Chapter 36: Morning Trivialities Of A Prince

The next day.

Adonis didn’t get so much as wink of sleep after reading that questionable diary.

It’s a strange thing.

There are times when he forgets this world is a novel.

And there are times when he forgets it’s also a real world.

In the story, the contents of Mariella’s diary were never shown. Since we know what kind of person she is, I assumed it’d be full of dirty, perverted entries.

But now he’s realized that’s not the case.

Sure, her diary did have those things. But it was also more than that. There was disgust in the way she wrote. Her thoughts sound miserable. Every entry that ended with her feeling good was followed by one where she described washing herself until her skin turned red.

『I hate myself.』

『What am I becoming?』

『Gods, I’m sick.』

The story never portrayed her this way.

In the novel, Mariella was just the arrogant noblewoman who dumped the her fiancée for the protagonist. She existed to make Adonis look pathetic and to give Leander a prestigious bride.

This isn’t the same Mariella he knows.

And now, seeing her like this, there’s a part of him that wants to keep treating her like crap if it’ll keep her happy.

’If humiliation is what gets her off, what’s the harm? She clearly enjoys it. She literally writes about wanting it.’

But he knew he couldn’t do that.

It’s not right, he thought.

Adonis sat up in his bed and looked to his side where Alpis was peacefully asleep.

She snored like an angel. When she breathed in, her pointed ears rise up. When she breathes out, they droop adorably.

He smiled and patted her head.

"...Mmm... master... more... headpats..."

He chuckled softly.

Then the door slammed open.

"RISE AND SHINE, YE LAZY PRINCE!"

Adonis nearly jumped out of his skin.

Garm stood in the doorway, jogging on one spot with bright eyes and an unhinged enthusiasm on his face.

"C’mon, c’mon! We got a spear to finish and this old man ain’t getting any younger!"

Dwarves are dedicated to their work. So it’s like this every day. Adonis would oversleep, then Garm would barge in with a grin and wake him up with the loudest shout he could muster. The old man was always so excited when it came to crafting.

The only difference today is that Adonis didn’t oversleep.

He rubbed his eyes and groaned.

"What now?"

"Time for ye to wash up! We’re making the finishing touches to the spear this week, so we better start working!"

Garm flexed his scarred, bursting bicep.

Adonis sighed and got out of bed.

"...Sure."

If one has a new life, they must also have a new routine!

First, push-ups.

He dropped to the floor and started pumping.

By forty, he was gasping for air.

In his past life, he wasn’t overweight. But he he was terribly out of shape and couldn’t work out a day in his life. It’s much easier to do that with Adonis’s body.

Next, a small jog.

He ran from the warehouse back into Gilishon and back. The morning air was fresh. The streets were quiet and it reminded him he hadn’t seen Minerva in a while. By the time he returned, his lungs were on fire.

Finally, washing himself.

He barely showered in his past life. So, in this world, it also counts as an achievement.

When he was done with all that, he washed Alpis in a wooden tub of warm water Geles got him. Dragonpeople don’t dip in cold water, unless they were from the Frost Dragon Tribe.

"I don’t want to shower!" (ᗒᗣᗕ)

Alpis complained, splashing water everywhere.

Adonis fought to scrub her slender body, then behind her ears, under her arms, everywhere. She kept kicking him in the face but it didn’t hurt because her feet were soft and slippery.

"I’m a dragon! I cannot be treated like this!"

Adonis sighed. "Shut up."

She shoved her soapy foot right in his face to push him away.

"Get off me, bad master!"

But then she noticed Adonis wasn’t resisting.

When she looked up, she remembered she was naked. Her foot was on his face. Her legs were spread wide open. And that’s what Adonis was looking at with a calm face.

Her face turned red. She shut her legs closed quickly and stared down at the soapy water she was in.

"Waaah, don’t look!"

"Huuuu, you weren’t this shy when you first hatched."

"...Well... well... nnngghhh..."

Alpis turned redder, remembering what she did before made her more ashamed.

"Tha... that’s the old me! Prussia has been teaching me about female decency! And how a man should never see a woman naked until their wedding night!"

"But you’re naked right now."

She looked away proudly with a hmph! and folded her arms under her small breasts.

"Again, it’s different. You’re only permitted to see me naked because you’re the only one worthy of bathing me. No one else shall touch me that way."

Her pointed, blushing red ears flapped sharply.

Adonis was quiet.

Alpis huffed and held out her arm.

"Ahem. You may continue."

He smiled warmly and went back to gently scrubbing her milky smooth body. When he was done, he put on his casual royal attire and hurried out of the warehouse.

Garm was already waiting outside.

"I don’t want ye whining about not eating before we head out today. So we’ll wait. Tch."

Adonis looked to the side.

There he saw Mariella making a nice pot of stew with a boar Prussia killed in the forest.

She waved at him with a bright smile.

"Adonis! Come eat!"

"Err..."

"Since I’m cooking, you’ll get the biggest piece, okay?!"

"Eeto... erm... you see..."

Any other day, Adonis would choose to eat before he did his day material sourcing with Garm or Prussia. But today is not one of those days. After reading that diary of hers, he was completely paralyzed with fear.

As someone who read the rest of that accursed final entry, he knew how much worse it became. For example, she was also considering taking him to a brothel and buying him a good night with a busty woman. Mariella does not have big chests, so that makes it even better for her. She planned to watch from a chair across the room.

... Huuuu, there’s a name for these kinds of chairs, but Adonis can’t remember.

To sum it up, it’s the diary of a delinquent.

Mariella waved at him with bright eyes again. But all he could see was her getting hit and enjoying it.

The idea was so sick. He’d never hit a heroine. Especially a losing heroine! They’ve gone through enough pain.

He rushed over to Garm and pushed the short blocky man towards Gilishon City.

"I don’t need to eat. Let’s go!"

Garm was surprised by this. He huffed proudly.

"Heh! Yer Highness must be as excited as I am!"

Adonis smiled uneasily. "Sure, sure..."

They were gone in a flash.

The claw-like focusing array at the tip of the spear required precise, geometrically perfect prongs. Garm could forge the rough shapes, but the fine detailing required a jeweler’s touch.

Garm found a master jeweler named Feena, a voluptuous half-elf woman with known for her steady hands.

"You want me to make... claws?"

She asked, staring at his sketches.

"Focusing prongs. I need them to be sharp, broad, and geometrically perfect."

"For what purpose?"

"Magical weaponry."

Feena raised an eyebrow. She had made jewelry for queens and crowns for kings, but this was something new.

"Hrmmm..."

"Can you do it?"

"I can. It’ll cost you thirty gold."

Adonis cleared his throat and leaned over the counter between them with a charming stare.

"How about now?"

Feena smiled sweetly with hearts in her eyes.

"Oh yes, anything for you, my prince!"

"Wait, really?"

"No."

"...Oh."

...

Back at the warehouse, Mariella was still frozen like a block of ice from how Adonis left with Garm.

She looked like she’d cry.

"Adonis always eats breakfast before he steps out for the day. But suddenly, when it’s my turn to cook, he avoids me? Does he not like my cooking? Does he not like me?"

Geles instantly felt bad for the lady.

"No, he’s just busy."

She was about to comfort her with a pat on the shoulder when Mariella tossed the wooden spoon in the pot of boar meat stew and turned to her.

There was an expressionless look on Mariella’s face.

"I have something to do inside..."

Geles was still worried. "Will you be fine?"

Mariella nodded flatly and left.

Geles held her heart. "She must be going to go cry..."

Prussia shook her head at the naive elf.

"She’s going to go masturbate."

"Eh?"