Chapter 84

"I just... I don't know how to feel about it," Nicky said, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. "I... I mean, it's good that she recognizes her behavior was wrong, and that she regrets doing it, but... I'm still mad at her, because no amount of apology can change the fact that she did do those things. And yet... Now, now I feel like an irrational asshole who can't let go of a grudge, because of course she can't change what she's already done, she's changing what she's doing now and going forward, and that is the most I can expect from her, and I'm still mad at her!"

"That's normal, and it is in fact perfectly reasonable," I said, patting her on the shoulder. "You're not an irrational asshole for having messy feelings, Nicky. What matters is what you do about those feelings. And... to be honest, when someone's hurt you that badly? There is a lot of latitude as far as acceptable behavior goes. What I think you should do, though... is very, very carefully consider what you will feel good about, afterward."

"I... I don't know what to do about it, either," Nicky said, sniffling. "Some part of me wants to start over, and just... spend time with her, trying to bond with her like real sisters do, but... we didn't do that."

"My own family relationships are... not great, either," I said. "And everyone else in the polycule is either a Familiar or an only child."

"I have a sister, actually," Nel said, from the other side of Nicky, where she was rubbing the poor girl's shoulders.

"Really?" Nicky asked, looking up at Nel. "What... what's she like?"

"Hrm..." Nel hummed. "...I think the simplest explanation is that she's my mirror twin. It's a little joke that started when we were born as identical twins, with the sole exception that she was left-handed, and I was right-handed, but as we grew older and grew into our personalities, some other contrasts appeared. I was like my parents in that I had a fairly relaxed, 'all the time in the world' attitude, whereas she was like my parents in that she was very driven and very committed to the cause of beta's rights activism. When we came of age, and my parents moved to Amazon Isle, I stayed here in Dornhelm, and she went with them to work for the cause."

"...Did you two have a good relationship before she moved to another country?" I asked.

"I mean, we still talk," Nel said. "Amazon Isle is a colony of Dorn; they've got phones there. Hell, my sister even knows about my porn blog, and would sometimes mention that it kept coming up in debates. Some people think a beta flaunting her body and making people wanna fuck her is good for beta's rights, and some people think that trying to position ourselves as better sex objects than omegas wasn't really a winning strategy. And her position in those debates, every goddamn time, is that I had just as much right to show my tits on the internet as any alpha or omega did, regardless of any broader movement's politics. But... relationship wise... I mean, I don't hate her. She's... She's my sister. She's a lot like me, in good ways and bad ways, and sometimes we annoy the shit out of each other because we disagree on something, but... I mean, these days, it's mostly just us sending memes to each other on our phones, and sometimes sharing general life updates."

"Please tell me you didn't share our secret mission into the Red Forest with her," I said.

"I did not share my travel diaries with her," Nel promised. "I mean, I did write down a bunch of my observations, because it's an entire society made up almost completely of betas, and that produced a lot of social dynamics that were worth recording, but... I didn't show them to anybody."

"Okay, good," I said, sighing.

"I did share the fact that you're the new Duke of Shang, though, because if I'm not gonna abuse my position in Dornish high society to help my sister the diplomat get her work done, then what was even the point of getting here?"

"Aside from the sex and XP and personal power and wealth and, again, mindbendingly powerful fucking?"

"Yes, aside from everything I've gotten out of life so far, what's the point if I can't do this one particular thing that, in all honesty, I had no reason to expect I'd be able to do, and still have no reason to expect I'll be able to do it again?"

I rolled my eyes, then reached over and patted Nicky on the shoulder.

"So..." Nicky began, slowly. "Does that mean... I should try to treat her as... a particularly familiar pen-pal?"

"It might work?" Nel said, shrugging helplessly. "I mean, I live in a different country from my sister; you live in the same city. The specifics are going to be pretty different from person to person, and... well, I'll certainly help, and even be there in person if you want a neutral-ish mediator to keep things on track, but it is, ultimately, going to have to be something you figure out for yourself."

"Not entirely by yourself," I corrected. "I mean, a relationship involves more than one person, and Vanessa's going to play a role in figuring out how the two of you interact with each other. It's something you're both going to have to figure out... but at least you can figure it out together, if you want."

"...If I want?" Nicky asked.

"Alright, cards on the table: when I went to talk to Vanessa about the plan with the crown, she first spilled her guts about her regrets to me, and I told her that she should be apologizing to you. So, yes, I do have an investment in her apologizing to you, and the two of you having an amicable enough relationship that puppeting her on the throne is going to be easier, but: I fucking live with you, and if it turns out that, even now, you hate talking to your sister, and it makes you unhappy? Then I will happily encourage you to cut the bitch out of your life. You don't fucking need her."

Nicky nodded, slowly.

"I might've presented you with the choice to reconcile with your sister," I continued, "but it's still a choice, and only you can make it."

"...Thank you, Roxy," Nicky said. "That means a lot to me."

"Of course, Nicky. Any time."

The next day, I had more Official Duke Business, meeting with an ambassador from... Amazon Isle...

"...Is your family name Tanelye, by any chance?" I asked.

