The day of the mating ceremony is here at long, long last. I awake to find Meri and Sam still very exhausted from their dungeon crawl and from their reward. As long as they keep resting, they should recover enough to leave the bed soon. At least for now, I avoid them while going through my morning routine.

Alone, I have a quick bath. I wonder how long it’s been since I’ve had this tub to myself? As the warm water overtakes my skin, my mind drifts off to thinking about how the Breeding Tribe has long since left Dewhurst.

Guess that’s that, then.

No use dwelling on it. I dry myself off with conviction, intending to move on with my day and life without worrying about the one that got away.

Before going downstairs, I decide to peek in on Zutiria’s situation. I sit down on her bed and stroke my hand through her soft, short, lavender hair. She stirs, and I find that she’s actually able to awaken. The little Mage gazes up at me, morning light falling against her sleepy face.

‘Hello, Sir. Still tired. Not done resting.’ She tells me, shutting her cold, icy eyes just as quickly as they open.

“Hey, didn’t think you’d be able to wake up yet. I was worried about you... how are you feeling?”

‘Hurts.’ She groans, accentuating her point.

“I expected as much. Opal is back, so I can have her take a closer look at you and try to do something about the pain if you want.”

‘If she could help, she would’ve.’

“I suppose you might be right about that. I don’t know if you’ll remember me saying this, but I’m going to be out of town when you wake up, Zutiria.”

‘Shh. I’ll find out later. Kiss me and let me sleep.’

Far be it from me to deny my love such a request. I plant my lips upon hers to savor a fragile but passionate kiss. Zutiria whimpers into it but raises her hand to gently cup my cheek before letting it fall limply back to her side.

Pulling away from her tired affections, I smile down at the Mage fading out of fleeting consciousness. “I love you,” I remind her with a whisper.

‘Too...’ Zutiria soon fades into the peaceful abyss of rest once more, leaving me with nothing to do other than join the kittens downstairs for breakfast.

Both Cherry and Peri are fully awake, dressed in their uniforms, and have already started their workday. By the time I have myself sat down at the wooden bench, a cup of coffee is already prepared for me, and a platter of food is not far behind. I enjoy the meal with good company, and once it’s finished, I tell both girls my plans.

“I still have a mountain of paperwork to finish, and at some point, Niall might drop by. If he does, escort him to my office. As for the two of you, tonight is the night. You’ve been here for an entire week, and thus, we’ve made it. The trial period is over.” Smiling from the bottom of my heart, I reach out to both kittens sitting across the table. Cherry and Peri lean their heads into my touch, purring a low, satisfied purr. “Anything you wish to say on the topic?”

“Of course, we have a lot to say, Myaster, but we want to save it for tonight...” Peri smiles to herself, her gray, fluffy ear twitching in satisfaction from my scratches.

“We just want the timing to be right, nyaa.” Cherry smirks.

“Understandable. Are you nervous at all?” I ask, only to be met with a resounding no. Both girls shake their heads from side to side without hesitation.

“We’ve been waiting for this day our whole lives. How could we be nervous?” Peri turns to face Cherry, and the two share a loving blush at the sight of one another. The blue-haired kitten leans her head in and nuzzles her lover with fondness.

“Y-Yeah,” Cherry looks away rather adorably, scratching behind her head. While not outright nervous, it’s clear she’s the less prepared of the two. “When are we going to start?”

“After dinner, you two will help Sam and Meri out of bed, assuming they still can’t walk on their own. They’ve agreed to bunk with Zutiria. Then, you are to pick appropriate attire out of the lingerie horde, then bathe yourselves and prepare for my arrival. Understood?” I’m totally getting off on ordering them around like proper maids if it wasn’t obvious. Luckily for me, they’re just as into my authoritative tone.

“Yes, Myaster!” They reply with complete enthusiasm, tails wagging behind them and smiles on their faces.

I leave them to their task of cleaning the entrance hall. If all goes well, today might be the day that its cleaning finishes. Yet another cause for celebration. As for their next duty, I haven’t decided between cleaning more of the spare bedrooms on the second floor or having the maids get started on the west wing. There are merits to both courses of action. For now, my mind is saddled only with the signing of signatures and the filing of forms.

I work on the task for several hours, only to be interrupted when there’s a knocking on my door. Cherry walks in with Niall following behind her, a pleased grin on his face. The pink-haired kitten bows before excusing herself out.

