Chapter 176 – True Nepotism
Silence fills the chamber as Ross gapes at Lianne without making a single twitch. She has this knowing smirk on her sweet face, a symbol of someone proud of their little mischief. If the girls are in any way surprised about this reveal, they don’t show it in any way. But, considering the fact that they’ve been under the wing of Elea and the other amazing ladies, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they know everything about my relationships already. Plus, they certainly must have seen us together in the bath earlier.
“What...?” The King finally manages to utter a barely comprehensible word. “Did you...?”
The Queen continues her games and starts squinting at him like a mother scolding her unruly son. Technically, she is one, but I’m not so sure about the latter part. It’s more like she is the naughty one for suddenly dropping such a bomb on him out of the blue. Looks like we might have some spanking to do later.
“Finally! Hahahahaha!” Ross breaks his daze and lunges at Lianne, catching her in a powerful hug. “I thought you would never give yourself a chance, hahahaha!”
He starts spinning them in circles while she yells at him to stop while hitting the overjoyed man repeatedly on the head. Naturally, those aren’t harmful smacks and he shrugs them off without even registering the assault. Lianne definitely should be able to escape his grasp now after she has access to my stats but she chooses not to and remains hanging above the ground as her much taller son dances happily.
After a short while, Ross relents and places his mother down. She huffs at him angrily as he chuckles awkwardly. These two are pure comedy right now. And only one of them is acting. I guess the other has always been kind of a clown, to be honest. Extroverted people glow way too much.
“This is great news! You have no idea how ecstatic I am! Congratulations to you both!” He turns to me with a wide grin that barely fits on his face. “So, when can I expect a little brother?”
“Rossberg!” Lianne smacks him up the back of the head again.
“Now, hold your horses, boy.” I snicker while addressing him like my own kid. “This kind of decisions are best left in the hands of adults. Be a good lad and focus on playing kingdom while we take care of such things.”
The Queen can’t hold back a giggle of her own and the King bursts out with an amused laughter too. I might have just gained a new way to fuck with him and tease the bastard. It might not be available to be used in the general public but private settings should be enough for me.
“Are you already on the case?” He waggles his brows at me and earns himself another hit.
“As the head of this family, I would advise you to stop teasing your mother before you end up with a concussion, or worse, turn into an idiot. Though, now that I think of it, I’m not sure if that’s a risk that can be applied to you,” I reply with a smirk.
“Enough of this!” Lianne chimes in for the first time since the reveal. “Sit down now before I whip you up in front of your father like in the good, old times!”
Ross' eyes widen briefly as he looks at me and obediently backs off to the sofa. I can imagine how the threat of getting your ass trashed with a belt in front of your best friend could make you feel. And from his reaction, this isn’t just an empty threat either. Someone must have been a bit of a troublemaker during his childhood. And I can easily see that.
“So, I guess the cat is now officially out of the bag, huh,” I comment, turning my attention to Lianne, who fixes her dress and hair before sitting down too. “Are you good talking about such things with them present?”
I gesture to the side with my thumb at our obvious spectators. They might be staying perfectly still and silent, but there’s no way they aren’t listening to the extremely amusing spectacle happening right in front of them.
“What’s there to hide when they already know?” She shrugs casually. “Besides, I trust these girls more than most of the royal knights at the castle. My part was extremely short compared to what the others taught them, but I did have some of it during their training. I’m looking very forward to working with them on a daily basis. You won’t find better in the capital, I’m certain of it.”
“How long have you two been at it?” Ross interrupts us with his open curiosity, not entirely giving away on prying further into the case yet.
“You wish you would know.” Lianne scoffs at him playfully.
Knowing that he won’t be able to extract any more information from his mother, he turns to me, but I just shrug at him while spreading my arms to the sides. “The first rule in a relationship, never answer the question the woman didn’t answer herself. Remember that one. It might save your marriage one day. Or your life.”
He rolls his eyes at me but the corner of his lips curls up a little bit.
“So, what exactly did you mean by the last part?” I refocus on the Queen.
“Hm? Ah, I guess we can move on to actual business now that the greetings are done.” She giggles quietly. “We are planning to commission your guild a lot for the most important outsourced jobs in the kingdom, of course.”
