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The King enters the gardens without any announcement, the crowd only becoming aware of his presence once Gwen escapes his grasp and darts away, a well-staged plan to find the girl he met with this morning. 

He finds her with Duke Cain’s usual two Companions, plus two other lovely young ladies, a cat girl, and an Elf. James briefly considers that he might have been set up, but judging by the way they’re positioned and how they noticed Gwen long before seeing him following behind her, it seems more likely that they have simply begun to get along. 

Two of the three are quite dainty, but the third, the cat girl, is the tallest of the ladies present. Even though her dress is designed to hide her figure subtly while still showing her feminine curves, the fact that her prodigious chest entirely shields Gwen from above when she hugs her is clear to the eyes of the teenage King.

If he’s going to keep holding these events, he will have to do something about the hormonal reactions, he decides. Maybe a skill to help him focus? There are a few early in the Crusader skill tree, and he saved a bunch of points, taking only the healing and offensive sections of the Paladin tree and none of the Crusader tree’s skills yet. 

King James quickly allocates a few of the points, getting the skill [Inner Peace], which, when activated, calms his emotions and desires, letting him think objectively while around temptation. 

“Thank you, ladies, for catching Gwen. She’s quite the escape artist when she wants to be. Are you enjoying your evening?” King James asks with his very best smile. 

“Yes, thank you, Your Majesty.” The five answer in unison as Duke Chen steps forward, accompanied by the Elven Emissary. 

“Ah, I see you’ve met my granddaughter. Your Majesty, might I present to you Adalynn, the oldest daughter of my fifth son.” 

“May I present Luann, sixteenth daughter of Prince Galt of the Serrah Woods.” The Elven Emissary adds, moving his ward forward, making the Elf blush at the attention. 

“And, of course, this is Khali, Daughter of Chief Kahlil of the Nyanko Confederacy, who you met this morning,” Misha says with a slight curtsey, as her father isn’t here to greet the King yet. 

“You all look stunning tonight. I’m honestly a bit lost for words seeing so many beauties in one place. I do hope you’ll forgive my lack of elegance.” The genuine smile of the King brings a matching reaction to every face, with Duke Chen and the Elven Emissary sharing a look of amusement over the botched attempt at smooth-talking. 

He’s saved from trying to recover when Gwen yips and hops into his arms, pointing her nose towards the treeline. She’s not growling, so she doesn’t see it as dangerous, only undesirable or annoying. Communication is limited with her in fox form unless she sends him a chat message, but he’s gotten good at guessing. 

This one is obviously about the number of debutantes gathering in the trees, looking for a chance to catch his eye. 

“Time to get to business, I suppose.” He sighs to the girls with mock sadness before turning away towards the treeline. 

“Oh, and do try the spiced lentil sandwiches.” He says as he leaves, getting swarmed by potential suitors when he is finished with the conversation. 

Duke Chen turns to all three young ladies with a smile. “As we now have the King’s permission, I would like to formally invite you all to the King’s coming of age ceremony. He would be delighted if you could attend.”

“All of us?” Luann, the Elf asks with a bit of surprise, expecting only to have spent a moment here in her search for a suitable husband. 

“All of you. It seems the young King has a type, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes some time for each of you between now and then.” Duke Chen confirms, and the girls share a shocked glance at each other. 

Does that mean they’re now rivals? Or are they still friends first? None of the three are willing to place rivalry before friendship, and with the arrival of the highly recommended sandwiches, they manage to put the awkward moment behind them. 

While the King was chatting with the ladies, Cain found himself cornered by several very chatty Nobles with interest in the crops of the Long Fang Valley. They’re all Knight and Barons, without much territory, but run at least one produce stall. For them, getting a variety of fresh produce is a matter of financial survival. If they can’t get their shelves filled, customers will turn elsewhere. 

The growing season is a year round for many things here, with a second and even third crop possible for fast-growing vegetables. Some farmers use greenhouses for cycling their products to be ready for market when other regions have none, but Long Fang Valley typically uses magic to ripen crops early, thanks to their high number of transfers. 

Cain eventually turns their questions to his administrator Damien, who no doubt will be swamped tomorrow, and they all go away happy. 

