A/N: You know? I'm not really sure how long to make this chapter, nor am I completely sure of the direction to take it. Which I realize is not what somewhat would want to hear when they're about to read a chapter. But I'm going to let you in on a secret, I've felt this way before when writing this fic.

Leon Fou [now Rapha] Barfort: Renowned adventurer and current crown prince. / previously: Hiro (pre:isekai)—Lea of Bart's Fort (The true founder of Holfort and lover to the Saintess Ann and Mary)—JOU_MOU_ (someone who used to work in Luxion's facility.)

Angelica Rapha Redgrave: Daughter of Duke Redgrave and ex-fiancé to Julius/ Previously: Ann of Bart's Fort (aka Saintess Ann and lover of Lea of Bart's fort). / Also goes by Angie to close friends and loved ones. Currently Pregnant.

Olivia: Commoner from the Kagenou Barony. / previously: Mary, lover and companion to Ann and Lea. When they had returned from their adventures in ancient Midgar, all three had been attacked by the founding heirs as they all wanted Ann. To save Lea and Ann from such a fate, she teleported them away, and swapped bodies with Ann. / Is also known as Livia by her close friends and loved ones. Currently Pregnant.

Cid Kagenou: fiancé to several famous elves but just a regular mob you'd find anywhere / previously: Minoru Kagenou boy from Earth that would be transported to the ancient times of the current before dying at the hands of his friends due to becoming demonically possessed out of grief. / Also dons the secret identity of "Lord Shadow." Leader and founder of The Shadow Garden. / Mundane Mann, a pathetic looking sword wielder that disappeared many years ago and has returned for the Bushin festival. / Kageno of Mitsugoshi, after an argument with his parents, Cid decides to go by Kageno for a while. / Herlock Sholmes. During the trial of Leon v Holfort, Cid disguised himself as the famous detective. Most importantly, all the Shades call him some variant of "darling."

Alice [Kagenou: Cid's personal elf servant, lover, and childhood friend / previously: Beatrice (this is non canon, but all of Shadow Garden had identities before joining so I made a name up for her.) / Dons the secret identity of "Alpha" or "Lady Shade." Co-leader and second founder of The Shadow Garden, first of the Seven Shades. The name "Alpha" is only used by those in Shadow Garden. Currently Pregnant.

Other Shadow Garden Members: All of the seven shades have secret identities. They see their Shadow Garden names as their true names and will use that in their own thoughts. But to everyone not in Shadow Garden that sees them as their secret identities will use those names.

Beta: Natsume Kafka, renowned writer.

Gamma: Luna of Mitsugoshi, owner of said store and many others, richest Woman in the world. Xianyun, Sword master of the far eastern kingdoms. Currently Pregnant.

Delta: Sara, certified good girl.

Epsilon: Shiron, amazing musician known internationally.

Zeta: Zetan. Previously known as Lilim, named after the therianthrope hero, Lili.

Eta: Goes by Eta Lloyd Wright, renowned Architect.

Charlie: Known previously as Carla Fou Wayne.

Aurora: Called Violet by Cid, and now camps out in his soul/brain. Known as the Witch of Calamity, and the Demon Diabolos.

Other People:

Claire Kagenou: Cid's older sister and one of Leon's fiancés. Going by Nonna during her time in Alzer.

Deidre Fou Roseblade: The stereotypical haughty Ojou-Sama. One of Leon's fiancés. Going by Rogue during her time in Alzer.

Rose Oriana: Princess of Oriana. Probably the only person besides Aurora that knows Cid thinks everything is part of a game. Going by Luci in Alzer. Number 666 in The Shadow Garden.

Noelle Beltre: Beltre is a fake last name given to her after the destruction of her house. In truth, her name is Noelle Zel Lespinasse / ?

Louise Sara Rault: Currently the one and only daughter of House Rault. Also the only living child by blood following the death of her brother Leon Sara Rault. A vampire "princess" to boot. / In her previous life she was Hiro(pre-isekai Leon)'s girlfriend, Yuna. He was ready to propose but when the rumor of him being gay spread she dumped him.

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

-Minoru (Cid/Shadow)-

"Please let me go."

"No."

"Why."

"You'll just run away."

"No I won't."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really?"

"Swearsies."

Olivier let me go.

I ran.

I made it about 5 meters before she tackled me to the ground.

In the distance I saw Lea, Ann, and Mary quickly approaching us with Freyja not far behind. When they got here, they thankfully were able to pry Olivier off of me. Olivier didn't pout or protest, but I could tell that she was displeased.

See, I know that Olivier has some kind of feelings for me.

But the thing is, I also know a bit about Olivier's past. Over the year we spent together she let me in on her tragic backstory… her tragic past I mean.

Olivier lost her family to vampires. That's why she hates them so much. That's why she needs to be strong. That's why she pushes almost everyone away.

It's also likely why, when she finally let me be her friend, she didn't want to share me with anyone else. In fact, she almost never let me go anywhere without her. But she tried to not be obvious about it. Like a pet cat really.

…She also rarely let me go to the bathroom by myself on some days where her separation anxiety was acting up. I usually needed to have Lea and the rest get her to separate from me for at least that long.

I'm pretty sure that being away from her for an entire year also contributed to her current habits, not to mention that when we finally did meet again, I was pretty close to getting killed.

But here's the thing, this seemed more like the plot of a romantic drama or something rather than the plotline of an Eminence in Shadow. I could use a right hand woman, and Olivier is pretty reliable, but I feel like I'd be taking advantage of her. Which, while I could potentially do, I feel like it wouldn't be fun and overall a dick move. It'd be one thing if I met her when she was younger and she didn't already have a life to go back to, but she's the hero Olivier.

So instead I've been trying to run away whenever given the chance…To varying levels of success.

Currently, I've managed to hide in a ditch as Olivier and the others start to look for me.

"Gah, did Kage-kun seriously try to run away again?" complained Mary.

"My Minoru is simply playing around." Said Olivier. "It's merely his favorite training exercise. He likes keeping us all on our toes. As expected of my Minoru."

