Chapter 3: Blending in

(7,2k words, focus on humans, slight teasing, female muscle, futanari, character motivations and backstory, last build-up chapter - > I promise ;)

Day after day passed and slowly their unexpected stay turned into weeks - and the two dealt completely differently with it.

The blonde heir cherished the chance to let loose for a bit and loved the casual talks she had with her new friends and the customers, while Alexia mostly silently guarded over her and the place from the darkest corner of the inn - not interested in any conversation whatsoever.

By actually talking with people the younger hermaphrodite learned some interesting things about their new "home".

The whole city was completely independent at this point. Sure, there was technically a mayor installed to collect taxes for the crown, but he got bribed by the locals years ago. Mostly by organized gangs of militia in exchange for further privileges and to keep the new ruling class in the dark about their self-autonomy.

And so, the whole town earned a false reputation for being a complete and utter criminal mess, almost impossible and certainly impractical to rule over. This alone would cost the heads of the mayor and everyone else involved if the highking would ever find out, but their self-sufficiency - or treason, like Anastasia would put it - reached far deeper.

Many districts were ruled by sons or widows of the former rebellion leaders or well-known freedom fighters. These people earned the gratitude of the other citizens and even after their sacrifice their names still lived on and so did their legacy in form of their now respected families.

That was, odd, to say the least for the two hermaphrodites. Seeing the other side of the conflict and how the humans had to work with what little they had left ... was an admirable feat. Which made Margaret especially empathize with them, despite her mother's completely opposite teachings and world view. Alexia much less so.

Margaret's openminded attitude was surprisingly well received by the rowdy, mostly borderline wasted, but also towards her oftentimes very charming clientele.

They would often eagerly tell her from their adventures on sea or what distant places they travelled to regularly, places the princess only knew from books and tales. The new waitress - and especially her daily piano play - became a reason to come back to the "Sailor's mug" for many of its customers.

While this was certainly good for business, it wasn't always a good thing for her personally. Alexia was actually sometimes needed to jump in, kicking out the occasional scum that was getting to touchy for her and Margaret's liking, risking revealing the heir's true nature - or those who were too drunk to pay, which happened quite often.

Overall, living with the common people, and humans at that, was an unexpected but an enthralling experience - even with all its new challenges and downsides - well, atleast for the incognito heir.

Margaret's initial excitement was relatively short lived though and to her surprise the reason for it was mostly her closest friend.

While the visits at the tailor and the little tours through the district were fun and so was having the two blonde twins around her, she noticed Alexia being at times quite passive aggressive, almost even openly rude towards them - especially Remy.

There was something to his playful behaviour around Margaret, that enraged Alexia. Neither she nor the young princess really knew why, but it was obvious that the muscular hermaphrodite didn't appreciate his still clumsy advances towards the blonde princess. This wasn't the only source of anger for the former high ranked officer though.

Sure, Alexia fell at times victim to insults, especially from, mostly drunken, customers, but in Margaret's opinion it wasn't nearly as bad as her tall friend claimed it to be.

Obviously offended and at times enraged Alexia would regularly lament the world they found themselves in, but never in public - she didn't want to push her luck. She never really believed they were safe, still afraid the mob or Manuel would materialize their disdain for her or hand the two over.

The ongoing insults and this sense of uncertainty only worsened the former commander's already strained mood even further and turned her increasingly unfriendly towards almost everyone.

At first the young heir just tried to ignore how defensive Alexia was around their new colleagues, but soon it got clear that she was still taking her duties as a guard very seriously - too serious in fact. Making Margaret's security the top priority over anything else.

This behaviour wasn't going unnoticed by the blonde heir and the others as well. The twins were almost scared to be around Alexia and that after they slowly grew accustomed to having an 8'6" "behemoth" around - even with them genuinely trying to welcome the grumpy hermaphrodite into their shared home.

Manuel didn't care too much about her in the first place, but it felt like the two haven't spoken for days despite working together daily to bring in the shipments with beer, liquor and food.

The chef Agatha was the only one who she held to some regards and actually treated respectfully, besides Margaret of course.

The two friends were still enjoying each other's company, but this attitude from Alexia slowly started to put a bit of a strain on their friendship, atleast in Margaret's opinion.

