Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!

---3rd Person POV, Artemis Space Station---

Sifting through thousands of job postings from neighboring sectors, Aela and company were in search of jobs that pushed them to their limits. Having taken only easy and simple jobs up till now, the women were eager to have a genuine challenge for once. As they offered up potential postings for the others to weigh in on, Angelica noticed that Mylene was not looking too well. Turning to her with a concerned look, she placed a hand on Mylene's head to check for a fever.

"Mylene, you really need to get yourself checked out. You have not been well for several days now, and you seem to be getting worse.", Angelica commented, drawing the other's attention to Mylene, "I know you want to keep up with us, but you should not do it at the expense of your health. Victor offered to postpone his expedition to stay by your bedside. Why did you not take him on his proposition?"

"Like I keep telling you, it is just a bad stomach bug. If I can run a nation while battling pneumonia, I can fight pirates with a queasy stomach.", Mylene laughed with a weak smile.

"You are not fooling anyone; we need to take you back home so you can rest.", Lucoa said with a firm tone, "One of us will stay back with you until Victor returns home."

"No!!", Mylene snapped, looking at them with irritation. "Let us just pick a damn job and get… Oh god…"

Hit with another bout of intense nausea, Mylene bolted to the women's restroom and barged inside. A few moments after the door closed, the sounds of her barfing up breakfast echoed throughout the immediate vicinity. Letting out sighs of frustration, Angelica asked what they were going to do with Mylene as she was not listening to reason.

"Olivia, maybe your healing magic could patch her up?", Clarice suggested. "I know Victor taught you a spell for seasickness; that should do the trick."

"Mylene already had me try that on her in secret; it did absolutely nothing to help her.", Olivia replied with a sad look. "I do not think magic is going to help her with this one. Maybe she picked up a parasite eating something back home?"

"And only she got sick, I doubt it.", Deirdre said, shaking her head. "No, it has to be something else."

(Cleare)

Horrified that the AI had been secretly keeping track of such information, the women were about to tear her a new one until the weight of what she suggested hit them. Recalling what they had learned in school, Angelica, Clarice, Deirdre, and Olivia all looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions. Having never considered that possibility until now, everything fell into place in their minds.

"I suppose this is to be expected; Mylene pulls Victor into the bedroom whenever he is not otherwise preoccupied.", Deirdre giggled, "Maybe we should take a page from her book and do the same moving forward. My family is breathing down my neck to sire a child; I assume you are in the same boat, Angelica and Clarice."

"Oh yes… My father asks almost weekly if I am carrying his grandchildren yet. He has already renovated a room in our family's mansion for when they come to see them.", Clarice laughed with a warm smile.

"Well, after what went down a few days ago…", Lucoa said with a naughty smile, "Whose is to say that more of us are not pregnant too?"

Recalling their experience after Victor's body change, the women looked away from one another in embarrassment. Vividly recalling how he lovingly ravaged their bodies, they began to fidget around uncontrollably while giggling like schoolgirls. Clearing her throat to snap them out of it, their receptionist was none too happy about enduring this shameless display. As an unwed woman in her mid-thirties, she hated the fact that these younger women were rubbing their happiness in her face.

"Since you are uncertain if she is pregnant or not, I suggest you have her checked out by one of the clinics or hospitals on the station. They have several different tests they can perform to tell if she is pregnant and how far along she is.", the receptionist suggested, hiding her annoyance.

"That is fine; we will have the tests performed back home.", Serana said, recalling Victor's warnings about examinations and testing off-world. "Cleare, can you please arrange them for all of us?"

(Cleare)

Stumbling out of the bathroom, Mylene walked back over to the others and apologized for her outburst. Begrudgingly agreeing to return home to recover, she insisted that no one stay back with her and that they all just go pirate hunting without her. Vehemently denying her request, the women grabbed hold of her and quickly pushed her toward the door. Apologizing to the receptionist for leaving without taking a job, they promised to come back later once this was all sorted out.