G-geez… She says that with such authority. It's a little creepy to be honest.

"Well, I'd appreciate it if he stopped doing it right when we need to leave somewhere. Or at the very least, assuming you're not lying to our faces—again—he should allow someone else to try hiding." Said Freyja. She'd never been my biggest fan, but in helping me evade Olivier, she was my biggest ally.

"I dunno, it's kind of fun playing hide and seek with Kageno-kun every day. I didn't exactly get the chance to do it much as a child after all." Said Lilim. Despite Lilim's childlike innocence, she was in fact my biggest enemy. Always getting in my way, either by helping Olivier find me when I finally got a moment to myself or by making me feel bad when I tried to do something selfish.

I needed funds Lilim! I know the children need it more! But what about my desires!?

"Well, it's best to get this over as soon as possible." Said Ann.

Although I couldn't see him from where I was hiding, I could tell that Lea was nodding. "Let's get started then. Olivier, why don't you take point? Freyja, Lilim, you go after her."

"Finally learned that none of you can keep up with me except for my Minoru, eh?" taunted Olivier before her hurried footsteps signaled her leaving.

Freyja probably shook her head in that disappointed way she usually did, "That girl. If she wasn't so useful…"

"H-hey, don't say that…" Lilim and Freyja then disappeared.

"We'll head back to camp and see if he circles back then, right hon?" said Ann.

"Sounds good to me." Agreed Lea.

I then heard Ann and Mary kiss Lea before walking away. Once everyone was out of earshot, Lea waited 7 minutes and 6 seconds before walking straight to where I was hiding. He said nothing but sat down next to me.

I always hate when he does this. I feel like I'm in the wrong now.

An Eminence in Shadow should only be wrong if it's the ending of the story and it's necessary to the plot!

After an uncomfortable few moments, I speak up. "What do I do?"

"About?"

"Olivier. She's… she's way too attached to me. It's not healthy."

"Well, she didn't find you, so you could just run away now if ya wanted."

"…"

"But you don't want to do that, right?"

"…"

"So, the best you could do right now is to help her."

"How do I do that?"

Lea shrugged. "How would I know?"

"You… You have two wives. You know how girls work."

"The hell I do. If anything, I know even less than before."

"Ugh… that's not what I want to hear."

"Sorry, but not even magic could solve this issue. Good thing you've been great at getting around that right?"

I just sighed and slumped a bit where I was sitting. "Okay, so how do I help Olivier?"

"Well, what do you know is wrong with her?"

I looked over at him.

Lea just laughed, "Hey, you really do care about her, huh?"

I looked away and nodded. "She was the first friend I made in this world…. And I never really liked the story lines that had friends turn into enemies… at least I didn't want to experience it myself since it usually relies on miscommunication and is almost never written well-"

"You just don't want to lose her, you mean." Challenged Lea.

"I… I don't think that's wrong, I guess…" I admitted. I mean, Olivier was great. She didn't really get a lot of the stuff I said but was always a good sport about playing around with what I wanted. I don't think I ever had someone like that in either life. "But I don't know what to do…"

Lea patted his pants as he stood up and held a hand out to me. "Okay, then how's about we do this my way then? Olivier's whole thing comes from her strength and need of it. Not sure why, but I know that her attachment to you comes from how you're probably the one other thing she acknowledges as strong. So, why don't we show her that other people are strong too?"

I smiled, and I took Lea's hand.

We'd then impart a lesson onto Olivier that I'd end up having to learn again as Cid. That there's strength to be found in fighting together.

Which is to say that when Olivier came back…

"Minoru… Lea. What is this?" asked Olivier as she saw the two of us waiting for her.

Lea and I were in full gear.

"Olivier…" I said before taking out my crowbars and readying myself. "Your mind is clouded by the ghosts of your past. My heart aches for you, truly, but not due to your pain alone. Nay, my heart also aches at the thought of how lost you have become."

Olivier narrows her eyes and draws her sword. "Minoru. What are you talking about?"

"Your stubborn refusal to let anyone in, to view everyone else as tools to be used. To have only let me in due to happenstance and a chance encounter… Olivier. You always say that you have no use for others due to their weakness, but why does that not apply to me? I lack the ability to use magic. My truly fatal flaw." I said.

Olivier nodded, "That's why I keep you by my side, Minoru. I will grow strong enough for the both of us. I won't lose you. I'll never fail to protect you. I swear."

"I'm not weak Olivier." I said, and I saw her eyebrows twitch at this. "Especially when I'm working with others. I hope that you can learn that too."

Olivier stepped forward, clearly about to charge. "Then teach me."

Suddenly Olivier vanished before my eyes as she charged in to strike. However, just because I can't see her doesn't mean I can't tell where she's going to strike. I make the crow bars form an X in front of me and feel myself skid several feet back from the force of Olivier's strike. I then feel Lea's hand on my back.

He pushes me forward. He didn't buff me at all, but somehow I felt stronger just knowing he was there. His protagonist powers maybe? I don't know.

But that's also where the memory ended.

I felt strangely disappointed when I woke up choosing one of the random accessories.

However, when I woke up Leon asked me something that would cheer up any guy my age.

"Hey Cid, do you want to fire a canon at some warships?"

-Leon-

I found myself hurried into a room in the academy with several people screaming at me as Noelle held the Sacred Tree sapling, which she gave the cute name of "Sappy."

I kicked my feet up on the table and was met by rather… I wanna say xenophobic claims of how all people from Holfort are savages and that I didn't deserve to have the sapling or to be near the supposed Priestess. Some were at least discreet about it, I guess, but while the responses varied all of them were panicked about the presence of Noelle and the sapling. Surprisingly, that extremely buff yet effeminate professor—Clement—was the one who took charge.

"Calm down, everyone. Narcy, please explain what's going on."

"Professor Clement, why are you clinging to my arm?"

"Oh, goodness, I am, aren't I? How naughty of me!"

He was theoretically trying to mediate, but Professor Clement soon took the opportunity to sidle up to Narcisse.

What's with that nickname anyway?

