For lunch, we eat a normal elven meal, and I start to get a bit too distracted to participate in the conversations.

The meeting with the Council is something that not even Yunia knows how it'll go, and this uncertainty is making me quite uncomfortable. I'm too accustomed to being in full control of the situation, and we already have enough painful memories from when we tried to play the daredevils, so I feel like we're walking into the darkness today.

Once the food is mostly gone and we start to laze a bit in our seats, Lina and Alissa snuggle up to me, trying to set my heart at ease.

I wrap my scaly tail around Alissa's fluffy limb of happiness and pull my loli queen onto her throne: my lap.

Of course, getting lovey-dovey with my wives always helps me calm down. But I'm still missing one last thing… or rather, two pairs.

Hana grins and takes off her shirt in one clean movement, stunning both Klein and Osaria.

"Wolfy is a bit anxious," Roxanne explains wryly, and we both become ensnared by the sight of Hana's two lightly tanned balloons and perky nipples.

Ciel sighs softly, and takes off her shirt too, now ensnaring Lina's gaze. Our chocolate angel's and caramel dragon's delicious mounds are so perfectly shaped that they're truly mouth-watering, promising bliss with their softness as they beg to be fondled.

Osaria follows the trend without hesitation, and a few moments later, the whole table is shirtless, including me, then Alissa becomes interested in playing with my neglected nipples while Osaria licks my scars with her eyes. They know I love being pampered, just like they do.

Poosh approaches our table, and with my eyes drawn to her bouncy, bare chest, I don't even register her face as she reports, "The General of the Buscuadores has a [Gate] ready for you, Your Highnesses."

 

Intermission – Yunia

 

I admit that the sight of such a wide variety of breasts is nice, but I don't understand Wolfy's reasoning about it being "soothing." If anything, I find it arousing, not calming.

What does calm me is the feeling of his claws interlaced with my fingers and his thick tail wrapping around my waist. It's these small, spontaneous gestures of love that affect me the most because they're evidence that he really cares for me, that he finds comfort in my touch, and that our souls are still aligned.

I find it cruel to compare them, but I never "connected" with Brás the way I do with Wolfy. It's not just because of [Bind]; Wolfy and I work together so well that I have no doubt our meeting was anything but the Gods' will. Even if it only happened because of a horrible misfortune that had befallen my family, I just wasn't destined to be with Brás.

It's with these sobering but encouraging thoughts that we confidently stop at the entrance to our castle as we wait for the General.

From beyond the steps ahead of us, a grim-looking man with a frail and thin frame leisurely strolls towards us with such soft steps that it's almost like he's a ghost. His tight and elegant clothes reveal his frame and tell of his station, though they also show a lack of raw wealth. His narrow but long gold and white hair and beard give him a wise air, but the harshness of his gaze reminds me of the cunning werefoxes. He's a man that should not be trifled with, but that's to be expected, as a General is merely a person who can manipulate battlefields as well as a noble can manipulate the hearts of the commoners, after all.

He stops before the steps to the entrance of our castle and looks up, then he begins his speech with a whispery voice, "Lords of Escanso, I'm Aodeca, General of the Buscuadores, and I'm here to present an invitation for one of you to meet with the Grand Elder Council."

"They really do like to shove 'grand' on everything," I catch one of Wolfy's stray thoughts, and I agree internally.

"We're going together," Wolfy firmly states, his confident and youthful voice always a delight to hear.

"My orders are to take only one of you to them," Aodeca replies dryly.

"We're going together, or we're not going at all," Wolfy declares, and his tone suddenly makes me feel like resting my head on his shoulder, but I want to maintain an aura of authority, so I remain stern. Then my husband's demeanor softens a bit as he draws on his deep well of kindness. "We don't want to make things hard on you, specifically, but this is something we have to do, so we request that you let us through because we won't negotiate this."

Aodeca remains silent and impassive for a moment as he stares at Wolfy, then his eyes turn to me, and I feel like he wants to ask me for help, but I show no indication that I even disagree with Wolfy's request. This is our one act of childish rebellion against the Council, but also a symbolic move on our part.

