Life as a Royal’s Breeding Partner

Chapter 218 – Lunch as a Family Again

*** Alzi ***

"Please, one more day. Just one more day," I cry out. "I just got to meet them."

"Sorry, dear," the Princess says, carrying me out to the carriages. "This war is about the kid in your womb. We can't just skip it. They will be here when we get back."

"I've had ten years of lost kids. I just got to hold them."

"Sorry, my lady. You'll have your next in a few months," Aurora says, fixing my dress before I get put into the carriage on the Princess's lap. Aurora is joining us with Sedriresa. "You'll have some time off, and you can see all your kids then."

"Fluvis will join us, and you'll have years to spend with them," the Princess continues. "We will all miss them until Fluvis can marry into our house. Then, you get to be a part of raising them."

"I want my kids."

"This war will help you have your kids, dear," the Princess whispers. "Why don't you go to sleep while I hold you? We'll wake up back at our house to pick up Isda, then go to the capital. We even have a present for you when we get to the capital, ok?"

"Is my present getting raped again? The Mistress loved that little trick," I say, the carriage giving out a short jerk as we leave my kids behind.

"No, you will like this. It has nothing to do with this family or sex. Just something you like," the Princess says.

"How would you know what I like?" I ask.

"I have a few things I know you like, and this is one of them. If I'm wrong then I have failed at grasping even a portion of my dear wife," the Princess says, petting my hair. "Please trust me on this one. If this isn't a good gift, then I'll let you go because I will never be able to make you happy."

"When does this gift come?" I ask. "I can't have you just waiting until I look excited over something to claim it is my gift."

"First or second night in the castle. I will tell you before we enter if it will be the first or second," she promises.

"Good luck," I mumble. I doubt she can figure out a single thing I like. The best she could do is some special wood if Aurora shared my woodworking with her.

...

The Princess tries to let me sleep through the stop out the manor but wakes me while trying to shuffle out from under me. Maybe I can get my own carriage next time.

I'm probably with the Princess for 'safety.' Maybe I can switch with Geta or Shimmer? Don't want the Princess to think I like her too much.

"I'm coming out," I say before Sedriresa can close the door on me.

"Yes, lady Alzi," Sedriresa says, holding out a hand. Look at who is being nice now that her lady is carrying my child, scary bitch.

I take her help and step out to the front door of the house. I'm already used to the slight chill these manors have with all their stupid enchantments. Winter was always a pain in the village and now I hardly even feel it.

As long as I don't get kidnapped again.

The little pregnant Isda is standing on the steps, letting the Princess walk up to her. Everyone else starts to funnel out and group around me. Shimmer filters out to the edge of the group.

"Since everyone got out, do we want to have lunch here?" Isda asks as the Princess wraps the woman in a hug. "I am glad you and Alzi are safe again."

"We can do lunch here if it will be ready quickly," the Princess says. "We're happy they left you alone."

"We thought you would all like a real lunch," a maid says behind Isda. "The meal should already be ready in the dining room."

The Princess gives Isda a soft kiss before breaking up their hug and heading for the front door. I wonder if I'm still able to open the door.

Isda hangs back on the stairs with a soft smile. Waiting for me to walk up the stairs to the door.

"It is good to see you safe, Alzi. I'm sorry we failed to keep you from getting pregnant. I already have a mage working on fixing our tunnels. It won't happen again," Isda says, her small frame pulling me into a hug. The little ones in her womb going crazy having their father nearby. "We all missed you, and then we are dragging you into a war."

"I'm happy you were safe. I don't know if the kids would've made the journey," I say. "We were both naked as they dragged us through the snow."

"Your kids are sturdy, but I agree it would have been rough on me and the kids. I still wish I could support you both through it somehow. Instead I wake up realizing how useless I am to protect the ones I love," Isda says. "But we got you back home. We just have to work on making a future that has all of us safe and happy."

"You all have a lot of work to make me happy," I say. "I just got torn from my kids again. Now, can we eat?"

"Yes, sorry, honey," Isda says, letting me go. "Can we share a carriage? I can get Geta or Vanya to join us."

