We can sigh, say goodbye

Nick couldn’t help but feel a little relieved when breakfast began. Last night had been incredibly stressful. Not just because of Amelia’s presence, but also because of Rose. But he felt like he’d turned a major corner, and that everyone there had played a part.

As long as he kept himself from slipping back into old habits, things looked like they were going to turn around soon!

For now, though, he just wanted to get everybody out of the Master’s Suite as fast as possible. Once the day had really started, he’d finally be able to breathe again.

“Are you guys excited for the beach party?” Rose asked, her eyes shining with delight. Last night had been great for her, even if she didn’t enjoy sharing a bed with Mary.

“I am a little,” Mary admitted with a shy smile. “Getting to wear something other than this would be nice for a change.”

She tugged on the collar of her open shirt, which did less and less to cover her body with each passing day her breasts inflated with milk.

Nick blushed, and wondered if the swimsuit Mary had picked out yesterday would even fit. He remembered when she’d first gotten the transformation that gave her such a banging body, right on the heels of the beach competition, and how her newly-enhanced figure had nearly burst its way out of her tight little bikini.

It wasn’t wrong to hope for a repeat performance today. She was his wife, after all!

“I have reservations,” Amelia said coldly, earning her a couple looks from the others. She took a sip from her coffee mug and clarified her point. “…Not about the party, to be clear. In fact, I believe that large events like this are an excellent move in the grand scheme of things, to promote the fostering of stronger bonds within the harem.”

“Then… it’s about Vivian?” Mary guessed cautiously.

A sharp nod from Amelia confirmed what the farmgirl already suspected to be true. Mary sighed and looked down.

“I guess… you would be a little cautious about anything she’s hosting,” Mary admitted.

“But it’s not just Vivian’s party, right?” Nick jumped in on the other woman’s behalf. “Don’t forget, Mary has a big part of it, too!”

“She’s a glorified fry cook,” Rose interjected. “Vivian’s the one calling the shots.”

Rose glanced at Mary with a sheepish look on her face. “…Sorry. That wasn’t meant to be insulting, it’s just-”

“No, no, you’re right,” Mary said quickly, waving her hands. “This is Vivian’s party! I’m just going to be helping prepare the food!”

“Me too!” Holly chirped from her cage. She’d had quite a nice night as well.

“…Regardless,” Amelia cleared her throat, “it’s good that you’ll be able to spend some time with the other women in your life under casual circumstances, Nicholas, rather than being **** to do so in some twisted competition.”

“That’s right,” Nick nodded. That was the biggest benefit in his eyes. Previous large events like this had ended up being co-opted by Sylvia and later Dakota as being massive competitions and challenges. There weren’t a lot of moments he spent getting to know all the girls that weren’t filtered through the lens of Harem Hotel.

The closest he could recall was everybody going to the Amusement Park to have fun for a day, and that had been an entire round ago!

If Vivian wanted to throw a party, that was fine by him.

“I’m gonna try and make as much time for everyone as I can,” Nick continued. “That’s my responsibility as the ‘master’ after all. To make sure I’m not prioritizing anybody over anyone else.”

If there was one lesson he was taking away from his date with Amelia and Sylvia, it was definitely that one. He wanted to make sure that he wasn’t giving anyone too much of his time over the other girls. Favoritism would just lead to problems.

…And Rose’s cute pouts weren’t going to dissuade him from this course of action, either.

“Fine, but don’t forget, you owe me!” Rose pointed out. She was still considering what to cash in her little “favor” on.

“I know, I know,” Nick said. “But before that, I think I’m going to try and spend some time with Carly, first. You know, if I could only pick one person. I’m not going to pick only one person, obviously, but Carly’s who I should prioritize first.”

“Really?” Mary was surprised to hear that. “Why Carly?”

A rattling from Holly’s cage cut Nick off before he could answer.

“Because she’s the hottest!” Holly shouted from the sidelines, shaking the bars again. “Of course he’s choose her first!”

Nick chucked a wadded-up napkin at her, and she playfully batted it away.

“Because tonight’s her night with me,” he pointed out. “And just when she finally found a way to get someone else to look after her sister, she’s gotta share her night with someone else anyway.”

