Call me a pussy, call me a loser. All these applied to me. I fled in defeat. I transformed into Lily and booked a room at some inn. Then I took a loaf of honey-fruit bread, still steaming from the oven and devoured it. I could make ice cream but Temus's bread was way better. For three days I sulked in the room, not leaving for food or anything. I just slipped some coins behind the door when the innkeeper came to collect his fees. On the third day, I was too tired.

I cried myself to sleep.

----------------------------------------

Queen Lorna of Windemere grieved the betrayal and death of her consort for three days. The official story was that the real Cedric was killed and replaced by a lookalike that was so good it fooled everyone, including the Queen and the spymaster. Kazuyran stoically accepted the task and the hit to his flawless reputation.

She made a single request to Lakerta. One thing. "Please don't kill my husband." She went and killed him. Twice. Rolling on her bed, she screamed into the pillow until her voice became hoarse. The maids came and literally dragged her to take a bath. They scrubbed her body, taking care to not hurt her aging skin. She was left to soak in the lavish tub. The Queen let her mind wander and suddenly she noticed the maids were no longer in the bathing room. She was all alone. Or was she?

"I know you are there! Come out now!" She said to nobody in particular.

Her cat-kin senses were sharp even with her advanced age. But she sensed nobody. As if she would find someone with an enhanced Stealth Skill in the grandmaster levels and a plethora of Perks to complement it if it was who she was thinking of. But Queen Lorna had to try.

"My personal ladies-in-waiting wouldn't let me alone unless someone made them. Come out! Show yourself!"

Nothing. She was feeling foolish. Antsy. What if it is not her? What if it is really an [Assassin], the bane of all Kings and Queens?

"Lakerta! It is not funny!" She pouted and sighed, exasperated.

'Naked in the lukewarm tub, with only her enchanted Dragonscale Amulet on her neck. That's how one of the longest-living Queens in all of Auvanini meets her end', she mused.

"Rosie, please. Show yourself so we can talk. Please be it you."

The sweet voice of the Eleon [Sorceress] came from nowhere. "We've known each other for so long / Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it."

"DAMMIT! Why do you give me such a scare!" The Queen screamed at the walls.

The singer continued after the Queen stopped. "Inside we both know what's been going on / We know the game and we're gonna play it."

Lorna whimpered, cried, splashed water. It was frustrating.

Rosewise's voice kept going, "And if you ask me how I'm feeling / Don't tell me you're too blind to see."

"Come here, Rosie. Please," Lorna begged.

Rosewise Honorcoin appeared from within the tub, right between Lorna's legs. She appeared to be made of water for a moment before the water became flesh. For some reason, she was bald. Their eyes met and she sang one last verse,

"I'm never gonna give you up!"

Her grin was so wide, so warm, that Lorna felt weak on the legs. And suddenly too conscious that she was naked, with her legs spread open, with her former lover between them.

"We cannot. Rosie, it's too late."

Her tiny guided Lorna's chin, forcing her to stare into those sweet almond eyes. Eyes she longed for decades to see once again.

"Lorna. My Queen. My kitten. My lover. My [Prostitute]. My prideful apprentice. Please. I can't think of living without you."

"I'm going to die, Rosie. Even you can't stop that."

"I know. All of us are going to die. And I will have to live with a hole in my heart for all eternity. But why are we fucking wasting time?"

Lorna's heartbeat like the young girl she once was in the Dungeon. Longing for that comforting touch. Yearning the warmth and safety she felt when near Rosewise. But she was too hurt. Too old.

"I'm old and wrinkled. My fur lost its gloss. My tits are sagging. What do you want from me?"

"A kiss, to start," Rosewise said with a sultry voice. The Eleon's eyes ran up and down the Queen's body. She licked her lips, "And then everything else."

Lorna did wild things in her youth. Right from the start when she was enslaved and forced to work on a brothel even before she got her first period and access to the System. Then she was forced to take the [Prostitute] Class. Her selection of Perks was also out of her hands. She was resigned to be a sex toy to be bought, used, discarded. At least she kept her brother close. Safe.

Then her current owners took a job to murder adventurers to feed the Dungeon. To cause a stampede and summon the third Demon Lord. Lorna's life was over if they hadn't run into Rosewise. Even if the idiots were defeated by another group, they would be executed as accomplices. Instead, Rosewise took them. Nurtured them. Gave them power beyond their wildest dreams. Broke the collars.

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Lorna gagged. Her heart wanted to jump out of her chest, climb up her throat. Her cheeks were burning. Rosewise caressed her cheek and she melted.

"That's unfair. You have too many Perks to influence my reaction," she whimpered.

Not that Lorna's selection of sex-oriented Perks was any less effective. No man that fucked her ever rose a hand to strike her or her brother again. Maybe that's why she survived for so long with Cedric III sent to kill her.

"I'm using no Skills or Perks. I could trigger all of them to show you what it's like. But not now. All that you are feeling are your true feelings. Lorna, let me in. Please."

She glanced down. Then back up. Rosewise giggled, "In your heart, silly. We can go there... later."

Lorna's lips parted. She wondered if Rosie's lips would taste the same. Her mouth was dry for some reason. Her old heart was pounding like crazy.

"I'm not kissing you until you tell me you want it," Rosewise teased. "You know very well how we do things in my world."

Lorna gave up and leaned forward. She brought a hand behind Rose's neck and kissed her. Rosie's lips tasted like honey fruit bread like her father used to bake. Tasted like yesterday's broken promises.

Rosie caressed her body just the way she liked. Lorna felt a shock of lightning run up her spine. "Rosie, wait," She gasped. Everything was blurry.

