I was coughing up blood, "So this is it? You're betraying me too? After all this time. After all we've been through?" 

In front of me stood a childhood friend of mine with a disgusted look on his face. He didn't even respond and only kept staring.  

"My my, sister. Don't be so hard on him. He had no other choice, you know? I mean, plotting against someone like you is the only logical decision. You were never supposed to be the queen, with all your friendly-friendly shit and helping out lower races. Such a disgrace. It's no wonder that the nobles started to operate against you," said the tall woman next to the man I once called a friend. She wore a velvet dress that looked something akin to one you read about in gothic novels. It was revealing and just underlined her seducing figure. 

"You really think that we can survive if we turn against everyone. We're strong, but not THIS strong," I turned my head to the man," are you happy about this outcome, Larko? Do you really think that she will save what was once lost?" 

He wanted to open his mouth, but my sister held her folded fan in front of it to shut him up, "Oh my poor sister, don't worry. We will handle this. But you won't be here when we've accomplished what you never could." 

I silently glared at her. This fucking bitch. Even if we were only half-sisters, I always treated her with respect and love. I defended her against those who called her lesser. When did we start to drift apart? When did she begin to plot against me in the shadows and (planned to) overthrow me? I'd sacrificed so much for her and everyone in this kingdom. And so I am thanked, with betrayal. 

"Well, enough talk. I've promised to gift you Tarak-Nûr. I don't know why, but he wants you as his breeding bitch. I will never understand those orcs, but they're at least helpful when it comes to brute force," she said, opened her fan, and held it this time in front of her mouth to cover an obvious smile behind it.

I still said nothing, which made her quite unhappy. I knew that she wanted to see me suffer a bit more, but I'll never give her this satisfaction. 

"Pshaw. Drag her away," she commanded, and two guards that stood behind pulled me with them. 

I promised myself that I will free myself, and one day, I'll get my revenge on all of them. 

 

---

 

A stack of documents dumped heavily on my table snapped me out of my depressive memories, "You need to finish these by this afternoon, so we can send the invitations."

I looked at the maid, "Even more? Seriously, just admit that you hate me."

She shrugged, "I can't allow myself to have an opinion on this." Then she tapped on the pile, "But you need to get this done. After this...event, many instructors are looking for a safe place with a good salary."

I pondered for a moment, "But this many?"

The maid nodded but said nothing. Arg, this was really annoying. So many candidates, and I already knew that most of them were garbage or useless. I would punish this maid for this insolence, but unluckily, she was favored. And I absolutely didn't want to anger her...

"This is everything, thank you," I said and waved the maid away. But before she left the room, she informed me about something else.

"Ah! That wolf girl, she's on an errand and will return in the evening with the item you'd ordered yesterday," after this, she left the room without giving me another glance. 

"...she didn't say her name, again," I mumbled. 

This so-called wolf girl was Arie, formerly known as Adelheid. When we returned that evening one week ago, she was there with the archduchess, who was apparently a bona fide Pureblood. At least until she readjusted her onyx bracelet—which had fallen onto the ground—and her Status changed. She was kinda clumsy...and cute. Anyway, she said they fled into the mansion after this weird ash began to fall down on everything—they noticed that this place was safe because of a strong barrier. She also mentioned something about dropping off this human girl at our estate because Maera said so. The bitch of a head maid already prepared a room for her. 

When dusk settled over the city, Maera finally returned home. She was dressed in a robe of ashes. I was the only one who remained in the entrance hall. All the others were asleep. I'd tried to speak to her but got simply ignored. She disappeared in the direction of the sleeping quarters, making it clear at the same time that she did not want to be disturbed. I deeply sighed and went into my own room too. 

The following day I was awoken by Ava. Next to her stood a small—compared to my size—wolf girl. The ears on her head were gray and seemed really, really fluffy, like her long tail that ended with a black tip. She kinda resembled someone, but it didn't occur to me till the maid told me about what happened. I was speechless. Did her powers even have a limit or something? Who was Maera in reality to do all this stuff? Yeah, the 'dragon' said something about The Forgotten One, but honestly, this was hard to believe. Yes, I heard about this one once, yet every scholar always talked about a misinterpretation and a myth. They even went so far as to anticipate that this Forgotten One was actually another form of Eternal. Truth be told, nobody knew shit. And all I knew was not to question Maera's power in any sense anymore. 

In one way or another, this girl with the changed name 'Arie' got transformed by her into a beast-kin. She would be my first loyal servant—according to Maera—, and I could do with her what I want. I cringed when the maid told me this. A noble brat as a servant—would you believe it? 

