Chapter 42: 42.

"So what did I say?" - Lily-Anne insists five minutes later, as we all settle down. Geez. Thanks a lot, Moon Unit. And no, giggling does not help. And Bridgit, really? Bah. I have very mean girls here.

"You didn't, to be exact." - I explain with a sigh - "It is not a word at all. It is, well... It is my species mating call. So, very roughly translating it, you have had just invited me to make babies. Please don't do this in public places unless you want to get ravaged in front of everyone, it is considerably hard to resist conceptually expressed invitation." Aaand she blushes so hard I start worrying about her blood pressure. Moon Unit is subjected to shaking and furious whispering next.

"If, hahahaha, if it makes you feel better, I did the very same mistake myself." - she finally offers - "Of course, I did that after hearing that particular sound from Alyssa herself, so..."

And now it's my turn to blush. "We were in the hot spring and you started rubbing against me." - I object - "I'm not made out of stone, you temptress."

"Hot spring? Where did you find this kind of luxury in Parsee?" - Lily-Anne inquires curiously - "I wouldn't mind visiting it too."

Moon Unit sighs. "In the dreams." - she offers wistfully - "No, literally. I was so curious about Alyssa I used dreamwalk on her, and, well... things got a little out of hand. And yes, we can do something like this, but not right now. I can only use this ability once a month safely."

"What's dreamwalk?" - Roxolane asks curiously - "I never heard about any spell of that sort."

"You wouldn't. It's something only elves can do." - I explain to her - "I looked into it actually, and... it's complicated, let's say."

Bridgit cuts the conversation by distributing cups of fruit smoothies. Which is extremely well-timed and earns her an appreciative kiss from me. And from Moon Unit. And Lily-Anne looks somewhat jealous because she was closest and got the cup first and the idea of kissing a cute maid didn't occur to her. Roxolane simply smiles and thanks Bridgit in a soft voice, sipping her smoothie immediately. "OOh, it's so cold." - she remarks curiously - "I thought it'd be warm by now." Showing her ice chest (new enchantment, basically a reverse of hot plate applied to all six sides of metal-plated chest) makes her check out of conversation briefly as she pokes at the engraved formulae. And I make a mental note to pass over all my enchantment notes to Roxolane, because she's obviously interested.

"This is all well and good, but what does this all mean for us?" - Lily-Anne offers once the smoothies are dealt with. I shrug.

"Not much? Aside from being aware I'm indestructible and can take any shape I wish to be, I suppose." - I explain - "Also, your defilement stage had just been ramped up all the way to thoroughly, the same as Moon Unit and Bridgit, because I'm as otherworldly as otherworldly comes."

"Wait, you can safely defile people?" - she suddenly veers off the topic.

"Not quite. I can safely defile people who already want to join my harem and generally have a very good opinion of me. If I just randomly show up... Well, you've seen what happens back in the courtyard of Sultan's palace, didn't you?" - I tell her, and she shudders.

"On one hand, I feel like they deserved that, on other... that's horrible." - she admits sadly - "Did you intend to do that?"

I shake my head - "I'm not upset it happened, per se, but no, it was an accident. I was teleporting for the first time ever and didn't know it would make my form unstable. They basically saw tentacles and eyes and teeth manifesting out of thin air and their brains had made a decision to reject that reality. I... INSISTED on them adopting a wondering and appreciative attitude towards the world to prevent them from ripping their eyes out and poking through their eardrums. Because without some sort of directive to direct the madness, it usually sublimates itself via mutilation. Shattered minds insist on removing what made it possible for them to see and hear what should not be, to wax poetic about it."

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"Wondering and appreciative, huh. Well, I suppose singing about it was... Eeeugh. It was creepy, sorry. Just really really creepy how they're all different people and they all just somehow... manage the same exact note and word in the same time." - she admits - "You're scary sometimes."

I snicker - "Honestly? Counting my blessings, here. I was not sure at all if you and Roxy won't just run for the hills."

