"Hello, dear," Nanoka says, her swirl of tails hiding the back wall from me. "I try not to snoop, mainly listening to the maids. But the maids like to gossip, and I heard about grooming tails. I thought maybe you would like to handle some of my tails. I've got too many to handle them all tonight, but maybe one or two would be nice for you. It has been so long since I last had someone else brush my tails. Sorry if I invaded a special activity. I didn't think you would all be naked when I jumped in."

"No, that's fine," I say. "I'll get to as many as I can."

"Thank you, dear," Nanoka says. "Feels funny to be in a bed with others again. Thank you for letting me join you all. I should go last then."

"Nakuma," I say. "You're going first. Come girl."

Nakuma lets out a sigh and untangles from Yuki.

Fuck, I have some many sexy women in my bed. Nanoka is wearing a nightgown. I'm not sure if that is out of respect for me or her, but I wouldn't mind her stripping. But there's no need to make this awkward if she has personal reasons not to strip. I'm more than happy just to enjoy her tails tonight.

Nakuma crawls over and takes Mai's old spot, her tails fanning out for me to pick from. I choose a red one and get started. The defiant kitsune slowly loses her will under my practiced hands. No tail is safe once in my lap and a brush in my hand. Even without a brush, I'm skilled enough to get anyone to submit their tails to me, except maybe the succubus. They seem a bit too mischievous to calm down. Perhaps if I get a few more classes, I can wear Sarania's tail out enough for it to rest in my lap instead of my pussy.

Something to test later.

"Nanoka," I say. "What is your daughter likely to ask for? She wants me to get kitsunes pregnant, and their plan on raising them does seem better than what the Queendom has done for me, but I don't wish to be whored out after this."

"We wouldn't want that. She'll be open to paths to making it happen that would work for you. She won't be happy about it, and she'll do everything she can to get you just to spend your days in a room getting random kitsune pregnant, but she knows that isn't going to happen. I obviously hope the kitsunes get some kids. Yuki must've shared that she's a little late on her mission, and our numbers are lower than we would like. The best thing for us all, I think, is for us to have a few women come here to stay for a while. Looking to become friends with you. If they manage to that, you get them pregnant. That way, it makes it easy for you just to drop by and pick up the kids to have for a bit or spend a week living with them. You need to have a relationship with as many of the kids as possible, and the kitsune are happy to help make that happen. With the Goddess of Space being friends with the family, you should be able to visit often."

That does sound nice as far as having to get others pregnant goes. I could ask them to spread out when I'll have a random family of kitsune drop in if I promise to give them twins or something. I could live with that for a while, then just stop. I should get strong enough not to care about anyone eventually, right? I have so many Goddesses behind me, and I seem to be getting all the Queens into my harem. How could they fight me? Just keep that in mind, Alzi. It'll be important. Don't promise anything will last forever; no need to have my daughter ruin my plans.

"That could work," I say. "I won't do that forever, though."

"Good," Nanoka says. "Can't have my wife overpromising things. Give us enough kids to keep our population, and then let us be. Promise to stop by the realm occasionally, and if a cute kitsune catches your eye, you'll offer to get her pregnant or something. Or don't promise that, just ask to be allowed into our realm after the timeline, and that'll be fine. I doubt anyone will say no to your advances if you offer."

"Thought you would want to help your people more."

"I am. If I ruin our image more than Yuki has, we'll get nothing. Besides, I have to think about my family as well now. This is the right way to do this. The kitsune need to see something for fighting. They won't go along with the Queen just because she gets some granddaughters from the deal."

"Is the war going to be hard?" I ask. The last one seemed kind of short, yet so many got hurt. This one seems to be bigger.

"Yes. I'm sure Nature has many terrors she's hidden deep in the woods. Now is the time to bring them out, and we'll have to deal with them. I hope the group of Goddesses you have around you is able to help us, or this will be a long fight. One that may require you to become the breeding factory you are so afraid of, just to keep our populations from folding. Nature will have no problem forcing her beasts to breed. Maybe Fertility will make it hard and help us get pregnant, but that won't fix everything. War is best when it never happens; the next best thing is over quick."

