Chapter 137 – Family Dinner

"I know nobles are a bunch of sick perverts. But shouldn't I at least pretend to be refined? I think I could still work the floor in this dress," I say, giving a small twirl to raise the dress and flash the three maids.

"That was my goal, my Lady," Aurora says. "I think it is a disgrace that they claim you as the seed of the family and then refuse to let you fill that role. So, I want you to be as sexy as possible to make them let you fill in your role correctly. You deserve all the privileges for the position they forced you to take. We have another dress if you would prefer something more conservative."

"I've been forced to walk around naked for the nobles," I say. "This is a step up for me."

"My Lady, we should head down if there is nothing you would like to change," Aurora says. "Annoris and Shyla, could you two check that dinner is ready for our lady to come down?"

"Both of us?" Shyla asks.

"Yes."

Shyla gives both of us a strange look, hoping her Mother shares more before giving up and heading out with Annoris.

"Alzi, please play nice with your wives for me. I know you do not like them, and I understand that," Aurora says, staring into the depths of my eyes. "Show them you know the rules. I promise that showing them you do not understand or do not care about the etiquette will end up worse for you. Princess Elora needs you to be good in public. If you can not do it in private, she will start commanding you to learn and follow them. Please, do not give her a reason to manage every part of your life."

"Ok," I say.

Aurora leads me back down the stairs as I think it over.

The heels are bigger than any I've used before, but my skills and practice don't really care. Each step was just as confident as when I had the flats on. My hips sway as I glide down the stairs to the first floor. The maids of the house watch every step carefully, pausing in their duty until I was out of sight.

I make it to the entrance and follow Aurora to the dining room. I managed to avoid having to go there until now, so I need a guide. Honestly, I don't know where anything but my room and the baths are in this stupid house. Aurora is trapping me with the lessons, and my little free time is in bed or out in the field.

Aurora opens a door for me, and I stride in. A long table comes into view. Chair after chair sits around it. Most are empty, just the ones close the .... Princess are taken. Well, the one to her right is free as well. The women who say they are my wives fill the chairs near her.

"Welcome, Alzi," the Princess calls out. "I'm happy for you to join us tonight. We've missed you at the table these past few days."

"There's a reason for that," I mumble. The Princess just smiles through it.

"Now, come sit down here," the Princess instructs. "You need to meet all your wives. I know you've met with Isda, Shimmer, and Geta. You also had a short meeting today with Syro, but the rest have only seen you when you first moved here."

"I didn't move here. You brought me here," I say.

Aurora pulls out the chair and helps me get seated.

"Now, to my left is Elyne, a wind mage and my old adventuring buddy," the Princess continues, ignoring my comment. "I think you'll find her to be a great friend."

"Hello, Alzi. I'm happy to finally meet you," Elyne says to me. The only girl at the table to not be in a chair. I wonder what a chair for a centaur would even look like. It would look funny, I imagine. Or really complicated. Maybe both?

"My Lady," Aurora whispers into my ear. "Please greet your wife."

"Hmm?" I say, getting pulled from my strange visions that totally didn't divulge how I would fuck the centaur in a chair. "Why? I don't care to know who she is."

"My lady," Aurora says in a sharp tone.

"She knows who I am," I say. "What more do I need to do? Does everyone really expect me to say the same damn thing all the way down the table?"

"Yes, My Lady," Aurora says between her teeth. "Rules. I taught you them, and I know you know them."

"Stupid. If they cared to know me, the least they could've done was be at the wedding," I huff out. "How am I even married to them when they didn't show up? But fine. I am your slave Alzi."

To say the table was silent would technically be accurate, but it would miss a lot. Even Shimmer seemed to be lost for what to say next. The Princess was fuming. I think she even had some smoke coming out of her ears. Shimmer did say she had a bit of a fire affinity.

Aurora makes me break the silence with a sharp pinch on my side. I yelp in surprise and turn to see her raging face.

"Nothing I said was a lie. I'm their slave. I can't lie," I say. "Wives should love each other. They don't even know me. If they want me to refer to them as wife then they need to remove my collar and make me fall in love with them. Until then, I'm their slave."

"My Lady," Aurora says again, her body tensing, fighting to hold back her hand from striking me.

My damn collar isn't doing anything, so clearly I'm giving them a chance. Shimmer and Geta aren't too bad. I would jump in my Mother's arms in a second if given the opportunity. But I wouldn't hate to have Shimmer or Geta join us.

"Is there something more you wish to say, Aurora?" the Princess asks.

"I am here. I will participate. But as I said, you took my choice away from me, forcing me to say yes to this marriage," I say quickly. "Want me to call you my wives, then give me a good reason to do so. Until then, I'm your slave, as this collar shows. So far, I would say that is all I ever will be here. You could always force me to play nice if you want, Princess."

I would say I need to thank the collar for being lenient on this 'giving the family a chance' thing, but it wouldn't be a problem if the collar didn't exist in the first place.

"Is this how you will behave tomorrow?" the Princess asked, her eyes shifting from me and the angry maid.

