A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

It was several hours before Erik and his wives awoke again, draped chaotically across his bed after teleporting there one by one from Naeku's new throne room. All of them still naked, they somehow awoke at the same time and groaned as they stretched their bodies.

"Good morning," Erik told them all, grinning from his memories of last night.

All four of them greeted him back, but Erik quickly noticed Naeku was staring at Emily with narrowed eyes. The princess was sitting up, her legs curled up against her chest, while Emily was lying on her stomach, legs in the air, hands under her chin, as she looked back Naeku with mischievously pursed lips.

"Are you blaming me?" Emily asked with playful curiosity, seemingly indifferent, her legs slightly swaying in the air.

Yet, Naeku smirked, her chin resting on her knees. "This bond Erik created between us all is really useful, huh? Why pretend to be indifferent to my feelings when you know the bond will reveal the truth?"

Astrid, Elora, and Erik, all scattered throughout the bed in various positions, snickered as Emily's expression faltered. Being honest with her feelings wasn't Emily's strong point, even with the bond in place. A part of that was due to her occasional difficulty in separating corrupted feelings from true ones.

"Just… answer the question," she grumbled resentfully, her legs no longer swaying.

Naeku sighed, then smirked wryly. "No, I don't blame you…" she answered, shaking her head. "You kind of goaded me into it, and you could have told me your plans, but… you did warn me, and I did give permission. The fact I did that without knowing what would happen is my own fault…"

She frowned, and looked at Emily seriously. "Besides, I know about your past…"

Emily grinned with carefully hidden relief, but clearly didn't want to dwell on Naeku's last comment. She rapidly twisted her body to sit up with her legs crossed, hands on her lap. "Hehe, don't pretend it was some kind of chore! You know Erik wasn't the only one keeping an eye on the bond, you know? You enjoyed yourself! And not just because I messed with your senses a little!"

Naeku groaned. Embarrassed, she allowed herself to fall back against the pillows behind her, still clutching her legs. "Maybe a little…" she muttered unwillingly, her face buried between her knees.

Instantly, Emily perked up even more and leaned closer, her eyes twinkling. "Does that mean we can do it again sometime?!"

Looking up from her knees, Naeku glared at Emily. "Don't get ahead of yourself!" she growled stubbornly.

Releasing her knees, she sat up and crossed her arms. "I didn't mind it because I trust Erik—and my new sister-wives somewhat, although it's new—but that ability of yours is incredibly dangerous!"

She frowned sternly. "Even if I trust you, I don't want to be completely helpless like that again… Even if I might, conceivably, surrender to such a state again in the future, I want a way to fight back!"

She shuddered a little. "If anything, this has made me realise what dangerous abilities truly lurk in our world. It's made me all the more determined to reach the third rank as quickly as possible."

Emily's grin widened. "All I heard is that there's a chance you'll let me do it again!"

Instantly, Naeku groaned and rolled her eyes while the others in the room snickered.

"It's a good idea," Erik smiled, wrapping his arm around Naeku's shoulders and pulling her close. Then he frowned, "Just remember, you have to deal with Nobuntu and Kudzai first, and we also still have to explore this facility."

Naeku groaned once more and sank into Erik's embrace. "Uuuuugh, right… This whole thing made me completely forget about them…" She frowned with complicated feelings. "But you're right… I need to make a decision about them…"

Silence fell for a moment as everyone felt Naeku's complicated feelings through their bond.

Finally, Astrid spoke up with a lustful grin as she began to crawl towards Erik's naked body. "Alright, but we're not in a particular hurry right now, right? We could take an hour to relax a little with our husband…"

Erik watched her approach and felt excited, but knew he had to shut it down because there was one thing he just remembered… He smirked wryly. "We aren't in a particular hurry, no, but… Have we actually told my mother and Naeku's family about our success…?"

Instantly, eyes widened, and especially Naeku blinked as panic set in. After a moment of realisation, Naeku jumped out of bed, her naked body trembling. "Q— Quickly, send me back! Dad's probably still waiting for us!"

***

After Erik and the others reminded her to cover up first, they did quickly leave. First teleporting out of Erik's dimension back into the facility, and then asking Eira to send them back up.

Erik also asked Eira if she'd told them anything, but the Minotaur construct simply looked at him with confusion. "Was I supposed to…?" she asked, a little afraid she'd messed up again.

Of course, Erik could only sigh and shake his head, refusing to make her feel bad about her lapse of social judgement.

Next, they all appeared back on top of the largest spire of Enkare Nkai, under the open air, in front of the Minotaur statue.

What they saw was that no one had left during the many hours they'd been gone… Ankhur was pacing anxiously back and forth, Runa was glaring at the statue with hard eyes, while the rest of Naeku's family was doing their own thing to calm their nerves.

Erik and the others appeared with somewhat sheepish expressions, knowing they'd enjoyed themselves in various perverted ways as their loved ones worried about them. Elora was with them as well, in her human-sized form, and even she looked a little uncomfortable—she still cared deeply for Runa's opinion of her, after all.

"Naeku!"

"Silvy!"

The two parents immediately cried out for their children as soon as they appeared and pulled them into hugs. Naeku was now wearing her dancer outfit, and Erik his harem pants with bare chest. All the other girls were wearing their standard outfits, as well.

Naeku's family breathed sighs of relief as Erik and the princess comforted their loved ones sheepishly.

"What happened?! What took so long?! Are you alright?!" Runa and Ankhur asked their respective children at the same time… and the children were a little lost for words.

Especially Naeku blushed brightly… What was she supposed to say?