Intermission – Alissa

Allura and I lay down on the grass and stare up at the blue sky, trying to imagine what the clouds are shaped like, though we both mention the shape "dick" a bit too often.

"Hey, do you remember when I used to rub salve on you after your training?" Allura suddenly asks.

I turn my head to the side to look at her and smirk. "Yeah, I do. But why are you bringing that up? Feeling like ogling me again?" I tease seductively and push my breasts together.

She just glances at me and scoffs, "Meh, I don't like women that much. What I wanted to say is that I always liked to watch you train."

"Oh…" That makes me pause and hold back the degenerate within me.

Then we both stay silent for a moment while Allura gathers her thoughts, and we continue to gaze up at the sky as the white clouds slowly drift by.

"You trained so hard, but I… was never able to train as hard as you," she finally quietly admits.

"You lost the moment you compared yourself to me," I coldly reply, mimicking Mom's tone.

Allura starts to smile, thinking about how to counter-banter, but then realization strikes her, and the smile retreats, making way for a pensive expression. "Fuck… you're actually right. I shouldn't compare myself to you, it isn't fair."

I sit up on the grass and turn a curious look towards her. "But why did you compare yourself to me?"

"Because I'm the Chosen Descendant, but I could never train as hard as you did," she wistfully confesses.

I hug my knees and absentmindedly play with the grass as I think out loud, "That's because I always had a 'goal' that had to be reached in just a few years, while your 'goal' is to one day become the Chief and keep the Misty Forest safe."

But Allura is still unconvinced, so she frowns and insists, "But you still grew so much that I won't ever be able to catch up."

And that makes me slightly angry.

Stubborn little cub.

"I know how to serve, to comfort, to kill, and to lead, but I don't know how to be a Chief or a Lord," I heatedly point out.

"But you-…"

"No buts!" I yell while fuming. "[No butts!]" I playfully pun inside my own head in English, and my anger is the only thing preventing me from shouting my immature thought out loud like a fool, the same way that Wolfy likes to.

Oh, no. He's "contaminated" me.

Then I flop back on the grass again and grab Allura's hand. "I don't want to compete with you."

"Well, I do! How about that?!" Allura flippantly replies and pouts exaggeratedly at me.

"I won't let Wolfy take your first time," I coldly threaten, giving Allura a chill as her pointy ears become extra pointy in wariness.

"W-who said I wanted that?!" she squeaks embarrassedly and pulls her hand away.

I narrow my eyes and smile smugly. "I'm pretty sure you were drooling when you watched my draconic husband fuck my tight, foxy pussy."

"That sounds disgusting!" She dramatically blurts out a little too strongly.

But that only increases my smugness. "You know, tails don't lie." Then Allura grabs her slowly wagging tail and scooches away from me, making me chuckle softly.

She doesn't have a comeback for that, so we both go silent again and slowly calm down as we observe the clouds once more.

"I'll be crowned Queen one day," Allura suddenly claims.

"Is Chieftess of the Forest not good enough for you?" I go along with her dream.

"No," she loudly hums back, and her determined voice echoes across the open field.

"What are you going to do, conquer all the clans, again?" I teasingly ask. The Misty Fox Clan is like a mini empire that conquered the other fox clans a long time ago, though our "subjects" are consistently unruly.

"I'll conquer the Colored Sands, tame the wild humans, then irrigate the land, gradually turning it into a flourishing grassland," Allura boldly declares then lifts her clenched fist up in the air in determination.

I turn to my ambitious sister and raise an eyebrow in surprise. "You actually know history? And the engineering required to achieve that?" I honestly question.

"I do." Then she turns her "[smug mug]" towards me, as Wolfy would've put it. "This is how I'm going to compete with you."

I shrug and stare up at the clouds again. "I'm surprised that you can even read-…"

"Get your tail yanked," she annoyedly curses.

"… but as long as the empire grows from your aspirations, I'm fine with it. Though, you'd better ask the emperor for permission before you spark an internal conflict."

Allura frowns angrily and argues, "Not a single emperor has ever done anything to control the Sands, even though the slavers have been raiding us for hundreds of years."

I give her a kind look and grab her shoulder reassuringly. "We'll always be your ally, but don't go too far."

She pats my hand and pouts. "Thanks, but I won't get you involved in this."

