Chapter 309: A Surprising Little Ninja

While Sundenelle, Daniel, and the others busy themselves with a mine rescue in Ahmpur, Rikuto is gathering evidence and planning on how to deal with trade scalping. He made quiet requests to Mattarglos and the Fievegal in order to hopefully get around the inflated prices due to partially-artificial shortages. But, something is fishy about the two threads that he found.

Rikuto can’t quite connect one thread to King Father Greydald, but he knows his predecessor is involved in stockpiling.

That said, the former King is primarily focused on luxury goods, like sugar, tea, fabrics, and scented oils. They are things that won’t be missed if no one can afford to buy them, but will hold their value even when prices stabilize. From the evidence Rikuto was able to trace, Greydald is already past the range of profit, so he won’t take a loss overall if prices do return to normal.

Rikuto can’t definitively point directly to the King Father, because his middleman has evaded detection.

While it’s all ‘dirty’, it’s not technically illegal.

The problem is the intentional scalping of necessities, which Rikuto can use certain laws to regulate.

And it seems to tie back to Yaulander… Or, at least, through the connections he has via Contarro and Baumalde families. But why would they be operating on this side of Urflasdat? Baumalde alone can be tried for treason. The worsening scarcity of wheat, salt, iron, and flax can only compound that…

Rikuto flinches as he thinks these things over.

What if it’s not about profits, but about tying our hands. Yaulander went out of his way to steal the void artillery, as well as the only person who knows the full theory behind it. If he hobbles us during this time of turmoil…

The young Japanese man rakes his hand through his hair in frustration. “Tulaxxas, have there been any replies from the two leaders I sent messages to?”

“Kalegrynten sent a brief reply that he’ll send short-range boats through the crawgistes in the north for immediate relief. But, he needs to request further support from the Fievegal and the Empire, since he’s also dealing with the influx of refugees from Urflasdat.”

“Yes, of course…” replies Rikuto quietly.

There’s a knock at the door, and Rikuto calls out, “Enter.”

Larravu enters, and she bows politely. “Your Majesty, Lord Prime Minister…”

“Dame Larravu, a pleasure to see you,” replies Tulaxxas. “All is well, I presume?”

“With the castle, yes, my Lord. But… I have a personal matter to discuss with his Majesty…”

This confuses them both. Tulaxxas asks politely, “Dame Larravu… Should you not go through your Division Commander, Sir Chebnom, if it’s a personal matter?”

“Normally I would, my Lord. But, this matter concerns my role as Shinobi.”

Both Rikuto and Tulaxxas come to the realization at the same time. Larravu is the first one to undergo a sort of hybrid training primarily through instruction from Rikuto, though he can’t replicate most of the moves himself. Larravu is agile and flexible, and she was clever enough to understand what Rikuto was asking for for each of the techniques that he could describe. She’s not an assassin, specifically, but she has the skills to be able to engage in stealth attacks, either offensively as an assassin might, or defensively as a trap-setter and guerilla ambusher.

Rikuto looks at Tulaxxas, who makes eye contact with him. The young King nods. “Please leave us, Tulaxxas.”

The young prime minister bows. “Of course, your Majesty.” Tulaxxas then makes his way out, and Larravu bows to him. “Thank you, my Lord.”

He smiles gently, closing the door behind him.

The gatonine woman fidgets as she approaches Rikuto’s desk, and he says, “Please, let’s use the tea table. Is everything alright?”

Larravu smiles and takes a seat on the sofa, and Rikuto sits across from her this time, just in case anyone walks in on them.

The gatonine fidgets with her hands, and Rikuto asks gently, “Would you like me to have some tea brought in, Larravu?”

“N-No,... um… Dareen.”

Rikuto twitches slightly only because it means she’s talking that kind of ‘personal’. ‘Dareen’ is the Japanese ‘loanword’ pronunciation of ‘Darling’ carried over to the Eastern Imperial language, so it’s about their clandestine relationship, rather than her skills as a ninja.

Though, once he knows, he’ll understand why they’re one in the same in this case.