Roxolane pitches in softly. "I thought about it." - she offers - "And then I thought how you could easily make me do absolutely anything you wanted and there is nothing anyone could possibly do about this. And how you didn't do anything and instead keep asking me what would I want with my life." She leans on my side and sighs - "I... thought I was lost back there in the palace, you know? That nothing I could do would set me free anymore. I was thinking about pretending to be an obedient wife and maybe try and gain some influence over Salaadin so that maybe someone else can be spared that. And then you came. I was... so close to giving up. To giving in."

I wrap a tentacle around her and tickle her chin - "Cheer up. Yeah, you've been in a bad place, but you're no longer there. And the way I see it, things can only improve for you from now on."

She snorts quietly - "Oh, I can always do the stupid thing and leave you. Not likely, though. Counting my blessings sounds good right now."

___

The rest of the evening is a quiet affair. I take advantage of our roof seclusion to get the girls better used to more inhumane features I can pull out. And I learn one important thing. If I put an eye on a tentacle, Lily-Anne WILL poke it. Sometimes by mistake. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes even entirely unknowingly. But poke the eye she will. Thankfully, it does not cause me anything more than momentary discomfort, but I quickly learn to shield any eyes not on my face in her presence. Other than that, the acclimatizing progresses very nicely. I also learn that it's surprisingly fun to tickle all four girls at once. They syncopate. I think. I'm pretty sure the effect produced is called syncopation, but music isn't my forte.

I also learn, somewhat less pleasantly, that presenting additional limbs as somewhat disjointed is less disturbing than showing off the junctures. To give an example, if I split my arm into several tentacles in the sleeve and let the ends stick out like oversized fingers, it does not cause any odd reactions. Rolling up the sleeve to show them how forearm splits? I get worried glances. Doing split in direct view nets me shudders and requests not to do that again. Apparently, they still somewhat equate the human form I have with conventional biology and are somewhat convinced that splitting like this has to hurt. Lessons learned. On a lark, I also show them the complete split, forming two complete human bodies and that trick is very well appreciated. On request, I also attempt to split off a "chibi" version and I am summarily declared to be adorable.

Unfortunately, that leads to Moon Unit figuring out eyespiders and suggesting to me that I could covertly observe the Academy. Admitting that I already do and have had been doing so for a while, on the other hand, is received much more favorably than I expected. Apparently, they don't consider a breach of privacy to be nearly as important as the extra security that gives me. Thankfully, Bridgit avoids mentioning that I can also consume people. Or perhaps she assumes I burned the bodies back when Klaus tried to be an idiot. Moon Unit, equally thankfully, does not bring up my previous gaffe about "eating heads". And honestly, I think it's good. I don't need girls to worry I might eat them. They don't need to worry, obviously, but minds are not entirely rational. Especially not minds that could internalize the entirety of ME as their spouse. Honestly, the only kind of eating I want to apply to my girls is eating them out.

Buut, that will have to wait a bit. While my newest additions are progressing remarkably well, I don't want them to feel pressured into intimacy. I also don't really want to disappoint Moon Unit and Bridgit by denying it, but now that they know about my splitting, I can handle both situations without much of a problem. It will still require some discretion, because I am somewhat certain that Lily-Anne will jump into things with excessive enthusiasm. I have time, I can afford to let them get used to increasing intimacy the slow and pleasant way.

___

Putting things away and moving all of us back into the dorm room takes a bit, but all in all, I'm very satisfied with the outing. Harem membership confirmed, girls taken into confidence without issue and new trick learned. All very good things. So, I am in a considerably good mood. Nothing can dampen it. Nothing.

And, of course, this is where the door gets a knock. Bridgit opens it, and Selene steps in. She is quite shiny right now. But... the person following her is much less jubilant. Edward. Goodness gracious, all that time, and you're finally coming to talk? Talk about ironic timing.

"Lady Gillespie?" - he offers in a voice that could probably be well-fit on a person marching to his own gallows - "I... believe we need to have a long overdue conversation."

I sigh. And smile. "I see. Bridgit, would you be so kind to put on a big pot of cava? I think we will all need a drink for this conversation. Oh, and please get the bottle of ouso out. Some of us might need a bit of... fortification." - I ask my maid, and gesture towards the table - "Have a seat, you two. Let's hash some things out." I turn to my harem and clap my hands - "Girls? Come join us. No point in keeping secrets in the family, innit?"

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