The food stalls were packed as most of the Guards and Knights were having lunch at the same time. Many were lined up for a chance to buy the popur foods at each stall. There were three dozen or so food stalls, offering a wide range of foods, from meats and seafood to sweets and desserts. This was a program that Quinus set up five years ago to allow outside vendors into the pace grounds. The idea was to give the kitchen staff a break from feeding the entire pace servants and guards once a week. The pn was to rotate which food stall could come to the pace once a month. And the first stall was the popur stall that sold the tasty skewers made from a rare creature from the west called the Gullicox Bird. It is a giant bird that's almost as rge as a wyvern. It has long bck and gray feathers. Its wings were massive, and its head was shaped like an eagle. It had a long, sharp beak and two eyes. It was said to be delicious.

  "Mmmm," Rya moaned as she chomped on a juicy, grilled Gullicox kabob. The fvor exploded inside her mouth, and she savored it before swallowing.

  "I have to say this is one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten. You must give me the recipe," Rya said with joy as she took another bite.

  The old dy at the stall smiled and nodded. She was first afraid when a Dark Elf appeared from nowhere. She remembered hearing about a Princess Dark Elf living in the pace, but she never expected her to come to her stall.

  "Yes, of course, I can. I can send it over to the kitchen if you like?" the old dy replied.

  "Oh no!... I was using a figure of speech. But now that you brought it up, can you send me the recipe tonight? I would like to make some for myself and my friends ter tonight," Rya said.

  "Alright," the old dy nodded.

  Tayna elbowed Rya's side. "Hey, you know that is what the servants are for, right?"

  Rya giggled. "Yeah, I know. But you never know when you have to cook for yourself sometimes, Lady Tayna... I don't want to get too rusty if I ever have to go off on my own."

  "Hmm. If you say so," Tayna replied, not knowing why a soon-to-be Royal would want to do any sort of cooking herself.

  Tayna then grabbed one of the kabobs and tried a bite, and her eyes widened as she swallowed it down.

  "Holy Goddess. That's good! Why doesn't the nobility eat these things every day?"

  "Because we're spoiled," Rya ughed.

  The old dy smiled. "Thank you."

  Nieren shrugged and nibbled on her kabob while Dalia was scarfing down her tenth skewer.

  "You know, Dalia. You're going to choke if you don't slow down," Rya giggled.

  Dalia slowed down and nodded. "Sorry, Alpha. It just tastes so good!... I take back every bad thought I had about humans!... How can anything taste this good?!"

  "It's all in the spices and the cooking technique," the old dy replied.

  "Really?" Dalia replied.

  "Yes," the old dy answered.

  Dalia and Nieren's ears twitched as they kept up a cool demeanor.

  Rya smiled as she felt her bond with her friends growing. Unfortunately, she was also starting to feel her stomach fighting against the waistband of her pants and her dress shirt, as she enjoyed her treat.

  'Shit!... Maybe I shouldn't have had a seventh skewer... Mmmmh!? But each bite tastes better than the st one. A-And my stomach isn't satisfied! God!... My body is acting so weird!... I-Is this a woman thing? Or an Elf thing?... Should I see a doctor—'

  *Groan!*

  Rya's stomach was demanding another skewer. Rya felt her hands moving on their own accord, and the next thing she knew, Rya was on her eighth skewer, and she was moaning in delight while eating her kabob. She would be in heaven right now if it weren't for her belt constricting her waist.

  'Damn! I'm so full, but the fvors are amazing!'

  Nieren and Dalia both had smiles on their faces, enjoying their kabobs while Tayna let out a satisfied sigh as she finished her single skewer.

  'God. I can't get enough! Mmmmh!... I wonder if I have a parasite in me that is making me crave food?... Gah! I'm letting my imagination get away with me again. This is some phase that I'm going through—'

  Then a new thought interrupted her when the stupid redheaded Princess tried to make a snarky remark to her three days ago.

  (Huh?... Well, it seems that your appetite is what's going to ruin the marriage with your future husband. Oh! What will the Royal Court think about that? Your appetite is so rge and vulgar that it will make you look like a gluttonous pig, and the nobles won't respect you.) Hilda said confidently.

  Rya didn't think about it at the time, but then it occurred to her that that slippery little Princess might have done something to her to make her crave more food and feel like a blimp.

  'D-Did she do something to me!? Dammit! There's alchemy in this world, Rya! Of course, there's something that could affect a person's appetite or cravings for food... But I have no proof that she did something to me... It could be the sneaky bitch Leandra! This sounds like something that a scheming, bitter old hag would do. Argh! But I still have no proof—'

  *Growl!*

  The eighth skewer disappeared as her stomach grew.

  "Ah!~"

  'Oh, God! That felt good!... W-Why does my body feel so good from being stuffed with food?'

  Rya's mind was stuck in a spiral as she sat there at the food stall. Her emotions were all over the pce, and the pain from her belt was causing her more discomfort. Rya couldn't keep up with the changes happening to her body and her mind.

  ***

  Floating high in the clouds right by the western border of Fiafyr near Ironside. Two Dark Elven Goddesses were trying to observe Rya from afar. They would have preferred to be closer to the Capital, but they feared Iyomelka's wrath. And to their surprise, Iyomelka did spot them outside of her territory. But she only gred at them and stayed in her own realm.

  The twins were happy that the Human Goddess wasn't out for their heads, but they didn't want to push their luck any further than they already had.

