Capítulo 84: Chapter 1: Cheers
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It's been a month since my beloved daughter Lucia was born already.
Maria and I...
"Applying Vigor Magic now..."
"I'm sorry..."
We were utterly exhausted.
Using magic to give energy to Maria, a beautiful young mother with dark circles under her eyes, felt almost futile. Even her lovely blond hair seemed to have lost its luster.
Once her complexion improved, I cast the spell on myself next. As my mana decreased, the fog of sleepiness cleared from my vision.
Lucia is such a good baby.
She isn't very shy around strangers, nurses well, sleeps soundly, and...cries quite often.
"Yaaaawn..."
"You didn't get much rest yesterday either. Please go back to bed while I take care of things here."
"I'm afraid I can't..."
"Let's help each other however we can. That's another of Nuagia's teachings."
"Well then, if you insist..."
It was strange, but this wasn't our first time spending an entire night having sex nonstop. Still, it had never left me feeling quite so drained before.
Of course, we hadn't done that every single day, either, so maybe it just felt different compared to those times.
Waaaaah!
"Oh no... What is it, Lucia? Mama's right here."
Just moments ago, my child had been sleeping peacefully with angelic breaths, yet now she was crying for her parents at ear-splitting volume. Though her tears were proof that she was growing and developing normally, they certainly took their toll on us.
And even with the help of Vigor Magic, raising a baby was still exhausting. It made me appreciate anew how much work my own parents must have gone through.
As I watched absently after Maria, who had been trying to catch some sleep herself before rushing off to tend our child, my rational mind smacked me on the head and reminded me not to just stand there doing nothing. So with gratitude for that nudge, I set about fulfilling my own duties.
"And you're out walking because...?"
"Yes, it's too hard for Maria to rest at home when she's fussing."
After finishing morning chores and having breakfast, Lucia and I had ventured out together for a stroll. By now, Maria was probably fast asleep in her dreams.
"It's a road everyone travels eventually. Still, kudos for taking your baby outside so your wife can get some peace. My husband claimed work kept him busy, but he never lifted a finger to help!"
"Ha-ha-ha..."
I knew this story well enough.
On the third day, the auntie had snapped and punched her husband until his face swelled three times its normal size, according to her tale of valor.
"Does she cry terribly at night?"
"Well, I mean, without anything to compare her to, it's hard to say if Lucia is really that bad..."
"Hmm, well, that could be troublesome."
"I have magic at my disposal, so it doesn't interfere with my daily duties too much."
"No, no, you're missing the point! I'm talking about your second child. From what you've said, it sounds like you haven't been intimate with Maria at all lately."
"..."
She hit the nail on the head.
I never expected someone would confront me directly about not having sex with my wife. But then again, this is the frontier.
I still hadn't lifted any of the Hypnotic Magic spells.
But as I speculated before, there must be limits to human sexual desire. And those limits can fluctuate depending on the situation.
Maria's libido may be heightened by the magic, but perhaps she isn't interested right now because she has her hands full taking care of Lucia?
Take me, for example: At this point, I'm more concerned about Lucia than getting all lovey-dovey with Maria, and even if that weren't the case, her health is still my primary worry. After those two, maybe then comes my own well-being.
The midwife assured us that Maria's postpartum condition was fine, anyway, since we had already used Healing and Vigor Magic to restore her body to perfect health. In other words, it would be perfectly safe for us to go at it again and try to make another baby right away. Safe, but...
"Well, there wasn't much choice, I suppose. To tell you the truth, we were planning to keep quiet until one of you brought it up."
"Huh?"
"In these borderlands, y'know, everyone helps raise each other's kids. It isn't just about lending a hand; it also means asking someone else to look after your little ones while you train the next generation."
"What?"
I'd heard something like that before...
I'm not sure what to say... Well, I guess...
"Are you saying you don't want another kid?"
"Oh no, we do!" My response is practically breathless.
In fact, it comes out so abruptly that she barely finishes her sentence before I answer. The auntie bursts into laughter.
"Don't worry. As it stands, I've already had five kids myself. Babysitting's a piece of cake."
"I trust you on that, but still..."
"It's not like I'm insisting you have to get busy tonight. You're both pretty worn out anyway, right? Just taking it easy and getting some sleep together would be fine, too. So try not to overthink things."
She has a point there.
I don't necessarily have to do anything with her today. As the aunt said, we can just take it easy and sleep if we want. Yeah...that sounds nice. This morning, Maria seemed exhausted again, so forcing myself on her against her wishes might make me too sick to protect Lucia.
"I'll talk it over with Maria."
"Ah, that's best. Remember, wives tend to get upset when their husbands decide things without consulting them first."
"Heh-heh..."
Believe me, I've heard plenty of stories like that at men's gatherings.
Anyway...
When we returned home around noon, I promptly presented Auntie's offer to Maria. At first, she hesitated as I had, but ultimately decided to accept the older woman's kindness.
It looks like we'll finally be able to relax for once after quite some time.
Status de energia semanal
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Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder