A/N: Hello. So, we're finally on the 3rd page of Questionable Questing. Speaking of, there's a lime this time with Leon and his Girls, as well as a Lemon planned for the end of next chapter as well with them. Same rules, it's not going on fanfic or spacebattles since those sites say no. I was originally going to finish the duel in this chapter as well but I felt like getting to 10K words before that meant that I should leave it for next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs, nor do I own The Eminence in Shadow. The only Beta reader here is the elf.

-Marie-

It was all supposed to be so simple.

It was all going according to script.

It had to.

It must.

It's just a game.

They're just a bunch of whiny teenagers.

I know how they work.

I know… I know…

I don't know anymore…

Is it because I'm not the protagonist? Why? Why can't I be the protagonist? This is my game, I deserve it.

Is it because my body isn't big enough? It was in my past life. It should have been this time too. But to get through the things I did I needed to keep using healing magic on my body. It… I guessed I healed myself so much that I won't grow. I don't know how that works, really. Just that it sucks. Onii-chan probably would have figured it out.

My name was Hanabi… I honestly don't even remember my last name anymore. Not like it mattered. My family took me off the register once I started dating… that boy. They took my girl from me. My baby… my baby… I'm so sorry. I'm sorry mama wasn't there for you. I'm sorry mama was such a fool.

Onii-chan I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I…

I used to be someone. People looked up to me. I was the best looking, most popular, and smartest girl in my college. Boys hit on me all the time. I would sometimes entertain them to get a free meal. Everything was great. I had friends, a couple of boyfriends, and everyone loved me.

Did you hate me? Do you hate me?

It all started going downhill with this stupid game. This stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid game.

I could never beat it.

I didn't try hard enough. I never tried hard enough.

So, I gave it to Onii-chan. I figured since he lived alone, he'd have plenty of free time. I didn't know Onii-chan I didn't know. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…

I took some money from Onii-chan and from Mom. I told Mom I needed it for some test in school, and she handed it over right away. I lied to Mom all the time. She never caught on. But she was always suspicious. I should've known better. I should've been better.

So, I went to Okinawa with my friends while Onii-chan played the game. I sent him a few pictures… a few of my friends thought he was kinda cute, actually. I thought that he'd enjoy seeing us all in bikinis. Then, when I got back I'd make him a bunch of his favorite food to make up for everything and he'd go on a date with one of my friends, and It'd all be okay.

…

….

…It wasn't.

It was not okay. Onii-chan… Onii-chan worked for a black company. He didn't have free time. I thought… I thought he quit his previous job so he could live a cushier life. He… he played the game for me. He beat it. He got the bonus for me. He had a heart attack soon after he was done.

The fucking lucky bitch of the game who got everything she ever wanted reading my name. That's what the bonus was. I traded my older brother for an AI reading of my own name from the girl of the series.

Isn't it funny?

No?

Then this will make you laugh.

I ended up dating Onii-chan's boss. He was at the funeral. He comforted me. He said everything I needed to hear. But he was just using me. Boys always used me. But this time…

This time I had one good thing, my daughter. But… my parents took her away. They said I couldn't take care of her… they were right, of course. At the time at least. I… I ended up making more money. I needed to, for my daughter. I wanted to be the best mother I could be for her. I wanted her to see me and see someone great. I needed her to.

But… that boy. My Onii-chan's old boss. His company went bankrupt without Onii-chan doing all the work. And… he took it out on me. It was fine, usually, but one day he came home drunk, and I was playing Alto Liebe again hoping to see… something I guess.

But just as I watched the ending for the Harem route again where the villainess just gets exiled, he…

Well, the villainess talking to her new husband, some ugly baron, was the last thing I saw.

Then, I woke up.

I didn't realize that I was in a new life. Not at first. I had still been in pain after all. But after a couple of weeks when I healed enough for my parents to kick me out and say for me not to come back until I made money for them to spend, I realized where I was.

I knew what I had to do.

I fought. I starved. I struggled. I tried. I really, really did. And for once things seemed to be coming up my way. I made the money I needed to enroll. I may have stunted my growth but that was fine. It's not like I did much with my body last time. For a few seconds, I thought that I should just be satisfied with what I accomplished.

But then that first debt collector came for me.

He took everything I had.

I had to earn it all again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Then finally, I was in the school and he couldn't come after me. But I got letters. Tons of them.

They stopped at some point, but that brought me no comfort. What did was knowing what I had to do.

I couldn't help but exclaim, "They're here, I've waited 10 years for these princes."

I could have sworn that Onii-chan was watching me then. And he was disgusted.

It was pretty easy to keep going from there. Follow the events, that's all I had to do. But I almost ran into a speed bump right away. The protagonist. She was here. She was a declaration from the universe that I was a screwup that didn't deserve anything. But that's not right. It can't be right. It can't be. I worked to hard for it to be.

So I tried to scare her off before she could trip the flags. I took my anger out on her. After all why should a girl like her get everything handed to her. Why couldn't it be me?

But she… she didn't seem right. She… was scary.

Looking at her, the way she gazed at me and held me in place… I thought someone installed some kind of analog horror mod or something.

But then the Prince showed up. It wasn't from a white horse but he basically descended from the heavens for me. I felt bad, but I tripped his flag and then ran off. I made it up to him later by doing the rest of his events.

And his friends.

