Chapter 370 – Finishing Field Day

*** Alzi, second body ***

"Irlo," I say. "You're having a friend come to join you."

"Friend?" Irlo says. "Who?"

The Queen and Irlo's maids have started teaching Irlo how to garden a bit. At least that's what Irlo told me. I do believe her, though; it would make it easier to fix the garden if you could get Irlo to help undo her destruction.

"Another sister," I say. "You have a lot of sisters. You've met the youngest of them. But you have a number who are older than you."

"Is she older?"

"About your age," I say. "She's a daughter of the Haye family. She can tell you more. Look, you can see her running over."

The farther Leena gets from her Mother, the faster she runs and the less 'proper' she looks. Irlo was pretty proper around the Queen, too, so I wonder how they figured out that it's fine to relax around me. Do they already know how nobles stand or something? I know I stand out, but am I that different from the nobles that kids can tell I don't belong? Still, it's nice that they can relax around me so easily. It's definitely a lot more fun this way.

"Hello, Princess Irlo!" Leena says, giving Irlo a cute little bow. "I'm your half sister, Lady Leena Haye."

"Hello! Is Alzi your dad or mom?"

"Dad."

"Hehe! Same. Daddy is really nice, and Grandma is, too. Have you met Grandma? Oh, and Daddy has two bodies and is right there," Irlo says, pointing at me.

"I talked to Grandma a bit before I came here. And I was just talking to Dad's other body. He told me to come out here to play."

"Good! Grandma is a lot of fun, like Daddy. We're gardening right now. Find some good places to plant some flowers and dig."

While I believe Irlo had started learning about gardening, I don't think they've been doing it for a long time. My main role right now is to keep her from digging up the plants that are already in the ground. Hopefully, some of these holes can have a flower put in them. The bigger worry, though, is if she starts destroying her siblings' things.

Hopefully, I don't give birth to the Goddess of Fighting. Irlo is going to find that being a Champion isn't going to protect her from Goddesses if she breaks her sword or something.

I've managed to keep her from destroying the plants, so she should be able to control her powers. I'm just learning why Mommy struggled to let me help in the shop until I was older. At least, I hope.

"Do we have shovels?" Leena asks. A single look at Irlo's clothing makes the answer to that clear.

"No!" Irlo says. "Hands work just fine; the ground is soft."

"Are you sure? It feels pretty tough to me."

"Yes," Irlo says, returning to the small hole she started. I'm pretty sure she's using a bit of mana to get the dirt out, but I'm not the greatest at feeling that kind of thing right now. I should probably figure out how to do that with this body at least. Fluvis and Lottie seem to be able to tell when the elemental kids are going to use their mana a bit before they do it. Not early enough to do much about it, but everything helps with these kids.

Apparently, Irlo's mana-assisted digging display is enough for Leena, as she starts looking for a place to dig in the flower bed.

Sorry, whoever has to clean this up. I'll try to find time another day to bring some kids out and help you fix this; ones who actually know what's going on.

...

*** Alzi, Main body ***

Two bodies for two cute kids. Perfect for making sure they don't destroy any flowers.

"Dear," Mommy says. "Normally, parents tell their kids not to destroy the garden, not watch them do it."

"We're making new plots for them to put flowers in!" Irlo says, coming to my defense.

"Are you, now?" Mommy says in full disbelief. "Do you have the flowers?"

"Not yet," Irlo says.

"Hmm. Are you going to get the flowers soon?"

"I don't know!" Irlo says, running to give Mommy a big hug.

"I see," Mommy says, petting the silly Princess. "I think this means you and your sister need a bath before dinner. Come on, let your Daddy get your little sisters inside. I'll help get you and Leena all cleaned up for the table. As you are now, you'd be eating more dirt than food."

"Yes, Grandma," Leena says. She was a lot more picky about where she dug the holes, so she isn't as dirty, but hopefully her parents have left by now. Shyla may have to do a bit of laundry to save me. I'll give her a good hug or something to make up for it. I'm sure that is all she wants from me. But a promise to give her some time off to handle her strange births and then recover is probably a better gift.

Assuming Mommy doesn't make me clean their clothing as punishment instead. But it was fun.

I follow behind Mommy as my kids dance around their Grandmother, already having forgotten about their Daddy. Not that I can blame them, as she really is special. They walk right past the tents, where Irlo's maids join in and look around to see how many babies we have to bring in.

Most are already inside. The sun has set, and the mana lights are the only thing fighting off the darkness. Thankfully, there are just a few left to bring to the dining room. I'll likely have to live with some old wives coming to dinner, but I can just have Irlo and Leena sit closer to me and ignore them. Still, the wives may be a good influence on Irlo for manners. I may be a little too lax with her if even Mommy says I need to be stricter.

