Chapter 52

It was past dusk that day.

Zenjiro and Aura met in the room of their beloved son, Carlos Zenji Carpa, also known as Prince Carlos-Zen, which is located in one corner of the harem.

It is usual for Aura to head straight to her child after finishing her duties in the palace, but it is quite rare for Zenjiro to be there.

If one were to say this, it might sound as if Zenjiro, the father, has less affection for his child compared to Aura, the mother, but that is not the case.

Zenjiro, who cannot speak the kingdom's native language, 'Western South Continent Language,' is prohibited from speaking in front of the prince to avoid confusion in his initial language acquisition.

No matter how careful he is, if he spends a long time with the child, he will inevitably want to talk to him, which is only natural. Therefore, Zenjiro refrains from staying in his son's room for long periods, swallowing his tears.

"……"

Silently, Zenjiro surveys his son's room.

It is probably no more than eight tatami mats in size, which is relatively small for a room in the harem.

This is because the room, which should be much larger, has been intentionally made smaller by setting up wooden screens. Of course, there is a reason for this.

Why would a room that should be larger be deliberately made smaller?

One would understand the reason as soon as they step into this room.

It is cool. Even though the sun has set, it should still be well over thirty degrees, but this room feels at least five degrees cooler.

The reason for this is the large 'ice block' set up in the corner of the room and the young maid who is diligently waving a large fan in front of it.

The wind generated by human power licks the ice block and spreads the cold air throughout the room. Of course, the wind is not blown directly onto the infant Prince Carlos-Zen, as it could cause him to fall ill.

By fanning the ice with a large fan, the room temperature itself is lowered. The screens in the room are there to improve the efficiency of this process. If the room were larger, the cooling effect of the ice would be reduced.

"Ah, I will remain as I am, Lord Zenjiro."

"……"

Zenjiro, without stopping the hand that is waving the fan, nods slightly to the maid who greets him, silently acknowledging her hard work.

Even though it is a shift system, continuously fanning for a certain period of time is quite a heavy labor.

(If the extension cord could reach here, I could bring a fan over for her.)

Zenjiro, thinking of the maid's hard work, had such thoughts, but in reality, if he did that, the maid would probably lament and grieve.

In fact, the job of fanning the ice is one of the most popular and competitive positions among the harem maids at the moment.

Fanning the ice with a large fan is indeed a heavy labor, but all the jobs of the maids are, to some extent, heavy labor.

Therefore, the position of fanning the ice, where one can enjoy the cool air, is naturally more popular than other jobs. Compared to cutting the grass in the scorching sun or monitoring the heat of the kitchen oven, it is not an exaggeration to call it 'heaven.'

While Zenjiro was thinking about this, Aura approached the bed where her child was sleeping and peered inside.

"……Faa?"

Prince Carlos-Zen, as if in sync with his mother's gaze, opened his large eyes wide.

"Mu? You were awake, Carlos?"

Aura, who failed to see her beloved child's sleeping face, pouted slightly in disappointment.

"Yes. He just woke up. He seems to be in a good mood now."

The nursemaid, who said this with a bright smile, had faint shadows under her eyes.

Most likely, this infant prince cried loudly last night, significantly reducing the nursemaid's sleep time.

Every time she sees the nursemaid's hard work, Aura, as the queen, realizes that it is impossible for her to fulfill her duties as a mother perfectly.

That is why she must cherish the time she spends with her child.

"Is it okay to pick him up?"

It is a bit pitiful that he needs the nursemaid's permission to hold his own child, but since the nursemaid, who is raising the child, knows more about him than his birth mother, there is no point in being stubborn.

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty. Here, give the prince the warmth of his mother."

"Um"

Responding to the nursemaid's words, Aura gently placed her hands under the prince's head and body and carefully picked up this incredibly warm and soft being.

"Aaa!"

The infant, when picked up, laughed joyfully in his mother's arms and extended his chubby hands towards Aura's face.

"Hahaha, what is it, Carlos? What are you doing with your hands?"

The usual strong-willed Aura, now looking so melted, tilted her head and brought her face close to her child's, as if to touch his hands.

