"So, are you going to tell me what happened...?" asked Vahn, seated in a suspended hammock chair woven from leaves and vines with Amalia atop his lap, cradled, naked, in his arms.
"It's my brother, Armant! He wants to make arrangements to marry that she-devil from the Osamodas Kingdom, even though I told him there's no longer a reason for them to marry!" Amalia complained, poutily puffing her cheeks.
"Hmmn...so, that's what it was..." Vahn muttered, affectionately rubbing the underside of Amalia's chin and tracing his thumb along her bottom lip. Much had happened in the five or so months since he came to the Sadida Kingdom. Amalia's coronation was one of the more significant. But while she had the approval of their parents and the support of the citizens, her brother, Duke Armant, hadn't given up expanding his influence and trying to influence policy—both foreign and domestic.
"Haaaaaa...this is why you should have followed Vahn's advice and given him territory to manage elsewhere..." Eva remarked, making her way over with lazy, cat-like steps that left the Vahn lying on their bed captivated by her ass as he dispersed into flower petals. The hammock chair was hung on a balcony that overlooked the Sadida Kingdom's nightscape, but Eva made no effort to conceal her nakedness as she approached the twined wooden railing and relished the warm evening breeze blowing in from the nearby sea.
"Damn, Eva...your ass has gotten fat..." Amalia remarked with a playful grin, having picked up the word from Vahn.
"You're one to talk..." Eva retorted, staring back at the former Princess with half-lidded eyes. She knew Amalia was teasing her. But the latter really had no room to talk since her butt was a good twelve centimeters thicker. Not to mention she was shorter...
"More to the point, I can't just force my brother away. Armant might be a fool, but he's still my brother..." Amalia remarked softly, closing her eyes and entrusting her head to Vahn's chest.
Though she was tempted to remind Amalia, for the umpteenth time, that she was eventually meant to be married off by the very brother she was protecting, Eva held her tongue. Princes weren't generally accepted into foreign royal families like Princesses were. And since the only reason rival nations had to betroth him their Princesses was to promote their interests, Armant's situation wasn't a simple one...
fwoo
With a version of Vahn materializing and embracing her from behind, Eva habitually settled into his embrace. It was getting late, and Queens didn't have the luxury of sleeping in. Thus, when Vahn eventually picked her up and carried both her and Amalia back to their shared bed, she very nearly fell asleep in his arms...
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[February 1st DxD/September 24th DBT]
"I was wondering when you would arrive. What? Can a brother not even have a disagreement with his sister without you sticking your nose in...?" Armant questioned, seated behind a desk topped with documents. More notably, there was a woman with dark blue skin, elongated, elf-like ears, red eyes, pointed black horns, and blonde hair with bangs that concealed her right eye, seated atop his right thigh.
"I will see myself out..." said the woman, leaving a red imprint of her lips on Armant's mossy cheek before getting up and walking past Vahn with a seductive swagger. She used to dress modestly as the Second Princess of the Osamodas Kingdom and Armant's fiancée. But ever since the latter had been given the title of Duke, she walked around in a low-cut crimson dress with high slits on the sides...
Seeing the woman, Princess Aurora, give Vahn a look as she passed by him, Armant shifted in his chair, resting his cheek on the knuckles of his right hand as he exhaled through his nose. Aurora had informed him on the day she received his secret message that her father, the Osamodas King, had ordered her to get closerto the Dragon God. She insisted to him that her interest in Vahn was feigned. But since no Class revered Dragons more than the Osamodas, particularly members of its royal family, Armant doubted Aurora would hesitate for even a second if Vahn invited her back to his chambers...
"Duke Armant...how have you been?" Vahn asked, keeping his eyes to the front and adopting a friendly smile. He didn't need to look back to take in the totality of Aurora's figure, inside and out. But he had no interest in the blue-skinned woman and her family's machinations.
"Better than I feel..." Armant conceded, his tone brash, but the tension in his body easing the moment Aurora was no longer present. He knew there was nothing he could say or do to ruffle Vahn without really angering him. And since the latter had returned his and Amalia's mother to life, albeit as Guardian and Speaker of the Tree of Life, it was impossible for Armant to hate the intrusive Dragon God completely...
"More importantly, why have you come...?" Armant questioned, leaning back in his chair and continuing to rest his cheek on his knuckles as he quipped, "You seldom appear in court, and you spend most of your time lying still in the royal bedchamber. Did my Queen-sister ask you to come and convince me to annul my engagement?"
"You've known your sister long enough to know she wouldn't make such a request," Vahn countered, leaving Armant at a momentary loss and giving himself a chance to take a seat before adding, "I wanted you to be one of the first to hear that I've decided to take on a more active role as Amalia's husband. That's what you wanted, yes?"
"..."