As far as I can tell they aren't a thing, or at the very least Narcisse was Clement's type but Narcisse was oblivious to the affections being directed their way.

The other teachers averted their eyes and fell silent while Louise took the chance to try and correct my behavior.

"Leon, shouldn't you behave a bit better considering everything?"

"My bad. I guess I can't help it. You know, since I'm just a 'savage, wannabe adventurer' and all. It's not my fault I'm being so boorish. I was just born this way."

My sarcasm prompted some bitter looks. I dropped my feet and adopted a more serious look.

"Enough chitchat. Your country has done a piss poor impression on me so far." I said. "Beginning with that poor excuse of a fighter, Pierre."

"Please address Lord Pierre by his proper title!" one of the professors babbled. "He hails from one of the Great Houses. Miss Louise, Miss Noelle, I beg you not to align yourself with this ruffian."

Both girls glared in the direction of the professor.

"Who I associate with is my decision, not any concern of you." Said Louise.

"Oh? This level of concern is new. Where was this when I was getting messed with by some of the other girls." Said Noelle. Who also took a quick glance towards Louise while saying this.

Professor Narcisse just sighed.

"Okay, you brought us here for a reason besides showing your connection to the sapling and its priestess, yes? I don't suppose you are also going to say you're its guardian." Said Narcisse.

What's a guardian? I take a look towards Louise and Noelle. Noelle looks expectant but Louise signals that I should be careful.

"I am guarding the sapling. But I can't say that I'm its guardian." I decided on. This seemed to placate everyone. So, I ruined whatever peace they found immediately with what I said next. "However, I can say that currently the heir to house Lespinasse and her sacred tree sapling are under Holfort's protection."

The professors stood still in shock and caution.

I then smiled. "So says the current Crown Prince of Holfort."

Before the professors can really let that sink in, I see a couple of people storm in the room.

"Ah, there they are." I said smugly.

Not only were we greeted by the fucker that started this all, Pierre, but also someone who seemed to have been a problem for Noelle. Loic.

"You!" both of them bellowed, and although it was directed at me, I could tell that it was for two wildly different reasons.

"How dare you summon me as though you even deserve to say my name! Do you have any how much trouble I was in thanks to that noble from your backwater country!?" Pierre then glanced at my hands, both still with gloves on. "I bet you have one of those fake crests too, don't you!?"

I don't, but it doesn't hurt for them to think that.

Loic shoved Pierre to the side before taking his turn at screaming at me. "How dare you sit so close next to my woman?! And what's with all of reports I had gotten that the two of you have been sleeping in the same house?!"

Since I had been keeping Elle (Noelle the dog) at my place, and because Noelle had been worried, she decided to stay over at the same place me, Claire, and Deirdre were. Claire gave up her room and slept with Deirdre, so Noelle could stay with Elle in what would've been Claire's room. I stayed by myself mostly, but sometimes one of the girls would sneak into my room while Noelle was asleep.

We didn't do anything while Noelle was there as the room Miss Yukime provided for me didn't have soundproofing. The girls were various levels of upset about this.

Although I don't explain any of this to the two raving boys in front of me.

"Enough." I snapped. "You both go on like dogs, one whining and one in heat. Listening to you just pisses me off. I think it's time you act like the nobles you pretend to be."

Both boys glare at me, but Narcisse and Louise stand behind where I'm sitting.

"What do you want? Money?"

I shook my head, "If all I wanted was money, then these two who support me now could've given me plenty. Not to mention that I already have more than I could ever need. No, what I want is for you to put your money where your mouth is."

No one seemed to understand the phrase, guess it didn't exist in this world.

I kept going. "As I understand, you have the ability to make a bet with your crest on the line, right?"

"You speak of the promises made to the Sacred Tree?" asked Loic.

"Right." I said as I took sappy and held him in my hand, half tempted to start throwing him up and down. "Now, I come from Holfort. You think of it as a nation of boorish and wild people. And you know? That's not entirely wrong. I could say that this nation is full of people who would lose in any fight were it not for the sacred tree, but that's just because I actually know how to fight."

Pierre slammed a hand on the table where my feet were resting. "What's that mean?"

"You fought the weakest member of our group." I said with a shrug, "And the only reason you might've won was because you had the crest. Which can 1: be replicated by one of the most dangerous dark knights in existence, and 2:" I waggled Sappy slightly, "won't be exclusive to your country for long."

"Then we'll take it from you." Said Loic, his nostrils flaring since Noelle leaned a bit closer to me when he approached.

I smiled, "Wanna bet?"

"What?"

I leaned back, Sappy in one hand, and my other arm around Noelle's shoulders. "If you want the sapling, and you want me to stop protecting my friend Noelle, then you have to take them from me. This afternoon, I'm going to get in my airship and go to Holfort. If you can stop me, then you can have the sapling. But if you can't, then when I come back, I expect to be Noelle welcomed back as the heir to the seventh Great House."

Pierre looked ready to explode but Loic wasn't. Makes sense that one of them was one of the main characters in the game and the other the first boss.

"Any terms?" he asked.

"No kidnapping, drugging, or hostages. If you do, then… well. I believe Lord Shadow owes me a favor." I said. To everyone who knew, this was a big threat. To the idiots in front of me, it didn't matter. "Your conflict is with me, and all those who board my ship. No one else. You can use armors, weapons, airships. Whatever. But no getting innocent people involved. House Rault," I said while nodding to Louise who did in return, "will see to it that anyone of my company who chooses not to participate won't be trifled with."

Loic and Pierre suddenly looked courageous.

"You're on."

With that I saw both of them raise their hands with the crests on them. They glowed, and with that the second to last nail in their respective coffins was put in.

"See you later then." I said as I walked out with Noelle and Louise.

-Noelle-

I sat before Louise as her chauffer drove us to my house. We were on our way to see if Leila wanted to come with us to Holfort for a bit, or if she was going to stay with Emile. Hiro had been with us, but said he needed to get his buddy Kageno to prepare for the fight ahead. Nonna instead took his place, to make sure I felt safe.

