Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 264: Misdirection

As a small tribe’s beast lord, Emra was completely conflicted.

Two hundred years of life. Two centuries of watching her people survive against impossible odds. Her small tribe, the Meroron Foxes, had experienced more wars than she could count on both hands. They had been forced to relocate their territories so many times that home had become a concept rather than a place. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Thankfully, through every conflict, through every displacement, through every nightmare, no one had ever died or been seriously injured under her protection. That was her pride and accomplishment, the one thing that made the endless struggle worth it.

But it was still a hard life.

This time too, Emra had to bite the bullet.

Her territory, nestled dangerously close to the Delanivis lands, had been chosen as a warzone basecamp by the Edengolds.

The lion tribe was massive, as large as a kingdom itself, comparable to or even greater than most human kingdoms on the continent. They had arrived with overwhelming force, and they had expectations.

Of course the Edengolds had tried to contact her. Gauge her allegiance. Propose conversations, alliances, deals. Their messengers had been polite, professional, patient.

The problem was her existing good relationship with the Delanivis.

’Good’ was a generous word.

As a small tribe, the Meroron Foxes had been subject to suppression by larger beast families for as long as anyone could remember. That was simply the fate of small tribes. To be used, manipulated, controlled by those with more power.

Only Emra’s wit, her careful navigation of impossible situations, had allowed her to survive and protect her people until now.

So when the Edengolds came calling, she couldn’t simply run to them and subject herself to their whims. Older bridges had to be secured first. The Delanivis had people watching her and had made it very clear what would happen if she sided with their enemy.

But she also couldn’t ignore Edengold’s summons forever. She knew how mighty they were. She also didn’t want to be crushed between two warring powers.

So she moved fast.

She met Dorian Delanivis.

He was young, only a hundred years old, the same age as Arkai Dawnoro. Half her age. Inexperienced. She had looked into his eyes and seen the hunger there, the ambition, the desperate need to prove himself.

"The Golden Lion King is young." She said, soft and conspiratorial. "He’s inexperienced. And he’s tried to contact me regarding this war, my lord."

She had smiled that particular smile, the one she had perfected over two centuries.

"So~ how about I seduce him and kill him for you?"

Dorian’s eyes had changed.

She watched it happen, the shift from wary suspicion to something else. Something hungry and greedy. His gaze traveled over her form, lingering on the curves barely hidden by her garments, on the pure white fur that marked her as something rare and precious. His pupils dilated. His breathing changed.

He was imagining it. Imagining her, a fox, under him, then left to bring down the mighty Golden Lion King. Imagining the power that would bring him. The glory.

Interspecies beast relationships were taboo in this world. But plenty of beasts still practiced them. They could be powerful political tools, alliances sealed with bodies instead of treaties. Beast lords often sent their daughters as concubines to other species, trading flesh for favor.

Fox beast girls were the most common. Their enchanting beauty, their natural sex appeal, their reputation... they were highly sought after, collected like prizes.

It was a practice Emra hated.

Had sworn her tribe’s girls would never experience.

Because she had.

Her, a young fox, sold to a bear lord in her teenage years. Traded like property. Used like a tool. Broken and reassembled into someone who could survive anything.

Dorian’s hunger for power won over any caution he might have felt. After one or two gentle whispers in his ear, after a deliberate, casual brush of her magnificent pure white tail against his arm, he had agreed to her proposal.

"Go." His voice had been rough, already imagining the prize. "Seduce him. Kill him. Return to me."

Emra had smiled, bowed, and left.

Now she stood before the Golden Lion King’s tent.

"So, in summary, my lord, that’s what I proposed to that bastard Dorian." Emra’s voice shifted pitifully, vulnerably, the perfect mask of a helpless creature seeking protection. "If I hadn’t proposed that, I would have been killed! Wuwuwuwu~ I did well, right?"

She blinked up at him with large, luminous eyes, her fluffy ears drooping in a practiced expression of innocent appeal.

Yes.

Who said she was going to be on the Delanivis’ side?

She was one of the beast lords who had attended Eastiel’s gathering, the one where he had revealed the truth about the Saintess’s death, about the prophecies, about everything.

She had seen everything that needed to be seen. She had known, immediately, which side she needed to be on.

Screw that white wolf!

"You did well, Lady Mero." Eastiel’s voice was warm, approving. "You’ve begun moving your people to the Dawnoro’s territory, correct?" He tilted his head. "I assume after you’re done relocating, it will be safe to reveal that you’re actually on our side."

"Thank you!" Emra beamed at him, a genuine smile, bright and relieved.

But then it dimmed.

Sadness painted her features, softening the sharp angles of her fox-like beauty. "It’s just too bad. We needed to move territories again..."

"Why not stay at Brother Arkai’s dominion?" Eastiel asked, genuinely curious. "You would be protected. Treated fairly. All of you."

Emra shook her head slowly, her fluffy ears drooping further.

"Lord Arkai might... but the other species’ beast lords around his territory are mostly far stronger than me." She sighed, the sound carrying centuries of weary experience. "And I truly don’t have any merit to compare with them. Nothing to please them with."

Her gaze dropped to the ground.

"I don’t want to send any of my daughters away."

Eastiel’s expression shifted and became unpleasant.

And seeing that, Emra’s heart froze.

She had lived two centuries by reading others’ emotions and treading carefully, by surviving through careful observation and calculated moves. And right now, every instinct screamed that she had said something wrong.

W-what if this scary, honorable young king judged her now?

What if—

"Nom."

Suddenly, as if emerging from thin air, a blonde woman materialized behind Eastiel’s seat. Her mouth found his cheek and sucked.

Emra flinched.

Her entire body seized. Her blood turned to ice. Her heart stopped, then restarted at double speed.

Where had she come from?!

"AHHH—!"

Eastiel screamed.

The dignified persona of the Golden Lion King, the terrifying warrior, the strategic mastermind, the King, crumbled to dust. Gold melted into liquid rose gold. Yes. The man went red. Immediately. Instantly. The moment he realized who had just sucked on his cheek from behind.

[Presence Concealing Ring]

[Rank 1]

[Causes observers to not cognitively register your presence, unless directly engaged with your voice, scent, or physical contact.]

"Mine." Cecilia’s hand grasped his neck from behind, the beautiful diamond ring on her index finger catching the tent’s light. Her eyes landed on Emra. "Dare to be alone with another woman in a closed space?"