Well, this was what I thought about her at first. Yet, over the week, she proved herself over and over again not only to be loyal but to be smart and witty too. If only her master-servant fetish wouldn't be so bothersome...but I already had an idea how to solve it tonight. 

 

---

 

After I finished this stupid pile, it was nearly afternoon and time for the arrival of the first instructor. Normally, this was Maera's responsibility, but she just vanished into thin air after she turned Arie. She gave Ava a message, though. Summarized—she was gone for a while, and I was now forced to take over her duties and responsibilities. Where the hell did she even take off to, after what she'd done? 

I remembered the state of the town when I went to the adventurers guild yesterday. One-third of the eastern district got destroyed—the area right next to where it happened suffered the worst—mostly by flying debris of the academy, which was only ruins now. Even part of the royal district was affected as well. Not as bad as the other one, because of the more powerful protective barriers that surrounded the noble houses, shops, and this specific part of the city. Buildings in the eastern district mostly couldn't afford magicians, sorcerers, or the magic item to do so. Places like the adventurers guild were completely safe—the ash didn't reach that far, or more like the effect. 

As it seemed, the range of the deadly ash coupled with the cold didn't travel farther than the temple. On the other hand, ordinary ash fell all the way to the outskirts of the slums, which caused many deaths in the ranks of the old and weak. Due to the quick care and reaction of people who could erect protective barriers, the number of injured and dead remained under six thousand, which was still a large number, but for such a vast city as King's Garden, more than tolerable.

Nonetheless, the academy was gone, and with it, many of the strongest magicians, instructors, and scholars of the empire. It was a huge—deserved—blow against humanity. I already heard rumors that the Archdukedom of Lindenburg wanted to declare independence and establish their very own empire inside of the human territory. Even the archduchess of Drach said that she might consider taking things into her own two hands. She obviously wanted to suck up to Maera. 

Drach and Lindenburg...two Jaeger families. Nothing good would come out of it if they fought against each other. And the thought that even the other families might interfere gave me goosebumps. 

The next few years will undoubtedly be exciting to watch. And, never forget, with all the gold we had, we could buy up destroyed land and houses to increase our sphere of influence. Perhaps a small casino here, trade with forbidden goods there and thus buy ourselves piece by piece into the darkness of this world. We could also found an orphanage and secretly train them to become loyal assassins. I grinned at that thought. Was this Maera's plan all along? This method seemed somewhat unorthodox yet quite brilliant. 

-------

When I went into the dining room, the S-Rank battlemage that Maera invited already sat in one of the seats. She didn't even stand up to formally greet me and only to at least acknowledge my presence. My first thought was to [Appraise] her, but she was an S-Rank and would probably be pissed if I did so. I simply sat next to her and swallowed my pride. 

We actually didn't talk much. Maera told me beforehand that she wanted her. Nothing more, nothing less. So I obliged her command. 

In the end, the battlemage named Ruby agreed to the contract without much delay or changes. All she wanted was to have so much booze at hand as she desired and the right to arrange her training in such a way that no outsider would ever intervene, no matter how dire the situation appeared to be.

To my delight, she was a woman of few words and left immediately after our conversation to prepare her stuff.

-------

It was already evening when I heard a knock on my bed chamber's door. 

"Yes?" I answered.

"It's me, Arie. I bring you the requested item," a sweet melodic voice replied. 

"You can enter," I said, without imagining as to what would await me once the door finally opened. My mouth fell agape when I saw her. 

Arie was wearing a light cyan-colored lace ribbon babydoll lingerie with matching see-through panties. Around her neck was the item I ordered for her—a silver pet collar decorated with a deep blue sapphire.

I wanted to solve her little 'urges' tonight but never expected her to be so proactive. Originally, I only wanted to show her that I held complete ownership over her now and nobody else...but now? No succubus could say no to such a lovely sight. 

My eyes traveled slowly down her breathtaking body. She was rather on the small side, nearly reaching five feet. Even if I wasn't the tallest myself with my five-six, I still clearly stood over her. 

Arie's body was slender but, in my opinion, defined in just the right places. Her bust was well proportioned with well-shaped perky breasts. You could also see a hint of the slightly pronounced yet strong muscles characteristic of a wolf-kin. Her heart-shaped butt with well-toned and curvy thighs gave her body just the perfect finishing touch.

"Close the door," I commanded her with a husky voice. I could see how she shivered in anticipation of what was yet to come.

At the exact same moment when the door fell into its frame, I shoved Arie against it. Her eyes widened in surprise. 

I placed my knee between her legs, whereas she let out a little squeal. I already could feel a wet spot on her fabric as I touched it lightly.

I smiled at her, "You're a rather naughty little girl, aren't ya?"

