(Chapter cover: pixiv.net/ user: 森を眺める瞳)
3rd POV
"Alright, you can go"
Caius sighed and nodded his head to his mate's previous request on wanting to hangout with her friends. He knew that if they were all in his office, silence would never be an option.
All three females left Caius' office with Maxine in the middle. The two females around her closely beside her with happy expressions on their faces. Maxine's friends began chattering and glaring at one another to battle who will really be her number one friend.
Once the office door closes Caius then looks at the orc left. There was Sebastian. He had a smirk on his face when staring at Caius.
"So you guided them in? Huh..." Caius said with a darken expression, glaring at Sebastian with his golden eyes.
"Why not? It would be rude of me to let them wait for so long... Our mate needs her friends instead of staying home all day long. It's better talking with others than being inside a lonely office for the whole day"
Sebastian gave a light chuckle and came towards Caius. He sat down across from him at a minimum distance.
Even though he and Caius were Maxine's family and both mates to her. It didn't mean that he would get along with him well like brothers. Even when they bonded weeks ago on planning their new home he still felt envy. He knew that Maxine obviously loved and treated them dearly.
Back in the day when Maxine was all his. Sebastian thought that he would eventually get over his possessive and selfish tendencies once time passes. He believed that he needed time to calm down and acknowledge reality. Maxine was a female and that she needed more males sooner or later. It was absolute that she will have males other than him.
Time passed and he agreed upon the truth of his wife needing more males just for protection and nothing else.
Am I the favorite?
It was the question he once asked her just after she accepted Caius courtship. In the end he admits he was indeed selfish. But he didn't care or ever regret it. He will play dirty just to get his wife's attention over that leopard!
Sebastian smiled, laying back in the wooden chair with both his legs laid on top of Caius's desk.
" Don't place your dirty feet on my desk" Caius nagged.
Sebastian ignored his nagging wods. He stood up and waved Caius a goodbye before exchanging menacing glares at him out of fun.
Caius growled at him, all annoyed seeing his bright smile in the air. Caius knew that Sebastian was happy when his plans were a success, ruining Caius alone time with Maxine.
Sebastian confidently walks off with a smug expression on his face knowing he is victorious. He was happy to admit that he was petty and selfish. Who endearingly seeks for his loving wife's attention, that's what makes him feel confident. He found it exciting when competing against the leopard who were both peta(5) mark beastmen. He liked seeing Caius mad especially when successful ruining his time with their mate.
When he was about to walk out of the office. There he jumped a little spooked. That made his body flinch slightly backing away. It was a familiar wolf male.
Sebastian looked at Raymond who was stuck in a pink bubble that his wife might have casted. He saw Raymond tumble and fall down while maintaining balance inside the bubble. Raymond inside beggingly asked where Maxine went to him.
Raymond looked behind him, searching in the distance of the open office door. There Raymond saw nothing but lots of papers and books present. He silently whimpered until he heard a chuckle right under his ears. He turned and saw Sebastian with tears in his eyes trying to hold his laughter in but couldn't. Which ultimately made Raymond pissed.
"PPfffttt... HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAA! A wolf in a bubble is hilarious!" Sebastian laughed out loud.
Raymond attacked going forth to hit him as far away as possible like how he did to that blasting purple haired bird Rowan. But instead of Sebastian flying in the air Raymond's bubble stopped moving. Raymond looked up and saw Sebastian hand it on, which made the bubble go in a halt. Raymond thought that he would kick it just like how Maxine did earlier but that was not the case.
*POP*
The bubble popped and Raymond was finally free. He wanted to thank Sebastin but he was long gone. But another thing came into mind seeing the impossible bubble he tried to break now gone with the help of Sebastian. Raymond needed to get strong quickly since Caius was now her mate he needed to hurry so he could be with her.
He needed to be right by her side.
He needed that purple bird who was said to be her "guard" be gone!
He was Maxine's ONLY guardian! And soon to be mate!
**
(TIME PASSED)
Since that day of Maxine now helping out with the fall banquet it has now been four weeks passed. The fall banquet starts two days from now. During that time Maxine has been coming up with the decoration, food, and layout that will be present during the banquet. She along with Caius sent out leopard beastmen to hunt and gather materials needed for the banquet.
With all the organizing and assigning new roles in the leopard castle Maxine was proud to say that she now has a perfect team of leopard orcs perfect for the banquet. She teached and influenced the need for cooking hygiene and kitchen safety especially to her kitchen workers who will be cooking the food. A proud kitchen staff, servants, cleanup crew, and more. Her husband Caius who helped alongside her now had his workload split in half, now making it easy for him. He was in charge of the rest of the banquet essentials in keeping everyone safe.
