Chapter 74: 74. Award Ceremony.
Orion touched Ariel's tail and was amazed by how it felt. "It's so soft, I like it."
"Me too," Mia also touched Ariel's tail and liked the way it felt.
Seeing how the both of them looked so excited at the way her tail felt, Ariel was really happy. She giggled and allowed them to play with it some more.
After a while, her tail returned back to a pair of human legs.
"Are you happy now?"
"Yes, Goddess Ariel. Your tail was amazing," Orion said as he bowed to the goddess.
"Very amazing," Mia added as well.
"Fufufu… My two underlings are the best. If you ever wish to see my tails again, just let me know, okay?"
"Okay," Orion and Mia replied at the same time with a nod.
"Good. Now, young prince, do you want to know something really interesting?"
"What is it?"
"Come here," Ariel beckoned to Orion to move closer to her.
Orion did as she gestured and walked closer to Ariel.
Seeing this, Ariel leaned close to his ears and whispered something only he could hear.
After listening to what she had to say, Orion asked while looking at Ariel. "Huh? Are you sure?"
"But, what if she doesn't like it?"
"Don't worry about that, my young prince. Just trust in this goddess, and I'll handle everything else after you've helped me, Okay?"
"Okay, Goddess Ariel."
Ariel smiled and then noticed that Evelyn had returned to the room. "Oh, good, she's here. Now, remember, we have to catch her by surprise, okay?"
"Okay."
"I'll leave it to you, young prince. Go make me proud," Ariel gave Orion a thumbs up and Orion smiled, giving her a thumbs up as well.
Meanwhile, Karen, who was already cleaning her body, noticed the two of them acting weird and asked skeptically. "Why do I feel like you two are about to do something perverted?"
"Zip it, Karen. My underling is about to make me proud."
"So that's what she wants to do," Elena's voice emerged from the back.
Karen released a sigh the moment she understood what was about to happen.
She decided to continue bathing herself rather than watch the scene that was about to unfold.
Meanwhile, the door to Evelyn's bathroom opened, and Evelyn walked in without a single piece of clothing on her body.
"Mama," Orion walked towards Evelyn with his arms wide open as though he wanted Evelyn to lift him up.
Evelyn giggled, seeing how cute her little baby was. "What is it, sweetie? Were you waiting for me?"
"Yes, but…"
"Hm?" Evelyn noticed Orion leaning towards her ear to whisper a few words.
"A perverted mermaid goddess is trying to grab your breasts by surprise when you least expect it."
"Is that so?"
"Yes," Orion nodded his head in response.
"Thanks, sweetie. Now, what do you think Mama should do? Should we banish her from bathing with us ever again?" Evelyn asked aloud.
"Yes," Orion giggled after replying. He didn't mean it and he knew Evelyn would never do that either.
Ariel knew they were kidding as well, so she decided to play along with them. "What? You traitor. I thought I could trust you. We had an agreement. It was a perfect plan."
Their plan had been for Orion to keep Evelyn occupied by allowing her to bathe him, and while Evelyn was busy doing that, Ariel would come in from behind to sneakily grab Evelyn's breasts.
However, Orion didn't like that plan.
He wasn't going to allow anyone to grab and play with his mother's breast, except him.
His mother's breasts belonged to him and him alone.
"Very well, sweetie. Mama won't allow Ariel to bathe with us ever again."
"What?!" Ariel exclaimed loudly.
Orion giggled and stuck out his tongue at Ariel, seeing as how his plan was a success.
Then he made an evil grin as he stretched his hands to grab Evelyn's huge and magnificent breasts.
Seeing this, Ariel became a bit jealous, and this only made Orion's grin widen even more before he mouthed a word to Ariel. 'Mine.'
He said this while teasing and playing with Evelyn's breasts.
Evelyn also understood what was going on, and she giggled after seeing the look on Ariel's face.
Of course, her face was flushed red because of the way Orion was playing with her breasts.