Larravu continues to fidget for a moment, and she takes a deep breath. “Dareen… I… I am with… child.”

Rikuto is silent for several long seconds. They continue to tick by as he stares at her silently. His rational mind knows that the awkward silence is dragging on, but it is drowning in the turmoil caused by the war within his brain.

Who is the father? When did this happen? Are humans and gatonines actually compatible? What will people think when they find out? What will happen to Larravu? What will happen to the child? How do I explain this? What do I do?

All of these thoughts and more feel like they’re being screamed in his head by his own voice, all at the same time, like the fully assembled National Diet falling into discourse. <A/N 1>

“D-Dareen? Um… Your… Your Majesty?”

This snaps Rikuto out of his trance, and he finally looks her in the eyes again. He swallows what feels like an entire arm trying to reach for the nearest clock to turn back time. Not that it would help, of course.

“I, uh, a-ha! Sorry, uh, Larravu…”

The kemonomimi girl’s ears droop along with her shoulders, and Rikuto feels a tightness in his chest.

“No! I uh… This is… wonderful news. I just… Uh… hrm… How do I put this…?”

“I-I assure you, I have been in good health, and I will do everything I can to give birth to a healthy child, your Majesty!” She is already touching her belly, which Rikuto notices seems to be a little bit more noticeably round. She’s wearing her equipment belt a little more loosely, and her clothing is a little tighter around her midsection.

Is she several months along? Then that would mean… Oh god…

“N-no!” starts Rikuto. “I mean, not that… That’s all very good. What I mean is… Um… D-... Didn’t you say… it was… ‘safe days’?”

Larravu cocks her head, confused. She looks cute, all things considered. But, it’s clear there was some kind of disconnect.

“Y-Yes… Our very first time together, I was in heat. Those are the absolute safest days to ensure that the children will be healthy. I’ve heard it can be… complicated if not.”

Rikuto can feel all of the blood draining from his face. His entire body starts to feel cold as he stiffens.

“S-... So, when I asked on other days?”

“W-Well… As long as I’m not… ahem… in the latter phase, it’s still considered mostly safe. D-Did… I do something wrong?”

Rikuto places his hands over his eyes, trying to hide from everything if only for a moment.

It’s one thing that he ever did so in the first place without Heralesse’s permission, but only a couple days ago, he and his royal wife had their first time together.

The Mornistae Kingdom has preference for male inheritance, but does not exclude female heirs. The aristocratic and royal families all take precautions around ensuring their family line continues, but it’s a lot more lax than the majority of the Japanese or Chinese royalty, or even large parts of European history, as far as Rikuto understands.

His voice feels tight, but he manages to say, “Uh, n-no, no… I… This is just such a surprise… And… uh… when you said… it was a safe day…” Rikuto clears his throat. It’s irrelevant now, and she’s just as worried about everything as he is. He continues as calmly as he can manage, “I… uh… I’m sorry I’m so flustered. I just… didn’t expect anything like this… And, I’m trying to think through… what we need to do.”

Larravu’s ears fold down nervously, and she murmurs, “I don’t mean to cause trouble. I just… thought…”

Rikuto takes a breath, and he moves over to her side for a moment, hugging her shoulders. “Shh, it’s alright, Larravu… I… I love you. We just need to figure out a plan.”

“Are… you going to kick me out of the palace, Dareen?”

Rikuto hesitates for a brief moment. It’s certainly the likely choice many nobles and royals have made throughout history on both worlds, assuming death wasn’t the choice being made. He could do his best to pay her a comfortable amount of money and go into hiding.

But, I don’t want to do any of that… Should I ask Daniel? How did he end up with a harem? Heralesse likes Larravu, right?

“Please just give me time to think this through, Larravu. If I could… I’d just tell everyone right now. But,...”

“I know…” murmurs Larravu with a gentle smile. She places her hands on his thighs and squeezes gently. “As long as I can stay by your side, I’ll be happy.” She smiles as she lays her head against his shoulder, rubbing her belly.

