I walked down the corridors and slowly descended the stairs, heading outside the castle.
On the way, I passed many servants and knights, all of whom gave awkward, aningful looks.
By now, everyone was aware of the duel.
Obviously, I had not intended to make such a grand affair out of it just to show off... though perhaps a little, yes.
Let us say it was an unexpected surprise that the whole castle had beco aware of it, and leave it at that.
When I stepped out into the garden, the first person I saw was my mother.
"Mother?" I asked, surprised. "You ca to watch make Morgana eat dirt?"
"Will you stop acting arrogant, even at a mont like this?" She said, pulling at my cheeks.
"Shorry," I replied.
She still smiled a little nonetheless, gently stroking my cheeks afterward.
"Putting aside this childish duel, I will support you, my son, but... do not overdo it," she said.
"You do not believe in my victory?" I asked her.
"No one believes in your victory around here, brother."
"My dear sister," I turned around with a smile, "always there to encourage ."
She rolled her eyes.
"Please, brother, do not make a repeat of what used to happen years ago. You are King now, and it would be unbelievably embarrassing to watch my own brother kissing the ground after he strutted around with so much confidence," she said.
Well, that would definitely be embarrassing.
She was not wrong.
"How about you worry for properly, you nitpicking little sister," I said, pulling her cheeks the sa way Mother had done to .
"I am worriesh!" She said through squished cheeks.
I smiled and let go of her.
"Just watch what your older brother is capable of," I said, turning toward Cynthia, who was standing right beside Lenora.
"Your Majesty—"
Before she could say anything more, I reached out and cupped her cheek. "I know you are impatient to see Morgana on the ground as well, so just watch , alright?"
"Y—Yes," she answered a bit embarrassed at my bluntness.
I stared at her a bit longer before smiling fondly.
"You will not have to protect this ti, Cynthia."
At my aningful words, Cynthia showed , for the first ti since I had beco King, a true smile, her real smile.
A very beautiful one.
It was one I had always loved seeing on her face since kid.
I continued my walk and glanced at my remaining wives, all scattered across the garden.
Talk about wifely cohesion.
Putting Morgana aside, who was already waiting for ahead, Diana, Asthenia, Eleanor, Ravenna, and Dorothy were not even standing together.
I approached Eleanor first, since she was the closest.
"Your Majesty, I wish you—" She began, lowering into a curtsy, but I stopped her by curling a finger gently beneath her chin.
"I know."
I looked down at her and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, one that was little more than a brief peck.
A quick one.
No need to embarrass ourselves too much.
However, it had quite the effect on everyone around us. They all stared in complete speechlessness at the blatant, perhaps shaless display from their King.
Eleanor’s cheeks turned scarlet.
From the corner of my eye, I caught my sister rolling her eyes again.
I laughed softly and walked toward my next wife.
Ahead of , I could already see Morgana fuming as I took my ti with each of my wives, treating this duel more like a spectacle than a serious matter.
But that was precisely the point.
This was a spectacle.
Mine.
"Dorothy, what a surprise. I thought you were too timid to co and watch fight," I said with a chuckle.
She was standing in a corner, away from everyone else, and looked very nervous.
"Y—Your Majesty is fighting, and I am..." She blushed shyly and lowered her head. "Your wife."
What a brave little concession. At the very least, she accepted what she was.
That heroine I had seen in the ga, the one who sotis showed strangely dangerous tendencies, was now indeed my wife.
I was about to reach out and touch her, but I froze an instant before my hand could land on her.
"I nearly forgot," I said.
Dorothy blinked, and her eyes widened slightly as if she had rembered too. I could literally see the disappointnt in her gaze before she lowered it.
No, do not give that lethal expression.
I had always been terribly weak to faces like that, even back on Earth.
Instead, I rely raised my hand toward her beautiful white hair, tied neatly with purplish ribbons.
My fingers threaded gently through the silken strands.
She lifted her head slightly at the strange contact.
She could not truly feel my fingers against her skin, but she could feel their warmth as I stroked her hair with gentleness.
"Then I suggest you watch carefully how your King fights, Dorothy," I said with a smile.
