I finished adjusting my second dress of the day before turning to the maid. “Thank you, you may go.” The maid bowed and left the throne room. Turning back to Usaki, I sighed. She was asleep.

  “Really Usaki! You are…” I trailed off and instead grabbed her little fox form with my tail and shook her violently before putting her back down. She made a grumbling noise and glared at me with her fox eyes.

  I giggled and winked at her before twirling my dress and looking at her erotically. “Usaki, my baby, let’s discuss… us.” My tail wrapped around me and covered my face.

  Usaki stood there frozen for a moment, before she fell to the side giggling. I dropped my tail and did the same.

  After we recovered, I tried again. “Usaki, you are a temporary Queen. You can’t just sleep on the throne!”

  She stretched her cute little fox paws and began to grow. After a moment, she was in her Foxkin form and she laid sideways on the throne. “Better?” She asked in annoyance.

  I sighed and shook my head. “Royal Advisor Saki! I have come with news of the plague efforts.” Generally Tully said from behind me.

  Sighing, I turned to him. “Alright, hit me, how bad is it…” My tail pushed between my legs and my ears flattened, bracing for impact.

  “Wait a second! I am Queen right now! Shouldn’t I be getting this news!” Usaki cried out as she stood and glared at us.

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you have a nap to take or something?” Usaki glared even harder and I giggled. After a moment she giggled as well. General Tully was not even his real name. But after trying to convince Tama otherwise failed, he just agreed to let it be his name.

  Tully looked between us. “Um.. why are there two of you? I have been meaning to ask. Also, why is the other version of you sitting on the throne?” He sounded less nervous and more tired.

  I sighed and shook my head as Usaki answered. “We are not the same person! I would never be that anti-friend! I am Usaki! Usaki! We share a body and that's it!” She stood and pointed angrily at Tully.

  Tully stood there for a long moment, then said. “Okay, so where is Queen Tama?” Both of us went dead quiet. Tully nodded after a moment. “I assume she went off to the arena or somewhere else to fight?”

  Usaki and I nodded in sync. “And.. she probably left.. Er.. Usaki was it, in charge?” A second in sync nod. Tully nodded as well and sighed. “How long have you been Queen?”

  Usaki considered for a moment. “I would say around eight hours or so?” Tully nodded again and sighed.

  “Well, since Tama was literally crowned today, you have about two more hours before it’s forcefully handed back to her majesty. I promise you do not want that to happen by force.” Tully said sadly.

  Usaki paled considerably. “How.. How forceful are we talking?” She asked nervously.

  Tully swallowed and said. “How do you feel about mind control, and forced obedience being a permanent addition to your stat sheet?” Usaki instantly shifted to fox form and dashed out of the room at speeds I didn’t even know I could go at.

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  “Really? That actually happens?!” I asked the General. He smiled and shook his head.

  “Sort of, it’s not actually permanent. Basically, if you have ever been under royal compulsion before, you understand how it works.. Sort of.” I paled at his words, he continued anyways. “The current temporary Ruler is forcibly put into a compelled state to find the rightful ruler and is forced without mercy to find them.”

  I shook slightly from that, yet it got worse. “During this time, the afflicted are constantly bombarded with memories of benign a servant to the true Queen and memories erased at random that don’t match what the true Queen would prefer.”

  “That.. why?!” I cried in horror. I was now terrified of Usaki.

  “Well, the reasoning is quite simple, if they fail to find the Queen… they become the Queen.. Literally.” I fell to my knees and grabbed my head.

  “Like.. like physically?” Tully just nodded. “And mentally?!” He nodded again. “But.. but what about the original Queen?!”

  Tully chuckled and shook his head again. “Good Question, nothing happens to her. The moment she returns to the throne, the newly converted Queen simply dies on the spot.”

  I stared blankly at the throne, suddenly far more scared of it than I was of anything previously. “So, Royal Advisor Saki, I would like to reiterate the plague concerns.”I stared up at him in silence for a long moment before slowly climbing back to my feet.”

  “R..right.. Do you think she will…” Tully just shrugged and I almost cried. “In that case… um.. Plague news?”

  “Good, back on topic. The good news first, the plague cure created by your.. Friend… does work perfectly.” General Tully started. I felt my heart sink. If that was the good news…

  He looked uncomfortable for a second before continuing. “Due to.. Recent events, with the golems and the plague. We have an early estimate count of the deceased. We also…” He trailed off and took a deep breath. “Have an estimate of how many will be dead before the cure can be fully administered to the population.”

  “What.. What are we looking at?” I asked as I swallowed. Tama claims I had erased an entire city in my grief in a previous timeline. I could never see myself willingly doing that. This… this felt really bad.

  “Well, the numbers are.. Not overly important, and depending on where we implement the cure first, might change drastically.” Tully said as he pulled out a map of the city.

  The city was split into six divided sections. There was the commons, which basically meant poor people. You had the aristocrats, which were not overly affected by the plague.

  You had the merchants district, the district devoted to the elements, the arena was its own sector, not shocking based on its size. Finally, there was a small district behind the castle simply called .

  I frowned at that and pointed. Tully looked at where I was pointing and said. “Ah, that area is sanctified, the plague would not have been able to reach there regardless.”

  I shook my head. “What.. is it? Part of the castle or…” I trailed off leadingly.

  He took a deep breath and looked away. “Perhaps, Advisor, it is best you see for yourself after the meeting.” He said quietly. “We need to meet with the nobles and high priestess before we make any permanent decisions.”

  I nodded slowly as I went to hand the map back. He shook his head. “At the end of the day, Royal Advisor, it is the Queen’s decision. In her absence, this falls on you. At your command, I will notify everyone of the meeting.”

  Shaking I realized my arm was shaking. I grabbed it, but I realized it wasn’t just my arm. I swallowed as I looked at the empty throne. “Please Tama.. hurry back.”

  Slowly, I turned back to Tully and nodded once. He bowed and left the throne room. I stared at the throne for a long moment before a small smile crept on my face. “What have you gotten yourself into this time Saki? Why did you care?”

  I felt tears run down my cheek as I walked over to the empty seat and sat down. A blue box popped up and I read it. Then I giggled as I noticed the map icon. Tapping it, I saw the city map in real time.

  Thousands of blue and green dots wandered the city. There were exactly two purple dots. Fuyuki Tamaneko, currently leaving the arena, and Alissaria Tamaneko, currently inside the castle.

  I watched as Alissa’s dot suddenly moved across the room at lightning speed and stopped at the wall. I snorted and snapped my fingers, and a maid rushed into the room. “Please order repairs for Regent Alissa’s room.” I said calmly.

  The maid bowed and rushed back out. I leaned back into the throne and closed the blue box. Tama was coming home soon, and when she did. We needed to talk.