As a virgin man who was almost forty and even older mentally, Rimuru now Satoru had accumulated a vast collection of porn on his computer over the years to stave off the loneliness of single doghood.

Satoru now sat by his computer while Ciel was taking a bath and deleted every single damned folder less it be discovered by his partner. Or worse case scenario it'll be found after another close call to death. After Satoru was satisfied that his computer was porn free, he went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of organic black tea with no sugar.

Then an unbidden thought came to his mind. Had Ciel not, in her days as Wisdom King Raphael, scanned through all of his memories to assist him during Tempest's first Founding Festival? That would mean… the shameless nights he indulged in self pleasure. Was she already aware?!

As Satoru thought more about it, he covered his face with one hand as a blush crept up to his ears. Ciel might have mercifully skimmed past those details in order to give him the illusion of privacy or to focus only on the relevant information, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that she knew him best even in this.

This was evident in the human form she manifested. Everything from her face to her body was exactly to his tastes. That was proof that she knew more than she let on about what he liked and had no problem using it to her advantage. It stimulated a long forgotten feeling now that he had his 'son' back.

This body belongs to you as much as it does me, is what she had told him. Ciel was not in the habit of saying nonsense so she meant it. They were to be married, and Rimuru may be almost forty in this body but he wasn't such a traditionalist to wait for marriage when they were both in agreement to be intimate.

The bathroom door clicked open.

"Rimuru?" She called.

With his stomach full of nerves, Satoru looked to where the door was opened only by a few inches. Satoru was suddenly very much aware that he was alone with a very beautiful woman in his home. A woman that was most likely naked at this very moment.

Satoru, "Is something wrong? I've left a towel with a change of clothes in the tray next to the toilet." He noticed that she's been a little strange since their original selves left. A little tense, and more silent than usual.

Ciel, "I think," her voice sounded weak which was worrying, "I've started menstruating."

It took a few seconds for the words to register in his mind. When it did, his first instinct was to call someone and order them to bring her sanitary pads or whatever it is women need to feel better when on their period. But then he remembered that he was an ordinary human now and wasn't able to call anyone even if they were on hand in this world.

Satoru rushed to shrug on his jacket and slip his shoes on. "Okay. Can you give me fifteen minutes? There's a convenience store down the road. They should have what you need."

"Please hurry."

Satoru grabbed his wallet and left the apartment. He jogged down the stairs too impatient to wait for the elevator. The evening air chilled his cheeks as he made his way quickly to the familiar store he used to stop by to grab snacks.

He wasn't sure which brand to get, so he grabbed a big box of the priciest one thinking it would at least be of good quality. After some more thought, Satoru threw in a slab of chocolate on his way to checkout and ignored the knowing look the young woman behind the till gave him before ringing up his purchases.

When Satoru returned to the apartment, nothing had seemed to have changed. He knocked on the bathroom door, "Ciel, I'm back. Are you okay?"

The door opened and Ciel wordlessly stuck her hand out. She took the parcel and closed the door again.

Satoru decided to wait on the bed. A few minutes went by before Ciel finally emerged from the bathroom wearing his clothes. He noticed that she walked slowly and there was tension between her brows. In her hand was the slab of chocolate, half of it already eaten. She must be cramping.

"Are you okay?"

Ciel tentatively sat next to him, "I don't like this. It hurts."

It's the first time she's feeling pain, Satoru realised. He reached into the drawer of his nightstand and took out a packet of Ibuprofen. "This should help a bit. Lie down, I'll bring you some water."

After Ciel drank down the painkiller, she curled up on her side on the bed. Her face tense with pain. Rimuru had warmed up a hot water bottle for her to keep against her abdomen.

When he was sure she was comfortable, Rimuru grabbed an extra set of blanket and pillow, and made himself comfortable on the couch.

"Rimuru?"

"Yes Ciel?"

"Thank you."

"Anytime Ciel."

.•° ✿ °•.

Back in Tempest, everything went on as usual. Benimaru and Shuna covered for Rimuru in his absence.

On the second day, Chloe arrived and immediately went looking for Rimuru. She was disappointed to hear he was out traveling but decided to wait for his return.

Over these last thirteen years, her body had finally matured to that of a twenty-one year old. She had long ceased to be a child after thousands of years of travelling through time, but now she finally looked the part of a mature young woman.

So she decided that she would try to win Rimuru's heart and confess again.

As a prodigious True Hero, she was counted as immortal and has worked hard so that she could stand beside Rimuru unlike others. The only ones Chloe acknowledged as love rivals were Shuna, Shion, and Milim, as they were the closest women to Rimuru and to some extent the three demoness trio as well but so far they have shown no such inclinations other than reverence. The others were not worthy of Rimuru.

Chloe and the other women have come to some sort of agreement a few years into their rivalry. Whoever won the position of first wife in Rimuru's heart, the others would back off and wish them happiness or find a way to lawfully be a second wife like Alvis was to Benimaru.

