She walked into town in a long, white gown

Kim had gone into work early that day, rather than go to the banquet hall. She’d already had breakfast with Nick (prepared by Holly, of course) and was looking forward to enjoying her day off.

It was strange. When compared to working out with Dani, her time spent in the shop almost seemed like a vacation. There was way less of a workload, both physical and mental, and even though she didn’t have breaks, there were definitely lulls when she had nothing to do.

She almost wondered if her employer was having pity on her. Which would be nice, but not necessary; after all, she was incredibly well-rested thanks to her nice evening with Nick. He really could give a killer massage!

“Haaah…” She sighed, slumping over the counter. Hopefully, if she made it to the next round, her time with Nick would come earlier in the week. Though I suppose I could always ask him to give me a massage again later anyway.

Kim regretted that she’d had to wear a school swimsuit for the first challenge; not because it was humiliating, but because, with such little skin exposed, Nick hadn’t needed to be that thorough in his application of sunscreen.

“Maybe I would have learned how good he was at massages back then…” She sighed wistfully. “…Although, then I’d be subjected to those aphrodisiacs. Still…”

She reached down and rubbed her belly. She was doing a pretty good job of keeping her weight off, ever since she started following Dani’s nutrition advice and began working out. Maybe in a few weeks, she could even have a figure that would give Rose a run for her money?

“Ha! Not likely!” Kim laughed. She still would have to deal with her meager chest. But at least her waist would be more trim and toned.

DING!

The bell over the door rang and brought Kim out of her reverie. She turned, and saw an unlikely figure slink into the room.

“H-hi,” Morgana greeted Kim with an awkward wave.

“Oh, Morgana,” Kim noted, curious why the goth would be coming here. “Can I help you?”

“I, um… I need… I need someone to talk to…” Morgana said, looking around warily. To Kim, she got the distinct impression that the other girl was afraid she was being followed.

“What is it?” Kim asked, narrowing her eyes. That caused Morgana to flinch.

“No! I mean… please don’t get mad!” She whimpered, and Kim immediately calmed herself down.

“Sorry, no, I’m not mad at you,” she quickly clarified. “I’m concerned for you. That’s why I got upset just now.”

“…O-oh…” Morgana calmed down a hair, but she still looked immensely freaked out.

“So what’s the issue?” Kim asked. “You can trust me.”

“A-are you sure?” Morgana wanted to believe Kim, but she had a bad track record going back since she was in elementary school. Kim would not be the first girl who pretended to be her friend and said “you can trust me” only to reveal all her secrets to her classmates and humiliate her in front of everyone.

But Morgana needed allies right now, and she couldn’t afford to be picky. Kim’s adamant nod was very reassuring in the regard.

She took a deep breath and exhaled. “You… will you be my friend?” Morgana pleaded. A request that surprised Kim.

“I-I guess so?” Kim wasn’t sure where that had come from. “Why do you ask?”

“Because…” Morgana’s lip quivered. “Because I don’t have anyone I can trust… if we’re friends, then I can trust you, right?! That’s what real friendship means?”

Kim’s heart went out to the poor girl. 18 years old, and she’d never had anything that resembled a real friend. It was frankly sad.

With a sigh, Kim shook her head. “I wish that were the case,” she admitted. “But even with friends, you’ve got to be careful.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Morgana asked, going pale.

“What I mean is that even between friends, there are times when trust can be betrayed,” Kim said calmly. “It sucks, but it’s the truth.”

Morgana shrank back, looking deflated. But Kim was quick to clarify her point.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, though,” she said. “I just want you to be level-headed about this, okay?”

Asking that of Morgana was probably too much, but Kim wanted to try. If she was going to be friends with this girl, then Morgana needed to learn that friendship was complicated; it wasn’t a simple matter of friends always being something you could count on, she needed to be practical about things!

“S-so… we’re friends, but… I can’t trust you?” Morgana was really confused.

“No, no, of course you can trust me,” Kim said, shaking her head. “I just mean you shouldn’t blindly trust just anybody simply because they’re your friend, you understand?”

