Chapter 344 – Dealing With an Old Woman

It was nice, relaxing with my wife, feeling my little kid in her womb, and getting to enjoy a moment where I'm safe.

"One thing before we have to separate," Space says. "You have a strange man with you. Why keep him around?"

"Oh, I was wondering if you would have a use for him. He'll be in way too much pain to do anything of value, but maybe you can bleed him or something?"

"I'm sure my Priestesses can find something to do with him. Don't worry. You don't need to drag him around; just let me take care of him for a while. I wish you the best with the Duchess. I'm sure you'll find a way through that mess. Be strong, dear."

"Thanks," I say. "It was nice resting here."

"I'm glad I'm a source of comfort for you," Space says, giving me a send-off kiss, and then I'm back in the room.

"My Mistress. Are you back?" my Shadow asks.

"Yes, was I gone long?" I ask.

"No, you just moved, my Mistress," my Shadow says.

"Do you have the ability to talk with my maids?"

"No."

"I'll need to work on that. I'm not sure how much information they can communicate, but you should be part of that. Yuki may be able to help us improve that as well. Go peek your head out to see if a Priestess is around that can tell me if Shimmer and Geta have arrived yet."

"Yes, my Mistress."

I don't know how she slipped in without me noticing, but I did order her to stay close, so I shouldn't be too surprised that she ended up near me. But I do have to say, I may need to rethink her clothing. I think her top will be fine; it's revealing, but nothing terrible. Her bottoms though... They're great for the bedroom, yet not so much around my kids. Something to discuss with Shyla. For now, I can enjoy the noble beauty that I own.

"They have arrived, my Mistress."

"Then up we go. I have to talk to the Priestesses about the ant, then we can get going. If the ant does anything unbecoming of a slave, I expect you to strike him without me saying anything. I'm sure the ant will struggle to understand its place in the world after living in a delusion for so long. Beat it into him."

"As you wish, my Mistress," the Shadow says, bowing to hide her displeasure. Or maybe she hopes the sight of her doing so will make me merciful?

Out in the hallway, a Priestess is standing ready to take me back to my group. Geta is in her armor, and Shimmer is dressed up, with her belly on display. Shimmer looks like she may be trying to play the pregnant loving wife or something. Both are just playing pretend, one ready for a battle that won't happen, and the other playing the loving wife, even though I hardly care for her. The only thing I care about is the child, which is probably why she's drawing everyone's eyes to her belly.

"Ant, come here. I need to give you some temporary orders. I don't wish to drag you around much longer, so I'm giving you over to the Priestesses until I come back. Listen to them and do as they ask unless they ask to have sex with you. Then you are to deny them. Not that you'll be in a position to think, but just in case," I say.

"Mistress..."

"Shadow, shut up. Your opinions aren't wanted. I need the ant to respond, or you know what to do. Right, Shadow?"

"Yes, Mistress," my Shadow says. But the ant just doesn't respond. I don't think I told it to stay quiet.

The Shadow goes above and beyond for her first act, flicking the ant's stupid cage, and it falls to the ground, whimpering like a baby. What a sad and pathetic thing, falling after just one hit.

"Tell our Mistress you understand, you pathetic ant," Shadow says. Someone must think she can earn my mercy. She was so hesitant to cause harm to the little ant before. Has she finally seen what it truly is? Or has losing their value made my Shadow stop caring?

"Yes, Mistress," the ant squeaks out.

"Good, you can take him. Do as you need, and try to keep him alive. But I understand that mistakes can happen."

"We would never dare to destroy the property of our Goddess's wife," a Priestess says, dragging the ant away. "You'll come back to it still alive. But I can't promise it will be fully functioning."

"Good enough. Ready to leave?" I ask my group. This time, we won't have Nakuma making the decision randomly.

"Yes, we should all be ready," Shyla says. "Is there anything we need to do to make this work?"

"No," is all I get to say before the temple vanishes from our sight and we're facing a pair of doors. "Goddesses are great when they like you."

"It seems so," Shimmer says. "With just a thought, we're at the doorstep of the Duchess. Is she ready for us?"

"She said to drop by, so it should be fine. Worst case, we can help her get the rooms ready," I say. I should've had Space send a letter to Fluvis, asking if she would be ready for us this fast. This means of travel will take a bit of figuring out so that I don't cause extra problems for everyone.

But we're here. So, the only thing left to do is knock on the door and find out what we need to do.

However, I don't get to knock before the door opens, and Petunia is standing there with a strange smile.

"You're an odd woman, Alzi. Fluvis will be happy you're here. Please come in. Your wives will need to bunk together to make it work for the first night."

"That is fine. They should get to know each other anyway."

