We won't use any maids for this bath. We'll get spoiled if we always let them wash us, and we need some private time for ourselves.

Also, Klein isn't late, so we can have a nice bonding experience together.

Alissa has the highest [Washing] out of all of us, so everyone wants her attention. Of course, she chooses me first, and I use [Bind] to mirror her movements.

I only stimulate her for a short time so that she doesn't tire out. There's a line of women wanting to be touched by her, and it'd be no good if she didn't have the energy left to satisfy at least half of them.

After she's done with me, I wait on the sofa and deliberate on who I want to ravage today while human-Aoi bobs her head up and down. Her human form doesn't need cleaning, but her dragon form does, so I decide to get her to bounce on me while we wait for her turn.

I put the Ring of Fertility on a silver chain and hang it around my neck, then I feed it some mana and begin my "bonding" with Aoi.

While she's usually rough and aggressive, as a human, she's delicate and feminine. She didn't want to be the exact opposite of a dragon, but instead, she wanted to be the epitome of human gentle femininity.

I start kissing her chest and body, which gives her a small burst of energy that she uses to seal her lips against mine. Her tongue gently slips into my mouth, and instead of kicking up a storm like usual, it plays with mine, teasing my tongue in a manner that reminds me of Roxanne.

After a few minutes of passionate kissing, her turn finally comes, and she begrudgingly detaches herself from me, then I sigh and look around, searching for the next target.

I'm feeling somewhat predatory today, so I nab Lina before she can enter the hot bath.

I lay her down on one of the beds, and she strikes up a coy pose, as if she were Little Red Riding Hood about to be eaten by the Big Bad Wolf… which is not far from the truth.

I make sure that her fragile little body doesn't break, but her mind gives out midway. She's effectively passed out, though I know that she'll remember every detail of her Ravaging, she always does, and the pain in her waist will make sure that she doesn't forget for a long time… or until she asks for a [Heal].

After she's done, I grab Lina and lay her down on one of the clean beds, then I join Hana and Klein for a party of three.

I'd like to screw my monkey-girl's brains out, but first, we need to team up to defeat Hana.

The sweaty barbarian is a fearsome foe with a ridiculously large stamina bar, but every boss has a weak spot, and Hana's is a big, thick, spiky dragonator.

Through our teamwork, the boss is defeated and collapses in a puddle of her own juice, but this isn't co-op, this is a battle royale.

I pounce on Klein and easily bind her, then I use her as I please.

Her long monkey tail tries to fight back, but my thick dragon tail is pure muscle, so I tie her up completely and finish her.

I look around for my next prey and continue The Ravaging.

I stop in front of Alissa, the last opponent still standing.

She stops playing with herself and seductively licks her fingers, then she lays down on the bed and opens herself to me, inviting me in. She submits to my superiority and takes me in with delight until she finally collapses, leaving me as the last warrior standing.

I finally enter the hot bath with a sigh, then a little thirsty dragon clamps onto me. I still have some mana left to burn, so I let her do as she pleases.

Once our bodies are completely relaxed, it's time for dinner. Krysta convinced the elven chef to make not-pita bread sandwiches along with a dish that I love so very much: a charcuterie board of elven smoked meat, cold cuts, and cheeses. It's the perfect combo of elven food, incorporating everything they're good at while also being very considerate of our tastes.

Once my belly is filled, I sit by the streams in the corner of the dining room and wet my feet in the running water. At first, I don't feel much, but then I pad my claws with a layer of sensitive skin, allowing me to feel the cool water splashing against my scales, which feels very refreshing in this hot weather. I guess that this is exactly why the mages created this feature.

Hana sits down beside me, and her hand immediately goes for my hair to play with it. Before her brain massage can put me to sleep, I help her draft up a training routine for the Chimeras who want to learn [Soul Manipulation].

It seems that [Spirit Magic] will be experiencing a boom in business. Well, at least in this town, it will. There are still more mages applying to join our Court, but we'll resort to hiring them as freelancers because our numbers are nearing the limit. I don't want to give Mimi an aneurysm right now.

Once our conversation starts to peter out, Osaria sits down on my other side and snuggles up to me.

"Wolfy, I wanted to talk about my position as a concubine," she hesitantly says with a somewhat serious tone.