Nick still felt a little bad about the fact that Marley had gotten a whole night with him in Dakota’s escape room, and Carly didn’t. He had no intention of favoring one twin over the other, but it sure seemed like the universe was trying to **** that contrast onto him with everything it had. Or maybe that was Dakota.

“…Sorry,” Mary apologized, sinking into her seat slightly.

“What? No, Mary, I’m not talking about that!” Nick quickly shook his head. “I’m talking about her transformation. You know, the new one?”

Mary blinked. “…Ooooh, yeah, I forgot. What’s it called again? Collab Stream?”

“It’s not like she has to use that transformation, though,” Rose pointed out, more than a little annoyed that Carly couldn’t just pick her and be done with it (not that the other girl necessary would!) “She can choose whether to use it or not, I’m pretty sure. She just wants the VP. And to have some fun.”

Nick nodded. He certainly had to factor that into his considerations. Even if he wanted to spend some quality alone time with the cosplayer, Carly was absolutely the kind of woman who would bring other people into their dynamic just because she wanted to.

Whether it was optional or not didn’t really play a factor.

“People have different ways of showing their affection,” Amelia stated. “I would advise you to keep that in mind when interacting with her, Nicholas.”

Nick nodded. He could understand where Amelia was coming from.

“I couldn’t agree more. That’s definitely something I’m going to focus on.”

With that in mind, Nick would do his best to make today go well, not just for Carly’s sake, but for everyone’s.

The sooner they actually got to the beach party, the better, as far as he was concerned.

Before he could say anything else, though, a flash of light caught his attention and he snapped his head around to see a fluttering little faerie dance past him, circling the air above the table.

Everyone gasped in surprise.

“What…” Mary’s eyes widened.

“It’s a faerie!” Rose identified the blue fae creature first as she fluttered to a stop, hovering over the plate of pancakes.

The glittering pixie had long hair that fell down to her ankles, as blue as the open ocean. It matched her dress and her slightly-translucent wings, and the color of her mournful eyes as well. She looked down, her pale skin flushed with slight remorse.

“Please excuse the interruption, Master Nick,” the faerie mumbled, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else.

“It’s fine,” Nick quickly assured her. He knew this had to be important. “What is it?”

He had a suspicion what this was about. Dakota wouldn’t have hesitated to pop into the Master’s Suite if she wanted a chat, or at worst she would send in Nola instead. So this faerie must have been sent by someone else.

It’s from Vivian.

“The message is from Lady Carrington,” the faerie informed the room.

“Vivian?” Mary groaned. “What does she want now?”

Amelia’s eye twitched, but she maintained her composure.

“The Lady C-Carrington, um… she requests your presence in the Banquet Hall,” the faerie mumbled, looking around the table uncomfortably. “She says it’s a matter of urgency, so…”

“The Banquet Hall?” Rose questioned. “I thought we were going to go to the beach later?”

“What’s this about?” Nick pressed. “Did she tell you why she wants us to come?”

The faerie shook her head quickly. “She… she just said it was important… I’m sorry! Bye!”

And with that, the tiny blue sprite poofed out of existence, fleeing for parts unknown.

Nick sank back into his chair, trying to process what had just happened. So Vivian had used one of the faeries again to send a message to him? That made sense. After all, that’s the kind of woman she was, clearly.

“So what do we do now?” Rose asked, looking down at her plate of food. “We kind of just ate breakfast, after all.”

“Going to the Banquet Hall doesn’t have to be about eating,” Mary pointed out. “Obviously Vivian wants to have a discussion about something. It could be the party, or it could be unrelated. I say we should go, it’s the polite thing to do.”

“I would agree,” Amelia nodded. “While Vivian Carrington is the sort of woman to direct others to suit her whims, that doesn’t change the potential of this situation. It is better to know for sure, wouldn’t you agree, Nicholas?”

Nick nodded. That made sense to him. And as much of a tease as Vivian might have been, she did know when to take things seriously.

“If you say so!” Rose chirped. Any trace of hesitation had vanished with Nick’s nod. “…But do you mind if I go get changed, first?” She gestured to her state of dress, or lack thereof. “I’m kinda feeling like Kim in this apron, and I’m not thrilled by it.”

Mary grunted and rolled her eyes.

After a quick stop-off at Rose’s room so she could change her clothes (and so could Amelia) the group of five headed down to the Banquet Hall. Even Holly was tagging along, since Vivian hadn’t explicitly excluded her from the invitation.