"Do not worry about it; take your time!", the receptionist said with a sour look. 'Good riddance! My fragile maiden's heart could not take much more of that. I have no idea how Sally can tolerate them; she is in the same boat I am!'

Boarding Yamato in a hurry, Angelica and Clarice explained things to Mylene while Deirdre took the helm. Elated that her sickness might be linked to a pregnancy, Mylene began to shed tears of joy and happiness as they set a course for home.

---Medical Bay---

Receiving a private message from Cleare, Medical Commander Vaugh dropped everything she was doing and prepared a private room for Victor's wives. As his pseudo-daughter, Vaugh was eager to discover how many new siblings she and her fellow commanders were going to meet in the near future. Welcoming them into the private suite, once they arrived, Vaugh had everyone take a seat so she could take their blood pressure and check a few things out.

"Not to be rude, but can you really tell if I am pregnant by checking down my throat?", Mylene inquired with a confused look.

"Haha, we have not even begun the test for that yet. I am just running a battery of tests to have a reference point for future visits.", Vaugh said, "Since some medical conditions take years to develop, we can detect them early if we check patients out on a yearly basis."

"Just out of curiosity, what sort of test do you use to check for pregnancy? Do you have a magic item, potion, or spell that detects it?", Serana questioned out of curiosity.

"It is really simple, actually. I will have you pee a little into a cup, then test it for telltale chemicals in your urine.", Vaugh answered with a smile, "We will know the answer within a few minutes after that."

Looking at her with shocked expressions, everyone thought she was just messing with them at first. Wrapping up her testing, Vaugh took a moment to explain how the test worked and what chemicals they were looking for. Assuring them that this method was the easiest and quickest way to get them answers, they reluctantly followed her orders and one by one stepped into the bathroom to collect a sample. Marking each cup with their names, once she had a sample from everyone, Vaugh dropped test strips into each one and waited a few moments for the strips to reveal the answers they sought.

"Oh!! Mine has a plus… Is that good?", Lucoa remarked, staring at the blue plus sign on her test.

"A minus means you are not pregnant, and a plus means you are.", Vaugh told her as the other tests completed. "Congratulations, Lucoa and Mylene! Both of you are pregnant!!"

Hearing those golden words, Mylene began to do a little happy dance while hugging Angelica and Clarice tightly. Shedding tears of unbridled joy, the former queen was beyond ecstatic that she was carrying Victor's child. As relief began to wash over her, Lucoa fell to her knees in shock.

"I... I am going to be a mother… ", Lucoa remarked, still coming to terms with the thought.

"Lucoa, did you not want to be mother?", Roxanne questioned with a confused look.

"No… I… I have always wanted children of my own.", Lucoa answered, looking at Roxanne with tears in her eyes. "Ever since I set out from my village, I have always wanted to bring children into the world. It took me centuries to find a man who loved me for who I was, not just because I have a big butt and large breasts. The fact that we are having our first child so soon after marrying... I... I am just so overwhelmed that I do not know how to act."

"I hate to bring this up now, Lucoa, but do you know much about your species' pregnancies? We have minimal data on your kind, as they hardly ever leave your homeland on the eastern side of the kingdom.", Vaugh said in a serious tone, "It would be wise to have information about it so we can help ensure you carry the baby to term."

"Unfortunately, I was not a very astute student during my youth, so most of those lessons went in one ear and out the other.", Lucoa admitted, wanting to learn more to ensure the safety of her child. "While I am not keen on going back home, since it is for the unborn baby, I will swallow my pride and speak with the elders back home about it. Do you guys think you can come with me as moral support?"

Having heard little about her life prior to meeting Victor, they were eager to learn more about their close friend. Readily agreeing to tag along with her, Vaugh asked to come along as well to record the necessary data for future use. Seeing no harm in it, Lucoa agreed to her request and suggested they get going now to get it over with.

"Why exactly are you so against visiting home?", Aela inquired.

"Let us just say that I was not a nice person to be around in my youth. I caused quite a few problems back home with my magic.", Lucoa laughed dryly, "You will hear all about it when you meet everyone…"

With that, the women took Yamato and headed out to Lucoa's hometown.