After suppressing the sudden desire to run away, I nod gently and urge her to continue, "Yes, what is it?" Then I wrap my tail around her waist to comfort her since she looks a bit nervous.

She anxiously taps her thick thighs, then her demeanor regains its usual faint coyness. "I've greatly enjoyed acting as your representative. The occasional traveling, the meetings with other people, the idea of representing someone as important as a Crown Lord…" -She suddenly grins and relaxes her body against mine- "It all resonates with me, so I want to make it official, but I'd also like it if I was properly paid for it, though I don't need to be paid like a diplomat. I just don't want to have to ask you for money every time I want something."

I grab her thigh and caress it lovingly to reassure her. "Sure, that's fine with me. I'll tell Mimi tomorrow."

The seductress comes back, and she grins mischievously, then gives me a peck on the cheek.

Unlike wives-to-be, concubines aren't seen as having the same level of authority as a wife. The point of marriage is to make it official that they're a team, so while spouses don't need to have the same level of power, they're expected to share the responsibilities of their positions, which is especially true for a position as important as a Lord. But concubines aren't "married" to their partners, so Osaria's word doesn't carry the same weight as mine does, and by law, our finances are still separate.

I grab her hand and give it a gentle kiss, then Hana gets a bit jealous, so she snuggles up to me on my other side, and both of my (padded) draconic arms get buried in between their mountains.

"Isn't it fitting that someone like Osaria represents us?" Yunia suddenly comments, hiding her smirk with a stony mask.

"An insatiable predator?" Klein questions teasingly and looks around, searching for supporters. "Sounds just like half of this harem."

Roxanne nods emphatically and sides with her, "Yes. A seductress that's even more of a succubus than I am."

"It's almost as if she's a fusion of all of our 'eccentricities,'" Alissa adds and nods sagely.

Ciel sighs wistfully and rests her cheek on her hand. "I could definitely sense a hint of a draconic thirst in her yesterday," she piles on.

Aoi tilts her head to the side and muses, "I think her level of desire is similar to a dragon's. Maybe one of her ancestors was a dragonkin?"

"Now that you mentioned it, I think she does make love like Hana," Klein agrees and chuckles cheekily.

Osaria actually blushes and pouts in annoyance, though she barely contains her smile since this is all in good fun. "You're all talking about me as if I were horrible," she complains.

"Horribly horny," Klein immediately retorts.

Osaria holds her waist in a sassy way and presses her, "And what does that make you?"

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Klein stutters and repeats in confusion, "W-what does that make me…?"

"Her damn toy!" Roxanne shouts and laughs along with Osaria.

"Personal licker," Hana plays along and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

"Fingering expert. Oh, wait, no, that's me, ohohohoh," Osaria taunts snobbishly like Yunia, then laughs like Roxanne.

Alissa lays her hand on top of Klein's and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Klein suddenly turns to her and pouts anxiously at Alissa's gentle expression.

"A friend to all of us," Alissa comforts her, and Klein forgets all about the previous banter, smiling cutely at her. Then Alissa's tail wags, and she narrows her eyes like a cheeky fox. "And Wolfy's seed extractor, number nine."

"NYAH!" Klein squeals in anger and surprise from the sneak attack and counters by pouncing on Alissa. Her hands wrap around the sly fox's neck, and she pretends to strangle her.

Alissa resists, and the two of them start to wrestle on the table, then they roll off of it and fall onto the soft grass-like floor but remain entangled.

They clasp their hands with each other and struggle for control, then Klein suddenly spreads their arms apart and attacks by kissing Alissa's lips.

The foxy girl feels a faint thump in her chest, stunning her for a split second, which is just enough time for the irate monkey to turn the tables on her. She forces Alissa to spin around and binds her arms behind her back while laughing manically.

"NAHAHAHAHA! Got you!"

She must be the second most experienced wrestler among us, with Hana firmly at the top. The two of them have had many borderline-gay tussles while growing up together.

Alissa struggles for a moment but gives up because she isn't strong enough to get out of this position. That doesn't mean she's been defeated, though.

She nuzzles up to Klein's neck, slightly calming down the victorious monkey girl, then she suddenly jerks her body to the side and nibbles on Klein's round monkey ears.