“We are?” Ross’ face snaps to her with bewilderment.
She meets his gaze. “Think about it for a moment. You’ve just raised the status of all demi-humans in the nation and want to continue warming people up to them. What’s better than making use of a reputable demi-human guild instead of all those greedy and egocentric companies? They even look the part.”
“Reputable? We’ve literally just signed up.” I chuckle lightly.
“Nothing a few quick jobs can’t fix.” She winks at me. “Plus, everyone knows about Utopia. And everyone is aware that no one would even dare to impersonate you or your establishment. The girls working for you are not known not just for their unparalleled beauty and charms but also for their ferocious offensive capabilities. They would not let it slide, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, Madam!” the girls respond firmly.
Some of them direct their eyes to me without moving their faces so I nod at them reassuringly, letting them know that I don’t mind them answering to Lianne without my direct command.
“I guess you might be right on something.” I sigh while shaking my head. “So, you are already putting a leash on us from day one?”
“Oh, no, no, no!” Lianne waves her hands at me. “We won’t be making you work for us but submitting our requests just like everyone else. It’s going to be up to you, the leader, to choose which job to take. I just hope that you will consider those matters properly. All we can do is to make sure that the payment is more than adequate.”
I rub my chin as I go over her words. “As you said earlier, it might be a good way to improve the lives of everyone even further. I certainly see no reason to turn down such a wise suggestion. The only issue I can see with it might be our headquarters. Or, to be specific, the lack of it. Taking royal requests in a brothel isn’t exactly the greatest image. Well, unless I would be getting officially summoned each time you would have a proposition for my troops. That could work.”
“This is one of the matters we are going to take care of today too, naturally.” She smiles at me warmly. “You are already looking for options, aren’t you? Especially ones on the other side of the street?”
I smile back and shake my head. “What have you girls already cooked up?”
“Nothing much.” Lianne smirks and elbows Ross, who reaches to the stand to his right and puts a set of leather folders on top of the table between us. “Here is some information on four buildings fitting the criteria. You don’t need to worry about vacancies. I can assure you that they will be ready for your company to move in within a day.”
Poor merchants or whoever currently owns those properties. Someone is going to get evicted in a flash. But, they will most likely even raise their asses up for the kick out of their own volition if we consider what kind of money they might be getting for letting go of the building.
“I’ll have a look at them with everyone and let you know what we think. Since the girls will definitely be the ones spending more time there than me, I’d like for them to be the most comfortable and satisfied with the pick,” I reply as I shove the packets into my spatial storage. “Thank you for these. It will definitely make things much easier.”
“Think nothing of it,” Ross joins back in this time. “If things go just like Mother expects them to, we will be the ones greatly benefiting from this cooperation. I have to agree with her on the fact that the available companies aren’t exactly up to par. It’s always a headache whenever I give any of them a job to do. I could use a few things more to not worry about constantly.”
“I’m not sure what those jobs might be, but I’m certain that my girls will be able to take care of them with full professionalism and necessary decorum. I might have just met them a few hours ago but I can already tell I can be proud of them. They are the best out of the best.” I roam my gaze over the twelve beauties standing guard to us.
They are doing a great job hiding their reactions.
Except for Beastkin.
She gets to her feet with a surprised yell and crashes into my chest. Before she has enough time to react, I wrap one arm around her petite waist and sneak the other hand into her lush, white hair from behind, tilting her head to the back a tiny bit. Naturally, I dive for her pouty lips right away and seal that delicious mouth of hers with my own.
Lianne barely tries to resist and soon melts into me as I invite her tongue for a wild dance. Her own palms wander all over my front as we make out in front of the King. While my lovely lady is distracted by the pleasant sensations, her eyes closed in bliss and pleasure, I sneak a one-eyed glance at our son.
Ross attempts to avert his gaze as I go after his mother right in front of him but still can’t help but sneak one or two glances back at us. Part of his face is actually tinged with a faint, crimson shade, both from the awkwardness of the situation and embarrassment, but surely something else too. Lianne might be an actual MILF, but her body and beauty are still that of a sexy, youthful girl. Such sights and sounds might possibly be somewhat stimulating.