Apparently, Kageno has this ability to warp entire ships if needed, so we could theoretically win the fight without spilling a drop of blood. Hiro did say he wanted to sink at least one ship, the one with people who harassed them when they first came to Alzer, but didn't actually need to fight anyone else.

…

I know that Louise is helping us… but…

A sigh suddenly breaks me from my thoughts. I look across from me and see Louise open her mouth. "Do you want to know why I'm helping?"

I nodded slowly.

"Because Hiro asked me to." She answered, as though that really answered everything.

I pursed my lips. "Don't… don't you hate me?"

Louise laughed. "Oh, I do. Believe, me I truly do hate you, and your sister."

Claire, who had been more interested in the scenery until now leaned in with interest. "Why?"

"Because this entire time the two have lived ignorant and carefree. Not only that, but they even snuck their way into the academy. They didn't even bother to change their names beforehand. I had to wonder if they were mocking us."

"Th-that's not our fault!" I shouted, "House Lespinasse's former servants filled out our applications, not us."

"And?" said Louise. "The moment I saw you girls at the academy, I could barely contain my loathing. Even if I didn't know all the details, I did know my father let the two heirs of House Lespinasse live."

Sorry, he let us live? What is that supposed to mean.

"I'm hearing that you're not fond of either of them, so why did you only ever go after Noelle?" asked Nonna.

Louise's eyes seemed to be filled with sadness as she looked away and balled her hands. "My father asked me to. 'No fault lies with them.' He said. Leila already had Emile to protect her but Noelle had no one. Not long ago, Pierre targeted her, and then Loic would start to fixate on her."

"Oh, I get it." Said Nonna, "You warded them off by acting like she was your prey, and you didn't want anyone else touching her. It would've been smarter to have her as one of your followers, but I guess since you hate her, it makes more sense that you'd choose to bully her yourself."

Louise nodded weakly, seemingly wanting to say more but reigned it in. "It looks like we're here." She said as she wiped some frustrated tears from her eyes, "Go ahead and talk to your sister. I'll stay out here."

We all got down but Louise leaned against her car with her arms folded. I think I saw her take out a smoking pipe, but I wasn't looking too hard.

I went ahead and used my key to let myself in. When Nonna and I walked into the library I saw Leila pigging out on the couch like usual.

"Leila!" I shouted, "I'm gone for a little bit and you immediately forgot how to take care of yourself?"

Leila's eyes widened she immediately got up from sitting upside down on the couch as she was while shouting back, "Sis you're back where have you *cough* *hack* *cough*"

I immediately got one of the several water bottles that Leila never bothered to finish before getting a new one off of the floor and got patted her back as she did her best to stop choking on the chips she had been eating.

"Where have you been?" Leila questioned with a slight wheeze.

"At my friends' place." I said while gesturing towards Nonna who curtsied.

"Hey, nice to meet you." Greeted Nonna.

"Oh, uh, hello." Leila grabs me and makes us huddle together. "Okay seriously what the fuck is going on?"

"…How are you the one who got a boyfriend first again?" I questioned as I was now greeted with my sister's morning breath.

"Focus!" said Leila as I shoved her away, "Staying at your friend's place is one thing but with that weird light show and all the talk about fake crests, the weird ghoul attacks, and not to mention I heard you went to the dungeon for a week!"

"Oh, well that was mostly making my way inside. It only took about two hours to leave. The monsters and traps make it a real pain to explore the place going in, but it honestly wasn't that long if you knew where to go." I explained.

Leila, who always had a passing interest in the dungeons, had her eyes light up slightly in interest. "Oh really? I guess you guys ran into some dead ends then?"

I nodded. "Some, but not a lot. Hiro had this strange Lost Item thing that guided us to where we needed to go. The only times we got lost were when he needed to 'charge it' or whatever it was he said."

Leila blinks and then goes back to her sour attitude from earlier. "Ugh, why are you getting so involved with the foreigners! Seriously, you don't have anything to back you up if anything goes wrong!"

"I have you, don't I?" I asked.

For some reason Leila gets angry and immediately storms off. "No! No you don't! If you're going to cause problems then don't drag me into it! I'm going back to Emile's house!"

Nonna opened the door for Leila, who said a quick thank you before she saw Louise who was still waiting outside. Louise waved by wiggling her fingers tauntingly, making Leila do her best to just inch around Louise and run off. Louise then did some other hand signals and a few bats came out from her shadow and followed after Leila.

"She's going to her fiancé's place then?" asked Louise. I nodded. "I see, I'll make sure she gets there safely. Hurry and get what you need. We have about 2 hours before we're going to join L—sorry—Hiro."

I squinted. "That bat thing…"

"Familiars. Handly little things." Explained Louise.

I then went to pack my bags and kept an eye out for any bat shaped shadows in my house.

-Alpha-

Although my pregnancy has slowed things down considerably in terms of what I do myself, it doesn't mean that I spend all my time waddling around and twiddling my thumbs.

Rather, my pregnancy has forced me to begin to delegate things a bit more than I had. But to do so, I needed people aside from the seven Shades that I could trust with anything important. However, I found that I hit a bit of a rough patch when it comes to that.

For one, Beatrix rarely leaves me alone. Therefore, all interviews I have must be under the guise of it being an attempt to find some good employees to foist my duties with Mitsugoshi onto them.

I believe that Darling had once said that my position in Mitsugoshi would be called a COO. He also said CEO would fit, but as Gamma was the official owner of Mitsugoshi she'd be the CEO. When I asked about his position, he said something about a major shareholder or CFO. I can't say I really understood the need for these titles at the time, but it does help when I have to come up with good lies to tell in front of aunt Beatrix.

As far as she knows, I am currently interviewing some of our employees to see if anyone can become new "managers" and possible "directors."

But that brings me to the second problem, one that Darling has brought up before in passing. That none of the regular numbers are able to view him as a person. He's allowed it, partly due to the ego boost, but also because he realized that the idea of him being completely untouchable is necessary. I say it's realistic, but then again even he says there are some things he isn't strong enough for.

