “Hahaha, want some help?” asked the goddess Athena, with a mischievous smile.

  “Damn it!” I shouted, c myself and sinking bato the water, trying to hide.

  Goddess Athena was naked, bathing, and I quickly turned my back to her.

  "Damn it! Get out! Disappear..." I shouted, trying to push her out of my mind.

  "Are you sure? Don’t you want to see my body? That way, you test if your little friend is responding to visual stimuli..." she whispered seductively in my ear.

  "Go fuck yourself!" I jumped up and ran, quickly ing myself in a towel.

  "HAHAHAHA!" She started ughing loudly.

  Damn it! Damn her!

  I ran to get dressed, far away from the "haunting" presence.

  "Icarus, don't be a naughty boy..." she teased, then added in an even more suggestive tone, "or better yet, e and be a naughty boy."

  I'm screwed! Am I really going to gh puberty with this lunatic by my side? I'm seriously screwed...

  I focused, trying to make Athena vanish.

  Please, new body, remember that she is the woman you hate most in your entire life and don’t fall for her al temptations.

  I kept repeating this mantra in my mind as I approached the mirror to check myself.

  In this world, I had been pletely reset aored. My existence as Icarus was now fully influenced by the body of Nathan Evenhart. I felt everything that a person my age would feel; despite having the mind of a feneral, I was still affected by the limitations of an eleven-year-old. Although I could bypass some of these limitations with my memories as Icarus, the biology of this body still had a strong hold on me. I would experience fear of losing someone I loved, just like a child, and... I would also gh puberty.

  I’ll be exposed to the hormones of a boy at the peak of virility while being around Athena? I’m screwed! That crazy woman is going to torment me!

  “I definitely will, handsome,” she teased, fshing her breasts at me.

  I tried to ignore her and focused on myself as I looked in the mirror.

  Toug my face, I noticed that I was starting to gh some physical ges.

  “I’m losing my baby face. At least I know that eventually, when I bee an adult again, I won’t be so influenced by hormones,” I murmured.

  I examined all the ges in my body, even down to my “little friend” below.

  “Oh! What’s this?” I noticed with surprise a few strands of white hair.

  “Am I getting old?”

  Was this caused by stress?

  Looking back, I realized the apparition had disappeared. I went over to my dirty clothes, the ones I had ged out of after removing my assassin’s uniform, and pulled something out of my pocket.

  “This red feather… I’m going to have to scold someone.” I sighed.

  After getting dressed, I headed to my room. Si was nearly dawn, I po have breakfast and theo rest.

  As soon as I entered my room and closed the door, something leaped at me from the darkness, grabbing and throwio the floor.

  “Stop! You idiot!” I excimed, feeling my body enveloped in a tight embrace from the phoenix.

  I pointed my fi the ceiling and geed a light spark to turn on the globe of light.

  “Enough… you’re crushih this deadly hug!” I pio Cyl.

  ‘Naw!’ she responded, tinuing to hug me. Cyl licked my face.

  “Gross! I just took a bath!” I protested, but the quadruped phoenix ignored me, keepirapped in her deadly embrace.

  I had to let her get her fill of affe while I was suffocated by her hug. She hated it when I went to dangerous pces, and I had to expihing to her, almost giving a full report, until she was vihat I would be okay because I had others around to protect me.

  “Hold on, don’t think I’m fetting what you did,” I said, getting up.

  Sitting on the bed, I pulled out a feather from my pocket.

  "You left the castle and followed me to the mission site. What you did was dangerous," I said to Cyl.

  She shook her head in denial.

  "You did go there, don’t even think about lying... clever girl. Here’s the proof," I showed her the feather I had found.

  Cyl moved closer to the feather and s.

  "You ’t do that. You’re free to leave, but putting yourself in danger like that is uable," I warned.

  The phoenix shrugged, seemingly unbothered, and hopped onto the bed.

  I guess trying to reason with her is pointless...

  Cyl stopped beside me and tugged at my shirt with her beak, trying to get me to lie down.

  "I’m not going to sleep now. I want to eat something before I rest," I replied, rejeg her attempt to manipute me.

  She persisted, tugging at my shirt again, trying to make me lie down.

  "I’m not falling for that trick. You’ll just trap me in an," I said, getting up.

  She started making noises, clearly pining.

  As I was about to leave, I turned bad gave her a kiss on the head.

  "Thanks for w about me."

  That seemed to calm her down, and I was able to leave the room peacefully.

  As I walked down the hallway towards the area of the castle where we always had our meals, I noticed an animated versation going on.

  Please don’t let it be girl talk...

  "My son, I’ve set your pte," my mother said as she saw me.

  I looked at the table full of food. I knew I didn’t hat much, but my mother was worried about my first mission and just wao make me happy.

  "Thanks, Mom," I said, going over to her and sitting at the table.

  Aunt Margie and Adrihna were deep in versation.

  "Mom, you don’t have to worry about setting my pte... I’m a warrior," I said after she handed me the pte.

  "It doesn’t matter if you’re a warrior, assassin, or soldier. You’ll always be my baby," she replied in that affeate tone only mothers pull off.

  I guess you ’t argue with that... moms are uable.

  I chuckled internally.

  "For your information, I’m eveing old," I joked.

  "Don’t tell me you’re entering adolesce...?" she asked with a smile. "I’ll make sure the maids knock before entering your room..."

  "What!? That’s not what I meant... of course not!" I responded, flustered.

  Okay, moms are scarily perceptive.

  "I meant that I’m eveing white hairs," I tinued, still joking.

  My mhed.

  "You’re way too young to have white hair," she said, ruffling my hair.

  "I’m serious, look," I said, pulling a strand of my hair and showing it to her.

  My mother took the strand of hair, surprised, and stared at it.

  "See? I told you," I said, trying to keep the tone light.

  She tinued examining my hair with a thoughtful expression.

  "My son... this isn’t white hair. This is silver hair..." she said with a seriousness I didn’t expect.

  Adrihna suddenly stood up, knog over her gss.

  "Si-si-silver hair!?" she excimed, staring at me. "The hair of a high elf!"

  A heavy silence fell over the room as everyoared at me.

  Oops...