Shichen turned around, and his eyes lit up.
His pupils reflected nothing but white — and through his gaze, he could clearly see a stunning silver-haired figure.
"Um…" Irisviel immediately felt the intensity of Shichen's stare and pulled the towel tightly in front of her, stopping in her tracks.
The towel wasn't long — barely covering from her chest to halfway down her thighs.
Her snow-white skin practically outshone the towel's pure white, glowing faintly, almost see-through.
"P-please… don't stare so much…" Irisviel blushed, head down, not daring to meet Shichen's eyes.
"Iri." Shichen suddenly spoke.
"Y-yes?"
"You're really beautiful~"
"Uuh…" Irisviel's shoulders and thighs flushed red with embarrassment. Her skin, already pale, now glowed with a tender rosy hue.
"Mom, what are you doing? Come on in!" Illya called out from the bath.
"I-I know…" Irisviel glanced at Shichen and saw that he hadn't looked away at all. That confirmed his words weren't just flattery — and so, she slowly walked toward the bath.
Every step drained her of energy, and by the time she stood by the edge, she was breathing heavily.
"Told you not to push yourself." Shichen smiled.
"I-it's fine…"
Irisviel's expression was firm, glistening, and almost blooming — she carefully entered the bath beside Illya, thinking she had covered all the right places.
Once she was fully submerged, she dropped the towel.
"Phew…" She leaned back near Illya, about half a meter away, clearly relieved.
Shichen chuckled. From his perspective, there was no way not to see anything. He could only think — no wonder, she's an artificial lifeform. Flawless.
Illya's going to be just like her someday. Only Sakura might turn out differently.
He suddenly realized that most girls around him were "flawless" — elves, dragon girls, cyborgs. The flawed ones were actually the minority.
"W-what are you laughing at?" Irisviel asked.
"Is this your first time trying to guard yourself in a bath?" Shichen teased.
"N-no it's not…!"
"Then why use a towel to cover up?"
"Ugh…" Irisviel was speechless.
"Heh, didn't you think I could see everything from the side anyway?"
"S-see everything…!" In that moment, Irisviel imagined the image—
SPLASH!
She sank beneath the surface in shame, her long white hair spreading like a blooming lotus.
"What happened to Mommy?" Illya asked curiously.
"Don't worry about it."
"Okay!" Illya hugged Shichen's arm tightly, ignoring her mother.
Sakura copied her, grabbing Shichen's other arm.
Both were only six or seven years old — they really had nothing yet. Shichen felt like he was just bathing alone. His heart was calm.
Turns out, he was still normal. Not perverted. A little lolicon was perfectly reasonable.
"Ha—!" Irisviel suddenly shot up from under the water, gasping. But she rose too fast — her upper body broke the surface completely.
Shichen looked at her, planning to have cherry pudding later.
Irisviel, unaware of her state, leaned against the bath's edge, catching her breath.
"Iris, you don't need to be so nervous. We're just relaxing in the bath. I'm not going to do anything."
"Huh—you're not?" Irisviel asked dazedly.
"Hmm? Do you want me to do something?" Shichen smiled mischievously.
"N-no!" Irisviel shook her head, hair flailing.
"Mom! The water!"
"Ah—!" Irisviel stopped.
"See? I told you to relax. Illya and Sakura are right here. What could I possibly do with them watching?"
"That's true…"
"Just enjoy the bath."
"Okay…" Irisviel finally relaxed and leaned against Illya, starting to enjoy the soak.
"Daddy, would you really do something?" Illya suddenly asked.
"Ahem! That's not something you should ask!"
"Hmm? Sakura, do you know?"
"No idea." Sakura shook her head calmly.
"Okay then…"
The bath ended soon after, and they returned to their room and quickly fell asleep.
As a side note, when leaving the bath, Irisviel didn't cover herself with a towel again.
Shichen feasted his eyes, but still had to dry Illya and Sakura himself.
It was peaceful before the Holy Grail War. Shichen spent a month with them in Fuyuki City before returning to the Einzbern estate.
