The King and Queen started to get alarmed by Camille's persistent headaches and began to look for professional aid. Many doctors were called in, and potions and herbs were administered. They did not help at all.
The King and Queen grew to be Camille's loving parents, and Carter started to love them back. He never forgot his real parents, but this world had given him a second chance at a family.
"We will officially decree your adoption into our family next month. We will have a party to celebrate this wonderful event! Welcome Princess Camille to the family," said the King. Carter knew these people loved their parties. They made up holidays and events merely to have them.
Everyone was cheering at the decree, everyone except Princess Mary. She stormed off with Blackmore across the hall. Princess Caroline called Carter "Sister" with her standoffish charm. Since the Courtship party, she had been distant and aloof.
The day had been arduous with practice and studies; the sun was setting, and he decided to bathe early and, afterward, fall asleep. Because of the incident with his first bath with Rita and Ursa, Caroline had appointed a time for Carter to enter the baths sans the nudity or other women. But today, he didn't feel like waiting. He stuck his head in, yelled, "Anyone here?" and found nobody around. He entered the darkened room, removed his clothes, grabbed the soap bar from the bucket room, and jumped in. The water was hot, and it helped his headache dissipate.
"I wonder how it stays so warm?" inquired Carter, not expecting an answer.
"It uses magical warmth beads from the Capital," said a voice from the entrance. It sounded like Professor Minerva. The fog and dark obscured his vision.
"They cost two gold coins apiece and last for years! One of the great things magic brings us," said Minerva.
She slid into the water on the opposite side of the bath, holding a bottle of wine.
"Minerva, where are you?" came another voice that sounded like Professor Xironia.
"In the bath with Camille," said Minerva. She stood up and walked towards Carter. The water's level was at her thighs as she walked towards him. Her hips and breasts swayed back and forth, and Carter was mesmerized by them. She lifted her hand, took another swig of the wine, and then sat down next to Carter.
A loud splashing noise came from the other side of the bath. Xironia had mistakenly walked into the bath without going down the stairs. Her head popped out of the water as she said, "Whoopsie," and started laughing. She, too, had a large bottle of wine in her hand. She stood up and exposed her large breasts to Carter's young eyes. Her breasts weren't as big as Ursa's, but darn near close. She walked over and sat down on the other side of Minerva, who had started laughing.
"Young Camille here was asking about the beads," said Minerva.
"Oh? Hold on a moment," slurred the usually shy Xironia. She stood up and stepped on the underwater ledge they were sitting on. She placed the wine bottle on the bath's side. She bent over the side of the pool, exposing her rear to the air and Carter's wandering eyes. It wiggled as she tried to find something on the side of the bath. Minerva let out a small laugh and smacked her behind hard.
"Ow! Stop that. I'm trying to get something to show Camille," said Xironia.
"I'm sorry," said Minerva, looking at Carter with a smile. She smacked her butt again, and Carter watched as it turned red.
"Stop it, oh wait, there it is," said Xironia. She started moving her butt towards Minerva and pushed Minerva out of the way. Minerva moved forwards as Xirnoia shimmied her butt behind Minerva's head while still bent over. It was coming towards Carter, and he didn't know what to do. He was paralyzed and couldn't move.
"There it is, hold on one moment," said Xironia as her round bottom hit him in the side of the head. He turned to look and saw Minerva on the other side staring at him. She laughed and said, "Smack it."
Carter started shaking his head back and forth and whispered, "No."
Minerva smiled and smacked her ass again. The smacking noise was right up against Carter's head.
"Ow! I said stop it," said Xironia as she stepped off the ledge and turned around.
"Minerva, I'll pay you back!" said Xironia, holding the small, glowing bead in her slender hand. She plopped her butt on the ledge, sitting next to Carter.
"Doesn't that burn?" asked Carter as he stared at the glowing bead.
"No, it's magic. It will not emit heat while being touched," said Xironia. She had lost her shyness around Carter over their many learning sessions.
She grabbed one of Carter's hands and placed the bead in it. Her hands were soft and delicate. After the bead was placed into his hand, it started to glow brighter and emit heat. It burnt Carter's hand as he dropped it into the water. Xironia grabbed it out of the water and held it up for inspection.
"Ow!" said Carter as he rubbed his hand. He looked at his hand, and the fractious stone hadn't done any permanent damage.
Minerva stood up and grabbed Carter's hand. Carter looked up to see breasts and hips shaking back and forth. "Doesn't look like you're hurt. I wondered why that happened," said Minerva.
"Are you sure you're not hurt? Your face is all red," said Xironia as she stood up in the water, moving next to Minerva in front of Carter's impressionable eyes. This was precisely what Princess Caroline didn't want to happen.
"I'm so sorry," said Xironia as she sat beside Carter and hugged him. Her glassy eyes looked around Carter's face with scrutiny. "Why is your face flush? Are you still in pain?" asked Xironia, a few inches from his face. Her breasts pressed against his arm.
Still holding Carter's hand, Minerva lifted it up to her face to get a better view.
"What is going on here?" came a voice as someone jumped into the water. Minerva turned her face around and saw Ursa and Rita walking towards them. Ursa stood by Minerva and looked down at Carter.
Carter looked over towards Xironia and then back to Ursa. "Yup, Ursa's are larger," he thought to himself.
Minerva released Carter's hand and sat down next to him. "We're not sure," said Minerva to Ursa, "He touched the Heat Bead and got burnt, which shouldn't happen."
"Oh," said Ursa, and she sat down next to Minerva. Without large, fleshy objects to stare at, Carter's eyes focused on Rita's face that had appeared right before him. She didn't look happy.
"Where did she come from?" through Carter.
"See anything you like, Camille?" asked Rita. She emphasized the word 'Camille' for some reason.
Rita grabbed his face and pointed it past her. Princess Caroline was beginning to walk into the water. Carter had seen her breasts from afar before, but they were just as great close-ups. The darkness did not hide how great-looking she was, clothed or naked.
Caroline saw Carter's face, and she stopped. She went to cover herself up with her hands when Rita shook her head back and forth.
She looked paralyzed in what to do, so she just sank under the water.
She knew Carter was a male, and she felt embarrassed. "Sheesh, all that talk about being my wife, and she's scared to be naked in front of him. There are already four naked women in here," thought Carter.
"Is she going to drown?" said Carter, watching her still under the water.
She finally popped up and stood up in the water. She held her hands down by her side riggedly, walked towards Ursa, and sat beside her.
"Camille, I thought you didn't come here till later as we agreed, " said Princess Caroline through gritted teeth.
"Sorry, um... sister, I was too tired to wait, and nobody was here," said Carter.
"It's all right, we don't mind," said Xironia as she bent over again and placed the bead back in. Carter's instinct is always to talk to people face to face. So when Xironia said that, he turned his face towards her. Now that she was bending over, he didn't turn his face back forward again. He watched as Xironia's rear wiggled back and forth to place the bead back into the machine.
Someone grabbed his face and directed it forward. Rita stood naked in front of him, and she still looked mad. "You're like a kid in a candy store, aren't you?" said Rita. Warm water was running down her body, glistening in the light. Goosebumps and erect nipples appeared from the contrast of cold air and warm water.
"What?" thought Carter.
"And he has no money to spend," Fable joked beside Rita. Rita looked back and started laughing. Rita released Carter's face, and she and Fable moved over to the opposite side of the pool from Carter. Rita had forgotten that Carter was just a boy and had no money to spend.
Caroline and Ursa had smiles on their faces, too. Carter's face lost its redness with that little jab, and he felt terrible. They were right. Fable's voice echoed through his mind, "Naked women are everywhere," and he realized that he had to get control of his "lust" problem. His headache came back, and he closed his eyes.
He felt something when he touched the bead. It was like a spell but different. "Beads are made by magic," he remembered someone saying. He allowed the feeling out of his stomach again and gave in mana. It started slow at first, but then it started taking more and more mana. He began to panic for a second, and then it stopped. His hand started to burn. He opened his eyes, and there was the bead again, bright as day. He threw it into the water and yelled, "Ow!"
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"Xironia, I thought you put that back," said Minerva with a concerned look.
"I was going to put it back, but it wasn't working anymore," said Xironia. She took another swig of her bottle of wine. Minerva shook her head, stood up, and grabbed the bead. It cooled down for her as she placed it back underneath the pool. This time, Carter didn't look at the beauty bending over next to him. All proud of himself, he looked at Princess Caroline and Rita, who were staring at him angrily.