  So now, with a new and strangely stronger supply of Primordial Essence coming from Iyomelka's followers. The twins could start doing things to help their Dark Elves again, and Rya, Nils' Chosen One.

  "How does she not know that she's pregnant?" Nebulus compined to her Sister, who was frowning at Rya.

  "Maybe it's because she's only been a woman for a couple of months?... And she hasn't gone through an elven period yet... She doesn't understand what is going on with her body. So, her emotions are all over the pce... You would think her self-confidence wouldn't start to crumble just because of a silly bump coming from her belly. I thought she was made of sterner stuff... Then again, we did break her trust... Stupid Iyomelka! Why won't she let us mind-link with her! I need to make things right with Rya! And I can't do that if I can't talk to her!" Nils vented as her sister sighed.

  "Calm down, Sis. We both know that we need to keep our distance until Iyomelka can find it in her heart to forgive us... I'm just gd we are getting some Primordial Essence again. We bought some time for Yoona and regained some loyalty from our followers," Nebulus said.

  "Yeah... But our reserves and the rate we are getting this new Primordial Essence isn't fast enough to push back Michael and Joseph as long as they are watching over their brainless Padins and sughtering our creations. Then they will continue to expand their power," Nils said.

  "You don't think I don't know that!... Listen, even if we tell Rya to save our people, she probably can't take on all ten of those Padins until her child grows big enough to borrow her daughter's Time Space Magic. Or she gives birth to my Chosen One so she can move around as freely as she used to be able to," Nebulus said.

  "She can use her golems to run around the battlefield freely!"

  "She will be at a disadvantage when they focus on her, Nils! She doesn't realize that she's actually physically stronger, faster, and more flexible than the female human she's been training with. It's because her body chemistry is changing so much that she's become sluggish in her eyes, and she's overthinking her movements. If we tell her, she might figure out a way to adapt."

  "Grr! But we can't tell her, so what can we do!?" Nils asked, annoyed.

  Nebulus gnced at Rya, who was showing signs of discomfort as she sat there on her stool, fighting the urge to order a ninth kabob. Then she gnced up at Iyomelka, who was hovering high in clouds above Tairal, gring at them both.

  "I think I have an idea... And hopefully Iyomelka won't try to stop us..." Nebulus said, before he closed his eyes and concentrated.

  "Wait, Neb! What are you doing!?" Nils asked as her sister continued to concentrate, and a ball of her Primordial Essence appeared on her left pointer finger. Iyomelka noticed Nebulus and prepared to stop her at a moment's notice if she did something that she didn't like.

  Nebulus continued to concentrate and brought her right pointer finger to the ball of Essence and pulled out the tiniest particle from the glowing red ball. The Dark Goddess sighed and put away the ball of Essence and looked at Rya once more before aiming her right pointer finger at Rya's waistline.

  "I'm just going to nudge Rya into thinking that she might be pregnant, Nils. It's a simple action. That's all," Nebulus said and flicked her finger forward, sending the tiny particle flying at Rya.

  Iyomelka saw the minimal amount of Nebulus' essence flying towards Rya, and she decided not to interfere. If it were something more drastic, she would've stopped Nebulus immediately.

  Nebulus' minuscule amount of Primordial Essence makes contact with her belt and pants.

  ***

  Rya was sitting there with a mix of emotions. Her mind told her she had enough food. But her body and belly told her she was still hungry.

  The Dark elf didn't know what to do and was feeling a little conflicted. And the discomfort stemming from now undersized pants was not helping.

  'Ugh! I'll take one more bite. But after that, I'm stopping.'

  Rya picked up the kabob and took another rge bite out of the meat. 'Mmm, mmmm! Yep! Delicious!'

  It was at that moment that Nebulus's essence particle made contact with Rya's pants. The belt slowly unbuckled on its own, and the knot on her pants untied, letting her poor, pregnant belly push forward about half an inch. With the discomfort fading, Rya was starting to feel something repcing the pain from her too-small pants; it was pleasure.

  'Aungh!? What's going on!?'

  Her pants' fly opened up with force for her belly, and a surge of pleasure came from her pussy.

  "Aungh!"

  Her belly was pushed out another half inch as her pussy was starting to leak her juices. Rya's eyes went wide when she realized she was getting aroused from having her pants open.

  'I-I need Quin! Oh fuck! These kabobs are making me horny!'

  Rya started to pant heavily.

  "I-I'm going to go to my bathroom! I need to shower off the sweat!"

  Rya rushed off while Tayna and Nieren watched her leave with confusion written on their faces. Dalia was too busy enjoying her food to watch.

  "Hmm, I wonder what's wrong with Princess Rya?" Tayna asked out loud.

  Dalia snickered at the human's question.

  'Alpha was releasing her mating scent. I don't bme her. I think I'm going to release my mating scent too after experiencing meats this good!... I think I'll give a surprise visit to Gamma ter. Hehe! I'll mark him so much that these silly humans will know that he's my forever mate.'

  Tayna heard the Wolfkin's ughter.

  "Why are you ughing?"

  Dalia looked over and smiled at the human female.

  "No reason... I don't think we'll see Alpha for a while."

  Tayna was about to ask why, but she thought better of it. She didn't want to hear any crude details from the Wolfkin after having such a lovely meal.

  And with that, the st three paid the older woman before they went their separate ways for the afternoon.