And that’s why I guide my hands down Lianne’s back and onto her plump butt, giving it a good squeeze, which in turn evokes a sultry moan from the horny royal slut.
“Fine! You’ve proven your point! You can stop groping each other so unabashedly!” He huffs in awkward resignation.
I snicker into the Queen’s lips and spin her around so that her back presses into my chest. My hands trail over her soft tummy, slowly tracing paths close to her waist and over her ribcage. She arches herself lasciviously while grabbing the sides of my head.
“What? Haven’t ever heard your father clap some cheeks? It’s pretty much an obligatory part of childhood where I’m from.” I grin at him while raining kisses on Lianne’s slender neck.
“Goddess save me...” Ross whimpers with a visible shiver.
I laugh a little and gradually stop enjoying my tiny wife in front of him. Lianne gives me a little pout as I leave it at just a tiny bit touching but we exchange soft smiles soon after. There’s only enough teasing we can subject our poor son to. We wouldn’t want to break him.
“Weren’t you the one urging me to bone your own mother? Wasn’t this exactly what you said she needed?” I question him playfully.
“It doesn’t have to happen in front of me! She does deserve all the happiness, of course, but I would rather not be there when she receives it!” he answers quickly and panics a little, realising what he’s just accidentally admitted to.
I grin at him while the Queen acts as if she is squinting at him with murderous intent.
“Fuck you, man!” he cusses me out.
“Language! You are in the presence of your father!” Lianne snaps at him. “I hope you can remember to show him the proper respect from now on.”
“Yeah. And we should start with the way you address me. I think we can settle on Daddy.” I wink at him.
“Heavens beyond...” The King fakes getting dizzy and almost fainting on top of the sofa.
We both laugh at him and decide to end it there. We had our fun and it’s time to give him some space. I’m sure we’ll be having lots of fun about this entire arrangement in a bit. I’m certainly looking forward to a chat with Ross one-on-one, like in the good, old times. I wonder if his thoughts on me boning his mother have changed now that his suggestion has turned into reality. Perhaps he could have bargained for more than he can handle back then.
We sum the entire meeting up and touch on some crucial points again. Both sides have their own work to do so we separate soon after. I’m not even done settling back in from my trip and I already need to take care of so many matters connected to our new branch. In the meanwhile, the royal duo has their own side of things to it.
I get the twelve girls with me and we leave the castle. Just like they have meticulously escorted me on the way here, they continue standing guard to my person through the streets with the same intensity and professionalism. We obviously catch some eyes but I’m already pretty used to that so it doesn’t bother me much. This is good marketing anyway.
After reaching our destination, I release them from their duty and let them know to go do whatever they would be doing at a time like this. I promise to join them at one point to learn more about them and their lives. Before that, I have to locate a certain shy Dwarf and our busty MILF accountant. They are key elements of my plans.
With the two lovely ladies by my side, I walk back to the street in front of our mansion and show them the packets with information. We read through them carefully and agree that there’s no reason to delay things. The Queen expects us to pick quickly and start receiving their requests. So, we need a base of operations.
We go through the four buildings on the list of those who offered to let us examine the place on our own. Each mini-mansion is somewhat different but they all share similarities from the outside. Sirgia examines the foundations and general state of the structure while Ria discusses things connected to prices, money, and all that stuff with the owner or their representative. We might not be paying for this but it’s good to be able to know how are things like regular maintenance and such.
My crafty little Dwarf brings with herself some of the technical plans of the city and the tunnels spanning all underneath it. That way, we can consider the degree of complexity behind our goal of connecting the brothel with the new headquarters. Such matter is one of the most important on our list of qualities a good home should have.
Of the four positions, two are moved aside fairly quickly. The space inside them just isn’t up to our standards and the layouts are kind of troublesome. They are unnecessarily fancy and we would need to restructure lots of the elements. It’s always a dilemma to choose if you should renovate something from ground to ceiling or if you should let it be as close to original as possible too.