"Da, da, aaa"

The prince's small palm, smaller than two of Aura's fingers, patted her face.

"H, hahaha, what is it? Hey, that tickles."

"A, a, daaa"

The touching interaction between mother and child was so heartwarming that even just watching it made one smile.

The father, who had been silently watching, finally reached his limit and approached the mother and child, speaking up.

"Zenji, it's Papa."

The words that came out of Zenjiro's mouth were in 'Western South Continent Language.'

Since coming to this world, Zenjiro has learned the language of this world to some extent, and can now use 'Western South Continent Language' to some degree.

While he can use a few hundred words, his ability is roughly equivalent to that of an average third-year junior high school student in Japan. However, among those words, the phrase "it's Papa" is the only one that Aura and the tutor Octavia have approved, including its pronunciation.

For the other words, the current situation is that "the meaning is understood, but the accent is strong," and he is not allowed to speak them in front of Prince Carlos-Zen.

Therefore, Zenjiro puts all his feelings for his child into this short phrase.

"Zenji, it's Papa."

Saying this, Zenjiro flapped his hands by his face and looked at his child with a playful expression.

"Faa? Faa, faa!"

Whether it was because the funny face was interesting or because he was fascinated by the flapping fingers, the child's gaze shifted from his mother to his father.

"Mm..."

The one who found it uninteresting was Aura. Even though she loves her husband, when it comes to her child, she is a rival competing for the small angel's gaze and smile.

"Look, look, Carlos. Turn this way. Hmm, Carlos likes Mama the most, doesn't he?"

"Da, da"

Swinging the child in her arms and talking to him, she forcibly brought his attention back to herself.

"Hmm"

The queen, who had successfully regained her child's attention, cast a provocative glance at Zenjiro and smiled triumphantly.

Zenjiro, who was clearly a bit irritated by this, approached his child once again and spoke up, as if accepting Aura's challenge.

"Zenji, it's Papa."

Unfortunately, the only words Zenjiro is allowed to say are these.

"Carlos loves Mama the most. Papa is second. That's okay for Papa, right?"

To the mother who was saying such things, the father shook his head vigorously.

"Zenji, it's Papa."

Aura, looking at Zenjiro's desperate face, smiled wickedly and said,

"What's wrong? If it's not true, say so clearly. Carlos, can you tell Papa?"

"Zenji, it's Papa!"

"Wow, that's a loud voice. Carlos will be scared. Scary, Papa, scary."

Aura, trying hard not to laugh, turned her back to Zenjiro and moved the prince in her arms away from his line of sight.

Looking closely, the nursemaid sitting on a chair to the side and the maid fanning in the corner of the room were also trying hard not to laugh, their shoulders trembling.

But now was not the time to worry about such external gazes.

Zenjiro, who was clearly irritated by being teased by Aura, circled around to the front of her and said,

"Zenji, it's Papa!!"

He shouted in the loudest voice of the day.

The quick circling, the desperate expression, and the loudest voice of the day.

The result of these three elements combined was...

"H... H... HEEEEEE!"

The beloved child's wailing.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

"Kukukuku...!"

"Aura... laughing too much..."

On the sofa in the living room, Zenjiro, sitting opposite the laughing Aura, scolded her with a displeased expression.

"S, sorry. But... I can't help it. When I remember your pitiful face when Carlos cried... I can't, hahaha!"

"..."

Zenjiro, with tears in the corners of his eyes, turned his gaze away from his wife, who was laughing uncontrollably.

It seemed that no matter what he said, it would be useless.

Zenjiro, who had left the scene where he had made his beloved son cry, returned to the living room and had been sulking for a while. When Aura returned a little later, she immediately entered the room and was in this state.

The sight of his wife, sprawled on the sofa, slapping her hands and laughing, was not a pleasant one.

Looking down at his wife, who was laughing with a rare mischievous look, Zenjiro gave a final warning in a low voice.

"Aura, hey, shouldn't you stop this now?"

"Hahaha, I, I understand. I'll stop... N, no, I can't, hahaha!"

It seemed that Zenjiro's final warning was effectively ignored.

There was no choice but to resort to 'physical action' since his final warning was ignored.

"..."