The blackhaired warrior tried to keep Margaret at some distance off their new colleagues, to keep her save and reduce the risk of her revealing herself. This wasn't what the adventurous princess was expecting though, nor did she like the feeling of getting treated like someone needing constant protection.

She wanted to meet people and learn about the history of this place and its citizens ... to understand them. Alexia on the other hand though seemed to destroy this opportunity for her. This was a problem that needed to be addressed by the young heir... rather sooner than later.

"So, Maggie. Heading back up again, already?" Agatha asked worriedly as the blonde was cleaning up the last desks after the inn closed.

The uncomfortable heir sighed and kept on wiping up the last few dried stains of beer as she turned to face her older human colleague.

"I... you know. We aren't really the talking types, so..." she didn't want to reveal how much she would enjoy hanging out with the older chef and her two apprentices for one of their late-night cooking sessions, but she already knew what Alexia would say.

"Maybe your friend, but not you." She rested a hand on Maggie's shoulder and smiled.

"If you want to come over, you are always welcome. You both are... I hope you know that," Agatha grinned, but it seemed like she already knew that the offer would only be tempting for Margaret, not Alexia, who already waited back in their room, just like after every work shift.

The blonde hermaphrodite just faked a smile and nodded slowly before hanging her apron up at the blackboard next to the bar and headed up the stairs - to Alexia.

On her way up she thought of a way to address this issue with her friend. Who still just tried to protect her as best as possible, which complicated it only further.

Margaret owed Alexia so much, her life in fact and she didn't want to sound ungrateful, but she couldn't stop feeling like she was held back by her friend.

She entered the room and was greeted by a very familiar sight - Alexia doing push-ups on the floor.

The taller hermaphrodite kept on working out on a daily basis to retain her stunning physique, just like she would back in the palace. What at first was arousing for the young princess started to get a bit boring soon and annoying shortly after - not even the sweaty and grunting warrior's outfit changed that anymore.

Margaret and Alexia followed their new bosses' advice and traded, with their new colleagues' help, two more rings in for clothes and some money. Only her birthday present from earlier - the ring with the pearl - remained on her finger which she refused to trade in for anything.

The black-haired soldier never openly mentioned how happy she was about that little deed, but she was more than delighted and grateful.

After that they had 2 outfits each, one for work and one for their off time. The blonde waitress chose a more formal outfit next to a cute blue dress, pretty much the closest she could get to the dresses she wore back in the palace.

While Alexia decided to go for a relatively modest, but still very strained and most of times revealing outfit for work and a much more comfortable training outfit. It was like her work outfit custom made, but still a very tight shirt and the pants, although quite elastic, were just barely enough to keep her huge curves and endowments in check.

That was especially necessary in the morning. With her massive size, in terms of height and endowments, came a more than healthy libido - showed by her daily raging morning wood.

At first Margaret was almost drooling at seeing the massive bulge and trying her best to act like she didn't care, but she was more than impressed by the sheer size of Alexia's member, by her estimation easily 2ft in length.

The teenage princess sure had her own needs to take care of, but having someone so... teasing around, surely wasn't helping to keep things less awkward, atleast for her - Alexia seemed unaware about her friend's slight discomfort.

Margaret slowly accepted how aroused she felt around Alexia and how the amazon-like soldier's involuntarily teases were leaving her speechless at times.

She often wondered about if she was feeling like that because she was out of the palace, her comfort zone and for once actively tried to open up to all the new things surrounding her - and maybe started to see her childhood friend in a different light - now since they were living together.

Margaret laid down in her bed, nervous that she still didn't figure out what words to use to speak to her friend. Technically Alexia didn't do anything wrong, she kinda acted like she was supposed to, as a guard and probably as a friend- she really was just unaware about the blonde's unmentioned wishes.

"78...79...80...81..." Alexia grunted on the ground, while some drops of sweat were dripping down her nose and to the ground.

"Lexi... can... I talk to you about ... something?" the princess asked now looking at her buff and already slightly pumped friend.

"Just ... a few... more," the now winded fighter grunted and slowly started to struggle to finish her set of 100 pushups - it wasn't her first set to be fair.