"No," I say. "I know how to make nobles like me."

"You don't care to make your wives like you?"

"I don't care if my owners like me," I say. "I think it's best to make sure we all know how we stand. I hate you all. The vow that was said where not my words. It's not my vow. Not that any of you even know what the vows were."

Aurora gives up on me, walking away to join the rest of the maids near the wall.

"I got you out of the brothel," the Princess says, pulling her napkin to her lap. "I am giving you a loving home. Teaching you how to use mana, read, write, history, and if there is anything else you wish to learn. I am giving you a noble's life."

"I am still a slave. Yuki was about to give me all of that and more, Princess."

"How do you know that? Why would the kitsune princess give you a damn thing!" Princess burst out. "She is a rich fuck just like me. Watching you get bred just a floor below her. She could've freed you whenever she pleased. Yet there you were, getting raped and bred with that collar around your neck. I would take it off you, but you would go running into the arms of the girl who watched you get abused."

"She cared about me. I made a deal with Mistress to not be sold. She must have just been keeping it with Yuki, and you threatened her to force the sale!"

"I did no such thing!"

"Quiet!" Isda shouts over us. "Dinner is to be civil. Alzi, we do not know why Yuki did not set you free. We do know the Princess did not threaten the Mistress into selling you. Now, this is your first dinner with us. You have made it clear you don't like us. It hurts to hear, but it is expected. I made a deal with you, and the deal will stand, but I would like for you to try and come done for lunch sometimes to eat with us. This will likely be the last dinner with all of us together for a while. We all have a lot to do in the territories. Can we have it finish like we wish to learn a bit about each other and are trying to grow closer?"

"Yes, dear," the Princess says.

I feel the collar ready to shock me if I don't agree.

"Fine," I let out to appease the collar.

I may have calmed the collar down, but Isda still looked ready to attack. Her eyes darted between me and the Princess. The rest of my owners just sit there waiting for someone to move the evening along.

Only Shimmer had a smile on. Her eyes focused on me with their warm glow. She gives me a small nod when I look at her. Geta relaxes a bit next to her, easing back into her chair.

"Alzi," the Princess says. "I am sorry about the way this transfer happened. But I want what is best for you. A lot will change once I get the throne, but until then, work with me." Just as Isda opens her mouth, the Princess corrects her command. "Please work with us. I hope you are willing to help this family."

"I am giving you all a chance to prove that I should stay. Want my help? Give me a reason, or give me a command," I say. "All I have right now are a bunch of rules I have to follow. I just fell out of the damn sky because of you. I'm a slave. Remove all my commands. Say I can do anything I want. Find a way to remove accidental commands. Remove the collar. Otherwise, I am a slave."

"Alzi, what did I just ask for?" Isda says.

"I don't care. Command me to shut up, and I will."

"My Lady, please show the etiquette we worked on," Aurora begs from the wall.

"That is for nobles. I'm a slave."

"You are a noble," the Princess says.

"I'm a slave. A breeding whore. Sex slave, prostitute, high breeder. Not a noble. You bought a whore. I had everything I ever wanted hanging in front of me, and you stole it! Let me go home," I cry out.

"I think Isda and Aurora may have been too nice to you," the Princess says, not caring for a thing I said.

"Elora, don't you dare," Isda says.

"You want to be a slave so bad?" the Princess says. "Then fine. Rules. You can't get any of the wives pregnant without my permission. No more than two kids in a pregnancy unless I say so. You can only get your maids pregnant without my permission. Once a week, I will have the nobles in the area over, and I will tell you who to pick. You will get them pregnant with a single child. You..."

"Elora, stop this instant!" Shimmer says, the room warming up as she rises out of her chair. "What do you think you are doing? Are you telling me that I will have a slave as my wife forever? What are these rules? They break every rule for the man of the house. I will not be begging you for a child. I accept that we need to work for the throne, but I will not be begging for the rest of my life. I will do what every good wife does and seduce the man to get a child. Begging is for women who aren't fortunate enough to have a man in the house. You can ask the man to pick a woman, but that is it. We promised Alzi that she would be able to choose the women at the tea parties. If you are making me break that promise, then I think we have a Goddess to meet."

"These rules are just till we get the throne."

"They go too far. Remove them now."

"You may pick the women at the parties, but they walk away with a single child," the Princess says. "But the rest stand. And I expect you to be down here for dinner every night you are in this house."

"Princess, I think you are letting your anger do too much of the talking here," Isda says. Shimmer sits down, but the heat remains. "You are going back on promises I made with Alzi there as well. As Shimmer said, are we going to have a wife or a slave?"

"Any other promises we made?" the Princess spits out.

"Are you planning on making more rules?" Geta asks.

"No. The only place people should be flying is in the field. Alzi shouldn't leave the grounds unless I am with her," the Princess says. "And I will honor the deal you made with Isda for dinner for now. But if this is how you are going to act, I will teach you manners."

"Please, rape your lessons into me, Mistress. You wouldn't be the first girl to do it," I say, pulling my napkin into my lap. "Now, this was meant to be dinner. Where is the food?"