Chapter 280: Taking a Break

Axel didn’t have to wait long, as three minutes later, Nemu rushed back, panting hard.

“D-Duke Walker… The Queen agreed to an emergency audience, please follow me!”

“Thanks.” Axel smiled. “And sorry for the trouble.”

The current time was deep in the night, after all. The time when most people would’ve been sleeping. Thus, even Queen Wisteria was already resting in her room at that point.

Nemu led Axel through the dark corridors, almost completely devoid of people other than a few patrols. Of course, they bowed and cleared the path as soon as the two approached, not bothering to stop them or anything.

Axel was a Duke of Hallbach Queendom, after all. Albeit an honorary one.

After some walking, the pair arrived at a location Axel was seeing for the first time. It wasn’t the throne room, but rather, a private room. One that was quite different from the room he had borrowed the last time he was here.

Nemu rushed forward, knocking thrice on the door, and spoke.

“My Queen, I have brought Duke Axel Walker as you’ve asked for.”

“Enter.” A familiar voice echoed from the other side, urging them in.

Nemu pushed the door slightly open, just enough for Axel to squeeze through the gap, and stepped to the side. Seeing that she had no intention of entering, Axel simply nodded toward her and stepped inside.

As soon as he did, he found the room to be quite large.

Despite being a bedroom, it had an office table at the far corner, with piles of documents stacked on top of it. A sight that Axel was quite familiar with, as he too had suffered from paperwork for some time.

“Welcome, Duke Axel.”

Right after the door closed behind him, a woman’s voice echoed loud and clear.

Turning toward the source, he found the woman standing behind the worktable — wearing a thin nightgown that hid almost nothing from sight, holding a steaming teacup and saucer in hand.

“Queen Mother, sorry for the sudden visit.” Axel bowed lightly. “I’m here to report a few things, and also to ask for permission about something.”

“Report?”

Wisteria turned to face Axel, a thin smile across her lips. Her purple eyes glinted in the faint light of the room.

“Yes.” Axel nodded. “Earlier today, I officially married Ria and Nina, along with three others.”

Hearing this, Wisteria’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Oh, five brides at once?”

“…Yes.”

Although he could explain the reason behind marrying five of them in one go, he decided to skip it. No matter what excuse he gave, the truth wouldn’t change anyway.

“I see…”

Wisteria sighed, placing the teacup back on her desk, and placed a hand over her chest. The twin peaks that were almost visible through the thin gown wobbled lightly.

“Then, are you here to take me in as your sixth wife or something?”

“What…?” Axel’s mind came to a halt.

Such a question hadn’t even crossed his mind, much less was it worth considering!

“N-No, I did not…” He quickly shook his head as soon as he returned to his senses. “Please stop teasing me, Queen Mother.”

“Fufu, well, I’m half-serious, though. I mean, I’m single at the moment.”

“…You must be joking.”

Axel felt cold sweat rolling down his back.

“Anyway, as for my request,” he quickly changed the subject, jumping to his actual purpose for coming here. “May I borrow the Interdimensional Teleporter for a little? I need to head to a certain dimension, but I still haven’t built a teleporter back in our world.”

“Ah, so that’s why you came here~!”

Wisteria walked around her table and headed closer to Axel.

As she did, her figure became clearer and clearer to him. He quickly noticed that under the thin nightgown, she wore nothing else above. Her walk was slow but steady, intentional. Then, she stopped at an arm’s length away from Axel and placed a hand over the middle of his chest.

“Well, I don’t really mind, but… How about accompanying this old lady for tonight~?”

She whispered, her voice so seductive that Axel grew more and more troubled.

“I’m in my ovulation period, so I’m so frustrated I can barely stand it… I can only calm myself down with toys. But since you’re here… can I interest you in a short break~?”

As she asked, she slowly pressed her body against Axel’s.

“…”

Axel weighed his options.

First of all, the person before him was the mother of two of his wives. Laying a hand on her would definitely get him in big trouble.

Second, her age was probably enough for him to call her grandmother, even counting his original body.

Finally, he was technically a duke of the Queendom. As a noble, laying a hand on his liege would be unacceptable. Even if it was the other party who wanted it.

“Sorry, Queen Mother, but I can’t.” Thus, he could only hold her shoulders and push her away. “I just got married, and I don’t plan on making the girls sad so soon. Please understand.”

Wisteria stared into Axel’s eyes, her gaze flickering with amusement and some other emotion.

“…Well, your loss.”

She pulled Axel’s hand off her shoulders and shrugged. “The Interdimensional Teleporter, right? It’s fine, you can use it.” She added while walking toward the door.

Then, she suddenly pulled it open, causing two figures to stumble inside, falling at the Queen’s feet.

“AH!”

The two let out a cute cry as they fell on top of each other, before raising their gaze and meeting Wisteria’s eyes.

“And although I don’t know where you’re heading, please take these two busybodies with you, if you would.” She added.

“…Huh?”

Axel turned to the two intruders and found that they looked familiar…

“P-Please forgive our rudeness, your majesty!” The one on top quickly jumped to her feet, kneeling respectfully. “W-We weren’t eavesdropping, and definitely weren’t thinking of joining in if things went well between you two or anything!”

The other one followed suit as soon as she could move, kneeling while trembling as if she were cold. Their actions gave Axel a clearer view of their faces.

And without fail, he recognized the two.

Rosaria, the captain of the Elite Witches’ First Army, and Mimika, a member of the same unit!

“What are you two doing here…” Axel couldn’t help but grumble.

They had spent some time together while Axel was trying to fix the frontline fortresses, so they felt more like friends to him than simple acquaintances. Still, taking them somewhere that might be even more dangerous than Witcheria’s frontlines was…

“If you don’t take them, then I won’t let you use the teleporter.”

With the Queen’s ultimatum, the choice of leaving them behind completely disappeared.

“…Please leave them to me, Queen Mother.” Axel could only bow, accepting the two as tagalongs. “I’ll make sure they come back home in one piece.”

And just like that, with two more in tow, Axel finally gained access to the Interdimensional Teleporter.

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