After the day the Caracals arrived, things moved on smoothly. There were no threats to life and no threats to the folks of the West Way, and I had even created an audience room where the unsatisfied folks could bring their query.

Well, up until now, there’s been no query, so I can relax.

I was sitting in the audience hall, my legs swinging carefree and my face resting on my elbow. This much is fine, I thought. A kingdom with no query means everything is working out, or that the little problems can be solved without the Queen’s intervention.

I yawned.

But it’s getting boring.

I looked down at my belly. It was way bigger. That’s right, I was just 7 days away from delivery.

My husbands made sure to rub my belly, rub my feet cause it was always sore, my waist, my shoulders... I was never short of a massage expert in the last few days.

And then there were the days when we mated. Yeah, I knew it before cause I’ve been pregnant once, but gosh, why do pregnant women get so horny?

I haven’t been able to control my urges, and luckily, they have been very gentle with me.

To make things fair, I had one round with each of them so that they wouldn’t end up pushing me too hard. My waist was already hanging by a thread, you see.

Beside me were Fenric and Damar, standing like sentinels of protection, hehe.

Fenric was carving wood into a spear to while away time, and Damar, his tail coiled in springs, had the three cubs trapped in scaly walls of protection. Yeah, it was his time to babysit.

I succeeded in stopping their breastfeeding, and now they live off goat milk and everything else we eat, but cut smaller portions.

And because of that, my breasts have been painfully swollen for quite a while. If I weren’t pregnant, I’d have let the milk dry up, but I’m currently pregnant, so to ease the pain and the swelling, I have four greedy husbands ready to suck on it.

They were more than pleased, haha.

In any case, the forge is doing great if anyone asks. We’ve made our first batch of coins, but it’s not enough, and there are other pressing matters, like how to put the successful heating system into the rest of the houses.

Unless we have another pride of Caracals come to our doorsteps, we’re short-staffed.

Well, I had the heating system done for the Sovereign Wing, the nursery in the palace, and the Nursery Palace, that’s separate from here, where, not just Noah’s children anymore, but other pups and kids in this kingdom go to learn.

Yeah, I took their education concept and placed it in the Nursery Palace. Better to start learning early if they want to be somebody in the future.

In any case... My assistance is needed nowhere.

Once again, I sighed.

And then, a scout burst in, piquing my interest. Whatever it was had to be more exciting than this boring atmosphere.

"Queen, tiger beastmen are making their way here," he said, and for a moment, my heart did an uncomfortable flip. I know there are other tiger beastmen, but then, when I hear about tigers, I can’t help but think of that tribe.

"Are they here for a fight?" Fenric asked, and the scout shook his head.

"It... it doesn’t seem to be the case. There are a lot of them, as if an entire tribe was on the move. They have children, and females too." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Once again, my heart did an uncomfortable flip.

"What shall we do?" the scout asked.

"They seem like immigrants," I said, "But we do not know them. Send someone to get the word out to them. If they are hostile, then we shall take them on. And if they are a fleeing tribe who have suffered devastation, we shall hear them out."

Yes, that was my verdict, but I wish I had turned them away the moment I heard they were tigers, because the people I saw again were ones I wished would’ve stayed buried in the past.

The tigers on our doorstep claimed to be a tribe called Stormhole. Sounds familiar? Of course. I could never forget that tribe.

They said, and I quote, are seeking a settlement after a war broke out in their territory, and they fled from their land in order to keep their cubs and females safe.

So, they wish to speak with the rulers of this fine palace, huh?

Yeah, to them, this was a Utopia, but they had no idea how it was built or who built it.

"Let them in," I said. "Let them have the audience they so wish for."

The massive oak doors of my audience chamber groaned open, and in walked the grand parade of the pathetic.

I leaned my cheek against my hand, my elbow resting on the arm of my comfortable, fur-lined throne, and just watched. My other hand rested lazily over my massive belly.

Beside me, my heavy-duty sentinels, Fenric and Damar, were already shifting, but I kept my eyes locked on the entrance.

During the time the scout went to bring over the immigrants, Thalor and Noah had returned. Since Noah was still quite the original king, he had to be here to at least see the new faces.

And Thalor, well... he has a duty to play.

Anyway, my four husbands were here. Two by my side and two in front, standing on the dais steps and waiting.

Well, well, well. Look what the wind blew into my paradise.

They walked in looking like absolute country bumpkins. Actually, no—bumpkins was too generous. They looked like beggars stepping into a palace of the gods, their eyes darting around with their jaws practically dragging on my clean, polished stone floor.

I saw Zevak first, his dirty legs stepping hesitantly on the warm, heated stone pavers. He was staring up at the stone aqueducts and the towering, flawless pillars as if he expected them to sprout wings and fly away. Next to him, Ashren was clutching his mate’s hand, his eyes wide and vacant as he looked at my guards.

My guards didn’t have crude flint spears or bone knives. They held long, gleaming weapons made of that dark, unbreakable river-stone we had been forging along with the metal.

I’m telling you, the Caracals had a great time forging the river stone since it was something they belonged to the river and they lived to defy anything related to water.

To Ashren, those polished spears must have looked like pure sorcery.

And then, my eyes slid to the main attraction.

There was the ’delicate and lovely’ Veyra, dragging her swollen, pregnant belly from behind. But her golden-child glory days were long gone. She had a thick woolen wrap pulled tight around her face, trying desperately to hide her scarred features.

But as the bright morning light of my hall hit her, the fabric shifted.

Even from the height of my throne, I could see the ruins of the deep claw marks Fenric had carved into her skin. The scars had warped her face, pulling her lip up in a permanent, ugly sneer. Her precious beauty—the only thing she ever valued, the weapon she used to ruin my life—was a complete wreck.