Flashing to the kitchen inside the leopard palace. There we see three females that have bright colorful kitchen aprons on. And the female sitting in the middle of the chair was Maxine. Her two female friends sat on the chairs across from her to start their meeting.
"Okay, besties, this is what we got! We have two days ahead to prepare and decorate the banquet. The first thing I need your feedback on is the dishes!" Maxine said. She had a long list of food and desserts listed down for the banquet in the next two days.
"Dishes? What do you mean"
"Maxi, do you mean food?"
"Yes, I am helping my mate host. The banquet needs great food! I have many dishes in mind for the banquet and I want my dearest friends to try them out!"
"Wow!" The two females were shocked by her words.
They were excited to eat Maxine's food once more since they loved what she cooked when coming to her home for hangouts. But little did they know that they were actually going to taste it today! They thought they would see Maxine making it.
Once Maxine clapped her hands and there the kitchen doors opened. There were lines of leopard servants holding big plates of various food dishes. They neatly lined the food on the table where her friends were sitting.
"Ta-da! Everyone dig in, lets eat"
Maxine presented them with many various dishes that were neatly displayed. There were all kinds of foods that had meat and seafood while other dishes were mixed with vegetables. Her two female friends had shocked faces when looking at the delicious food in front of them. All female's ate delicious food that afternoon. Time passed and Maxine now had to start prepping for the banquet that is soon coming.
"Okay everyone, let's get to work!" Maxine excitedly yelled once they were all done eating.
"Yes, leopard queen!" All the leopard workers yelled, bowing their heads down.
All of Maxine's two friends were assigned important jobs managing the kitchen. Her staff began prepping and baking before the banquet.
Maxine giggled seeing her two friends act serious. Especially Jessica who had begun scolding the leopard chefs for their messy station.
The tiger female with black hair and green eyes was Jessica. She assigned Jessica to be the second in charge since she was the most responsible and mature one in their group.
And the leopard female with short brown hair and brown eyes was Eve. With her excellent taste buds Eve was assigned to being a taste tester. Eve had a love for food and she was a real foodie when it comes to food. It was shocking to hear that Eve had a bunch of rabbit mates instead of leopards. Since she herself was a leopard female. With a bunch of rabbit males she had a lot of bunny children to feed. Eve and her basket full of bunny cubs helped test and taste samples of fruits to vegetables.
When Maxine was watching her staff and friends work. She didn't expect that being with them would be fun. Her boring life she had a month ago now turned into something exciting.
She remembered the day she met her three best friends. It was a month before she was the leopard queen. It was during a sunny afternoon where she met Jessica and Eve. She came to a female gathering hosted by the lousy tiger king who her family "Caius" didn't like so much. There were a bunch of haughty females showing off to one another. Most of the females that were the prettiest were at the front of the lines while others were at the back. Maxine knew that the event there was based on a female's appearance and popularity.
She did not have a single interest in wanting to participate and the only reason why she came here was to find a perfect mate for Raymond. Whom she dragged along by the ear. Everything changed when she met eyes with them at the very back of the crowd. Maxine's curiosity sparked wanting to introduce herself to them. She walked right up to them and extended her hand.
From then on the three females became the bestest of friends similar to that of soul sisters. They had each other's backs since that day.
** (TIME PASSED)
For the next two days with the help of Maxine's friends and her two mates they had finished setting up the banquet.
Today was the mark of the fall banquet being held in the main leopard castle. It was held on the first floor where a big crystal chandelier was installed in the center. By far it was the fanciest banquet since it extended to the back of the leopard castle where it was decorated with extravagant stuff.
She went all out for his banquet! It had to be perfect enough so everyone could enjoy it.
Maxine was proud to say that she and her team did so well! There was even a hibachi station outside she incorporated at the last minute! Inside the banquet there were long tables filled with scrumptious food and live entertainment playing in the background. The sounds of orcs playing instruments were personally taught by Lezon, a master of the arts.
The original fall banquet from the novel was that of an ordinary bond fire. Now it has drastically changed to a proper party inside and outside the leopard castle. Since there is a banquet every year hosted by kings. She believed that the fall banquet should be a place where orcs can have fun and enjoy eating food before the harsh winter comes.
Maxine at the top of the stage with her two mates and Raymond by her side. She sat down next to Caius in their royal chairs. When looking around the banquet she heard many happy chatters and laughter in the air. She smiled seeing the excitement inside the room especially with orcs eyeing the food ready to eat.