The other two are actually more than decent. They are both in the shape of simple, rectangular fashion. They are both without some fancy side wings and so on. There’s a small but good enough lobby in either while the rest of the buildings are used for accommodations. No one can forget utility chambers like the kitchen and so on, of course. But, those can still be provided from the main mansion if necessary so they aren’t a priority.
We tour the personal rooms and everything else. Marking those two places as our go-to choices, we examine the sewers next. It turns out that one of them has a perfect line to our home and we note that down. The other one isn’t that much worse, but having in mind the additional need to transform even the sewers, it might really be the best option.
With that out of the way, we call the mercenary girls for a meeting and explain the narrowed-down choices to them. Armed with both for’s and against’s of each building, they are sent by us to tour them on their own before making a decision. We should make sure that they are going to be comfortable out there. Plus, there will be more of them.
While the warrior women go property hunting, I spend some time around the brothel again. Led by Shino’s words from the bath, I sneak close to Mari’s and Nyfile’s workshop. Thankfully, I come at a less focused moment and it doesn’t take ages to find a window of opportunity to insert myself into their conversation.
They are more than happy to show me their amassed collection of creations. Many people have been eagerly awaiting the opening of the roleplay service for ages now, including myself. And, it really looks like our fabric masters have gone beyond.
As expected, the various outfits they have already prepared are of top quality. They are nowhere close to the kind of cheap and amateurish makeshift costumes the majority of enthusiasts use back on Earth. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, of course. They serve their purpose.
But, our purpose is to be the best in terms of quality so the real-life clothes the girls prepared are breathtaking. No, wait. Since they are kind of perfect in any way, they are more of fantasy clothes. I have no doubt that they made use of some magical formations and artefacts from our experts. The outfits look just way too good.
I learn that the volunteers for the service are already testing the new fashion out and giving the mystical seamstresses their invaluable feedback. Mari, in her joyful enthusiasm and passion for her beloved craft, jumps into a few sets of clothes for me to see. Some of the costumes are too dangerous to be witnessed by mortal eyes.
She looks unbelievably cute in a few different versions of Japanese school uniforms, including the fabled pool ones. But, the weeb dreams aren’t the only theme available and they even have some styles from the other parts of the Earth world. At least wherever there are some characteristic uniforms.
A bunch of sets imitating numerous different common jobs from Earth are included in the collection too. It naturally revolves around the most desirable roles amongst men like policewoman, nurse, doctor, office worker, and so on. Though, considering the fact that literally no one visiting here, save for me, will even know what those are, these might actually be Shino’s little ploy to grow the options she can use on herself while cosplaying privately for me to see. And touch too. That option is definitely viable in this world. Especially amongst my beloved mates and wives.
But, there of course are many creations inspired by what should be the most sexualised occupations of this world. Jobs that the majority of native men are salivating just from the thought of. So, yeah, that includes receptionists, healers, knights, soldiers, mercenaries, but also noble ladies, queens, priestesses, and such. These were much easier to achieve considering where we are.
I consult everything with them and leave with a list of names that includes individuals pretty much ready to get in on the fun. I spend the rest of the day acting out a few roles with those girls and verifying what they have learned or what kind of acting talent they possess. No surprises there, they are completely nailing that thing.
Our mercenary recruits make their decision and we convey it to Lianne so that she can work her magic as soon as possible. Since the day has been really eventful, I spend some more time resting with my beloved companions and chatting in bed about various things. I don’t really notice when we all doze off thanks to the relaxed, homely atmosphere.
Then, with my mind convinced that just minutes passed instead of hours, some weird, intense feeling wakes me up. My eyes shoot open as my heart practically jumps to my throat. I look around to find the source of my distress but there is no one at my sides. The girls are already out of bed, leaving me behind.
It’s until I glance down my chest that I barely hold in the gasp as I find three pairs of differently sized pure black eyes peering at me from underneath the edge of the sheets. The sneaky, expressionless spidergirl is somehow lying on top of me without lying on top of me as I feel no contact with her chilly skin. It’s only thanks to her face cutely poking out from under the covers that I’m now aware she is there. This could explain the uneasiness I felt earlier.
As my brain mulls over this sixth sense of danger, the charming Arachne’s lips part open and all of my focus instantly snaps to those two pouty bumps.
“Master.”