Chapter 117 – Lunch With a Few Wives

The two women didn't seem to notice my lapse or just didn't feel the need to comment. Instead, they waited patiently for the maids to fill the table with food. Two glasses of what must be wine were placed, followed by a glass of water to confirm my suspension.

"Wine with lunch?" I ask. Are nobles really this lazy that they can get drunk at noon?

"Yes, a low alcohol percentage, so a few glasses won't get you drunk," Shimmer says, placing a napkin in her lap. Why her lap, I don't know. Her tits push out so far they'll catch whatever spills. And honestly, so do mine. Isda has the smallest bust of the three at the table. Her belly would be what catches any spills yet even she puts it in her lap.

While I'm staring at tits, Aurora puts a napkin in my lap. She then pulls my shoulders back.

"My Lady, you need to sit up straight. Uncross your legs, feet flat on the ground. And try to keep your eyes from wandering too far down. It is fine to do to your wives, but looking that way at other's wives will cause some issues," Aurora scolds out.

Shimmer gives a soft chuckle at the long list. Jiggling her nice mounds. She notices my continued stares and actually presses them together to keep my attention.

"Alzi, what did I say about your eyes? Please, I know your wives are fine with your stares, but you need to practice for your outings," Aurora says, her hand tilting my head up. "Your first party is already scheduled, and we only have a week to teach you everything and have it stick. Lady Shimmer, could you please not entice her to misbehave for a while? She is not allowed to take you to bed yet anyway."

"Oh, I don't think there will be a single woman there mad about getting this famous girl's attention, and if I wish to join her in bed, I will. Part of marriage with a man or herm is kids. No matter how much the Princess wishes to push them back, they will come," Shimmer says, giving her tits another shake. "But I will behave maid."

"Thank you. I am sorry to ask things of you, but I want my Lady to be successful at the party," Aurora says.

"Don't worry. Alzi will do just fine at those snobby things," Shimmer says, returning her arms to normal and giving me one last view of them shaking.

Not willing to have the maid scold me I move my focus to the mountain of food they put on the table. I don't think even the grandest celebrations in my village ever had as much food per person as was currently set before us.

Neatly cut sandwiches, a small soup, salad, and some pastries I've never seen before. The smell finally reaches my brain, making the tits a lot less important. My mouth watering, remembering all the meals Mommy would make for me. While never this big, it looked and smelled just as good. All that is missing is someone I love to share the meal with.

After taking inventory of my food, I reach for my sandwich, ready for my first real meal in a decade.

"Stop," Aurora calls out. "Do you have utensils?"

"I don't need utensils to eat any of this," I say back. My hands were frozen by the command. It would be a bit weird to eat the salad without a fork, but I could do it. Everything else my hands can handle just fine.

"You do, my Lady. And you were about to put your elbows on the table. The table is for the food, drinks, and utensils. Your arms stay off," she informs me. The other two just wait hands in their laps.

A maid finally comes by with some forks and a spoon for each of us. Without a knife, I don't see how any of this will help me eat a sandwich. I should start with the salad, then, so I don't run into any more stupid rules.

"Wait, my Lady. We are in Isda's room. She will take the first bite, and then you can start on the salad. Use the smallest fork for that. After that, the soup with the spoon. Try to remember your elbows so I can stay out of the way of your conversation," she instructs.

Isda gives me a small smile before taking a bite to let me eat.

The second the food passes her mouth, my hands move for the fork. Careful to grab the small one to keep Aurora quiet, I start to eat the grand lunch.

"Try to not stab so hard; use just enough to get the food," she says.

"Aurora, I understand Alzi needs to learn quickly. But I think you've given her enough rules for this lunch," Shimmer says. "Sorry about this, Alzi. If you were in a noble house instead of a royal house, you wouldn't need to learn all this. Well, as long as you always went around in pants. Noble men do learn all of it; people would just forgive your ignorance more. Princesses need to be perfect, and that includes their houses."

I just give her a small smile before I carefully stab the damn salad and finally get to taste my first meal in my new prison.

A lot better than the brothel. Not like Mommy, but a step up with some actual flavor.

I keep poking away at the salad, careful with how I stab the stupid leaves. Three maids sit over in the corner with their own meals.