Then stood up and Caius roared, getting the attention of everyone present. The happy atmosphere became dead silent in seconds. They all looked up from above at Caius and waited for what he was about to say. Before Caius made his speech he extended his hand to Maxine to be by his side. He wrapped his hand around her waist and began talking.
He made a passionate speech in celebration of the beginning of winter. Also to everyone that we all accomplished surviving a whole season.
" Let the celebration commence!" Caius shouted, roaring to the start of the banquet. As every orc began lining around the foods filled with various. They held a plate and began picking the different dishes. One by one orcs lined up waiting to get ahold of the mouth watering food.
"Bunny~ taste my food, it's delicious" Sebastian said. With his wooden fork he held a piece of strawberry cake in the front of her lips.
"NO! Taste my food! This is more delicious!" Raymond shouted. He had a piece of chocolate cake in front of him. With his wooden fork he stabbed it, extending his hand for her to taste.
"Say ahhh~" Both Sebastian and Raymond said.
Maxine brushed the side of her white hair tucking it under. She felt nervous seeing the two people feeding her at the same time. Even so it was a nice gesture and she opened her mouth to let them feed the cakes to her one by one. When they were about to Caius from behind Maxine interrupted and quickly gave her a smooch. The cake that Sebastian and Raymond was supposed to feed her got blocked. Sebastian's strawberry instead landed on Caius' left cheek while Raymond's chocolate came to a halt.
A sweet yet evil revenge at the two males who gave Caius nothing but trouble and mischief a couple of weeks ago.
"It tastes really sweet~ My love, do you want some?" He taunted using his fingers to lick off the strawberry cream off his cheek. His tongue that was filled with sweet strawberry jam and cream made its way to Maxine lips. As it swished around her mouth spreading the sweet sugary dessert to her.
Sebastian and Raymond had glares already targeting Caius. They both were not happy since he blocked their way.
"Q-quit it already. You're embarrassing me" Maxine whispered. She pushed Caius off, stopping him from further kissing. She was embarrassing enough with many eyes looking their way.
Her bashful face made both her mates and Raymond laugh. Sebastian had a smirk on his face seeing her face as he made flirtatious comments. With all the teases and flirts coming from the three beastmen besides her Maxine decided that she had enough!
She looked around and light bulb light in her head now knowing her way out of the embarrassing mess she was in.
" I-I'm going to get more food," Maxine said.
Even though she ate half of the food on her plate. She hastily stood up and made her way to the exclusive tables meant for all the beast kings and their family. She held a plate and started picking out random desserts and fruit to distract herself.
When walking around the tables finding something to pick out there. Maxine began searching around the corners of the castle in search of Rowan who mysteriously left yesterday and Axel whom she asked to join. Looking around for a couple of minutes she did not see them anywhere in sight. Unknowingly she caught a glimpse of Lezon in the distance who was sitting at the Ape king's table. They were at the very top in a private and secluded area. It was like they were having dinner with each other.
Maxine looked back at her table to where her mates and Raymond were now fighting. She decided to go there for a small chat before going back to eat. Walking across the crowded banquet she made her way towards Lezon. Along the way she went up the stairs to meet them at the top while eating the dessert.
Maxine called out Lezon's name from a distance, waving to him to get his attention. Once she did that her and Lezon's eyes met. She came towards him and there she gave a gentle hug. Like a grandpa missing his grandchild he gave a gentle hug back to her.
Little did they know that there was someone in between their hug filled with envy. When Maxine turned she noticed the ape king with a pouty face. He gave a side eye to Lezon, jealous of his grandchild's affection for Lezon. The ape king also wanted Maxine to recognize him as his grandpa too!
Before the ape king could start babbling non stop complaints to Lezon. He held back since Maxine was beside them.
" This banquet is amazing! The decorations are pretty and the food is delicious. I was surprised that it turned out better than what I expected Caius would do alone. I am more grateful to you helping that leopard plan it all out. Without you.. I don't think he would put that much effort into this" The ape king said.
"Oh please, be more honest William! This banquet was amazing because of my granddaughter. That leopard was lucky he chose my precious granddaughter as his mate! Without her, I bet the banquet would be the same as last year." Lezon said.
"Last year? Why what happened? Wait, last year's banquet was hosted by the tiger king right?" Maxine questioned.
"You punk! Why did you mention that?!" The ape king yelled. He smacked Lezon in his left shoulder. Lezon, who was all chatty from earlier, went silent. Knowing that he made a mistake he zipped his mouth tight.