"Now!" Margaret hissed, with herself a bit shocked how angry she sounded. "I... uhm ... mean ... please now, Lexi," she muttered.

This made Alexia snap out of her training and raise and wonder, she rarely ever heard her friend's voice so demanding.

"Is everything alright?" she asked under breath and got up, unintentionally showing off her now bulging arms and abs showing through the tight fabric, while walking towards the distressed princess.

Margaret sat up and looked at her friend, almost blushing again as she took in the sight and a bit ashamed, she made Alexia sound so concerned - and for feeling a bit aroused once more.

"Lexi, look, I was thinking of... maybe, I could..." she muttered and got angry about herself for not finding the right words she was looking for.

"You know you can always speak to me Maggie; I am always there for you," a little pause followed "So what's on your mind?" Alexia asked and kneeled down before the strangely conflicted looking blonde and laid both her hands on top of Margaret's to comfort her.

This made the princess feel a bit better ... and worse, but she genuinely started to believe she could speak to Alexia about everything, so she took a deep breath and just let it all out.

"Please, don't get mad, but I want to spend more time with the others. Nothing against you, quite the opposite, but ... but, I don't want to spend all my spare time here," she said with a wavering voice, observing how her friend reacted up close ... and noticing the black-haired hermaphrodite's confusion.

"Sorry if I bore you," Alexia replied drily and felt a bit hurt.

"No, no, no, that's not it, it's just, there is just not much we can do here and I... want to see more of this town. This is so exciting and I feel here a bit like you are trying to isolate us from ... everything really," her blue eyes were focused, trying to take in the most minor of reactions, but Alexia had quite a good poker face - most of times.

"Maggie, I... am just trying to protect you. And it's just less dangerous when we don't get too close to..." she was interrupted by the young heir. Alexia let herself get cut off, but her gaze gave away that she felt a bit disappointed.

"They are good people Lexi. Look, we are now here for more than two months and literally nothing happened. You said it yourself, this is like a whole different world here, no newspapers, nothing from the outer world beyond the city gates. Lexi, I wanted this to be our little adventure, not an ... exile," she hastily said, feeling a bit angered by her own impulsiveness this time.

Margaret was right though, atleast with one thing that even the dutiful commander couldn't deny.

Alexia didn't make any progress on finding any clues about their pursuers or even getting any information about their former home and the ruling class, despite seeing the palace on the hill by literally just looking out her window.

The town, maybe the humans in general, seemed very isolated and unaware about the ongoings of the queens. Atleast they wouldn't be found soon... or maybe even at all? An equally encouraging and disheartening thought for the professional soldier.

Alexia was still kneeling before her friend, her hands still trying to calm the princess down, but she really didn't know what to say.

She understood where Maggie was coming from, but that meant she would need to ... "share" the young heir with their new friends and colleagues and just the thought of that subconsciously upset the buff fighter.

"Is there anything I can do? It sounds like you want to get some distance between us ... I mean, if you really think you need that, I won't hold you back, but ... I liked our little talks here".

The former commander for the first time showed a more vulnerable side to her friend. Alexia always had this aura of pure determination surrounding her and never struggled to express herself in a very dominant and confident way, but now she sounded ... cautious, maybe even a bit emotional.

Unaware that they were still holding hands Margaret leaned in towards Alexia as she noticed the change in attitude and tried to be a bit more sensitive.

"I really like them too, Lexi. There is nobody else I wanted to be on this... let's call it' trip', with... besides you. You are my best friend..." she cut herself off as she eventually noticed how close they were - their eyes almost level and only separated by a few inches.

At this moment she started to feel the warmth of the older hermaphrodite's hands still touching hers.

Margaret's cheeks reddened but she wouldn't move her hands out of the way, quite the opposite, she liked how soft her friend's hands felt, especially for someone so formidable.

The blonde heir looked into her childhood friend's grey eyes and smiled warmly, her mind slowly trying to process what she was feeling in this moment - but one thing was certain, she liked it.

"Lexi, I am so glad to have you here and I am thankful, but ..." Margaret looked away for a second. "Please explore this new world with me. Not... lock us away from it".

These kind words obviously had some effect on the now less timid hermaphrodite. Alexia usually kept her emotions in check perfectly, like it was required for any member of the royal guard, but she always had a soft spot for Margaret, far beyond her sense of duty.

