Arachne was really clingy, but I had to move on and do stuff myself! I'll just leave her sleeping if she wants to sleep so badly anyways.
"Alright, you can sleep some more then." I said, leaving the bed. However, her spider-like legs grabbed me from behind and pulled me back to the bed.
She was so strong I couldn't even resist!
"Stay…" She cried. "I want to hug mama while sleeping…"
"O-Oh…" I Sighed. "Well…"
She was really winning me now; my motherly instincts were exploding! However, her strength was also a bit terrifying! But the combination created a rather unique charm.
"Fine, I'll stay at your side." I sighed. "You can cuddle with mama as much as you want."
"Mm~ Mama, mama…" She said, rubbing her face on my chest and closing her eyes, dozing off quickly after. She was such an angel.
Of course, I only left an Ego Body with her, my Swarm Body has the best affinity with her.
Meanwhile, I flew off my bed, nobody else was here, seems like Partner, Emeraldine, and Lucifer woke up earlier.
As I flew outside the castle, I noticed what was the noise coming from.
Mostly all my citizens were working hard, carrying rubble, and repairing the houses that were destroyed.
Lucifer, Partner, and Emeraldine were helping in everything they could, directing the entire reconstruction process.
I also… surprisingly noticed a few other people, dwarves.
Not only just the twins and Darfu, but there were also Helga and her whole crew, and even a few more dozens of them.
Their strength and unified effort made the reconstruction and cleaning of rubble much faster and smoother.
I also noticed the twins and Darfu discussing with Helga's husband about the creation of a Barrier Jewel, the Barrier Stones and other precious Ores piled up at their side.
Jonathan was putting all his effort into carrying the rubble, bringing out of the city several gigantic pieces nobody could lift aside from Partner and Lucifer.
"Woah, you guys are really working hard today!" I said in surprise.
"Oh, Maria! You're awake at last!" Helga said.
"Helga!" I said happily. "You came to help?"
"Of course I did! It is the least I can do for my friend." Helga said pridefully. "My husband also wanted to help you make the barrier jewel, so I brought him along."
"But your city…" I said.
"Nah, don't worry about it! We've got that covered, many other people are already working hard there, but there was nobody here, so we were allowed to come." Said Helga. "Brunhild stayed there but said she'll come back soon."
"I see… Thank you so much everyone." I sighed in relief, looking at all the familiar dwarven faces.
"We're here to help like always!"
"You've made us rich with that dungeon exploration and then the ores we mined, so it's the least we could have done."
"Yeah, leave it to us!"
They were all cheerful, the atmosphere quickly changed. Despite the tragedy of yesterday, I saw many people walking around, working hard, and talking. I even saw children playing around, the twins and Nyx included.
"You've slept a bit too much." Laughed Jonathan. "Did you rest well?" He walked to my side.
"Oh, Jonathan! Thank you so much for helping as well." I said.
He blushed a bit as he saw my smile.
"I-It is nothing." He said. "It's the least I could ever do for you and these people, Maria."
He gently held my hand.
"I want to slowly earn their trust, bit by bit." He said with a gentle smile. "And of course, I also want to earn back the love we once had for each other."
"Well, we'll see about that." I giggled, feeling slightly flattered. "For now, I'll be watching over you then. I'll prepare lunch too."
"That'll be wonderful, I've missed the delicious stews you used to make." He said, quickly going back to work.
"Ah, Maria." Lucifer descended from the skies, as he was repairing the walls "Are you feeling alright? Last night you almost collapsed out of exhaustion."
"Yeah…" Partner said, walking at my side. "We were concerned so we left you sleeping with the little spider brat that didn't let go of you…"
"We tried dragging her out but she wouldn't let go of you." Lucifer sighed.
"She hissed at us sometimes…" Partner said, slightly angry.
"E-Eh? Please don't provoke Arachne, she's actually just someone that wants attention and love." I sighed, facepalming. "And she's a great ally as well, I wouldn't want her to hold a grudge against you. You better apologize after this, okay?"
"Eeeh? Apologize to that brat?" Partner was slightly surprised.
"You'll surely do it for me, right?" I asked with a slightly menacing smile.
"A-Ah, fine…" Partner crossed her arms.
"Ah, dear! You're awake?" Emeraldine ran to my side, with a cute smile. Compared to these two grumpy ones, she was my angel.
"Of course." I said, as she hugged me and gave me a kiss. "I am making breakfast, let's go eat together."
"Sure!" I said happily, grinning back at Partner and Lucifer.
The two looked at me in shock.
"W-Wait, I want to eat breakfast with Master too! S-She's also my dear!" Partner ran behind me.
"D-Don't forget about me." Lucifer said.
Like that, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of frost monsters bacon, there were snake meat, wolf meat, polar bear meat, scrambled eggs, toasts, and coffee all from the dwarven country.
My children also joined in the meal, and I grew slightly concerned about Arachne not eating anything, so I carried her along and made her sit at our side as we ate at the castle's dining halls.
She yawned, while looking at the eggs. She was accustomed to eating bugs and other critters like a spider, but she had a mouth to eat normally as well.
"Nom… Hmm… Oooh! Tasty!" She gave it a try and immediately loved the eggs with bacon. "Nom, nom, nom~!"
"Mama, who's she?" Nyx asked me while jealously glaring at Arachne… She didn't liked how Arachne was sitting on my legs.
"S-She's your new sister!" I said with a forced smile.
"Hmph!" Nyx said, pouting.
"Hmm…" Arachne glared her back.
The aura of two little Calamities clashing against one another was… not something good for breakfast.