The vast command tent was already thick with tension when the last of the advisors filed in.
Every eye in the room snapped to the single throne-like chair at the head of the table.
Ashen sat there like he'd been born to it: legs spread wide, one elbow propped on the armrest, scarred knuckles lazily supporting his cheek.
…What no one knew was that he was imitating a certain future version of himself.
His black uniform was unbuttoned just enough to show the marks Alice had left across his collarbones. He looked bored and entirely too comfortable claiming the seat that had only ever belonged to the nine-tailed queen.
Draped across his lap like a living trophy was Alice herself.
She wore a silver robe with her tails spilling over his thighs in a golden cascade. One arm looped possessively around his neck, the other traced idle circles on his chest. Every time she shifted, the fabric parted just enough to flash the bruises from his fingerprints and teeth blooming across her pale skin.
The gathered foxes stared in open horror, while the human commander with Magnus by his side wore an almost amused smile.
Whispers hissed through the tent.
While the tailed fox race didn't forbid relationships between other ethnicities and even indulged in them, what they were seeing was still unacceptable.
Because that fox woman wasn't a commoner but the queen herself, and anyone she chose would stand above them all.
So seeing her willing to cater to the human soldier to this degree sent alarm bells ringing through their heads, making them believe that last night wasn't just passing passion and they might really have a human lord over them.
But even with this grievance, no one was willing to step up and speak, since even if the queen was a woman, she was a woman with nine tails.
Those tails were a deterrent as strong, if not stronger, than her status and authority as queen.
And that was why she was allowed to be willful without consequences.
Ashen leaned his head toward Alice's, voice pitched low enough that only she should hear, even with half the tent straining to listen.
"I was joking, love. Joking. I didn't think you'd actually march me in here and sit me on your throne like some pampered consort."
Alice's answering smile was quite mischievous. She chewed on his ear with just her full lips, tails flicking playfully.
"Shh. I'm being strategic," she murmured.
"If you want to move more freely, you'll need authority they won't question. This gives it to you. Besides," she pressed a teasing kiss to the corner of his mouth, "nothing breaks centuries of prejudice faster than watching their queen choose a human cock to warm her throne."
Ashen's eyes narrowed, but the corner of his mouth helplessly twitched.
"You're enjoying this way too much."
"Immensely," she snickered, and kissed him again, more deeply this time. Her tongue flickered shamelessly against his, all while the noble fox men powerlessly watched.
When she finally pulled back, her golden eyes regally and unrepentantly swept the room.
"Well?" she called, voice ringing with lazy command. "We're all here. Shall we begin?"
No one moved. Half the foxes looked ready to faint already.
Ashen just sighed, shifted his hips so Alice settled more firmly against the growing hardness she'd been teasing for the last ten minutes, and rested his chin back on his knuckles.
"Whenever you're ready," he drawled. "Your queen and I have a busy schedule."
Alice's soft, delighted laugh vibrated against his throat, and the war council began with every single soul in the tent trying to pretend their queen wasn't obediently sitting on a human's lap like a devoted wife.
One of the elder fox men finally took a cautious step forward, audibly swallowing. "...Your Majesty, regarding last night's banquet, after your... rather generous display of tolerance toward the humans, they are finally at ease being among us. So we can conclude that the attempt to lower the friction between our factions is successful."
"Good." She nodded, then cast a glance toward the red-haired commander. "Commander Cassius, this will put your mind at ease, I hope?"
"I'm in awe of your noble grace, Your Majesty." He bowed his head lightly.
Alice didn't spare him a second glance. "What's next on the agenda?"
"...Your Majesty, our efforts to appeal to the humans to rally behind our cause are getting more futile by the day. Now, there's barely anyone left to take the bait... The Pride army is tougher than it looks..." Another eight-tailed noble spoke.
He was the one previously assigned the task to approach and sow discord among the humans before Alice came and took over. But to her dismay, he went above and beyond and gathered more than a thousand defectors.
That sparked the banquet event, giving her more headaches, but thankfully, it was all worth it since she was finally able to reunite with Ashen.
She gave his Adam's apple a light kiss before glancing at the fox man who had just reported. "If that is so, then don't waste any more manpower on a futile task. Retreat everyone back to the camp. We will need our full power for the upcoming conflicts."
"...Is that really okay, Your Majesty?" The elder felt like there was still merit to continuing, even if the returns were diminishing.
Alice put her forearm on Ashen's shoulder and lazily nodded. "Yes. It won't change much at this point, even if you recruit another thousand..."
She didn't finish, but the elder got the hint, so he silently nodded and retreated.
