Part 2

“Geez, nice going there, sweetheart.” Nikpmup spat out at Lorette while she rested on her bed, “Of all the many kingdoms of the Order ya could’ve taken yer show to, you took yer tentacle monster girl down to Meruvia! Right under the Grand Master’s nose. Not like the knights here make a living sniffing out Demonic Energy. Really, ya need to learn how to say no! First lesson, the N. Then comes the tricky part. The O. Ya think you can handle that?”

But Lorette’s mind was elsewhere preoccupied.
“Hey, Nikpmup? If I were a monster girl, what kind would I be?”
“Now, don’t ya go changing the subject here! I’m gonna… Wait. Hold on there, wha?”
“I was thinking the harpy at first. Must be nice getting to fly and all that. But then it’d probably be difficult to do puppet theater. Maybe something with tentacles. Like what Baguetta is.”
“No, no, no, no!” Nikpmup shouted, “I’m puting a stop to this right now! There’s no way yer going huntin’ down hairy sweaty guys to pound them. All while I’m propped down yer hand!”
Lorette laughed at that, “Nikpmup, now you’re just being a silly puppet. I don’t even like guys. Why would I hunt them down? Whether I’m human or not.”
“Darlin’, let me tell ya how’s it works! Being monster means you got some succubus in you whether ya like it or not. Succubus means yer gone huntin’ for front-tails! For breakfast lunch and dinner!”
“That can’t be how it works!” Lorette spat, “If I were into guys, then I simply wouldn’t be me!”
“Welcome to reality, darlin’! If yer a monster, ya don’t getta decide who you are! The Demon Lord is a succubus, and so would you be!”
Lorette pouted, sitting back up on the bed, “So let me get this straight, you’re saying I have to choose between being who I always knew I was, or getting claws and a tail?”
“Yes! I mean… Sure, monster girls still get to do each other, if that’s what they really wanna do. But when push comes to show, you’d also be into guys on top of that. Kinda sorta really into guys. That’s the long and short of it!”
“Hmph…” Lorette turned to the purple briefcase, “We’ll see about that.”

She knocked on the top.
A white-skinned squid girl burst out.
“Why, hey there, gorgeous!” Nikpmup yelled, “Great show this evenin’! Got em knocked out of the park!”
“Awww, thank you!” Baguetta giggled, “That’s so sweet.”
She stroked his little pumpkin head, which made him giggle like a school girl.

“Hey, Baguetta!” Lorette looked up at her determined, “Settle an argument for us! Are there any lesbian monster girls?”
“Ahh…” The Squid Girl scratched the back of her head.
“Like, proper actual lesbians, who only do other lesbians!” Nikpmup added.

"Uh..." Baguetta started, rolling her eyes.
She cleared her throat,“Well, sometimes I wonder if theres’ anything but that. There are no monster boys out there, you know? We don’t meet men many men on the regular. Especially when out in the vast sea. Some of us simply become content with living our lives without one, and make the best of each others’ company, in a manner of speaking. But… Yeah, that longing, it’s kind of expected to be there. Though… There’s of course difference from mamono to mamono. I've heard that mamono who were originally lesbian humans tend to join up in a harem with other mamono. Then they tend to act primarily as a sort of ‘hype girl’ for the other ladies, so to say. So… I’m not sure if there’s really a one to one analogy here.”
“Hah! Hear that!” Lorette stuck her tongue out at her puppet, but Nikpmup’s attention were elsewhere.

“Hold up there, lassy! Yer sayin’ that monster girls can go polyamorous?”
“Well it’s certainly not frowned upon like in the human world.”
Nikpmup smiled. Granted, he was always smiling, what with his smile being carved into his pumpkin. But somehow, that moment was even more smile-worthy.

“So… Hypothetically, if there were two guys fightin’ over the same monster girl…?”
“Hmm I don’t think that situation ever comes up that often. I mean, I guess I could see it. It’s just that usually it’s the other way around.”
“Hehe… Jackpot.”