It was with this agreement in mind that prevented the women from threatening each other or fighting dirty. That, and also the secret monthly strategy meetings that even Soei wasn't aware of where they would openly announce their plans. This created a sort of bond between these four women vying for Rimuru's attention.

The secret meeting place was actually in a hidden room in Ramiris Dungeon. Although the little fairy didn't have romantic inclinations towards Rimuru she was a sucker for love stories after being influenced by Shoujo and Reverse Harem Manga. So Ramiris enjoyed hosting these meetings for the women very much.

Only this time was different.

A certain annoying lizard had decided to crash the party. Chloe had just announced her intention to confess again but a loud voice interrupted her.

"GAHAHAHAHA! So this is a meeting to decide who will be my sister-in-law? How about some advice from Rimuru's sworn brother?" Veldora suddenly popped in from nowhere.

Ramiris, "Ah! Master!? How did you get in here? This is a girls-only party!"

With a grin that delighted in stirring up trouble, Veldora said, "you gave me an admin role remember? I can go wherever I like in this Labyrinth."

Ramiris narrowed her eyes at him and had a rare moment of clarity, "Master, you haven't been listening in to us when we have these meetings have you?"

Caught red handed, Veldora pretended to be innocent as five pairs of eyes turned to glare at him. "I… ah…"

When Chloe stood up and set her hand on her sword along with Shion, Shuna, and Milim who had been surprisingly quiet, intent teaching him a lesson, Veldora rushed to placate them. "Wait! I know how to help you!"

The women paused, and looked at each other as if to ask whether he really would have anything of value to say. Despite being annoying, the Storm Dragon DID share a close bond with Rimuru that nobody could deny. Perhaps he was more privy to Rimuru's preferences than they were aware.

It was Shuna who stepped forward with a polite smile, "And what do you have in mind?"

Veldora looked visibly relieved that they were going to listen, "Look, you've all been doing this wrong. Just showing him your feelings isn't going to work."

When the women, Chloe in particular, rose up to protest, Veldora quickly explained with a voice that for once sounded serious, "I'm sure Rimuru is already well aware of all your devotion and capabilities and he appreciates you for it. But, unfortunately, it's not going to work because you guys aren't aware of one very crucial player in the game."

The women blinked in surprise.

Ramiris, "Master, are you saying that there's another woman than these four that's close to Rimuru?"

Veldora nodded, "This person is very precious to Rimuru and is the closest one to him. Even closer than I'll ever be."

Milim, "No way! I don't believe you. I'm Rimuru's bestie. How come he never told me about her if she's so important!?"

Shuna and Shion nodded along to this. They were the ones who took care of Rimuru's needs daily and they've never seen such a person in all their years of serving him.

Chloe glared at Veldora. It was a glare that she learned from Luminas and it was always effective when dealing with this dragon, "you aren't trying to escape punishment are you?"

Veldora, "No! Milim, look into my eyes, you should know whether I'm lying or not."

Milim did so with her evil dragon eyes and there was no mistake. She slouched her shoulders looking depressed, "no way. He's telling the truth."

The other women looked at her incredulously, but there was no tricking Milim's eyes.

Shuna, "Then who could it be? How was Rimuru-sama able to hide this person so well if she's the closest to him?"

Veldora, "Nope! Don't look at me. I promised Rimuru I wouldn't tell anyone about her so I'm definitely not telling you who she is."

"Ho ho ho ho. This is a job for detective Ramiris. Let's see let's see. The closest one to Rimuru that is not one of us. Hmm hmm…" everyone watched exasperated as the little fairy made exaggerated thinking noises.

And then as if a light had been lit, Ramiris gasped, "I know who it is!" She smirked at the rest and puffed out her tiny chest, "do you want to know?"

"No." Everyone replied with deadpan expressions.

"Eh?!"

"In any case, we could just ask Rimuru-sama who she is when he gets back, and we could test her to see if she's worthy of Rimuru-sama," Shion said.

The other women agreed with her. The next half hour was dedicated to tea time and sharing delicious desserts. Veldora was allowed to stay this once as thanks as long as he kept his mouth shut.

When the women left, Veldora asked Ramiris, "what were you going to say earlier?"

"Oh ah, I was wondering if the one Rimuru is closest to was maybe one of his own skills that turned into a theosophy nucleus? It makes sense since no one has ever seen her right? Now that I think of it, it sounds stupid. So nevermind!"

"... Yeah. Hahahaha. How could that be? We'd know if that was the case wouldn't we?" Veldora felt a drop of sweat run down his back and thought Ramiris was scary sometimes in her rare moments of genius.

"Right!"

.•° ✿ °•.

Author Note

Hi everyone I'm back. It's been a crazy few weeks at work and I finally have to time to sit down to write this. Let me know what you think. The support for this fic has really lifted my spirits.