"...Are you awake?"

"Yes! Just, nngh... Oh, bother. Mistress. Mistress... Wake up, please, I need to make you breakfast and Moon Unit has to... um, actually, what do you need?"

"TO PEE!"

"YES, that! Mistress!"

Snapping back to complete alertness, I... pause. Blink. And start unwinding the coils of tentacles. (Note to self - apparently, I'm an octopus-style cuddler while "asleep".) Moon Unit runs out of the room. I guess she really wanted to go, huh. Bridgit looks at me. Blushes. "Good morning, mistress." - she offers bashfully, hiding her eyes - "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Some omelettes would be nice. Make sure to cook enough for all three of us, alright?" - I tell her - "Don't skimp on pepper. And don't try to put it only on mine, either." She squirms as I tap her nose with fingertip lightly - "Better get used to it, Bridgit. I'm prone to spoiling my girls silly. I have a couple things to discuss with you, but it will keep until afternoon."

"...Mistress..." - she groans softly - "I'm not... I mean... shouldn't you..."

I bop her lightly. "Nope." - I enunciate to her clearly - "Let me put it simply, Bridgit. I like girls. I intend to have a whole harem of cute and lovely girls, and you will be an equal part of the harem for as long as you want to be with me. Understand? Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Hee." - and Moon Unit is back. And jumps into bed without any hesitation, sprawling on top of me languidly - "Harem, huh? Does that make us your wives, then?"

"Generally speaking, yes." - I confirm simply, making both of them jerk up and stare at me wide-eyed - "It might be a while before I have enough political weight to make it official, though. As far as I am concerned, though, yes. Consider yourself my wives. Well, if you want to be, that is. No pressure."

"...But, what about your engagement..." - Bridgit mutters - "You... you can't just abandon a PRINCE to marry a maid!" Moon Unit seems to be in agreement with her, frowning and nodding.

"Ah. Yeah, well. I'm going to try and fob this engagement over to Selene. She seems to like Ed, and Ed seems to like her and honestly, I'm not even attracted to Ed to begin with." - I answer simply - "Yes, I understand. It sounds outlandish to you. But understand my predicament here. I'm not human, never been human. I can pretend really well, but I can't hide my nature from my spouse, right? I honestly do NOT see Ed being fine with the fact his wife can sprout tentacles casually, you know? Besides, he's just a spare prince. I have plans in motion to carve myself a nice domain to call my own, I don't need a prince to prop me up."

"But... Mistress, what are you, even? How did you end up being lady Gillespie, if you're not a human?" - Bridgit inquires. It's well-hidden, but I can see her entertaining some... bad suspicions. Thankfully, my inhumane features do NOT match any of the common supernatural babysnatchers even slightly, or we'd have a problem.

"That... is a family secret." - I explain to them - "Bridgit, you already know my mother miscarried three times before having me, right? Well, that is because she and father are not entirely compatible. The dangers of marrying close to family. Because Bradfords and Gillespies intermarried often, we share too much blood, and... Well. Putting it simply, mother and father can only have boys. If mother is pregnant with a girl, it will be a stillbirth. They had a famous mage aid with this issue to have me, because they thought they can't have children at all. His solution was, well... to summon a seed from the divine realm and replace the failing body with this seed in the womb. Thus, I am born Alyssa Gillespie, who is a SHOGGOTH."

Oh, those expressions are priceless. I continue - "Keep this a secret, would you kindly? None of us needs the hassle that would find us should this become known outside of the family. And yes, I'm telling you this precisely because I consider you family. If at some point of time you decide to leave, well. I will depend on your honor to keep the secret, alright?"

They exchange a glance, and lean closer to me, kissing my cheeks. "Alyssa, if you think I'll ever leave, you're sorely mistaken. You're mine." - Moon Unit murmurs.

"I'm not leaving you, mistress. Not now, not ever." - Bridgit echoes her. Hnng. Adorable waifus, confirmed. Yet again. I'll never tire of this.