"It's nothing, little one, just forget he said that. Anyways, forget about us and go enjoy the banquet! We will talk later" The Ape king William left with Lezon. He dragged Lezon out to the outside of the banquet.
Maxine watched the two fading faces of William the Ape king and Lezon fade in the distance. They went down that stairs and left the room to go to the extended area outside.
All alone Maxine at the top decided to go back to her table where her males were. Before going back she grabs multiple plates filled with desserts because why not.
In the ape kings table there was a small long table beside her filled with desserts. So she ended up grabbing and plating the food there. One thing Maxine loved about this banquet was the unlimited food there.
It was an all you can eat buffet at no cost! With plates stacked up on top of each other Maxine slowly but steadily walked down the stairs to her table. There were many plates jumping and clicking whenever she went down a step.
In Maxine's mind, she knew she had to protect her precious food from falling. She stacked up plates and made it harder for her to see what's ahead. She regularly looked left and right seeing any dangers. There was no one in her sight so she began going down the steps. With her big baby bump that weighed her down more she absolutely did not want any of her dessert to fall.
When she was halfway down the stairs a sudden "THUD" hit the ground. Then a loud female voice yelled "AAAaaaaahhhhhhhh!!" in the air.
Maxine could have swore she saw a brown haired female in front of her for a second. Her body was fast as lightning, appearing in front of her so quickly then disappeared. She turned her eyes to the left and there was Willow who had dramatically fallen.
Maxine believes that her falling was fake. She has been cautious checking her surroundings every time she walks down the stairs. Sometimes she would stop to take a break. There was no way in hell she would have bumped into Willow. Not in her location as it had very few people there and it was mostly leopard servants walking up and down to refill food.
Why did Willow come up in the first place?
Was what Maxine thought in her head. It was common sense for the top of the banquet to be reserved for workers and members of royalty. There could be a possibility that Willow was personally invited by royalty to dine. Who knows?
Right now Maxine needed to solve this case quickly. There were millions of eyes staring right at her from down below. She felt nervous especially how Willow is pretending to be hurt. Maxine knew her ruse seeing Willow hurt would instantly make Willow the victim and make Maxine be the villain in one's eye.
" aaaahhhhhh! Ouch! My body hurts so much. H-how could you do this to me! I just wanted to talk. The leopard queen is evil! " Willow said. Still laying on the ground she held up her left hand and placed it on her forehead. Small drops of tears flowed down Willow's eyes.
"Ouch! It hurts! I can't move my body"
The lively atmosphere inside the banquet now turned silent when hearing Willow's loud remarks. There were murmurs and whispers in the air seeing Willow on the ground and Maxine at the stairs.
Willow's green eyes sparked seeing her plan now successful. With confidence rushing inside her she pretended to cry and cry while confessing the whole truth. Willow shouted as loud as she could with her knees and hands on her crying eyes. Being "honest" Willow told everyone false information on how cruel the leopard queen really was to her. Willow's seven close suitors behind her comforted her.
Maxine felt really nervous and her head turned once hearing loud footsteps nearby. She saw Sebastian and Caius' stern faces coming to her. Their stern faces really looked like she was going to get punished for her doing. Earlier she thought that she was in the wrong, thinking that it was Willow who was plotting something. But now she really believed that it was her fault for not noticing Willow.
With the intense atmosphere around her and her mates stern faces Maxine felt like pain in her chest. Her body began trembling in fear. The people that looked at her felt like walls coming closer. The walls coming closer made it harder for her to breathe. Maxine gripped still holding on to the stacked plates she had and hid behind them avoiding all the gazes. The plates clicked staggering a little with her trembled hands almost about to fall down.
Her body was in fight or flight mode seeing the danger all around her. She was really scared and wanted to hide away quickly. Her body sended a blast of fuel into muscles and made her heart beat faster and faster.
Maxine didn't know why but when she felt Caius hand touching her's that gripped the stacked plates she flinched backing away. The stacked up plates clicked and clattered eventually stumbling down. Instead of the plates falling down shattered to pieces two sudden hands quickly caught all the fallen plates. The orc who caught it was none other than Raymond, he caught all fallen ones neatly.
"Are you okay?" Raymond questioned.
Just before Maxine could say anything she froze once more. Hearing Caius words that Maxine thought was directed to her. But little did she know it wasn't.
"How dare you cause a disturbance!" Caius yelled with such dominance the atmosphere now became stiff like stone.
Even if the words Caius hit was for her or not either way she trembled hearing those words. Maxine really believed she was the problem from getting Willow hurt since she was the heroine.
