My Servant System

Plopping into the seat and letting out a very long, somewhat dramatic yet very warranted sigh, I immediately reached for one of the many pitchers of wine that had been set out and decided that this was one of the times I was going to ignore my Mother... both of them, specifically.

Both Mother and Mother Ria were frowning as they watched me claim a single pitcher for myself, and yet neither of them said anything as I poured out a glass and instantly drained half of it, starting this party as soon as I possibly could.

And by party I just meant a damn good dinner that would be made by someone else while I got to listen to the crazy yet also somewhat generic background lore that was being laid bare by the Empress and her wooden wife, something I was definitely interested in but not as interested as I was in this wine.

It went down so smooth and burned my tongue and throat just right, filling me with warmth and drawing a quiet moan from my lips as I nodded appreciatively for the fruity alcohol that had been claimed as mine.

Jahi sat on my left while Mother claimed the spot on my right before either Anput or Leone could even think about it, and while I usually would have preferred to have my wives beside me to tease and flirt at my leisure I was definitely more than alright with the soft, soothing presence of Mother for tonight.

While everyone got settled she even did the motherly thing of leaning closer and whispering "Don't overdue it, Katherine... this isn't just normal wine, you know... it's expensive and strong.", making me snicker as I downed the remaining liquid before filling my glass up again.

Her flick on my arm made me grin at her as I just proudly showed off the rich red liquid in my glass, and after 'glaring' at me for a moment she just rolled her eyes and waited for everyone to be settled, looking around and taking note of who seemed to be feeling similar to me.

All of us from the expedition were rather tired and clearly wanting to just relax while some of the Empress' wives were definitely a little tense because of this story being told; then there were the surprised expressions of the Empress' children as they came in and got caught up by their parents, who quickly whispered everything to them.

"Where were we..? The cost of coming down here, yes? We sealed our powers and just accepted that we were going to be subject to a difficult learning curve as we adjusted to this world. For a little while we were... sick; the mana wasn't as pure or as plentiful, the quality of life was dreadful, and overall everything was just so bland.

We adjusted shortly thereafter though, and it was during that time that we came across this area, where so many... 'primitive' yet talented groups of people were living. I had regained control of most of my accessible power and learned some new tricks as well, so I decided that our best course of action was to make something for ourselves.

Tessa was the one to suggest an entire Empire, although it did start out more reasonably as a little piece of land we could call home, sequestered off in the mountains or somewhere relatively inaccessible. Once we came across these groups though she turned it from that to something far more grand."

As the many oath bound and extremely loyal servants filtered in and out with a plethora of platters and carts I found myself focused on the wrong things, though I did keep my attention on the Empress somewhat.

It was very hard to do so when one of the servants laid out a platter of perfectly grilled steaks, creamy pasta, herb crusted bread and so much more right in front of me, blessing my eyes and nose with sheer perfection given physical form.

I wasn't at all ashamed to admit that I actually moaned a little when I just saw it, and when I took that first bite from one of the thick steaks I felt like I might melt into a puddle from the waves of ecstasy took me by storm.

Juicy steak with a nice buttery sauce overtop that was rich yet savory was just pure bliss, and having the meat practically melt on my tongue was pretty much the final 'nail' in this 'coffin' - the coffin being me.

I definitely was overreacting to the food but it was just impossible not to after so long away, and when I had Jahi lean over and very quietly whisper "You don't make this face often with me... I'm a little jealous..." I felt a flush of embarrassment as I tried to control myself.

Thankfully everyone was more focused on the Empress as she explained how she and Lady Theresa had been so impressed by the Beastkin Clans, Demon Clans, and large swathes of Human tribes in the area that they decided to found the Empire so they missed my expression.

Of course that damn Demon Wolf caught a glimpse of it, giving me a smirk and a wink before turning towards the blushing 'Saintess' beside her, the two not being entirely subtly about what they were doing since Lady Fenyras' hand was very much not on the table or in her own lap.

Anyways, washing away the embarrassment with another gulp of wine helped fix things, and I listened to the Empress while I enjoyed my food... where I admittedly lost focus on her again after I dove into that pasta next.

I mean, having some of the best meat money could ever buy - both in this world and definitely in my old one - alongside such perfect pasta was just unfair to be honest, and even though I wasn't a gigantic fan of cream sauces I definitely was a fan of the dish in front of me.

Even more so when I combined the two and had another - thankfully smaller and still 'hidden' - foodgasm thanks to their complimentary flavors assaulting my tongue almost as hard as Jahi tried whenever we were feeling especially frisky...