Life as a Royal’s Breeding Partner

Chapter 469 – A Slow Dinner

Dinner is slow. Painfully slow. They brought the food out quickly. The appetizers were already set out on the table when we got here. Kou was standing right behind me, making sure I ate the food.

"I don't know how you can ignore food, My Empress," Kou says.

"Probably the ritual," I say.

"Well, it's starting to scare me, My Empress," Kou says. "Can you eat a bit of the cake? You're sitting with the kids, and you know they're all eating the cake right now. The temple of Love is reserved till tomorrow night. You'll have plenty of time to spend with the kids. Enjoy the dinner."

"Ok, ok," I say.

"She isn't wrong," Mommy says. "It is important for my baby to eat."

"I just want to play," I say.

The dinner is quiet. My wives talk, but the nobles seem too scared to speak. I got the kids talking so the room is silent between them and my wives. Elora is included in my wive's conversations this time around. Hearth can be happy about the family if she ignores Azula. I need to find a way to get Lensa to leave me alone. When Azula gives me a kid, I can think about removing the collar. She's such an odd one out with her wives.

Whatever. I'll figure it out later. Lensa is losing her power over me every day at this point. I just have to promise to get more of Kiyomi's people pregnant or plan a nice party where I get a little tipsy, and the kitsunes can play their luck, and I'm sure Kiyomi will ban Lensa from her realm if she isn't already. I should figure that out before I think of any plans.

Then I have to figure out the obvious purpose for Kiyomi being here. The group with her is pretty, and I promised. Pretty brown tails. One has green on the tips. Not sure if that's natural or some dye.

"Feeling some responsibility?" Nanoka asks. "You didn't promise them all, did you?"

"I just said one," I say. "I think."

"One will be fine," Nanoka says. "I know the old generation of that family. Met the kids when they were mostly a tail. Kiyomi picked a good family. They'll be a good introduction to how the realm husband works. You'll be different from the past ones. They'll have a good plan. I know you want to play with your kids, but you have other bodies for that. Fulfill your duties. It scared us all that you were in that pile while pregnant."

"I guess," I say.

"If you plan a night in the future with one of the women, they'll be happy," Mommy says. "They can't honestly expect you to do it tonight. Just give them a firm date that you'll come over, and they'll be relieved. They probably want a bit to prepare anyway."

"Kiyomi will be happy if you approach instead of them coming to us," Nanoka says. "That will help space out the requests. And I think they'll be the best people to talk to here besides your wives and kids."

"Alright, I'll go pick a woman," I say. On the other side of the brothel now. It is better knowing I will be getting them pregnant, and I'll get to see the kid plenty. Not knowing if I got the guest pregnant and if I would even get the chance to learn I was going to have another kid was hard. Some of the kids are nine years old. My first year, I got some women pregnant, and I didn't even know about it.

Everyone stands up with me. Except the kids, I've got them a little distracted, or they're babies that can't stand anyway. I freeze, forgetting that this would happen. I see why everyone was trying to slow me down. They all would have to stop while still hungry if I finished too quickly. What a silly thing.

"Thank you all for coming," I say. "I know I've been at the heart of the last two wars. With the power I control now, we should be good to rebuild for a while. To those who brought kids, thank you. I've missed them greatly, and it feels amazing to see their smiles and hear their laughter. It brings me a lot of joy. I hope to create a nation that lets all the kids laugh, and their parents get to enjoy every moment of it."

The women give me a bow and start to move away from the table into little groups. The Kitsunes all huddle up around Kiyomi. Kiyomi is staring right at me.

Must be mad that I haven't visited once despite saying I'll live in her realm. Well, she can be happy that I'm sacrificing a bit of time with my kids to talk to them.

"Hello, Empress Alzi," Kiyomi says. "Thank you for coming to us."

"Yes, Kiyomi," I say. "I've been rather busy handling things with the dragons, and then the Goddesses. Time sensitive, as you should know. Yzzorres doesn't like to wait for anybody or anything. Then, making sure the dragons weren't about to do something else stupid is important. Lots going on and little time to get it all done. My bodies aren't made for desk work, so they can only do so much to lighten my burden."

