His Marissa is more closely related to him than he knew, and less faithful

"Please, Countess - may I tell the rest of the story myself?" Flora asked with a chuckle that was very nearly a cackle.

You gently laid a hand on her shoulder and rubbed her condescendingly. "Oh, I know you would love to, dear woman. But I think it would be best if I let him down easy instead of letting you rub it in. Now, Count - How much do you know about your lovely wife's family tree?"

Cutting him off before he can respond indignantly you raise a hand for silence. "That was a rhetorical question. The answer is 'not enough'. You see, Marissa was not actually born to Baroness Amelia of Goldfields as you were led to believe. As I understand it, Lamar, your father died in battle well over 10 years ago while out on campaign, and so taking care of your aging mother has fallen largely to servants... such as Flora here. Apparently the old lady has gotten a bit naive in her age, and very loose-lipped to anyone who will keep her company and listen."

"So it was that your mother's treacherous chambermaid wormed her darkest secret out of her - that while your father was away, she'd given in to temptation and allowed other men to keep her bed warm while he was away. In fact, to hear Flora tell it, she's still at it from time to time, on the rare occasions that an older man who still finds a woman in her sixties attractive passes through."

Count Lamar couldn't bear such an insult without pass and he raised his hand as if to strike you across the cheek, making you flinch back. "Do not make me forget that you are lady, Countess Zoe! Quite honestly, from what I have seen you scarcely deserve the title." the current Loon patriarch said darkly. "I will not stand here and have you throw such slander upon my helpless mother."

"I don't consider any of that to be an insult." you said, fluttering your eyelashes at him. "How was she to know your father wasn't fucking a different camp follower every night while he left her to languish in that castle? Good on her, I say. But the point of all this is that some of her dalliances weren't as cautious as they ought to have been, and one of them made her pregnant while your father had been away for months. As for whom the man was, Flora said that the previous Countess believed it was a foreign prince traveling incognito, but that is all supposition on her part. Anyway, for the sake of reputation, she arranged to have the child raised by an infertile couple, one of whom was a childhood friend of hers; Baroness Amelia."

Gulping noisily, Lamar still stood with his hand raised, trembling as if still fighting the urge to hit you. You weren't afraid of him; he surely knew that if he harmed a hair on your head you could have him thrown in a cell for the night. And so, you continued, unable to stop an evil smile from coming onto her lips. "Surely you remember your mother taking an extended trip to Goldfields while you were five or six? Who could've guessed? The irony is that if it weren't for the advances in midwifery made under the reign of my mother and grandmother, it's far likelier that she would have died or become gravely ill while delivering her daughter. With them, it seems she bounced back quickly enough that her husband never suspected a thing. Or perhaps he did and he just didn't tell you. It would've been better if at least one of your parents had, don't you think? Then perhaps you wouldn't have ended up marrying your sister. Well... half-sister, but close enough. Perhaps you noticed that your mother was oddly opposed to your union with Marissa despite not being able to name any legitimate objections? She really was looking out for you, silly man."

"D-does Marissa know...?" Lamar croaked.

"Not until I blackmailed her with the information, no." Flora said, rubbing her hands together exultantly. "If you happened to notice that she became less willing and enthusiastic about coupling with you for the months leading up to my 'incident', well, that may have had something to do with it."

"You hell-spawned bitch!" Lamar shouted at her through gritted teeth, advancing and moving his hands towards her throat.

Raising one of your legs, you barred Lamar's way with your knee, forcing him to look back to you. Marzena, displaying the impressive wiry strength she kept tucked away in that tall beautiful body of hers, giggled and grabbed Lamar's shoulders from behind, pulling him away. "Down, boy!" she said, giving the struggling man a teasing kiss on the cheek that made him flinch.

"I didn't think they made men like you anymore." You say with a gentle shake of your head, running your finger up and down the Count's chest. "Or are you only so concerned with this because it was your mother's fidelity that strayed? If it had been your father who begat a few bastards would you really care? Have you always been faithful to your half-sister, having married her? If so, then I'm truly sorry for all this. Just not sorry enough to hand Flora over to you - she's too useful."

"Hahaha! Look at this!" Marzena cackled. You followed her motions and saw that she'd slipped her hand down to the Count's waist while he was distracted by your words and slipped her hand up under the edge of his tunic to rub his crotch through his leggings. "The perverted sister-fucker is getting a boner from all this! I think he's excited by it!"

"No!" he howled, elbowing her away from him with an *OOF!*. "You were touching me, it was just - I couldn't help - " his eyes go back to Flora. "I'll kill you, woman! I swear to the heavens I will!"

"Calm down now," You say, putting yourself between him and Flora again, "Do not worry, Count, because this story has a happy ending. No truly monstrous outcome came of this grand misunderstanding. That is to say, Countess Marissa is now with child, but not yours. None other than our, hmhmhmhm, noble and steadfast King was responsible for seeding her. Isn't that lovely?"