___

It takes a bit of effort to get out of bed. Honestly, I'd love to stay there all day, but there are studies to be had. Moon Unit does a quick run to her room to change into fresh clothes and grab her learning materials and comes back for omelettes and coffee. Meanwhile, I clump a bunch of mass into a larger version of a spider with a cup-sized compartment instead of an eye and put a cup of freshly brewed coffee into it along with a brief note to Selene. Nothing important, just good morning greetings and some friendly ribbing about not squealing too loud over coffee. I'm in luck, spider makes it into her room just as she busies herself with her morning ablutions and is able to deposit the cup and the note on her table without hindrance.

And here she comes and notices the cup. Oh, yes, that's the expression I like. Also, appreciating the show, Selene. You probably didn't intend on giving it, but hey, nice tits. Have a good morning now. She lifts the cup gingerly and sniffs it, her body starting to glow softly as she takes the first sip. Whoops, she's going to shine all morning probably. People are going to be wondering what put her in such a good mood.

Actually... Yep. Goodness, that might get a little awkward, because Bridgit and Moon Unit are both emitting a glow of their own. Not badly enough to be immediately seen, but should either of them loiter in the shadow, it would quickly become apparent. Oh well, Bridgit is not milling with students much, and for Selene and Moon Unit... I suppose the fact they did a big magic thing in the temple yesterday would be sufficient to explain the glow. When prelate says you're worthy, it's a pretty serious achievement.

We depart for our studies shortly after breakfast, Bridgit getting a kiss from me and Moon Unit as we come out to the corridor. It's thankfully empty enough that I risk kissing Moon Unit as we're about to part our ways. Selene is down the corridor, waving to Moon Unit. Huh. Eyespider on this, just in case. That might be a problem.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Hello." - Selene offers softly - "I wanted to apologize for yesterday." Or maybe not. At Moon Unit's quirked brow she continues - "We had a long talk with lady Gillespie after she put you to bed. I've been... thinking a lot of wrong things about her. She's actually really nice, and I'm sorry I implied bad things about her last time."

Moon Unit huffs. Then sighs. "...Alright." - she offers - "I'm still mad at you for saying those things, but you do know better now, so... apologies accepted."

Selene grins and steps aside, falling in step with Moon Unit as they go to class. "She actually told me a bit about her plans last night, and, well..." - she pauses, then squeals - "I'm sorry, it's just... you are so cute together!"

"What?!" - and my elven waifu nearly stumbles. Selene, really? "She told you about.. us?"

Selene nods happily - "Yeah! Don't worry, I'm totally in favor. And yeah, I know to keep it quiet from anyone else, just... I had to say it to you, you know? Because ohmygawd, I can't get over how cute this is. Also, good for her, I think. She really likes you, you know? Each time you were mentioned, she's like... had this look like 'what am I doing here if she's over there', you know? Eeee!" And I've got a shipper on deck. Joy.

Moon Unit chuckles lightly, her cheeks pink. "I know." - she mutters - "I still can't believe I'm so lucky."

Alright. No reason to butt in. They're getting along now, it looks like. At some point of time, I'll need to get all of them together and outline some of the more immediate plans so they know what to expect from each other, but that can wait. Honestly, until Selene manages to get Ed to talk to me, nothing big is going to happen anyway. I hope, at least.

___

Days go by. I get my daily dose of cuteness, study the tomes of law and generally kill my time. Oh, also keep up a correspondence with dad, mostly sending him my ideas on things to produce. Magical hot plates are already appearing on the bazaar, and apparently are a big hit among nobles, who are enticed by the idea of "have a way to keep your meal hot right on your table". Per my suggestion, a plate comes with a brass wristband embossed with lilies, and a slip of paper explaining the basics of directing fire magic into the plate, to make things easy. I've even had one of the noble girls I'm keeping light acquaintance with brag about being "first to own" to me. She was.. a little embarrassed when I admitted to inventing them and having one before I even got into the Academy. Cluing her in on "hair breeze" smoothed the awkwardness over, though. And yes, I did "invent" a hair dryer. Mostly a wooden pistol-shaped thing, with a brass plate in the end. Again, embossed with lilies. The handle is engraved with thistle. Simply clutch the thing in your hand and apply power to have hot air.