I do realize that this partly did extend to the seven shades, however most of them seem to have some recognition as people. Particularly Beta and Epsilon, who have always been the friendlier of us seven. Delta, too, to an extent. There was a 'secret' poll a while ago among the numbers about what kind of mythical creature you'd want to pet, and she was number 1.

However, I always thought of myself as somewhat approachable by the others. Up until I had gotten pregnant, even the younger numbers still found it possible to approach me so long as there was reason. But after, it's as though I had become darling, and no one will dare approach me for whatever reason. I know it's not Delta, as she just doesn't let people touch me.

I have to admit, it's a bit lonely…

I wonder if darling ever feels like this? Perhaps this is why his mob façade is so necessary to him, so that he may have the chance to act like a boy his age, rather than constantly being burdened with everything the world has sat upon his shoulders.

…

Resting a hand over my stomach, and feeling as though my child returns my touch, I swear to myself that once our bundle of joy is our, I shall do my best to return to his side.

Although I have mainly been relegated to paperwork and logistics for safety, I have kept up with some mental exercises that could strengthen my magic. I have kept this a secret from everyone, though. As these were revealed to me from my memories given by the fragment of Olivier I had received in Lindwurm.

I know that my child has no risk presented to them, as Olivier had done these as well the first time she had been pregnant. As well as the second time.

Oh well, as darling says, sometimes all you can do is roll with the punches.

"Lady Alice?" said Nu as she popped her head in. "They're ready."

Nu has been something of a godsend lately, now that I think about it. Having largely been answering to Gamma, Nu was completely prepared to take more of the tasks usually assigned to her. She also helps with me on the business side of things, so when I first learned of my pregnancy I had been training her to take some of my share as well.

…

I take a good look at Nu's face. She seems to have used some make up near her eyes. Likely to hide any bags formed from her recent increase in workload.

"Go ahead and let them in." I said. "And Nicole?"

"Y-yes?" she said, having to come to a sudden stop and turn back to me.

"You've taken on a lot of responsibilities lately thanks to Luna and I, please, take the rest of the day off." I said with a smile.

"A-are you sure? It's not even midday." Said Nu a bit flustered but clearly happy at the suggestion.

"Of course. Once I get into my third trimester it's likely that you will take more responsibilities. I can't have you worn out now." I said with as much concern as her boss as I did her friend and fellow wife.

Nu smiled gratefully and let the numbers in.

As I recall these are 169, 420, 89, 42, and 69. (A/N: I picked all the "funny numbers" and one that came up before. If it's revealed later that any of these were named characters… well then let's see if the expies I chose are anything close to the actual ones.)

They all eye Aunt Beatrix who waves politely. They also look at Delta who is sitting next to me with a large bone in her mouth. I pat Delta's head to signal that she should chew more quietly.

"Good morning, everyone." I said calmly but currently friendly. "Thank you for joining us today. You are aware of the reason why, yes?"

Number 169, a blonde elven woman with green eyes who is going by the civilian name Tiffania, speaks up first. "Yes, Lady Alice. We are here to talk about potential promotions for the manager and director positions in Mitsugoshi, yes?"

I nodded. "Correct. You all have been chosen based on your abilities and potential as surmised by those currently above you."

Number 420, an older therianthrope woman with golden eyes and black hair who is going by the civilian name Kali raises her hand. "If I may ask a question Lady Alice?" I motion for her to continue. "Are these positions only going to be for the duration of your pregnancy and maternity leave? Or will they be permanent?"

I smiled internally at the question but didn't portray that on my face. I do so enjoy when the girls who previously thought their lives were over with nowhere to go finally start to show ambition. "We'll have to see first based on how you act during this time."

420 nods resolutely at this.

"Any other questions before I start asking mine?" I asked.

Number 89, an elven woman with dark auburn hair and blue eyes going by the civilian name Chasca raises her hand this time. "These positions would still place us under the current directors, correct?"

Ah yes, as I recall 89 had once lost a duel to Victoria, which enabled Victoria to begin challenging us as well. I suppose she's curious as to what her relationship would be to Victoria now.

"They would still hold a position higher to you, but now you would be able to go overturn decisions they make should you deem it necessary by coming to one of us seven and having us deem it necessary." I said. This seemed to placate her for the most part. Her friend, 69, a blonde therianthrope with green eyes going by the civilian name Xilonen, had sent her a cautionary glance.

The last number here, 42, was a dark elf with white hair and red eyes going by the name Zelestia. Darling once mentioned that had she not been recruited by us, she'd have been a Villainess character in her own right. I don't entirely understand the sentiment, but I do have to agree that there is something of a sinister air around her. Although I suppose part of that is thanks to the religious headwear she always wears, those horns that somewhat look like a Crescent moon sticking out of her head with ribbons around them.

I sat up, "Now, if that's everything. I'm going to walk you through a couple of scenarios that you may face should you take this new position. You will each tell me how you'd handle the scenario on paper and then read it out loud. This is to make sure that you do not change your answer based on what the others say."

All five women nodded at this.

I started light, going through some simple Mitsugoshi business such as helping a lost child, what to do if you over ordered or under ordered what the location needed, what they know about our current practice of introducing fiat currency, that they're familiar with the rules of the company.

Then we got into the interesting questions.

"If you are to take a larger role, such as the one in front of you, you will have to deal with the original seven members and their main subordinates. There is me and Luna, of course, but we will both be going on leave obviously. So, let me ask you how you would handle a possible scenario with each of the other five. You may have already encountered similar situations, you may have not."

1st Question: Natsume is getting close to hitting a deadline on one of her stories. What do you do to help her?

169 and 89 had answered: I'll ask her when the last time she got any sleep is. Lady Natsume often forgets to rest and this can make her forget how to write.

420 and 69 had answered: I'll see if the deadline can be extended. I understand she has to meet them but something rushed can't be good.

42 had answered: I'd ask her to think of how happy it'd make Lord Cid if she could reach the deadline.

2nd Question: Shiron is being invited to too many places, but if she only went to the ones she wanted, she may lose future opportunities for business. What would you do?

169: I'd see which ones are more important to the business and suggest she go there first.

420: We could host our own party or concert and invite people to meet there first.

