"My Queen!"
Nels body knelt to Morgana, her black scales covered in cracks as she pressed her fist to the floor with the visor still covering her face.
"The current damage to the walls is negligible—only a few pieces of wood were required to repair them."
"Understood, and casualties?"
Morgana's body seemed slow to recover, but a part of her Ether was blocked, barely able to create a simple black dress as the spines slowly faded into dust.
'I need darlings to kiss...'
'But I don't want to kiss him for such a stupid reason... I already did it once...'
'Maybe I can use that stupid girl's lips.'
"None of our sisters was injured or wounded, but Aria's Domina was shattered, so she must rest for 12 hours or..."
Their form used Ether, and troops used their Lord's Ether directly that was transferred into their body, be it holding hands, kissing or even the extremities that some succubi enjoyed when their affection grew.
"Seven of the Hares were injured and are slowly recovering in their huts."
"Two died..."
"I see—make sure to get rid of their corpses and inform the others not to tell Our King."
[Marimo's View]
"My Lady!?" Marimo gasped as she walked over, her body bathed in blood and wounds, while her fur was filled with dirt and all knotted together with sweat.
The words she heard didn't upset her—it was the face she wanted to hide from her master.
No matter how much Morgana meant to him, she couldn't allow that.
"Oh? What's the matter, Marimo?"
Marimo didn't kneel or show obedience to Morgana, not to mention being different troops and races, but as a Vice-Captian, she had her own will and didn't need to submit to the commander's authority on normal troops.
She would obey during combat, but the moment it involved Lancelot, Marimo at least would never budge.
There was a reason her loyalty was above even Ikumi.
In her tribe, black fur was seen as something dreaded or an ill omen, so since her parents passed away, she lived a very lonely life in the tribe.
They might have kicked her out if she wasn't a skilled huntress and skilled with a spear.
Yet the first thing he mentioned made her heart tremble—even when the young males were choosing their mates, they would shun her no matter how hard she tried to make her fur glossy or alluring.
The Frost Hares were born all females and thus needed to mate with the males of a similar breed from a tribe that usually lived less than 15 miles apart.
If Lancelot was a female, it was likely that their tribe would have been summoned instead.
However...
Lancelot called her beautiful, stroking her black fur with a loving touch.
It was like her grey world had gained some colour!
Not only that, he even granted her a special role and treated her as if she was special and not just some ill omen.
But that didn't mean she was irrational and couldn't understand both Morgana's idea and her plan.
'A perfect victory, even without him, to help soothe his worries of leaving us alone at night.'
'Nevertheless!'
"I cannot condone it!" Her soft voice sounded with a tinge of determination.
"The master will be sad if he learns we hid the truth!"
"Even Lady Morgana must understand that!"
Marimo's body stood to her full height, now more than a head taller than Morgana, with her arms folded under her breasts, pushing them upwards to seem even bigger and perkier making Morgana's eyebrows twitch.
She wasn't a young girl or airheaded like Ikumi and learned whether she meant to or not had listened to his thoughts and feelings.
Her good hearing helped her discover many bizarre and unbelievable things and know that Lancelot had suffered many betrayals.
That's why she had to stop this mistake with her little rabbit tail fluffed up.
"Are you questioning me? Our Lord's first, his most trusted commander?"
"Never a question of you, but the Lord comes first! Marimo will always put his feelings first!"
'So angry!'
"Fufu~ I see, I see. So you are that devoted to him, little rabbit?"
"I'm a Frost Hare!!"
The pair stood almost squaring off to each other as the other troops avoided the area continuing with repairs and seeing to the wounded.
[Marimo View End]
Suddenly the pair felt a familiar presence and the sound of footsteps approaching them, causing their little scuff to end.
"There's no need to fight girls." A deep voice sounded behind them as the male they were so concerned about appeared with two bodies held over his arms.
The two lost Frost Hares.
"My King!?"
"Master!!"
Lancelot couldn't rest easy during the night, whether it was the clammy warmth of Ikumi's thighs or the feeling that something bad would cause his chest to feel tight and uncertain.
So he got up and decided to come to Avalon.
'I am sad to have lost two Frost Hare's I never even got to meet...'
"I will deal with their corpses. The other Hare's have taught me the way."
He walked past the two heading for his throne room, smiling gently at the pair.
"Marimo, don't blame Morgana too much—her thoughts were to protect me, as she knows how much it pains me to lose even one of my troops."
Lifting his arm that held one of the deceased hares, he lifted it over his shoulder and ruffled the soft black fur of Marimo.
Despite wanting to give her more of a reward, the way her feet were thumping the floor rapidly showed how much she liked him stroking her ears and head.
Lancelot continued to stroke her while turning to see Morgana bent so her horns and hair were near his other hand as if competing with Marimo.
'...'
[My King... I didn't mean to...]
[It wasn't to betra--]
'I know you, don't worry. Good work leading them. I saw the number of corpses. The fact only these 2 died was lucky enough.'
He gently lifted the second Hare over his shoulder, trying to be as respectful as possible as he stroked the silky hair of both women, the squishy soft ears of Marimo and the cold, hard horns of Morgana.
Shortly after, he released them both, walking past them and vanishing into the throne room where a large braiser was constructed just outside the eastern door.
Morgana also wasn't stupid and felt delighted to tease the cute Marimo, who helped her awaken from the after-effects of using her Domina.
"Stupid bat woman."
"Don't get cheeky, you fat little boob rabbit."
"Hmph!"
"Tsk!"
-
Lancelot's light smile faded; he tried to put on the brightest smile while blocking off most of his thoughts from Morgana and only letting her hear the positive ones.
The fact that he never even got to meet them made him feel like a useless Lord.
Even the goblins he met each one knew their names...
This may be something stupid to others, but for Lancelot, it was as big as losing a family member...
He leaned forward, gently lifting the pretty white-haired Hares into the braiser, making sure to burn their faces at least into his mind.
'I didn't even ask their names...'
All he knew was that they were sisters—thus, he would give them a new name as their Lord, at least for their last moments.
"Forgive me for being an unworthy lord..." His deep voice sounded solemn and filled with warmth.
"I do not know your given names, even though I should have..."
"If we could meet again, let your names become Mirel and Tirel reborn again as sisters."
The Lord and how he summoned troops was incomplete, but there was a myth that if a Lord gave a name to a troop that died, then one day...
There was a chance he might summon them once again.
He slowly lit the fire as their bodies wrapped in cloth began to burn.
Under the night sky with endless twinkling stars with a stern face.
Lancelot watched his first departing troops until nothing remained.
With a weary look, he checked the time, his face with a wry smile.
"Even now..."
"I still cannot get used to this feeling..."