Since the General doesn't seem to be wavering one way or the other, I decide to push him a bit further, "Escalate to your superiors or at least inform them of our demand. It's not your job to negotiate with us, after all."

"But it'll still be seen as a failure to fulfill my orders," he finally replies, and I understand his hesitation.

"Then your superiors would simply be stupid for blaming you for something that isn't your job," Wolfy comes in with his Earthling sensibilities.

"And you know that we won't negotiate this," I quickly add so that Aodeca has no time to give Wolfy any snark.

The General slowly breathes in, calming himself, then he makes a hand signal to the silent and stony-faced mage behind him, who immediately begins chanting [Gate].

We both nod at Aodeca, then we start to descend the steps. When we reach the bottom, the spell is finished, and a black circle appears before us.

Wolfy softly squeezes my hand reassuringly, and we step forward.

The world changes in the blink of an eye, and our fellowship bond tells us that we're now east of our home, deep in the wilderness, though quite high above the usual height of the treetops. Then I let Wolfy's curiosity and fondness for architecture guide my gaze as we look around.

We find ourselves in a large, circular, grass-filled courtyard. At its edge, we can see a wide variety of colorful plants, all of which I recognize to be extremely rare and expensive.

Past the plants, we can see the characteristic houses of grassland elves, short trees with trunks as wide as mansions that have been hollowed out to serve as homes. The perfection of the color and pattern of the leaves and bark shows great care and skill that's only available to high elven society.

And behind the houses, we can see the familiar dark bark of the enchanted wall that protects all elven cities.

Ahead of us, there's a path that goes down a long golden road, which ends at the foot of a tree-house that's twice as thick and three times as tall as every other in sight. Its white bark and golden leaves mark it as special if its impressive dimensions didn't make that apparent enough.

A group of five soldiers wearing ceremonial, white wooden armor silently wait for us down the golden road, at the edge of the circular grassland. The one in front has a golden flower growing out of his chest, the mark of someone with a higher rank.

Wolfy and Lina get a bit disappointed that there's no military or epic architecture here to gawk at. Not even the fortress' locomotion method can be seen from here, and there's no way that Wolfy could summon a monster right now without being noticed.

We walk forward and nod at the leader once we get closer, a gesture that the unknown man returns, then the soldiers turn around and start walking down the road.

We follow after them and take a leisurely stroll along the golden road, which seems to be made of solid gold, a choice of decoration that one can only find in a place the empire would be unlikely to have the chance to take a look at.

The walk is peaceful and absolutely silent aside from our footsteps and the usual pleasant whisper of nature. The only eerie thing, though, is the utter lack of any other living beings. Not even nature spirits are welcome here, which is why we preemptively left Gify back home, but there's a distinct lack of servants moving around. The road seems to be one huge enchantment, which could be intended to magically maintain everything around here, removing the need for servants, but it'd have to be one ridiculously complex enchantment.

After being forced to traverse the road on foot like a peasant, we enter the huge, white, tree mansion, and now, we're forced to walk down a stupidly long hall lined with the statues of the previous Elders.

"A bit disappointing, really," Wolfy remarks through [Bind].

"Of course they'd adopt a more extreme version of our traditions. They aren't known to be humble," I reply and scoff internally.

"All that's missing is a huge portrait."

"There's likely one on the outside of the wall."

After the silly hall, we, thankfully, reach an [Eternal Gate] hub room, and we cross through a portal to the top of the tree.

We're now on one of its thick white branches with the golden leaves surrounding us as they reflect the afternoon sun with their metallic sheen.

We catch glimpses of a small town below us, and Wolfy's keen eye for military constructions spots trebuchets, ballistas, and even a cannon-like object that we don't know anything about. The important part is that for them to be recognizable by us from this distance means that they're huge. These are weapons that'd kill Grim Giants and Ancient Dragons with ease, which means that they'd also be able to pierce Escanso's Shell.

The branch we're on thins as we walk forward to the point that it becomes hard to walk side-by-side, so the soldiers move onwards in single file, but we persevere and continue on hand-in-claw since we can see our destination ahead of us, or rather, can't. The branch ends at nothing.