Without a word, Zenjiro stood up and slowly approached the sofa where Aura was laughing.

"Hey, Zenjiro!?"

"Y, you, you, you!"

Seizing the opportunity, Zenjiro successfully pounced on Aura and began to tickle her waist and underarms with both hands.

"Ah!? Hey, Hya, hya, hya, hya, no...!"

"Uri, uri, uri"

Physically, Aura should be stronger, but perhaps because of the poor position, she was pinned to the sofa and continued to be tickled by Zenjiro.

"Ahahaha, wait, stop, Fya, hahaha!"

"Here, here, here"

Gradually, Zenjiro seemed to be enjoying it. Like a role reversal in the prince's private room, he tickled his wife's body with both hands, a slightly mischievous smile on his face.

Waist, underarms, inner thighs, neck, soles of the feet. Even points like the front of the body from under the armpits and the back of the body slightly below the waist were thoroughly enjoyed amidst the chaos.

"Ah, stop...!"

"Hahaha, you're a good one. Isn't this fun, isn't this fun?"

"Hey! You, the purpose has changed from the beginning, hasn't it?"

In the end, their playful tussle continued passionately and affectionately until the maid in charge of the bath announced that the bath was ready.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Zenjiro and Aura, who had washed off the dirt and sweat of the day in the bath, returned to the living room in their usual casual nightwear.

"Indeed, I did tease you too much in front of Carlos, and it was wrong of me to laugh so much afterward. However, that was too much. Even if it was just tickling, as a queen, I must be cautious about bearing another child, as I said before. Such actions..."

"No, it was just a joke."

"…Do you joke about untying a woman's shoulder strap?"

"Only for my wife, sometimes."

While chatting amicably, the two returned and, unusually, did not even sit on the sofa in the living room but headed straight for the bedroom.

"Indeed... Well, fine. Then, let me see. Has the 'air conditioner' you've been talking about been successfully installed?"

"Yeah, well, I think it's working fine for now."

In response to Aura's words, Zenjiro, with a somewhat uncertain expression, answered and reached for the bedroom door.

Having spent almost the entire day on the installation, the air conditioner was finally set up. When he tested it, it worked fine, blowing out cold air, so he left it on.

Since then, he had not opened the bedroom door once.

"Since I left it on all the time, if it's working as expected, by now..."

Zenjiro, still holding the bedroom door, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, with a prayer-like expression, he quickly pulled the door open. And,

"…Yes!"

From the other side of the door, the cool air, which should not exist in the scorching summer of the Carpa Kingdom, flowed in as Zenjiro had hoped.

"This is quite something. I was surprised when I first saw the lighting and the refrigerator, but this is even more shocking."

Aura, sitting on the king-sized bed they shared, placed her hands in front of the cold air blowing down from the newly installed air conditioner and let out a sigh of admiration.

The cool air from the air conditioner felt pleasant on her warm body after the bath.

"Hmm..."

Aura, who looked like a cat with its chin stroked, narrowed her eyes, but then noticed that her husband, who had sat down next to her, did not look entirely pleased.

"What's wrong, Zenjiro? You look unhappy. Is there something you're not satisfied with?"

To her wife's gaze from beside her, Zenjiro scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed, and said,

"Ah, yeah. Well, to be honest, it's still incomplete. The room is a bit too large compared to the air conditioner's power, and the room's airtightness is low, so heat seeps in from everywhere even with the wooden doors closed.

It's quite cool now because it's night, but during the day, when sunlight also seeps in through the gaps, it won't be as cool as I hoped."

Saying this, he sighed.

It was fortunate that he managed to get the air conditioner running on the first try, but the benefits of the air conditioner were still lower compared to modern Japanese housing standards.

The air conditioner Zenjiro brought was the largest size for a general household, a 23-tatami model, but the bedroom was at least 30 tatami mats.

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the buildings in the Carpa Kingdom have low airtightness.

This means that while it might be fine for now, during the scorching summer days with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, it would be difficult to cope.

"Isn't that a bit too luxurious?"

Aura, who looked a bit surprised, received a wry smile from Zenjiro.

"Yeah, well, you might be right, but I always imagine a room