Rikuto’s heart is racing, but for every kind of reason it could. For a moment, Larravu looks absolutely beautiful, and even though he’s terrified, a part of him is excited and even a little bit happy.

The problem is… How the hell do I break this to Heralesse?

***

Sundenelle collapses into her cushioned chair in the main Imperial office of the Citadel. It’s pretty much a hybrid between an office chair and a leisure recliner, and it’s one of the most comfortable places to sit in the world of Zenkon, with the custom recliner for Ryukana being number one. Daniel chuckles as he takes a seat as well. “I can have one made for your office back in the Imperial Palace, Sundenelle.”

She replies groggily, “Mmm… Don’t tempt me, Daniel… It would make Themihk and Duke Walliskah quite envious.”

The young Empress is almost becoming one with her chair, and a matronly brunette woman sets a teacup down in front of her, saying, “My dear Sundenelle… Your posture is important for your Imperial bearing…”

The young woman perks up quickly, sitting up straight and scooting closer to her desk. “M-Mother!?” The snow-haired Empress clears her throat, regaining her normal regal bearing as the brunette smiles. “Mother, how have you been?”

“I have been well. Thank you. I just heard about the mine rescue’s success. I’m very pleased and honored to be an Imperial citizen, as well as a friend to the Fievegal.”

Daniel dips his head respectfully to her, since she is an important woman, even if he does outrank everyone in the room at the moment, since most of his companions have either gone to rest or are preparing for dinner.

Byleathea bows politely, adding warmly, “And, welcome back, your Grace Daniel. Thank you for assisting her Majesty.”

Daniel smiles softly. “When it’s just us, you’re welcome to be casual, Lady Byleathea. But, thank you. It’s good to be back.”

“Yes, Mother. My offer will always remain to name you Dowager Empress Consort…”

“Thank you, my dear Imperial Daughter, but I have always enjoyed my relatively middling station, where I often avoid the ire of those who would seize the throne for themselves. It… is honestly a sort of relief to be sequestered away in the Citadel, where the fangs of our serpents cannot attempt to harm you using me.”

Daniel teases, “Well… I could hold you hostage if you want.”

Both ladies giggle, and Sundenelle warns playfully, “Now Daniel, I have let a great many tomnanigans slide, but I’ll warn you right now, threatening my mother is grounds for war.” She scowls at him, adding, “And if you attempt to seduce her…”

“Oh for f-... You’re letting my clowns rub off on you? It’s supposed to be the other way around!”

Again the ladies giggle, and Sundenelle asks, “Now then, Daniel, I know it’s extremely new, but if it’s possible, I’d like to commission those, what did you call them? ‘Water set-cutters’?”

“Water jet cutters,” replies Daniel. “And, obviously, the version that was just used will only work with someone like Zuzia, Neith, or Magnir wielding them. Maybe Jeavana could handle it, but we’d have to try it out.”

“How much for the dragons, then?” teases Sundenelle. She adds seriously before Daniel has time to finish chuckling, “But, I am serious. If it’s resources you need, I will gladly provide them. I will even pay you for the designs to have my own magic artificers build them.” She looks to the side, growling, “If Yaulander hasn’t killed them all already…”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Daniel is silent for a moment, since he doesn’t know what to say. He knows, fundamentally, Yaulander needs to die at this point. If he continues to act so aggressively and with wanton abandon for important people’s lives, he is a liability or worse. And, if he truly is tied to the Fellmother like they suspect, then he is a pivotal agent of her will in the physical world of Zenkon. While stamping out her agents will be a continuous game of ‘whack-a-mole’ that will never end, Yaulander is a deadly combination of independently powerful and malicious. He can put on a professional facade at will, but won’t hesitate to ‘cut off the arm to save the body’, so to speak.

Sundenelle clears her throat, adding, “Anyways, name it, and I’ll make it yours in exchange for those devices. The Empire has many mines, and while not especially common, having the ability to restore a mine to function in a single day is priceless.”

