The chapter in which Bowser tries to process what happened, while someone makes a call via magic projection. Bowser is quite dumbfounded by Rosalina's open kindness towards her, despite what he's done to her in the past, she bears no grudge, and is clearly happy he spends time with her and helped save her Lumas. A few others have taken notice of this, and WILL comment on it.
Let's check that out.~
Bowser was sitting at home within his castle. He was lying on his stomach while on his bed. It was pretty early in the morning, and he had already eaten most of his breakfast that lied around him in dirty dishes, which Koopas and Goombas were in the process of being taken away to be thoroughly cleaned for next time. Of course, Bowser being Bowser, his breakfast added up to the amount of a small feast. Though once he had his fill, he lies on his bed again while considering what had happened a few days ago. He had committed his third visit of Rosalina, and he admitted that it had been a rather positive experience, given how Junior already seemed to like her to some extent. They were having quite a bit of fun simply talking and spending time with one another, while getting to know one another better.
And he discovered that she was strong. Significantly stronger than Peach ever was or could be. Not to say Peach was weak; Rosalina was simply far above her in terms of power and experience. And he admitted that she carried with her a much more mature air to her than Peach; of course this was because she was much older than either than them, yet didn't look the part. It was amazing how beautiful she looked despite-
Bowser blinked and shook his head. Okay, whoa! Whoooooaaaa whoa! Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoawhoa...where did THAT come from, and WHY? He stopped his thoughts where they were and tried to shake them off as thoroughly as he could. Since when did I ever think that the woman was beautiful? I mean, she really is easy on the eyes, but me actually acknowledging it seems a bit unlike me. Usually I'm only thinking beautiful when I turn to Peach. Or myself in the mirror. Either way, it's weird. He frowned while rubbing his paw through his hair. Why would I actively be thinking this about her...?
Thank you for helping us, Bowser. I do indeed mean it. I'm grateful for your company, and I'm grateful for your help. And more than that, I do look forward to seeing you and your son again. I do admit, these interactions...they're becoming quite fun.
She said all of these kind words and with the softest of grace and sincerity. After she kissed his cheek and was clearly intent and may have even enjoyed his reaction. His reaction chalked up to him trying to play it off as if it didn't greatly catch him off-guard, though it was likely that she knew that he was embarrassed by what she did. He clearly didn't expect it, which made his reaction all the more amusing to her. She didn't laugh, but she clearly took delight in him trying to hide his shock and embarrassment with an uncaring demeanor. She might have even thought it to be adorable.
...That woman was messing with his head. It wasn't infallible on a literal level, as she demonstrated being capable of telepathy. Other villains did take advantage of him and his personal weaknesses...he hated that quite a bit.
But Rosalina wasn't a villain. She was a cosmic guardian who was more than happy and capable of having civil conversations with him, and thanking him for saving her Lumas. It did make him feel appreciated, but the kiss to his cheek caught him greatly off-guard.
He raised to the cheek she kissed, gently caressing it, and a small blush covering both cheeks. He growled in embarrassment while shaking his head. "This is ridiculous..."
"DADDY!~"
"OH SWEET STAR SPIRITS!" Bowser jumped a bit before falling out of bed and on his head. He groaned a bit in annoyance as he rubbed his head and looked up towards the wall where he heard the voice. It was the Koopaling, Wendy. She appeared as a magic projection that matched her color via her wand. She wasn't the only one; Ludwig's projection was there as well. The rest of the Koopalings were absent from this, however. He sighed while shaking his head. "Oh, it's just you lot. Did you have to surprise me like that instead of simply giving me a bit of a warning?"
"We haven't the time for such pleasantries, Father. We simply have something to ask of you." Ludwig stated rather calmly, compared to Wendy's outburst. "Junior told us something that warrants our attention."
"What does that mean?" Bowser asked a bit lazily, scratching the back of his head with one paw and scratching his belly with the other, yawning a bit.
"We've noticed that you've been pretty absent from the Kingdom for long period s of time. We were confused since your hostilities with the Mushroom Kingdom has been on the decline ever since those disappearances happened. We were concerned, so we were about to see if you were alright much sooner." Ludwig explained. "But then Junior and Kammy informed us of what you were doing, which helped ease our concerns."
"Yeah...?"
"Daddy, he's talking about your interactions with the woman known as 'Rosalina'. And I must say...why didn't you tell me about this?!" Wendy exclaimed with an excited shout, lightly jumping in place. "I mean, I could have TOTALLY helped you out with knowing what to say to her and how to say it. This is the first time you've shown such deep interest in any woman that isn't Princess Peach. That's something that DEFINITELY got our attention, and we won't be letting it go any time soon!~"
Bowser sighed as he folded his arms and huffed. "Hmph. Why should it rile you two up in any way? I'm simply talking to another woman who caught my interest. There isn't anything too special about talking to someone and taking a break from conquest, right?"
"Indeed. But you've visited her a total of three times now. That's enough proof for us to believe that there's definitely more to this interaction between you two than you allow us to know." Ludwig said. "The further confirmation was Rosalina kissing your cheek after you saved her Lumas. Give us more credit, Father. We know there's more to this than you want to admit aloud."
"...Darn it." Bowser muttered under his breath, since he can't really dispute it. "Alright...so what do you want from me regarding that?"
"We wanna meet her for ourselves, of course!" Wendy emphasized. "And don't bother arguing with us about it, Daddy! You can either invite her over or we can go to her. Our curiosity is more than enough to seek her out. We simply MUST!~"
"Now hold on a moment-!"
"Whoops! I have another call waiting for me, can't talk further about this. Also can't wait to see to see Rosalina! Love ya Daddy! Kiss kiss! Bye!~" Wendy's projection waved before ultimately disappearing. Ludwig huffed, but he nonetheless agreed as his projection disappeared as well. Bowser sighed as he gently palmed his face, already feeling tired.
His gut-despite being stuffed with breakfast-was telling him that he really didn't have a choice in the matter. It looks like Rosalina would be seeing his other children as well, very soon.
Oh, how fun...
Well, there we have it. The Kooaplings are soon going to be taking stage in interacting with Rosalina, with Wendy and Ludwig leading by the helms. That's certainly going to be fun for them and Rosalina, though likely embarrassing for the Koopa King at first, at least for a little while. And I do intend on going through all of them through multiple chapters centering one at a time. Each of them will have Rosalina's undivided attention for a while.
How they lay this plan out will be explained in the next chapter.
