After dinner, the group made their way to the sitting room to keep chatting. The younger children were sent to bed, leaving only the adults, as well as Michael and Evelyn. After everyone was settled, Sarah spoke first. "Now, Ari, you still haven't told us how you met these two, and I think we're all dying to know."
Arianna lit up, smiling brightly. "Oh, yeah. It was great! You should have seen it, mom!" She proceeded to tell the story of how she had first met Verena and Marianne. Though her version was somewhat embellished, Verena made sure to correct any major inaccuracies.
After the story was over, all of the present members of the family of dragons were smiling widely. It was Marcus who spoke first. "Well, it's nice to know that disrespectful little whelp got what he deserves. Nobody should be allowed to get away with speaking to others the way he did." He looked back to Verena and Marianne. "And you're sure he's not getting out of this one?"
Verena shook her head. "Absolutely not. The report includes my full name and my personal seal."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want special treatment."
Verena shook her head, smiling. "I don't want special treatment, on a personal level. If it helps me deal with problems, I won't hesitate to use my name."
Marcus nodded, understanding. "Alright, that makes sense." He looked back at his wife. "Well, assuming there's nothing else, I'm sure these two are tired. It's been a long day for them, after all."
Sarah nodded, smiling. "Of course. Arianna, please take them to one of the spare rooms." Ari nodded readily, standing up. As she went to take them to a room, Sarah spoke again. "Have a good night, dears." With that, they headed off to bed.
Arianna brought them to a room that was immediately adjacent to her own, an action which Verena did no small amount of teasing for.
Once Verena and Marianne were alone in the room, Verena wrapped her arms around Marianne from behind. "Love, I'd suggest you go ahead and put up your [Undetectable Aura] right now. Unless you want Ari to hear what I'm about to do to you?"
Marianne moaned softly, putting up the spell. "Verena... we're in someone else's home. Please, don't make a mess."
Verena chuckled, kissing Marianne. Once she pulled away, she spoke again. "Why...? Are you worried about Ari and her family learning how much of a needy little slut you are?"
Marianne whimpered, leaning into Verena's touch. "Aren't you worried about having to explain to them why the sheets are soaked in semen?"
Verena gave her a gentle bite on the ear. "Don't care. I'm not worried about my body, anymore. If they have a problem with what I am, then that's something they'll have to figure out, themselves." She turned Marianne around, looking into her eyes with a calm, confident gaze. "I'm done changing who I am to try and please others. I'm not going to let concerns over what might happen keep me from showing you how much I love you."
Marianne smiled back at her, leaning in to rest her forehead against Verena's. "Dear, you don't have to fuck me to show me your love. I already know how much you love me. I don't need your cock inside me to know that."
Verena giggled, giving her another kiss. "Maybe, but you still want it." After a few moments, Marianne nodded softly. Verena just smiled wider. "Good girl." The words sent a shiver through Marianne's body. As she picked up Marianne and carried her towards the bed, Verena smirked at her. "You love it when I praise you, don't you?" After another hesitant nod from her lover, Verena licked her lips, setting her down on the bed. "That's right. My cute little maid just wants to be acknowledged." She gave Marianne several more quick kisses. "Well, you're my good girl, Marianne, and you always will be."
Marianne shuddered, moaning softly. As Verena descended on her, raining down praise and tender love-making, she was increasingly grateful she had put up her [Undetectable Aura] while she still had the wherewithal to.
*****
The next morning, the two women were planning on heading down to the local adventurer's guild to properly register. Ari had, unsurprisingly, insisted on coming with them.
On the way, they were met with a pleasant surprise. "Hello! I see you two have been settling in well." A familiar orc approached them, wearing casual clothes, rather than her uniform.
Arianna immediately leapt forward, using her wings to give her an extra boost. "Holly!" She tackled the large woman with a hug that made her stumble back a bit.
As the young dragon happily greeted her friend, Verena calmly stepped up to them. "Captain." She nodded her head. "How are you?"
Holly scowled at Verena. "Hey! None of that. If I'm not wearing the uniform, you bloody well better use my damn name."
Verena chuckled softly, nodding as Arianna released the orc from her hug. "Alright, alright. How are you, Holly?"
She smiled, nodding. "I'm doing quite well, especially because I'm poised to get rid of a particularly annoying thorn in my side, thanks to you."
Verena smiled warmly. "Glad to hear it. And glad to be of help."
Holly nodded. "Well, you've got my thanks. Now, how did you two meet this little rascal?" She gently ruffled Ari's hair. "And what are you up to, today?"
As they walked along, they chatted about how they had first met Arianna, a story which amused Holly to no end. After that, they told her about their current plans of registering as adventurers. Holly chuckled softly. "Well, I'd offer to vouch for you, with the guild, but for some reason, I get the feeling that won't be necessary."
Marianne giggled, breaking her usual silence. "Fair enough. Though, I'd say it really can't hurt."
