(MC POV)
"I lost…" Odriana gasped, collapsing on the ground like she was dealt a crippling blow.
Come on now, no need to make that face, I even let her win a few points too.
Well, I figured out quite easily that she didn't actually have a lot of skill in playing the game, she merely concentrated all her time in practicing all those one hit moves and expecting the match to end with it. So when it got countered, she had no response to it.
We played to twenty one points and the final score was twenty one to fifteen, so it's not like I completely dominated her either.
Let her win?
Nah, if I did that, she wouldn't have learned anything.
I went up to her and started patting her head, "There, there. It's just a game. You were really good at it so you can be proud of that."
"For the elder sister to be beaten by the little brother… This elder sister's pride cannot hold anymore…"
Come on now, that's just exaggerating things.
I continued patting Odriana's head until her sobs turned into purrs, the girl completely forgetting her loss and immersing herself in the head patting.
"Papa?" Cai Hong mumbled, tugging on my sleeve.
I looked down to see the little dragon looking up at me with pleading eyes and I immediately knew what she wanted.
The loli dragon giggled cutely as I patted her head, her arms wrapping around my leg while she muttered "Papa, Papa~"
So cute.
"Master! I won, I won! Headpats please!" Eris ran up to me and hugged my waist, leaving behind Diao Chan who was lying down on the floor in defeat.
Er… Since when did this become some kind of competition?
I'll give you headpats even if you lose you know? All you need to do is ask, you know?
That's how I ended up giving all the winners of their individual ping pong matches headpats, before moving on to the rest. Needless to say, they were quite satisfied by the end of it.
Just when I thought it was over…
"Ufufufu~ Now it's time for the real event~ The winner of the table tennis championship will get to use the private open air bath reserved for couples with my darling son for just the two of you!"
All of us turned to Mother, myself in alarm while the others in obvious anticipation.
As if on cue, a few of the servants pushed in a board behind her, on it was my disciples split up into their individual pairings for the competition as though this was all prepared beforehand.
For some reason, Mother's name was up there on the board as well while mine was obviously missing.
I thought they would let me watch the match but apparently they wanted the results to be a surprise, which meant I was chased out of there and now have unexpected free time.
At least Shiori, Akari and Xun Guan are with me.
Well, since we went directly to the hot springs when we got here, maybe I should take the chance to go look around the place.
I wandered through the corridors of the resort with no destination in mind, greeting the servants that I passed by with a polite nod.
Most of them actually greeted me by name, so it's either they knew who I was or Mother had informed them beforehand. If I had to guess, it's probably the latter.
I stopped at one of the windows that was facing the city.
We were high up enough on the mountain to have a layer of snow covering everything around us, painting the scenery outside a pure white.
Shiori hopped onto my shoulder and nuzzled my cheek, "This is nice."
"Very nice," Akari agreed, hopping up on my other shoulder.
"Mmhmm… Want to go outside in the snow?" I asked the two foxes.
"Ehehehe~ Could we, please? Master spoils us too much~" Akari giggled, licking my cheek.
Since it's decided, I brought them outside to play around in the snow, the two foxes leaping off my shoulders to burrow themselves in it.
Watching two foxes playing around in the snow is somehow quite soothing for me.
"You're not too cold, are you?" I whispered at the slime girl that's on me.
"No, Master, I'm fine. I can regulate my temperature easily," Xun Guan whispered back.
"Oh? Does that mean you can keep me warm too?"
"Of course, Master. I can even keep you cool if there's a need for it."
I released my heat Technique that I had been using and true enough, my Xun Guan kept me warm even in the snow.
Now that's convenient, I don't even need to keep my Technique up anymore.
Shiori and Akari continued to jump around in the snow, obviously enjoying themselves.
It was rare to even see Shiori enjoying herself like this, I'd thought she would be as calm as always even when seeing the snow. I assume their old home was a place full of snow before they got sent here, so she's more at ease around colder places.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, sounds of fox yips could be heard before a bunch of snow foxes bounded over towards us, yipping excitedly.
I guess they were attracted here by Shiori and Akari and now they're all playing in the snow together. I never knew these two could attract foxes like that.
I was content to just stand there and watch them but a number of them actually came up to me to sniff at my legs, so I naturally squatted down and started patting and fluffing them.
That made the rest of the foxes run up to me, some of them climbing on top of my shoulders to nuzzle me.
The combined weight of the foxes pushed me down on my back and that just made all of them start swarming me.
Oh my god, the fluff. There's so much fluff! They're so fluffy!
Akari even jumped up on my chest and started licking my face while Shiori just settled herself on my lap.
The other foxes just nuzzled any part they could find before curling themselves up to cuddle, creating a mountain of fluff on top of me. Well, this certainly wasn't what I expected to be doing but I suppose it's a welcome one.
Oh well, I guess I'll just take a nap here then, I didn't get much sleep last night after all.
*
I woke up to something poking at my cheek.
"Papa sleeping?" Cai Hong asked, still poking at my cheek.
"I'm awake, I'm awake," I mumbled, though it's not like I could move with the mountain of fluff still on top of me.
Akari and Shiori were both curled up on top of my chest, their heads cuddled in the crook of my neck.
Hmmm?
I just noticed Manami and Kiyomi were hugging my arms as well, since when did they lie down beside me?
"Papa nappy~" Cai Hong giggled, joining in the mountain of fluff to cuddle on top of me.
Well, I guess I can't complain, I'll just erect a barrier around us and take a nap.