“Anybody… so, like you.”

Okay, she wasn’t getting it.

“Morgana, you can trust me,” Kim sighed, rolling her eyes. “We’re friends, okay? Now what is it? What’s the big deal?”

But Morgana was too lost in the acknowledgment that she and Kim were friends. Her face was flushed and she stared off into the distance with a glassy look in her eye. “Hehe… friends… I have a friend…”

“Morgana.”

Kim was a little sterner than usual, and it snapped the goth right out of her delusion.

“O-oh, sorry, I was just…”

“Yeah, I know what you were ‘just’,” Kim said, cutting her off. “But it sounds like this is important, so what is it? You came to me for advice, right?”

Morgana gasped. She’d almost forgotten! “OH! Yes, yes!” She nodded frantically. “This is really important! Nick…”

She shook her head. There had to be a better way to explain this, but she needed to be careful. After all… she wasn’t allowed to tell anybody the full story.

“It’s… about Dakota.”

“Dakota?” Kim straightened up, concerned. “Did she do something to you last night?”

Kim owed Dakota a lot for helping her out with that 24-hour transformation and getting her to realize she should be more proactive. She wasn’t even that bad of a buddy, either, consistently checking in on Kim and making sure she was okay after her workout sessions with Dani.

But if Dakota had done something to Morgana, there would be problems.

“No, it’s not… it’s not that she did anything to me, exactly…” Morgana was having a hard time explaining what the issue was, and the fact that Kim seemed to be getting more and more upset about things certainly wasn’t helping either.

Finally she let out a sigh and explained what her problem was.

“Kim… Dakota… she’s hiding something,” Morgana said. “I can’t tell you any more than that, but I know that she’s hiding something, and when the master- err, Nick, finds out, it’s not going to go well.”

Kim was surprised. “Really? How do you know about that? What’s she hiding?” Knowing Dakota, it could be anything.

A shiver went down Morgana’s spine and she shook her head. “I can’t tell you that,” she said firmly. “I just can’t. But you have to believe me! Please… you trust me, don’t you? I’m telling you, Dakota can’t be trusted!”

Kim looked into Morgana’s sparkling red eyes. She was really ****.

“…Look… I don’t know if I believe you or not,” Kim admitted. “Especially since you aren’t telling me what exactly is going on. But I do trust you.”

Morgana tilted her head to the side. “Huh? Isn’t that the same thing, though?”

“Not at all,” Kim replied, shaking her head. “I trust that you think you’re telling the truth, and I trust that you’re being honest with me. Whether or not that makes you right, and that this should be something I should be concerned about… well, that’s another matter altogether. I’ll figure that out for myself once I know what it is you’re talking about, okay?”

Morgana swallowed, and then nodded. She couldn’t tell Kim the full details… but frankly? She didn’t want to. She hoped they would never come out, in fact.

That would be too troublesome.

“So anything else I can help you with?” Kim asked, cracking a customer service smile. “Some lingerie? A new gothic dress, perhaps?”

Morgana opened her mouth to reply, when the bell over the door rang again. Kim’s eyes shot to see who it was, and she did a double-take.

“Kim? Morgana?” Mary asked, surprised. Kim was just as shocked.

“Mary!” She sputtered. “Your clothes!”

Mary was no longer wearing flannel or denim. Now she was clad in an elegant white dress that matched her peaceful nature. And right behind her strolled Rose, wearing an outfit identical to the one the redhead had been trapped in since her transformation.

Then Marley came into the shop after them, without her sister anywhere in sight. And yet she wasn’t a puddle of slime.

The trio made for a fairly confusing presentation, as far as Kim was concerned. She looked at them for a second, trying to process things.

What HAPPENED since last night?! She wondered, filled with more questions than she could begin to answer.

“Um…” Mary blushed, smiling delightedly at her friend. It was then that Kim realized the other girl had a different aura about her, as if she had completely changed, and not just in the wardrobe department. She approached the counter with a shy look on her face.

