Side: Yuki
Well, today is finally the meeting with the 7th Princess.
I'm hoping to get through this peacefully without anyone mentioning the Divine Blessing, but...
"It's fine, it's fine. I didn't think Seraria would get that angry. Even though I prepared this connection with Gartz for the future of the dungeon..."
There's a moping King of Roshure sulking in the corner.
"......"
Oh boy. Looking at him, Seraria seems to be getting incredibly irritated.
"...Since I don't want to be hated any more than this, I'll just call off the matter with the Princess of Gartz and go back to my country."
What is with this old man? He's the one who brought it up, and now he's reacting like this?!
If he takes the 7th Princess back now, it would be a disaster. The moment it becomes public knowledge that she has the "Divine Blessing of Lilyshe," it'll be total chaos.
"Seraria, I understand how you feel, but right now we have to accept the Princess no matter what..."
"...I know that."
Even as her face twitched, she walked over to her father.
"F-Father. I accept the proposal regarding the 7th Princess."
"...You won't hate me?"
Are you a brat?!
Seraria's fighting spirit flared up even further.
"...From the start—no, I won't hate you. In fact, I am very happy about this marriage proposal."
"Is that so?! You're happy?! Then say 'I love you, Papa'!!"
The air froze.
Hey now, technically your daughter is a higher level than you, King. You shouldn't be pushing your luck...
"Pa..."
"Pa?"
Please, Seraria. This is for the peace of the nation—no, for all the surrounding nations!
"I love you, Papa!!"
Her face was twitching grandly, but she said it.
Usually, her smile is cute, but I wonder what this geezer did to be hated that much... The representative members watching from behind were also making pained faces. Well, they've known Seraria long enough; they get it.
Actually, the wives seem to get along with each other pretty well too... I guess polygamy is really ingrained here.
"Hohoo!! I'm so happy!! Well, even if you said you hated it, I was planning to make you accept anyway."
"...Huh?"
"For some reason, the other side took a great liking to the Son-in-law. They even said they wouldn't accept any other marriage proposal. For us, it's actually quite convenient."
Ah, Lilyshe's influence...
She probably said something unnecessary. Like "Becoming my wife is the path of righteousness!" or something.
"T-Then, the meaning of the line I just said was..."
"It made me happy, so it's all good!"
Seraria's hand went to her sword.
"Okay, okay, calm down! Please, just calm down!"
I hugged her from behind to restrain her.
"...Hmph. Tonight, I'm going to be on top the whole time."
"Understood. That's fine."
"I'm not letting you pull out. It's staying inside even when we sleep."
"That's only if it doesn't hurt you, Seraria."
"That's impossible. Actually, I won't let you sleep at all. Sigh... whatever. I'll leave the rest to you. My blood vessels feel like they're about to burst."
After promising to let Seraria "ride" me, she finally settled down.
Apparently, "child-making" is officially unsealed starting today. That's what they decided at the wives' conference... The reason I say "apparently" is because if I were to choose a specific person, it would cause trouble, so the wives are setting up a rotation among themselves.
A harem is a harem, but this kind of harem is quite a lot of work.
If I had just bought slaves, I could do whatever I wanted with "Master's Authority," but these ladies have their own agency. By the way, I'm being taken off work for about two weeks because of the child-making.
"Fumu, fumu. Seraria listens quite well. As expected of my Son-in-law."
Shut up. If your ministers weren't around, I'd have a few choice words for you too.
"Those are kind words. However, my wife Seraria is a good wife who usually listens to me well."
"Umu. It seems the relationship between husband and wife is no problem. Ah, I shouldn't dally. Now, Son-in-law, as a reward for this incident, the Princess of Gartz shall enter your household as a concubine."
"Wait, wasn't it decided that there would be no reward this time?"
"Umu, but the recent incident was due to Seraria acting on her own. As a punishment, Seraria gets no reward, but I must compensate the Son-in-law who supported her and produced results."
I see. So that's the logic they're using to foist the Princess of Gartz on me. The ministers were all nodding along.
"Yuki-dono should be able to handle the Princess of Gartz properly."
"Quite so! Under Yuki-dono's strategy, even Rithea's elite forces were defeated!"
"There are no problems at all. A princess is a fitting reward."
You guys... you're just saying whatever you want because you don't want to deal with it yourselves...
"Well then, we shouldn't keep her waiting too long. Come in!"
When the King of Roshure said that, the door to the meeting room opened.
The person I assumed was the Princess and her maid, who must have been waiting there, entered, knelt before me, and bowed their heads.
"Now, now, Sheila-dono. This is the man who will be your husband. There is no need to be so formal."
However, the Princess called Sheila answered without raising her head.
"No, King of Roshure. This person, Yuki-sama, is to be my husband and Lord, but even before that..."
"Before that?"
"To tell the truth, this Yuki-sama is... Lily—"
Sheila suddenly looked up and was about to say something outrageous, so...
"Kyaa!?"
I picked her up in one swift motion. Good, she was surprised into silence.
"W-What an incredibly beautiful Princess!!"
"Oh my, beautiful? She looks like a kid to me."
"No, I have never seen such a beautiful woman! She is like a Goddess!!"
Well, there is a Goddess here, but she's a useless one.
Also, as I spat out these lines, the stares from the representative members were painful. They were piercing me.
"Heeeh, is that so? So you prefer small rabbit-eared girls... Onii-san?"
"C-Calm down, Ratz. T-That's definitely just an act, right?"
"I know, Eris. I know, but there are just some things you can't help feeling."
"...I feel irritated for some reason."
"That's jealousy, Tori. Same as me." (Riel)
"...Unpleasant." (Kaya)
"...I'll report this to Aslin and the others." (Labyris)
Kyaa, scary!
I'm scared to go home today! I'm seriously considering eating out somewhere before going back!
"..."
My eyes met Seraria's.
'Be prepared for tonight.'
Communicating with just eyes feels very husband-and-wife-like, but this is different. This is definitely different!!
"Umu, it seems the Son-in-law likes her, and Sheila-dono doesn't seem to mind either. A good match... Oh, by the way, didn't Sheila-dono start to say something earlier?"
"Yes? About that..."
Eeeek—!
This King of Roshure does nothing but say unnecessary things! I don't even have the time to give her a warning!
"Sheila!"
"Yes? Mmph!?"
I went ahead and gave her a firm kiss.
Damn it, why am I doing something straight out of a rom-com protagonist's playbook!?
"~~~!"
Sheila seemed to have gone into a daze from the hug and the kiss.
Good, the fact that she's still a child worked in my favor. With this, any further questioning is impossible.
"Well, it seems Sheila is tired. Lady-in-waiting, please come this way; I shall show you to your room."
"A-Ah, yes."
Still carrying the Princess in a princess-carry, I hurried to leave the meeting room.
"Your Majesty, my apologies. It seems Sheila has fainted, so we can talk about the details later."
"...Ah. I don't mind, but... Son-in-law, aren't you acting strange?"
This is ALL YOUR FAULT!!
* * *
It goes without saying that after putting the Princess to bed, I ended up having to kiss all of my wives.
Sigh... Did I manage to pull it off?