And everything was okay.

But then…

That… mob! That damn mob!

Where does he get off thinking that he can just say whatever he wants!

I don't care if the devs installed some anti speedrunning NPC, I'm going to do whatever I want! I deserve to get what I want!

He was clearly meant to help the player. So, he should just stick to doing his job. Why else was he near the protagonist and the villainess? He probably just bugged out and thought those two bimbos were the same girl. Why else would he then help Julius? Why else would he start surrounding himself with named characters?

But then…

During some tournament I never heard of in any of the cutscenes or saw a single CG of, the boys were humiliated. None of them got the top 3!

I guess the NPC was right, I needed exp. And with the end of term gala happening I knew just how to get a ton really quick.

Luckily, these boys will buy anything I say.

But wouldn't you know it? Some other people were already setting up stuff for me.

-Olivia-

I wept as I hugged my friend and apologized again, "Aliiiiiiice! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to smite you! It just slipped out!"

The boys all chuckled at me, but they don't know how traumatizing it was to see your super cool elf friend be vaporized by light, shrug it off despite being surrounded by blood, and then ask for you to try again! And again! She just kept going until the referee stopped her!

Alice chuckles too and pats my head and back. "It's fine Livia, I knew what I was doing."

I hear Clarice mutter, "are you sure?" But Alice doesn't seem to pick up on it.

I separated from her with tears still in my eyes. Angie is nice enough to give me a handkerchief so I can wipe them.

I take a second to look around at our surroundings. We're all in the mess hall of Partner. After the success at the god of war festival for both the magic and sword divisions, we decided to have a small party. Since we also needed to talk about some stuff about our group's actions going forward it was better than having it in Leon's tearoom. Speaking of Leon, he goes to the front of the room.

"So," states Leon with a loud clap, "We managed to accomplish our goals. So let me say first, congratulations to Angie, Livia, and Deirdre for getting first, second, and third place-"

We all cheer for each other with raised glasses.

"-And for the sword division, Rose in first place, Claire in second place, and Dan in third place!"

We all cheered again. I think I heard Alexia grumble about how'd she would have been first if the officials let her compete.

"Now, as for what our factions next actions should be…" said Leon, leaving us all to lean forward. "Is to rest."

I see Daniel and Raymond fall on their faces. I can't help but be a little dumbfounded too.

Angie chuckles and walks up to Leon to address everyone, "As it stands. The five heirs have been shaping up rather nicely. Julius is paying more attention to the areas of governance that he had neglected as a child, often joining Leon and I for study sessions. Mamoria has had his ego curbed twice now, and seems to finally get that he's meant to be Julius' shadow and not his lackey. Field, Arclight, and Seberg all seem interested in practicing with us if we provide them with the opportunity. Rose, no."

I turn to see Rose lowering a raised hand in embarrassment. Yeah, given what she did to Cid I don't think it'd be safe for her to teach anyone else. Especially anyone with a bunch of pride.

"I guess that means we accomplished all of our goals?" asked Iris.

"Well, knock on wood." Chuckles Leon as he takes a sip from his drink.

Hm?

"But Leon, everything on Partner is made out of wood?" I point out.

A look crosses his face, but then he shrugs.

"Welp," said Leon, "It's a good thing we have back up plans."

Oh… I hope I didn't just jinx things.

I walk over to Leon and Angie as everyone starts staring at me, and hide behind the two. I'm sorry…

"Livia…" drones Cid.

I'm sorry!

I peek from behind Leon and see everyone else shaking their heads. I go back to hiding behind Leon.

-P2W-

At the start of the year, if one were to ask anyone in the student body who was the most likely to succeed, they would have listed anyone in the prince's entourage. Yet, now, following their crushing defeat in the god of war tournament, no such accusations would be made outside of trying to curry favor.

They know this of course. Of course they know.

The bet with Leon to win the rights to division one's training area had been one thing, but they could dismiss it as a fluke. Especially because Leon didn't even bother running in either section of the god of war tournament. He had to have realized that whatever tricks he pulled wouldn't work again…right?

But then,

But then.

The tournament started. The preliminaries had been easy enough to get through, as they expected. Chris Fia Arclight was the next sword saint, Greg Fou Seberg was from a family of warriors and renowned adventurers, Brad Fou Field was from the family best known for their expertise in the field of magic, Jilk Fia Mamoria was well known to be second only to his brother, Prince Julius Raufa Holfort who excelled in every area of combat.

So…

So why was it that once they began to face off against Leon's faction, they struggled so much? How on earth could the likes of the barons Dalant and Arkin, two barons from nowhere, be able to force them to put in effort? How on earth did a commoner like the scholarship student completely wipe the floor with Brad? How did Dan Fia Elgar manage to completely spit in the face of everything Chris knew?

That's not even mentioning how quickly Julius and Jilk fell to their fiancés. They expected some resentment… but only Jilk found any. Julius, when he faced Angelica he could only feel as though she was facing him like she was preparing to step on an insect… he almost felt like apologizing.

That's not even mentioning how Julius and Jilk lost in the sword tournament, no there they lost to people they had no quarrel with, yet both felt like they wanted to maim the both of them. Claire Kagenou, a baron from the kingdom of Midgar, wielding a completely new sword style involving wielding two swords at once had completely overwhelmed Julius, leaving him unable to land a single strike on her. Similarly Rose Oriana, princess of the Oriana kingdom had immediately deployed some technique that covered her in mana and had fell Jilk in a single strike.