Were a chirurgeon to take a glance at him, they would probably say Count Lamar was dying, judging by the look on his face. Metaphorically, such a man of medicine would be correct to judge him so.

"So you can see, you have two options. If you really insist, you can have Flora dragged off to some dungeon and made to reveal all this on the record. There will be a scandal for sure - quite likely your old mother will be harshly questioned as well. Your barons will smell blood in the water and try to tear your family apart with this scandal for their own benefit. Your marriage with Marissa will be declared illegal and dissolved. Quite possibly she'll marry the King, but there is no such easy answer for you. You will be the laughing stock of your people and your vassals. They'll say you are a pervert, and no decent lady will ever want to marry you. Most likely you will get stuck with a soiled slut like me or one of my lovely advisors. That, or your line will die with you."

The Count just stared at you, eyes wide and powerless. "Or," you say with a cheerful chirp in your voice, "you can stay married to your beautiful and charming half-sister, raise the King's bastard son or daughter as your own, and hope to produce a genuine heir with Marissa. In fact, I shall see to it that Flora's official confession has a few key alterations made so that she confesses to enchanting Marissa to make her believe an unspecified piece of **** was true when it was just a fabrication. Marissa will be happy again, and well - I'm sure you'll get over the shock eventually. Perhaps even come to enjoy it. It is so deliciously taboo, isn't it?"

Lamar looked over his shoulder and took a deep breath, staring down at his feet for a minute. "You... you may as well be a demoness yourself, Zoe. Damn your eyes. If..." you could see that he was trying to rationalize, "if I refuse and try to take the witch to justice, you will likely just have me killed and use this information to **** Marissa and King Bryce while elevating whichever of my vassals you seduced to rule of Luxem, anyway. I should never have set foot in this viper's nest. Go on and keep your hellish harlot, then. May she reward your generosity and hospitality the same way she rewarded mine and Marissa's. Now if you will excuse me, I am feeling... rather unwell. Damn unwell indeed. I hope to leave this town early tomorrow morning and never look back."

You shake your head and giggle. "Ohhh... that's all you have to say? You are going to take all that I've just said and threatened you with lying down?"

"I'd cut your head off like the serpent you were, if I could." Lamar flashed his eyes at you dangerously. "What more do you want? Do not push me, Zoe. Is not seeing that wretched witch Flora go unpunished enough, that you feel the need to extort me for more?"

"Well, personally," you say, "I think Flora's punishment quite fits the crime, don't you? She fucked your marriage, figuratively speaking, and now she is going to be getting literally fucked for the rest of her days to atone for it. I think I am going to ask that the King make it an official law that the Crooked Tower here be made the prison for all convicted female maleficars, and to begin plans for one that houses males to perform useful work of their own. It really is a shame for them to all be killed or left to waste away in dungeons, the way they are now. I need to know that you will recommend that proposal. In return, you have my word that I will not help any of your vassals subvert you under any circumstance. In fact, if you like, I can have them punished before they leave the city and **** them as well. I know of several gangs of vicious goblin girls that have a taste for handsome human men and aren't overly concerned with asking permission."

He considered for a moment and them rubbed his fingers on his temples wearily. "Very well. If I'm to let the worst of their number hide from justice in this pit of sin, then what's a few more? I only hope that this makes other witches brazen enough for them to be chased out of decent, virtuous households before they can spread their venom."

"Yes, yes, exactly!" you say cheerfully, walking over to give Count Lamar a very unwelcome hug, which he immediately shrugs his way out of.

"That is the limit of how far you'll make me compromise my honor, Zoe. Leave me out of any other schemes you may have." Lamar mutters, his resolve mostly but not entirely broken.

"Oh, you've promised me everything I wanted and more, dear Count." you say, trying to sound reassuring. "But as I was saying a moment ago - surely you realize that I haven't left you altogether defenseless, here."

He raised an eyebrow, not taking your meaning, and you continued. "That is... law and politics may forbid you from answering this insult with the steel sword at your side, but you have another sword between your legs that we are defenseless against. Me who has blackmailed you... Marzena, who invited Flora here in the first place... even Flora herself. Don't you think we're wicked girls who deserve to be punished with your cock?"

You yourself weren't quite sure whether you were trying to get more to **** him with, just twisting the knife, or even making a genuine suggestion of an act that might let him vent his frustration. Perhaps you were genuinely turned on by the idea of being bedded by a man who hated you for shaming him... wouldn't it be delightful, a perverted part of your mind whispered, to see a man who'd already been betrayed by his vassals, his King, his mother and his wife be betrayed at long last by his own body, unable to resist thrusting into you again and again?

Count Lamar was staring at both you and Flora for a long time, visibly struggling with seething emotions...