I felt rage bubble up inside me at those words, but I tempered it down. She couldn't know… I reminded myself she was just being heroic as always. I tried a different tactic. "Tama, we need the money and she clearly wants to serve you. Tell you what: tell her to obey me, and I'll make her do it for you." My fox ears twitched with a mix of mischief and determination.

  Tama looked at me for a long moment before a smile crossed her face. Then she spoke imperiously again, "Tama has decided to bestow upon Saki the role of her advisor; all shall listen to and obey Saki!" Her cat ears stood tall as her tail swished regally.

  Tama giggled, but I stared at her in horror. "Tama, what have you done!" I hissed. Her smile faded and she frowned. "What do you mean? Tama did what you asked! You said it was a good idea!" Her cat ears drooped momentarily in uncertainty.

  I tried to speak, but the royal decree hit me like a ton of bricks, the magic clearly settling in. My vision blurred for a moment, and when it returned, everyone was suddenly outlined in colors. My fox ears rang with the shock of magic.

  I looked at Tama, and above her head it said:

  I stared at her title in shock, my eyes un-moving as I focused on the word "Princess." My mind stopped working, and everything except that title faded to black as I tried to process it. For a moment, Tama's cat ears seemed to shimmer with an unexpected regal glow, and her tail moved with newfound grace.

  She was... a Princess?! But how?!

  "What is going on here?!" Talia's voice came from the doorway at the back of the guild. The wolfkin Talia, her singular bushy tail and sharp attentive ears on full display, had arrived.

  I swiveled and looked at the wolf woman. She was scanning the room, her face a mask of serious calm; her wolfkin ears betraying nothing as my mind raced. I had to be super careful and...

  "Tama dominated Tera just like Saki and Talia said too!" Tama declared, a wide, childish grin on her face, her cat ears twitching excitedly and her tail swishing with pride. "And everyone else decided to play along with Tama!"

  I felt what little courage I had drain as Tama spoke. Quickly, I recalculated: I could still salvage this. "Then Saki said Tama should make her royal advisor, since Saki is the smartest person Tama knows. She agreed!" My fox ears drooped as uncertainty mingled with hope.

  I was now beginning to panic; my heart beat so fast it physically hurt in my chest. I genuinely considered using my void to erase everything here. to start over from scratch... I couldn't do that. My fox tail twitched nervously as my ears rang with anxiety.

  I looked over at Tama, and my heart sank at how happy she looked. She truly didn't understand what was happening. Once she learned, though... her cat ears remained cheerfully oblivious, her tail swishing in innocent glee.

  Talia looked at Tama, then at me. "What happened, Saki?" she asked, her face serious as the last traces of color left my face. Her wolfkin ears stood tall, her expression unreadable.

  "Well... you see, I..." Before I could even start, Talia raised a finger. "Come with me." I nodded and followed her back to her office. I noticed Matriarch Talia's title above as we walked and read it:

  Her Wolfkin tail swished gracefully, and her ears remained alert as she led me.

  I noticed the "Grand" in her title, as well as the name people called her by. Also, her full name was Petalia? I snickered quietly. "What's so funny, Saki?" Matriarch Talia said as she turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow, her Wolfkin ears twitching in mild amusement.

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  "I was just thinking how interesting your full name is!" I said with a smirk, my fox ears perking up slightly.

  "Oh, is that so? And what, pray tell, is my full name, Saki?" she said in an almost too kind tone, her wolfkin ears softening as she inquired.

  I felt my veins run cold. I considered lying but realized it was pointless. "Because I can see your name and title above your head," I said straightforwardly, though even as I spoke, I started to form a ball of void. If I was going to die, I would take her with me to protect Tama. My fox ears drooped with determination, and my tail twitched in quiet resolve.

  Her eyes widened, and she stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. "What does it say my name is, Saki?"

  I swallowed before repeating what I saw above her head. "Grand Matriarch Petalia Corundurum, Adventurer: The Forge of Fire." My fox tail flicked in anxious anticipation.