"NYAAA!" Klein shrieks from the painful jolt, allowing Alissa to escape her grasp. The animal ears of a wereanimal are their weak spot, but not because of the pain. Just like with getting poked in the ribs, it's a strong but difficult to explain sort of stimulation that throws off anyone who's not prepared for it.

Alissa grabs Klein's body and switches positions with her, getting on top of the stunned monkey girl.

She restrains Klein's arms and pins her waist between her legs, then she leans down and kisses her.

Now it's Klein's turn to become stunned for a split second, but instead of resisting Alissa, she reaches up to kiss her again.

Alissa's lower lips start tingling, and the two weregirls start kissing each other passionately.

Aside from her obsession with making me happy, I think Alissa is the straightest of all the girls, though she was never entirely straight.

I release Osaria's waist and get up, then I walk up to the girls and stop before them.

They stop kissing each other when they feel the shadow of my weapons on their faces.

"I feel that you two are going to need these," I whisper with a husky tone.

Alissa grins excitedly while Klein subtly licks her lips.

I cast [Heal] on them because two Ravagings in a single day is just too much for their frail bodies. Even though they were horny, they can only take so much.

The maids might've been a bit traumatized by the sight of us. They should've already heard about me, but seeing it in person is another thing entirely.

We retire to our bedroom, and I give Yunia some attention by brushing her hair. I could use my claws as a brush, but just that heretical thought alone is enough to earn me a glare from her, so I won't think about that idea any further.

After a while, I start to use my tentacles to hold the brush instead since they don't tire out like my clumsy hands do, and then I suddenly remember something that I should've addressed a long time ago.

Klein… I want Klein, there's no denying it.

She doesn't want to join the harem, but she also doesn't want to leave us. She might love us, but her feelings are nowhere near as strong as the love between the wives and myself.

She's like Ereia: she's our bed friend. A close friend, but still just a friend.

I don't want to give her up. Whether she's in love with Hana's brother or not, I want to have her as my concubine.

In truth, I want every woman. I want Krysta, I want Kaatohe, her long-gone mother, Hukarere, Oritiki, Kurii, Shala, Istante, Sainalai, Almaria, Poosh, Oura, Silvane, Nononya, Toroo, Silvina… and maybe I could plow some sense into Vanea… heh.

But I know that if I tried to force Klein to stay, she wouldn't be happy.

I cross my arms and start grumbling internally. The dragon inside of me is making this harder than it should be.

"You'll never have her," Alissa enters my mind, helping the human convince the stubborn dragon. "You can have her body, but not her heart."

Grumpy, stubborn, and proud. The shithead that now lives inside of me is holding onto Klein like how a child holds onto its toy in fear of having it taken away from them. I guess the Gods screwed me over by giving me this dragon, or maybe they just divided my personality into two different pieces, with the entirety of some of my bad characteristics being assigned to either one of them.

I still remember Ciel's worry that I might change too much, and that the man she fell in love with would disappear completely. I took that to heart, and now, I worry about how this new race will change me, but I can't truly say how old-me would've reacted to this situation.

I think he'd just put off the decision until the deadline. It wouldn't be the first time…

Old-me was kind, considerate, and moral. He knew very well where the line was, and he'd never cross it willingly.

Do these characteristics describe a man that would force a woman to commit to him? I don't think so, you grumpy lizard. Now screw off.

I cringe at myself. I never expected that I'd have to convince "my other self" to cooperate.

Oh damn, don't tell me that I've developed split personalities.

I throw myself onto the bed and puff out my cheeks. This is the best opportunity to talk about this, so I won't back down and postpone it again.

Hana sits beside me, and her strong fingers run through my hair, occasionally tugging at my stiff and rough black horns. I love it when she does that.

I look at her, and she gives me a compassionate smile.

She's gone through this already. She wanted to have me for herself, then she wanted Roxanne for herself, but that was never meant to be. It's been a long time since the greedy lizard inside her tried to hoard anything because she just can't.

You can cry and whine all you want, you stinky lizard, but you won't hoard everything. You know it, so let me do this, or I won't let you mount Aoi.

The damn c-brain stops grumbling for a moment. Threatening myself seems to have worked, but I don't know for how long since I find it extremely hard to believe that I'll be able to not do Aoi, especially since she herself thinks this is bullshit because it's also a punishment for her.

I chuckle softly at myself.

This is really damn stupid.