"Does this mean you'll no longer be refusing the status of King Consort and that you'll actively be engaging in diplomatic affairs...?" Armant asked, his expression serious. One of his biggest pet peeves regarding Vahn was that the latter acted as if he were above everything while enabling Amalia to do as she pleased. The thought of Vahn taking on a more active role in the Sadida Kingdom's governance was concerning, but it was better than him spending all day lounging about...
"With Amalia about to enter her third trimester, she needs rest, not the stress of governing a nation..." Vahn stated, causing Armant's frown to deepen before he revealed, "With that in mind, I intend to take on the position and responsibilities of a King Regent. And I would appreciate it greatly if you took on the mantle of Prime Minister. The crown will retain its executive authority. But administration should be left in the hands of the administratively adept..."
"..."
After hearing everything Vahn had to say, Armant didn't know whether to feel vindicated or annoyed. For a moment, he had thought that Vahn was finally making his play to seize absolute power and authority. Now that he was being offered the position of Prime Minister, it was more apparent to him than ever that Vahn had no interest in kingship. He was willing to take on the duties of a King Regent while Amalia was pregnant and recovering postpartum. But he couldn't be bothered with the mundane, day-to-day affairs of the Kingdom...
"Everyone knows how much you care about the Sadida Kingdom and its people. Your sister is no exception to that," Vahn stated, his smile gaining a hint of playfulness as he asked, "So, what will you do? Will you continue to act alone and risk sowing the seeds of a political divide? Or will you set aside your pride as a former heir and work under your sister to secure the Sadida Kingdom's future?"
"Are you certain your true form isn't a winged serpent...?" Armant asked, snorting huffily. There were more than a few greedy and opportunistic nobles pressuring him to create and lead a political faction in opposition to his sister's rule. But as much as he didn't approve of someone as naive and immature as Amalia being on the throne, he would never forcibly take it from her. And that had nothing to do with the fact that Vahn would likely smite him if he tried...
"If I accept the appointment of Prime Minister and that Gobball-headed sister of mine actually agrees to it, I will require your backing to root out some weeds that have taken root within the royal court..." Armant stated, his expression and tone deathly serious.
"Consider it yours," Vahn responded, having already made plans to deal with said weeds himself. With Armant taking point, it would save him the effort while simultaneously allowing the former Prince to exhibit his power and authority as Prime Minister. That was tantamount to killing nine birds with a single stone, so he had no reason to refuse.
"To think that the two of us would actually come to an agreement..." Armant remarked, rising to his feet and extending Vahn his hand with a wry but genuine smile. Vahn offering him the position of Prime Minister didn't magically fix things between them, but it was a show of good faith. One he was obligated to reciprocate...
"Well, we both love the same women, albeit in different ways..." Vahn stated, causing Armant to adopt a slight grimace as he accepted the man's proffered hand and gave it a firm shake. His words didn't make it clear if he was talking about Amalia, Eva, or both. But at the end of the day, the only thing that mattered to him and Armant both was that they and the Sadida Kingdom were protected...
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"Sure, I'm fine with it. Becoming Queen has been a major pain in my butt. I had a lot more fun when we were traveling..." Amalia sighed, lying face down atop a massage table that had an oval-shaped groove in the center to accommodate her pregnant belly. Vahn had ensured she was well and relaxed before revealing what he and Armant discussed. And considering she didn't blow a gasket on principle alone, he had succeeded...
"Mmmn...now that you've brought up the past...it makes me wonder what Yugo and the others are up to..." Eva muttered, enjoying a massage of her own on a table parallel to Amalia's.
"The last I heard from them, they had followed Nox's trail to a wasteland south of Brakmar," Vahn revealed, one of six working together to massage the two women's backs, legs, and feet simultaneously.
"They're still chasing that psycho...?" Amalia asked, turning onto her side and prompting the Vahn who was massaging her back to quickly support her as she rolled onto her back, pulled her feet up to her butt, and spread her legs.
Understanding what Amalia wanted, Vahn habitually supported her upper back with his hand between her shoulder blades while his fingers worked their magic below.
"Pinning down someone capable of teleporting and temporarily stopping time isn't easy..." Vahn contended, prompting Amalia, blushing, to stare at him for several seconds before stating, "I bet you could track him down..."
"More than likely..." Vahn conceded, nodding. Then, placing his hand on Amalia's belly, he added, "But we have other concerns at the moment. I'm all for exploring and going on adventures, but we've already set ourselves on a different path..."
"Haaaaaaaaaa...I should never have allowed you to knock me up. Things would have been so much simpler if we just planted a seed and grew our baby the normal way..." Amalia grumbled, exhaling a profound sigh before leaning her head back and entrusting the full weight of her upper body to Vahn's steady palm.
Though he was tempted to remind Amalia that she was the one to insist that he impregnate her, Vahn wisely kept the thought to himself. Instead, he began thinking of ways to distance Amalia from the throne further. He was well aware that she didn't enjoy being Queen, but she was much too prideful to abdicate. That was one of the many reasons he had requested Armant to become Prime Minister. Now he just needed to create a suitable pretense to abdicate himself...
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