Mercy says “Well, that will depend on how things go. If I get my way, then it will become your kingdom anyway.”

  “You are really ready to give up your kingdom and put it under my control?!”

  Mercy says “Absolutely! I trust you completely! I know that you will rule well and take care of my people. I also would rather join you willingly now than be conquered later.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  Mercy says “You may not be thinking about it yet, but once you unify the beastmen you will have the most powerful force on the peninsula. At that point it is almost inevitable that you would move to conquer the rest of the peninsula.”

  “Why do you say that? Do you think that I hunger for power?”

  Mercy says “No, not at all. If anything, the opposite is true. I think you would first try to unify everyone against the demons, but you would fail due to politics. Once you got sick of it, you would simply switch to using force.”

  “As much as I would like to deny it, you are probably right. I don’t have much patience when it comes to dealing with idiots. I would probably kill the representatives out of frustration and start a war.”

  Mercy says “I can’t really blame you, I hate dealing with idiots too!”

  “You should know that I am going to treat everyone the same, it won’t matter if they submit willingly or are forced to. You also don’t need to marry me, you can simply submit.”

  Mercy says “That may be true, but I don’t want to marry you for the sake of my kingdom. I want to marry you simply because I want to marry you. I love you! If you want, I will pass the throne to Mericel and let her submit to you. I just want to be your wife.”

  “No need for that. Lin has already convinced me to give you a fair shot. By the way, how is Mericel? Has she recovered from being stuck in my head?”

  Mercy says “She has and she is doing well. Her personality has changed from when she was a kid, but that is to be expected. She went through a lot. It took some effort, but I convinced her to tell me everything she learned about you.”

  “So you know quite a bit about me then?”

  Mercy says “At least about your past and how you think. As for what has happened since we last met, all I have to go on is rumors. So, you said you are going to give me a shot, what do I need to do?”

  “For now, you just need to spend time with me. I need to get to know you better and see what happens. How about we start with a tour of the city and I will tell you what I have been up to lately?”

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Mercy says “Sure! I would like that!”

  So, the two of us leave the palace together and I show Mercy around the trade city. As we walk, I tell her about everything that has happened since I last saw her. I also occasionally ask her what she would have done if she was in the same situation.

  This is mainly so that I can see how her mind works and try to understand her better. It is also a good way to keep the conversation going and prevent awkward silences. When we have walked all around the city, I lead Mercy into the castle and show her around.

  Mulan and Asuna are still gone with Lin and Bella, but I introduce Mercy to the rest of the kids. The others are in the tattoo room, but I don’t want to just walk in and disturb them. Instead, I have Jarvis inform them that they should take a break when they are done with whatever they are doing.

  Jarvis can see into the room without disturbing them and inform them at an opportune time. When they join us, I introduce the four of them to Mercy and then we all sit down to have dinner. As usual there is a lot of conversation as we eat and Mercy manages to join in without any issues.

  After dinner, Lin and Mercy leave to have a private chat, which does worry me just a little. It would worry me more if I didn’t know that they have already been plotting in the soulscape. Once they are done eating, the kids head off to do some training, leaving just me and Bella at the table.

  “What do you think of all this, Bella?”

  Bella says “I think Mercy is nice and also very sexy. I think that you are a very lucky man who is going to have three very beautiful wives!”

  “But what if I don’t come to love Mercy?!”

  Bella says “Unless you come to hate her, you should still marry her!”

  “What?! Why?!”

  Bella says “Because it would be better to have one wife you don’t love than two wives who are mad at you!”

  “Ah! Okay, I see your point! Well, I don’t see myself coming to hate Mercy. In fact, I like her already. I just don’t know if I can love her.”

  Bella says “Don’t focus so much on love. You already said you like her. Do you find her attractive? Does she do it for you?”

  “Yes, she does. As you said, she is very sexy.”

  Bella says “Then for now that is enough. Marry her to make Lin and Myria happy and just enjoy it. From what Lin has told me you are working on limited time so why are you worrying about the long term?”

  “I guess that is true, but I don’t want to lie to her.”

  Bella says “Then don’t. Tell her you like her and find her attractive but don’t know if you love her yet. Then let her decide if she wants to marry you knowing that. I guarantee that she will still want to marry you.”

  “How could you possibly be that confident?”

  Bella says “Because I saw the way she looks at you. She loves you and will take you any way that she can get you.”

  “You don’t think that she would come to resent me for not loving her?”

  Bella says “She might, in ten or fifteen years, but do you need to worry about that? Besides, you might just end up falling in love with her.”

  “No, I guess I don’t. I didn’t think about it that way. You make a lot of sense.”

  Bella says “You’re welcome, but don’t sound so surprised when saying I am making sense!”

  “Oh, no! That is not why I was surprised!”

  Bella laughs and says “Lin was right! You are fun to tease!”

  “Not you too!”

  Bella says “Sorry, I just wanted to try it! Besides, you are going to have three wives, you need to get used to it!”

  “That’s true. By the way, have you thought about what you are going to do?”

  Bella says “What do you mean? If you are talking about what Lin suggested, no I haven’t decided yet. I still can’t decide if being shapeshifted into a woman is good enough.”

  “No! I was not talking about that!”