"Sure," I say. I had thought Isda would be the one showing up everywhere instead of Shimmer and Geta. I wonder what kept the golden girl away from me? Are the stairs that hard for her? She does look like she will be wider than she is tall soon.

Not a thing has changed about the halls as we walk back to the dining room. All the statues and paintings still litter the halls. The maids still running around doing whatever they need to do.

The nice thing is that traveling doesn't require heels, apparently. So there will be no clacking of heels as we all parade down the halls—just a bunch of pretty women in plain dresses.

In the dining room, the food is already set. The Princess wastes no time taking the head of the table. Isda takes her left, and the right stays open for me.

"Back again as a family," the Princess says. "We have plans to expand greatly already both with kids and wives. To get there, though, we have a hard path. A war that will have us struggling. The north will have an advantage with winter in full swing. But I believe this house can lead our people to victory and end the feud they started when my Mother started her reign. We have a few days of fun then the march will start. Mother warned me the war machine is already turning. Isda has our army raised and marching already. This is the field we have to prove ourselves on. I'm sure the Queen will have more, but I want you all to know I trust you all to get this done. Even with a few pregnancies in the house, we can succeed. I can still join the battlefield for a while. We have nothing to fear with Alzi there to heal us, but please try to keep her from working."

Wine glasses are raised, with a few filled with water in the mix. They wait for me to join them.

Can I trust them?

I don't have a choice, really. I'm going with someone to this war, and they should at least have good motivation to keep me safe this time around. So, I raise my glass with them and let the lunch begin.

The normal lunch is in front of us. A simple salad and sandwich ready for us.

If I hadn't gotten out, would they have just given it to us in the carriage, or did we have different meals ready?

"Alzi, your new tattoo shows you have three classes. Would you mind sharing them?" Isda asks.

"Did Princess Elora not already tell you?" I ask. "She told everyone else."

"I did not hear about that," Isda says, giving a small glint to the head of the table. "Sorry. You can keep them secret if you want, of course. May I at least know if you got a healing class as one of the three? I know you wanted one."

"I have two. One is more of a breeding class, though," I say. "It's all about making and helping mothers."

"Well helping mothers is important for you. But I am sorry to hear they aren't what you wanted. The Goddesses have been cruel to you. You should have a lot more healing this go around, so they should be better suited to your desires," Isda says. "The war should offer plenty of chances to level and get your next set of classes. A lot of women will need healing to help you even more. To find a sliver of good in the terrible. Though we already had a number of different plans to help you without all this extra blood and death."

"Like what? Why didn't you think of telling me about them?" I ask.

"I think we mentioned having you travel with a group and being a traveling healer. Then, we were already working with you to set up a healing business after your apprenticeship with Lady Oriphusa. Once that got underway, we were going to offer you some different ideas," Shimmer says. "One being a healing show. They were going to be offered to you, not demands. We didn't want to overwhelm you with options before you even got to do the basics and see what was out there yourself."

"We had no intention of deciding your path in healing or even forcing you to continue down that path," the Princess continues. "We wanted you to see the business and decide from there if you wanted to continue. If you did, we would start offering different ways to spread your name."

"Sure, sure," I mumble. They did offer me the business already and Shimmer did bring those up. Maybe I'm a little too used to having everything decided for me.

"Have you seen the castle before, Alzi?" Ioelena asks. "I guess the wedding would have taken you through a small part of the castle grounds."

"Just that. I was always in the red light district," I say. "Being whored out."

"Well, it is even more grand than our manor. The ballroom the party will be in will be massive and filled with lots of people. The Queen may even put on another show."

"Great. More women looking to get pregnant."

"No, war is breaking out. The women won't be looking to get pregnant," the Princess promises. "They will look to have a bit of fun before the dread of war, but a pregnancy will be a burden on them."

I bet Princess. If I go the entire party without getting a woman pregnant, I'll give up on divorcing you bitch. "That will be nice," I say instead. No need to have the Princess meddling with stuff.

The rest of lunch was much quieter. The need to make it to the capital soon pushed them to let me eat.

Is that the next to have Aurora teach me?