Much to my relief, the newly minted mayor is sober. With a dry, witty smile, I greet him and offer a seat to the former adventurer. “Welcome, Mr. Mayor. I see that being an elected official has not yet gifted you the privilege of taking a bath.”

The smelly drunkard takes a seat, breaking out into sleazy laughter. “Still waiting to hear back on that one,” He says.

I stare at him blankly for a moment, registering that the man is no longer the mangy scoundrel I’ve seen him as for the past twenty-two years. “So... it really is official? It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just hard to process.”

“Yep, met with Baron Edras of House Kerger after I sobered up last night. The whole thing went real fuckin’ fast, Kiddo. Signed a few papers, and that was pretty much it.”

“The Baron himself was here?” I lean in, curious to hear the details of Niall’s interaction with the local nobility who technically owns this town.

“Yeah, I was shocked too. I was expecting some representative or something, but whatever. The votes were tallied the day before yesterday, and they announced it last morning. I thought they would postpone the announcement on account of the whole gilded penis castle thing last night, but...” Niall shrugs his shoulders. “When he met me, he gave me a once over with his eyes and said ‘looks about right’. Then he just had me sign some forms and told me to do whatever the fuck I wanted.”

“It’s no secret that the Nobles want little to do with this town. It’s hard to place blame on the local Barons or even the Counts. What happened to this town should have been stopped by Duke Gloomcrest ages ago. Still, to think you were given carte blanche...”

“It is what it is. No one in Arrark owns this town except the Duke of Dewhurst, so why bother telling me to do anything?”

“I’m surprised you won, admittedly. I thought that it’d be Pimpington or that drugged up Elf.”

“Turns out they had just about the same number of votes between ‘em. If one of them ran and not the other, that one probably woulda won. That Catfolk boy was trailing behind me, and no one voted for that Butcher except for him and, uh, his mom. Raepface said she’s been dead for years, though, so that vote got thrown...”

“Perhaps there’s a shred of hope for this town, after all. The fact that Bludman didn’t convince one or two psychopaths in the crowd is nothing short of staggering to me.”

“Yeah. Hey- speaking of all these shady-ass motherfuckers, word on the street is you just dealt a huge blow to the Duke of Dewhurst.” Niall smiles, leaning over the desk and offering me a high five with his only hand. I reluctantly give it to him. “Pimpington being out of the picture is a huge deal, Kiddo. Nice job on taking him down. Still gonna keep fighting?”

“...Yeah. I don’t have any other choices. It’s either that or leave Dewhurst soon...”

Frowning, the mayor sighs. “And you don’t think that’s an option for you, right?”

“I’m afraid not. Land rights, shoddy reputation amongst the Association... there’s no way they would allow me to run another Guild with my track record. I’d become a secretary at best.”

“Fuckin’ Guild pencil-pushers,” He takes a deep breath, looks away, and scratches his greasy hair. Dandruff flakes off his scalp, fluttering away to places unknown. “If it’s money you need, I can work on it with you.”

“You were a homeless beggar until the night before, Niall. Call me skeptical of your ability to raise funds.”

“You ever see me without a bottle or two?” He asks, opening up the flap of his coat to reveal several crudely stitched pockets stuffed with flasks.

“Well, no, but...”

“I got my ways, Kiddo,” Niall smirks the smirk of someone who’s lived on the streets for many a year. I feel compelled to believe him when he claims he could procure funding in case of an emergency. “It’d be better to get out of town with your life intact, y’know? ‘Specially since it seems like you got a whole lot to live for these days.”

“I need money, yes, but I won’t be using it to skip town. Are you still willing to help?”

“...Long as you promise you’ll leave if things start getting worse, Kid. Look, I want to help you. I really fuckin’ do. But when I die and meet your grandpa in the Eternal Hells, he’ll kick my fuckin’ ass if I let something bad happen to you. You understand me?”

“You... still think about my grandpa?”

“Course I do. Miserable old fuck gave me a home when I was at my lowest. Didn’t do me much good, but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect what he did for me.”

“I had no idea anyone save for myself still had any fondness left for the old man... It’s nice to know at least one other person remembers he wasn’t all bad,” I smile at the thought before brushing it off. “Regardless, I don’t know if I can promise you I’ll just pack up leave if it doesn’t look like the Duke of Dewhurst will be defeated.”

His face becomes serious as he leans across the desk once more, this time to give me a grim warning. “Gonna put this another way, then. I’m going to do what I can to help, and if it looks like you aren’t going to win... I’m gonna use my whatever powers I can as Mayor to close the Guild and force you to leave town.”