It was humiliating.

But what's worse? Is that everyone, everyone that posed a challenge to them and defeated them had all credited their success to one man.

Leon fucking Barfort.

The upstart adventurer. The one who had first humiliated them. The one that seemed to be everywhere.

Who was he, really?

What was his deal?

How…

How could they hope to defeat him?

What was missing?

-Cid-

You know? I never expected that I'd fall in love so hard.

Like damn it.

But oh well, pussy footing for several chapters about my feelings would not be The Eminence in Shadow way. So, I must strive to spend more time with my new lovers. I will not be some middling boy spending 100 chapters just fantasizing about spending time with one girl and getting absolutely no where.

I mean I've already done it with Alpha, but that's not what I mean. What I mean is that I want to go on dates with all of the shades. Unfortunately, the only ones in the capital are Beta and Gamma now. The rest had business elsewhere. I don't want to favor the others too much, that wouldn't be cool, but I can't exactly leave without it looking suspicious. I could probably ask them to come to me, but I don't want to bother them while they're working.

I should ask Leon about how he juggles time with everyone. He has his own relationships with Olivia and Angelica of course, but he also had to manage time to spend with all of us in training these past two weeks, and somehow none of us felt like we were drawing the short end of a stick.

In any case, I came to Mitsugoshi and went to Beta's room.

"Yo Beta." I said from the window in the middle of the night, "Wanna go on a date?"

Beta shrieked, fell out of bed, tripped over some of the papers she had everywhere, and then said yes. It was kinda funny seeing as how she was face down with her butt in the air.

I picked her up like a princess, since I know she has a thing for story book clichés and took her into the night. Or to be more specific, a clock tower in the middle of the town. It's not as big as the one in Midgar's capital, at least going off of he notes that Zeta had on it, but it's still a pretty good setting.

Beta and I are in our slime suits. I never really cared about appearances, but as I offer Beta some wine to drink as we sit on the edge and survey the town, I take in hers. She's always had a really pretty head of silver hair. She likes it short, but with a braid on one side. I see it fall forward so I tuck it back behind her ear, which wiggles at my touch. Cute. A blush covers her face and ears, making me focus on the mole on her cheek.

As though it's a target for me to strike I kiss her on the cheek where her mole is. This causes her to jump up slightly. Due to the fact that we're on the edge of a very high clock tower I catch the wine glass she almost drops and force her beneath me in the process.

"C-Cid" said Beta with a certain breathy tone to her voice.

I look down at her and take everything in about her appearance, this time focusing on her body. Beta, like all of the other shades, wear her slime outfit wonderfully. The black of the slime is interrupted by gold. Some part of me wonders if they chose the color because they know how much I like it? It covers all of Beta's body, except for one notable area. Now, while I'm a teenage boy who just awakened his libido, I don't stare at her all that much. But I do realize that Beta easily has the biggest chest and probably the biggest waist of all the shades.

Although I do sometimes think Delta might have the latter given the huge tail attached to her. But that's a thought to think of later.

"Beta…" I whisper.

Beta closes her eyes as her ears wiggle. I close the distance.

I know it's probably wrong of me to do so, but I can't help but compare it to my kisses with Alpha. For starters, they don't seem to share the same taste in lipstick. In all actuality I don't think Alpha really wore any, she's pretty tomboyish. Beta on the other hand, tasted vaguely of strawberries.

She lets me lead, and I do my best to not only kiss her lips but also take a few breaks to kiss her closed eyelids (A bit hard to do with her mask), her cheeks, and her ears.

She starts reaching for her slime suit's chest area to pull it down

But.

I stopped her.

She looks like she's about to cry.

Why did I stop her?

"Cid? Did I do something wrong?" asked a now teary Beta.

I shook my head immediately. "Of course not, don't ever say that."

Beta sniffles before looking at me.

It feels uncomfortable for a second.

But then she reaches for my face and takes off my mask. I don't stop her. I don't even move. I feel like I can't breathe. After a few seconds she puts it back on.

"Not yet?" she asked.

"Not yet." I parrot. "I'm sorry."

Beta merely giggles, "It's okay, I… I'm just reading ahead. I… I look forward to when we're on the same chapter."

Beta… you're so cool.

I kissed her again.

We started to pack up things, jumped off the tower (making the clock strike twelve on the way down because Beta loved that scene in Peter Pan), and then started running towards Mitsugoshi. On the way though, we saw something peculiar.

It was that blonde girl.

I looked at Beta and she nodded. We started following her.

It's about 2:00 AM right now, so what's she doing out here? She's not with any of her boyfriends either, just her elf servant. They're wearing cloaks but I can tell it's her by her magic signature.

The alley she's in seems pretty… sketchy. She's almost stopped by a couple of thugs, but she takes out a shotgun and immediately handles it. Neat. I mean that elf boy looks completely flabbergasted and is covered in brains, but he should get over it.

Oh?

Looks like they're meeting up with someone.

Hm… Where have I seen this person before?

"Lord Shadow!" whisper-yelled Beta.

I see Beta pointing at something that the two are exchanging.

Ohohoho.

Sorry Leon, but if that's what I think it is, it looks like you're going to have to go through with plan K after all.