“Kim… I’m getting married,” she confessed, and Kim’s eyes bulged out of her skull.

“WHAT?!” She exclaimed. “You… you proposed?! But I thought…” Just a few hours ago, Kim had been conversing with Nick in his bed, discussing the merits and costs that came with get married to someone he loved.

Seriously, WHAT had she missed?

Seeing her friend’s confusion, Mary was quick to explain what was going on. “I-I mean… he hasn’t actually accepted my proposal yet,” Mary clarified. “I still have to ask him… but we’re going to get married, I’m sure of it!”

Kim winced. Judging by Nick’s hesitation before, Mary might be in for a bad time. Especially given how much the guy wanted to keep things fair and balanced between all the girls. But could she really crush Mary’s dream like that?

“A-are you sure?” Kim asked hesitantly. “After all, this IS Nick we’re talking about… he might not agree to marry you unless he could get married to other women too, are you sure you’d be okay with something like that?”

That was the sticking point. Mary believed in fidelity, while Nick wanted everyone to be happy. No way that the devout Christian she knew would agree to-

“Yes, that’s fine,” Mary nodded, and Kim nearly fell over in shock.

“S-seriously?” She was dreaming. She had to be dreaming. Or maybe Nick’s massage was so good that Kim had died from pleasure, and taken to heaven where everyone’s dreams could come true!

…Only she was still working behind the counter. Dead-end jobs really were for eternity.

“I… yeah, I should probably explain,” Mary said, realizing how it sounded. “See… thanks to everyone’s help, I’ve come to realize that I was obeying the words of my church, without really understanding their meaning. I was certain that love could only exist between two people. And while part of me still believes that’s true, I know that Nick loves a lot of people… and I love him. So even though I’m not happy that he will be marrying other women, so long as I can be one of those women and keep him in my life… I’ll be fine with that.”

“Mary…” Kim began to tear up. She’d never heard something so sweet before.

“Is that alright?” Mary asked. “Me getting married?”

She looked at both Kim and Morgana. Kim was practically bawling, but Morgana looked…

“YES! Absolutely!” Morgana practically tackled Mary to the ground, she was so overjoyed. “Mary, that’s just perfect! Yes, you should definitely get married to him! As soon as possible!”

She could see it already, Mary as Nick’s blushing bride. The first of many! His most devoted housewife, kept perpetually barefoot and pregnant while he moved on and banged other women, copulating with his harem of sister-wives, and Morgana sitting at the top of the pile…

“…G-get off!” Mary shoved Morgana off of her. “You’re drooling on me!”

Morgana scrambled to her feet and wiped her lips. “S-sorry!” She said frantically. “I just got a little too excited…”

Mary sniffed. “Yeah, certainly seems that way,” she scowled.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Mary,” Rose said, stepping into the conversation. “Remember, you still have to propose to him. And we don’t know if that proposal is going to be successful or not.”

“I know,” Mary nodded, looking a little glum. There was still the chance that Nick would say no, even with the condition that he got to marry whoever he wanted.

Kim’s eyes bulged out as she remembered her discussion with Nick that morning. Nick said that he still wanted to marry her… but that he wanted to marry the other girls, too! If she gives that to him… then will they get married just like that!?

She felt a thrill run down her spine, but she quickly **** a neutral expression onto her face. The last thing she wanted to do was give away the fact that Mary’s proposal would likely be a success. That would ruin everything.

“I’m so glad to hear that, Mary,” she said instead, walking around the counter and pulling her friend into a hug. “But about the other stuff…”

The proposal was good to hear, sure. And it put all the things Morgana had said about Dakota out of her mind. But there were other questions Kim wanted answers to.

“You mean our clothes?” Rose snorted. “Or are you talking about her?” She jammed her thumb in Marley’s direction.

“…Both, I guess?” Kim asked. “Mainly the clothes.”

“Well, like she said, she’s going to propose to Nick tonight,” Rose explained. “So I agreed to let her accompany me to the Master’s Suite. Marley… just kind of got roped in along the way.”

