More chapters as promised. Enjoy!

Doted Villainess

Chapter 188 – Akari’s Raid

Thirteenth arc – Eighth chapter

Tiararose was now in human form, sitting right next to Liliarge, on the sofa of her room.

In order to control the magic power of the King of the Starry Sky, Tiararose has decided to start studying magic.

Both Aquasteed and Keith volunteered to be the instructors of her first day of training.

“Idiot! I’ve lived for over a thousand years, I’m much better at handling magic than you!” Keith told Aquasteed.

“I’m quite good at magic, since Grail directly taught me how to control it.

“And most importantly, I am the one who knows Tiara the best.” Aquasteed retorted.

Sparks were flying between them as they discussed about who would be the first one to teach her.

As for Tiararose, she didn’t really want them to quarrel over such a trivial matter.

Liliarge, on the other hand, was smiling happily at their exchange and giggled, “Keith has become quite amicable, hasn’t he? I’m quite happy to see that.”

“He definitely has…” Tiararose agreed, as she too was happy to see Keith the way he was.

When they first met, Keith and Aquasteed were on pretty bad terms with one another, so Tiararose couldn’t help feeling happy when seeing their current relationship.

But then, as Tiararose watched their interaction, both Aquasteed and Keith moved closer to her.

“Who do you want to teach you?” Aquasteed asked her.

“Between me and Aqua, which one do you think will give a clearer explanation?” Keith asked her.

“Eeeh!? I’m the one who’ll choose!?” Tiararose exclaimed.

She never thought that she’d be the one who had to choose.

She actually thought it would be better if she was taught from different perspectives, so it would be fine if both Keith and Aquasteed taught together, but it didn’t seem like those two would accept that suggestion.

So, with a wry smile, Tiararose nodded, “Alright.”

But then, before she could make a choice, Olivia and Levy smiled.

“First of all, here is teacher Aquasteed!

“Do it, Levy!” Olivia exclaimed.

Apparently, Olivia and Levy had prepared costumes for Aquasteed and Keith, and Levy instantly changed the two teachers’ clothes into new ones.

Both Aquasteed and Keith seemed to be feeling uncomfortable in those new clothes.

“I’ve never worn glasses before…” Aquasteed muttered.

He was wearing a black scholarly outfit and glasses that were decorated with a coral chain.

He gave the impression of a strict math teacher.

Then, Olivia stared at Keith, “And here we have teacher Keith on his lab coat!”

Keith looked like a chemistry teacher… Since he is the king of the forest fairies, a subject like natural sciences would actually fit him well.

His lab coat also made him look more intelligent than usual, even if his rough feeling was still the same as always.

“Wow, amazing…” Tiararose muttered.

“They both look lovely.” Liliarge commented.

Both Tiararose and Liliarge applauded the new appearance of the two teachers while also involuntarily relaxing their cheeks.

Tiararose thought that, with a teacher like this, she’d be sure to always enjoy going to school.

Olivia looked proud, but she also seemed to have gotten overly excited, as there were quite a few bloodied handkerchiefs near her.

“Well then, let’s start.” Aquasteed one-sidedly decided, then sat next to Tiararose.

“Y-yes!” Tiararose exclaimed.

Her heart was pounding even faster than normal, as Aquasteed unusual outfit made her restless.

“It’s alright Tiara. Take a deep breath and calm down, this isn’t that difficult.” Aquasteed told her.

“Alright…” Tiararose replied, then took a deep breath, like he asked her to.

“Usually speaking, you can control your magic well enough when making sweets, so you’re not really oblivious to the method of controlling your magical power.

“What we need you to learn, is how to handle large amounts of magic.” Aquasteed told her.

Tiararose thought that, if she could control this, she’d be able to stop becoming a cat, but… It also seemed to be pretty hard.

If she had an innate sense and talent like Aquasteed, then maybe she’d be able to do this quickly, but Tiararose had never been good at magic.

She worried over whether or not she’d be able to do this properly.

However, it’s pointless to worry about it if she doesn’t even try, so Tiararose listened to Aquasteed’s instructions properly.

The current goal, is to stop her magic from running wild.

The first instruction that Aquasteed gave her, was to hold hands with him, then to try checking her own magical power.

Tiararose never pays any attention to her magical power, but, according to Aquasteed, people who are used to handling large amounts of magic while fighting are always paying attention to their own magical powers, so she should do the same during training.

Therefore, Tiararose closed her eyes and focused.

It was a bit hard to her, who never tried doing it before, but she still sought it. She sought her own magical power.

It was something she didn’t have much at birth, but that started growing after she received the blessings of Keith and Pearl.

“Tiara, take a slow, deep breath.” Aquasteed told her.

“Y-yes!” She replied.

She was so focused on looking for her magical powers, that she forgot to breathe.

She took a deep breath, then started focusing again… And this time, she realized that there was a pretty high amount of magical power within her.

At this moment, Tiararose realized how big the power of the King of the Starry Sky was. It was many magnitudes larger than her own power. It was definitely something that would be hard to consciously control.

Or rather, she wasn’t even sure if it was possible to control it.

To Tiararose, people like Aquasteed that control such huge magical power could be described as nothing short of amazing.

“I felt the magic, Aqua.” Tiararose told him.

“Alright, then why don’t you try moving it within yourself?” Aquasteed told her.

“Okay!” She replied.

Then, as soon as Tiararose started focusing again, to try controlling the power of the Starry Sky within her… The door to her room was opened with a loud bang.

“Lady Tiara! I’m here to play!” Akari exclaimed.