Baguetta looked around, “So, where’s my Adrian at?”
Lorette shrugged, “Told us he didn’t want to be bothered.”
“Even me?” Baguetta pointed at her chest.
She nodded, “Even you.”
“Well… A good girlfriend would listen to him and respect his boundaries…” She mused.
“Ah, but an excellent girlfriend? She’d understand that he can always confine in her no matter what!” Nikpmup explained.

“You sure that’s okay?”
“Well, not like he can't just send ya back on yer way if he absolutely insists. What'd ya got to lose?”
Lorette sighed. She was on camp respecting boundaries, but apparently she was outvoted here.

So off they went to greet their friend in need.
He didn’t seem to resist much one way or another. In the meantime, Lorette went downstairs by the refectory, to get a taste at that legendary blueberry tart.
That’s when she ran into none other than the Countess herself.
“Ah, my lady.” Lorette curtsied, “The evening is still to your liking?”
“It is going just splendidly.” The Countess said with a smile. However, Lorette noticed the shadow behind the Countess didn’t act the way that she did. The shadow pulled at her hair frantically like a madwoman.

“I see…”
“Should you not be in your quarters?”
“Yes… I was just checking in on Adrian there.”
“Yeah. Guy was down in the dumps.” Nikpmup added
“Is that a problem?” Lorette asked.

“Problem? Why would it be?” The Countess rested her hand on her shoulder, “You two are ever so close. I wouldn’t think about ever prying you apart. “
Again, the Countess looked friendly, but her shadow was shaking her fists in the air.
“Ah…” Lorette tugged at her collar, “I’m… just going to get some tarts, and then I’ll be hitting the hay. Care to join me?”
“Oh, but no thanks. I couldn’t possibly eat another bite.”
Again, the Countess’s shadow spoke differently. She wielded fork and knife. Lorette couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like she was licking her lips.

“I’d best be on my way.” The Countess said and headed towards the North Wing.
“Wait!” Lorette quickly caught up to her again, “Say, what is your honest impression of me?”
“Why, where does this come from? I’d have thought I’d make this perfectly clear already.”
The Countess’s shadow raised a shadow knife over her head and waved it around threateningly, “You make my son happy. So then you make me happy too.”
“Really?” Lorette **** a smile and giggled, “You sure you wouldn’t rather have your son date someone else? Say, a monster girl?”

“A… A monster? Really? My dear, don’t tell me that is how you see yourself?” Her shadow was looking up, praying to the skies with clasped hand, “Miss Ipsum, I can assure you, my son feels safe and endeared in your company. Do not dare to think anything else. Now if you excuse me, I really need to go. Some acquaintances really wanted me to join them for a game of bridge. Tell my son I will be with him shortly.”
She strutted away towards the low castle.

“What’s up with her?” Lorette asked.
“Ain’t it obvious?” Nikpmup answered, “She’s gone so mental not even her own shadow can keep up.”
“I think we’re best off to follow her along… Just to be safe.”

Lorette watched the elders’ game of bridge from afar. They were all nobles, and met each other with the same courteous contempt that has become practiced enough for the aristocracy so as to be considered a martial arts.
But the Countess’s tell-shadow became rather a liability before her company. More than that, it became nothing short of a curse. For that was exactly what it was. The shadow waved the heavy smoke away. Shook its head and nodded. It even spat.
Soon enough, even the Countess noticed something was wrong. She merely pretended there was nothing about it and ignored the shadow as best she could.

“Really, now? You have known me for all your lives. Are you going to doubt me now, just because my shadow has been acting up?”
Evidently they did. The shadow was freaking out. Scared. Angry. She fell on her knees and wept, while her physical self sat casually down with her cards, occasionally sipping the lemonade.
Her peers laughed. They jeered. They whispered amongst themselves. In the end, the Countess was scarcely a component of their game, rather than an integral part of their circle.

“Excuse me. Nature calls.” She said, standing up. Her shadow self was frantically running around in circles.
Lorette hid in an archway as the Countess passed by, her face buried in her hands. As were the shadow hands of her shadow self.