Also, I apparently have a following of girls now, who hang out with me mostly to get clues on the next "usefulness" to come out to the bazaar. I try not to concentrate on woman share of the market, though. Putting out all sorts of magical tools brings gold hand over fist to the county's coffers, and the bigger share of the market I snag first, the best for me. So now men are bragging about "beardcutters", which are not even magical, just hand-cranked hair clippers. Dwarves apparently figured out that rocksaw can also be metal saw if you grind the dust to be finer, and promptly put it to use making fine-milled tools. I pitch the idea for a turntable machine next. For now, it will have to be cranked by hand via series of multiplication gears, or maybe they can cut straight to water-driven. Waterwheel mill had been finally completed in the town and dad had sent me a very hefty sack of gold with the note that says "I have four coffers now and I still can't fit all the profits in. Take the responsibility for leftovers!"

With gold just rolling in like this, I spoil the girls a little. Moon Unit gets a nice embroidered cloak and a bunch of petty jewelry. Including a locket with Gillespie crest, because yes, I'm entirely willing to claim her as mine. People notice and promptly decide that I've been headhunting for talents. For Bridgit, I get her a couple of nice dresses (including a fine silk gown that made her stammer a lot about being "oh so very spoiled") and again, jewelry, including a crest locket, because I want everyone to know she's mine and I will come down on any motherfucker trying to get handsy with her like a ton of bricks. Selene gets a satchel of cava. Her squeal is heard throughout the whole dorm and spawns a whole LOT of rumors about the possible cause of her glowing for the next three days straight.

Ed is still being recalcitrant bastard, and that is in spite of both Selene and Alistair telling him several times that maybe it's time to actually talk to me and settle things. Alistair, notably, comes to talk to me about Selene a couple days in, and leaves absolutely flabbergasted after finding out that I have no objection to Ed courting her and in fact would really prefer they be a couple and get the engagement off me already. Ed flatly refuses to listen to them though, and instead berates them for even trying to talk to me, insisting nothing good is to come out of it. I'm starting to wonder if there is something wrong with Ed. And not in the "why are you so bloody stubborn" way, but rather "golly, maybe he is being influenced to act this way". Not sure how, though. My spying failed to uncover anything worthwhile Ed might be blackmailed over with, so probably not that. Magical influence? No way to check discreetly, Ed needs to cooperate for that. Maybe give Selene a clue about that and see if she can talk him into getting checked at the temple? Or failing that, have him object vehemently enough to trigger Alistair's suspicions enough to carry it out forcibly? Something to consider.

Hiram actually was missing for a good deal of time. Apparently, he had to take an urgent trip back to Kraut. I... may have caused that with my dumping the head of Klaus on his table. I hope he doesn't make a big deal out of it. Not in the sense of Krauts getting offended, the very idea of trying a slave collar on high nobility of allied kingdom is sufficient casus belli, but in the sense of him actually bringing back something uncomfortably ostentatious as a peace offering. His room is still empty, though his petty belongings are still in and his manservant comes by every other day to water the flowers. He'll be back soon, hopefully.

Lemand is secluding himself in the library, as expected. He is, thankfully, diverted from dimensional magics and instead seems to be going through the available tomes on enchantment. I encourage the practice by "accidentally" bumping into him in the library and praising his "practical mindset". He brushes it off as "just indulging scholarly pursuits", but I can see he is perked up. Apparently, Lamarchands are not of high opinion about his inclination for magic. Lamarchand senior is famous for his martial prowess, and his firstborn is father's pride and joy... And I guess I just found out why Lamand is almost aggressively shielding himself from the world with magical tomes. He is duly appreciative when I send him a set of brass inkwells and quill holders and actually seeks me out to give his thanks. The conversation is short, but he is clearly enthused when I tell him that the gift was so he could pursue his scholastic goals with comfort. Of course, that prompted yet another round of "lady Gillespie is headhunting"... Which, honestly speaking, is not a lie, so I just smile and offer noncommittal answers to the few people brave enough to broach the topic with me.

Not counting Ed problem, things are proceeding apace according to my plans. Right until the end of the first month, when Academy announces the end of an introductory course and the arrival of several new students. Hiram is finally back, but what worries me more is that there is another student making an appearance. Emir Abbas ibn-Salaadin. The first prince of Oija Sultanate and consummate haughty bastard.