Chapter 287 C287. Introverted Nymph

Erin was a spiritual entity whose only human-like quality was her human-like strong emotions which was why she had grown attached to Albert even though their marriage had only been a formality to keep them close to each other as he was serving as a replacement for her source.

However, she always felt in the back of her mind that their relationship was not meant to last as she could never fully accomplish a wife's duties to completely take care of and satisfy her husband due to her nature as a water nymph.

After all, even though she seemed to have a seductive physical body that could be touched, she couldn't engage in any sorts of explicit activities with her supposed husband as her race could not mate with mortals as they did not reproduce in the same way or at all.

Nymphs such as her were born from the abundance of nature's essence in a special location and general wouldn't stray too far from their source so they tend to live alone until they slowly disappear with the change of nature.

Of course, they could feel all sorts of emotions the same as mortal beings and could even fall in love but that love was almost always destined to end in tragedy as unlike lesser nymphs like dryads and the rest who could attain a physical body by sacrificing their spiritual energy, her kind could not unless they received a God's blessing.

Albert at the time, had been a demon lord and hence, was entitled to have multiple wives and countless concubines to bear him an heir but that had never been one of his priorities as he was very duty oriented and was solely focused on his duties towards his people.

Naturally, he had been mortal during those days and as a young and handsome demon noble with a beautiful wife he couldn't touch, not because he wasn't tempted by her physical appearance but sinply because he had sworn to protect her and it wasn't in his nature to break a vow.

Still, he was a male demon, a race known for their strong sexual urges so naturally, he would occasionally reach his limit thus he occasionally had to relieve some stress with the ladies his family's elders had prepared for him but Erin didn't really have a problem with that.

Of course, Erin cared for Albert deeply but she also understood that she was unable to fully take care of him as a partner and didn't mind him taking on a real wife and multiple concubines as he was already risking a lot just by sharing his life force with her.

Her presence there was also a problem as the ones that had originally destroyed her source would eventual find her, putting everyone around her in danger. However, Albert had refused to let her be and insisted on protecting her.

He was the only one that had ever reached out to her and the only one that she could stand to be around without being shy or anxious.

Which was why the only thing she truly cherished by being his wife and bound to him was their emotional connection that allowed him to fully understand her without her needing to have nerve racking conversations with the people around her as Albert was always there for her.

She was the reserved type that could be considered an introvert with slight social anxiety, so she had a lot of trouble expressing herself and even understanding her own emotions which Albert had always helped her with and she had come to solely rely on him even while that may not have been truly healthy.

However, after been saved by Tyler, she had regained her true source which had made her more powerful but in the end, she had lost something incredibly valuable in return. It was her connection with Albert.

With her emotional connection with him gone, she once again found it difficult to express herself even to him who understood her the most.

With her relationship with the girls and the people in the castle blossoming rapidly, she had developed a whole spiral of emotions she could not handle and was finding it difficult to understand without Albert's help.

However, after seeing everyone here getting along fine and even attempting more and more to communicate and understand her, she had found it difficult to ask for help and had tried harder to handle it herself which may have made things worse even though she was trying her best to fit in.

Albert on the other hand had yet again thrown himself into his duties, this time pouring his heart into serving Tyler as his butler in order to accomplish what they believed to be his ultimate goal.

Even so, Abert was still the type of person to go to any lengths to help those he cared for and would do the same even now but giving as he had already sacrificed so much for her, she tried her best not to always rely on him and part of her was even glad he no longer had to constantly worry about her.

However, losing her connection with the first mortal to ever risk everything to save her made her a little lonely and she was unable to handle the newfound feelings she had for everyone else especially the feeling she felt for the one who had save them both.

••••••••••

'An introvert huh... who does that remind me off anyway?'

Tyler could vaguely understand the conflicted feelings swirling around inside of Erin as she struggled to handle her overflowing emotions after being suddenly surrounded by people who cared deeply about her after being isolated for so long.

With the surge of jumbled up emotions swelling inside her, she was probably unable to tell the difference between love and affection.

As someone who tends to maintain a distance even from the closest people around her, she must've had a fear of attachment or even falling in love with people as they would ended up growing old and dying before her eyes.

With her lack of a physical body, she was also unable to become intimate with them even for a short while. Naturally, this did not help with her anxiety or improve her social skills.