"What?" mouthed Carter to Rita.
Fable stood up, walked over to Carter, and sat on his lap. She positioned herself so she could look into Carter's face. "I bet you feel weird that you're going to marry your sister," Fable said with a smile. Leave it to Fable to always make a situation worse.
"Don't. It doesn't happen too often, but there's nothing wrong with it," said Xironia.
"We never did get to biology, did we, Camille?" said Minerva.
"We'll let's not start now!" said Princess Caroline. The room became quiet, and Caroline felt embarrassed. She knew that Carter was a human and a male, and most of the biology in Thresh had nothing to do with him.
A knock on the bath door, and in walked Cern and Cape. They walked up to the side of the bath and said, "Your Highness, we have a guest that wanted to see you. She just arrived," said Cern. She looked at Camille and smiled. "Oh, and congratulations, Princess Camille, on your adoption," added Cern. Cape just gave a little salute and walked off.
"Who is it?" asked Princess Caroline.
A tall blond woman wearing golden armor and three guards entered the baths. The tall, blond woman looked down at Caroline and smiled.
"Angelina!" said Princess Caroline. She stood up, exited the water, and walked right up to her. She gave the knight a large hug around her neck and pulled back fast. Her bath-warmed skin against Angelina's cold, metal armor made Caroline flinch.
"Oh, sorry. I just got here and wanted to see you," said Angelina as she held onto Caroline's naked hips with her hands. Caroline lifted herself on her tippy-toes and kissed Angelina on her lips. Angelina's hands slipped down to her butt, and Carter saw a slight squeeze.
The golden-armored Angelina released her grip on Princess Caroline as she gathered her clothes from the ground. Rita and Ursa excitedly exited the bath and also hugged the fully clothed woman while naked.
Angelina pushed Ursa to arm's length while still holding her and gazed across her naked body. "Ursa, it's good to see you and the twins," said Angelina. Ursa laughed and gave Angelina another small hug. Rita also hugged her and smiled.
Rita looked over at one of the guards and let out a little noise of delight. "Ginger! You're here too?" Still naked, she wrapped her hands around a red-headed, top-less woman who had a giant smile.
Rita looked down at Ginger's enormous breasts and said, "They are letting you dress casually in the Capital Guard now?"
Carter looked at the other guards and noticed they were undressed the same way.
"We just road for two weeks straight. This armor starts to stink after a while," said Ginger as she held up her silver-colored breastplate.
Carter couldn't get up to give greetings because of his appendage. It didn't matter, though. They walked off and ignored him. The door shut, and he was left alone with his professors.
"I always thought Angelina and Caroline were going to get married," said Minerva.
"I wouldn't mind marrying Angelina either. She's the closest thing to a man we'll ever see, that one is," said Xironia. Once again, she said things that were contrary to her introverted status.
Carter looked over at Minerva for a moment with a puzzled look. "Angelina is an old friend of the family from the Capital. She is practically like an Uncle to Princesses Mary and Caroline," said Minerva.
"Yeah, a grabby one," said Xironia while laughing.
Minerva started laughing, too. "A princess can have many wives and consorts," added Minerva when she saw the look on Carter's face.
"Ginger was looking pretty good, too," said Xironia. Her face turned rosy, and her hand moved under the water.
He couldn't understand why he should be jealous. His jealousy was quite extreme, and he didn't understand why. His headache started pounding. He never agreed to marry Caroline anyway. Why does she give him the cold shoulder and give someone who just walked in a happy embrace?
Fable materialized in front of Carter and looked at his face. "Jealous are we? Is your monopoly on naked women gone?" said Fable.
"Damn, she sure does know when to punch a guy when he is down," thought Carter.
She sat on his lap again and wrapped her hands around his shoulders.
"That woman in gold gave me the creeps anyways," said Fable with a slight wiggle of her butt.
"That woman has a sword of purity, Darksprite. One touch of that and you go poof!" said Minerva as she stood up and walked out of the bath.
Xironia's eyes popped open, almost as if she had lost something. Her hand came out of the water, and she stood up. "Wait for me, Minerva!" she yelled.
