Chapter 442: Renovations Throughout the County (01)

Ethan woke up late to the sound of Evelyn pounding hard on the bedroom door.

The warm weight on his chest shifted. Arwen and Auryndra’s delicate, voluptuous bodies slid slowly off him as the two of them stirred awake.

Soft yawns escaped the lips of the elven sisters.

"Ah... what time is it?" Ethan asked, his voice still hoarse as he rubbed his face with the palm of his hand.

"Hm... I think it’s noon," Arwen murmured.

She closed her eyes for a moment to feel the nature around her, forcing herself up onto her knees on the bed.

The mattress sank slightly beneath her, and her plump bottom settled onto her heels, the plush flesh molding around them.

"Yes, noon," she confirmed, brushing a strand of green hair from her face and stretching with a low moan.

Her arms rose above her head, pulling her massive breasts upward with them. Her pink nipples pointed at the ceiling for a second. Then she relaxed, and all that weight dropped back onto her chest in a slow, heavy bounce.

Auryndra sat up as well, murmuring a spell to clear her mind and a second one to cleanse the sweat from her body.

A soft glow swept over her skin from her shoulders to her feet. It passed over the swell of her breasts and down her flat belly, washing away the dried sweat and the sticky traces of the night.

The next moment, the door swung open. Evelyn stood in the doorway, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

Ethan was already on his feet by then, Arwen having cast a few spells of her own to wake him up and clean him off. He smiled at her.

"It’s late... we should already be in Fallenwinter by now," Evelyn said to Ethan, but her eyes soon drifted to Arwen, who was walking toward her, still naked and in no hurry at all.

The two women exchanged affectionate kisses on the cheeks and a brief hug, Arwen’s bare breasts flattening gently against Evelyn’s clothed chest.

"Sorry, dear, we just had a really long night, fufufu~" Arwen teased, walking past Evelyn to gather the clothes scattered across the floor.

She bent down without any ceremony and then straightened up with the dress in her hands.

"Yes," Ethan nodded, already pulling a set of clothes from the space ring and beginning to get dressed.

His chest was covered in scratch and bite marks, red lines running all the way down to his stomach.

"Auryndra was much tougher—and, well, more ferocious—than I thought."

"Hmpff! I told you not to spank my butt so hard!" Auryndra pouted, pulling a sheet over her nakedness and looking away.

The thin sheet covered very little.

Tucked against her chest, it clung to the curve of one breast and left the entire side of her body exposed, from the dip of her waist to the swell of her hip.

Ethan finished covering himself and simply shook his head, a crooked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He stepped closer and pressed a firm kiss to Arwen’s lips, then another to Auryndra’s, who tried and failed to keep her pout.

"I’m heading to Fallenwinter now. As soon as Auryndra settles in at Windmere, take her to visit Goldenveil... I should be on my way back by then," he told Arwen.

The beautiful high elf simply nodded in silence, a graceful smile spreading across her lips.

Ethan returned the smile. Through the Wife Management Panel, he designated Auryndra as his concubine.

He stayed only a short while longer, just long enough for a late breakfast and a quick chat with Aerick.

Shortly after noon, he set off.

Halfway there, he came across a few knights of the Order of the Green Sentinels patrolling the road, mounted on their enormous wolves.

The riders raised their arms in vigorous waves upon recognizing him, and Ethan returned the gesture before continuing on his way.

A little over an hour later, riding along the wide roads at an average speed of fifty kilometers per hour, Ethan finally arrived in Fallenwinter.

Much had changed.

The town had gained refrigerated warehouses, new walls, and even a school offering preschool, elementary, and high school education.

The militia protecting it now carried equipment of lower quality than Goldenveil’s regular army, but still far superior to anything they’d had in the past.

The streets were much cleaner, and the houses now stood as grand as those in Goldenveil.

When the guards at the gate announced the arrival of Ethan, their ruler, not a single head remained raised.

Ethan walked through the clean, well-kept streets with pride in his chest, one hand resting on the beautiful sword at his waist. Evelyn kept pace at his side, and fifteen Golden Rose guards followed close behind.

When he reached the front of the Lord’s mansion, Zael was already waiting for him on the entrance steps, having been informed of his arrival.

The Lord of Fallenwinter wore a far more cheerful expression, as if decades of weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Beside him, his wife held the couple’s young son in her arms and smiled graciously at Ethan.

She looked much younger, her skin smoother and her eyes more lively—an effect of the Tree of Life’s influence in the region and her new diet based primarily on magical grains.

"Lord Ethan, it’s good to have you here." Zael bowed in a formal salute, his right hand over his chest.

He had fully accepted Ethan’s rule by now, and with his wife’s help, his mental state was far less unstable than before.

"It’s good to see you in good health. Have your wounds healed completely?" Ethan asked, gesturing for Zael to rise.

"Yes, my lord, I am ready to serve again," Zael declared firmly, guiding Ethan into the cool interior of the mansion.

"Some bandits have been causing trouble lately. There’s a pretty large camp of theirs about ten kilometers to the north. The force sent by Goldenveil caught a few, but the bastards are fast."

Zael shook his head, his jaw clenched in frustration. "I tried to chase them down myself, but I only managed to kill ten before losing sight of them."

"I see. I believe the patrols from the new order of knights I’ve created haven’t made it this far yet, but it won’t be long. In six days, they’ll spring into action and wipe out every last one of those bastards," Ethan said with a growl, his fingers tightening around his sword hilt by reflex.

He was eager to receive the reports on the first pacification operations carried out by the Green Sentinel Knights.