“Meoow?! (Lady Akari!?)” Tiara meowed.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of Akari, Tiararose lost her control over her magical power, so she became a cat again.

She couldn’t help resenting Akari a bit for her timing.

“Huh…!? I was sure Tiara was here until just a second ago…” Akari started looking around the room for a bit, but then her eyes stopped at Aquasteed, “And oh my! You look so cool, lord Aqua!

“And what’s more, Keith is on a lab coat!? What is this event!? I know nothing of it!”

Akari was incredibly excited and showed no signs of calming down, which made everyone want to hold their heads and sigh.

However, Akari then lowered her gaze a bit, and at this moment, everyone saw it. There was a small boy behind Akari, he was hidden behind her dress.

“I came with my son today! Say hello, Haruka!” Akari exclaimed.

“Ah…” Haruka said.

“How lovely!” Olivia exclaimed.

The heroine of the first game, Akari Lapis Lazuli Lactomut.

She has straight long black hair and black eyes. Her appearance was clearly Japanese and she ended up coming to this world.

In one way or another, as the heroine of the game, she ended up getting married to Hartnight.

She is a person that is always cheerful and excited about things, and she usually acts according to her whims without caring about anyone else’s opinion.

Nonetheless, this troublesome personality of hers has also saved Tiararose multiple times.

And right now, she and Tiararose think of each other as best friends.

As for her son, Haruka Lapis Lazuli Lactomut, his wavy hair is as black as Akari’s, but his eyes are of the same blue as Hartnight’s.

He is their first child, and he is currently two years old.

Differently from his mother, he seemed to be pretty shy, as he is hiding behind her right now.

“Miss Akari, please contact me if you are going to visit. The knights and the maids are troubled when you come suddenly…” Aquasteed told her.

Aquasteed was looking right behind Akari right now.

On the other side of the door that she just barged through, there were a pale guard knight, and a pale maid who must have guided Akari here.

“My bad, lord Aqua, but I wanted to surprise you!” Akari exclaimed.

“I don’t need that kind of surprise…” Aquasteed looked tired from simply exchanging greetings with Akari.

After that, the other people in the room, Keith, Olivia, Levy and Liliarge all greeted Akari, and they were pretty happy to meet her again for the first time in a long while.

The last time Tiararose met Akari was when Haruka was born, so that was about two years ago.

“So, what about his highness Hartnight?” Aquasteed asked her.

“Unfortunately, he was too busy to come, so he stayed at Lapis Lazuli.” Akari said.

“… Really now.” Aquasteed muttered.

Even after the birth of her son, Akari seems to be acting as freely as ever.

Aquasteed wondered if Hartnight was feeling tired from having to do all the work himself, or if he was actually enjoyed some moments of peace now that he was alone.

“Aah! Lady Olivia! It’s been so long! I missed you!” Akari hugged Olivia.

“Me too! I missed you!” Olivia happily responded.

Then, Olivia squatted down to greet Haruka, and instantly covered her nose with a handkerchief, which instantly turned red.

Haruka started silently crying when seeing that.

“Aaah! I’m so, so sorry!” Olivia exclaimed.

Olivia thought that it was nice to see this kind of fresh reaction, but she also looked away from Haruka and reflected on her actions, as she had just scared Akari’s son.

“It’s okay, Haruka.” Akari giggled and picked her son up, “This reaction means that lady Olivia liked you.”

“Lady Akari…” Olivia muttered.

Akari then tilted her head, “So, what is this event that is going on with lord Aqua and Keith?”

The room went silent as everyone thought of how to reply.

They thought it would be complicated to tell her about the situation, but at the same time, they couldn’t simply afford to stay silent here.

So, just as Aquasteed was about to open his mouth, with a timing that nobody knew if it was good or bad, Tiararose transformed back into human form.

“Ah…” Everyone said at once.

“Eh!? That cute cat became lady Tiara! I thought it was lady Lilia’s friend and wanted to hug it later, but it was actually lady Tiara!” Akari exclaimed.

Seeing Akari become even more excited, Tiararose could only look towards Aquasteed and smile wryly.

“… I suppose we should tell you about what’s happening.” Aquasteed said.

******

Sweets were lined up on the table, and the room was now filled with the scent of tea.

By the time Aquasteed finished the explanation, Tiararose had already been able to calm down.

Meanwhile, Akari was gently stroking Haruka’s head as he slept on her lap… And even in this situation, Akari’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Tiararose couldn’t help giggling at how contrasting the scene was.

“… So, we were starting to teach Tiara, so that she could stabilize her magical power.” Aquasteed said.

“That was basically it.” Tiararose added.

Akari nodded at their words, “I see!

“Though I’m envious of you becoming a cat! I wanna be a cat too!”

“Lady Akari, this is troublesome for me…” Tiararose replied.

“I know that, but… Well, don’t you think there are some great things to it? Isn’t it fun to become a cat and have someone shower you with love and take care of you?” Akari asked her.

It felt like something that would come straight out of a manga plot, but since it actually happened to her, Tiararose couldn’t laugh at the situation.

Though at the same time, she started wondering about what it would be like to have Akari as a cat.

She would probably be extremely carefree. She’d walk on roads that humans can’t pass through, enjoy basking on the sun for as long as she wanted, and she’d probably sneak out of her bed at night in order to attend a cat gathering or something.

It would probably be impossible for anyone to try keeping Akari in check if she was like that.

“Well, then it’s decided! I’ll cooperate with you, since I too am good at magic!” Akari raised one of her fists as she said that.

Tiararose could only smile at Akari in response.