"Ah, you're familiar with my sister Neloteth?" the ambassador- a busty elfish beta with long blonde hair and a three-piece suit, with the pants having been swapped out for a knee-length black pencil skirt- said. "Or, ahem, 'familiar?'" She added air quotes, grinning.

"As a matter of fact, I did see her boobs on the internet," I said, closing my eyes. "However, I also know her personally. I'm Roxanne Updyke."

"Ahhhh, I've heard about you," the ambassador said. "So you're the one who milked her like a dairy cow."

"What the fuck does she consider appropriate to share with her sister?" I wondered aloud.

"At any rate, my name is Indoleth Tanelye," she continued. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

"I... actually know another elf named Indoleth," I said, blinking. "Is that, by any chance, a common name for elves?"

"No, actually," Indoleth said, tilting her head. "Interesting. Well! At any rate, your grace, I'm Ambassador Tanelye, and I have been given the honor of representing the interests of Amazon Isle to your court, and maintaining good relations."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ambassador," I said, extending my hand to shake hers... and then being interrupted by my phone ringing, in the special ringtone I had set for people I knew personally and trusted to not call me frivolously. "Oh for the love of- one moment, if you'll excuse me?"

"By all means, take all the time you need," Indoleth said. "I don't have anything planned today besides talking to you."

I nodded, and cast a quick privacy spell before pulling out my phone and answering it.

"Roxy, help," Nicky wailed. "It's worse than I ever could've imagined!"

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's my sister!"

"What happened?"

"Nothing!"

"Nicky, I swear to-"

"Absolutely nothing of interest has ever happened to her, Roxy! She's so, so boring! She doesn't do anything! We don't have anything to talk about!"

"...For fuck's sake," I muttered. "Alright, fine, I'll... talk to her, and see about getting her a hobby or two."

"Thank you, Roxy, she's... god, it was terrible, Roxy..."

"You can tell me all about it when I get home, I'm in a meeting right noooooow aaaaand I've got another fucking call coming in. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and answered the next call.

"Roxy, help," Vanessa said. "It's worse than I ever could've imagined!"

"Your sister called and said those exact same words less than five minutes ago," I said dryly. "She thinks you are a boring person who needs to get a hobby."

"Can you help me find one?"

"I... later, Vanessa, I'm in the middle of- oh for fuck's sake, a third call?! I'll talk to you later, Vanessa. Bye."

I didn't wait for her to acknowledge my dismissal before hanging up and answering the next call.

"Whatcha doin'?" Nel asked in a singsong tone.

In a fit of pique, I dropped the privacy spell, and gestured for Indoleth to remain silent.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked.

"I said, whatcha doin'?" Nel said, her voice now plainly audible to Indoleth.

"Oh, right. Well, I just got off the phone with each of the fucking Vega sisters, but before then, I was alone behind closed doors with your eager-to-please twin sister."

"...Um."

"So, I was about to be 'doin' your sister, but then I kept getting interrupted," I continued.

"Darling, are you going to stick it in anytime soon?" Indoleth said loudly. "My legs are getting sore."

"I can't believe people keep having to tell you to not fuck their immediate family members."

"Hey, only Akane did that," I said. "Nicky just said I wouldn't want to fuck her family members, and you are apparently shameless enough about sex that you told your sister about me milking you, and have otherwise been silent on the subject of me fucking your sister."

"Sharing is caring, sister dearest," Indoleth crooned.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go walk into the sea and stay there until I drown. Have fun with your boring meeting you're lying about just to mess with me!"

Nel hung up, and I pocketed my phone, sighing.

"I swear, it's like herding cats with these people," I said, shaking my head. "Now I feel like I have to fuck her sister, just to get back at her for annoying me on purpose."

"I am all in on messing with Nel," Indoleth said firmly. "How're we going to do this?"

"...Can you swear to keep a secret?" I asked, casting a spell to receive and seal a verbal promise.

"I promise that whatever you share with me in confidence will stay between the two of us," Indoleth said.

"Great. So, I have a secret class called Incubus, that gives me weird sex powers, and is fueled and empowered by the energy I generate by doing sex stuff. It also means that, if I cum inside you, I can give you the Succubus class, tied to me, which also gives weird sex powers and generates an empowering energy from doing sex stuff, some of which I'll siphon off to empower my own class. Interested?"

Indoleth considered this carefully, steepling her fingers.

"I'll throw in a potion that grants you all four of the legendary monstergirl classes, rolled into a single class that only has to level once instead of four times."

And with that, Indoleth lept over the table to land in my lap, vigorously unbuttoning her shirt.

I pulled my dick out, and angled it up between her legs and the fabric of her skirt, letting it come to full hardness before grabbing Indoleth's hips and pulling her, pussy first, onto my dick. I kissed her hard and hungrily, and kept my hands planted on her hips; those beautiful, fat, bouncy tits of hers would have to go neglected right now, because we were solely focusing on the fucking.

I kept it brief and businesslike, out of a thoroughly misplaced sense of professionalism; if I was a real professional, I wouldn't be having sex with an agent of a technically-foreign government I was supposed to be negotiating treaties with, in the office I was meant to be negotiating in. Regardless, the both of us came in only three minutes, thanks to a touch of Incubus magic, and now, Nel's sister was Succubus #13.