As they continued to talk, they eventually arrived at the guild. Even with Verena's name and Holly's endorsement, the process still took hours. Holly departed early on, promising to come find them sometime when she was free for longer. Ari, on the other hand, waited. However, her patience was proven to be quite lacking, and she spent most of the time zipping around the guild hall, looking for things to occupy her time.
When it was all done, the young dragon was practically vibrating. She insisted on showing Verena and Marianne around the city, and in her excitement, she nearly left them behind when she tried to take flight to reach their destination faster. It was only a quick reminder from Verena that kept her from soaring off where they couldn't follow.
Instead, they made their way around on foot. Verena had already seen the sights of the city during previous visits, but she was more that happy to show them all to Marianne. One place, in particular, that she insisted on visiting was the city's public school. Arianna was initially confused, but she didn't question it.
When they got there, Ari was a bit surprised to see the principal of the school immediately come out to greet them in person. "Lady Verena! It's so delightful to see you! To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
Verena gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "I was simply showing my girlfriend around the city, and I wanted to see how things were doing, here."
Marianne immediately started blushing at Verena's casual use of the word 'girlfriend'. She glanced at the smiling vampire, who just gave her a cheeky look.
After a moment of surprise, the principal recomposed himself. He then smiled at Verena calmly. "Of course! Well, I'm happy to say that things are going wonderfully. Your curriculum is fantastic, and our students have been doing very well. I know you've heard it before, but we're extremely grateful for all of your work." The principal seemingly had more to say, but he was interrupted.
"Wait! Your curriculum!?" Arianna was looking at Verena in shock. "You wrote a curriculum for this school!?"
The principal gave her a bemused look. "Ma'am, this school only exists at all because of Lady Verena."
"What!?" Ari was looking at Verena with absolute disbelief. "What do you mean?"
The principal chuckled softly. "This public school program itself was a project initiated by Lady Verena. It originally started within the Tavanor Domain, but with it's success, Duke Maurice insisted on bringing the program to his territory."
Arianna was gaping at Verena, her eyes wide with wonder. "You made this place?"
Verena shook her head. "Not personally. The Duke is at least as responsible for it as I am. Furthermore, I didn't develop the program on my own. I was closely involved, but many others were also responsible for it's creation."
The principal shook his head. "You are too humble, my lady. It was your idea. Without your work, the program wouldn't exist, at all. While others were involved in it's development, none of them did anything that couldn't have been achieved by others. You, on the other hand, were the only person with both the influence, and the drive, to make it a reality."
Marianne reached out, putting a hand on Verena's arm. "I have to agree with him, love. Your efforts to improve the lives of your people are undeniable. Your [Champion of the People] and [Hope of the People] titles are proof of that."
The principal nodded along, smiling widely. "Of course! You're an inspiration, Lady Verena. All of your work for the people is-" He froze, realizing what Marianne had said. "Wait, titles!? Lady Verena, have you found your class!?"
Verena nodded calmly, smiling. "Yes, I have."
The principal practically jumped for joy. "That's wonderful! Lady Verena, I'm so happy for you! We've been praying for years that the gods would show you favor and guide you to find your class. If anyone deserves such aid, it's you. And it seems the system agrees. I've said, time and again, that you are one of the best among your peers. Everything you've accomplished, even before you found your class, is amazing. I can't wait to see what heights you climb to, now."
Verena chuckled internally, thinking about just how right his expectations might be. "Thank you for your kind words, principal. It's good to hear that things are going well."
After a bit more time of idle chatting, Verena and her companions departed. Arianna was full of questions and praises about Verena's involvement with the school. However, it was one particular thing that caught Verena's attention. "Rava and Maya are actually going to the school, right now. They told me all sorts of things about what they've been learning. Rava said they teach them a bunch of cool stuff about how the system works."
Verena gave her a bemused look. "Ari, the curriculum doesn't have anything more complicated than a class on the basics of the system and how to use it."
Ari shook her head. "No. They said they learned all about things like how you unlock titles, or how the system decides what skills you can choose from."
Verena blinked, a look of surprise on her face. "Ari... Those are basics of the system. Are you telling me you never learned these things?"
Arianna blushed, looking down. "Um... yeah. I never had the chance. The school wasn't around when I was young, and once it was, I was too busy trying to help my parents keep food on the table to go."
Verena looked at her for a moment. Then, her expression shifted, and she gave Arianna a stern look. "Alright, we're going back to your home, right now! I'm going to give you a lesson on the basics of the system!"
Ari was shocked. "Wh-what? You really don't need to do that, Verena."
Marianne just slowly shook her head as Verena practically bristled. "Nonsense! Knowledge it the greatest power there is! I refuse to allow you to continue making uninformed decisions about your system. Not when I can do something about it."
Arianna was looking at Verena with shock, and a bit of fear. She didn't understand where this sudden shift in demeanor had come from.
Marianne, on the other hand, just gave a resigned sigh. Verena had entered 'teacher mode' and nothing was going to stop her from educating the young dragon, not even Arianna herself.