Still, this behaviour by both was more than unusual, even Alexia noticed that.

She knew exactly why she was reacting like she did though, especially around humans. The 8'6" hermaphrodite felt like she was behind enemy lines, just a wrong move or word away from danger, but this wasn't the only reason.

She acted more irrational around Remy for trying to get closer to Margaret and with seeing the blue eyes of her long-time friend up close she finally realized why. She was jealous.

Margaret's reaction on the other hand was a mystery to her. The way the young princess was trying to look away in the morning or after her training.

Why Margaret dressed almost prudishly despite being so beautiful, especially with all the humans seemingly adoring her anyway? But more importantly why did she look increasingly often a bit ashamed for some reason? All questions for later, but now, she had to be a friend first, a bodyguard second.

Alexia blushed herself while looking at the questioning, no, almost begging eyes of her princess and felt her hands starting to get a bit sweaty again.

"Is it getting hotter in here?" she thought and wanted to speak up as she was interrupted by the sound of distant laughter - coming from below.

It seemed like the twins managed to get on Agatha's nerves again and the sound of rattling pots and their cheeky laughs indicated that this was intended.

Both were snapped out of this almost intimate moment and Margaret eventually pulled her hands away, which left Alexia craving for Margaret's touch again and the pleasant feeling it brought with it.

"Sounds like they are having fun," Margaret muttered, her cheeks still red from earlier.

The moment was gone, Alexia had to accept it, but that wouldn't mean she wasn't aware of what her friend wanted and what would make her happy.

"I... How about we join them?" Alexia asked smirking at the instant reaction of her friend.

"You mean it?! You as well?" the blonde was obviously overjoyed and made Alexia immediately forget her initial reluctance.

"This is the only way I can keep an eye on you, remember?" she playfully smirked and regained some composure, until Margaret hugged her out of nowhere.

"Thank you. I knew you would understand!" Margaret smiled happily and noticed the same feeling from earlier as she wrapped her arms around her friend's strong neck.

"Just... be cautious ... for me. And... I will try my best to... somehow blend in," Alexia gasped, her voice sounding weaker than even before while she softly rested a hand on Margaret's back.

There it was again. This feeling. Almost overshadowing that she begrudgingly gave in Margaret's demand and forgot about her duty for a moment.

The enthralled princess pulled away to face the unusually timid hermaphrodite and knew she demanded a lot from Alexia. This was utterly defying their knowledge on the human kind, the "constant threat looming over the kingdom" and all the prejudices they got taught since their early childhoods.

While Margaret had reason to reject teachings from a society that only brought her pain and humiliation for many years and made her feel more of an outcast than the humans she was meant to avoid at all cost, the same couldn't be said about Alexia.

The former commander struggled to come to terms with all this, the insults and what she was taught to believe in, but she would give it an objective try, if not for herself ... for Margaret.

"Thank you, Lexi. For everything," Margaret said, her voice soft, almost intimately so.

"No, I need to thank you," Alexia responded and felt a strong pull towards the almost comically smaller hermaphrodite. She wasn't fully sure what was going on, was she maybe ...

Another laughter echoed through the room and made both chuckle as Agatha loudly screamed at her two young apprentices, seemingly wreaking havoc in the kitchen down below. Once more their moment was cut short.
"Let's go, it sounds like Agatha could need some help with them," Alexia suggested and with a smile both got up to their full height.

The older hermaphrodite towered above Margaret, the blonde's eyes just level with Alexia's immense bosom, still barely restricted by the tight training outfit of hers.

"Maybe you want to change your clothes first," Margaret smiled, despite blushing as she looked over the toned abs rippling through the fabric. "You know to... blend in, as you put it," she concluded and grinned.

Soon after the two were standing in front of the familiar revolving door.

The whole tavern was dark and dead silent besides the sounds coming from the kitchen. No sight of the owner, which was a bit odd.

He seemed to leave the place as soon as they closed but both assumed Manuel would return sometime later, but it doesn't look like it, which was a bit suspicious to Alexia.

Margaret was the first to enter and was greeted by the sight of the two energetic twins trying to climb to the top of a tall cabinet to reach something from above.