“What a bunch of crooks.” Nikpmup spat out, “Though I guess maybe gettin' a dose of her own medicine was exactly what the doctor called for.”
“We should go talk to her.” Lorette said, and followed her upstairs.

She found the Countess from her sobbing. Not in the latrine as she said, but crammed into a dark closet. At least there she couldn’t see her own shadow, until Lorette opened the door.
“Miss Countess?” Lorette knelt down.
“...Go away. Something’s wrong with me. I don’t know what to do with myself… It’s… Huh… It’s too much for me.”
“All right. You don’t have to talk to me.” Lorette said calmly, “How about if you talk to Nikpmup instead.”
She presented the puppet.

“Ay!” Nikpmup cried, “Just lay it before the doctor, sweetheart!”
“The… The puppet? You want me to talk to the puppet?”
Lorette nodded, “Puppets are so much easier to talk to than people, I find.”
Nikpmup too, “Yeah, haven’t you heard? Orange is the new black! Whatever that’s supposed to mean...”
The Countess sniffed, looking at the puppet, then looked away with a faint smile, “That’s… That’s so ridiculous…”
“It’s fine to be ridiculous,” Lorette suggested, “As long as you get to laugh at yourself afterwards.”

Finally, the Countess glanced at the smiling pumpkin puppet, and sighed.
“Nikpim… whatever it is you’re called. I’m frightened. I have been inflicted by some hideous curse. I have no idea why it is happening. I have so many enemies. Enemies who want nothing more than to see to my undoing. And... Some of them have strange powers. I fear that they might have found a way to destroy me and my good name once and for all...”
“Uh, lady? Ya do know there’s a way to make yer shadow stop acting on its own? Quite easy too.”
“There… There is?”
“Well, duh! All ya gotta do is start acting the way ya really think and feel! Then the shadow will just do what it was gonna do anyhow! Like any other shadow!”
The Countess blinked, “I… I cannot do that. I am a Countess. I cannot relent to my feelings like that. I need to be in control always.”
“Uh, Earth to Lady? Ya call that being in control? Man, then I hate to see what ya think being a prisoner is like! Look at you! You’ve got more power and wealth than the average Joe could dream of, and what happens? Ya end up being controlled by yer expectations, social boundaries and your so-called duties. How exactly are ya in control here ever?”
“... I don’t know.”

“Ya know what I think? I think yer really scared about this cure cause you actually think it’s a blessing!”
“Wah?”
“Ya heard me! For once in yer life, there’s one part of ya that you can never quench. That will always have a place out there, and that can never die or be restrained. Something that’s unapologetically you… And not whatever these other guys need ya to be. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“...I don’t know.”

“Geez, you could fill a blimp with what ya don’t know. But tell ya what, if yer confused about what you yerself think, well whaddaya know? If there’s ain’t a convenient curse there that can tell ya exactly what ya think?”
The Countess looked behind her.

The shadow was nodding.
The Countess smiled. Perhaps the first genuine smile in ages.
“Thank you.” She picked herself up, “I can see now more than ever why my son has picked you as her spouse.”
“Uh, yeah… About that.” Lorette scratched the back of her head, “I think there’s a talk you need to have with your son. And… You think you can bring your lesson about genuinity with you?"

There was a knock on Adrian’s door. He opened. There on the other side was his mother.
“May I come in?” The Countess asked.
“Mother… But of course.”

The Countess entered, and Lorette followed along with Nikpmup.
“So, your ‘spouse’ told me that you have something important to talk to me about.” The Countess started, “Mind going over it with me for a bit?”
Adrian looked at Lorette, who nodded.
He sighed, and knocked on his suitcase.

Out burst Baguetta.
“Hi there… Oh. Oh…” Baguetta looked down at the Countess.

She clasped her hands over her mouth, backing away as all colour drained from her face.
“Mother… This is Baguetta. She is a kraken. She’s a mamono who lives in the ocean. And we are deeply in love. Please… Forgive me for going behind your back, but you need to understand… Sometimes, you can be a bit difficult with things like these. So… I am telling you now, and I hope to make it up with you.”

