Chapter 469: Life 33 - Chapter 25 - Sweet Home, A-la-bam... Rhode Island. Nope, it's not Here Either.

I didn’t want to demean all the three partners I had in my previous lives, but how I missed this feeling. How can I explain it… You can make tacos for dinner every single day and your family loves to eat tacos but sometimes people wanted hotdogs. I’m sure Mirina, Jocelyn, and definitely Lorna sometimes wished they had hotdogs or even pizza for dinner. Heck, Lorna even bought a hotdog stand while Bundeus’ fanatics kept murdering me. But all we had, all I could cook before was Old Soul(r) brand tacos. I had a dozen varieties but they were all tacos. With Madge, I found that cooking hotdogs for your loved ones were also enjoyable after all that Mexican food. Variety was the spice of life. Maybe one day she would want tacos or even taco-dogs.

Madge slept quietly by my side, and I remained still in fear I would wake her up. I had reason to believe she needed the rest because {Pleasing Physique} with high Attribute scores was ridiculously effective, that’s all I had to say in the matter.

But the wicked deserved no rest, and a very cheeky person was abusing their (unique) Perk.

> Dear Matriarch, was my sister any good in bed? How can I cope with this loss here all by myself? Please share your wisdom with me, brother-Goddess.

I think I should’ve swapped the Perks around but it was too late to suffer buyer’s regret. So I shared my “wisdom” with her, in the shape of an instruction booklet and a brand new [Pódi Deluxe]. I put the two items in a nice box and had a couple of {Force Tongs} take it over the screen and privacy barrier.

> Use it wisely and without holding back.

Was it weird to gift one of these to my own sister? I’m sure I’d done weirder before. Like giving it to my mother-in-law who was also the [Queen] of our closest neighbor and forcing Mirina’s dad to step up his game. Yup, that was weird. Especially when it escalated and Mirina’s sisters and sisters-in-law also wanted one for them. If the Lonid (male) Royalty could have only one reason to hate Haru, the [Pódi Deluxe] would be it hands down.

Half an hour later, regret hit me like a Shinkansen bullet train. Mona reached 20 points of Magic and could use her Perk twice a day.

> Thank you, Matriarch. Now I see the depth of your wisdom! I’m going to be late for today’s delving. I don’t need to worry, do I? You have Madge to keep you company, don’t you? Right? Right? See you in the afternoon.

In my mind’s eye, I saw Mona like that over-possessive girlfriend meme. I think she didn’t get over the fact we’re twin siblings.

> Sure, knock yourself out.

> Mona's Faith rose by 1

Note to self. Never (again) magic a hotdog better than the original one. But I still had dozens of [Pódi Deluxe] in the item box. Maybe I should make some magical tacos too. Not now.

I considered ignoring the fact Mona was my twin sister and give in to her desires. It would be easy, but this was the Empire, “not Alabama”, as some would wrongly say. Which was an injustice to Alabama. The real incest state was Rhode Island. If both partners were sixteen-plus and consensual, they were good to go, no matter how they were related to each other. Siblings, father, children, grandparents. Not judging anyone or any state. Just pointing the facts. Not to mention I should follow the rules I set for my followers. I would have no business with my sister in that regard.

While I pondered over my moral quandaries, Madge woke up. Her grin was worth burning the world for. “Good morning, Your Highness,” she croaked, her voice still a bit hoarse.

I kissed her, forgetting about anything else and savoring every crease on her plump lips. Her naked body practically melded into mine as we found the perfect fit for a long and passionate embrace.

“Was it a dream?” She asked with bleary eyes.

Her hand traveled south of my navel as she grasped at something to see it was real. With her lips closed in a thin smile, she made a sort of wheeze-squeal I thought was ridiculously cute. I wanted to take her again right there. Magic was a game-changer regarding sex performance. People with high Endurance didn’t tire or bruise as easily or not at all in my case. I think I would need to have sex with Adamantite knives (eww) to get any nicks in my skin. Snikt, snikt, bub. Okay, that was too much. High Mind enhanced the sensations and feelings, high Charisma allowed you to better connect and understand your partner if you put the effort into trying to.

But Madge could tell I reacted to her touch and that delighted her. “Doesn’t feel like a dream to me.”

“It was very real,” I grinned like an idiot. “How are you feeling?”

Her eyes sparkled, “Wonderful. If I knew it would be that good, I would’ve hunted you down sooner.”

I had {Pleasing Physique} to thank for that.

She remembered something and raised her upper body, looking at the screens. “Mona! How’s she?”

“She’s coping. We talked through her Perk. I gave her something to pass her time.”

Madge squinted and smirked with disbelief written on her forehead, “What did you give her to pass the time here in the middle of nowhere? Alone!” I remained silent and she insisted, “Answer me!”