She was curious, and she hoped that Vivian would have something saucy planned. The playful tease was quickly becoming Holly’s newest favorite member of the harem.

When they arrived at their destination, they saw everyone was there- except for the woman who had invited them in the first place.

And Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.

Nick felt a shiver of wariness roll down his spine. Those two being missing was a dangerous combo, to say the least.

“Good morning, Nick! How was the ****?” Carly greeted him with a cheery wave, and a very “Carly” kind of comment.

The redness on Nick’s face probably didn’t make things better.

“We just had a talk,” Amelia said sharply, narrowing her eyes at the scantily-clad cosplayer.

“Yeah, and you’re not really one to speak, Carly, given the stuff you’ve done with your sister,” Kim pointed out with a smirk.

Now it was Carly’s turn to change red, which was surprising from a girl who was usually so shameless.

“That… that’s different,” she said sullenly. “Twins being with a guy is a totally different dynamic, you know!”

Marley just felt like curling up into a ball and dying of shame. Why did she have to be collateral damage of her sister’s carelessness, huh!?

Dani fought back the urge to laugh at Kim’s comment, since it was at Carly’s expense. But her roommate raised a fair point, Carly wasn’t exactly free from those charges herself.

Dawn cleared her throat. Her red cheeks showed just how much she didn’t like the direction of this conversation. It was too early in the morning for stuff like this!

“Good morning,” she said politely, coming up to greet them. “I didn’t expect to see you guys come down so early. Usually, I would think you’d be enjoying your morning to yourselves.”

Rose laughed. “I mean, we don’t all have magic soft beds that keep us prisoner well into the morning hours, Dawn!” She pointed out, completely ignoring the fact that she’d been the last one to wake up in the Master’s Suite by over an hour.

Amelia didn’t ignore that fact, though, and glanced at the blonde out of the corner of her eye. A clearing of her throat got Rose to drop the taunting.

“We got summoned here… by Vivian, of all people,” Nick said, bringing the conversation back to the point at hand.

In doing so, he earned a couple gasps from the other girls.

“V-Vivian? Really?” Morgana’s eyes widened like saucers.

“What’s she want?” Gina questioned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Still trying to lord over us with that party of hers?”

Nick winced in Gina’s direction and Dawn bit her lip.

Sylvia sighed. She’d thought they made some real progress last night, but apparently Gina was still in a slightly-belligerent mood.

Of course, a big part of that had nothing to do with Vivian, not that anyone would know that. Gina was simply pissed off because Nick was right there, and it had been so long since she’d had a chance to get a taste of that deliciousness.

Her dry throat was screaming at her! But she wasn’t going to give in so easily. She’d drink his semen when she wanted to, because she wanted to, not because her body needed her to.

Maybe if she’d had that kind of self-control as a teenager, she wouldn’t have gone down this road in the first place.

Not that she could be sure her resolve wouldn’t falter. They had a whole day together, after all, and a lot could happen.

“So Vivian called you here, using one of the faeries, I’m guessing?” Sylvia mused, recalling just yesterday when she’d done the same thing. “That’s a pretty bold move. She really is acting like a harem queen should! I’m so glad!”

She was all smiles, but Mary certainly was not. She felt ticked off, more than anything.

Mary might not have been an inherently selfish person, but she was still human. And the notion that someone in Nick’s harem could be a better fit for the queen position…

Well, she’d given up her claim to the job, she understood that. But Vivian making moves still stung in all the worst ways.

She didn’t let that show, though.

“So what do you think she wants?” Kim grumbled. If it involved Vivian, then it definitely wasn’t a good thing, she could say that much at least. “Probably just wanted to do something dramatic in order to cause a scene, the attention whore.”

“Kim!” Mary exclaimed, scandalized. “Such an awful thing to say!”

“Indeed, you should use more care in your language,” Amelia chastised the young woman, adjusting her glasses.

That being the case… both women agreed with the spirit of what Kim had said, if not the words themselves.

“Oh, how harsh! An attention whore? I’m much too pricy for a simple doxy! Call me an ‘attention escort’ at the very least, love!”

Kim’s eye twitched and the rest of the room turned to the door to see Vivian stroll in with a wide grin on her face.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin followed right on her heels, smiling even wider.

“Vivian!” Nick brightened. “And Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin! Good morning!”