Marley snickered and Rose shot her a dirty look. Mary was just as confused as Kim on that front, but she didn’t say anything about it.

“So that’s why the clothes, then,” Kim said, running her finger along Mary’s dress. “You wanted to look nice for him…”

Mary nodded. “It just wouldn’t do to propose while I’m dressed as a farmhand. If I do, I want to look my best. And that’s why… I asked Dakota if she would take my transformation with her cutting power! …Well, I didn’t ask, she offered, and I said yes, but same thing!”

Morgana’s flinch when Dakota’s name was spoken didn’t go unnoticed by Rose, but she didn’t want to interrupt the redhead.

“Rose agreed to take on my transformation for now, and in the meantime, wanted to come here, so I could buy some new stuff,” Mary explained. She blushed a little. “You know… so I could look my best for him.”

“That’s great, Mary!” Kim exclaimed, her face lighting up. “I’m happy to hear it.”

“Ahem.” Rose cleared her throat to remind Mary of the other point.

“O-oh… and also, um… I’m a little short on Bonus Points… I’m saving up for a big purchase. Would it be alright if I modeled the clothes, in like… an ad? So I could get them for free? Like what Rose and Mimi… I mean Marley did last time?”

Kim sighed. More money down the drain. But she **** the smile back to her face and nodded. “…Sure. Fine. Whatever you want, Mary!”

“Really?!” Mary lit up with glee.

Kim nodded. “Yup. We’ve got a great selection of bridal lingerie, if that’s what you’re looking for!”

Mary turned red and shakily glanced at Rose. Rose gave her a big thumbs up.

“Whoa, I’m shocked. You actually went through with it.” Rose walked out of the boutique with an amazed expression on her face, as a flustered Mary scurried out with her purchases wrapped up in a bag. She’d picked out the perfect outfit for tonight, and couldn’t wait to show it to Nick.

“I-I… well, you know…” She stammered in embarrassment. “I just… what else was I supposed to do?” She didn’t have the money for to even purchase the rings yet; no way could she buy these clothes.

She looked down.

“Besides… a lot of people will be seeing me have sex regardless… so what does it matter if I’m on some magazine cover?”

She sounded rather sad when she said that, much to Rose’s chagrin. Mary might have been resolved to get married to a husband with multiple wives, but she still had her dignity, no matter how much the show kept trying to strip it away. It was clear she was uncomfortable with this.

“Mary… just forget about those guys!” Rose asserted. She stood up tall with her chest pushed out. This caused her breasts to bounce in her shirt, given the lack of covering and support, not that she cared about that.

“F-forget?!” Mary’s jaw dropped.

“They aren’t important,” Rose asserted. “Those guys? The people watching? Just pretend that they don’t exist!”

“That’s easier said than done,” Marley pointed out. “This situation is a little more complicated than that, don’t you think?”

“It is,” Mary agreed. “But then… this whole thing is complicated, isn’t it?”

She held her new clothes close to her chest and shivered. She was doing the right thing… wasn’t she? In the heat of the moment, she’d followed her heart, and these clothes were something akin to an impulse buy. But the more she thought about it, the more she started to question her decision.

No! Stop! She shook her head and bit down hard on her lip, using the pain to snap her out of her doubts. You can’t keep thinking this way! You made your choice! Didn’t you promise everyone? Didn’t you promise yourself? You said you weren’t going to back down, and you’re not! I won’t let you!

Mary pushed aside her doubts and hardened her resolve. It didn’t matter if she was starting to get cold feet, because they were going to a hot spring next! That was going to help her warm up all of her doubts, or something like that!

And if it didn’t… well, she’d figure out something else then.

But her marriage to Nick was happening. She didn’t care HOW much she questioned herself, or how many ugly doubts raised their heads!

“Hey! Mary!”

A voice called out to her and she whirled around, nearly falling over. The ground she was standing on was a lot more unstable than she’d thought!