69: We could ask them to provide the necessary instruments if they're high ranked nobles but not if they're low ranked ones. The higher ranked ones would jump at the chance to show off in comparison.

89: We could have a raffle or some kind of public event that would establish that Shiron has specific places she goes to first.

42: I'd need to ask Lady Shiron what she feels is more important to our given assignment first. But I think we should go to where we are needed first and foremost. If possible, we could stage something like a instrument sabotage. Where if Lady Shiron needs to leave, we could have the instrument sabotaged and her feel insulted and need to leave. It'd get the higher nobles to feel the need to prepare more before inviting her and risking their dignity.

Question 3: Zetan came back from a research assignment but hasn't said anything to anyone yet. Do you try to find her or do you wait for her to come back.

420, 69, and 89 all answered: It's best to do other projects while waiting for her to come back. Zetan is hard to find and won't be found if she doesn't want to.

169 had answered: We could make one of her favorite fish dishes and keep an eye out for her.

42 had answered: It might be underhanded, but we could simply ask for Lord Cid to approve things instead of her. If we do it enough and he complains about it, it'd get back to her and she'd start showing up more out of shame.

Question 4: Eta wants to run some experiments. What do you do?

All of them shuddered to some degree at the thought. I expected as much, but 42's answer surprised me.

42: I think we should have her outline what each experiment is going to be about and to what end she'll conduct them. A reward should also be given for participants. I can't imagine that everyone would cooperate, but Eta would be able to get at least some people to participate in some experiments this way.

Question 5: Sara wants to go for a walk and then go hunting even though she has an assignment. How do you convince her to go back?

169: We could offer her some treats. Especially if it's one of those special… what were they called? Shadow Snacks? Lady Sara seems to really like those.

89: I'd find a good hunting place for her to go to on the way to the mission. Then have some of the lower ranks bring back whatever she doesn't eat. Two birds with one dog shaped missile.

69 and 420: We just tell him that the of the leader of the pack said to go.

42: I'd say that it'd be best to try and direct Lady Sara to where she needs to be going. She won't listen to any of us, but if we tell her that the quicker she gets done the quicker she can go home and guard you then she'll likely try to cooperate.

Question 6: Luna wants to take care of some intruders. Do you let her?

169, 420, and 69 all answered no.

89: Luna at the very least shouldn't go alone. But if she has to fight at all then she should be directed to a wide open area.

42: If we're assuming she's still pregnant then obviously no. If we're assuming she's not then we should make sure nothing fragile is going to be nearby.

Finally, Question 7: If Cid asks you to do something, even if it conflicts with something one of us says, do you still do it?

Thankfully, everyone answered yes without a doubt.

It creeped out Aunt Beatrix a little since as far as she knew we were still just a merchant company that liked having a finger in every pie, but she at least knew well enough that everything we had was thanks to Cid saving us a long time ago.

Speaking of, I'm unsure of whether or not these girls would be 'rewarded' but I can say that I will keep my eye on them.

-Leon-

Cid and I were doing stretches as we got ready for the 12 o'clock bell to wring. At one point Noelle came and started to copy us. After we were done, I signaled to Luxion to go and grab something we got ready for this situation.

"You know," I said to Noelle as Luxion left. "I feel like I should introduce myself properly at this point."

"Hm? So I guess you were using a fake name too then." Said Noelle. I suppose given her own situation she couldn't be too mad about it.

"Yeah. Had to be safe and make sure we had some downtime while in a new country, ya know?" I explained, to which Noelle nodded.

Cid, wanting to go ahead and go decided to go first, "Name's Cid Kagenou. I'm a Baron's son from Midgar, and have a booming business among my loved ones back home. You've been friends with my older sister. She's been going by Nonna, but her real name is Claire Kagenou. Her girlfriend is Deidre Fou Roseblade."

Noelle shook Cid's hand with a smile and he gave a brief wave before going over to Claire and the idiots. They all waved in our direction. Deirdre was staying at the hospital with Hertrauda, Elle, Carla, and Jean. Claire was going to join them in a bit, but she wanted to make sure the idiots knew what they were supposed to do.

"As for me," I said as Luxion came back with Schwert. I sat upon the back and held out a hand to Noelle with a smile. "I'm Leon Rapha Barfort. The current Crown Prince of Holfort. It's nice to finally meet you. Now what do you say we have some fun?"

With rosy cheeks and a determined grin, Noelle took my hand and I pulled her onto the back. Luxion appeared and handed her a helmet. For whatever reason though, everyone was staring at the two of us.

"What? This bike can only fit three at best, and Cid's going to warp you all to the ship." I said, figuring they were mad that the two of us got to do one of the fun parts.

Claire just sighed and shook her head. "Alright, now that I'm sure you dumbasses aren't going to do anything too dumb I'm going to go ahead and go with the princesses. How long are you going to be gone again?"

"We should only be gone for about a month at most or a week at least. If anything happens back here we'll come back as soon as possible, but I figure that we should give things a chance to cool down after all the shit we're about to pull." I said. Claire nodded and then ran off, one of Louise's cars likely waiting for in the front.

With that all that was left to do was to wait for the—

BONG* *BONG* *BONG*

"Showtime you guys!" I shouted as I revved Schwert—something even Luxion agreed was a necessary component to a bike—and then took off at full speed. I saw Cid open one of those red gates and start ushering everyone through. Meanwhile, we found our residence immediately surrounded by armors and hoodlums trying to get in. With a grin, as we flew past all of them I shouted "SO LONG SUCKERS!"

Noelle, meanwhile, started to scream in excitement "WOOOOOOO! Faster, Leon, Faster!"

You know, something feels weird about having Noelle scream that in my ears. Kinda right too, but I can't imagine why.

-Noelle-

I was a bit hesitant about whatever Leon had planned, especially when he told me that he was actually the current crown prince of his nation. Not to mention that from what I heard he was called "The Bloody Crown Prince" or something. But…

I feel the back of my hand with the other. I'm technically doing it over Leon's stomach but given the thick jacket he's wearing he probably can't feel a thing. In any case, I feel crest and can feel it swell alongside my heart as the two of us soar through the sky.