I froze, trying to think of a way to explain it to her which didn’t imply telling her what it is. She pinched me and demanded an answer now. When did she become this domineering? Or was it she was just a sprout hiding behind the shade of her overbearing adoptive sister? Whatever the reason, after last night she appeared to have metamorphosed.

“I’ll show you. It was one exactly like this,” I took another brand new sex toy from storage.

Her jaw dropped. “Is this what I think it is? What is this made from? How, why do you have these things?” She asked as she tried to grab it from me.

Evading her hands, I answered, “Madge, I’m in my thirty-fourth incarnation as far as I remember. I’ve lived for a long time and did a lot of things. And I’ve met some women who needed something to spice up their private lives, and at one time I was one such woman.”

She let her jaw drop as she stared at me with a mix of amazement and disbelief. “Please, tell me. Tell me about your past lives. When did you get the idea to make one of these toys? Wait! Mona will kill us if she misses this story!”

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She quickly donned her robe and did a simple knot on the sash before she went behind the screens. I dropped the barrier before she ran into it, and we heard Mona groaning and moaning. It wasn’t a gormandizing groan but something way sultrier.

“Go away, you traitor!” The secret Princess shouted at her sister as Madge caught her in a rather personal moment.

Madge dodged some unidentified flying object and shouted back, “Hey, Percival was going to tell me how he invented these toys. If you don’t want to listen, your loss.” She blew a raspberry at Mona and came back giggling.

“WAIT!”

----------------------------------------

A minute later, Mona came to our side wearing a sundress that was easy to throw on. I could tell she had nothing underneath but a gentleman would ignore that.

“Okay, storytime. It better be a good one,” She grunted as she threw an angry look askew at Madge.

Both girls sat down in front of me. I had already donned some decent clothes by the time Mona said “traitor”.

“This is from the time I was Alloralla, the Star Elf [Queen] of Fulgen,” I started and was promptly interrupted.

“You were the ELF QUEEN!?!” Mona screeched. “I can’t believe it!” I showed her my enchanted daggers. “You could have looted these in some ancient tomb. That’s more likely,” she pointed out, skeptical. “I know! Show us how she looked like!”

“Yes, Percival. Show us. Can’t you transform into her or something like that?” Madge added.

I showed them an illusion of Alloralla in the ceremonial clothes she wore during the “Crown of Aiur” event. The two girls stood up to inspect every corner of the tridimensional life-size image, gasping, oohing, giggling, and snickering at every detail.

“You were so gorgeous,” Madge gasped at one moment.

“Damn hot, that’s what this elf queen was,” Mona purred. She turned to face me, “How was life as the Queen of all Elves?”

“Crappy. You see, my mother, Queen Thaorllara had been kidnapped by demon cultists to summon a Demon Lord. They killed her and ripped me out of her womb on the ritual circle. Then they killed me and mixed my blood with the other elves they’d killed to empower the summoning ritual.”

The two abandoned the illusion and sat in front of me, eyes glued to mine.

“But I have a Perk from the time I lived as the [First Hero], my blood has Truesilver mixed in it. When my blood entered in contact with the ritual, it exploded, killing everyone. I became a banshee and lived for quite some time in the Labyrinth as a monster.”

Madge sniffed, “You poor thing!”

“Wait, wait wait!” Mona said, raising her open hand. “You WERE the [First Hero]? Did you have a torrid romance with the [Death Princess]? Is it true that she came to murder you and you ended up passionate in bed?” She dreamily gushed in quick succession, her breath held as she went with the mainstream story.

“Yeah, no. These two people, which most raunchy novels use as a backdrop for smut were one and the same. It was impossible as I couldn’t have a passionate night in bed with myself.”

She sputtered and giggled, “Speak for yourself! I had just--”

I covered my ears, “Not hearing!”

“Back to your story,” Madge tried to patch the situation. “You died as a baby and became an undead! That’s terrible. What happened next?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t a mindless undead. When I befriended some adventurers, word of my existence reached the high elves, and they captured me. After doing some of their ancient magic, they brought me back to life. And kept me as a prisoner in their giant home-trees.”

“Why would they do that?” Mona asked. “You were the [Queen], you could just tell them to do stuff!”

“It wasn’t so easy. They had a council of elders who called all shots. So Sariandi gave me a set of enchanted sex toys to pass the time while I was trapped in my room.”

Madge interrupted me, “Sariandi, the High Queen of Fulgen?”

“Yes, she was their [Archmagister] at the time but I adopted her so she could inherit the crown. They wanted me to breed with some elves and repopulate the Star Elves as I was the last one alive.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad!”

I stared at the cheeky girl and shook my head, “It is bad when they were close to forcing me to. But then I would kill myself, and that would cause the elves to revolt. It was a stalemate. But I was alone, in that bedroom, trapped, and I decided to try the toys.”