"Look who finally got released out the dungeon!" Remy mused instantly shifting his attention towards Margaret as she entered, letting his brother literally hanging as he walked out from underneath him, while he was dangling over the ground.

"Remy! You idiot get back here!" Ricky shouted but his brother didn't really care, like usual he only had eyes for the blonde beauty.

"How did you take care of your drag-," he wanted to joke about Alexia, but the teenage boy's snarky comment died down in his throat as he saw the mentioned "dragon" enter as well.

Alexia took a deep breath, trying to ignore the comment but already started to feel her own prejudices against him reaffirmed and squinted at Remy angrily.

"Hello, my dears, so glad you finally decided to join us ... in our madness," Agatha grinned.

The chubby chef peaked out from behind a shelf of cooking books and looked genuinely delighted to see them, both of them.

Ricky was still hanging on the easily 8 ft high cabinet and tried to reach what looked like an extra wide pan.

"Yeah, we heard you ... and it sounded like you were having fun, so... I hope you don't mind another four helpful hands," Margaret chuckled and looked at the struggling twin while his brother stood in front of her.

"I certainly wouldn't mind a hand here!" Ricky sighed, still hoping his brother would come back, but pretty much everyone knew Remy wouldn't, atleast as long as Maggie was around.

Alexia stepped up and grabbed Ricky's hand, lifting him easily from the cabinet and back to the ground with one hand before reaching up to hand him the pan he struggled to get.

"Thanks, Lexi. Wow. You are ... really as strong as you look," he gasped partially in awe and in fear.

It took him some time to get more comfortable around the 8'6" warrior but he was still vary for the most part, just like his brother. Still, Alexia liked him way more than his more extrovert - and in her opinion - annoying brother.

"You're welcome. So... uhm... how can I help?" Alexia asked, feeling a bit awkward as seemingly all four were looking at her.

"Oh! An eager one. Here, you can help me with cutting onions. I already look like I cried for two hours straight," the constantly cheerful chef mused from behind the bookshelf.

Alexia looked over to Maggie, with Remy still closely around her. The blonde princess smiled and nodded softly, signalling it would be alright and with that the taller hermaphrodite joined Agatha while Margaret stayed with the two twins - something Alexia definitely didn't appreciate, but she promised to try to be a bit more open minded.

The already slightly uncomfortable incognito soldier just started to cut onions as she was told, but still focused on what the three out of sight teenagers were talking and doing, to jump in a moment's notice if necessary.

Her small talk with Agatha was minimalistic at best, far more than usually and the chef had to be the one to keep the conversation up.

"Calm it down, this is no competition," Agatha chuckled, seeing how expertly Alexia worked with the small kitchen knife.

"Uhm, oh, sorry. I just got ... carried away," she responded and faked a smile.

Agatha was the only human she spoke to regularly, there was something to her friendly, almost motherly way of talking that made Alexia forget about her usual grudges against humans, but still, by just being here, she felt totally out of place.

"Are you ok? You usually don't care much about ... socializing," the chef continued to point out the obvious question.

"Yeah, well, I got convinced it might be worth giving a try ... sometimes," Alexia mumbled and frowned at Remy once more turning into a comedian around Margaret and earning a laughter from her.

"I see. It sounds like a good idea though. Everyone wants to belong somewhere, and you are here for a while by now."

"I know," Alexia responded drily, looking down at the recipe in front of her and taking more veggies to cut down for the stew they were preparing. While the others seemingly started to cook some fish in the pan she pulled from the cabinet.

"It's not any of my business. But you two aren't here because you wanted to, right? You were running away from something, or someone," the elderly human said in a cautious tone.

"Can't say. But trust me, I wouldn't be here if we got a choice," the hermaphrodite's voice was less focused, her mind slowly drifting off to the events leading to them getting here in the first place.

"Is it really that bad?"

This took Alexia a bit by surprise. Would any other human ask this question she would have immediately answered with "Yes", but saying this to the one person that showed unconditioned hospitality ... felt somehow wrong?

"I... don't know," the former commander responded varily.

"Look, I get that it must be hard to live with humans and I know we can be cruel sometimes, but ..." the grey-haired cook tried to calmly explain how she and probably many humans felt, but Alexia interrupted her almost instantly.