The soldiers continue without hesitation, stepping past the sudden end of the branch and entering the obviously invisible path, a blatant boasting of their enchanting capabilities, and a warning that the whole fortress likely has the capability of something similar.

One by one, the soldiers and their presences disappear into the "cloaked area," as Wolfy excitedly puts it, without a single particle of mana escaping, evidence of its perfection.

We don't have time to gawk, so we follow them, but the moment we cross the invisible curtain, we find ourselves inside the standard Interspace. The infinite dark room where one would choose a floor when entering a dungeon with an Elevator.

The change is so jarring that we freeze up in shock for a brief moment, but Wolfy's endless curiosity pulls me out of it, and we begin studying our location. We're not sure if it's Space or [Illusion Magic] or an actual dungeon that we're in now, but it's exactly like an Interspace as it even has the same strange omnidirectional illumination.

Then someone suddenly appears in my [Sense Presence], and we both turn our bodies to face the person.

We see an older version of Rande, a dark-skinned man with short silver hair and more muscle than Wolfy dreams he could ever have, but his overly manly face and sharp jaw make him look awfully off-putting to me. An elf without grace is just a glorified human.

Curiously, we can only see half his body, with everything below his chest seemingly hidden behind an invisible wall, and his posture indicates that he's currently sitting.

"[Lords…]" He begins speaking in Ingua and adds a dramatic pause, but his deep, gravely voice makes his exaggerated manliness begin to look a bit comical in my eyes. "[Take a seat, and the Granreniandisabis will begin],"

Two lavish, golden chairs appear before us, and we calmly take our seats, then the rest of the Council reveal themselves before us. Eleven in total, they're an eclectic assortment of elves, but they're all showing the early signs of aging of wrinkles and white strands of hair, and then Wolfy notes that they're all over level one hundred.

We sense the weight of their stares along with the subtle tells of someone with a high level, hundreds of skills, and overwhelming magical ability multiplied eleven-fold, and yet we feel nothing.

We are so comfortable in our seats that the instinctive respect a sprout feels before an ancient tree is nowhere to be found within us. We feel their power, we understand it within our minds, but it provokes no reaction within our hearts.

"A dragon bows to no one unless it's forced to do so," I catch one of Wolfy's stray thoughts.

The corniness of this situation is quite evident to me, but I'm not stupid enough to laugh in front of the Council, so I remain as stern as always.

"[First, let's address the fact that we specifically asked that only one of you would come]," Elder Lerante begins without even introducing himself. The old itchy ivy makes no effort to hide his contempt for us.

But I nudge Wolfy, and he promptly interjects, letting his annoyance become evident in his tone, "[I'm not proficient enough in Ingua to hold a meeting in this language, and I know the Council can speak in Andraste perfectly]."

It mildly amuses me that we've managed to shock them with his proficiency in Ingua as they remain silent for just a few seconds too many. They don't even seem to realize the contradiction of his words being delivered so perfectly.

"Lerante, don't be impolite, speak in Andraste," Elder Edoso Leigelas commands. We didn't need Wolfy's [Sense Soul] to know who he is, for his delicate and mature face is strikingly similar to the God of Law's. His gaze is mysterious due to how his emerald eyes look like they're gazing far away and out of focus as if he were almost blind, but his deliberate movements tell us that he may in fact be extraordinarily aware of his surroundings. And he's also the most vain of them all as both his long golden hair and his beard are intricately braided and tied with vines that grow out of his clothes, giving the impression that they're tied around his entire body.

After a short moment of hesitation, Lerante swallows his pride and repeats himself, now in Andraste, "First, let's address the fact that we specifically asked that only one of you would come."

Wolfy takes charge again, and he matches my lofty expression as he declares, "We come together, for we rule together. To separate us is to weaken us."

"There's always one who stands above," Elder Armos, the man who greeted us, casually replies.

"Our case is special," Wolfy insists, and the Elders seem to have difficulty arguing against that.

"It doesn't matter, you had to choose, but you didn't," Lerante rebukes us, openly antagonistic.

But Wolfy doesn't feel threatened by him. "No, we were forced to choose between two options, but we decided to do what was best for us."