“I’ll warn you now, Sundenelle, that the model I expect to be wieldable by anyone else or a small team of operators will probably take a bit longer. I never really dove that deeply into how mine rescues occurred on Earth in either historical settings or modern times. Modern times, we had a lot of drills, which were made of metals tailored to the material they were cutting through to bore through anything, pretty much, and stone was no exception. Like the flame spear, or, uh, ‘W?ócznia Peruna’, as Zuzia named it, the equipment was designed to work with shafts added on to allow deep bores to get the lifeline going, but after that… I don’t know. I know about tunnel boring machines, backhoes, jackhammers… But, I wouldn’t have been able to build those in time, and backhoes can’t go through rock… I don’t think. Even the method we used; water jet cutters, were meant to cut materials for precision cuts to fit exact dimensions and not harm the material while doing it. They weren’t actually powerful enough to crumble rock away the way we did. So… I can design something that uses the water jet cutter technology, but I think I can make something closer to a boring machine as well. Either way, it’ll be large, somewhere between the size of a handcart and one of our trucks, most likely, if we want to be able to have the weight necessary to resist the forces.”

Sundenelle smiles as she listens to Daniel talk, and she replies, “I truly do understand Wenlianna when she says she adores talking to you, Daniel. To see your world would be a dream come true, if only to know what our future might look like.” She turns serious again, saying, “Either way, my request stands. Please do make something sooner, rather than later, and the Empire will buy them; either the designs that we’ll make ourselves, or the machines. I know which way Aramellianna leans on these matters, but I don’t care. Either is fine by me.”

Daniel nods. “Were it so simple to just hammer things together, I’d be the king of the world already. Hell, I wanted to try to work Sharmelkolle for the spear to make it safer to use with a certain couple of ideas I have, but it would damn near take a god to…” Daniel trails off.

“Did you only now remember you’re friends with two literal goddesses and a former goddess?” asks Sundenelle a little teasingly.

“Well, no… Ryukana and Amalaskae probably aren’t allowed to help.” He grins, adding, “And, Kaeralegier isn’t physically strong enough, I don’t think…”

“So… why is that cause for a smile?” asks the snow-haired Empress cautiously as she watches her peculiar fiance.

“Because, not only do I have a Hekate, I have a Zuzia and a Neith as well.”

Byleathea perks up. “Oh! Pardon me, but that reminded me. And, I’m sure Minister Xyreko will inform you shortly, but Themihk would like to speak with you, Sun. The, uh, real you.”

“Do you know what it’s about?” asks Sundenelle sincerely.

“I’m afraid not. He is being subtle as you asked, so he passed only the bare minimum through your placeholder.”

“Understood…” Sundenelle lets out a soft sigh. “Daniel, do you mind?”

The mechanic stands up without any hesitation, a big smile across his face. “I was just about to excuse myself, as it turns out. If you need anything from me, someone will be able to find me.”

“Thank you, Daniel. I promise we won’t discuss any national secrets.”

Daniel scoffs. “It’d be an interesting choice to do so if you go across our radios, even the secure line. But, soon enough, I wouldn’t be able to stop you anyways.” Daniel dips his head again, and he says, “Lady Byleathea, always a pleasure to see you. I’ll see you at…”

“A-hem!” calls out Sundenelle.

Daniel pauses just as he’s walking out. He turns to look at her, instinctively turning to his right side when he forgets momentarily that he’ll have to turn even further to actually see her. Sundenelle smiles at the slightly awkward display, since Daniel usually carries himself with a sort of ‘rough dignity’ due to his more commoner-like upbringing, but a kind of unashamed humility that is admirable.

Sundenelle beckons Daniel over with her finger. It takes every fiber of her being to keep her own composure, and a little surprised, the peculiar Emperor approaches her. She adds warmly, “Closer, Daniel…”

Daniel makes his way around her desk asking, “Yes, my dear…” She ‘pounces’ up from her seat to kiss his cheek, which surprises him a little, but he instinctively catches her as if she might fall. The young Empress smiles as she stares into Daniel’s eye with rosy cheeks. “You don’t mean to tell me the affection I received on our trip was entirely a ruse, do you, my Love?”

