Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 72: Lakeview Town

Arthur and his girls have a pleasant bath in the hot water pond; he fills Nyx and Margaret with his seeds multiple times, and their moans echo around the tent. Eve hears nothing and has a nice rest, but Aria hears every moan, even though they make her body ache with frustration.

The trio doesn't stop after the bath and continue having sex in their bedroom inside the tent, just a thin silk wall away from where Aria is. Margaret only lasts another hour, but Nyx goes wild with Arthur until near dawn.

The next morning, Eve and Margaret seem greatly excited, but Aria has dark circles under her eyes. And seeing Arthur also so energetic, she gets upset to be the only one who didn't have a good night's sleep and also didn't enjoy listening to all those moans.

But instead of overthinking it, Aria focuses on enjoying the trip with her family. The magical tent is exceptionally useful as it turns back into a small box in Aria's hand with just a snap of her fingers. Then, the group goes back to the road again, and with the mares being well-rested, the journey goes smoothly.

After a few dozen miles of seeing only large trees around the road, the vegetation begins to change, giving way to large plains filled with farms and green hills on the horizon.

But unlike Fletcher village, these farms are enormous, with huge ancient buildings made of wood and stone; vast, enormous plantations fill the horizon, and there are packs with hundreds of cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens.

No matter which direction Arthur looks, there are people everywhere, whether workers managing the crops or animals, merchants, and transporters taking the products from the fields along the great stone road.

Aria sees Margaret, Arthur, and Eve impressed with the view. "Lakeview isn't really a big city, but there are thousands of inhabitants there, and it's these farms that supply the town... all controlled by noble families, of course." The disdain in her tone is evident whenever she talks about the nobles of Eldoria.

Arthur and Margaret notice that there really are different coats of arms and insignias on each farm, as well as on the elegant clothing of a few people and the armor of the guards, while the common people, mostly workers, wear extremely low-quality clothes more akin to tatters, far inferior to the simple but good clothes of the farmers from the village.

That makes Margaret realize how the life of the common people in Fletcher village is much better than she imagined due to the influence of Aria and Draven. "In the village, we own our farms, and even though we don't make much money from trade, we live well with our own resources while these people are just…"

"Slaves," Aria says what Margaret doesn't have the guts to think. "These people don't receive a decent salary but only the crumbs left by the nobles; their lives mean nothing to the people who live luxuriously in the town."

Margaret always heard stories about how the noble families are powerful and influential while simple people can only be their servants. But seeing that with her own eyes is still a reality shock. "It seems so… sad."

Arthur hugs Margaret tightly and kisses her neck. "Don't think about it, honey; they wouldn't care about you if the situation was inverted; but I care about you, our family cares, and that's what matters."

"Mm," Margaret nods with a smile on her face. 'The way he thinks is quite selfish, but I like it… I like being in his arms, being loved by him, and the rest of the world… it's not my problem.'

Aria also agrees with the way Arthur thinks. She always tried to teach him to be kind to people, especially because all the people in Fletcher village are good; but the rest of the world is not like inside that bubble, and it's good that Arthur doesn't have heroic ideas like Draven's to save everyone but instead focuses on his family.

But at the same time that Aria is satisfied with Arthur's mentality, she wonders how much she influenced him. 'Would he be so perfect if he hadn't had the memories of another life, a dark one? Of all the women who could have been his mother, it happened to be me, who is totally compatible with his dark side… a miracle indeed?'

Aria doesn't dwell on such things because she's extremely happy with the way Arthur is and just enjoys the journey. The road becomes busier due to the farms around so they increase the pace without tiring the horses due to the special saddles made by Aria.

After a whole day on the road, they are already quite close to Lakeview, but Aria still prefers to camp on the road rather than arriving in the city at night. She sets up camp in a small grove and uses her illusion spell to keep curious people away, allowing the group to have another pleasant night, except for her, who again doesn't sleep well due to Nyx's moans.

They wake up early the next day and can see Lakeview town on a hill on the horizon, just a few dozen miles ahead. After a while, they finally arrive at the town gate; the wooden and stone walls don't seem so high but completely encircle Lakeview while there are guards everywhere.

People enter and leave the town easily, but as soon as Arthur's group approaches the gates, several guards surround them. Arthur instinctively moves his hands to the hilt of his sword, ready for anything, but Aria speaks in a calm voice. "Don't worry, they're just curious."

That is indeed the case with the guards who approach Aria carefully. One of them, a man with two silver stars on his chest, smiles friendly at the group. "Good morning, dear travelers, may I ask what your business is in our peaceful town?"

"We're just travelers on the road," Aria comments in a neutral tone and, with a quick movement, tosses a gold coin to the leader of the guards, who catches it excitedly. "Oh, honorable guests, welcome to Lakeview town!" His attitude becomes even more friendly as he opens the way for Aria and Arthur.

As they pass through the gate, Arthur wears a thoughtful expression. "Shouldn't they have tighter security here?"

"Well, they can't stop people from entering the town without a good reason," Aria explains. "That gold coin is likely more than his salary for a month, but don't be misled, he will try to report to the influential nobles about people like us; your appearance attracts a lot of attention, baby~."

"Oh," Arthur sometimes forgets how his face is devilishly handsome, so he covers his head with a hood to avoid attracting too much attention. "Why did you say 'try' and not 'do'?"

"Because I put an enchantment on that coin, the guard will fall asleep in less than an hour, and when he wakes up, he won't remember what happened in the last few hours," she explains. "I prefer to avoid trouble, but…" Her eyes sparkle with grey sparkles. "If trouble comes to us, I can always turn this town into ashes with a snap of my fingers."

Arthur knows his mother is not joking, which makes him admire her power even more. "That's my fierce mother, hahaha…"

Beyond the gate lies the stone road that leads to the center of Lakeview and the slums around it. Despite this being quite different from Earth, Arthur still recognizes the poverty of those people with their rundown houses, ragged clothes, and dirty faces.

As if she could understand his thoughts clearly, Nyx speaks in his mind. 'Don't think about your life as Liam; he once stood in the place of these people, but you are Arthur now; you are not a simple person, but a god among mortals, one about to ascend to the top of this world.'

'Hahaha...' Arthur laughs at Nyx's words. 'Aren't you exaggerating a bit? I'm just a lucky guy to have such good women in my life; let people like my father change the world.'

Nyx laughs with Arthur, but she already understands that someone like him and Aria are the type that shapes the world by interfering or not with other people.

As the group moves through the street, Arthur sees the environment changing; soon, the poverty is left behind, giving way to large luxurious houses of polished stone and shining wood. The mosses and plants on the walls are decorations meticulously maintained to make balconies even more charming.

Most of the people on the street are still commoners, but instead of rags, they wear simple clothes like dresses, pants, shirts, and shoes of good quality. But of course, there are also people in fancy clothes adorned with silver and gold ornaments, nobles who walk with their heads up while their servants follow them with their heads down.

The more Margaret sees the reality of common people, the more she feels grateful for being accepted by Arthur as his wife, and the idea of serving a disgusting noble is just a nightmare in the past.

The group arrives at the main square, the lively center of Lakeview. The place is truly charming with beautiful trees adorning the streets made of small stones, surrounded by all kinds of buildings like taverns, shops, and manors.

Aria and Arthur take the mares to a stable and when dismounting, he picks up Margaret like a princess in his arms, making her laugh and attracting the attention of everyone around.

"What are you doing, darling~?" She asks in a surprised tone. But Arthur just seals her lips with a gentle kiss.