Aeris Redcliff’s POV

Aeris looked at the brown-skinned elf with blonde hair and bright yellow eyes staring at him.

He shrugged before answering. ”I don’t know what you mean.”

The elf sighed as she got straight to the point. ”We know you’re a girl. It’s obvious by the way you look at our husband, and you do look female.”

That’s when the girl with pink hair looked bothered, making Aeris even more anxious. ”Stop lying to us. What is your reason for being around Archer? Fame? Gold?”

Aeris started panicking because she thought the spell would work, but not with these girls. She undid the magic with a sigh, which didn’t change much before explaining her reasoning.

”He’s the only person outside my family to look out for me and show genuine worry. You must have seen it when he dealt with the bullies that have been making my life hell. Only my grandmother has ever defended me like he did.” Aeris answered as she looked down at the floor.

After she spoke, she realized they were all staring at her with narrowed eyes. The only difference was her body became curvier, her chest appeared larger, and her facial features appeared more feminine.

Once Aeris returned to normal, she noticed a small redheaded girl with a tail swaying behind her, who was the first to bound over and speak. ”I’m Sera—one of Archer’s fiances. So you were a girl. Why were you hiding it? I didn’t think you were one, but with these small changes, it makes sense.”

Aeris continued to look down in embarrassment before answering. ”Well, students in the Summerfield Duchy tended to bully me due to being a wraith and the daughter of a noble family that’s fallen from grace due to my father’s poor handling of our old land.”

She looked down before taking a deep breath and continuing. ”I went into hiding due to the bullying, but when I got accepted into Starlight Academy, I decided to see if it would continue if I presented myself as a boy, but as you saw, it doesn’t help, and they still treat me the same.”

They all nodded before she noticed a blonde elf with a devious smile. ”Let’s keep this from our husband and see how long it takes him to figure it out?”

When everyone heard this, they giggled before Aeris noticed a black-haired girl with beautiful yellow snake eyes asked in a concerned tone. ”Aint that horrible? I feel like we’re lying to him.”

The pink-haired girl who spoke before was the one to answer that with a chuckle. ”Well, only suspects Aeris of being a girl. Imagine his surprise when he finds out. It would be funny, especially if we tease him.”

‘They want to play games with him? Why wouldn’t they tell Arch?’ Aeris thought to herself.

Aeris shook her head and asked. ”Why are you hiding it from it? Wouldn’t that be lying? He will be upset.”

She watched all nine girls start laughing at her question, but the blonde-haired half-elf answered. ”Archer won’t be angry over it. He will laugh because he sees you as a friend and will be confused when he sees your boobs and butt.”

Hearing the girl speak, Aeris became red, causing everyone to laugh at her reaction. She wouldn’t look up due to the embarrassment until she heard someone approaching her.

She looked up to see a tall girl with light blue hair and the smoothest brown skin she’d ever seen. Aeris noticed the girl was muscular like some of the others, which caused her to think. ‘Does he like muscles?’

After thinking, she looked at the other girls and realized only a few were built like that, while the others were all different shapes and sizes. The blue-haired girl spoke in a suspicious voice. ”What is your intention with our husband? I can see your interest but won’t do anything about it.”

Aeris grew nervous before revealing the truth. ”I’d like to be his friend. He accepted me without worrying about me being what I am and defended me when that meant his reputation would take a hit.”

When she finished speaking, she noticed everyone looking at her and started laughing. Aeris was confused, but a girl appeared, which shocked her because she forgot that she was Archer’s fiance.

‘Leira Avalon. The third princess of the Avalon Empire. I can’t believe he’s marrying her.’ She thought to herself as the purple-haired girl stopped in front of her.

”Do you only want to be his friend, or do you want in his pants?” Leira asked in a casual way, which caught her off guard.

When she heard the cat girl’s question, Aeris was sent into a realm of chaos as she imagined Archer on top of her as they made love, which caused her face to go bright red before denying such lewd things. ”No! I want to be his friend. I can’t just have sex with him p, Princess. Grandmother said it must be with someone I truly love and who loves me.” .𝒎

When Nefertiti finished speaking, all the girls smiled before Ella gestured for her to join them. “I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Ella Wyldheart. Initially, I served as Archer’s maid, but as you can see, things have changed…”

But she was cut off by the redhead, who started cackling like a hyena, causing Ella to give her a dirty look. But the girls spoke. ”Sure, things have changed, El. Now you’re on your back, moaning his name for all of us to hear. You lewd half-elf, stop acting all innocent.”

Aeris watched Ella’s face turn red as hers as she scolded the redhead, who was still laughing. ”Seraphina! Why say such lewd things? That’s our business, and you cheeky dragon. You’re the one who howls in pleasure. You even scare the life out of the Brownies while they clean the treehouse.”

She watched Sera shrug. “Of course, I’ll howl. Sweetheart knows how to push my buttons, so naturally, I’d react. I won’t just lay there and be a passive participant.”

When Aeris watched the exchange, it reminded her of the days her aunts used to bicker back at home, bringing a smile to her face and catching the pink-haired girl’s attention. ”What’s making you smile?”

”The two of them remind me of my aunties. They do the same thing at the dinner table, forcing grandmother to scold them, which is funny.” She answered.

The girl nodded before introducing herself. ”I’m Nefertiti Sharifi. A Princess of the Zenia Empire in the Southlands.”

When Aeris heard that, he remembered what her mother had said. ‘The Zenians are powerful Arcane magic users.’

Nefertiti began introducing the girls. “You might already know some of us, but I’ll introduce everyone again.”

“The girl who first spoke to you, with the golden blonde hair and yellow eyes, is Hemera Helios. The one with blue hair is Teuila Aquaria and the blonde lioness is Nala Lionheart.”

Aeris smiled at the girls as Nefertiti was about to continue speaking. ”The silver-haired is Talila Helios and is Hemera’s niece. It seems you know Leira, but then the last lady is Halime Nagendra.”

She greeted them all and rreceivedwarm smiles in return but wanted to clear the air. ”I judge him as a friend. He stood up for me when many wouldn’t because of what I am.”

Once she was finished speaking she stood nervously amidst the group of girls, she felt a wave of apprehension wash over her. The revelation about gender had left her feeling exposed and vulnerable, unsure of how the others would react.

But as she looked around at their expectant faces, she was surprised to see warmth and understanding in their eyes.

With a tail swaying behind her, Sera stepped forward with a kind smile. “We’re really glad you decided to be honest with us.”

Aeris felt a sense of relief flood through her at Sera’s words. Maybe she hadn’t made a mistake in revealing her true self.

“Thank you, Sera,” she replied, her voice still tinged with nervousness.

Teuila chimed in next. “Yeah, we can tell you’re genuine. And we appreciate that. So here’s the deal. We’re going to keep up the charade with Archer for a bit longer, just for fun. But don’t worry, we’ll make sure he finds out eventually. In the meantime, let’s all be friends, okay?”

As Aeris stood nervously amidst the group of girls, she felt a wave of apprehension wash over her. The revelation of her true gender had left her feeling exposed and vulnerable, unsure of how the others would react.

But as she looked around at their expectant faces, she was surprised to see warmth and understanding in their eyes. Aeris wanted to ask one more question. ”Does it bother you that I’m a Dark Wraith?”

Everyone’s head snapped toward her before Teuila grinned. ”No girl. We’re all different races, and Archer doesn’t discriminate. I’m sure they would claim here that a ghost girl caught his fancy.” .

Aeris started laughing with everyone before they began gossiping and telling her about Archer’s escapades when he met some of them in his younger years.

If there are any mistakes, point them out, and I’ll edit it. Thanks