The Countess looked up at the mamono dumbstruck.
"So?” Lorette pushed her forward, “Tell her what you think. Honestly.”
The Countess cleared her throat, “Son, I am not going to lie to you… I think this is the most hideous monstrosity that anyone ever saw or could imagine, and I wish her burned by fire and the ashes buried in the center of the earth.”

“Ah… Yer starting maybe a tiny bit strong on this honesty part.” Nikpmup indulged her.
“Rude.” Baguetta frowned.
“All right…. I suppose I should’ve expected so much.” Adrian stated, “But mother, can you maybe try to get to know her first, before you judge her? I’m sure that if you gave her the chance, the two of you would get along legendarily. And you’d love her as much as I do.”

He hugged the curves of the kraken.
“Son… I am willing to admit that you might have a point… Still, I’m not sure I can give her a pass quite yet. There are some concerns that I have…”
“All right, that’s a start.”

“So, apart from the small issue that, oh, it is against the law, it would mean that you gave up on siring a male heir. You would also need to live in the ocean… Are you saying I cannot meet my son unless I walk about in the cold damp sea? You would have to give up on fire, books and clothes to live with her. And then there’s the matter of religion… Are you giving up on the Chief God and the Order?”
Adrian looked between his mother and his spouse, then sighed, “So… That’s a no-go then?”

The Countess’s shadow shuddered something awful.
“...Forgive me. I am not used to this.”
“It’s fine mother.”

“I am... not ready to give up on this. Quite yet. For the longest time, you have had me worried. Not being able to settle with a respectable young lady. Apart from the social obligations, I was genuinely worried that you would be in a difficult place later in life. But you clearly wished to wait for that one woman who struck your fancy and made a real impression on you. That woman now stands before me. And while I can’t in all honesty say that I understand your decision, I can say that I have come to respect that you know when you have found someone for whom you have feelings. It is just very important for me that you understand that I have these concerns, and that you should take them into deep consideration before making a decision. I know from personal experience that youths can sometimes be rash and make poor judgement calls. I merely hope that I can be with you to help you steer away from the worst of it.”
Once again, Adrian looked between his mother and his lover. Baguetta met him with a smile, and squeezed her hand before nodding.
“Yeah, I think in reality it's not gonna be quite as unreasonable as you make it out. It's gonna be hard for sure, don't take me wrong, but… I don’t intend to leave her for any reason.”
“Ah… If you feel that strongly for her, dear, then I suppose I have **** but to give it a try. And you know… Mommy just so happens to know an itty little secret about the Grand Master that might just help you along the way!” She winked at them.

“...Mother!” Adrian's eyes welled with tears.
He lunged out to hug her. They sat themselves on the bed, and Baguetta hugged them too.
He rested his head in his mother’s lap.
“Thank you… I’m sorry.” He squealed.
“Yes… I can’t say I am not disappointed that you tried to hide this from your mother… But you did tell me in the end, and it took a lot of courage.”

“Miss Countess… Your shadow…” Lorette pointed. The shadow had stopped doing its own thing. Only a small lag could be discerned.
“Yes… I suppose in time I will be able to adapt so that it follows me completely.” The Countess said, raising her arm to check how the shadow almost followed.
Baguetta chuckled, “See? I knew you were a great mother-in-law!”
“Ah, but of course. And I simply cannot wait to teach you all about how the consort of a viscount is meant to behave.”
The kraken cocked her head, “Bwuh?”
“And one more thing… If you ever break my son’s heart, I’ll make sure you won’t forget it.”
“...Yes, ma’m.”

The Countess laid her son back on the bed, together with his monster girlfriend.
“It’s getting late. I really should settle now.” The Countess declared.
“Yes, this has been one heck of a night for sure.” Lorette said.
“Yeah, if nights were airships,” Nikpmup said, “Then this would be a clear Hindenburg.”

“Have a pleasant night, miss Countess.” Lorette said.
“Please. Do use my first name." The Countess smiled, "Call me Lorette.”
“As you wish… Huh!?”

...