"Still. Just remember that we'll be there for you."

Allura nods in understanding, and we both go quiet again.

After a bit of frolicking in the grass, lunchtime comes around, and we eat a nice meal of refined and nostalgic werefox cuisine.

"… then they fatten up on werefox…" I catch a stray thought.

"Wolfy!" I whine towards the "hole" in my soul space…

…[but it's my fault that I'm constantly reading his thoughts]. I feel Wolfy's influence guiding my mind.

"Hmph!" I whine again and resist the [Bind], closing off my mind.

The news of a letter addressed to Wolfy makes us all tune in and leech off of his sight. It gets a bit crowded inside his soul space, but everyone has learned how to not "elbow" each other. When we read the name of the sender, we all freeze in surprise for a second, then we pretend that we never saw it.

Cowards! I'll never leave Wolfy's side!

But I can only meekly offer to go with him to help him in the meeting.

"It's fine. I think I'm mentally strong enough to deal with her myself," he warmly replies, and the happy, loving tone he uses makes it very difficult to argue against him.

"We'll have to suck his dick a lot tonight," I warn the sister-wives.

"Always," Aoi cheerfully replies, but she doesn't count.

He suggests Ravaging Yunia and Ereia at the same time, and I feel a bit of pride from seeing him being so proactive in collecting other women. Ereia will be a useful noblewoman to have on our side.

It's totally not my fetish speaking, yup, totally not.

Then Roxanne, Ofilia, Allura, and I visit the Elder's Library, a semi-public place where I used to study.

We enter a private study room so that we can speak freely and sit on the comfortable cushions around the table.

Roxanne is a bit interested in werefox [Alchemy], so we get a few appropriate books for her, then I show them my magic book with Nocturna's spells.

"Oh, how surprising that you found her magic outside of the Misty Forest," Homvieun curiously remarks as he flips through the book. The old raisin, I mean, the wizened old werefox was my tutor, and he always gets quite happy when I show interest in books.

Then I speculate on the book's origin, "It's quite the simple book, so it was likely sold as a curiosity from the Misty Forest, but it also lacks in depth, so I want to get my hands on more study material."

He nods repeatedly in understanding and orders a young page to bring us a few books. "We have spares of these, so you can take them with you."

"Thank you very much, Homvieun," I earnestly reply, and his heart seems to melt from my Cuteness Attack.

But then he smirks like a cheeky grandpa and reveals to Roxanne, "When Alissa was a child, she asked me the darnedest of questions. Allura isn't as inquisitive as she was, but the younger sister still has the talent of asking about the most curious of things."

Roxanne pompously covers her mouth like a Lady as she laughs, then requests, "Ohohoh, I have an idea about what types of questions you may be referring to, but please, enlighten me."

Ofilia slowly nods sagely and subtly grins. "Oh, I remember it very well. Wasn't she about eight years old when she first asked about sex? She said that she could hear and smell it," she teasingly recollects.

"Yeah, I could smell your cum-breath whenever you sucked Dad off," I throw the banter right back at her, leaving her speechless.

"That's kind of hot," Roxanne mutters, her thin eyebrows raised high in surprise.

Homvieun clears his throat loudly while Ofilia blushes, her "porcelain skin" turning scarlet, as Wolfy would've put it.

"You routinely gave us hard-hitting questions, even though you were just a child," Homvieun quickly changes the topic and smiles stiffly. "I tried to give you a varied education, but you never liked anything that wasn't related to Blood Slaves and their duties."

I nod in agreement. "But of course. Though, you never taught me anything about engineering and irrigation."

He raises an eyebrow in curiosity and glances at Allura. "Well, that's something a Chosen Descendant should definitely learn, but I'm curious why you mentioned those two topics, specifically."

I grin towards Allura, who just rolls her eyes and sighs, preparing herself for the slap of banter. "Someone seems to have become an expert in them."

Both Homvieun and Ofilia glance at her too and start chuckling heartily.

"I hope… I hope that Allura didn't try to give you any advice," Ofilia teases as she dries the corners of her eyes.

"Of course, I didn't…" Allura sourly replies and pouts.

After a while, a page arrives, bearing a message for me.

I stare at the piece of paper as my heart pangs with guilt, but then Wolfy's presence forces me to stand up and walk, so I obey and leave the library.

