"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Zarba said as he put down his pen and rolled up the parchment before he handed it to Helga with a polite nod after the ink on the paper had finally dried and the wax seal bore his personal insignia, the Arabic numbers of sixty-nine inside an ornate circle pressed firmly into crimson wax. "I appreciate Lady Seraphina's warning about the dangers ahead. Tell her that I hope we can meet someday when circumstances permit."
"Oh, I'm sure she'll be pretty thrilled to hear that." Helga nodded her head with a small smirk as she stood up and received his letter before she tucked it into her belt pouch carefully without crumpling it.
Now she only has to ride back to the Barbarita on her magic broom, deliver the letter to Seraphina, and then her job will be finally done. Helga feels quite glad that everything has gone smoothly. She had expected some confrontation since the prince is currently on the run and must be paranoid, but the man himself proved to be more reasonable than she thought, unlike his infamous father, the mad emperor.
"It's nice to be able to meet a fellow magician, I suppose." Xin said next as she also stood up and walked next to Zarba while she gave Helga a nod of acknowledgment. They had talked a bit and exchanged ideas with each other about spells and magic theories, which ended up leaving a good impression on each other while Zarba was writing his letter.
"Eh, I don't mind talking with a fellow studious-minded. Do you know how rare it is for me to meet magicians who are friendly or pleasant to talk with?" Helga responds to Xin with a shrug, as she rarely met magicians that were not arrogant or pretentious assholes, so someone she can just casually talk magic with is a pretty nice experience actually.
Of course, she also noticed that Xin is a slave with the magic tattoos on her forehead and on the middle of her chest for some reason, but she doesn't really care since Xin seems to be living well... she is living too well actually, as Helga sees the half-elf being pampered by the summoned maids like she is a young noble lady.
'I am definitely not envious of her or anything…!' Despite her thoughts, Helga actually feels so envious of Xin's high quality of life, as in the dark corner of her mind she can't help but want to be the prince's slave and be pampered as well...
'Well, at least this trip is not too boring…' Helga scattered her devious thoughts while she turned to appreciating the little things she has experienced in this letter delivery trip; it's the only thing she could do without shedding tears at her dwindling fund, really.
'Speaking of fund…' Helga's gaze turns cunning behind the curtain of her bangs as she looks at Zarba like an unscrupulous merchant about to scam their customer.
"Ahem, well… I hate to impose upon you more than necessary, but there's something..." Then Helga fidgeted slightly, adjusting her robe as she glanced toward the Zarba sheepishly, like a child trying to act cute so that their parents will buy their stuff. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd appreciate a travel fund—just enough for food and inn, mind you. The flying broom drains my reserves quite a lot, and I have to rest more, and Lady Seraphina didn't give me much money, so..."
"Oh, how much would you need?" Zarba raised his eyebrow as he saw the magician woman suddenly beg for money while he commanded his summoned maid mentally to go bring him his coin bag. He doesn't really mind helping and giving her some gold coins, considering she has not brought him any trouble so far. 'I have a mountain of gold coins anyway; giving just one or two will not make any difference...'
Hearing his command, one of the maids moved with graceful, silent steps to the carriage before she returned moments later with a leather pouch for Zarba.
'Yes! As expected of the royalty!' Helga cheered in her mind while acting hesitant, her fingers rubbing against her broomstick's handle as she moved closer to Zarba while ignoring Nadia and Xin's skeptical look.
"Thank you very much, you really help me out here, Prince Zarba…! I just need enough for a week of travel; fifty silver coins will do. If it's too much, then just twenty-five will do!" She spoke rather quickly, as if embarrassed to ask too much but still asking anyway. Truthfully, she had enough coin stashed in her tent for a month of living expenses, but more money is obviously always better, and she can't really afford to be prideful in this economy.
"Two gold coins. Consider the extra for your trouble of delivering the letter to me." Zarba reached inside the magic pouch and grabbed two gold coins out for Helga, who almost jumped in joy. The coins landed in her hand, and she caught them carefully, her pink lips already smiling wide from happiness. She hadn't expected such generosity, but who is going to complain? Not her, that's for sure.
"Wow, thanks, my prince!" Helga grinned as she tucked the coins into her belt pouch with a quick movement; Zarba is now her prince charming forever. She might have even given him a hug if not for Xin, whose droopy eyes had narrowed and were watching her movement like a hawk, subtly giving a warning to the self-proclaimed fortune teller not to push her luck.