-Angelica-

For the past month, I have spent my nights in Leon's quarters. It was endearing to see a man so strong become so weak at the insistence of me and Livia. Livia and I will still undress and prepare ourselves for bed in the bathroom while Leon uses a separate shower, as neither I nor him are ready to take the next step. Once we change into our sleepwear, we'll push Leon down and take either side of him. Livia usually sleeps on his left above his heart, and I'll take the right. If one of us gets up in the middle of the night either to use the bathroom or get water, then Leon will cuddle the other still in the bed. Thanks to that, I've become a bit familiar with a part of Leon, given that it pokes me a lot.

I admit that I was glad that Livia would help me get ready in the mornings. I used to have my followers assist me, but after they had tried to get me to never see Leon and Livia again, I simply told them off. I admit that I'm not aware of what they're up to now, as if I were to keep tabs on them personally it could be assumed that they were still acting under me.

I had thought I'd never interact with those two ever again, but lo and behold that when I went to school this morning alongside Livia and Leon, I'd see them again.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing!?" I roared.

I saw them again, picking on that Lafan girl. I may not be fond of her but to do this so blatantly? Leon and I immediately charged in. As we fended them off and Livia started to head towards Lafan I couldn't help but notice that these students are acting rather strange. I know that they didn't have the best of ideas, it's why I couldn't spend any more time with them, but it almost seems like-

"What is going on here!?"

As Livia helps Marie up and Leon and I are among the others, Julius and his entourage show up. Good they can get to the bottom of this.

"Julius!" cried Lafan as she raced to his side.

"Marie! Are you okay? Did Angelica do this to you?" accused Julius.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked.

"How dare you believe you can harm our Marie like this!" yelled Jilk.

Leon got in front of me, and Livia hugged me close to her. I felt safe and was able to control my emotions momentarily. I moved to say something, but Leon shook his head.

"Let this play out, I need to confirm something." He whispers to us.

What happened from there was a scene that seemed to make more sense to have happened a month ago. My followers claimed they were showing Lafan her place on my behalf. That she had gotten too familiar with the prince and was breaking my heart because of that.

The thing is though, is that absolutely none of that is true. What's weirder is that they seemed to not process at all what's happened in the past few months. Both my followers and the prince's entourage. Even stranger was the fact that when confronting us, Leon didn't let us make a peep but Julius had been acting as though I was having a conversation—or confrontation I suppose—with him.

None of it made sense to me, I really don't know how else to put it. At some point Julius storms off and my followers disperse, leaving the three of us late for class.

"Hey, this school has sick days right?" asked Leon.

"Er, yes. Roughly two weeks free and paid for anymore." I state.

Leon nods and then starts leading us back to Partner. "Okay cool. We're taking a week off. Luxion, have one of our drones tell all of our friends to meet up with us."

[Very well. I always figured you'd go down the path to delinquency Master.]

Leon would likely had made a rude gesture if Livia and I were not holding his arms.

Olivia gasps happily, a little too happily, "Is it time for plan K? Is it?"

"No, first is plan J. Judgement. I'm giving them one last chance and I'm going to show I mean what I say by preparing for plan K. So, we're going to need to talk to… well basically all the current heads of all our friends' families." Said Leon.

Ah…

"I'll be with you the entire time." I state resolutely.

"Right! You can count on us Leon!" agreed Livia.

"Good… because this is probably going to be a hell of a way to meet your father for the first time." Groaned Leon.

Livia and I could only giggle.

-Clarice-

[Miss Claire, master would like for you to go to partner and join him to go meet our parents.]

A noise I can only decide as a strangled squeak emerged from Claire's mouth as she dropped her quill. Not to mention the squeals coming from female classmates around her. I look to my right. The pure drill-haired ojou-sama appears star struck at the invitation Claire received, despite us both receiving a similar one earlier.

"Rose," I ask, "why are you so moved, you know what's going on."

Rose clears her throat, "*ahem* you're right sorry. But Luxion had phrased it differently compared to the two of us."

Mm. Probably shouldn't mention to Claire that Cid told Luxion to say it like that until we get on Partner. Claire eventually turns her head and sees the two of us. I wave her over.

"What's going on!" Whisper-yelled/demanded Claire.

"Plan J and possibly plan K." I answered.

Claire immediately cools off and starts marching in the direction of Partner.

"Don't you want to get some clothes first? We're taking the entire week off." I call as she's halfway down the hall.

Claire turns on her heal as we laugh.

"By the way," I mention, "If you see Angelica's old followers or the prince's entourage just ignore them. They've been acting weird."

"Weird how?" asked Claire. "What's changed?"

I just shrug. "Leon hadn't really explained it, just that they're not going to listen to a thing we say."

"I asked what's changed." Stated Claire.

I immediately burst into laughter, Claire chuckling a little. I even hear Rose stifling a few giggles.

"Who else is coming Luxion?" I asked.

[You three, Angelica, Olivia, Deirdre, Dan, Princess Iris, and Nicks Fou Barfort.]

"Cid's not coming?" asked Claire with a pout.

[He stated he had business to do with his wife Luna and couldn't leave the capital just yet.]

"What about Mr. Dalant or Arkin?" asked Rose.

"Or their girlfriends," I added.

[Those four cannot speak on behalf on their families. As such they deigned to stay and help monitor the situation.]