"No 'but', I literally did nothing wrong to you all, still I get treated like I got the plague," she angrily laid down the, in relation to the rest of her, tiny kitchen knife and sighed to calm herself down.

A short awkward pause followed with Agatha looking up to the uncharacteristically emotional looking hermaphrodite, trying to find clues why she acted so differently today. Eventually the human broke the silence.

"It's not anything you personally did. It's what you are standing for. You are the epitome of what many of us really don't want to be reminded at. Not like that's your fault, but still, try to understand why we humans often act like this," Agatha spoke slowly, clearly but still resolute, her gaze not wavering for a moment when Alexia looked down to her.

"And what am I standing for? I tried to be polite, but ..." unexpectedly the smaller human interrupted the in-comparison hulking woman.

"Sorry, Lexi, but you really didn't. You see these ... idiots as justification that your way of thinking is right. That you are superior. That we are your enemy. And frankly, are not much better than the drunkards calling you out for something you never did ... generalizing all because of the deeds of few."

Agatha never raised her voice but the silence that followed was only partially interrupted by the twins and Margaret's lively conversation and laughter.

This wasn't anything Alexia wanted to hear, even much less so coming from a human. But there was no denying that this older woman, this human, Agatha, spoke with wisdom out of many more years of life experience.

Alexia thought for a while on how to respond, knowing that the comparatively tiny cook was right, but her pride didn't allow her to fully confess it.

"You... aren't wrong. Still, there are many humans that can't be reasoned with. Look at Manuel, I barely spoke to him and he hates my guts. Even immediately after meeting m-"

"But still he allowed you to stay, didn't he? And trust me, would you be in the same position as he is, you'd probably be far worse".

Alexia rolled her eyes and sighed angrily while continuing to cut down their ingredients with increasing intensity.

"Lexi, did you ever hear why he is so unfriendly towards you and likes Margaret so much?" Agatha asked.

The former commander just silently looked down at the stocky chef and shook her head.

Agatha now put her knife away and rested both hands on the table, thinking for a few seconds where to begin.

"Manuel... he... wasn't always this grumpy and broken man. There was a time where he was one of the most sincere and gregarious guys you could think of. He was a more than capable musician, had a wife, two sons, life was good for him at the time."

Alexia as well put her knife away and keenly listened to this seemingly lengthier and more elaborate tale.

"Things changed for him after the first war, like for most of us. He didn't fight on his own, he got lucky he wasn't deemed suited to fight someone... well, like yourself," Agatha continued after looking up at the imposing stature before her.

"His sons though, both of them, were just too eager to fight and actually really good at it aswell. They kept on resisting the queen's new rule and were one of the first rebellion leaders in town," she explained, with admiration in her voice.

The former commander was surprised, but now it atleast made sense why Manuel, despite being mostly unfriendly these days, was so respected. Barely anyone spoke up against her when he was around or intervened, which to be fair happened rarely.

"I think I know how well that went," Alexia responded, sounding a bit more distant than before.

After all she was the leading commander of the royal guard and just listened to someone explaining why many of her race and predecessors had to die. Probably just kids playing heroes.

"The hell you know?!" the usually composed and constantly happy chef snapped, hissing angrily and even the three teenagers stopped with what they were doing and looked after her.

"You know what they, your people, did to him?! They dragged both his boys here, right here," Agatha angrily pointed at the door leading to the bar, ignoring that the others were now also keenly listening.

"They executed them right before his eyes, cut both their throats. Both were alive for atleast a minute, Alexia. And you know what? When his wife tried to intervene, she got shot as well. He... he had to look at his whole family getting butchered by someone just like you. Tall, strong and proud, looking down at us, seeing us like nothing more than a disease that needs to be cleansed. Did you ever wonder what happened to his two left fingers? " the chubby chef now basically screamed at Alexia who didn't even dare to speak up, not that she even wanted to and just shook her head silently, while Margaret and the boys were equally as devastated as she was - with the princess even tearing up.

"They saw the piano and asked him what his profession was. They cut off a finger for each, and I quote, "disobeying son" so that he would never forget about what stepping out of line brought them and even took away his ability to play. No, not only taking his family away but also the last thing, he might have enjoyed and not for a fair and noble cause! Just out of sheer arrogance and spite! And now Alexia, tell me, what would you do if you were him and see someone like you walk into your home?!"