With everything taken care of, Helga gets on her broom with her suitcase, ready to fly away as the intrigued trio, Zarba, Xin, and Nadia, watch her with curiosity; they want to see the flying broom in action.
"Alrighty! I'll be off then…," Helga says as she starts to levitate from the ground with a bit of jerky movement before she stops and hovers in the air, suddenly remembering something.
"Oh! Almost forgot—my name is Helga, by the way." She smiled at the people below as her long black hair fluttered in the wind. "Helga the Fortune Teller—if you're ever in need of a fortune reading or just some magic expertise, I'll always be open for business~!"
"Fortune Teller?" Zarba muttered with some interest. He wondered how legit the divination art is in this world.
"I also have special items on sale. Love potions, beauty potions, hair growth potions, and much more." Seeing the prince's curiosity, Helga starts shamelessly advertising her business, her sharp, intelligent green eyes now fully visible as her bangs caught the wind before she glanced meaningfully toward Xin. "But I'd wager you don't need those, my prince."
"Indeed, my husband won't need those, as he is still young after all." Xin hid her smirk with her hand as she wrapped her left arm around Zarba's right arm. Her nightlife with Zarba had become something like a daily routine a long time ago, as their bodies were conditioned from too much "practice" so that their bodies would react towards each other very actively, which ended up making them never have any problem doing it with each other no matter the place, time, or occasion.
It's also the fact that Nadia knows very well since she has been personally involved with the two perverts' nightlife for the past few days…
Zarba's lips twitched slightly listening to them, and before he could retort, Nadia snorted loudly next to him as she looked up at the "definitely not a witch" that was hovering in the air, like she was asking when Helga was going to leave with her expression.
"Oh, it looks like I have overstayed my welcome~." Helga chuckled as she waved her hand at Nadia in mock farewell. Then, with a smile, she turned her broom midair towards the east. "Until we meet again, everyone. Do try not to get assassinated and stay safe!"
The broom immediately surged upward with Helga on top of it as she was finally leaving. The trio's eyes followed her trail in the sky until she disappeared over the horizon.
"That was quite an intriguing piece of magic item… Helga, huh?" Xin hums as she releases Zarba's arm and walks towards the carriage; her mind is occupied with the discussion she had with Helga, who gives her a new perspective about magic and stuff and inspiration about a couple of new spells that might be useful.
"Guess we can continue traveling now…" Zarba stretched a little before he turned towards Nadia, who was also coincidentally turning her face towards him. The two lock eyes for a while before Zarba begins to smirk and Nadia starts to have a bad feeling.
"Heh, now then..." Zarba, with a smirk still on his face, walks closely to her, causing the muscular woman, who has a bad premonition of what is about to happen, to take a nervous step back with a frown.
"What are you trying to do…?" Nadia gave him a glare as Zarba just chuckled and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him. Nadia could only grit her teeth, as she couldn't resist while he embraced her loosely around her waist.
"It's about time we enter the next step, don't you think?" Zarba whispers softly in her ear, causing her goosebumps to rise—not from fear, but from the phantom feeling of his touch and his lips on her bare skin as he adds, "I'll let you be the active one tonight..."
Nadia's breath hitches as her cheeks burn—she knows exactly what he means. The memory of his hands exploring her faint scars and the delicate area while his lips rained kisses on her skin as Xin watched with those half-lidded amber eyes in amusement filled her mind. She hates how her body tenses not with resistance but anticipation, how her body subconsciously reacts to Zarba...
"Like hell I'd—" Nadia growls, wanting to show her defiance, but Zarba's fingers suddenly trace the shape of her buttocks through the piece of her bikini bottom—too slowly, too deliberately—and the protest dies in her throat with a shudder…
"Oh my..." Not far away from them, Xin is peeking at them from inside the carriage behind the curtain, her amber orbs glowing with excitement as she watches Nadia's thick muscular thighs quiver from her husband's ministration. It's always brought her joy and excitement when she sees her husband showing his dominance over someone, especially women.
"Hehe, our Great Warrior is so easy to handle," Xin almost purrs as she comments while observing Nadia becoming meek the more Zarba plays with her body. Too bad she couldn't join Zarba this time since she wants to write down her ideas when she is still motivated.
"I could ask my husband to retell it to me later, I suppose…" Xin sighed as she closed the curtain and jumped back on the embroidered seat with the grimoire in her hand while Zarba was "persuading" Nadia to cooperate with him outside…