“The one you gave Mona?”

“No!” I protested. “I would never give her something used!”

“I wouldn’t mind it if it was yours,” Mona chirped. “I mean, hers.”

“No, these are brand new,” I continued ignoring Mona’s remark. “And they are way better than the elven ones. I improved the design a lot over the centuries.”

“And have you used them?” She leaned forward, her eyes glimmering with curiosity.

“Yes, I did. Now, go back to your place. And no, I’m not showing anything to you.”

Instead of pouting, she decided to play dumb. “I didn’t say anything,” she shrugged innocently.

“Okay. So, what is better? Being a man or a woman?” The filterless princess attacked on another front.

“There’s no such thing. You can’t compare even one woman with another, how can you say which one is better? What is better, a glass of cold spring water or a slice of fresh bread? It depends if you are thirsty or hungry.”

“What do you mean you can’t compare a woman with another? Aren’t we all equal?” Madge asked.

“No. Things vary wildly. Some are more sensitive than others, the spots where it feels good to be touched change. In some of my lives, I didn’t even play with myself because I felt no fun in it. While in others I pretty much did it every single day.”

Mona bashfully avoided my gaze. I knew she was in the latter group.

“It all comes down to who you are with and what you’re doing, really. Comparing one person’s experience with another’s, even among my different lives is a fool’s errand. What you have to focus on is how to do the best with what you have.”

Mona’s shoulders shook as she uttered a silent sob. I immediately figured out the culprit was my last sentence. “What you have,” in her mind, was “nothing”. She’d gained a brother (which she already kinda had, given we grew up almost attached to the hip) but lost all her plans for the future and had her delusions popped like soap bubbles. In her mind, Madge won everything leaving her in the dust, to seek solace with the item I gifted her. I allowed two of my tails out and used them to gently scoop her and bring my sister to my lap. She didn’t fight me. She’d frozen like a prey animal who knew they’d been caught.

She interrupted me with a finger to my lips. I shut up even though I wasn’t speaking. As she removed her finger to the side, she rubbed it against my lips as if she wanted to memorialize the feeling. Mona’s eyes were covered by a thin film of tears that drained every time she blinked. She held my cheek and then the other as she closed her eyes and slowly pulled me in. I could feel her wavering resolve as if she expected me to reject her at any moment.

But how could I? I was frozen by guilt and indecision. Her breathless nose brushed my cheek moments before she pressed her lips against mine. Just that. She didn’t move, opened her mouth, or even nibbled. She just pressed the two surfaces together as if that was all she dared to. Her salty tears rolled to fill the gap. She pulled away when she felt the need for air.

She opened her eyes. “I’m sorry too. Can you make it not hurt so much?”

The truthful answer was yes but I wouldn’t mess with her mind using magic. What I’d done by mundane means was more than enough. I could ask me to make her so strong the pain wouldn’t be an issue but that was a lie. Unless one disregarded their humanity, their feelings, no amount of Attribute values would make it any fainter.

When I didn’t answer, she rambled, “I wish you would, just once...” She shut her mouth and looked down. She couldn’t finish her sentence.

It would be another easy way out. I could “Jaime Lannister” her and nobody would say a word. Nobody but the three of us would judge ourselves.

Madge sidled next to us and started to rub our sister’s back. Our sister. Her eyes had guilty written all over them. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken her but I couldn’t help it. She leaned on me and gave my arm a reassuring squeeze.

Mona’s breathing slowed down as her body relaxed. Stress made her shut down and fall asleep.

“I love this silly Princess,” I told Madge. “When I was born, the first thing I learned was that she came out of our mother before me and was taken away. She was the first person I worried about in this life.”

“I love you, Your Highness,” Mona somniloqued.

We suppressed a bout of laughter. “I love you too, Your Hidden Highness,” I replied to her.

“I love both of you,” Madge rested her head against Mona’s back, hearing her snooze. “She’s our sister,” our thoughts echoed. “Give her time. She’ll find her way.”

“I hope.”

“Cradled in a Goddess’ lap, what could hurt her?”

“Don’t jinx it,” I chuckled. “There are plenty of things out there against which I can’t be sure of keeping a person safe from.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

We stayed there, feeling each other’s breathing and heartbeats. The curtains dropped as our moral dilemma remained unsolved, just postponed for another day.

And it wasn’t just a matter of incest. I thought about making it public she was my lover but it would be too cruel to her. The Empire would eat Mona alive if she was associated with me but not “mine” as in my woman, my property. They would think she was unguarded. Making them very powerful was a problem in itself. Should they be too strong, the [Emperor] himself would take notice of them.

Maybe that would be the spark that would make the Mad Empress prophecy come true. Because I would destroy everything to keep them safe.