When Lin finishes saying everything that she wants to tell me, we sit down and relax a bit. We still have a few hours before the dinner, which I find out is why the place is empty. Lin has reserved the entire restaurant for the entire day just for this dinner tonight.

  That probably cost her a lot, but it isn’t like we really need to worry about money. Besides, it is probably fairly standard to do this kind of thing for political dinners. The staff I have seen coming and going certainly seems to be in a good mood.

  Lin says “Oh, I forgot to ask, how did the evolution go? I like the changes that I can see. What else happened?”

  Bella laughs and says “He woke up freaking out because he thought he had grown gills!!”

  Lin says “Gills?!”

  “I gained the ability to breathe under water from the dragonfish and was a little worried at first. However, I did not grow gills and I wouldn’t say I was freaking out, just a little worried.”

  Lin says “Even if you did, couldn’t you just get rid of them with shapeshift? Or give yourself gills for that matter if you needed them?”

  “Um….”

  Lin says “Let me guess, you didn’t think of it?”

  “Um, so for dinner tonight, what form should I use?”

  Lin says “Stay like this, they need to get used to it. Tomorrow you will need to use your beastman form. The room in the cathedral is limited.”

  “Alright, no problem.”

  We spend the next while going over the wedding ceremony and what will be required of me. Luckily, while it isn’t much like the weddings from my world, my part is still really simple. There won’t be any ‘I do’s’, there will just be a vow that we each take in front of everyone.

  Lin says “Oh, I should probably warn you. Seronia and Krenocia will be sending avatars to conduct the wedding personally.”

  “Um, isn’t that going to be a little awkward? You know they want to marry me too, right?”

  Lin says “Yes, I know. I have discussed it with them, don’t worry.”

  “Alright, if you say so.”

  Lin says “They aren’t going to do anything at our wedding. They won’t risk ruining whatever chance they might have in the future.”

  “I guess that makes sense. Anyway, anything else I should know?”

  Lin says “No, the ceremony itself is pretty simple. Then you can crown us. After that, we will move to this restaurant for food and dancing. The honeymoon will start once the night’s dinner is finished. Then it is all up to your plan. You said everything was ready, right?”

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  “Yeah, the honeymoon is all set. Um, is Bella coming along?”

  Bella says “Nope. I will be staying to keep an eye on the kids. Lin will be paying me back later.”

  “Okay. If that is what the two of you have decided, I am not about to argue.”

  Lin says “Relax. Everything is arranged. Now that you have woken up on time, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

  “Right. Oh, what about Mercy? Will she be wearing her crown as queen?”

  Lin says “Nope. She will remove it before the ceremony and you will crown her along with the rest of us.”

  “Okay, good to know.”

  For the remaining time before dinner, we just relax and chat about what happened while I was asleep. I am somewhat surprised to find out that it was Mulan who went and rescued Rayleen. I know that she is capable, I just didn’t expect her to do something like that.

  I will have to make sure and thank her, I also want to hear the story from her at some point. For now, I need to focus on the dinner and making sure that I don’t mess anything up. There are going to be four tables, Mercy will be with me at the main table along with the other rulers.

  Lin, Brightfire, and Myria will each be at a different table along with the others who come with the rulers. This way, no one will feel neglected and the rulers can talk more privately. It isn’t the way I would have set things up, but I am not going to try and change it last minute.

  The main thing that I would change would be to have all four of my women at the table with me. However, having one at each table does make sense if you are not worried about anyone getting jealous. Since Lin made the arrangements, I’m sure she explained the reasons and got everyone to agree.

  As we are chatting, Myria and Brightfire show up to join us and I make sure to greet them properly. They already know their seating assignments and don’t seem to have a problem with them. That is quite the relief, I don’t want anyone getting jealous or out of sorts right before the wedding.

  Next to show up is Mercy, and she brings Imperial Princess Rayleen with her. I am guessing that she is here early to meet me and have a chance to get used to me. She definitely looks scared when she first sees me, but a few words from Mercy calms her down.

  Rayleen has long blond hair and bright blue eyes, she has a beautiful face and a sexy body. She can easily hold her own in the looks department and is a match for the others. I certainly won’t be against her based on looks, but her personality is another matter.

  However, I am not going to judge her just on her belief in Holos, but that is a detriment. How she handles the truth about him will tell me a lot, but I also want to know other things. If she can get along with the others will be a big part of it, but I will have to wait until after the honeymoon for that.

  Rayleen bows and says “Greeting, King Ash. I am Rayleen, daughter of Emperor Raygar of Gundar.”

  “Hello Rayleen, it is nice to meet you.”

  Rayleen says “I want to thank you for saving me from being forced to marry, but I need to ask what your intentions are for me?”

  “Actually, I only just found out that we rescued you. My intention was to stop you from being used to unify the empire. Nothing more.”

  Rayleen says “I definitely appreciate that, but then can I ask what your intentions are for the empire?”

  “Originally, I only intended to rescue the enslaved beastmen. However, with all the chaos going on we ended up taking in a lot of human refugees. Right now, I am not sure whether I should conquer the empire or not.”

  Rayleen says “Personally, I think that you should leave the empire alone. You are an outside enemy and about the only thing that could force the factions to unite.”

  “I understand that and strategically that does make the most sense. However, sitting back and watching the nobles fight it out has a major drawback.”