"I didn't want the war," I say, moving on to the next soft tail. Nakuma is getting a lot more willing. I guess she forgot the first time I had my hands on her tail, or got a little too lost in Yuki.

"We know. This isn't your fault. We are all playthings of the Goddesses after all. If one is happy, everyone suffers somehow. It's been a while since Goddesses of this power have fought. But it isn't uncommon for harvests to fail or for bad storms to pop up randomly or for the seas to become impassable for some months. You just happen to be the one all the Goddesses love or hate right now. The stories won't have you as the cause, just a person of interest. The writers are great at calling out the Goddesses without offending them further. They have plenty of examples in history to draw from. If you get ancient enough text to read, you can see where they did fail in the past and the devastation that brought. They won't do it here. Not when Sex is also looking ot cause issues. Nobody is going to be risking a three-way fight with us all stuck in the middle. All the Queens would be tearing the poor person apart, trying to sacrifice her to the Goddesses to quell their anger. No, this was bound to happen. We just happen to be alive for it."

What fucking fun. I just happen to be unlucky enough to be the excuse the Goddesses find to fight? Whores are ruining my life for their petty issues. They have forever to figure it out. Why do they have to fight it out now? Why not just talk or fight each other directly or something? Why do they have to kill us for their issues?

"It's still not fair."

"No, when one side has all the power, it never is."

Well, when words can't comfort you, let fluffy tails do it. The next tail I get to is orange. A strange color for one that has no fire affinity. Black with white spots or something would make more sense. The nobles seem to love their colors and how they match their affinity, but it seems the Goddesses, or whoever decides how we all look, doesn't have the same care. Azula looks like ice, but she will just poison you. Calli has brown hair, but is a fire mage?

Maybe it's just nobles that follow the color thing? An entire race can't have just one affinity, or they would never survive, so they would have to break the pattern.

"If I asked to get you pregnant, Nanoka, would you let me?" I ask.

"I wouldn't tell my husband no, but please focus on the younger ones first. I've had my share of children. Let the others have the joy of Motherhood, then think about whether you wish to have me. Then I would still ask you to consider getting the other kitsune pregnant. I am here to keep you safe. My time as a young woman in love has passed. Now is the time for me to use all that power I've built up to protect the next generation's love. I won't deny love if it finds me, but I hope you focus on others. I know you don't like that our marriage isn't about love, but our marriage is more about helping us stay on the same page than some bond. Please, repair the bond with Yuki and Nakuma before reaching out to me. I'm just an old relic who's a little too stubborn to die right now."

So she does have a bit of bias to her kind. I guess she never said she didn't.

Mai had fallen asleep at some point in our conversation, holding Calli like a teddy bear. I wish I could give Calli a better teddy bear than a pillow, but Nakuma won't relax with anyone but Yuki. I still have so many tales to get through before I can sleep with Calli.

Things have gone quiet for a while now that Yuki doesn't have Nakuma edging out her strange horniness. I don't know what else to ask Nanoka about. Maybe I could ask about her past, but I think that would be better with tea. Interestingly, she wouldn't say no to kids despite all the ways she seemed to say no. I don't think I've met a noble who wasn't looking to have my children.

I finish up the last of Nakuma's tails. She fell asleep against my shoulder at some point, and Nanoka had to use a bit of mana to keep her up so I could continue my work. I didn't have to say anything for Nanoka to take Nakuma from my lap then. Turning around, I find Yuki hiding under the covers and Nakuma, still naked, now snuggling with Nanoka.

"Yuki," I say. "Get over here."

"Yes, Ma'am," Yuki whispers. "Thank you."

"Hmph, I'm not going to forget about your thoughts on me. Nakuma is going to be your main lover. I know she'll love it when I fill you with enough kids to keep you in bed. I can have you both stuck next to each other, maybe?" I tease, taking one of her tails and getting started.

"I'm sorry. I swear I didn't have a clear way to free you and have all those who love you come with us. I really thought they had you in their grasp already. I should've tried."

"Yes, you should've tried."