Once I cross through the main entrance, I suddenly stop as I recognize Nen standing at the gate, wearing a dazzling silvery Plier-type dress, or "not-kimono," as Wolfy calls them. He's also wearing a simple military sash instead of the more feminine flowery knots, or "origami," as Wolfy named them.

The flowery knots are just that, knots, so it doesn't make sense to name them "origami," but Wolfy just wants to "meme" and come up with references to Earthling culture at every opportunity he can.

I'm a little hesitant to meet with Nen alone, and thinking about Wolfy just makes it even harder to move. I don't know why I feel this way, but I don't want to bother Wolfy with my stupid feelings while he makes love to Yunia, so I just clench my jaw and continue walking forward.

It's time to deal with the goblin waiting outside.

Nen's overall air is that of a confident, manly man, making him so handsome that I almost blush from just looking at him. I generally don't like to compliment men, and in Nen's case, complimenting him leaves me with such a bitter taste on my tongue that it's making me angry.

"Alissa," he greets me with a low, husky tone as he smiles.

"Nen," I reply in kind and look away.

"We didn't have time to talk, so…" He awkwardly continues, but then loses his train of thought.

I look back at the grass garden and point to a bench. "Let's talk over there," I suggest, and he wordlessly nods.

We sit on each end of the bench, as far from each other as possible, then we stay silent, just stewing in the awkward silence.

After a long minute, Nen sighs and embarrassedly admits, "I forgot what I wanted to say."

I chuckle softly and reply, "You didn't change. You still have that cute, shy boy inside you."

He frowns and pouts childishly. "Well, you didn't change, either. You still dodge anything that's unrelated to your Master."

I raise an eyebrow in confusion and stare at him as I question, "What do you mean by that?"

He shrugs and awkwardly looks away. "Well, didn't you also have something to say to me?" He mumbles, sulking a little.

I close my mouth and look away, struggling to come up with a riposte, but he got me there.

"Touché," as Wolfy would've said.

Then I realize that what he just said was true. If it isn't related to Wolfy, it doesn't interest me.

But is that actually a bad thing…?

I sigh and shake my head.

Of course, it'll never be bad to seek the fulfillment of my duty, no matter if it's as a wife or as a Blood Slave.

It does us no good to keep circling around it, so I go on the offensive, "We were never meant to be, so if you want to talk about… that day, then I have nothing to say. I don't love you in that way…"

Nen remains silent for a long moment, then he suddenly starts chuckling. "Well, if you reject me like that, then there's really nothing I can say in return," he cheerfully admits and continues chuckling.

I jerk my head towards him and glare angrily. "W-what did you expect?! I'm married!"

He dries the corners of his eyes and calmly points out, "But your husband lays with dryads and also… uh… your sister…?" Then he becomes boy-Nen again as he blushes gently.

"She's still too young," I tersely reply and wave my hand dismissively.

He clears his throat and awkwardly continues, "Right… but he seemingly does what he wants with other women while you…?"

I flash him a smirk. "Watch. It's my fetish."

"Uh-hum…" He hums stiffly and looks away, then his gray face glows bright red.

"We can all do what we want with other women, but not other men. That's the rule," I casually reveal, reveling in his embarrassment.

"It doesn't sound fair," he mumbles concernedly.

And I immediately retort, "But it is. There's a lot more that he does for us to compensate."

Then he gives me a very skeptical look.

Sometimes, I forget how different this harem's circumstances are in comparison to the average.

I pensively look out through the gate and observe the commoners passing by, then I rest my hands on my knees and happily sway from side to side as I confess, "We weren't meant to be because what I… what we, the Ryder family has, transcends the usual bond of husband and wives. Wolfy is a champion of the Gods, and we have to give our everything to the champion to support him in his journey. Laying with other men is just one small thing we had to give up."

After the second Intervention, there's nobody who can deny that Wolfy is a champion.

Nen stays silent for a minute as he stares at me, evaluating my words. "I'm… sorry that I brought this topic up. It was rude of me," he finally admits.

And I shake my head in denial. "It was just a loose end," I comfort him.

"Indeed…" He agrees with a sigh.

Then we go silent again.

Though there was desire between us once, there wasn't enough to allow me to say that we were anything more than friends.

Nen gives me a pained smile and starts to back down, "I do admit that this hurts a bit, so I'll be going now since I want to spend some time alone."