"Useless questioning, let's move on to the next topic," Edoso interrupts tiredly. The other Elders look mildly annoyed with us, but they agree that this is just a waste of time, so we move on.

And Armos promptly continues by candidly questioning, "On to more important matters, what the fuck are you doing with the Templars?"

"Armos, language," Elder Cinanta pleads. The gorgeous woman immediately arouses Wolfy, but he easily keeps it limp to not ruin the occasion. Her voluminous hair is no match for my drills, though, so he could do better.

"I needed that to emphasize our bewilderment," Armos replies with a very fake smile.

"No, you didn't," Cinanta states dryly, briefly triggering Wolfy's fetish for snobbish women.

"Stop with the bickering," Lerante chastises and glares at them, then he turns to us and commands, "Answer the question."

We share quick words through [Bind] to confirm things, then I affirm, "We don't understand the question."

Armos rolls his eyes in frustration, a sentiment which is seemingly shared by half the Council, then the ridiculously manly man grumbles loudly, "They're flooding the Western High Forest, and their incessant preaching is riling up the commoners. You'll have unrest at your doorstep any day now."

I send a subtle glance at Edoso, but he's completely impassive.

And Wolfy starts to engage him, "We're a family with a close relationship to the Gods. Why did you expect us to turn our backs on them once we became Lords?"

"Naive," one of the Elders hisses.

And Wolfy lets some draconic anger color his tone as his tail releases my waist and stiffens in attention. "The people lack faith, so they allowed themselves to languish in misery while you slowly drained their blood."

Ah… that felt so good… berate them more, Wolfy.

"What are you talking about, child? It was that very same 'draining' that allowed you to become a Lord!" Armos shouts angrily, and a third of the Elders hum in agreement.

"Doesn't make it right," Wolfy states with a deliberate tone.

But Armos' mood turns grim. "And the alternative would've been war."

And Wolfy smiles as the Elder falls into his verbal trap. "You seem well-prepared for that. You could've stopped the late Lord Mavel Este quite easily and long before the commoners began to suffer from your conflict, but you had to keep up appearances and allow the wound to fester."

I feel a heat between my legs as I imagine Wolfy making the Elders submit. It seems that Roxanne's fetish about Wolfy dominating other men is infecting me, too.

While Armos bites his tongue, Lerante snorts and smugly remarks, "I told you all that letting an imperial become a Lord would infect our culture with their aggressiveness." Then he sneers at Wolfy and me.

"He's as much of an imperial as I am," Edoso comes to our defense, and his chilly take makes the growing heat of our emotions take a dip.

Lerante's smugness fades, replaced by rising anger. "Don't say such nonsense. The insolent Lord has no respect for our tact. He's as combative as the rest of his kind."

Wolfy reveals a glimpse of his rare, true anger as he snaps back, "You dare say such things after you killed my wife's father?!"

Lerante points a wrinkly finger at him and slowly spits out his venom, "You killed him, personally."

That makes us both so incensed that our bodies tense in sync as we hold back our mirrored desire to decapitate him. "Sophistry!" Wolfy shouts and points a claw at each of the Elders. "You all gave the order! Why?! Because he didn't conform to your vision of progress! So now, we follow the God of Change closely, looking forward to improving the lives of our people, the commoners who swore to serve us while we protect them in return," he proudly declares, his powerful voice almost breaking my own composure as the rising emotions start to overwhelm me.

Armos angrily waves his whole arm dismissively. "We're talking about the Templar invasion, not progress!" He shouts with a scowl.

"There won't be any progress without faith! The High Forest stagnated because of it!" He snaps back, and I notice Edoso react with a subtle smile, which tells us that we're on the right path.

"Faith has no relation to progress, that's faulty reasoning," Lerante retorts categorically.

"Faith is what prevents stagnation, and you can't seriously argue that the High Forest wasn't stagnating," I riposte and sneer at him, but unexpectedly, I seem to have unnerved him quite effectively. I believe our opponents aren't ready to defy the Gods, so we have a safe ground to fall back on.

"Your measures against stagnation will bring instability to our land," Cinanta calmly chimes in.