It's like something out of a storybook.

I don't think even Natsume Kafka herself could've written something like this…

Wait, come to think of it, if Cid is really named Cid… was that actually Natsume!?

…That can wait until later.

I look on in excitement as Leon flies circles around everyone trying to either shoot at us or grab us out of the air. Several armors fly into one another only to be caught by Leon firing off a quick Garula to direct them somewhere people aren't. I normally wouldn't approve of a fight like this, because I wouldn't be okay with the senseless loss of life, but wouldn't you know Leon doesn't either?

He could easily return fire but all he does is get them to hit each other or let them run out of steam. I'm surprised that Leon has an airbike capable of this, but I'm certainly not complaining.

"Hey, do you think that you could circle around that branch?" I said with stars in my eyes as I pointed to a branch that served as a bridge between two smaller islands.

Leon laughed, "You hear that Luxion? The lady made a request, do you think we can do it?"

Was this bike's name Luxion?

I didn't have time to question as Leon dived downwards before he did a flip around the branch I requested, making it so we ended up behind some people in armors that were following us. Leon then sped past them so fast that they were sent spinning away.

"Hahaha! That was amazing!" I yelled with glee.

"I know right? I'd do more but I think it's about time we got to the next step." Said Leon. I nodded as we started to approach an air ship. It was surrounded by several armors but none could get past the barrier currently on it. We just sped on though.

With a quick flourish of a circle we landed. I was dizzy and had to lean on Leon—hehe that's funny to say—but I was laughing all throughout as we got on.

"Okay, they're all right where we want them." Said Leon, which confused me until he gestured at all the airships and armors around us. Then I realized where we were.

Directly above house Fievel's territory.

Oh this is awful.

I love it.

-Cid/Minoru/Shadow-

"I suppose this what one would call 'karmic whiplash'" I said as I noted the first ship to approach us was the same one that pissed off Luxion when we arrived to Alzer.

[Oh I have been waiting for this.] Luxion's voice from his little orb body seemed to speak with a shudder of pleasure. [Elf lover. Would you like to press the button?]

I didn't appreciate the nickname, partly due to how I also had therianthropes lovers and at least one human lover, but also because it was just a lame one. Either way I went over the pretty red button and pressed it with gusto.

With that, the robots on the ship fired a missile. The enemy vessel faltered in the sky, disabled and sinking slowly. As it erupted in flames, everyone on board began to flee. The captain, the guy who put out a cigarette on Arroganz MK II, was the first to rush for an escape pod.

"Can I press the button too?" asked Violet.

Shrugging, I let Violet control my hand for a second and suddenly felt my hand press the missile button at least 10 times in quick succession.

Violet, what the fuck?

"Sorry, I haven't pressed a big red button in years." Answered Violet as she twiddled her thumbs in shame.

Ah, I understand completely then.

The Einhorn launched more missiles, hitting the captain's escape pod. It plummeted toward the ground, although from what I can tell it wouldn't result in the captain's death. Luxion wouldn't break Leon's order for no killing after all. That didn't stop the man from screaming and sobbing as he fell.

[Go ahead and keep firing. We have much more to do before we're done.]

I spammed the red button like I was playing cookie clicker, even letting Violet take one of my hands again so we could take turns. We fired upon armors approaching us, but if they just so happened to miss and end up destroying the military facilities then that wouldn't be our fault.

Ships started to go down one after another for the sin of being in our way, but none of them sustained any actual bad damage. Just enough that they would be forced to land and need repair.

At some point some roots from a seal on one of the other ships grew and tried to hit the Einhorn, but it only took a couple of shots to take them all down. Whatever did get close was quickly dispatched by some legless robots equipped with flamethrowers and chainsaws.

Eventually, Leon had enough fun and walked up to the captain's seat and took out a device that would allow him to project himself through a hologram.

"Hey, so just a reminder, the only reason I'm doing this is because of the bet with Loic Leta Barielle and Pierre Io Feivel. If you just let us leave, then I'll stop sinking your ships and costing your territories hundreds of dollars." Said Leon, clearly not caring about how much he was going to piss off everyone, "Also, I'm playing nice and doing non lethal stuff." Leon then leaned forward in his seat and took his more kingly voice. "Don't make me start firing to kill."

Suddenly, all the airships in front of us moved so that we'd be able to have a straight shot towards freedom.

"Thanks." Said Leon with a smile that promised mischief. Fitting that the next thing he said was, "Pierre, Loic… I hope you remember that you made an oath to the sacred tree."

From there, the Einhorn began to fly at full speed towards Holfort.

That was so much fun.

-Claire-

I put away the little device Leon gave me to monitor the position of him and the others. It relies on his engagement ring and Luxion to produce a signal according to him. I wanted Cid to have one too, but he said he'd toss it as soon as he got one if we tried.

Speaking of, I look over to Natsume who is playing with Elle. I don't get why she didn't go with everyone, something about business? I don't really get it honestly.

I just sighed and sat back in the lobby of the hospital's small garden. I was shortly after joined by Louise.

"Hey," I said in greeting to which she returned. "Since we might be here a while for several reasons, anything interesting coming up?"

Louise thought about it for a second. "Well, summer's coming up pretty soon."

"Yeah? Anything I should keep an eye out for then?" I asked.

"Well, there's usually a festival in the crimson tower territory around that time. Couples get to go in the tower to receive a blessing from the sacred tree then. We also have a similar event for the winter festival, but this year's summer one will be special." She said. I raised a brow so she continued. "Well, this year, there's supposed to be a crimson moon during the festival."

.

.

.

A/N: So, we aren't entirely done with volume 5, but I am going to skip the wedding crash thing. It seemed unnecessary but I do think it had some more scenes with Noelle learning about the harem and Leila finally becoming a character. But once we get through those… it's the vampire arc baby!

This chapter had a big Alpha section because I didn't just want to pretend she wasn't a character anymore just because of her pregnancy. She's still recognized as Lady Shade, and probably only grew stronger thanks to the power of love if anything given the Otome game setting.

