Several days had passed since the hero summoning had been performed. In a room, Avelina and Rolla nervously looked at the summoned hero, who had yet to awaken. Even though healing magic could regrow limbs and heal most wounds, it could not restore blood or remove fatigue. Some spells could do so, but the kingdom would not use such expensive spells for a person who had yet to prove themselves. So they could only wait for the hero to wake up naturally.

Ave and Rolla decided it would be best for the hero first meet them, so they made plans to convince Avelina’s father to let her and Rolla take responsibility for the hero until he woke up. Surprisingly, her father agreed to it quite quickly, which shocked both her and Rolla.

On the first day of taking care of the hero, Ave forbade the palace maids and the guards from entering the hero’s room without her permission. She did this in fear of one of them being an extremist and harming the hero because of a misunderstanding about whether or not he was human. All went well on the first day. Rolla bathed and changed the hero’s clothing while Ave watched while blushing from the corner.

A few days passed and it became routine for Ave and Rolla to look after the hero. It was the same process each day of Rolla changing and bathing the hero with a hint of awkwardness while Ave blushed, looking from the corner and pretending not to look at the hero.

“Ave, are you sure he’s completely human?” Rolla asked while wiping the hero’s upper body.

“I’m sure, why do you ask?” Ave asked, tilting her head.

Blushing, Rolla looked down and pointed. “Well, the hero’s little hero is just, well, you see.”

Avelina blushed a bit before answering, “I’m sure he is human, it’s just that part that’s just a little bigger.”

“It’s not just a little bigger,” Rolla said under her breath as she finished wiping his upper body.

“Mhm.”

While the two were taking care of the hero, every now and then a sound would come from him.

“Rolla, what kind of dream do you think he is having?” she asked with her hands on her hips while boasting a beautiful smile.

“From the way the little hero keeps popping up, hopefully good ones.”

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“Rolla.” Ave looked at Rolla with slanted eyes. “Do you think I could help you finish bathing the hero?”

“Sure.” she replied with a smile. “I was wondering when you would ask.”

With that, the two maidens began to play with—ahem, bath the sleeping hero. While the two were bathing the hero, Shango was having a dream about the past.

Two little children were playing in the woods when they got separated.

“Yuki, where are you Yuki?”

“Yuki, please stop hiding. It’s not funny anymore.”

Tears started to fall from the young boy’s face. Ever since his parents had died, he had been afraid of being alone. Even though he had somewhat grown out of it when as he got older, every now and then the fear would come back when he was left alone for too long.

“Yuki, please stop playing around.”

He heard a rustling noise. Emerging from the bushes was a little girl of about 7 or 8. She was covered in leaves and dirt, and cut marks could be seen all over her arms from running through the trees.

“Found you!” she said, trying to catch her breath while grinning from ear to ear. She jumped towards the boy, giving him a big hug. She knew he did not like to be left alone, so with all her might, she searched for him when they got separated.

Sniffling a bit, boy tried to calm himself down while being hugged by Yuki.

“There, there. Big sis Yuki is here,” she said while patting his back.

Feeling embarrassed, he quickly escaped from the hug, wiping the tears away. “Who’s big sis are you? I don’t remember aunt and uncle having another little brat like you.”

Shango was beginning to feel better. He would always feel at ease whenever Yuki was near him. He held out his hand and looked towards Yuki. She grabbed it and the two left the forest. Shango could feel Yuki tightening her grip, and before he could say anything, Yuki spoke.

“I’m sorry, Shango. I got distracted for a minute and lost track of you. I’m so, so sorry.”

He could hear how sincere she was, something not usually expected for a girl her age. “It’s okay, I know you wouldn’t do it on purpose.” He gave her a big smile towards, gripping her hand tighter.

“But from now on, stay with me when you think I’m lonely or find me when I get lost.”

Thinking back, Shango sometimes regretted those words. Even when he was not lonely, she would sneak in his room for many years and on some occasions when she got drunk, she would find herself in his room, even when he moved out.

“Okay, I pinky promise I will keep you from being lonely and find you if you get lost.” She then held out her little pinky and wrapped it around his, looked into his eyes.

“But someday you have to do something I ask.”

Looking at Yuki for a moment, he nodded his head, “Sure, I pinky promise.”

With the picky promise done, the two finally made their way out of the forest. With the dream nearing its end, Shango woke up. Opening his eyes, he saw two beautiful women whom he had never seen before. The two did not notice that the man, who they had been waiting for to wake up, had finally opened his eyes; they were too preoccupied with undressing him.

Looking at the two unknown women removing his clothing, he cleared his throat, “Ahem. If you two go any further, I won’t be able to become a groom anymore. I’ll have you two take responsibility for that.”