From the edge of the bath, Minerva said, "You should probably lay low for a while, Darksprite. We love you, but who knows what she will think of you."
"You won't let me get hurt, will you?" said Fable as she looked into Carter's eyes. She turned her body towards Carter and straddled his lap. She placed her hands around his shoulder, looked deep into his eyes, and then said, "You have seed yet?"
"No," said Carter, feeling agitated.
She kissed him on the forehead and then disappeared.
"You planting a garden?" asked Minerva from the edge of the bath.
"What?" said Carter.
"Do you need seed? We can get some for you. It's always nice to plant a garden," said Minerva. The two professors were dressed, and their wine bottles were empty.
"Yes, I would appreciate that," said Carter.
"Okay, Cam, see you in the morning," said Minerva, and they wandered out the door. Xironia waved from behind her.
Carter watched them leave. He let out a sound of relief and a bout of pent-up gas. He stood up, walked over to his clothes, and put them on. He was only twelve years old, no thirteen. How could he contend with someone like Angelina for Caroline's attention?
"I'm too young to get married and too young to worry about stuff like that. That stupid scent in the air messes with my mind," said Carter.
"That's what I told you," said Fable in his mind.
"Shut up," said Carter, and he walked out of the bath.
He walked to his room and closed the door. He sat in his bed, staring up at the roof. "I can't get to bed because of my headaches and my mind wandering," thought Carter. He sat up and looked at the brick wall again.
He raised his hand before his face and pulled that spell for the heat bead. The mana coalesced inside his body into a bead and landed in his hand. His mind started to close down from near mana exhaustion, and he released the bead to the ground. He had hoped to fall back onto the bed, but fate had a different direction for him. He fell face-first onto the floor with a thud.
The sun shined through the balcony, illuminating his room. The door opened, and Iris walked in with a smile on her face. She looked down to the floor and saw Carter sleeping with his ass sticking straight up and his face on the floor.
"Okay," said Iris slowly, stepping around Carter and placing his breakfast on the table. She walked back to Carter and slapped his butt hard.
His eyes opened up, and he let out a loud "Ow!"
"Sorry. Did I hit you too hard?" said Iris, still smiling.
"Not really. The pain probably stems from me sleeping in this wonderful position," said Carter. He stretched himself out until he was flat on the floor. His muscles were stiff, and it hurt him to move. He painfully stood up and walked over to the table.
"Your fighting practice with Ursa and Rita is canceled today, so you have free time to go where you want," said Iris.
"Can I go into town?" said Carter.
"I have to accompany you, but yes," said Iris.
"Let me finish my food, and then we can go," said Carter.
"I'll go get my walking shoes and my protecting sword. Meet me at the front gate," said Iris. She seemed happy to go outside. So was Carter.
She started skipping towards the door when she saw the bead on the ground. She picked it up and said, "Is this yours?"
"Oh, yes," said Carter, standing up and walking towards Iris. He went to grab the bead when he stopped abruptly.
"Um, can you hold on to it for me, Iris?" said Carter.
"Of course, just ask me for it later," said Iris, and she walked out the door.
Carter turned around, and Fable was in the middle of finishing his breakfast. "This is very good after a hangover," said Fable. Carter frowned a little bit and sat down on the bed.
"You should have seen the party that they had last night with the golden knight and her guards. Ginger, Caron, and Hennyetta are wild! You better watch out for Angelina. She was very friendly with Princess Caroline—if you know what I mean," added Fable.
"I don't want to hear it," said Carter. He felt upset but didn't know what he was upset about.
"Do you have money? I need to get a new dress. Rita says this one looks trashy," said Fable as she shoveled in Carter's breakfast.
Carter never needed money because everything was always given to him. He felt the two coins he always kept in his pocket and shook his head.
"You could buy something different than that dress you have on all the time," said Fable. Carter grabbed his dress by the sides and looked down at it.
"Nothing is wrong with this dress. It doesn't have any holes," said Carter.
"You may dress like a girl, but you know nothing about girls," mumbled Fable. Carter didn't quite understand what she meant.
Fable yelled, "Finished," and she flew back into his chest.
"Good for you," said Carter as he walked out the door, still starving.