A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Erik's brows twitched as he realized what Elora was planning. "Well, if you succeed, I might need you girls to keep me grounded…" he muttered, feeling a little ridiculous. "Or, maybe I should just make sure to get my ass kicked every once in a while."

"Hehe, no need for that," Elora giggled, patting her husband's chest from her position in his arms. "I think you can trust myself, Astrid, and Mother-in-law, to keep you grounded."

"What about Emma and Emily?" Erik asked, an eyebrow raised.

Elora uttered a strange mixture of scoffing and chuckling. It didn't feel derogatory, but there was a sense of ridicule. Whether that was directed at Erik or the girls was unsure. "What about them…?"

Erik blinked… and then laughed wryly. "Right…. fair enough."

***

A few moments later, they entered the entrance hall to Erik's dimension and found the others waiting there. Having used his bond to gather them here, Erik looked at his family and servants with a smile.

Nora, Anne, and Seraphina were all dressed in the blue and gold servant outfits Elora had designed in the past, while his wives and adopted daughter all wore the outfits they'd been given by Elora and Erik.

Their combined beauty, elegance, and yet fierceness were almost blinding, and Erik could only count his lucky stars to have them in his life.

"Hello, girls," he greeted them warmly. "Ready to bask in the adulation of the crowds?"

Surprisingly, enthusiasm remained low. Emma simply nodded with a gentle smile, while Emily, Astrid, Alice, and Seraphina shrugged almost indifferently. Only Nora and Anne appeared more excited.

In his arms, Elora giggled while Erik grinned wryly. "Alright… ready to get through this so we can increase our legitimacy and then quickly return home?"
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This time, he got a little more enthusiasm. To be fair, he wasn't particularly surprised. Out of his wives, Elora was the only one who truly cared about ruling, and Emma was the only one who was a little more of a social creature. At least, normally. Right now, Emma's mind was focused on her desire to break through to the third rank.

As for Emily, her alternative mindset never enjoyed busy social events, and now that she constantly had to suppress some corrupted urges, that mindset had not improved at all. Finally, Astrid simply didn't see the need. She liked fighting, but all this pomp and circumstance seemed unnecessary to her.

Regardless, they were there for Erik and Elora. Plus, they did kind of enjoy seeing people who cheered on their husband. It was always nice to see others recognize the person you love.

"Well, unlike my sisters, I'm very excited!" Elora chuckled, snapping her fingers to make an elegant, empress-worthy dress appear on her body. "Let's go meet our grateful subjects!"

"Hehe, calm down," Erik chuckled. "We still need to march back to Enkare Nkai."

Immediately, silence fell as everyone glared at him. "What…?" Erik smirked wryly.

***

A few minutes later, Erik found himself outside his dimension, completely alone. In the end, they'd all stayed behind, asking him to call them when they'd arrived back at the capital.

Elora, Alice, and Astrid had immediately returned to what they had been doing before. Emma offered to still come with him, like the adorable little thing she was, but Erik declined reluctantly, knowing she wanted to continue training.

Emily would have probably obeyed if he had ordered her to come, but he could see the discomfort in her eyes at the prospect and had no desire to force her. His servants would have definitely obeyed if he had ordered them to come, but… what was the point?

So, in the end, he waved them off as well… They still needed to reach the third rank, just like Emma, and the faster they did so, the better it was for all of them.

So, he ended up walking out while feeling a litle lonely. A problem that was quickly solved by a waiting Naeku. "Ah, Naeku," Erik sighed with a charming smile of exaggerated relief. "At least you still love me!"

Instantly, a heavy blush appeared under the dark fur on her cheeks, and the werepanther flinched back an inch with wide eyes. "W— WHa—? I— I know I said… b— bu—"

Seeing her flustered reaction immediately cheered Erik up. "Hehe, don't worry about it, Naeku," he chuckled, a cheeky grin on his lips. "It's just that all my wives preferred training over walking back to the city with us."

"A— Ah," Naeku stuttered slightly, not really sure how to deal with that information. She couldn't very well say anything bad about her possible future sister-wives… right?

She decided she couldn't and quickly changed the topic. "Are those… new clothes?" she asked, grasping at straws for something to fill the silence with.

Erik grinned and spread his arms wide to show off his outfit. "Nice of you to notice! It was actually your people who gave me the title of Silver Emperor, and… well, I've decided to lean into it."

Just before returning to her book, Elora had handed Erik a new outfit that she thought would match well with his new moniker.

It was dominated by a long, heavy, military-style silver overcoat that draped over his shoulders with unused sleeves. His shirt was elegant but martial, as were the belt, pants, and heavy combat boots that went with it. The whole thing was created with amber-coloured decorations that made it fit well with both his hair and eyes.

"It looks good on you…" Naeku muttered, the small blush still on her cheeks. Frankly, she loved the martial and intimidating style of his new clothes, and she had no doubt it would have an effect on her people.

Speaking of which… Erik looked around and noticed rows after rows of warriors were already marching back all around them. Many of them couldn't take their eyes off their new emperor and the beloved princess. His new outfit provided quite an impression, and all-new rumours about the relationship between these two quickly started to spread again.

Erik grinned at the looks he was getting before turning to look at Naeku with a raised eyebrow. "I guess we took too long, huh? Thank you for waiting for me."

Naeku shook her head. "It's alright. We need to spread out our third rankers across the army, anyway. It's the best way to keep second-ranked beasts from attacking our flanks while we're moving."

She thumbed over her shoulder, "Uncle Enkai is bringing up the rear, and we're just about in the right place to be defending the middle." Pointing forward, she continued, "My father is at the front."

Then she looked at Erik this a small grin, "Don't worry, we'll move up to the front just before reaching the city so you can walk in at the head."

Erik matched her grin and nodded. Of course, the new emperor had to be at the head. "Good!" He offered her his arm, "Then, shall we go?"