Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Even though he mostly lived in the white palace on his Main floor, the house here was kept neat and clean with not even an iota of dust anywhere to be found. This goes to further show how dedicated the forest spring spirits were towards him.

Although not as big as the white palace, the bamboo house still had many rooms and halls. When Simon entered the house, he was greeted by the Valkyrie sisters who were already waiting for him there with the exception of Bea who was currently busy with the task that Simon had given her.

"Huh?! you guys are also here?" Simon asked.

"Princess Cecilia invited us here saying that you would be attending the festival in their village. Hence we came here to attend to your needs" Annette said gracefully.

"Is that so" Simon nodded his head, his eyes involuntarily trying to find a figure amidst them.

How could his actions go unnoticed by the Valkyries, they immediately knew who their master was looking for and spoke.

"Master, Mistress Irene is currently in her room trying out her clothes. On that note, we have already put your clothes in your room. Do you need our help to change master?".

"That won't be necessary" Simon rejected their offer much to their dejection.

"I asked them to change too, but they keep on saying that they can't change out of their uniform since it was given to them by you. Big brother, why don't you tell them to change too, I'm sure that they will listen to you" Cecilia insisted.

Simon considered his little sister's words and thought that it was not a bad idea for the Valkyries to also get a change of pace and thus ordered them to also wear the clothes provided by the forest spring spirits for the festival.

"But master, we are your maids, we must always be ready to cater to your needs" Annette voiced her opinion.

"Are you saying that you won't be able to fulfil your responsibilities as a maid while wearing other clothes?".

"That's not…" having no words to retort, Annette and the other finally consented much to Cecilia's delightment.

"In that case, I'll be showing lord Simon to his room," Fennel said leading Simon to his room that was on the first floor.

"Lord Simon please call on me if you need anything," the elder said waiting outside.

Simon entered his room which was not quite big not small. It was moderately decorated with crafts made by the forest Spring spirits themselves and gave a cosy feeling to the room overall. On the bed, were a pair of clothes made of materials that Simon had seen for the first time.

Kept on the bed were, simple flowing robes, that included an under tunic and an overtunic, cloak and a belt. On the touch, these clothes seemed extremely comfortable and soft, there was no doubt that these clothes would give the wearer a relaxed feeling.

Simon quickly changed into these clothes and came out of his room.

"Un… My lord, you look very regal in those clothes. The colours emerald green and black really do suit you well" Fennel commented a little awestruck with how the clothes and the colour matched Simon.

"The Forest Spirit robes is made of Aesilk Furvine, the colour was chosen by Cecilia herself. Does Lord Simon like it?".

"So they are called the forest spirit robes huh? The clothes are very comfortable and easy to wear, along with their traditional design and colour scheme, they are quite good" Simon gave his feedback.

On their way down, he asked fennel what exactly was this material Aesilk Furvine and how were they produced.

"My lord I'm extremely delighted that you are curious about it. The Aesilk Furvine is actually produced by grafting two specific types of trees that each produced their own unique types of material together. Both of these trees are parasitic and each tries to take over the other and in the result produces a type of material that when further processed is called the Aesilk furvine" Fennel explained making Simon curious and wanting to see this so called tree.

"Hehe, big brother you look amazing…" While they were talking, Cecilia came out of the corridor wearing her own forest spirit robes.

"So do you Cecilia".

As expected of the traditional dress of the forest spring spirits, it really matched them. Hearing Simon's praise, Cecilia rubbed her nose and went back inside where the ladies were dressing.

After a while, they came out looking all pretty and mesmerising.

"Big brother tada… how do they look?" Cecilia asked mischievously.

Simon's eyes fell onto the four Valkyries who looked very different in their current garb. If previously they looked beautiful and heroic with that armour and maid clothing, now they looked elegant and charming.

Their clothes were a little different than the robes he was wearing, the one they had donned on was a straight seamed garment that wrapped over their bodies and tied together by a sash on their waist.

Each of them were crafted extremely well and along with the colour combination, it complimented them well and enhanced their beauty even further.

"You all look very beautiful" Simon praised seeing how good the clothes were looking on them.

"We are undeserving of such praise" Annette spoke a little embarrassed. This was the first time they were wearing something that was not their uniform, naturally, it made them a little nervous.

However, when they heard their master's praise, they were glad that they wore these clothes as a smile bloomed on each and every one of their faces.

"Hehe, big brother you should save some of your praise for when big sister arrives" seeing her grinning and laughing like that, Simon didn't know why but he felt like she was up to something.

And he was right, it didn't take long for Irene to come out of her room wearing the dress that seemed to be just made for her. She was already a peerless beauty to begin with, but those clothes that were far from the usual ones she used to wear around him, made her look beguiling in a whole different way.

If previously the simple clothes made her seem like an ethereal beauty from a celestial realm that one could only gaze from afar, the current her was more like a goddess that had descended to the mortal realm far more realistic and closer to them than before.

<strong>BA-DUMP…</strong>

Simon felt his eyes widen and his heart beat erratically at this moment.

Irene too naturally felt his gaze on her, she tried to keep her composure but for some reason, her heart was beating like a drum and a crimson flush appeared on her cheeks. Her phoenix eyes landed on the clothes that Simon was wearing and they immediately became stunned.

There was no doubt that Simon with his demonic charm looked very handsome in those clothes but the reason why Irene was a little astonished was because she and Simon were wearing the same colour combination of clothes.

Even the embroidery they had on their clothes was a little similar.

"Cecilia…" Irene called out, her crystal blue eyes staring menacingly at the little girl.

Cecilia felt her body jolt at this moment, she moved her body around very mechanically and scratched her head.

"Hehe, I thought big brother and big sister would look very good in matching clothes".

Seeing her silly smile, Irene no longer found it in herself to be angry at her.

"T-That's right… Big brother, how does big sister Irene looks?" Cecilia said shifting everyone's attention away from her.

Seeing that Simon did not comment and just kept on staring at her, Irene couldn't help but ask "What is it?".

"You look stunningly beautiful" Simon stated his honest opinion but even then he felt like those words still did not do any justice to her beauty.

"You too, those clothes look very good on you" Irene complimented back. The two continued to stare at each other when Fennel from the side coughed.

"Ahem… I'm extremely sorry to disturb the moment but my lord everybody is waiting for you to initiate this festival".

"Right, let's go out then" Simon snapped out of his thoughts and turned around. When he came out, he was stunned to find the entire clan of the forest spring spirits gather at the village square, each of them holding a lamp in their hand.

The square was full of people and with rows and tables of food and drinks. Everything that was there, was prepared by the forest spring spirits themselves using the techniques that had been passed to them from their ancestors.

The moment Simon and his group arrived near the square, all of the forest spring spirits whether they were adults or children performed a ceremonious bow towards him showing their dedication and loyalty.

Simon knew that even if he told them to disperse with their formality, they wouldn't agree thus he simply didn't bother to raise the issue this time.

On Fennel's insistence, he, Cecilia, Irene and the others around him, were brought to the centre of the square where a big fireplace was set up. Beside it, was a staff that was made of a very old wood having six rings made of vines around it. The top of the staff was wide and was shaped like a torch.

Simon stopped in front of the fireplace and turned towards the forest spring spirit clan that were looking at him with eyes filled with pious zeal. Although, it still made him a little uncomfortable, being around the maid whose eyes showed a similar fanaticism, he was starting to get used to it.