Myria says "Ugh, why can't you be dense right now?! Fine! Yes, there is a reason I brought it up. The lion, tiger, cheetah, jaguar, and lynx clans have formed an alliance and sent you a message. They will all submit to you without a fight, but they have a condition."

"Five more clans? That would give me a majority! What is the condition??"

Myria says "You will have to take one of their women as your third wife."

"What?!? Please, tell me you are joking!"

Myria says "Unfortunately, no, I'm not. The five clans are adamant that you have to have a cat-type as a wife or they will not submit. They wanted her to be your first wife, but I told them that was never going to happen. After arguing for a while they finally agreed to her being the third wife."

"I don't care what they want. I am more than strong enough to force them to submit all on my own. In fact, at this point I can easily force all the remaining clans to submit."

Myria says "Maybe so, but we both know you won't do that. You want to get everyone to join you without having to kill anyone. Those that join willingly are much more reliable than those that are forced to join. Besides, those five clans joining would convince most if not all of the others to submit. All that, just for adding another wife."

"Ugh, don't use logic against me! Have you even met this woman?"

Myria says "No, not yet. In fact, last I heard she hadn't been chosen yet."

"Not chosen yet? What do you mean?"

Myria says "The clans believe in strength, so they are having a tournament to decide who the strongest female in the clan is. The winner will be the one they put forward as your wife."

"I can't believe that you are trying to convince me to marry a woman that hasn't even been chosen yet. What if I hate her? What if you and Lin can't stand her? This could ruin any chance we have at being happy."

Myria says "It's a political marriage. You don't have to get along with her. If you don't like her, just set her up in a house with some servants and forget about her. However, it will reduce the chances of bloodshed and speed up the merging of the clans. All in all, it is a pretty good deal. Trust me, I am not exactly happy about this and neither is Lin, but it makes sense."

"I know it's a good deal, I'm not stupid, but I still don't want to do it. While it is true that I don't want to have to kill beastmen, that doesn't mean that I won't. Hell, at this point I could probably deal with the demons on my own."

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Myria says "What? How?!"

"I would just need to build an army of golems. I would need to gather more materials, but that wouldn't be too hard. It would be less hassle than marrying a woman I don't know."

Myria says "But what about unifying the clans?! I thought that was one of your main goals?"

"That was for their own benefit. I was going to unify them so that humans couldn't just take them as slaves without consequences. If they don't want to join us, why should I care?"

Myria says "That is just your anger talking. I know you still care about the beastmen. Lin and I aren't going to try and force you to marry anyone, we just wanted you to consider it. This is certainly not how I wanted our time alone together to go!"

Instead of answering Myria, I stop and take deep breaths to try and calm down. It takes me a couple of minutes to actually calm down and Myria waits patiently. She doesn't say a word or make a move the entire time, which helps me calm down.

Once I am calm, I walk over and give Myria a hug and a kiss to show I am not mad at her. Myria responds enthusiastically, but that is no surprise at all, I was expecting it. When the kiss ends, Myria steps back with a happy smile on her face.

Myria says "I'm sorry. I really wasn't trying to make you mad."

"I know. It's not your fault. Besides, you are right, it is something I should at least think about. What makes me mad is the way they are going about it. I hate the feeling of being forced into something."

Myria says "I am not trying to get you to agree to the marriage right here and now. In fact, I wouldn't agree either. What I want is for you to agree to at least meet her once she is selected. If you just flat out refuse, negotiations are no longer possible."

"I will think about it and I will also discuss it with Lin to get her opinion. Now, any other bombs you want to drop on me?"

Myria says "Well, the emperor of the empire does have a daughter."

A few seconds later, Myria can't help it and starts laughing at the look on my face. It soon becomes apparent to me that she was just saying that to get a reaction out of me. So, in retaliation I tackle her and start tickling her as punishment.

Myria is soon laughing so hard that she can't fight back and is completely at my mercy. It is only when I stop tickling her that I realize just what kind of situation we are in. I have Myria's arms pinned above her and my body is lying along the length of hers.

Just as Myria finally manages to stop laughing and catch her breath, I kiss her deeply. Of course, she doesn't resist at all, her tongue eagerly welcomes mine. The kiss lasts for several minutes and leaves her breathless for a different reason.

I can easily tell from the way that she is looking at me that she wants me to continue. However, I am not sure that it would be a good idea at this point, but I have already crossed a line. Deciding for once to ignore the little voice in my head, I kiss her again.

I release her arms, which instantly wrap around me, and instead caress her soft, fluffy ears. When I do, her face and the inside of her ears turns a bright red color. Myria increases the intensity of the kiss and I quickly realize that I am close to going too far.

I quickly stop playing with her ears, but I don't immediately end the kiss. However, I do stop things from escalating any more and let the kiss end a few minutes later. To my surprise, Myria doesn't protest or show any signs of disappointment.

Myria says "That was nice, but I am surprised you didn't end it after the first kiss. I even felt you start to pull back before suddenly kissing me again. Ash, you have changed and I am guessing that Lin has something to do with it."

"Uh, I'm not sure how to answer that, but you are probably right."