Chapter 175 Mending A Broken Heart
Until now, every time Erich was close to overcoming his mental trauma, inflicted upon him primarily through his military service, he was immediately sent back into the meat-grinder to be traumatized once more.
But this time around, Erich was finally able to get the reprieve he so desperately needed. And had done so in the arms of the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. Of course, until now, Lunaria had been withholding physical intimacy, other than in the form of hugging and kissing. She would only have sex with Erich when the man finally said the magic words: "I love you."
She had done this for one specific reason, because on the first day of their time together, Erich had been honest about his lack of ability to love another human being. That stemmed from his heartbreak over how his relationship with S\'aleth had ended.
But the moment he could honestly say he loved another woman, his broken heart would have truly begun on the path to self healing. And thus, during this time, Lunaria had done everything she could to comfort Erich, and assure him that he was not being sent back into the meat-grinder any time soon.
Today had started off no differently than any other day. Erich and Lunaria would wake up in their separate rooms, and meet in the Dining Hall of the luxurious yacht, where they would share a lovely meal together. However, after today\'s breakfast, Lunaria made an important announcement to Erich. One that he was not expecting.
"Erich, my dear, we are going to have to make a stop today to purchase some supplies. I had not initially set out on this journey with the provisions to last much longer. I can\'t be seen in public, because I left rather hastily to come find you. Undoubtedly, Celestia is having a hissy fit running the Dominion in my absence.
So I will need you to assist the robots in picking up the supplies that we need to continue the journey. That won\'t be a problem, will it?"
Erich had honestly forgotten that Lunaria had left her homeworld and travelled halfway across the quadrant in the middle of the night because he had not called her like he promised he would. And thus, he had not even considered the need to resupply until now. But it seemed like a simple enough task, and thus he was happy to oblige.
"That won\'t be a problem, dear. Let me know when we land, and I will be more than happy to fetch the supplies we need."
Lunaria was so happy to hear this that she immediately leaned over and kissed Erich, before complimenting him for his future efforts.
"That\'s my good boy!"
Indeed, Lunaria had never stopped treating Erich as if he were both her son and her lover. Perhaps it was because of the age gap in between them, or simply because in her dynasty, incest was the only permitted form of relationship. But Erich did not mind. In fact, he liked being spoiled by the older woman, as if he were her most beloved child.
In all honesty, Erich still had no idea how old Lunaria actually was, nor did he care to ask. If anything, it would be monumentally impolite of him to do so. And since age did not affect a biologically immortal being like Lunaria, it was not a question that was remotely important to Erich.
Thus, once their meal was fully concluded, and the ship had docked at the space station. Erich found himself getting dressed in more proper attire. After all, Lunaria enjoyed dressing him up in rather revealing clothing, which was something she herself loved to wear.
But if Erich had to wear such fashion in public, he would die of embarassment. Thus, after getting dressed in some more casual clothing, Erich left Lunaria behind on the luxury yacht, and entered the city of an alien space station.
It became immediately clear just which species owned this sector of space when he stepped into food on the space station. All around him were winged humanoids, who looked as if they were the common concept of an angel back on Earth during the 21st century of the world\'s history.
A few years back, during the Germanic-Dvrakian war, the Germanic navy had utterly crushed this civilization\'s forces, driving them back into their own territory, and forcing them to abandon their Dvrakian vassals.
Because of this, the Enochians still hated the Germanic race with a passion, especially after they used to the Dvrakians for the purpose of being meat shields. Something which resulted in the near extinction of the Dvrakian Race. The only Dvrakians who survived the onslaught of the Naraku were those who were lucky enough to flee back to the lands of their former masters. Where they now lived as refugees.
Luckily for Erich, he was very distinct in appearance from the average Germanic male, and because of this, most people assumed he was a different, albeit similar looking alien species. Erich mindlessly made his way through the space station, looking for the shop which sold basic provisions, such as fresh food and water.
Once he arrived, Erich was shocked to see a Dvrakian girl manning the register, whose appearance was quite similar to S\'aleths. At least from behind, and in that moment Erich mistook the refugee for the woman he had loved. His voice cracked as he spoke his thoughts aloud.
"S\'aleth?"
The woman turned around and revealed she had distinctively different facial features from S\'aleth, and responded to Erich with a bit of confusion in her blood-red eyes.
"I\'m sorry. Did you say something?"
Having come back to reality, Erich took a deep breath to calm his nerves before responding to the woman\'s question.
"I\'m sorry, I mistook you for someone else... I have a list of provisions I need, and I was wondering if you have the items in stock?"
Erich then handed the datapad which carried the list on it over to the woman, who scanned it into her terminal, which automatically checked the list to see if everything was in stock. The Dvrakian woman responded to Erich with a cheery tone in her voice as she confirmed that she did indeed have everything available for him.
"It looks like you are in luck. We have everything you need in stock at the moment. Shall I have someone assist you in loading it onto your vessel, or are you capable of doing so yourself?"
Erich smirked when he heard this before, assuring the woman he was more than capable of handling such a petty task himself.
"You don\'t need to go through so much trouble. So how much do I owe you, anyway?"
The woman quickly tallied up the total, before informing Erich of the cost.
"That will be 25,000 Enochian Credits, or 10,000 Alfheim Credits. I\'m afraid we don\'t accept any other currency..."
Erich quickly handed over the card which Lunaria had given him earlier in the day, and paid for the goods, while the robots he had brought with him began to carry it back to the ship. He then left the store, after telling the woman to have a nice day. Where his confident facade immediately cracked, revealing a harrowed expression. The only thing Erich could think of now was S\'aleth, and that made him feel incredibly depressed.
The moment Erich boarded Lunaria\'s yacht, the woman greeted him, only to see by the look on his face that something wasn\'t right, which she was quick to ask about.
"What happened? Are you alright?"
Erich slumped down against the wall, until he was finally sitting against it, where he spoke nonsense that only Lunaria could comprehend.
"I thought she was S\'aleth...."
Upon instantly realizing what must have happened, Lunaria kneeled down in front of Erich, and clutched his head against her perfect bosom. Where she stroked his silky silver hair, while assuring him that everything was alright.
"There there... Everything is alright, if you need to cry, then go ahead, and cry, Mommy is here for you...."
In his grief, Erich had completely forgotten that Lunaria was not his mother, despite being a proper maternal figure to him over the past few months, and as a result broke out into tears as he sobbed into her barely covered breasts.
Despite what he thought, this did not instantly turn Lunaria off. Instead, the woman continued to hug Erich and treat him as if he was her own son. All while comforting him in a way that would allow the man to finally mend his broken heart.