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I woke from a wet dream, still the same day of the throne room visit, still in the inn. Damn. It was all in my mind. I couldn't give up on Lorna, could I? No. I could feel her touch, hear her voice, taste her... Oww. No, that's mine.

The bedding was all damp from sweat and... other things. I waited to calm my breathing. Why the hell did I have a dream from Lorna's perspective? Damn, how afraid she was! Like a little kitten cornered in an alley by a mastiff. And... did I rickroll myself in my dream?

It was hard to bear the aftershock of that dream. The feeling of Lorna's lips, her skin, that was all too real. The guilt, the nerve-wracking guilt, it was an abyss poised to devour me.

I cleaned the bed with House magic and fled the inn through the wall like a ghost. I had to go back to the castle. I had to try. She could reject me. Would things go worse than what they already were? No.

Like a ghost, I invaded Lorna's bedroom. There were a lot of wards but as long as I moved slowly while incorporeal I wouldn't trigger them. {Grandmaster Surreptitiousness} was a cheat.

Lorna was on her bed, sleeping. The swelling around the eyes and the stains on her pillows told me she too had cried to sleep. I was drawn to her. I landed and took my spot on the bed next to her. I just had to hold her, caress those cat ears. Play with her tail. I added those same appendages to me. The Fox-kin Disguise Kit helped me with the fur.

I still didn't touch her. It would probably be a felony, not that the people of this world cared. She wasn't my wife anymore. So I stayed there, watching her like a creep. Lorna stirred and turned. She touched me and threw an arm over my back, pulling me close to her.

"Rosie..." she mumbled.

Her tail flicked and wrapped around my leg. She found mine and entwined it as we did back then. I didn't move an inch. Just feeling her close to me made me melt. I knew she would freak out when she found me in her bed but I couldn't help it.

Lorna stirred again and half-opened her eyes. "Rosie."

Stiff as a popsicle, I just said, "Good morning, Lorna."

"Your breath smells of your father's bread," She said, still half-asleep. I think she believes to be dreaming.

"I've eaten a few. Do you want a loaf?"

"Yes. I missed them ever since Temus died."

I brought one from the item box. Lorna split a bit from me. "Careful, it's piping hot. Straight from the oven."

Lorna smelled the bread. She chanted a heat resistance spell and took the loaf from me. At the first bite, she moaned. "So good. Just like I remember. Too bad it's a dream."

"Are you angry with me?" I asked without telling her it was not a dream.

Lorna rolled her eyes and bit her lower lip. "Disappointed. I still love you, Rosie. But you hurt me too much."

"What can I do for you to forgive me?"

She blinked. If I had to guess, the bread sugars hit her bloodstream, bringing her out of her half-dreaming state. "Oh, goodness," Lorna gasped. "This is not a dream."

"It seems I invaded your bed, Your Majesty," I said with a cheeky grin. "But I didn't do anything improper."

She slapped me. "Get away from here! Guards! Guards!" She kept hitting me but without moving away.

I grabbed her shoulder, "What are guards going to do against me, Lorna? I just want to talk, make this work. Please. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

She sobbed, "Dammit, Rosie. I can't. I can't deal with it again. I can't unbottle that pain."

I chuckled and used my daily {Curse Suppression}, "You called me 'Rosie' a lot. But this is the first wide awake. That's a start. Please, Lorna. I had to do that. Bundeus will not stop until either he or I am gone. If I let him take a chunk of my Perks, he would come back for more later."

Her eyes narrowed, "That's it. Give up your vengeance on Bundeus if you want to stay with me. Which one of us is more important to you?"

"Okay," I said without missing a beat. "I won't go against Bundeus' Church if that's what it takes to have you. My gorgeous Queen."

"You don't mind seeing me this way?" She asked timidly.

"Are you kidding? I'm seeing you! My eyes work this time! You're gorgeous!"

Lorna sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took another bite of the bread. "This too is real, isn't it?" She asked while chewing.

"Yes. That's why I had daddy bake like a slave for me... Oh, sorry."

"How many of these do you have?" She asked with a wicked grin.

"Hundreds, but we'll never have any others like these, so it's too little."

"Give up all the bread to me. You're forbidden from ever eating another in your life... lives. And I'm going to eat all of them, one each day in front of you, and tell you how delicious they are. Then I'm going to eat the crumbs."

I flinched in bed. "That's cruel! I'm already giving up on my vengeance." I was salivating. My torment had already started. Lorna kept chewing and moaning.

"You gave up your vengeance because you'll stay with me. The bread is your punishment," She grinned and bit the bread again. "This is delicious. And that's the punishment you deserve. I made a single request for you. One thing. 'Please don't kill my husband.' You went and killed him. Twice."

She said it Just like in my dream.

"He wanted to murder you!" I defended myself. "You win. All my breads are belong to you."

Lorna held my chin. "I'm going to regret this so much tomorrow."

She kissed me. I closed my eyes and kissed her back, embracing my Queen. In the back of my head, the song started playing.

> "We're no strangers to love..."

I flopped on the bed. Lorna may be over a hundred years old, but she still can fuck like she was twenty. I'm afraid I have to report that my punishment is not just the seizure of all my stock of daddy's honey-fruit bread. Lorna can be very mean when she wants to.

Lorna drew a finger over my chest, causing all kinds of sensations. "Tired so soon?" She teased.

"Can you let me catch my breath, mistress?" I asked with a sharp voice.

"Maybe. But I want you in your real form. I always wanted to know how did Lamias... I mean, where is it, anyway?"

"near the end of my tail. Like the snakes.

"Oh," She grinned like the predator she always was. "Show me."

I did. Oh, boy.