Validation coursed through my system. It was a drug sweeter than anything else. No cup of coffee could have made me this awake, no booze this happy, and no anti-depressant this confident. I had forgotten just how straight I could stand. My brain was flooding my body with all of the happy time chemicals and for good reason. I had, after all, just gotten what I had put my eyes upon.

Aclysia and Esther were inseparable from me. The maidly woman was to my left, my Queen to my right. Their arms crossed over my back. Mine were around their waists. We walked together, in unison, out through the exit.

“YO!” We were barely out of Welldark’s (unnervingly maw-like) main entrance when we heard the shout behind us.

We should have been among the last out of the room, since we had a little private chat with Taurus and Derilea after we stepped off the arena. Not much, just parents congratulating and grilling their daughter’s husband. Which is what I effectively was. The Anomalia vow was just as binding as marriage, a bond of love that could only be broken through a complete falling out. Personally, I thought the Dimensional Truth made for a better witness than a priest. Then again, a representative of ‘god’ was as close to having the cosmos itself take the vows as was possible for the regular mortal.

All musings that fell by the wayside when I realized who the shouting girl was who had chased us. A tiny green thing, barely over a metre, with big ears that bounced as much as her boobs did under that red shirt. Each hasty step made her thighs tremble. What of them wasn’t visible joined in stretching out the uniform skirt out until it barely counted as pleated anymore.

Voxxy stopped in front of us. “That was fucking AWESOME, stud!” The engineering shortstack’s breathing was accelerated. From more than exhaustion, I reckoned. An easy guess, combined with the slight blush that dusted her cheeks in a deeper tinge of green and the intense pink of the inside of her ears.

And then there was the way she played with her scarlet red hair. That was a dead giveaway. Especially since she wore it open, where it was normally bound up in a ponytail. Through her black-framed glasses, her blue eyes looked up at me. Her greenish red lips moved, as if she wanted to add something. Ultimately, she closed her mouth.

“Thank you.” I took my hand off Esther and put it on Voxxy’s head. A demeaning gesture towards most shorties, but when one knew who one was dealing with…

“Ha…. Haaaaaa…haaaaa….”

…panting breaths were a potential outcome for headpats. Not the normal outcome, even women who did get excited by casual showcases of physical supremacy typically did not show it that openly. It took a particular kind of depraved and friendly soul to just start gasping and biting her lip at having her hair played with.

“Soooo… what’re you doing todayyyyyy?” Voxxy asked, after I had withdrawn my hand. She pushed her arms together in a way that made it VERY apparent that she had opened the upper two buttons of her shirt. “Celebrating your victory in any way, hmmm?”

“I’m having a date with Aclysia.” Just as I said that, I saw movement in my periphery. In the entrance of the university, about a dozen women were standing opposite Karona. The thornborne succubus was agitated, proven by the name-giving thorns being out and pronounced along her horns and tail. I had a hunch what that was about. It simultaneously made me want to grin and gave me cause for concern.

Voxxy noticed and turned her head. “Oh yeah, those girls also want to talk to you… why’s Karona so pissed?”

“She is defending her perceived territory,” Esther stated and marched towards the cluster of vicious females.

My concern immediately increased by one order of magnitude. Karona was arrogant, but she was sociable. For the many benefits of the lady of my love, she could both be arrogant and come across as hyper arrogant. The girl loved to word her sentences as orders.

“One moment, please,” I said and decided to follow before anything terrible could happen.

Both Esther and I were too late. The discussion between Karona and the dozen other students came to an abrupt end when the succubus checked her nails. That was what I thought the gesture was, until a geyser of a blueish black liquid torrented up in the gap between them. The force of the explosion was enough to make the dozen other girls shout and scramble backwards. As it rained back down, the liquid evaporated, chilling the area around.

Karona dismissively cleaned her nails. Those ever pointy claws of hers were covered in black metal casings. Each was a perfectly fitting armour for the last segment of her fingers, turning her nails into razor-sharp and sturdy weapons. A secondary benefit to what was doubtlessly her Artefact. “Don’t make me remind you of what I know,” the gossip trader hissed. Together with the physical threat, it worked splendidly – until everyone noticed Esther and me approaching.

“Explain yourself,” Esther demanded from the succubus.

Deep red eyes met that of my Queen. The sparks flew almost visibly. Esther reached up to the feather in her tricorn and that was when I stepped in between them. “I’d like to know what is happening here,” I spoke firmly and with authority. Considering that this whole situation was about me, I assumed I had it.

I assumed correctly. Karona crossed her arms. “I let these fine ladies know where their place was,” she stated directly and clearly.

‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’ The saying shot through my head. It didn’t exactly apply to the situation, but the spirit of it was very much in effect. It was rare for women to chase after the same man as openly as all of these ladies were currently doing and to chase after a man with a lot of competition… well, women could turn violent surprisingly quickly if the right impulses were at play. They were just people, after all.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“We just wanted to talk to you!” One of the dozen women said. I gave them all the once-over. They generally passed my attractiveness test, so I wasn’t against giving them a moment of my time.

“You talk to me,” Esther decided, making herself more prominent than before. My Queen crossed her arms and tested anyone to disobey this command. No one did and I left it to Esther to give them all a mild hazing. If they couldn’t handle my raven-haired lady, then they couldn’t be in my Anomalia anyway.

While that was going on, I gestured Karona aside and guided her back to where Aclysia and Voxxy were waiting. “Hey, Kay,” the goblin greeted her fellow redhead.

“Hey, Vay,” Karonoa responded, some annoyance still swinging in her voice. “The nerve of some women, unbelievable.”

“What exactly is their crime?” I asked, still a bit confused.