"There can be no progress without the risk of failure," Wolfy replies in kind.

"As long as they understand the consequences…" Edoso adds and lets it hang in the air.

"Which will also cause the commoners to suffer," Armos bitterly states.

"They'll suffer regardless," I reply dismissively.

"The Templars ensure that their suffering won't be drawn out needlessly," Wolfy piles in.

Armos frowns and replies emptily, "Echoes of preachers."

Then the Council goes silent as the raw emotions cool down, but Cinanta doesn't let it linger for long and softly announces, "The Ryders are well within their rights to do what they're doing, though it has been made clear that some Elders have objections regarding their methods. Does anyone else have anything to add?"

And they all shake their heads silently.

Then Cinanta's gaze turns stern as she starts to closely analyze our response. "The final topic we'd like to talk about is your claim about being 'royalty.'"

Wolfy produces Arreira's writ and silently displays it to everyone.

"A dead man's will doesn't have any impact on what isn't his anymore to decide," Lerante callously remarks.

The room suddenly heats up as the entire Council becomes incensed, so I take the opportunity and guide Wolfy's anger to help him lambaste this moron, "Where's your respect?! Your predecessors stole the throne out from under him and nearly plunged the High Forest into a war, and you have the audacity to disrespect him after you lectured us about 'imperial aggressiveness'!?"

Our attack strikes true as Lerante's anger bursts out, and he starts to curse as he wildly wags his finger at us, "Insolent imperial cur! Revisionism! Arreira wanted to sell the High Forest!"

"Silence! Your insults will not be tolerated here!" Edoso uses his influence again, but it's not enough to fully cool down the situation, and the Council suddenly becomes divided, one side staring daggers at the other as we seem to have stepped right on a key, divisive point.

"The royal family was never denounced by the Generals or the Council, so what we do with them is none of your concern," Wolfy firmly asserts and glares back with righteous draconic fury at Lerante and his supporters.

"Why do you need to claim to be royals?" Armos questions, clearly holding back his anger.

"Why do you care? Our fight is with the old royal family," Wolfy dryly replies.

"Another fight, I see," Lerante sneers.

I snootily lash at him, "Stop with this whining!" Then I recompose myself and sternly question, "We want to deal with Heretic's Rest, a blight upon the reputation of all elves, so why does the Council oppose our claim so much?"

"Do any of you have relations with the heretical royals?" Edoso smugly asks the rest of the Council, and those in opposition to our claim take a noticeable hit to their morale.

"They obviously have Patrono," Lerante tries to deflect.

But I immediately shoot that argument down, "So what? The Council obviously has Monarca, or else the royal insurgence would've used it."

Lina's Trivia: Monarca was Arreira's Heavenly Armor, which was stolen by the ten treasonous Generals, so it must now be in the possession of the Council.

"Are you afraid that we'll use Patrono against the Council?" Wolfy asks defiantly, egging them on to admit their fear of him, but they don't fall for the bait.

With each word, our position continues to grow stronger as their arguments are repeatedly shot down. They may have ridiculously high levels, but we're showing them that they can't ignore us or put us down, and Edoso's positive disposition towards us is becoming quite evident, so we're starting to gain leverage in this discussion.

"A dangerous toy for a boy," one of the Elders speaks out of turn.

And Wolfy deems him only worthy of a glance. "Our rightful property. Same goes for Monarca."

"That has yet to be established," Armos replies through gritted teeth.

Wolfy throws the writ at him. "Take it, we have copies, and we're ready to attest to their authenticity through the Seekers of Truth."

"What for? For what reason do you dredge up this conflict again?" Another Elder asks, clearly bewildered, and with that, our moment of truth has come.

This is the best opportunity we'll ever have to deal our hand, and though we aren't entirely sure about how it'll go, we know that this is our best bet.

Wolfy's youthful voice reverberates through the infinite darkness as his words shock the entire Council, "We'll deal with Heretic's Rest, and mend the wound that you let fester, in exchange for a seat on the Council, as is our right as the new royal family."

The silence that falls over us all is so oppressive that I start to feel a small amount of fear that they might now want to kill us.

 

Intermission end.