Chapter 55: Dressing for the ceremony
Stefan’s POV
I unfolded the last layer of fabric, and my whole face went slack with horror.
A gown. The exact same silk, the exact same thin, see-through material the dancers had been wearing out in the courtyard, flowing and pale and completely, utterly transparent. I held it up at arm’s length, turning it over like maybe I’d missed some hidden layer, some lining, anything at all that would make this less catastrophic than it looked.
Nothing. Just silk. Just enough fabric to drape and shimmer and hide absolutely none of what needed hiding.
"No," I said out loud, shaking my head hard, already backing away from the thing like it might bite me. "Absolutely not. My cock would be swinging free in front of an entire palace. I’ve had a rough couple of days, but I refuse to add that to the list."
A knock sounded at the door before I could spiral any further.
A young woman stepped in without waiting for permission, dressed neat and modest compared to everything else I’d seen in this palace so far - simple robes, hair pulled back tight, hands folded in front of her.
"You must ready yourself," she said, voice soft, businesslike. "I am to escort you to the celebration."
"Who exactly are you," I asked, still holding the offending gown at arm’s length like evidence in a trial.
"A lady in waiting," she said. "To Her Majesty."
"Good. Great." I held the gown up between us. "Is there anything better than this? anything at all. I’m not picky at this point."
"There is nothing else," she said, simple, final, like the very concept of alternative clothing hadn’t occurred to anyone in this entire kingdom.
That’s when the System chimed in, and for once, I was actually grateful for the interruption.
[OBSERVATION: Lower-ranked beastwomen exhibit significantly weaker resistance to the host’s Charm than elite individuals. Continue improving Charm to influence higher-ranked targets.]
Well. Wasn’t that interesting?
I set the gown down deliberately slowly and crossed the small distance between us, watching her posture shift slightly at my approach - not fear exactly, more like uncertainty, the kind that happens when someone isn’t quite sure what’s about to occur but suspects it might be worth paying attention to.
I reached out and tilted her chin up gently with two fingers, holding her gaze steady with mine, letting my voice drop into something low and warm.
"Would you be a kind lady," I said slowly, "and find me something more befitting? A top. Trousers, maybe. Anything with actual coverage."
She blinked, something soft moving across her face. "We do not have such things here."
I pressed forward, undeterred. "Then how about something to wear underneath. Just underneath. Something between me and that gown."
A pause. Her eyes stayed locked on mine, something almost dazed settling into them. "I could find something," she said finally.
I smiled, slow and warm, still holding her chin light between my fingers. "I’m grateful," I said. "Truly. I won’t forget your generosity."
She smiled back at that - a real smile, unguarded, cheeks coloring slightly - and the System chimed again right on cue.
[Scanning compatibility...]
[Compatible.]
[LADY IN WAITING — STATS:]
[Loyalty: 1%]
[Desire: 1%]
[Affection: 1%]
[Trust: 0%]
I glanced at the numbers, filed them away without much interest. Small potatoes, all of it, compared to the actual emergency currently facing me.
"Not my priority right now," I muttered to myself, already turning back toward the gown draped over the chest. My priority was making sure my manhood didn’t announce itself to an entire dining hall with every single step I took.
She left without another word and returned a few minutes later carrying something short and simple - the kind of undergarment I’d noticed the palace’s own bodyguards wearing, snug and practical.
It was a short skirt, short like the ones the warriors used to wear but exactly the same color and fabric with the bodyguards’.
"Finally," I breathed, taking it from her hands like she’d just handed me a winning lottery ticket. "You have no idea how relieved I am right now."
~~~~~~~~~
The lady escorted me out not long after, and I walked the palace halls feeling entirely too exposed despite the undergarment doing its actual job. Every step, I could feel the silk shifting loose around my legs, cool air brushing places cool air had no business brushing in mixed company. I managed, mostly by refusing to think about it too hard.
We reached the celebration, and my gee, the place had come alive properly now. Drummers still worked their steady rhythm, dancers still moved through the courtyard in flowing arcs of silk, but the warriors had shifted from spectators to something else entirely - seated now at long, separate tables, each one piled high with food. Roasted meats stacked in towers, fruit spilling out of wide bowls, drinks poured into carved cups that caught the torchlight every time someone lifted one to their mouth.
The lady peeled off toward the Queen’s table the second we arrived, leaving me standing there alone at the edge of it all, gown shifting awkwardly around my legs.
That’s when I spotted the Bounds.
A cluster of them sat by the far door, folded down onto the floor itself, no tables, no food in front of them, faces gaunt and exhausted, eyes tracking the feast happening twenty feet away with the kind of hollow, hungry look that made my own stomach twist uncomfortably.
"Thank God that I’m not one of them." I thought, and meant it more sincerely than I’d meant almost anything since arriving on this planet.
Then my stomach reminded me, loudly, that admiration wasn’t going to feed me either.
I scanned the tables, searching, and found Jonquil seated near the middle, meat and fruit spread in front of her, hair still holding the shape of the braid I’d worked into it hours earlier.
I walked over, dropped into an easy, cocky grin, and leaned one hand against the edge of her table.
"Hey babe," I said. "Mind sharing your dinner?"
Jonquil looked up at me, considered the question for exactly no time at all, and said simply, "Sit."