“I said it already: they stepped out of line,” Karona repeated for me. At that point, I almost gave up on trying to get an answer that was understandable through logic alone. Must have been the same kind of situation as flirting with another man’s wife. Except I was not Karona’s husband and my Anomalia wasn’t full yet, so this felt more like Karona bullying out the competition.

Which was simultaneously hot as hell and disconcerting. “Karona, I would appreciate it if you did not harass anyone who shows an interest in me.”

“I do NOT harass anyone who shows an interest in you, I let Voxxy forward,” the succubus hissed back, her anger now directed at me. “You should be thankful I spare you the trouble of dealing with women who aren’t worth your time!”

“Master will decide that for himself,” Aclysia weighed in.

Karona rolled her eyes at that. “Your Master is a whipped dog, listening to every command o-“

Aclysia manifested her Artefact the moment the insult had come flying. Dancing back half a step, Karona took a low battle stance, claws ready to deflect the silver-white and black spear. In the background, the dozen women were starting to shout at Esther. That was the exact moment when things went from hot and concerning to only annoying.

I grabbed Aclysia’s spear below the tip and forced her to raise it into a passive position. “Dismiss it,” I demanded and she immediately obeyed. With a stare over my shoulder, I extended the same order to Karona.

“Tsk.” Despite the annoyed sound, the black sheathes of her fingertips disappeared. I closed my eyes and teleported myself over to the discussion.

“Can we all just relax?!” My tone made it clear that I wasn’t asking. I had not gone through six weeks of regular spirit testing to be brought to heel by jealous bickering. The intended effect happened and the situation calmed on the surface. They did make the effort to appease me specifically. “Great. Now. I’ll be busy today. I’ve gotten over her father’s test, and I would like to spend my day with Aclysia. You’re welcome to approach me again whenever you next see me. Are we clear?”

“Can I just maybe tag along…?” One of the women asked in that sickly sweet, fake tone that turned inexperienced men into puppets on strings.

“No,” I smote that down immediately. I saw near universal annoyance on their faces, which was not the reaction they should have had. That was the expression of someone who couldn’t let her fellow haremette have a nice time first. I committed their faces to memory to avoid in the future. A petty, hasty reaction perhaps, but I was not in the mood. Then I put an arm around Esther and swiftly walked back.

With each breath she took, more of the thorns over Karona’s tail and horns disappeared into the smooth texture of the black extension. “I’ll be on my way then,” she said, after crossing eyes with Esther again.

“Thank you,” the lady of my love said to the succubus.

Halfway through turning, Karona froze and then faced us again. “What?”

“Thank - you,” Esther repeated, slower.

“No, I heard you, I want to know what the hell that was for?”

“They were not worth our time. I appreciate your effort to keep them from us.” Crossing her arms, Esther added. “I will remind you that I insist that you fix your arrogance.”

“How about we have a rematch instead, hm?” Karona’s eyes narrowed dangerously, belying the smile that spread on her face.

“Anytime, any circumstance,” Esther stated dismissively. “If I win again, you will respect me or finally let go of your attachment to my Karitas.”

“Oh? I’ll take you up on that offer,” Karona hummed. Her eyes dashed over to me, then wandered down to the floor. “I just wanted to spare you from those that only care about you because you did something impressive. Scorn for effort is not a proper way to repay a lady.”

I sighed and, even though I knew Esther would disapprove of it, stepped forwards and gave her a hug. “You don’t have to be that aggressive about this,” I whispered to her. “I’m happy you tried for me and I do acknowledge that you didn’t just filter out everyone.” Before Karona could push this hug any further, I let go. “I’ll see you around?”

“Of course you will.” This time, Karona did leave, without any interruptions. With the crisis dealt with, I turned back to Voxxy. “So, what I was saying is that I’m going to have a date with Aclysia. I’d like to hang out with you, but this takes priority.”

“Oh, I get it… you know what to do when you miss me.” Voxxy tapped my belt buckle. For no reason other than to remind me that my Ashod was there. Totally no other reason.

“Are you available at this moment, Voxxy?” Esther wanted to know.

“Yeah, why?” the goblin wanted to know.

“This date does not include me. I would suggest we take the opportunity to get to know each other.” Esther nodded towards me. Any annoyance she had regarding how I handled Karona, she did not show, if it even existed. Oft disapproving as my Queen may have been, she was still my Queen and did submit to my whims when I was insistent enough about them. Relationships were give and take like that.

I smiled and returned the nod, which was the signal for Esther and Voxxy to walk away, leaving Aclysia and me in wonderful, dualistic quiet. “Whew,” I exhaled my remaining tension. “That was dramatic.”

“Affirmative.” Aclysia hugged my side tightly. “Popularity has its downsides.”

“I was hoping my popularity would manifest in women throwing themselves at me, not in women fighting each other to throw themselves at me.” I scratched the back of my head. “I should have known better, considering the amount of times I had to tell guys to back off from Esther and Voxxy. Not from you, though. Rumours of your father’s test did that for me.”

“Evidently that did have a useful function after all.” Aclysia had both her arms around me and beheld me with big green eyes. “Kiss me, Master?” she requested with irresistible coyness.

I had already lost count how often I had claimed these lips since that first kiss. The softness of those pink pillows was irresistible. I gave the fuller, lower lip a gentle nibble and she was all gasps. “How long did Esther say we should stay out?” I whispered to her.

“Roughly four hours,” the maid responded.

I chuckled at the immediate response. Of course there had to be a timetable. Between Esther’s military strictness and Aclysia’s diligent scheduling, there couldn’t not have been. “Hmm, I have nothing specific planned… how about you?”

“Wherever we head together, Master, I only care for your company,” she responded.

Some women were just dream girls.

________________________________________________________________________