He wanted to get things off to a good start. Part of being the master of his harem meant taking more proactive steps to setting the mood, and that came with a bright greeting first thing.

Hopefully, if he was lucky, the other girls would follow his tune, and they could have this little conversation without any major issues.

It actually seemed to work, because as Vivian strutted up to the crowd, the temperature in the room actually seemed to lower. There were still some holdouts, like Kim and Gina, and shy little Ella who shrank away, but for the most part, everyone was open to hearing what the heiress had to say- even Amelia, much to his surprise.

“Thank you for the kind greeting!” Vivian’s eyes glistened with delight. “And a good morning to you as well. I certainly hope I didn’t interrupt your breakfast!”

“No, of course not,” Mary said politely, even though she couldn’t hide the fact that she felt a little slighted. She also couldn’t stop herself from scooting a little closer to Nick, subconsciously putting some space between the two of them and asserting her role as his wife.

If Vivian cared about that, she certainly didn’t show it.

“Your message was fine,” Nick said, unable to stop glancing at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. He still couldn’t shake the oddness of seeing them together. “You could have just come up to see us yourself, though.”

“Oh, I know, but I wanted to give you some space,” Vivian explained. “You know, considering what happened last time… I simply must apologize again for barging into your suite so rudely the other day, I’m sorry!”

Again, she was being very conciliatory and considerate.

That’s how Nick knew there had to be an angle.

“Also… it would have been a little intrusive to bring this lovely lady up to the Master’s Suite with me,” Vivian said, gesturing to the dark-haired girl dressed in leather beside her. “And how could I just ditch her? We’re such good friends now!”

“Really? You two?” Kim asked dryly.

Nick couldn’t help but agree.

“Well, I’m just glad to see you’re starting to make more friends,” he said to the assassin, who smiled brightly and nodded.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Vivian said. “She’s actually very reasonable, once you get to know her!”

“I’m impressed,” Carly couldn’t help but admit. She remembered vividly how difficult it was to communicate with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin herself. “It must not have been easy.”

Vivian shrugged. “Like I said, it wasn’t hard at all. I just bribed her.”

She said that so bluntly it took everyone a second to process.

“…Huh?” Morgana of all people was the first to express her surprise.

“Of fucking course,” Kim groaned, rolling her eyes.

“Vivian, what do you mean?” Nick asked, not sure what the billionaire could even bribe her WITH on this island. It’s not like she had a ton of VP or BP to barter with.

“Well, we’re not going to be stuck here forever, right?” Vivian pointed out. “Once we get back, I promised her a year’s supply of free ice cream if she agreed to go along with my plans today, that’s all!”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin rubbed her hands together gleefully and licked her lips. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

Well… Vivian certainly knew how to cut a deal, that much was obvious.

“I’m actually a little impressed,” Dani said in spite of herself.

“I’m not that impressed,” Gina scoffed, glaring at the heiress. “What do you mean by going along with your ‘plans’ today, huh?”

“Indeed,” Amelia nodded, regarding Vivian with nothing less than utter suspicion. “I was informed that today was going to be a beach party.”

“It is!” Vivian’s eyes widened. “I promise! Nothing sneaky or underhanded at all! …I mean, yes, the bribery stuff, but that’s more like just giving a gift of appreciation to a friend after the fact, not really a bribe.”

“That’s certainly how the Supreme Court would see it,” Dawn agreed with a nod.

Gina snorted and then burst out laughing, her anger from moments ago disappearing almost immediately.

“Look, the reason I wanted to talk to everybody was because of this thing right here,” Vivian said, brandishing the bounty poster she’d claimed this morning. “I wanted to get everyone’s feedback on what we’ll be doing, you know, before we actually do it.”

LIMITED-TIME BOUNTY: PARTICIPATE IN THE SWIMSUIT CONTEST!

*SPECIAL NOTE: BOUNTY MAY BE CLAIMED BY MULTIPLE PEOPLE

REWARD: 3 VP AND 1000 BP TO THE WINNER, 1 VP AND 500 BP TO RUNNERS UP, 100 BP TO ALL PARTICIPANTS

It took everyone a second to process the newest bounty sheet presented to them. But by the time everyone figured it out, Nick could already feel his anxiety flaring up again.

So much for the friendly and casual beach party, he thought with a sigh.