The world Julian had created humd with satisfaction, as if it too was celebrating his return. Flowers blood brighter. The fountain’s water sang louder. The very air seed charged with joy.
He was ho.
As the emotional reunion continued, Seraphine stood beside her mother Eleanor at the edge of the garden. She watched the scene with a smile, but her brow was furrowed slightly, as if working through a puzzle.
Finally, she turned to Eleanor, her voice curious and slightly confused. "By the way, Mom... why does Aunty Regina call Dad by ’son’? And I also heard Dad call her ’mother.’"
The question hung in the air for a mont. Eleanor looked at her daughter, then at the pile of bodies in the garden. A smile tugged at Eleanor’s lips, and then she laughed.
She realized that she had never told their daughter about the complex web of their family. In the centuries since Julian’s death (320 years had passed since his death in this world), it had never seed important. They all simply lived together and Seraphine had grown up calling all of them "aunty" without understanding the true nature of their relationships.
Eleanor turned to face Seraphine fully. "Oh, my dear daughter," she said, barely suppressing her laughter. "I suppose it’s long past ti I explained our... unique family situation."
Seraphine’s eyes narrowed slightly, sensing sothing significant was coming. "What do you an?"
"Your father and your Aunty Regina..." Eleanor began, gesturing toward the red-haired woman who was still pressed against Julian’s chest. "They are mother and son."
Seraphine blinked. Once. Twice. Her mouth opened slightly, then closed again.
"And not only that," Eleanor continued, her smile widening at her daughter’s expression, "I am also his sister. His older sister, to be precise."
Seraphine’s eyes widened dramatically, her composure completely shattered. "You... what?" Her voice rose slightly in pitch. "You must be joking, right?"
Eleanor chuckled, shaking her head. "No, my dear. I’m completely serious."
"But... but that ans..." Seraphine’s mind was clearly racing. Her gaze snapped to Regina, then back to Eleanor. "That ans you’re also the daughter of Regina?"
"Yes," Eleanor nodded calmly, as if discussing sothing as simple as the weather. "Regina is both your grandmother and your... well, I suppose she’s also your father’s lover and wife. It’s all rather complicated."
Seraphine looked completely shocked. She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "I... how... when did..."
Eleanor took pity on her daughter’s confusion and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let introduce you to the full complexity of our family dynamic," she said.
She gestured first toward Gregoria, who had finally pulled back slightly from Julian but still held his hand. "Gregoria is our grandmother—both mine and your father’s."
Seraphine’s gaze followed Eleanor’s gesture, her expression still shocked.
"Lisa and Isabel," Eleanor continued, pointing to the mother-daughter pair who were still pressed against Julian’s sides, "are actually mother and daughter. Not just won who happen to be in your father’s harem, but genuinely related by blood."
"What?" Seraphine’s voice was faint.
Eleanor’s smile turned slightly mischievous now, and there was a glint in her eye that suggested she was enjoying her daughter’s reaction perhaps a bit too much.
"And all the other aunties you have—Emma, Cecilia, Ellie, Elvina, Sylvia, Dakota, Aria, Kiara..." She paused for dramatic effect. "They were all stolen from their husbands."
Seraphine’s legs seed to give out slightly, and she took an involuntary step backward. "Stolen from their..." She couldn’t even finish the sentence.
"Well, ’stolen’ might be a strong word," Eleanor corrected. "Well they simply fell so deeply in love with your father that their previous lives beca irrelevant."
Seraphine was still staring, her mind clearly fucked. "So you’re telling ," she said slowly, as if testing each word, "that my father is in a relationship with his own mother, his own sister, his own grandmother, a mother-daughter pair, and a collection of won he seduced away from their marriages?"
"When you put it like that, it does sound rather scandalous," Eleanor admitted with a laugh. "But yes, that’s correct."
"And everyone just... accepted this?" Seraphine whispered.
"Darling, you have to understand—we’re not bound by mortal rules here. This is a world your father created. The rules are different." Eleanor’s expression grew more serious.
"And more importantly, we all genuinely love each other. It’s not just about Julian—though he is certainly the center."
Seraphine was quiet for a long mont. Her gaze traveled across the garden, looking at each woman with new understanding. Regina, who was both her grandmother and her father’s lover. Eleanor, who was both her mother and her father’s sister-wife. Gregoria, her great-grandmother who shared her father’s bed.
"I..." Seraphine started, then stopped. She let out a long breath and ran a hand through her hair—a gesture so similar to Julian that Eleanor had to smile. "I don’t know whether to be shocked, confused, or impressed."
"You could be all three," Eleanor suggested gently. "I certainly was when I first realized the full scope of what our family would beco."
"Did you... did you know? When you first fell in love with him?" Seraphine asked quietly. "That he was your brother?"
Eleanor laughed, her voice thick with nostalgia. "Yes, I sure did."
"He seduced quite well. One mont we were in the gardens, having what I thought was a conversation, and the next..."
She paused, a slight flush coloring her cheeks "The next, he was on top of ."
Seraphine’s eyes widened at her mother’s words, but before she could respond, Julian’s voice called out.
"Well," he said, his tone playful and laden with mischief, "I haven’t added any new relationships to my harem in quite so ti."
The surrounding won all glanced toward Seraphine, and knowing laughter rippled through the group.
Seraphine’s face flushed a deep crimson.
"Father!" she protested, though her voice ca out more flustered. "You can’t be serious!"
"Can’t I?" Julian asked, his eyes twinkling with that familiar combination of charm and audacity that had seduced an entire harem of powerful won.
The won laughed harder at Seraphine’s reaction.
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