Daniel glances at Byleathea, who is standing by quietly. This causes Sundenelle to smile even more brightly. She whispers, “You know, Daniel… You are quite cute when you are caught off-guard.”

The Earthling takes a breath and sighs. “You know, it’s out of respect for your position as an established Empress that…” Daniel trails off, his eye flicking briefly to the brunette matron nearby.

“‘That’ what, Dear Daniel?” Sundenelle gives him a coquettish smile.

The mechanic brushes a lock of her snow-white hair aside, and he kisses the lock atop his finger. “Let’s not give your Mother any reasons to think I’m more of a rake than I am, dear future-wife. I need her to trust me for our actual scheme to work…”

“Right…” whispers Sundenelle as she, too, glances at her mother. Byleathea is wearing a more solemn expression now, but she maintains a faint smile for her dignity.

“I’ll leave you to contact your brother. If you do need anyone’s help or anything, let us know.”

“Thank you, Daniel…”

This time, the otherworlder leaves the room, and Sundenelle smiles as she watches to the very last moment.

“You seem to really like him,” murmurs Byleathea softly with a gentle smile.

“Don’t tell him that just yet, Mother,” replies the albino Empress. “If he isn’t already certain, I want to tease him a bit longer.” Sundenelle takes a breath and lets out a sigh to restore her regal composure. “Now then. Let’s see what Themihk wants.”

“Of course, your Grace,” replies Byleathea as she prepares the special ‘video-panel’ unit designed to connect to its paired unit in the Imperial castle. They have to go through the doppelganger golem first, and it’ll wait for the proper time to inform Themihk. Sundenelle can take control of the golem, but it would require the Fievegal’s illusion room, which requires far more of the Citadel’s mana for a brief conversation.

She’s worried that it might be time already to address Baelok, but Sundenelle would rather handle that sooner than later in spite of her anxiousness about the matter. Her mother has the star role, and she’ll be trusting the safety of the most important woman in Sundenelle’s life to the Fievegal.

She’s confident that the ritual will go as well as possible, but what comes after will rely on Daniel’s plan, which will be discussed after dinner.

***

Vaergraes approaches Daniel as he draws rather energetically on a large sheet of paper. Djihnlierr and Illianna escorted her, but they remained near the entrance to the summoning workshop that Daniel has used heavily since conquering the Citadel. The Uhl’tall Empress is silent, and she reaches a point where she can peer over the human’s shoulder without being detected yet.

He has several circular-shapes scribbled hastily in a curious way that gives them a surprising level of dimension considering they are mere pencil sketches. They aren’t fully detailed, of course, but she recognizes the style Daniel does as ‘pre-drafting’. Rather than focusing on the artistic realism, for which he possesses an average level of talent in his own opinion, these pre-drafting sketches focus on design and function, to be interpreted in more rigid and precise blueprints, which he can then use to input the data into the summoning panel. Or, he can even convert it into the ‘language’ of the various machining devices on the manufacturing floor that he converted from Earth into Zenkon’s technology, allowing him to precision-manufacture all kinds of things with surprising speed. For many applications, blacksmithing is still superior, especially for the cost comparison. But, for mass production and precision, Daniel’s magic ‘MDM’, Golem Precision Control, or ‘GPC’ machines, which are each a magic counterpart to equivalent machines that he repaired regularly on Earth.

These new machine designs don’t look anything like Daniel’s manufacturing devices. Vaergraes is still learning how to read his design sketches, but it looks more like some kind of strange bell, with two suspended cylinders pointing at each other, as if to be struck together by the device. Daniel has drawn various shapes and structures, by the looks of it, but the common factor is the pair of cylinders or similar ‘strikers’ that only change slightly in shape.

Daniel looks to his right as he checks on a list of things that he wrote down; ‘[hammers to transfer force, Zuzia and Neith, dragon fire torch, blade holder, slow feed]’. Daniel’s notes are just his raw thoughts, and he’s refreshing himself.