Makes about as much sense as everything else. "Maybe we should leave Dan here then, he should be able to serve as a pseudo leader while we're all gone."

"If Iris is going with Leon, then perhaps I should stay as well," said Rose, "I cannot in full faith make decisions on behalf of my kingdom given that my father is still in power and I am unmarried. Know that you still have my support should you need it, I just need due cause to give it."

"Like Plan K?" asked Claire.

Rose nodded.

[Very well, I shall inform Master that it shall be himself and all of his harem members then.]

I blush, but I can't say I hate the idea. Heh, Leon's in for a long ride… oh and I guess Nicks is going to be there too.

-Leon-

"Leon."

"Yes, Leon here."

"Leon."

"Yes, I'm Leon."

Nicks covers his face with both hands and drags them down with a deep sigh. "Leon. What the fuck is this?"

I glance at the very reasonable and self-explanatory paper in front of me.

"What's not clicking?" I asked.

Nicks makes a gesture that implies he wants to strangle me, but we're across each other on a pretty decent sized table so he can't do much. Which reminds me, apparently Luxion has a sense of humor towards all New Humans, and when Cid asked him to help prank Claire he agreed with almost no hesitation. When Claire found that out Livia had to hold her back from jumping off the ship and running to strangle Cid.

"Leon!" yelled Nicks as he slammed his hand on the table, "Why am I signing a document stating that I'll give up any claim to the throne!?"

I quirked my head, "I mean do you want to be king?"

"God no! But stop avoiding the question!" yelled Nicks.

I wipe the spit off of my face from his little tirade.

"As it turns out," I say, "we're distant related to the kingdom of Holfort's royal family. As such we have a claim to the throne by all legal means. I just need you to sign this document stating that you'll hand over the throne to me should the opportunity ever arise for you to inherit it. Dad's also signed it."

"…Is this why Dad sent me a letter saying that you're going to be the death of him?" asked Nicks.

"He did that?" I ask as though I'm surprised. If anything, I should be surprised it's taken that long for me to elicit that response. Mom, Dad, did you finally have hopes for me?

Nicks grumbles and signs the paper.

"Thank you. Luxion, take this somewhere safe." I commanded.

[It is commendable that you have been using me as a glorified courier this entire time we've known each other.]

"Shaddup, sending, receiving, and saving files is like the main thing a computer does." I said.

[Fair enough I suppose.]

"So, what now?" asked Nicks.

I shrug, "You hope this isn't necessary and focus on getting married. How's that going by the way?"

Nicks groans again and slumps into his chair, disappearing beneath the table.

"…You know, my friend Deirdre's pretty good at matchmaking, want me to ask her for help?" I asked, feeling a little bad given how good things are looking for me.

Nicks throws his hands in the air, "Might as well, it's not like my search was going well. Why not, what else are you going to fix Leon?"

"Nicks?" I asked concerned.

"*Sigh* Sorry, it's just. It's a little hard not to feel a bit inadequate to you sometimes, y'know? You went out and got the lost item and all that other shit, then you got all those influential friends, then you got two girlfriends, and now apparently you might be the next king! I… Just what do I have? What's so good about me?" said Nicks.

…

"You're a pretty cool big brother." I say.

"…" Nicks looks at me. Then walks around the table and gives me a punch in the shoulder. "Don't fuck up, because I don't think I'd be able to bail you out like with mom."

"Yeah, don't worry." I reply.

Nicks chuckles, "yeah, I guess I don't need to anymore."

We smile for a bit before getting Luxion to bring us some drinks. Livia and Angie were both a bit mad at me for getting drunk, but they let me off sleeping on the floor. Never mind that they both ended up joining me there. That's just something cute that's between me and the recording Luxion gave me.

-P2W-

King Roland of Holfort, Duke Vince Rapha Redgrave and his son Gilbert, Earl Bernard Fia Atlee, Countess Dorothea Fou Roseblade in place of her father and brother, Princess Iris, and Baroness Kagenou who is accompanied by her future daughter in law, Luna (Gamma).

Despite Leon's many successes being well known to the general public by now, he did not in fact have the opportunity or authority to request for all of the notable figures to meet. Instead, he had talked to King Roland first as per their communications through Luxion and had him request the meeting. Roland's only stipulation being that they don't let his wife know and he have a proxy show up for him.

This proxy being The Masked Knight…

[Master]

"I know Luxion." Whispered Leon to his familiar.

Although everyone had filed into the secret meeting room, no one knew how to begin things. Leon was worried about going first given that he had called everyone here, but only did so under the authority of Roland, who is currently pretending to be someone else. Luckily, as she is used to meeting with people in a higher station than her, Luna stands up to start.

"If I may, perhaps introductions are in order now that we're all gathered?" Offered Luna. "I am known as Luna of Mitsugoshi, but you may consider me one of Mrs. Kagenou's daughters as I am set to marry her son. Next to her is my future sister-in-law, Claire Kagenou. She is a well renowned up and coming knight."

At her future daughter-in-law's introduction Mrs. Kagenou stands and curtsies, entirely too nervous to speak. Her daughter Claire squeezes her shoulder reassuringly after doing the same. As they are sitting next to one another it is easy to make comparison between Claire and her mother, with the main difference between the two mainly being their age and Mrs. Kagenou's wavy hair that ends at her shoulders in comparison to her daughter's straight hair that ends at her thighs.