'Would having a physical body help at all?'

Tyler contemplated the idea for a while before giving up on it. Even if he could help her gain a real physical body, it will not stop her from being introverted and that was not completely a bad thing.

All she needed was to organize and understand her own emotions, allowing her grow mentally. In the end, all she needed was time and the help of those closest to her, and as an immortal goddess with a stable source, time was the one thing she had in abundance.

"Umm... did you figure something out Darling? Wait! Never mind that, we didn't do anything for six days laying together, why don't we go back to bed and..."

"Heyyyy!"

Tyler smiled at Rain's tempting voice and Liz surprise as he picked her up as he stood up from the bed, holding her in a princess carry and gently laid her on the bed. At first, she had been a bit flustered as she was expecting something but Tyler simply chuckled and walked away.

"Erin's right, my body is still a little numb so I'll go have that purifying bath now. You both have done enough so why don't you rest for a bit."

Tyler casually waved the beauties away as he walked into the large bathroom in his chambers while his mind wandered about.

'It's good I'm finally rid of that pestering curse like corruption but even after so long I'm still not 100%. Besides, I'll still need to make an item out of the fused core and cursed item so I never experience a repeat of this again. Who knows if I'll survive it the next time around. Although I must've developed a ridiculously high resistance to negative energy by now, it's still better to be safe than sorry.'

••••••••••

•Knock *knock *knock!

"Hmm... You may enter!"

As Tyler approached the door to his indoor bath, a knock came in from the door to his room as he sensed who it was and ordered them in.

Entering his room was a pink haired bunny girl in a short maid's outfit while wearing a pair of greyish red greaves and vambraces that made her seem suitable for combat even though she still looked adorably cute.

"Greeting Master, I'm glad you've awakened."

Tyler tilted his head slightly as he stared at his maid's updated outfit while she genuflected before him as her face instantly flushed red upon seeing him but she was able to remain calm without appearing nervous.

'Should I have worn something before letting her in? Well it's typically her job to dress me isn't it?'

Tyler thought for a moment before replying her.

"Thanks for your hard work. I see you've gotten some new equipment."

"Yes Master, with the return of chief Azar and the trolls, Mr. Ragdek was able to create various items and equipment for us with the materials they brought back."

Along with her, there were about a dozen maids that had reached the Tier 3 standards thanks to his innate ability. They had all be highly equipped and trained by Albert to sole serve him as well as the only ones allowed in certain areas of the castle including the throne room and his chambers.

"Ragdek Huh... so even Azar is back."

As Uriel was able to maintain control over the barrier surrounding the castle even when he's unconscious, the operations of everyone in the castle had been able to continue smoothly.

"Let's see, here, please deliver this item to Ragdek and tell him it's of tge outmost importance. He should turn it into a item as quickly as he's able to."

"Yes Master."

Thinking of Ragdek had spurred Tyler's mind as he raised his arm and the core of the Eldar Lich flew to him before handing it to Cora for Ragdek. After receiving the item she quickly bowed to him as well as to the girls who were still naked on his bed before hurriedly leaving his room.

While creating Magic artifacts was still an impossibility at this point in time, it shouldn't be too difficult to achieve the same standards just by melting and reforging the core without adding any extra materials.

What Ragdek needed to do was not creation but transmutation.

As he watched Cora exit his room, Tyler examined his body for any residual effects from the negative corruption once more now that the core was out of range but it seemed as though he had made a full recovery only feeling the slight numbness in the previously affected places.

'Alright then.'

Tyler nodded as he entered the bathroom, the large bath by the end had been filled with slightly glowing water and Tyler wasn't suprise to see that Erin was no where to be found as he had sensed her teleport away using her return skill.

She must've been quite embarrassed to have been seen in her night ware by him so she had practically ran away.

'How cute.'

Tyler chuckled softly as he proceeded to wash himself before taking a deep in the soothing bath and immediately felt the difference as he felt as though a weight was wash away from him and he was beginning to feel refreshed. However—

"So umm, why are you guys here as well?"

Sitting on the edge of his large private bath, Tyler sighed as the water alleviated the numbness in his muscles before opening his eyes to see the two girls who had entered the bath with him just staring at him with bright yet mischievous smiles on their faces.

"Teehee... well our bodies have also become numb after laying in bed for 6 days so we wanted to feel better with you."

"..."