And, because he looked to his right, specifically, his right eye, which will never again see Vaergraes, has no way of alerting him to her presence.

But, the human surprises her when he asks, “Is that Vae or Illianna?”

He starts to turn all the way to the right, and Vaergraes slips to his left to stay behind his back.

Suspecting it regardless, Daniel scoffs. He whirls left without warning, startling Vaergraes into a yelp when he manages to catch her by her right hip with his left hand, and his right hand catches her shoulder before she can back away. Daniel smirks at her, saying, “Vae it is.”

She pouts her lips at him, asking, “How did you know?”

“You and Illianna are the only two who drink that tea you like. I don’t remember the name of it here.” He knows it’s a tea made from pine needles, and the Uhl’tall traditionally drink it because it does ‘help them remain pure of spirit’.

Huh… I wonder if I can get the dattakoriens to consider pine tea as well… It’s probably high in vitamins, right? I wish I knew how vitamins and minerals were identified on Earth.

Vaergraes smiles admirably at Daniel that he recognized her simply by the tea she likes, which she most certainly had recently. “We call them ‘klemet’ trees. I believe it means something similar to ‘caltrop’, because of how the needles can be quite painful to walk on, in spite of how soft they are, all things considered.”

Daniel scoffs. His family used a live pine tree for Christmas once in his life, and he loathed that decision because the carpet became the domestic equivalent to a jungle boobytrap for months afterwards.

“So, what can I do for you, Vae?”

“Are you at a good stopping point?”

“Uh, I suppose. I know I’m missing something, but I got the gist of my idea down.”

Vaergraes leans into Daniel’s chest so she can look past his right arm. She asks, “What is it you’re building this time? An improved mining tool?”

“No.” Daniel chuckles a little bashfully, scratching his right cheek below where Lucy’s handprints still mark it. “It’ll probably be one of the most convoluted blacksmithing tools that has ever existed.”

The Uhl’tall archpriestess giggles as she turns so that her back is against Daniel’s front, and she uses her left hand to guide both of his hands to her waist as she basically inserts herself into studying the drawings. “If it requires Neith and Zuzia to operate, I’d guess you must be trying to smith sharmelkolle.”

She notices her Emperor slide his arms more firmly around her belly, which makes her happy, but it does surprise her. Because, the gesture alone feels like a sort of confirmation. He replies warmly, “You’d be right.”

The former ‘Demon Queen’ twitches in his arms, and she does her best to twist her torso to look over her left shoulder. Daniel smiles, and she retorts, “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“Sharmelkolle is indestructible. You should know that better than anyone.”

“It’s not, though,” replies Daniel. “Zuzia was able to damage Neith’s armor. It is a specific alloy of sharmelkolle that allows for the enchantment that shapeshifts with him, but even that alloy is generally considered indestructible and unworkable once it’s formed.”

“And, you think you can…” Vaergraes trails off with her slightly sarcastic remark. If anyone can change how even the most indestructible material on Zenkon is looked at, it’s one of three people who came from another world entirely. And, one of them has spent the better part of his entire two years on Zenkon doing exactly that for all sorts of fields, particularly warfare and monster defense.

The Uhl’tall Empress sighs and relaxes against him. “I will not stand in your way, Danny, but you must promise to be careful. If you think what we have lacked all this time is sheer force, then they are forces that will send you instantly to be with the spirits of Zenkon.”

The mana-less otherworlder laughs warmly, and he rests his chin on top of her head affectionately, directly between her double-pair of upwards-pointing horns that Daniel calls a loose ‘violin-shape’. “I’ll be careful. But, I need a break, I think. Need to come at it with fresh eyes.” Daniel smirks, adding cheekily, “Or, ‘eye’.”

Vaergraes chuckles as she shakes her head, gently squeezing Daniel’s forearm. She says softly, “I do have a couple of requests, but one of them can wait until later.”