"Your maids can check the rooms, and I'll take you to the Duchess. She is talking with her Mother and Sister right now. I'm sure they would be happy for you all to join them."

"Lead the way."

My Shadow comes with us, but Sarania, Shyla, and my wife's maids peel off to check the rooms. I hope having a nearly naked slave following me around won't be a problem when meeting royalty. It'll be annoying to have to remember to order my Shadow to stay put when meeting them. But I still refuse to give her any actual clothing.

Petunia waddles along until we end up at the door of a drawing room. She lets us inside, and I now see why Shyla was so worried about the dress.

The woman who must be Fluvis's mother looks ready for a ball or something. A golden necklace with a giant sapphire hangs around her neck, fighting her massive breasts for attention, and I don't think she's shrunk them down a single size. Now I'll have to have Shyla tailor a few dresses for me that can accommodate my full bust. A deep blue dress keeps her modest, though. Long, flowing, and sparkling in the light. Her hair has been braided into what must be the closest thing she can get to a crown without losing her head. More sapphires are dangling off her ears, and she has too many rings to know which could be the one holding all her things.

Next to the doll of a lady is a shaking mess of a woman. Her eyes are focused on her lap, and a simple dress is draped over her flat front. Her hair is a frizzled mess around her, and only one of her arms is calm, the one Fluvis is holding. Fluvis is kneeling next to her, no longer pregnant, so I have four new kids to meet.

"Hello, Princess Alzi, Princess Shimmer, Princess Yuki, Geta, and Nakuma," Fluvis says. "I'm glad you were able to make it here so quickly after my letter. I would love to hear about how you did that, but we can discuss that later. I'm happy to introduce my Mother, Tsunis Nele, and my Sister, Salis."

"Hello, everyone," I say. "I'm happy to meet you both. We have some matters that are dear to me to discuss. I hope they can proceed smoothly."

"Of course, dear. Children are important," Tsunis says. "But this is quite the crowd. Three Princesses at once."

"Yes. We're sorry for bringing just three, but there are other important matters that the family has to deal with," I say. "You'll have to handle hosting a Valkyrie of Death instead." That should help me, right? Yuki and Fluvis are still smiling, so it should be fine.

"Please sit down, and we can begin the talks for a bit," Fluvis says. "These talks are important to us all, so we can start them, and then we can visit the children."

"That works," I say. I hope the seating arrangement doesn't matter when it isn't a long table, since Tsunis already has a very judgmental look on her face right now. But without knowing whether there is a 'right' chair to sit in, I just go for the closest. My Shadow is hovering behind my chair. Yuki and Shimmer sit on either side of me, while Nakuma jumps into Yuki's lap, and Geta stays by the door for some reason.

Fluvis gives her Sister a little hug, then finds her seat. She clears her throat to get our attention and says, "The issue we have is that I wish to join the house of Elora and Alzi, but we also need this Duchy to continue supporting their house. Mother, you have said you will not do that, and my Sister isn't in a position to lead the Duchy. What is needed to fix those issues?"

"Well, this is a start. Three Princesses and wearing actual clothing is a good first impression. But where is Elora? One of the other Princesses couldn't handle her work? You called this the house of Elora and Alzi, did you not?"

"It is my house. Elora is not in control anymore," I say. "The work she is doing needs to be done by her. If three Princesses coming to you using the teleportation runes isn't enough, you may want to rethink your worth. The Queen gave a lot to make me her daughter-in-law. Yet you aren't certain that this is being taken seriously because of one missing woman, who isn't important to this decision?"

"Having you in the Queendom is the best for the Queendom. That is the goal of the Queen. My goal with who I support is to help the best Princess be crowned Queen. Is that you? Is that Elora? I'm not so sure. You should've brought out everything here to prove why I should support you."

I take a look at all the tattoos covering my body, and even the embarrassing womb tattoo is showing! Does she really not care for the Goddesses? Should I have turned around and fluttered my wings so she could see those as well? Surely, that's the problem. I'm two Goddesses short of having real value in her eyes. Fucking bitch.

"Most of the reasons to support our house are here," Shimmer says. "Two different Queendoms, of the higher realms, are putting their support behind her. You can see the Goddesses that support Alzi, and you know firsthand about her abilities as a Champion. Your daughter has sixteen kids in the house now, with two more on the way. I'm pregnant, and Alzi is pregnant. Your daughter is a Champion due to Alzi. Do you need another pregnant Princess to be here, or a pregnant death elemental, or one of the Goddesses our wife has given birth to? The stories and having this many wives come here is more than enough for an old Duchess to know who they should support. Part of Elora's work right now is to make the final push for securing the support of some of the other Duchesses, and they can see it, even with the evidence just being on paper. You have much of that evidence staring you in the face."

"I wish to see a leader. Is that here?"