"Kill me," she thought.

There was nothing left to be said, Alexia lowered her gaze, feeling immense shame, for her ignorance, for being a proud member and even the leader of the royal guard ... for being so hostile towards Manuel and many others.

She wasn't naive enough to believe that such things didn't happen at war but hearing the story from an eyewitness was something else - something far worse.

Wars shouldn't be fought in someone's homes, but on battlefields. That was something she genuinely believed in, but this... was taking it too far, regardless of what the humans might have done.

This was the first time for Margaret aswell that she heard her new bosses story, but now she understood why he brightened up as soon as she started to play and enjoyed her and the twins to have around, resembling somewhat of a family in a place that constantly remembered him on his own.

He just didn't really know how to express himself, but still they noticed glimpses of his joy underneath the surface at times.

"How...how do you deal with this. How can you even be ... friendly ... with me?" Alexia eventually managed to ask and slowly looked at the still furious looking grey-haired woman.

"Because you are no enemy, because I am not yours. Because I believe if you treat someone with respect you will eventually get some respect in return. 'Eye for an eye' works both ways you know. There is no point in hating someone, especially for something, like you said, he or she was no part of. I am sure you can agree."

Rarely, maybe on a handful of occasions in her life Alexia felt this speechless simply because of someone else's words. She didn't expect that this little excursion would turn into a life lesson, but still, this was a valuable experience and definitely hit a nerve.

"I understand now. I am sorry," Alexia cautiously said, her head still hanging low, making her 8'6" appear smaller than usual.

"Don't be sorry, just be better," Agatha responded as she rested a hand on top of Alexia's and nodded.

This was more than a strange sight, seeing the smaller woman lecturing the giant hermaphrodite but everyone in the room knew that these words were having an immediate effect on Alexia.

Another silence followed, as Margaret wiped away her dried tears from hearing that, with even the twins refusing to be the first to speak up.

Once more Agatha had to be the one to be the forerunner and had to find the right words for the occasion - and to bring up the mood.

"Well, look at that, I finally managed to make you two shut up," she joked, earning only confusion by the twins but making Margaret and Alexia break a smile.

"Sorry, if I have brought down the mood, but this needed to be said," she continued and looked at the piece of paper Margaret was holding. "What do you have here, my dear?"

Margaret unwrapped the note and looked at the twins and softly smiled before answering.

"This... is just from a festival Remy told me about. Looks like it's an annual thing," the blonde beauty stated.

"Oh... riight. I almost forgot, yeah in two weeks. Yeah, that's really something to look forward to. Who knows, maybe Manuel even manages to import some foreign beer to the occasion," Agatha smiled again and walked up to the still sad looking heir.

"You both should think about it. This could be something you really don't want to miss," she mused, trying her best to bring up the mood again.

Margaret just smiled and Alexia nodded silently, still thinking about what to do next, how to come to terms with Manuel... 'how to be better'.

The others soon recovered from this little emotional outburst by the calming force that usually was Agatha, but the out of place hermaphrodite, no, 'futa' as they called her, was mentally absent ever since. Many of Manuel's antics and passive aggressive outbursts made sense now.

When helping at the docks, bringing in the heavy crates with supplies she noticed him getting moody everytime she displayed how much stronger she was than him. Probably reminding him of the ones slaughtering his family - her predecessors, maybe even colleagues.

Her mind was set, she had to fix this somehow, not that she could, but hopefully he would atleast appreciate the effort... hopefully.

The rest of the cooking went over Alexia's head for the most part, she noticed Margaret having a blast and was happy the young heir was enjoying her time with her human friends, but besides some faked smiles she wasn't able to look like she was enjoying this at all. The younger futa's laughter made up for how she felt a bit, but no, she definitely had to and would fix this somehow.

Their time in the kitchen and consequential meal was relatively short-lived or atleast it felt like it for Alexia and the two once more headed up to their room.

Neither of them said much, only Margaret thanking for her friend to join her and apologizing that it turned out like this. But the 8'6" futa wasn't feeling anger towards Agatha or mad for Margaret to bring her into this situation, no, in fact she was almost thankful.

