Dinner calmed down after that. I don't know if I can really call it progress. It's just another promise that cks a date, and even Shimmer refuses to give me a date for these things. But with the ck of commands, I can say for certain that if I don't have my Mother by the time this colr falls off, I'll find a way to sink this house's chance at the throne.

  But that's then, and right now, I get to py with my kids again. Done with their little nap and feeding, they are awake and ready to ugh with their Mother—or at their Mother. They seem to love it when I make silly faces, and I know Aurora has been messing with me behind my back, their little voices screeching out while I did nothing.

  "Alzi, may I join you?" Shimmer asks.

  "Sure."

  "Thank you. I am happy Elora woke up and removed most of your commands," Shimmer says, picking up a daughter. "Your kids are just a few months away from the ceremony. They'll get their names after that."

  "Why wait?"

  "It's a relic of the past when kids would often die shortly after their birth. I know they are thinking of some names for the kids already. Lottie even grabbed the lightning elemental immediately as her precious baby. And then you went and gave her another one," Shimmer says, my child squishing into her stomach and ughing.

  "The kids seem to like you a lot," I say, picking up a kid as well. Will they do that with me?

  The kid does push into my stomach when I hold her near my womb. Can she feel her youngest sibling?

  "Oh, yes, it seems they do," Shimmer says, shifting the kid up against her giant breasts instead. I catch Aurora matching us and discovering the same thing. The baby loves the little kids in her womb.

  "Are you pregnant?" I ask. "Is that why you liked the baths?"

  "I liked the baths because I like the heat, and I liked helping my wife rex. It has nothing to do with kids or being pregnant," Shimmer says. "You should have a skill to tell if I'm pregnant, right?"

  I march over to the annoying woman and give her a kiss on the cheek. The only thing that shows up is a bit of pain in her back. I thought mana helped with rge breasts?

  "Just pain in your back," I say.

  "Yes, I got a little banged up on my mission. I'll be better in a few days," Shimmer says. "All of us trying not to burden you, and then we just pile on an emotional burden with our secrets. Sorry. But there is no need to help me. The pain is a good reminder that I can be beaten."

  "Whatever you want," I say. Is Shimmer hiding things or not? The Princess had commanded me not to get them pregnant, so if she had tried, the colr would've done something about it. But she is almost as strong as the Princess, so maybe she has a way around that? She was able to issue commands to me.

  The little ones in our arms don't care much about our conversation. And they aren't wrong; I'm here to py with my kids, not wonder if I have more on the way.

  If Shimmer is pregnant, then so what? She told me that in nine months, she would be in my bed, letting me fill her up. If she wants kids so bad that she'll do it behind my back, I can make sure to fill her up with plenty then.

  If she does a good job begging for forgiveness.

  "Will we have to wait on names as well?" I ask.

  "Yes, dear. We will have to wait as well," Shimmer answers. It's stupid. I'll just name the kid anyway, and they can try to change it.

  "Yes, Mommy will win out, won't she, cutie?" I say in my best baby voice, getting a little squeak out of the kid. "My kids are so smart."

  ...

  It still doesn't take long for the babies to fall asleep again. Even out of the womb, they have so much growing to do. We didn't get to use the letter as a bedtime story, which is probably for the best. Aurora forgot how quickly the babies fall asleep when they are just a few weeks old.

  Then I finally got a bath. Shimmer went running off, so I didn't get to ask for a hot bath, though Fluvis only has a single bath, and it likely can't stand that level of heat anyway. But it was nice just having Aurora pampering me. Shy has a lot of work to do to fix my clothing and come up with new outfits that consider my new need to have less clothing on.

  I guess I can stop calling her zy.

  "Can you read the letter?" I ask, curled up in my bed, using a pillow as a teddy bear.

  "Yes, my Lady," Aurora says.

  Dear Alzi,

  I am happy to hear from your new family. I am living with your Mother, her wives, Mai, Yuki, and Nakuma. Yuki and Nakuma often try to complete missions. I was warned a maid would have to read this out, so I will leave it at that.

  First, proof that I am who you are thinking of, and then I will get to your Mother.

  I joined the brothel shortly after you were bought. My main job was to help you deliver kids, help tell when you would be ready for the next breeding, and keep you alive after some of the more disgusting parties.