Ariel harrumphed, then turned her head away as though she was annoyed.
"Very well, then I won't have you as my underling ever again. All I need is Mia from now on," Ariel grabbed Mia and rubbed her cheeks against Mia's, causing her to giggle.
Everyone laughed, seeing as how Ariel's plan failed, and then they chatted and played a bit in the bathroom before stepping out of it.
After they had all changed their clothes, they stepped out of Evelyn's bedroom and walked straight to the golden chariot, parked in the palace courtyard.
Evelyn or Ariel could have easily teleported them all to the place where the award ceremony would be taking place, but none of them were in a hurry, so they decided to take the flying chariot instead.
The maids who were tasked with getting Orion and Mia snacks neatly arranged the snacks and food Orion and Mia would eat after they were done with their training.
Also, the maids, knights, and butlers congratulated Orion for winning the tournament, and everyone felt even more proud of their prince.
They knew how hard he had been working within the palace walls, so they were really happy to see that his hard work had paid off.
Orion acknowledged them all and he thanked them as well before joining everyone else in the chariot.
Once everyone was seated, the golden chariot flew straight to the sky, taking everyone to the location of the award ceremony.
Even before they arrived at their destination, they could all hear the sound of music playing along the streets of the kingdom and how everyone in the streets was dancing and singing in celebration of the prince's victory.
It almost felt like a feast was going on in the kingdom.
A few minutes later, the golden chariot finally arrived at its destination and everyone stepped down and walked towards the venue of the award ceremony.
Meanwhile, the nobles, tournament officials, and the elders were already at the venue, waiting for the royal family to arrive, with each of them dressed in their best attire.
Even the contestants who participated in both the Junior and Adult tournaments were present as well.
The huge hall was filled with laughter and the clinking of glasses as everyone drank to their satisfaction.
Unlike what was currently going on, in the streets of the kingdom, the party within the hall was a bit more peaceful and elegant.
Every single person was dressed as though they were nobles partying together in anticipation of the royal family.
The hall was filled with both nobles and contestants from humble backgrounds, but right now, it was almost difficult to differentiate between the two.
At the far corner of the hall, three beautiful elves were seated around a small round table which had a myriad of food for them to eat from.
There was a fourth chair but no one was seated on it.
The chair was reserved for Tengen and the three beautiful elves happened to be his girlfriends.
Unlike Tengen's girlfriends, Tengen couldn't be seen anywhere in the hall, and that was because he was currently hiding underneath the table his girlfriends were eating at.
After his quick recovery from the treatment room in the arena, Tengen and his girlfriends went home to change out of their clothes and once they were done, they immediately made their way here for the award ceremony.
Tengen was currently hiding because he didn't want any of his friends from the guild to notice him.
After all, he had just gotten his ass whooped by a ten-year-old prince.
He was definitely going to be made fun of by his friends.
"Darling, how long do you intend on being cooped up underneath the table?" His first girlfriend asked.
"Until the world comes to an end," Tengen replied without looking at his girlfriend.
"Her Majesty and Prince Galdur will soon be here. Aren't you going to take a seat like everybody else?" His second girlfriend asked.
"No, I'm okay with sitting down here until it's over," Tengen replied.
"But, what if the queen calls your name to give you an award?"
"One of you could get it for me."
"But…"
"Leave him alone, Linda. If Tengen isn't man enough to face his friends, then maybe he doesn't even deserve us," Tengen's third girlfriend remarked while drinking from the glass she held in her hand.
Hearing what his third girlfriend said, Tengen popped his head out of the table.
Now, his head was in between her thighs. "That's not nice, Laura. Can't you see that I'm trying to protect my dignity over here? If anyone from the guild sees me now, I'll become a laughingstock."
"Hmph," Laura harrumphed and cocked her head to the side. "Who cares about what others think? Unlike them, you won the Adult tournament and that's enough reason for me to be proud of the man I love."