It's hard to be strict with my babies, but I'll have to work on it.

...

Irlo and Leena come running into the dining room wearing cute little outfits that match my healer uniform, if you skip the brothel aspects. I guess they're really just wearing the same light green as a dress. I should probably change that about my dress. I don't need to teach my kids to dress like that."Look, Daddy!" Irlo says. "We look like you do!"

"Yes," I say. "It is a nice uniform for me. You both look beautiful in it."

"Hehe, thanks!" they say.

"It's a late dinner today," I say. "So why don't we sit down and get started?"

"Ok!" Irlo says. "But where is our table?"

"You're going to sit at the big table. You have to be good, but I want to spend the little time we have together."

"We get to eat at the main table?" Leena asks.

"Yes, Leena," I say.

The thing about two bodies is that I get to see my backside, which is a great view, but I also get to see my Shadow. And she just reacted to Leena. Leena was her old name, wasn't it? Oh, I love this. She gets to see what love is like for someone who took her name while she's just a silent shadow.

"We'll be good!" Irlo says.

To keep the little Champion in line, I put Irlo next to her other sister, Elora. I doubt Elora will correct Irlo, but hopefully, sitting next to a stiff example will help Irlo. I don't need the Queen limiting my time with my daughter until we marry. I don't have to worry about putting Elora too far up the table because I can just put my second body near them and let them still be near the end. The kids should be fine with that this time, but I'll have to come up with a better seating plan later.

The food came out quickly after we were all seated, and Elora did end up helping Irlo get seated and properly set up for dinner. I do think the napkin will be useful in her lap.

My ex-wife, probably wife, sister to my kid, and soon to give her sister a sister.

Our family tree really is strange. Is that what has Nature mad at me? A messed-up family tree? I wouldn't put it past the Goddesses.

"Thank you for today," I say. Aurora gives me a big smile when I go for a speech instead of the food. Irlo isn't quite so happy, with Elora making sure she doesn't sneak any food early, but that pout is cute. "It was a great day having so many kids around me at once, and spending an entire day focused on them. Meeting Leena as well. This was a great day, but a long one. So let us eat and finish this day together."

With it being a full dinner, we have to go through all the courses slowly. Just four for the meal: soup/salad, light snack things, meat, and dessert. But it gives us time to talk, and Irlo and Leena have plenty to talk about.

"Did you meet sister Destruction and sister Luck?" Irlo asks. "Destruction made me a Champion. It was so cool, all these lights shot out, and a voice popped up! Daddy didn't believe it happened and had the Goddess of Fertility confirm it."

"Let it happen," Mommy whispered. "You did this, too. Let her work through her fear."

"Ok," I say. That is a very different story from what happened. I kind of wish it were Luck who picked her as a Champion. It would've made it a lot less stressful, but I'm not lucky enough for that.

"That's really cool! Does that give you any powers? Can you use mana?" Leena asks.

"Not yet," Irlo says. "But my vision gets strange when I close my left eye. I think it is trying to show me where to hit things to destroy them!"

"Please don't destroy anything around the house," Elora says. "They're important and hard or impossible to replace."

"I'm careful."

"I know, I'm just a bit scared for you. Being a Champion is hard, but important."

"I'll do a good job," Irlo says. "Oh! Have you flown with Daddy yet, Leena? I did, and it was really cool. The ground just zooms by, and the wind whooshes around you!"

"Not yet," Leena says.

"Tomorrow, we can go flying!" Then Irlo asks, "Right, Daddy?"

"We can try," I say. "I haven't flown in this body before, but I should be able to do it. This body just can't go as far or as fast. It can't do much with mana, so it'll all be about my wings."

"Yes! Flying is a lot of fun," Irlo says.

...

"I hope they're able to fall asleep after I gave them dessert," I say, stripping down before slipping into my bed.

"They should," Mai says. "They've been busy. A few minutes of running around, and they'll pass out. Even you look ready to fall asleep."

"The days are long when you have two bodies, and Irlo loves to run around. Plus, I'm pregnant."

"Your Highness," Shyla says, holding out a nightgown.

"Why?" I ask.

"You have kids who can walk, Your Highness," Shyla says. "That means you are going to have visitors at night, so you have to be dressed to receive them."

"They are going to make me redo my entire wardrobe, aren't they?" I ask.

"Rethinking how you dress, Your Highness?" Shyla teases.

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"I want you to be happy when you look in the mirror. Does that mean changing what you wear, Your Highness?" Shyla asks.

"Yes. I can't have them dressing like me for real."

"Then yes, I want you to change how you dress, Your Highness. I'll get to work."