  The shortest way to prove it is that Mai was with you for the st birth. She fought with me to let you breastfeed some of the newborns while you were giving birth. Eventually, I gave in, and she helped you feed some of your kids.

  Another proof would be that I helped you when Yuki came back nearly dead from some mission she messed up on.

  I hope that is enough. I do not know what other memories you have that only I would know. Many of those would be events that terrible colr would hide from your mind, and I do not wish to be the reason you remember them now.

  Your Mother misses you a lot. We all do. She is healthy and growing big. Mai is looking big as well. She is short, and the baby only has one way to grow. We are doing well and trying to find a way to get to you.

  Do not worry. Yuki has a silly pn and should have told you that. I do not know if it will work, but we are trying.

  I was told I may be invited to teach you about being a midwife. I would love to do that and could bring you some things from your Mother or even try to bring her along for me to use as an example. She is a high-risk pregnancy with her age and twins.

  Love you,Kelly

  "That is what it says, my Lady. I did add some words to help it flow better and fix some spelling errors, but that should be the meaning of the letter," Aurora says. "Are those facts true?"

  "Yes," I say. "All of them."

  "Very well. I will see what I can do to have her teach you," Aurora says, putting the letter back in her ring.

  I need somewhere to store things. I can't let them have all my things, or how could I ever leave them?

  A knock comes on the door. Just as I was hoping to get some sleep.

  "Lady Alzi, Princess Elora has invited you to her bed," a maid calls in.

  Do I give her another chance? She has been nice for the st little bit.

  "Is she near some of my kids?" I ask. I will not miss out on time with my kids, even if it tires me out.

  "Yes, she would help you feed them tonight if you wish her to," the maid says.

  "Fine," I say. I can give that stupid Princess a chance to remove the remaining commands—it's more than she deserves, but fine. I have some evidence they are keeping their word about things.

  "Remember, my Lady. If you need anything, a maid will be outside. You can leave if you wish," Aurora says. "I hope this night is better than the st one."

  I just move down another door. Our rooms share a wall, apparently. How good are they at keeping any sound inside them?

  Inside, the Princess is in a robe, her eyes bloodshot, and her hair frizzled again.

  "Thank you, Alzi, for coming," the Princess says, shuffling off the bed and falling at my feet. Her body is in some kind of bow. "I've made many mistakes with you. From the moment I took you until this very second. I've been an idiot, an asshole, and I'm sorry. I wish I could give you a date when everything turns out fine for you. That I can take the colr off and marry your Mother. But I can not. I still owe it to my people to ascend to the throne, and I owe it to you to marry your Mother. I can't promise when either will happen or the order. I can promise that the family will take steps to make it happen. On the groom's wedding night, normally, a man gets to pick a wife or two to take to bed and have fun as they wish. Instead, I will have that be every wedding night this family is a part of to make up for my failure before. Tonight, I am yours. If you wish to have sex, we may. If you wish to have me sleep on the floor, I will. You will be my Lord tonight."

  "Pregnancy?" I ask. Maybe I can see if I can get someone with a lot of mana more pregnant while already pregnant.

  "If you wish, my Lord."

  "If I do to you what I did to the ice bitch?"

  "I am sorry to threaten you, my Lord, but my Mother will not let you go unpunished for that. You will have to help me live through it, or you will be made a true sve. That is just the facts," Elora says, her body trembling at my feet.

  "Well, lucky for you, I'm tired," I say. "I would love to hold you to sleep. I think that will help you rex unless it would be better for you to hold me."

  "I would love that, my Lord," Elora says, getting to her feet. "Thank you for giving me another chance."

  "I'm just tired and wouldn't mind a teddy bear. People work a lot better than pillows for that," I say. Can't have her thinking I like her.

  "No need to wait, then," Elora says, moving into the bed. I scoot in behind her and close my eyes.

  Am I actually going to not have sex with a woman while in her bed?

  ...

  I actually made it to the middle of the night without fucking the Princess. All the way until my little ones cried out for food.

  The Princess even fed one of them, and we took that walk again to settle them down. A maid showed me how to change a diaper, which is mildly better than having a monster spill its guts out next to you.

  Then the Princess just asked for us to switch pces, letting me make it to the morning without sex. It does help that Elora really wasn't in the mood, working through her torment instead.