"Yes," she breathed. 

I grabbed the right cheek of her butt and pinched it, "What do you call me?"

"Mi-mistress," she gasped her answer.

"Good girl," I praised and scratched Arie behind her right fluffy ear with my free hand.

A moan escaped her rosy lips whilst her eyes rolled back in pleasure. So, scratches it was, I guessed.

My formerly hidden leathery tail lunged out of my nightgown and wrapped itself tightly around her leg, slowly moving upwards to her center.

My other hand let go of her butt, and I redirected it a bit above the beginning of her tail. As soon as I touched the sensitive stop between skin and fur, a half shriek, half moan broke free.

When I looked into those beautiful, lascivious eyes of the wolf girl, my heart began to flutter. Without further hesitation, I planted my lips firmly on hers and pulled her closer. One of my hands still caressed her sensitive spot with a circling motion while the other gently explored the smooth skin of her back. This caused Arie only to deepen her kiss, whereas I growled in approval. But this was not enough for me. Skillfully and with ease, my tongue parted Arie's lips and slipped inside. In response, hers clashed with mine, and a little war of who would take the oral dominance began. Our wild fight caused us both to breathe heavily and moan in between our eager kisses. 

In the end, we forgot about our 'mischievous' fight and also switched between deep and soft kisses continuously. With every switch, she nibbled on my bottom lip before she flicked with her tongue playfully over it.

After another few turns, I decided that I'd enough of her bratty behavior, tightly grabbed her ass, and moved her up to me so that we were at the same height. She was lighter than I thought. Her back was now pressed against the cold wooden door.

She grinned at me and flashed one of her sharp fangs. 

"Oh, you cheeky little tease," I said. It was time to show this little pup who her mistress was. 

My spade-shaped tail tip slithered up and overcame the last distance to the center, and began to carefully roam back and forth with light movements over the soaked panties. 

"Ngh!" was all Arie could say in reply.

I kept up this movement, sometimes changing the intensity and speed. Every now and then, the tip of the tail would make a dancing motion around the hood of her nub. You could hear Arie's breathing getting faster and faster between her moans. I felt a warm feeling spreading inside her and her mind yielding more and more to pleasure.

I stopped abruptly, and her eyes stared at me with a mixture of atrocity, lust, and pleading submissiveness.

"Not yet, my little pet. I still didn't have enough fun with you. I want to see you squirm more in anticipation and the thought of not knowing when I'll release you," I whispered with a low voice directly into her ear. Ohh, the look in her eyes right now. I could tell that she totally loved it. 

My head moved to her neck, and a satisfying thought occurred to me. With a grin, I licked the soft spot. A shiver ran through her body, and before her mind could adapt to the situation, I lightly bit her. 

A sudden loud moan filled the room. She didn't expect something like this. But I wouldn't stop there. 

As I lifted her higher and higher, I kissed my way down, inch by inch. My tail, wet from her juices, embraced hers and stroked it. Drool began to run down the side of her mouth while her voice sank in moans. Finally, I arrived at her breasts. Full of greed, I took a nipple in my mouth and sucked it hard. The mixture of pain and excitement made Arie's mind reaching new heights. I changed the technique and started circling the nipple with my tongue whilst occasionally brushing over it.

"Please...inside," breathed Arie.

I stopped my play and looked into her lust-grazed eyes, "You need to tell me exactly what you want."

"Your tail! I want it inside of me!" she yelped. 

I loosened my tail and moved towards the source of her wetness. While it slowly pushed aside the wet fabric, I started to kiss her again. But these kisses were different from before, much slower and tender. I wished to give her the feeling that she would be safe with me. 

My tip slowly penetrated the wet center, whereupon she moaned lustfully into our kisses. Deeper and deeper, I entered her; juices ran down my leathery tail. Her arms pulled me even tighter to her. I felt a feeling again slowly spreading inside her and started moaning myself with longing and hunger. My tail shoved in and out in bursts and shifted in movements that no male chunk could ever achieve.

Then it hit her, and at the same time, me. Both our voices cried out in ecstasy. Waves of pure pleasure washed over us and were so electrifying as if we were hit with a lighting spell over and over again, but instead of pain, it brought immense satisfaction.

After both of us calmed down a bit, I carried her into my bed. My legs were wobbly. I simply let us slump into it. 

"Are you fine?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yes, mistress."

"Good, because it's your turn to show me what you can do," I said and smiled mischievously, 

Her eyes went wide.

I chuckled, "Did you really think a succubus would be satisfied after only one round? That was just the appetizer, now comes the main course."

I heard her gulping. Yes, this will be a looong night.