I secure the saddle on the dragon and forcefully reign it in.

I said my piece, now obey.

I'm still the same, mostly. I'm still the man that my wives fell in love with, just better… and slightly crazy, or maybe this is just how weredragons are.

My principles are still the same, though. I'm not letting a man into the harem, it's just that Klein was never really in it, to begin with.

"Aw… nibbling Skritters," Roxanne jokingly grumbles inside my mind.

Alissa sends her an angry glare. Ironically, it seems that she's the most concerned with faithfulness out of all of us.

I wrap my tail around hers to get her to calm down. I don't actually mind Roxanne's banter because I'm pretty secure in my position.

The rule about men is one of the few that put limits on our debauchery. If we were ever to cross it, I feel like I'd lose myself, so that's the line in the sand, the maximum extent to our depravity.

Klein breaks none of my rules because I should never have considered her to be part of the harem, even temporarily. The idea of a "temporary husband" was also a bad one from the start.

I guess this is why Krysta warned us about our relationship. We weren't in sync, and now I have to put in the effort to beat down my heart so that we'll be on the same page.

I breathe in to steady myself and sit up. Klein gives us a curious look, now noticing that we're acting slightly weird.

Osaria makes her bird stop singing, and a silence settles into the room.

I clear my throat and start, "Since we're talking about relationships, I think we need to clarify where we stand."

Klein's tail immediately shoots up as her eyes open wide, and her fur stands on end. "W-w-wha-wha-what?" She stutters, completely flustered.

I unwrap my tail from Alissa's, then I scoot towards Klein and entangle my tail with hers, pulling it down to get her to relax. I've quickly learned about how sensitive my non-human parts are. It's almost like they're a highway to my heart.

She calms down a little, but she still seems apprehensive, so I don't waste any more time. "It's nothing too serious, and it shouldn't change how things are."

She sucks in a breath and nods shyly.

"You love us, right?" I softly ask.

She nods vigorously, getting even more apprehensive.

"But you don't want to join the harem?" I ask directly. There's no point in going with any other approach.

She hesitates, then nods slowly and opens her heart to us, "I… I love you all, I really do, but I feel like there's 'something missing.' I just don't want to have to share with so many other people…" -She looks down, and her tone is stained with melancholy- "It's fun being together with all of you, it really is, but I don't feel like I'd make a good wife, and I want a husband that I could call my own."

I close my eyes in pain and speak my mind, "You love us, but not enough to marry us."

"I guess…" She hesitantly admits and shrugs.

"I didn't think you'd make a good wife, with Wolfy's destiny and all, but maybe you could've been a concubine," Hana opens up her heart, too.

Klein sighs and shakes her head. "I don't know… maybe if the harem was smaller…"

I give her tail a little tug and reassure her, "If you really don't see yourself joining the harem officially, then you simply shouldn't. It's important that you make this decision both happily and willingly, but like I said, you'll always be welcome here no matter what you choose."

She bites her lip and nods, then breathes, "Okay…"

I glance at Yunia. "I think that we shouldn't have made you into a 'temporary member.' You're a friend, or maybe a little more than a friend, but not enough to be a lover. You're like Ereia or Hukarere, a 'friend with benefits,' or a 'bed-friend' if you want a more explicit label."

"A close friend with benefits," Hana adds sternly. She really wants to make it clear just how important Klein is to her.

She pauses and blinks, still slightly confused, but her body starts to relax. Perhaps something clicked in her head, and now she's realizing where we truly stand.

"That makes sense…" She mumbles, and her eyes open wide, then she looks at each of us. "I… think I agree with that."

I sigh and relax, letting our entangled tails flop on the bed.

I feel like I've just taken a weight off my shoulders. For a long time, I've felt like my attachment to Klein was "wrong," but now I know it's finally exactly as it should be.

For as much as she might love us, she isn't ready to join us officially… and now that I think about it, she might be addicted to my sword, which would be one of the reasons that she doesn't want to leave.

Osaria suddenly hugs Klein from behind and kisses the top of her head. "You'll always have a place here," she whispers with a husky tone.

Klein nods with an anguished face, holding herself back from crying, and we form another cuddle puddle to heal our frayed nerves. I think I prefer fighting monsters over this.

The puddle feels so good that we all peacefully drift off into a deep sleep.