“Let me hear them both,” replies Daniel sincerely, moving his chin to her shoulder next to her face. She smiles at him, though he’s obviously still behind her, and her own right arm is still in need of replacement, so she can’t cup his cheek on her right side.

“Well… then I will.” She takes a breath and starts with the pragmatic request. “I know you’ve been very busy, and I could press the golems to handle it for me. But… I’d like you to help me with my arm, as well as Gwenesphia’s tail.”

Daniel is silent for a moment, and he hugs her more gently. “I’m sorry, Vae… You’re right.”

“No! I’m not blaming you. And… certainly, if it were so easy, you’d have helped yourself first and foremost. But, Aoloan’s hand has been working well, so… I’d like to try the same thing that worked for Field Marshal Klur, blended with Aoloan’s, if possible. Something… real, again, even if it must be supported by machinery for a long time.”

“I’m not a master of cloning or anything like that,” murmurs Daniel. “I… might be able to manage something, but we’ll need a volunteer. And,... uh… it would be dubious on Earth without the ability to theoretically undo the damage.”

“If you are willing to try, that is more than enough for me, Danny.” She gently touches her temple to his.

“So, what’s the one that can wait?” asks Daniel gently.

She smiles. “That was.” She grins more widely starting to turn to face Daniel and touching her forehead to his. “I think it’s about time you do keep your promise to me, since I hear you’re in the habit of doing that.” She gives him a slightly sarcastic look at this, but also heavy with expectation.

“To be fair, the two you’re undoubtedly referring to were exactly the right amount of obvious…”

Vaergraes kisses Daniel affectionately. Her voice is quiet but confident when she makes her next statement. “I’m being obvious, Danny.”

The human chuckles warmly. “I don’t know… That can be taken a lot of ways…”

Vaergraes uses her left hand to grip Daniel’s collar, and she whispers with a more teasing growl, “I nearly died a significant number of times just a few weeks ago, and I realized that I am extremely envious of a quite a few ladies, not least of which because they get affection with so much ease.” She places her lips within an inch or so next to Daniel’s such that he can feel the heat of her breath, even as she’s whispering. “If you’re not busy right now, Danny, I want affection. I want to feel like a wife. I want to stop being envious. And honestly, for once, I just want to be physically intimate. Or, with the fact that I am not one-hundred percent of myself…?”

Before she can finish, Daniel kisses her and pushes her back against the work table he was drawing on. He replies quietly, but sincerely, “You’re one-hundred percent you, Vae. The only possible thing I might complain about is if your left hand gets tired.”

Vaergraes is much older than Daniel, but she looks and acts like a woman close to his actual age, other than having a bit more time-polished composure.

Most of the time.

In this moment, she blushes as she giggles. She kisses him in turn, replying just as playfully. “If it comes to that, I will do what I can in other ways.” The Uhl’tall archpriestess gives Daniel a toothy grin, and he smirks as well.

“That just sounds like a challenge for me to get creative.”

“Perhaps it is, Danny.” Vaergraes sways her hips back and forth, though she’s ‘trapped’ by Daniel for the moment. She could overpower him with magic pretty easily, but that would defeat the purpose.

She had to ask Ryuogriar and Reignleif for advice, since she started to feel like she was falling behind. The dragons were mischievous, but graciously shared the exact same piece of advice.

“Mukori is a fool. If you don’t say it explicitly, he’ll assume you’re not ready.”

Reignleif even added, “I like to pounce him myself when he’s conveniently alone.”

“How do you get him alone?” asked Vaergraes, still unsure.

With a shrug, the blue dragon replied sincerely, “Ask everyone else to give him some alone time so I can pounce him.”

It was embarrassing, but it looks like she’s going to get what she wants, so Vaergraes isn’t complaining.

Though, what actually takes place does surprise the rather innocent Uhl’tall woman.

***

A/N 1: The “National Diet of Japan” is the Japanese equivalent to the US Legislative branch of the Senate and the House of Representatives, though structured more as a parliament and electing a Prime Minister from among their ranks, rather than having a separate executive branch as the United States does via the POTUS.

***