Having received assistance from Zartha, I left the workshop and headed to my office; entering, I locked the door behind me and sat down in the middle of the room. 'Ugh, I'm not as flexible as I was when I was a kid.' Wryly smiling, I sat down cross-legged, resting my hands on my knees and closing my eyes.
'What, what should I meditate about?' Furrowing my brows slightly, I shrugged my shoulders and decided to meditate on nothing; I just focused on the pumping of my blood and my shallow breaths, ignoring everything else.
As several minutes passed, I found tranquility within myself; unfortunately, it shattered shortly after when someone knocked on the door. "Alexander? Are you there? I have a report of yesterday's spending." As Jackal's voice penetrated through the door, I opened my eyes and slowly nodded. "Thanks, Jackal, but I'm busy right now. I'll deal with those later tonight." "Oh, busy with a missus? My apologies, continue with your fun."
Hearing Jackal's chuckle fade into the distance, I didn't bother to try to correct his wild assumptions; then again, I've warned him about my habits lest he enter the room while I'm doing it with one of my wives. Softly shaking my head, I closed my eyes and continued meditating from where I'd left off, though it took a while before I arrived at the sense of tranquility again.
However, I was interrupted again by heavy knocks on the door, as if someone was trying to bust it down. "Alex?" "Haa, yes, my Dear?" "Um, are you free? I want you right now." Hearing the raw desire in Yuki's voice, I had to take a few deep breaths to resist the urge to let her enter. "Sorry, I'm busy, Yuki. I promise to join you tonight, though." "Muu, okay."
While a pouting Yuki walked off, I sighed before returning to my meditation, entering that tranquility once more; however, as if to mock me, I was broken out of that state again. Though this time, I suppose the saving grace was that someone wasn't knocking on the door; no, they were knocking on the panoramic window behind me.
With a twitching expression, I opened my eyes and looked behind me, glancing at Talis, who was flying right outside my window, causing me to blankly look at her. "What do you want?" "Oh, nothing, just wanted to see what you were doing." Yawning softly, Talis looked around for a few moments longer before flying off, causing me to heave a deep sigh.
Finally getting a moment of silence, I closed my eyes, intending to once again try to meditate, yet I was barely able to close my eyes before someone knocked on the door. "Alex, were you cooking breakfast?" I didn't even respond to Chloe; I just groaned and plopped onto my back, staring at the ceiling in annoyance.
"Alex? You're in there, right? Yuki said you were." Rubbing my face, I rose to my feet and opened the door, staring at Chloe, though my frustration was mainly dispelled as I looked at her. "Haa, being beautiful should be a crime." Softly sighing, Chloe looked at me with a raised eyebrow before confidently brushing her hair while flaunting her curves, causing me to lightly shake my head.
"If it were, I'd be on death row." Nodding in agreement with Chloe, I left the office, heading to the kitchen while she followed; I would've taken her for a good ten minutes, but after refusing Yuki, it would've felt a bit unfair.
When I arrived in the kitchen, I spent a good hour cooking and eating with my family before leaving, letting Michelle and Chloe handle the dishes. However, knowing I couldn't return to my office lest I be constantly interrupted, I walked throughout the mansion, searching for a suitable, isolated room where I could meditate.
In the end, I settled on the most secure place in the mansion, the vault in the basement; it was sparsely frequented, very few people had access to it, and most of all, since we had no income nor were spending a lot, there was no reason for anyone to come down here. It was the perfect spot to meditate.
'For a vault, though, it is very empty.' Looking around the eight cubic meter vault, which was empty save for a small sack of ninety platinum coins, I sat down in the middle, resting my arms atop my knees and closing my eyes. Focusing on my shallow breaths and the blood pumping through my veins, I dispelled all thoughts, focusing only on myself, reaching that state of tranquility for a fourth time after several minutes.
When I reached it, I wasn't interrupted like the other times, so I spent the next few hours doing nothing but meditating, and honestly, it was far easier than I remembered. When I was a child, Master had me meditate to sense mana; back then, it seemed so difficult, but now, it feels relieving.
I didn't know why, maybe I was secretly stressed, perhaps my life was more chaotic than I take credit for; whatever the reason, meditation felt good.
It wasn't until I heard Yuki's loud yet distant voice that I finally snapped out of my state, opening my eyes and feeling as if I'd awoken from the most peaceful sleep ever. "That was fucking wonderful." Taking a deep breath, I touched my body lightly before faintly smiling. "ALEX!"
Hearing Yuki's voice, I softly sighed before rising to my feet, vanishing using [Teleport], and appearing in the kitchen, where I saw Yuki sitting at the table with a frustrated expression, which quickly disappeared when she saw me.
"Ah, you finally came, Alex. I was getting hungry." Seeing Yuki pat her stomach as if her voice hadn't just been heard throughout the entire mansion, I sighed. "Maybe I was stressed." "Hmm, you're stressed, Alex?" Standing up, Yuki approached me and leaned down while she pulled me into her embrace from behind, causing my head to rest between her breasts.
"Let me help relieve your stress, Alex." Whispering, Yuki kissed my cheek while reaching towards my crotch. "Don't worry, that kiss of yours healed me." "Heh, then I'll give you more." Smirking, Yuki proceeded to kiss me several more times before returning to her seat, causing me to quickly cook dinner, eager for tonight.
When I'd finished, everyone was already present. "Mhm, spaghetti, my fav." "Don't shovel Chloe, have some manners, you're a woman." "Yes, the wife of a Count can't be seen shoveling food into your mouth like a commoner." While Michelle and Jasmine reprimanded Chloe, I, ironically, was also shoveling my food, though unlike Chloe, I had a very good reason.
"Where have you been, Alex? I was going to ask for a spar, but I couldn't find you." Eating from her small portion, Vanye curiously glanced at me, prompting me to give her a broad answer; after all, I didn't want my meditation spot to be discovered. "Oh, I was doing stuff, wasn't in my usual spot."
"Jasmine and I have managed to breach 1000 images in total, Alex." Raising an eyebrow, I looked at Lazuli with a smile. "Really? That's great. You two are making steady progress." Shifting my focus back to my food, I finished it within another two minutes and patted my stomach while I proceeded to wait for Yuki to finish her pan of spaghetti.
When she finally finished, she released a loud burp unbecoming of a woman, earning a stern glare from my wives, especially Jasmine. "S-Sorry." Blushing in shame, Yuki lowered her head slightly, causing the others to softly nod.
Standing up, I grabbed Yuki's shoulder, using [Mass Teleport], only for us to appear in our bedroom. "Alright, Yuki, as promised, it's tonight." Smiling, I pushed Yuki onto the bed, climbing atop her and removing my shirt before sealing her lips with my own.
Yuki, also forgetting about her earlier embarrassment, started stripping; once we were naked, she wasted no time in flipping our positions, forcing me onto the bottom while she lowered herself onto me. "Heh, I'm going to wring you dry, Alex." Confidently smirking, Yuki clenched her insides around my cock, causing me to hiss in pleasure. "G-God, I truly hope you do."
Oh, and she did so throughout the whole night.
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The next several weeks flashed by. Knowing it would take time, we pushed the whole television to the side slightly and finally resumed our jobs as adventurers. Of course, when we weren't in the dungeon or out doing a quest, Jasmine and Lazuli would spend some time working on the project.
As for me, I continued to meditate, ensuring it became part of my daily routine; I was also incorporating my will into battle. My will was far more versatile than magic, and now that I had a decent way to control it, not using it would be foolish; not to mention, it also served to further refine my control.
However, the thing I was most excited about, getting my wives pregnant, was put on hold indefinitely because of one concern.