Next time we'll have Noelle come to terms with stuff as best she can, and then have the boys meet with their lovers before going back to Alzer.

Minoru should also meet the ancestors of the other shades next chapter. That will mark the end of the second room. I want to complete the third before we get to the John Smith arc.

Now, let's answer the

Rendfire: Cid and Leon can recognize a harem protagonist in anyone but themselves. They are both just dense motherfuckers.

Lmao yeah, gotta show the boys are friends somehow.

She's also not choking him out anymore, so that probably helps.

I actually didn't realize that chapter came out. Just read it, and yeah, Zeta's going to be so sad and everyone else so mad. I really need the author to release more volumes already.

They do happen offscreen, but part of her appeal is seeing them.

ARK786: Even in canon no one is really sure. Best I can say is that both Leons are still Leon, but reincarnation just works really strangely.

As for the Shades' opinions on Leon and Alexia—

Leon: Cid's best male friend, but also a potential threat. Cid said not to kill him unless he tried to hurt them, and honestly he and his wives are pleasant to hang around so they'd prefer things never come to that if necessary. Brother-in-law they like basically.

Alexia: Pretty princess bitch.

SB

MWKillKenny84: Luxion wasn't activated until after both died. But he does have footage of the facility I think, so he probably does.

That, and I had Leon take on the military and make complete fools out of them.

Azure the Dragon Lord: Yes, Leila asking Noelle about the students was canon. But I did change it to make it look like Leila was xenophobic for the lols. It's in character honestly though. She's just an awful person.

QQ (there were a lot this time because of some new readers, so that's cool)

Someone ani: I wonder how old Zeta is now? Like 17 in canon I figure. But I did include the Zeta scene because of her birthday.

Zeta's a moody teenager that's insanely jealous of how Alpha's Cid's first everything. Of course she'd do something to annoy her.

Bladist: I suppose it was a fluffy chapter. I didn't plan for that. I would've included another scene with Jean and Carla this time around but I figured they don't need too much development honestly.

Oh so in that case, I had a couple of lines start with a quotation mark like "this

But

Then

I stopped it like this"

I figured it made more sense than having quotations every line when I had so many paragraphs there.

Josephindomictus: Leon just needed to clear the air. But yeah, if those two turned Yandere Luxion would have to change hands.

He wasn't shy, he was just messing with his brother lol.

Mylene being the most maiden like is one of her most appealing traits.

Demon777: He did! Keep reading please, you'll see the lemon since you're on QQ.

Dragon_cloud16: It's cool, as long as you keep reading and replying when you can I'm happy.

Did it? I think I'm starting to show stuff like that without meaning to sometimes. I can see the growth when you point it out like that.

Louise's new past was fun for me to write. I'm not completely done given the whole of volume 6's stuff though.

The girls would like Louise, but they would have some issues with how much she did/didn't trust Hiro.

Demon777: I never watched the iron man movies, so I didn't do that on purpose.

I didn't know that Iris and Rias shared a voice actor in Japanese, that's cool.

Silent Minority was just a really good song though. The ED isn't bad but the OP stuck in my head for a while. Highest is good, but I liked Grayscale dominator way more.

Lol.

Also for everyone that commented on the Cid Poll pick. I'm reminded of a time on the subreddit for Eminence in Shadow when someone was complaining of people posting too much thirst over the characters. And someone replied something like "You will not deny us our right to praise our Lord Shadow!" lol.

Ao3

Dawnwatch: Lol, I'm surprised everyone liked the ship. Then again I had to do something with those characters and they were both single in canon anyway.

Kicking in the back of the knees seems apt, yeah. He doesn't start things, but he damn well finishes them.

Zeta wouldn't have let Victoria do anything too bad… probably.

I feel it's probably best to have the Minoru sections at the beginning and end of each chapter too. I just didn't last time because I wasn't sure what to write yet, also I usually try to have a pattern of "EiS character, Mobuseka Character" in succession for the most part.

DivineDemonDragon: Ah that makes sense. Would Cid do that as Cid or as Shadow?

That tree stuff was brought up on purpose. I won't talk too much about it because I want the reveal to be insane.

I didn't realize that, but yeah the dynamic is reversed huh. That's cool to notice.

Wolfpaladin: I mean Leon likes his little brother a lot, so Lea probably wouldn't have minded.

As this chapter and next will show, it's because Lea stepped in.

Lmao, Leon just chooses to ignore a whole lot of stuff.

Man, if I didn't have that bill for indecent stuff to worry about I'd write the hell out of that.

He did, but it was a while ago so Alexia didn't recognize her face at first. She'd probably wake up in the middle of the night and go "WAIT A MINUTE" or something lol.

Claire was not happy.

Hanabi was dead by the time Yuna had the resources to do anything… but also, I planned on having her say that she was the one who pointed the scumbag in Hanabi's direction during the funeral. I just felt it wasn't the time for that revelation.

That's a neat connection between two characters I thought had none. I think I should write that at some point.

BOY4_GOW:

1. An accurate description of Olivier's feelings.

2. It's worse because of how Leon's the one who got to grow up while the other died at like, age five.

3. That was a reference to Mashu. One of my all time fave Waifus.

4. I think Sage_of_Eyes had a good what if fic if Leon was reincarnated in that body instead of the one in Holfort.

5. I mean technically Carla and Jean are both from Mobuseka. Carla just joined shadow garden in this fic.

6. Lmao yeah.

7. Who said she was going to be friendly? They're catty and it's going to be fun as hell.

Totntobt: Yuna died at about 50, so she's good at keeping her emotions in check. Cid is just doing whatever's fun honestly though.

I have to do something with them. Speaking of, Hertauda will have more of a role when we get into the Leila stuff.

That's a interesting take, I wouldn't write it, but it could be a fun take to do considering what Erin says about her experience in being a transwoman.

Ideal as Kiara… given everything, I could see it.

Lifeisneartodeath: You need to have an account to read the NSFW stuff on QQ. Here's the link to the fic though https/forum./threads/lifes-a-pay-to-win-game.27248/