  Silence filled the hallway at my words. Slowly, ever so slowly, she spoke again, "And you can... see... her title?"

  "I can," I said as the ball of purple void grew bigger in the palm behind my back, my fox ears twitching with nervous energy.

  "What did it say?" she questioned further. We had stopped moving and were both standing in the middle of the hallway, her Wolfkin tail swishing slowly as she demanded clarity.

  "As Her Majesty's royal advisor, it is not my place to give her title away without permission," I said in a serious tone, not breaking eye contact, my fox ears standing straight in resolve.

  "Her... Majesty," Talia said, her voice sounding as if it were from thousands of miles away as she stared at me. "As in... royalty... like... royal family royalty." Her Wolfkin ears remained composed, though her tail gave a subtle, regal flick.

  I simply nodded once as I took a step back, prepared for anything. I had made the ball unstable enough that if I died, it would explode and kill us both instantly. My fox ears drooped with grim determination, and my tail bristled with tension.

  Talia stared at me for a moment before she smiled and began laughing. "You are a cunning little fox, Saki, that's a good lie! But be serious now, where did you learn my name?" Her Wolfkin ears twitched in amusement, and her tail swished lightly.

  I laughed with her, my smile not reaching my eyes as I took another step back. "I am not lying; Tama is royalty, and she just made me her royal advisor." My fox ears drooped in resignation, my tail flicking with conflicted emotion.

  Talia paused, her smile slowly fading. "Royalty... and you mentioned a royal advisor, which means higher-class royalty, most likely, at the very least, a Princess or Queen. Since Tama is clearly only eighteen, the more likely answer would be Princess." Her Wolfkin ears stayed still as she analyzed the situation.

  "That means if my guess is correct and she is a princess, and she decreed you as Royal Advisor, you are most likely seeing colored outlines of people with titles above their heads, which also makes sense given the fact you were looking above me earlier, seemingly staring at the ceiling." My fox tail swished thoughtfully as I considered her explanation.

  I was speechless; she had so easily broken down the entire situation in a clear and concise manner. She took my silence as confirmation, it seemed, as she nodded before saying, "Prove it."

  I looked at her, puzzled. "What?" I said, almost in a daze, my fox tail drooping slightly with uncertainty.

  "Prove that you are her royal advisor. If she is a Princess and she decreed to you her royal advisor, you should be able to prove it quite easily," Talia said simply, her Wolfkin ears remaining still and expectant.

  I stared in stunned silence before asking, "How?"

  Talia smiled. "If you are truly her royal advisor, you hold just under the power she does. Meaning, if you use a decree to order me to bow, I will be forced to obey. Prove it." Her Wolfkin tail swished with a mix of challenge and curiosity.

  My mouth went dry. Was that true? If it was... no, it couldn't be that simple... could it? I opened my mouth and mustered my best imperious voice, "I, Saki, Royal Advisor to Empress Tamaneko, hereby command you to kneel before me!" My fox ears twitched with both apprehension and resolve as my tail stood erect.

  I felt my cheeks go red as I spoke; my ears flattened along with my tail. It was embarrassing to say, and I was used to embarrassing things. But pretending to be royalty?! My fox ears drooped with humiliation even as my tail stiffened.

  To my shock, Matriarch Talia, after a moment, fell to a knee, her head bowing. I stared in stunned silence. I did that? This had to be some kind of trick! "Please let me up now; you have proven your point," Talia spoke suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts. Her Wolfkin ears relaxed as her tail curled in submission.

  "Um... You may rise!" I copied Tama's words exactly. After a moment, Talia stood back up, color having drained from her face as she looked at me. "She... she really is a Princess," Talia said, her voice soft and distant, her Wolfkin ears drooping slightly as her tail swished slowly.

  I didn't respond. After all, I was dealing with the reality that I was an actual royal advisor. People literally were forced to obey. I had no words to describe the insanity I felt, my fox ears drooping in resignation and my tail wrapping around my leg in nervous tension.