The border Barons who want to talk military matters aren’t as easy to get away from, and many have brought their daughters. Not just to meet the King, but to meet the various new Nobles.

For a moment, Cain wishes he’d brought the Companions with him instead of letting them relax at the Manor, but on second thought, that would have only made things worse as he would have to field and politely decline marriage proposals from noble sons.

Preferably without greatly offending anyone, as impossible as that might be. 

The distraction when everyone breaks off as the dinner announcement is made leaves Cain standing next to one very panicked-looking Beastkin girl in a blue sequin dress. Cain waits a moment, giving her time to see where her Companions went, then realizes that sight is the problem. They ditched the blind girl to go flirt with the King. 

Cain coughs to grab her attention before approaching. “Hello, miss. I’m Duke Cain, head of the Defense Council. Would you like an escort to dinner? If seems your Companions have forgotten you.”

“Thank you, Duke, but I should go. My sisters resent dragging me along to these functions at the best of times.” The girl sighs. 

“Then you might as well join my table. It’s no burden, and it’s not far from here.” He says softly, guiding her with a hand on her shoulder towards where Misha and Mythryll are seated.

Duke Chen and a handful of his family are at the table on one side, with the Elven and Nyanko Emissaries sharing a table on the other side, everyone engaged in conversation with their neighbors. 

Duke Chen’s older granddaughter has joined Cain’s table so that she can talk with the other young ladies from earlier, and Cain leads his blind charge to the table, getting her safely seated before taking the chair between her and Misha. 

“I see you’ve met Dufas’s daughter, Cyrene. She was born an oracle, the sixth of eleven girls and the youngest of a set of triplets. I can make sure she gets home safely if you’d like?” Duke Chen introduces them. 

“That’s alright; knowing that she’s an oracle, I’d love to have a conversation with her later. The skills of an oracle aren’t something I would underestimate, and I don’t have one in the Guild.”

“We don’t get much. It’s a pretty crappy trade compared to most classes. I get random visions and premonitions occasionally, but there isn’t even a skill to make them reliable or help me navigate without sight.”

“Don’t worry about that; we’re happy to help you get around,” Misha says, holding Cyrene’s shoulder. 

“Oh, it’s you. I know that presence; we will be great friends; I have seen it.” Cyrene declares, giving the startled Misha a big hug and petting her wings. 

“Yes, it is you for sure. If you didn’t have the wings, it would be one of the other possibilities, but it’s this one. I like this timeline.” She’s not making sense, but Misha returns the hug as Mythryll smirks at her. 

“You think I’m the weird one, but I’ve seen what you do with the Sailor.” Cyrene says vaguely, looking at thin air. 

Cain laughs out loud at that; there is no way he’s letting this one go. Plus, with her father looking to do business with him, he should be reasonably amenable to anything Cain suggests regarding the burdensome middle daughter. 

Cain had expected the man to come looking for her before dinner, but even after the dessert course, when the Dukes had gathered around to meet the Emissaries and sip coffee, Dufas still hadn’t come looking. He might be a Count and a bit reluctant to approach a gathering of Dukes, but surely he’d come for his daughter? 

When the Nobles have mostly cleared out, and it’s time to go home, Cain helps Cyrene to her feet. “You’re coming with us. Trust me, I’ve seen it in a vision.”

That makes the oracle burst into laughter. “If you steal my lines, what am I supposed to do all day? Transmute pain?”

“What is that? Is it like absorb pain into an object, or turn pain to pleasure or something?” Mythryll asks, confused. 

“It can be either. I can create vision gems with the suffering around me that can grant a vision to someone else, or I can share their pain to try to trigger a vision of my own, or I can turn it into pleasure, but that doesn’t trigger visions.”

“So the suffering of your lack of vision triggers your visions?” Cain asks, curious about her powers.

“Yes, any suffering. But breaking my bones isn’t recommended; I heal very slowly.” She jokes, sticking her tongue out. 

“You really did get the oddball class roll. Stand still; I will carry you to the transport circle.” For once, Misha didn’t get jealous of Cain touching another woman; instead she seemed lost in thought about something her new self-declared best friend had said earlier.