The humans in this camp would be used as a tool to demoralize and shake the enemies, instead of acting as a fighting force, so this was indeed enough.
"Your Majesty is wise! I'll obey."
"Next," Alice uttered indifferently.
And in the same fashion, another fox man came forward.
From internal affairs such as resource management and army positioning, to external affairs such as enemy movements and reinforcements... Everything was addressed, and the queen calmly and regally dealt with each report masterfully, all while still sitting on her lover's lap.
Finally, the wave of reports abated, and everyone stood at attention, ready to hear the final words of dismissal.
But Alice had something else in mind.
She stretched her arm and tenderly caressed Ashen's cheek as he held her. The latter was looking at her with almost transparent admiration as he saw the way she handled her entourage.
"From now on, this man, Ash Harth, is my man. No one is allowed to disrespect him. No one is allowed to stop him. And no one is allowed to hurt him in any way or form."
Her piercing gaze snapped to the commander—and to Magnus beside him—for a heartbeat too long, before sweeping over the sour-faced nobles who had just remembered the human currently serving as the queen's makeshift chair.
"If anyone dares touch a single hair on him, they'll have to answer to me."
The air suddenly felt thicker for a brief moment as her tails hovered and turned azure for less than a millisecond.
The phenomenon was so brief that no one caught it, except Ashen, who was blessed by the Observant trait.
'Seems like there's more to the nine-tailed queen than I might have guessed.' He mused, though worry still crept up since Alice's body had the same constitution right now.
"Dismissed." With a lazy wave of her slender hand, everyone left, and soon, it was just the two of them alone at last.
"Well, well, well... color me impressed." His drawling voice echoed in the tent the moment the last man left.
"What?" She arched her brow and straddled his waist in earnest now that no one was looking.
"Didn't know that you'd get the hang of being a queen so easily. Not like I ever doubted you." He smirked.
Alice moved forward and started raining kisses on his face, her hand moving up to play with the locks of his glossy black hair.
"Did you forget what you raised me to be..." She sensually asked between kisses.
"A businesswoman." Ashen had an "Oh" face.
"C~orrect~, now here's your prize." She finally dove into his lips and started greedily sucking on his tongue.
After the needy kiss ended, Alice continued, "I just had to act like back on Esperra, with me as the CEO and them as my executives. Adjusting took a bit of time, and getting to know the ins and outs also required a lot of observation... but it's been two weeks now, and you know what I'm capable of in two weeks..."
Smooch~
With that, she dived back into another kiss, hips grinding alongside it now.
When she pulled back to breathe, Ashen answered, "My bad. I forgot how that brain of yours functions. I bet you started observing and cataloging patterns like an algorithm the moment you landed here."
"Yeah... But now I'm more interested in observing and cataloging every pattern of that handsome face of yours..."
Kiss~
His hands snaked to her buttocks and started kneading in response.
"Nnn— You sure like them, don't you?"
"I like every part of you," he whispered.
As they both started getting heated, Ashen suddenly remembered something. He slowed the movement of his rubbing and asked between mingling breaths, "By the way, there's someone I'd like your help looking for..."
"Haah~, who?" Her eyes were already half drunk with pleasure. A bridge of saliva still connected her lips to his.
"They call him the Astrologer..."
She tilted her head, confused. "Isn't that your commander? Cassius Asta, The Astrologer."
'Shit.'
Goosebumps traveled across Ashen's skin the moment he heard Alice's answer.
For a moment, he felt like a rabbit caught in the stare of a snake.
His hands abruptly tightened around Alice. "Ahh—𖹭"
She mumbled a muffled moan in his ears, but he didn't even register it.
'He's been there looking the whole time. Yesterday... and also today.'
What was even worse... 'Alice has been under his ability's gaze for two whole weeks...'
His mind spun as he calculated how much this blunder would cost him.
'His power can read personality, but to what extent...? Also, is he able to see our future already...? Is there a condition to activating his power…? Or… is simple observation enough?'
Countless possibilities presented themselves to him, but he had too little information to work with. Ashen could barely hold himself back from cursing his stupidity.
He always had this misconception that the Astrologer would be a secretive man. Something along the lines of an unseen hand behind the scenes.
But the image of the valiant commander from earlier shattered whatever false ideas he had built in his head.
Now, he had prematurely exposed himself to the enemy, and there was no one to blame but himself.
Reuniting with Alice may have taken most of his attention, but as he reflected on himself, he found that he was acting a bit too casually for someone who had entered the den of a man who had the capacity to plot a whole race's downfall for two hundred years and go through with it.
He cast a glance at the innocently confused look of his lover and only offered a bitter smile.
'I fucked up.'