There's nothing else that I can do here.

I simply nod and gently reply, "Until the next time we meet, Nen."

He gets up and bows. "Until then. Come visit whenever you can."

"I will," I whisper back, then I silently watch him leave.

I should stop denying that I find other men attractive. It's giving me too much grief.

I talk a little more with Homvieun, then I return to the Estate and find Mom.

Just like how I remembered it, she's in her office with Dad as they both work together. It's like seeing Wolfy and Yunia together, though the domineering one would be Wolfy, instead.

Mom lifts her eyes from her work and greets, "Ah, Alissa, I want t-…"

But I kneel beside her cushion and pull her into a hug.

"I love you, Mom and Dad. Thanks for raising me this way," I confess with a whispered tone. Though I'm opening up my heart, this time, I don't feel like crying.

Mom's hand stays still in the air for a moment, then she hugs me back and whispers, "We're proud to have you as our daughter, Queen Alissa."

I cringe, but then everything goes dark as Dad surrounds us both with his huge arms.

Intermission end.

"I'll deal with Nero, now," Yunia reports through [Bind] as my meeting with Vanea wraps up.

"Good luck," we all wish for her, then I pull Lala towards me and kiss her thin, pretty lips.

Yunia takes a [Gate] to the Lordsguard barracks, then an [Eternal Gate] down to the dungeon.

As she walks past the empty cells, she suddenly senses a wisp of Life and looks into the cell beside her.

Deep in the darkness, she notices a pair of eyes staring back at her, then she senses the Life of a humanoid, and Nero drops [Hide Presence].

"Well, I guess that's unlucky…" He awkwardly admits with a grin.

Yunia [Equip]s her Bastión armor and her weapon, then rushes into the open cell and knocks him out with the flat of her sword.

The healer finishes chanting and [Heal]s Nero's head, clearing his concussion away and allowing him to wake up again.

The bound and chained man gasps and looks around in confusion, then his eyes slowly regain their focus, and he realizes where he is.

He chuckles in his gravely voice and comments, "The God of Luck really isn't on my side…"

"You really thought that you could escape from a Lord's dungeon?" Yunia immediately questions him sternly, yet also sounding a bit stupefied.

Nero simply shrugs. "What's the worst that could happen? There was a chance to get past the guards, if I was lucky enough, which I wasn't."

"If you killed one of our men, I'd kill you without hesitation," she harshly points out.

"Good thing I didn't kill anybody, eh?" He cheekily replies and starts chuckling again.

"Check him for Wickedness," she orders the healer, who immediately starts casting [Detect Evil].

"I'm a spy. I'm more likely to be insane than Wicked," he cheekily admits, then his mustache starts twitching. "Oh, oh, can you scratch my mustache? It's itching!"

The Lordsguards send a concerned look towards Yunia but don't move an inch.

"Do it with the scabbard of your sword," she orders one of the men.

"Ah~… thank you," Nero moans in delight.

"He's truly insane," Lina comments through [Bind].

"A man without anything to lose can act as erratically as those who are truly damaged in the mind," Yunia unhappily replies as her frown deepens.

Once the itch is gone, Nero's expression becomes a bit more stern as he begins, "So, let's get this over with. You want me to work for you?"

"Hmph…" Yunia scoffs at him. At least he's smart enough to predict that. "Become our Blood Slave, or face the Tribunal."

His confident smirk is wiped away, replaced by pure surprise. "Oh, fuck. Okay, I didn't imagine that you'd go that far."

Then she points out matter-of-factly, "You have a fair amount of knowledge about the underworld; you infiltrated the Enforcers and then escaped successfully; and though it was an overall failure, escaping one of our cells is no small feat."

He blinks blankly, then smiles self-deprecatingly as he admits, "I just slightly miscalculated how devious you'd be. I'd thought that the naive and idealistic Wolf Ryder was the one in charge."

"Wow, they really look down on me, huh?" I comment through [Bind].

Yunia grins smugly. "I know you're being facetious, but you have no idea how we truly are. Only a handful of people do, really."

He shrugs and grumbles, sounding quite miffed, "Well, whatever. What choice do I have?"

"Serve, or pay for your crimes," she slowly replies.

His low grunt echoes through the halls. "Hmph. Fine, I'll be your slave."