"Of course, of course," laughs Earl Atlee, "I've heard much about your business madam we're glad to have you here."

"Thank you, I'm happy to hear that." Politely thanked Luna.

"I'm Earl Bernard Fia Atlee, this is my daughter Clarice. Glad to be here among such a diverse crowd." Said Bernard. Clarice curtsying with his introduction.

Bernard is a rather portly man, sharing the same auburn hair color—coloring both the hair on his head and his moustache—with his daughter but not many other features. Although if one were to see Clarice and him in non-formal settings you'd argue they share the same mischievous smile, something that bleeds through in his expression even now. He's about average height compared to the rest of the figures in the room, but slightly shorter than his own daughter when standing.

"I suppose I should go next; I am Duke Vincent Rapha Redgrave. This is my son Gilbert, who is my heir, and my daughter Angelica, who is currently being raised to become Holfort's next queen." Said Vincent. His children bowing and curtsying when mentioned.

Vincent is a rather aged man, roughly in his 50s yet still sporting a full head of hair, grey though it may be. Like Bernard he also sports a moustache, but his expression is much sterner. The name Redgrave was not earned by people who didn't command respect. His son Gilbert stands tall, even more than his father and most of the other men in the room. Gilbert shares the stern expression with his father, as does Angelica for that matter, but Gilbert possesses blonde hair and blue eyes in comparison's to Vincent's grey hair and red eyes.

"I suppose I shall go now. I am Dorothea Fou Roseblade, and this is my sister Deirdre. My apologies for standing in for my father and brother, but both of their wives had ended up getting attacked by pirates on their way home from the capital." Said Dorothea.

Dorothea and her sister Deirdre shared blonde hair and blue eyes. However, Dorothea's blonde hair was long and straight, ending at her thighs. Meanwhile Deidre's hair, which was a paler shade of blonde, was done into the classic ojou-sama drill style, ending at her buttocks. Both had stern appearances, Deirdre more than her sister.

"Oh no!" cried Mrs. Kagenou, "Are they going to be okay?"

Dorothea smiles and shakes her head, "Luckily some unknown third party had intercepted them. However, my father and brother couldn't risk them being attacked again and went to escort them home."

"Understandable, I wish them a safe trip home." Remarked Vincent.

"Thank you very much, you honor us, Duke Redgrave." Thanked Dorothea.

"I'll go next. I am Princess Iris of Midgar. My sister Alexia and I have been enjoying our time in Holfort's Academy. Her a student and me serving as a sword instructor." Said Princess Iris.

"Pardon," said Gilbert, "But if you are here, then who is serving as the current instructor?"

"A friend of mine is filling in, you can trust her expertise with the subject." Said Iris.

As they were going in clockwise order around the round table, the next introduction falls to Roland in his disguise.

"I" shouted Roland as he jumped onto the table, "AM. The Masked Knight!"

Was this guy trying to rip off Shadow? Thought Leon and everyone in his faction.

*SNAP*

Everyone looks over to Luna who appears to have shattered a glass that was in her grip. Luckily it was still empty.

"My apologies," said Luna with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "I was startled."

Roland smirks, "Understandable, my appearance is a lot for people to take in."

That's one way to put it. Thinks Leon.

"Would I be correct in assuming that you are the legendary adventurer of the same name?" asked Vincent. Roland nods and descends from the table onto his own seat.

Leon can't help but turn to Vincent. His incredulousness only just barely being hidden. Does this guy not know? Or is he pretending not to know? Leon then gazed to everyone at the table and saw that everyone there had seemed to not recognize Roland at all.

Unbeknownst to Leon though, was that Luna, or rather Gamma, had been able to hide her rage rather well. How dare he. HOW DARE HE! She thought.

Luckily no one in the room seemed to pick up on the blood lust emanating from Luna, believing it to be part of the tension.

As the last one at the table to introduce themselves, Leon rises, doing his best to remember how Lea had spoken to him in that dream prior to their fight.

"I am Leon Fou Barfort. This is my brother Nicks, and my lover Olivia." Leon says before taking a deep breath and adopting the same determined look as Lea, "I am currently a Baron following my success as an adventurer, but during said adventure I have come across some truths."

Olivia takes out some papers and then gives a copy to each person at the table. It takes a few minutes but when everyone sees the proven lineage of Lea of Bart's Fort and his relation to Julian, the kingdom's father they immediately slam down the papers and look at me.

"What on earth are you doing boy!? Why bring this up!?" Demands Vince.

For anyone else, the serious tone of voice that Vince had deployed would intimidate them into submission, but Leon meets Vince's gaze and asks, "Lord Redgrave, are you aware of the state of the academy."

Vince holds his stare, "What do you mean?"

"The five heirs are incompetent. Although they are assumed to be the best combatants of their year, something that I had disproven with the god of war tournaments in both the sword and magic divisions with my subordinates occupying all top spots in each." Stated Leon.

"Hold on," said Bernard, "From what I heard the magic division's top three were Lady Redgrave, your lover Olivia there, and the younger Lady Roseblade."

"Right," agreed Gilbert, "and in the sword division the winners were Princess Rose of Oriana, The young Lady Kagenou, and Sir Dan Fia Elgar."

"All people I had trained for weeks." Leon had stated firmly.