That month, they toured the entire city and ate at every restaurant — too bad there was no amusement park.
On the way back, Sakura experienced Irisviel's wild driving and clung to Shichen in the car, trembling.
Anyone else would've thought she was just homesick.
"Madam, Illya, Shichen-san, Frieren-san — welcome back."
Sella and Leysritt, who were cleaning the front gate, greeted them as they returned to the castle.
"Sella, we're back."
Irisviel stepped out of the car, smiling brightly and looking completely satisfied.
Once Shichen got out of the car, the two maids noticed Sakura.
"And this is…?"
"Her name's Sakura — she's my sister." Shichen answered plainly.
"Sakura… Understood."
The two didn't ask further and simply nodded.
"I'll leave the car with you — and keep the bicycles too."
The castle was huge, after all. They might end up riding around it often.
"Yes, sir."
Back in her room, Irisviel sat on the bed and let out a long sigh of relief.
"I can't believe I got to spend a whole month outside."
Illya was taking Sakura around to help her get familiar with the castle.
Frieren, still dizzy from the car ride, went straight to her room to sleep.
"What's the big deal? We've got plenty of time from now on." Shichen replied casually.
"Really? We can?" Irisviel looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"The Holy Grail War is still far off. Nothing to worry about. And for me, it's not really a big deal anyway."
"Is that so… Come to think of it, I still don't know how strong you really are."
"Want a peek?"
"Can I?"
"Of course."
After all, she'd been like a second mom to the girls for the past month.
"Come with me." Shichen reached his hand out to her.
"Where to?" Irisviel asked, gently placing her hand in his.
"Up there."
Shichen smiled and held her hand firmly — and in an instant, the two vanished from the room.
When Irisviel came to her senses, she realized they were already floating in the sky.
"Ahh—!" She instinctively clung to Shichen, both nervous and frightened.
"H-how are we up in the sky like this?!"
"Don't worry. You can step on the clouds." Shichen reassured her with a smile.
"We can step…?" Irisviel looked down and realized Shichen was standing on a cloud.
Slowly, she let go of Shichen and gently tested it with her toes.
When she confirmed she could stand, she carefully stepped onto the cloud herself.
"You can really stand on it?! That's amazing! What kind of magic is this?!"
Irisviel bounced up and down in excitement.
"This isn't magic at all." Shichen replied with a smile and shook his head.
"It's not?!"
"Don't worry about that for now. Let me show you what I can really do."
"Okay!" Irisviel responded eagerly.
Shichen raised his hand — a surge of magic roared to life.
His arm was wrapped in rainbow-colored flames, which then gathered and shot into the air, transforming into a massive multi-colored bird.
"What is that?!" Irisviel gasped.
"That? That's one of my abilities. And I've got three more like it."
"What?!" Irisviel stood frozen in shock.
A year passed quickly.
Shichen spent it leisurely — either playing with Illya and Sakura around the castle, or occasionally taking them into Fuyuki City to enjoy good food.
With spatial teleportation, it was incredibly convenient — they could leave in the morning and return at night without trouble.
Frieren had completely become a shut-in.
She'd discovered the wonderful world of manga, and over the course of the year, her room had filled with piles of it.
If it weren't for the fact that Fuyuki City sold cola, she probably wouldn't have even agreed to leave the castle.
She was totally ruined.
That year, the Einzbern family finally located a catalyst for summoning a heroic spirit — a golden sword sheath.
In a dim room, a simple summoning circle was drawn on the floor.
Shichen and Irisviel stood in front of the circle, while the head of the Einzbern family watched silently from the corner.
"This sword sheath…?" Irisviel looked curiously at the golden relic atop the altar.
"It once belonged to a very famous king.
With this, we won't even need a complicated ritual — it'll make summoning that specific Servant easy," Shichen explained, a subtle hint of excitement in his tone.
"Which king?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
Shichen began the ritual.
Magic surged into the summoning circle — then, violent winds swept through the room, and white smoke burst upward.
As the wind faded and the smoke cleared —
a sharp, commanding voice rang out:
"I ask of you—are you… my Master?"