Sebastian from behind felt Maxine's tense emotion and comforted her with a gentle hug around the waist. His comforting hug calmed her down a little but her worry was still there. Sebastian couldn't believe that this female back from the great orc event caused trouble once again. He did not like that brown haired female one bit since she kept bothering his precious wife. This time he really wanted to show that brown haired female a lesson so that she could not bully his wife again!
" This banquet is for everyone to enjoy. How dare you bring trouble to such a peaceful night! What's more furious is seeing you disrespect the leopard queen in front of my very eyes." Caius angrily yelled down below to the kneeled Willow.
Willow and her seven suitors looked up upon Caius with a fearful expression. Willow's suitors now in fear could feel Caius golden aura compelling them tightly. His beastly aura filled the air. It was like they were being squished to death when in his presence, especially more when looking right at him.
Willow, who thought she was successful, realized she was caught. She gulped down her neck in edge seeing the Caius look at her with hostile eyes. She quickly moved her mouth and instead of begging for forgiveness she continued her plans. Wanting every orc there to know the hurt she had been through and that Maxine was indeed evil.
"N-no, leopard king. It wasn't me! I didn't mean to disturb! It was M-maxine! I-I mean the leopard queen. I was just walking around and I stumbled upon her. She insulted me and pushed me down the stairs! " Willow cried.
"Is that so? How did she push you down? " Sebastian asked.
"S-she pushed me with her hands once I turned to go back down!" Willow blurted out looking up at Sebastian then at Maxine. But soon she regretted what she said when seeing the numerous plates she and Raymond held.
"Are you sure?"
"How did she push you with her hands when she was carrying all of those plates?" Sebastian pointed back and forth to plates on Maxine's and Raymond's hands.
"W-what?" Willow stuttered.
Willow could have sworn that she never saw Maxine holding a bunch of plates stacked up. When she first saw Maxine making her down. She only saw half of her body from being in such a tight crowd. But it didn't stop Willow from rushing up avoiding the guards that partoled the top to get to Maxine. When she managed to reach the top she just went for it and fell down quickly. Willow felt stupid for acting too fast and not seeing what was on her hands.
Sebastian with his orange eyes glared at Willow and asked more questions. Seeing her nervous and the sweat dripping down he was close to proving the case. "Why were you walking there in the first place? How did you manage to get past guards? This area is reserved for members of royalty. Don't you remember?"
"No! I-I" Willow stuttered not knowing how to reply to his word's. She instead yelled the one thing she thought of "IT'S ALL HER FAULT! She needs to be punished! Not me! I don't deserve the blame" Willow yelled in anger.
Willow could hear the nasty murmurs and whispers about her. She bit her lips in anger seeing her plan backfire. After all, it was Maxine's fault she was the one who deserved the blame! She herself is just a victim to her bullying.
Maxine needed to be punished!
Willow right now needed people on her side! Someone to comfort her.
*CLACK*
The plates that Maxine held in her hands dropped. Pieces of food and broken shards of plates scattered on the floor. Everyone looked at the source of the loud noise to see Maxine sitting on the ground. Tense and feelings of worry filled the air.
"Bunny? What's going on tell me what's happening to you?" Sebastian said. His eyes narrowed seeing shards of broken plates cut her legs. He carried Maxine in his arms in hope of comforting her.
"Maxine!" Raymond yelled
" What's wrong, love? Please tell us!" Caius said.
Maxine felt a dull ache in her lower abdomen. It felt like something dropped making it harder to breathe. A tight pressure in her back made her groan, rubbing her belly. She yelled out one word that popped in her head as to why she felt like this.
" Baby"
Once Maxine said those words her mates panicked knowing that she is in labor. Sebastian, who was still carrying Maxine in his arms, ran straight to the nearest room upstairs. Raymond followed right behind Sebastian.
"Guards! Take them away. I'll deal with them later. Send a healer to the room" Caius commanded.
"W-what! NO! You can do that I- " Willow pleaded but was dragged away soon after along with her seven suitors.
Caius was the only left giving commands for a couple of minutes before rushing through the palace halls. The banquet still continued but without any further problems.
Once upon entering the room Caius thought he would hear his mate screaming and crying instead he saw something more surprising.
In Maxine's arms was a tiny cub lying comfortably. With its head slightly turning up as it sucked for milk. Its little fuzzy paws pressed against her breast. Sebastian, who was sitting in the chair beside her, turned to Caius. There were two tiny cubs sleeping in his arms.
That night three tiny jaguars were born. Named Sean, Sage, and Sam.
-Thx for reading.