Soon they decided to go to bed, since both weren't really in the mood to talk and sleep quickly overwhelmed them, well it would have, but Margaret was the only one dozing off. With Alexia staying awake... waiting.

The blonde princess yawned as she felt a cold breeze blowing through the room and begrudgingly opened her eyes. She groaned slightly angrily and turned around looking into her roommate's direction, or atleast where she should have been.

Margaret saw that the bed was empty and as she guessed by the darkness outside it was still middle in the night or very early in the morning at most.

She got up, a bit confused where Alexia could have been at this time of day and walked into the hallway, hearing voices from down below.

Was she back in the kitchen? The others definitely were heading back to their rooms as well. No, the voice was male. Manuel's voice.

Her tiredness wore off instantly as she started to hear Alexia's voice as well and already started to fear the worst.

The two didn't come along, not by a long shot, but maybe after this explanation she hoped Alexia would try to let his comments and moody attitude slide. So, she hoped.

Margaret stopped at the top of the stairs listening as their surprisingly clear voices echoed through the inn up to the upper floor. And it sounded like they had an argument once more.

"Damn it... Lexi." she muttered disappointingly but it felt like they were already talking for some time.

"... Where is this coming from all of the sudden? Do you want anything? If so, speak up and don't waste my time with false apologizes and trying to charm me," Manuel hissed but not more angry than usual when he was with Alexia.

"No, that's not it. I... just wanted to say I wasn't appreciating what you did for us, even for me... and I wanted to thank you and apologize. No ulterior motive whatsoever," the familiar voice sounded even a bit more cautious than back in the kitchen, but she tried her best to sound friendly.

Margaret keenly listened and slowly started to realize that Alexia was actually trying to address this issue with him, just without mentioning that she heard his whole story by someone else. The old innkeeper definitely wouldn't tell this to anyone, surely no one out of the three young residents and definitely not Alexia.

"Well, what do you want to hear from me then?" he asked, curious but still didn't believe a word.

"I don't want anything. I just want to come along with you. Remember when we got here? I said I'd be useful and that's the least I should be. So, I ask, do you want me to do anything? Can I help somehow?" Alexia asked.

The blonde princess gleamed with joy in total silence as she heard this kind words and felt pride in her friend for being the first to overcome her own nature.

"I... " he paused, and Margaret thought for a second he would ask Alexia to leave.

"I think this place could need a bit of a renovation. You could help with that. You seem to be more suited for this type of work than me," he said, calmly, confused but not nearly as hostile.

"Sounds good. I will start as soon as you want me to", the former commander responded enthusiastically, happily even.

"Yes, uhm. I guess we can start tomorrow then. But, let's get some rest before that," Manuel said.
Even by just listening to his voice Margaret could imagine what his expression must look like, total confusion of this complete shift in Alexia's attitude. He didn't trust her, probably stated that all too clearly just before she started to eavesdrop, but he was pleasantly surprised by it.

"Alright, we will see us later then. Good night... Manuel".

"Yes... good night. I guess... "

A short but intense silence followed and the blonde listening from the shadows could almost literally hear his confused gaze wandering all over Alexia as they slowly turned around and headed to their rooms.

That might even be the first time the incognito heir actually heard Alexia addressing their new boss by his name.

Margaret rushed back to her room, still only wearing her underwear and made it look like she just woke up by throwing her blanket back over her.

She wouldn't want to address this right now. It probably took enough courage for Alexia just to speak with him and she surely felt a bit humiliated by it already, so she would keep her mouth shut, for now.

"Where have you been? Do you know how late it is?" Margaret faked a yawn and tried to sound like she was just waking up as her tall friend entered.

"Sorry, I was just... clearing my mind," Alexia smiled as she said that ... but kept it purposely vague.

"I hope it was worth getting up this early," the blonde turned in her bed around as she couldn't hold back a grin, knowing that Alexia wouldn't want to admit this apology directly.

"Definitely. Get some rest Maggie, I think tomorrow will be a busy day. We will need all the strength we can get," the black-haired hermaphrodite said while laying down on her old and creaking bed, determined to be more than an unwelcomed guest for now ... to be better.