"Alzi, I mean nothing by it," Kiyomi says. "I'm happy the dragons have a muzzle on themselves now. Saves us all a massive headache, and I know Yzzorres didn't just want to throw a phoenix at you. I heard about the Goddesses, and I'm happy Yuki was able to make it. The world is better without those three. I am just happy to see that you walked over to us. The kids are practically calling your name. So we can move on from this silly game. I suppose I started it. I should've been more direct about what I meant." Kiyomi isn't staring at me, but right over my shoulder.

'Space, is Nanoka staring at her daughter?'

'Yes, dear.'

'Thanks. I love you!'

'You're a silly girl. See me soon. I miss you.'

I do wonder how Nanoka is able to get Kiyomi to be nice. Isn't Kiyomi stronger? Wait, can Nanoka and her mother beat Kiyomi if they work together? Is that it? "It would be nice over the next few days to start moving into the new home," I say. "Then I'm seeing four beautiful women. It would be nice to have someone to show me more of your realm and my new home. I saw a rather small portion the last time I went. Maybe see what the inside of a house looks like? I should be good to do it in three days. Have some more marriages and stuff to finish up here. Make sure Elora is set up and prepared."

"That would be wonderful," the Kitsune with the green tip on her tail says. "I'm Yurimi, and we would love to show you around our realm. It should be better filled now that we don't have so many fighting a war. And our house is always open to you. If you ever want to see any changes to the interior, we would love to have you over. The changes don't have to be with the house either. Dinner can show many things."

"That's quite bold," Esmeralda says. "I was worried about what to say, and then I walked in here to hear that. Makes things a lot easier. If you want some help with the move, I have some wives who would love to help as well. Hello Queen Kiyomi."

"Hello Countess," Kiyomi says.

"That all sounds lovely," I say. I'm never going to be able to be a hermit with my kids, probably for the best. My kids should have friends outside the family. So why not spread them through the realm as well? "I'm sure my house would appreciate the help."

"Good, I'll make sure Lorelei shows up for some morale support. Sorry for butting in. I do want to say I loved the ceremony this time. So often it drags on and on. The Queens are never as impressive when they first get the crown as they are a few years into their reign. You're a bit different. I hope, for the world's sake, that your feats during your reign are small compared to what you've done to earn the crown. Be a lot more peaceful for everyone, and you have kids to look after. Have a nice night, everyone. Thank you, Queen Kiyomi and others, for your help in the war."

"Happy to help," Kiyomi says. "Then she is right about kids. The manor is ready for you to move in, so I'll have a crew ready to help in three days. These four will be there ready to assist however they need. Have fun playing with them."

"We can't wait to help," Yurimi says.

"Thank you," I say. I hope Elora can handle the duties here. I'm sure I'm supposed to walk to each group and talk to them individually, but the kids are getting restless.

Totally just the kids getting restless. Not the grown pregnant Empress.

*** Yumanea ***

The nobles seem to be happy with the ceremony. Having Alzi in the crowd probably helped. A Queen willing to sit with their kids, acting like she's just a noble. I was worried they would take that as she's weak, but they must all know that she was part of the plan that killed three Goddesses. It would be stupid to fight someone who helped kill Goddesses.

Elora's doing well. Alzi is the one who'll have the power, but Elora will be wielding it. She seems a lot happier now. She'll have her work cut out for her to keep the nobles from wrapping up all the wealth after this war. They're best at taking wealth, not giving it away.

I do wonder if Alzi will put off the marriage part of this ceremony like she puts off Lensa. It would be easy to slip away after playing with the kids. I probably deserve that. I can just hide away as they do in the Kitsune realm. Maybe I can divorce and just have my wives marry Alzi. I'm sure Rosemary would like to join her, and then Lotus, of course. Nesh probably doesn't care about it. I don't know what I did to convince her to stick around outside of the sea at all. Maybe she and Fluvis would get along enough to marry as well?

What happens will happen at this point. I'm not the Queen anymore. I can relax and let it be, unless someone asks for my help.

*** Alzi ***

"Do the kids..."

"Yes, My Empress," Kou says. "The babies have been asleep, and the kids are getting cranky. They need sleep just as much as you do."

"Love's temple then?" I ask.

"If you want to do that now, My Empress," Kou says. "Or you can wait till morning. The temple is ready for you whenever, or we could try to sneak away. You are the Queen now."

"I can do it," I say. "Give Elora some help, and they have some of my kids. Make it official. I think Irlo is excited for the marriage."

"Then how about in the morning, my Empress?" Kou says.

"Sure."