"Sir Leon speaks the truth," confirms Iris. "I had been apart of his training as well, and I had been put through the wringer as a result."

"Is this true Angelica?" Vincent asked his daughter.

"Yes. Thanks to Leon, his lover, and a mutual friend of ours, Cid Kagenou, I had managed to increases my understanding in magic by several levels." Confirmed Angelica.

"Cid did?" asked Mrs. Kagenou.

"Indeed," confirmed Deirdre, "Your son may not have much in terms of strength himself, but it would seem that he makes up for it in terms of creativity."

"He did always like reading more than swordplay as a child…" muttered Mrs. Kagenou.

"How intriguing…" remarked Roland, "But why get involved with all these young women?"

The fathers at the table seem very interested in the question.

Leon doesn't skip a beat however, "My dream, since I was young, was to grow up and live an easy life among those that I loved. But when I got to the academy, I found that such a future would likely never come to be under the rule of the current heirs. I know that there's trouble brewing in Fanoss, not to mention the conflicts stemming from the shadows in our own territory. If I thought the future of our country was bright, I would gladly take a step back. But seeing as how the darkness is set to swallow everything we hold dear, I cannot stand back and let it happen."

Everyone stops and digests Leon's words. For as young as he is compared to most of the other adults at the table, he seems to know what is going possibly more than they do. He speaks with a resolution that no boy, no man, his age should speak with.

However, Luna was thinking something different. That… that sounded like the famous shadow wisdom! Leon… who are you really? No… there must be a reason that Cid declared him a friend.

"So, what now? You take the throne and rule? By what metric do we trust that you'd do better?" demanded Bernard.

"By what metric do you see Prince Julius ruling in any capacity than that of a puppet at best and a tyrant at worst?" countered Leon.

"Watch what you say, Barfort." Warned Vincent.

"Very well," acquiesced Leon, before continuing with, "But make sure you do your best to hear what I say then. Your daughter and I had been tutoring Julius for the past two weeks, and what we saw was that he knew almost nothing that his governance classes should have covered."

"…Is that right?" asked Roland with very mild interest.

"What Leon says is true," confirms Angelica, "the two of us had been tutoring Julius and his lover Marie Fou Lafan in governance. I know that Julius utterly detests me, likely due to his hatred of his station despite his enjoyment of all its benefits, so I wanted to prepare my likely replacement. Unfortunately, Julius did worse than Lafan."

Vince and Gilbert immediately nurse their temples.

"You and Leon?" pointed out Roland.

Angelica shrugs, "Leon makes me happy. Julius had no problem with it."

Vince and Gilbert's headaches disappear as they stare at Angelica in bewilderment. But once they see her smile, genuinely smile. Something they have not witnessed in years; they can't find it in themselves to be angry at Leon.

"What about the others here? I couldn't help but notice that your retinue was all women save for your brother." Continued Roland.

"Leon's only with me and Angie." Said Olvia, before smirking in a way that would do Ann proud, "So far."

Deirdre, Claire, and Clarice all blush.

Iris merely shrugs, "I suppose as a future king he does have the duty to leave behind many heirs. My own father did have some lovers on the side that are currently in lower class families."

Vincent, Gilbert, and Bernard all nod. Roland's reaction goes without saying for all that have met him.

"So, what now?" asked Vincent, "How do you plan on continuing from here?"

Leon smirks, "One of the reasons that I had asked for this meeting was because recently the five heirs had relapsed. They had made efforts to grow but strangely have doubled down on their own ways. However, as my older sister had pointed out to me before, their popularity matters a lot for their future. So when the entire student body, including the foreign students, sees them acting so irrational. Well, if I were to challenge Julius to a duel for the throne, I believe that everyone would be sitting on the fence waiting to see which grass is greener."

From there, the discussion would continue into the night. The what if's about the future of politics, how factions will shift, how things would be campaigned, and other things would be informed.

Later on, Natsume Kafka would make a very famous short story over "The Room Where it Happened." But that's many years in the future. As for now, she's working on another story at the behest of Cid and Leon.

-Leon-

"Haaaaaaah… What a day." I sighed.

[Did you believe that setting up your throne would be easy Master?]

"No… maybe. I mean, I don't know really. I'm just so damn tired." I whine.

[I recommend taking a shower and getting ready for bed.]

Good enough idea as any.

I took a quick shower and changed into my pajamas. When I got back to my room, I turned on the lights and saw my two favorite girls waiting in my room.

A/N: This is the lime, it's between Leon, Angelica, and Olivia.

They stick to third base. Saving the rest for after the coming duel.

A/N: Okay the lime ends here.

I lay in bed, tired but happy from our actions.

"I'm going to kick those guys' butts so hard." I say.

Angie chuckles, "Eager aren't we, Leon?"

"Fuck yeah I am." I say.

Livia giggles and snuggles into me while holding Angie's hand, "Beat them really quick and then carry us in here and go at it okay mister?"

"You got it." I agree.

-Cid-

So, I don't think being involved with a major shift in the political system is very mob-like. It's kinda why I sat out on the meeting. However, considering I promised the girls to be more involved with everything, I also just wanted to stay at home. Leon can deal with the kingdom, I need to focus on my goals.

