Luna's muscles were tense as Lukas walked, with her in his arms, past the women.
Most of them were Beastfolk, but a few of them looked more human, likely Elves, Lycans, or Orcs. If she had looked closer, Luna would have easily been able to tell which were Elves and which were Orcs, but she was too nervous to do that.
Luna was having a serious crisis. After just being brought into this new place, she of course felt like an outsider, and yet she was already the center of attention. Worse, her nerves were too overpowering for her to even tell if they were hostile or not.
Luna buried her face in Lukas's neck. She felt a low rumble from his chest, and her body responded with a shudder.
If her worst fears became true, this could be a harem.
Luna had never wanted a husband. But if she-
Luna gaped.
No, something wasn't right. Her feelings were all backwards. What was going on? Was the mark messing with her?
Her pipe dream as a child had been to escape Alaxia and be a part of a harem. After all, she would technically be married, and therefore inaccessible, but she also could get out of being a normal housewife or a baby factory if she played her cards correctly.
Because her theoretical husband would have multiple wives, there would be others to fulfill those roles, and she could help her husband in other ways, maybe even raise him up to one of the high nobility.
Despite the Emperor's city, Renuxis, technically being a Lycan city, it was at the edge of Lycan territory, bordering the Merfolk land, and numerous races thrived there.
Almost every race, aside from humans and the non-sentient ones like goblins, were represented among the high nobility, who were defined by their ability to remain afloat in the cutthroat politics in the Empire's capital and maintain a presence there.
Among them were powerful military leaders, devious business conglomerate leaders, and the ever-shifting waves of starry-eyed socialites that never seemed able to lay a hard claim onto any of the land in the capital.
She was rambling again.
Luna refocused. What had she been thinking about?
Right, the harem problem. She had always hated the idea of a harem, ever since her youth...
No, that wasn't right. She had gotten it twisted again. She had hoped to be in a harem if she were forced to marry, though that was practically impossible as a princess, especially for an Alaxian one. Her only hope for that would have been to be snatched up by a handsome young devil while she was barely past the age of her majority, then follow him to the capital, get lost in its wonders and shake him off, then coincidentally happen to bump into a rough but compassionate Lycan or Beastfolk who would take her in and make her a part of his. Lycans and Beastfolk were the only races who kept harems that weren't cruel like Orcs or too magical for a human's mind to handle like most Fae were. And... the others were unmentionable.
It was a useless hope, Luna had always known that. That was why she had never bothered thinking on it for long periods of time, and had given it up a few years after she had come of age, as soon as she had gotten her father to agree to present her as his son and allow her to take part in dueling lessons in disguise.
She hadn't been content at home, but it was better than chasing an impossible dream.
Until, of course, that dream had suddenly become possible with the arrival of Lukas.
Luna realized then exactly why she was so attracted to him.
Lukas Warwick, relative of the Emperor, a powerful Lycan. She didn't know what transformation he had, but she did know some other things about him.
And she knew why she had allowed him to mark her.
Lukas represented her dream.
Despite her having given up on it, there had always been a part of her that would look back on it fondly. She would still dream of it sometimes at night, when she was hurt both mentally and physically.
A powerful Lycan who hid his face, he was either the second most arrogant being in the Empire or he was considerate enough not to go around showing it. The thing about sentient beings was that the stronger they were, the more attractive they were relative to other members of their species. The inherent magic that infused them at birth changed their features to align them closer and closer to perfection.
So if Lukas Warwick was truly a relative of the Emperor, he would be one of the strongest there was. Ever.