Thirsty, I reach for the glass of wine. I've never had a drink before. Ever since I turned eighteen, I've been pregnant and in the brothel. The village, or maybe just my mom, was very strict about drinking before eighteen.

Even the little feast they threw for the few with an affinity didn't have any wine. I think. Some of the girls got a little rowdy so maybe Mommy just made sure I never saw it?

Was she worried we would have sex if I got drunk? We probably would've. She always caves to what I ask for and I've always loved her.

I taste the drink, and I find it a bit bitter. It goes down with a slight sting that water doesn't have.

"First drink?" Shimmer asks. She's already finished her salad and is working on the soup with her spoon.

How do they eat that fast?

"Yes," I say, returning to my salad.

"You've been pregnant for a long time, haven't you?" Isda asks, more like states, but I have to answer.

"Yes. Basically a decade," I let out. Wishing to forget about all the kids I've lost over the years.

"Well, we are more than willing to carry the kids for a while. I'm sure you'll want to carry some of your own eventually, but you do that when you're ready," Isda comforts. "The Princess does want most of the wives to wait on kids as well. But I can keep carrying for you. I'm not much of a fighter."

"Ok."

"Alzi, dear. We have a simple goal for you. To make you happy here. Several of us aren't happy about your collar and we are working to get it removed. I just hope when we get it off, you'll still give this family a chance. I think you'll find a lot of happiness here," Shimmer says. "We like you. I know that may sound empty coming from strangers. But we have all heard the stories about you and not just the pregnancy stories. But how you helped the other woman at the brothel. That is a person I want to marry and have kids with. Give us a chance to get the throne and I think you'll find you can get those girls you love. They'll be concubines, but in some ways, that's better. They'll be all yours to do with as you please."

"I've promised to give this family a chance," I say plainly. I guess concubines would be ok, but I've always wanted to be married to Mommy, then Yuki and Mai.

Plus, how long till this Princess gets the throne? I have kids to raise and give out.

"Now, I know you haven't had much of a chance to explore the grounds. You only just got here. So, let me give you an overview of what is here. All of it is open to you; just ask Aurora to take you there, and she will. Almost all of them can be a classroom, but I would advise you to pick a place or two that won't have any lessons so you can truly relax in them. The west garden is a favorite of mine," Shimmer continues, at least moving the conversation away from what they took from me.

She rambled along for a while, going over the various places both inside and outside the building. I don't know why a single family needs all these things—a full room just for fixing clothing. I get that there are a lot more people here than a normal family, but a full room just for that work.

Drawing room after drawing room. I have no idea why they need so many of those. Do these girls only ever draw? Shimmer talks about fighting and adventuring out, so they have to do things other than drawing. Maybe I should ask Aurora about that; I've never had much of an interest in art. Yuki was so much better than I could ever be.

But there did seem like some nice spots. The different gardens should be interesting to walk around. They have a giant field I can use to relearn how to fly, a small library full of books I can't read, and a different field to practice sword fighting, which I'll never use. Shimmer seemed to understand that, as those were mentioned and forgotten about quite quickly.

I did take a peek at Aurora when I started on the soup, and it seems I did something wrong yet again. Her face clearly shows her wish to instruct me about something. What could I possibly do wrong about using a spoon to eat soup? I'll probably find out tomorrow or at dinner if that also has soup.

The soup was nice, once again having a lot of flavor compared to the brothel's meals. But I still miss the meals back home. The amount of meat in the sandwich was also a pleasant surprise. Mommy did have trouble getting meat back home since we didn't have a fighter in the house. Having Ilka around should help her get more meat now.

I hope everything is alright with her. Could I get Aurora to send her a letter? Or send it to Yuki to give to Mommy may be better. I doubt Aurora can make a letter that can read itself.

Shimmer and I were pushed out of Isda's room once lunch was finished, her maid wishing for her Lady to rest some more. Then Shimmer had to train, so she gave me a warm hug and left me alone with Aurora to walk up to the fourth floor.

I did find out that there is a fifth floor from Shimmer, so it could be worse—not much worse, but worse.

"My Lady, we should continue working on your letters. Tomorrow, we can continue the etiquette training and mana work. I want you to be able to use the library soon. I think you will find a lot of stories there you would enjoy and others that will help teach you more about being a noble," the maid says, continuing the torture.