Speaking of, I didn't notice this until after he came back, but I think that everyone is running on different sets of information. As I understand it: Leon, Angelica, Olivia, and then Shadow Garden knows about Lea and Hiro as reincarnations, as well as information about Shadow Garden from Leon's point of view. Everyone else thinks that Leon simply learned about his ancestor through his adventures. I guess it is hard to bring up the whole reincarnation thing. I tried a long time ago to come clean to Alpha about it but I just haven't found the right opportunity to bring it up again.

What I did manage to do however,

"Alpha?" I asked my very beautiful elf girlfriend as we walked home from Mitsugoshi.

"Yes?" she responded as she ate a burger.

"Do you know what a promise ring is?"

Alpha licked her fingers after finishing her burger and shook her head.

Cool.

Cool, cool, cool.

"So, this is more shadow wisdom, but rings are often used to signify steps in relationships. There is the engagement and wedding rings of course, but there is one before that. It's a promise that you mean to take the relationship seriously. Hence the promise ring." I say.

Alpha stops in her tracks. "Cid?"

I kneel down.

"C-Cid?"

I take out one of the rings that I got from the dungeon and attached some enchantments to in my free time.

"Alpha… my first friend, my second in command, Lady Shade. Would you promise your loyalty to me once more? Would you accept my love and adoration?"

I look into Alpha's eyes, they're full of tears. She dropped the wrapper from a burger and I see it flutter in the wind behind her. She wipes her face with her sleeve and begins to reach for the ring.

However.

I see someone quickly moving in on the two of us. Normally they'd be too quick for anyone else but Alpha and I both have enough time to turn, recognize that it's a woman that looks a lot like Alpha, then go back to our mob personas by jumping back in surprise as the hum of a katana being drawn cries in the air.

"Beatrice, No!" cried the woman. "You're too young!"

"Woah!" screamed Alpha and I as she tackled me out of the way.

The woman catches the ring in midair and levels her sword at me as Alpha hugs me.

"W-who are you?" I ask with my voice shaking.

"Who are you to think your good enough for my niece!"

"Niece?"

"Aunt Beatrix why are you here?!"

A/N: Okay I feel like that's a good stopping place. Next chapter should be the actual villainess denouncement scene or whatever it's called and the battles.

Now let's answer some comments:

From Space Battles:

Deidryt: I definitely recommend checking out EiS, it's such a fun series. If you need somewhere easy and free to start (and legal) then I'd check out Cleater SV on YouTube, as he's been playing and uploading everything from the gacha game The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden. Which has all the two seasons of the anime with extra stuff thrown in, some character interactions, and more. He even recently started making a blog to help dictate everything better I believe. I will get into that stuff with Stephanie, kinda did this chapter too.

Kaledioscope89: Thanks, I worry about crossing them over some times. But yeah, Cid's excuses both do and don't make sense.

Clarice isn't exactly locked in, close though. Claire… is coming up.

Maybe once I have the next chapter done I'll go and edit the POV labels on every chapter.

From Fanfic:

Haseo55: Yes they're OC's from what I can tell Leon's friends kinda just disappear from relevancy by the Alzer arc. So if I do that too, I figured why not wrap up their deal now, especially when more and more characters are going to be introduced.

About Sherry… wait till the mobuseka school trip.

That mech looks sick. I do have plans regarding mechs going forward, it's just a lot right now is going to be out of them. Next chapter is definitely when the duel happens though so don't worry.

EDG1999: Thank you! Man, I've gotten a lot of similar comments, maybe I should change the description? I'm bad at writing those though, can one of you guys come up with one? Lol. I can't take too much credit for character development since it is largely based on in canon development.

Fangs of death: I hope you liked Marie's more elaborate POV this time around then. But yeah the four fools have a lot to learn.

I wouldn't say that long. Also I don't think it can be called anyone's polycule, I don't think that's how the word works. It's definitely Olvia's harem though, she just likes watching Leon.

Golden Nova: Okay, good to see.

Guest: I hoped I delivered a bit with Beta this time around. I have plans for Gamma and Eta coming up as well.

I feel like Eta would be carried, unless she uses slime.

From QQ:

Bladist: It's about the Italicized "Oh." Thanks! Hope you enjoyed those fics. They're slower to update but they're also super good.

BlackThief12: Hanabi isn't sure if it's Hiro, but she definitely caught on to the guy possibly knowing her. She just still thinks everything is a game, and more importantly, her game.

Nah, it's not weird to want to hug her. She creates most of her own problems later on but she did go through a lot.

28th00: Yeah that's kinda why I took out Delta and Epsilon, that's what they'd be doing the entire time.

Alexia does enjoy it, but Iris still needs one last push to believe everything about Shadow.

Yeah, good for Cid.

Lmao, Claire. She's so easy to make fun of. Speaking of, if you ever saw Oregairu, the "I love you Kawasaki!" Scene is where I got her reaction to Luxion summoning her this time around.

Stephanie… is still a bad person. I'm not sure Cid was exactly disgusted, but he did enact justice in his own way.

Lmao yeah, Iris is planning to make a political connection.

Deirdre is one of the best girls. She's also debatably an M, really depends on her partner I think.

Someone ani: Zeta will probably be one of the last to get a one on one scene. To be fair it took forever for her to make an appearance in canon too.

Akuma-Heika: I was using -P2W- this entire time so far as a divider since the lines can't be copy and pasted. In case you hadn't noticed so far.