"I—I will..." She nodded quietly, her gaze still fixed on in a daze.
Oh, hell.
For a mont, I felt a strange sense of deja vu, like I was once again seeing a glimpse of that dangerous side Dorothy had shown in the academy arc.
Pull yourself, this was a video ga, not reality.
Let’s hope so.
Anyway...
I quickly stepped away and moved toward my next wife.
Asthenia.
"Well, there is no need to wonder whom you will support today, Asthenia. You have always hated Morgana’s entire being," I said out loud. "Then again, she has none of your grace or nobility, so that is indeed regrettable."
When I added that, I was fairly certain I saw the faintest curl at the corner of Asthenia’s lips.
As for Morgana, I chose not to look at her just yet.
I wanted to wait a little longer before seeing her expression.
So I turned instead toward Ravenna.
"Ravenna, Ravenna..."
She stood there as though everything were perfectly normal, like a faithful and proper wife.
"Were we playing hide-and-seek, and I simply was not inford?" I asked her.
"I was seeing my father before he left, Your Majesty," she replied quietly.
"Oh yes, Elbert left," I said, rembering. "Well, knowing you, you might enjoy watching tornt soone far too confident in herself, so watch closely and enjoy it."
At my words, Ravenna’s lips parted slightly.
But I said nothing more and stepped toward my last wife, and also the most beautiful.
Diana stood there in full radiance.
"Your Majesty," she greeted, bowing her head respectfully.
"You are making the entire garden more beautiful just by standing in it. Are you aware of that, Diana?" I asked her.
Her eyes widened slightly, then her cheeks flushed pink as she darted her gaze around in visible embarrassnt. "T—That... thank you, Your Majesty..."
I smiled.
"Well, you are my Queen, so watch closely why your father made the right choice when he married you to ," I said, turning away.
But halfway through the turn, I suddenly stopped on my heel and looked just past Diana, tilting my head slightly.
There was another very, very beautiful girl standing behind her.
She caught a little by surprise.
She had lilac-purple hair in the exact sa lovely shade as Diana’s, but instead of Diana’s pink eyes, this one had pale purple eyes as well. They were different from Dorothy’s darker athyst gaze, these were much lighter, almost as delicate as the color of her hair.
"You must be Diana’s younger sister," I said, offering a welcoming smile. "Lavender."
"L—Lavenda!" She sputtered, her voice ringing out far too loudly in the quiet space.
I simply raised a brow, fixing her with a stare. Beneath my quiet scrutiny, her cheeks flared a vivid pink.
"It is... Lavenda, Your Majesty..." She corrected, her tone now reduced to a quiet, ek whisper.
"Lavenda. I beg your pardon," I replied, allowing my gaze to linger on her in a long, contemplative stare.
Lavenda, Lavenda...
What had beco of her in the Ga? Did she even make an appearance? Perhaps she had died? No, that could not be right. Had such a tragedy occurred, Diana would have been heartbroken; she never would have possessed the spirit or the desire to enroll in Luminar under the pain of such grief.
So Lavenda must have survived, yet she had not remained by Diana’s side. But why?
By all accounts, she ought to have been in Helios. She should have escaped the territory following my supposed death and the ergence of the Black Sun threat, subsequently finding shelter in Luminar with Eleanor’s aid. Yet, Lavenda never surfaced at the academy, proving she was absent from Diana’s company during those crucial days.
Perhaps they were separated during their flight? Could Lavenda have remained trapped in Helios, imprisoned much like my mother and Eleanor? If so, was she executed alongside them re months later?
No, once again, the logic faltered. Diana would have been devastated by such a loss. Besides, Diana’s focus had shifted entirely away from Helios once she managed to flee its borders.
It was puzzling to say the least.
Or maybe I was just missing sothing?
I an I played that ga but I didn’t rember every single damn scenes, especially the poor love scenes with that protagonist.
While I stood lost in my own thoughts for perhaps a dozen seconds, Lavenda wilted under the silence. She had ceased eting my eyes altogether, nervously tucking loose lilac strands behind her ears. She offered fleeting, timid glances before darting her gaze toward the floor, slowly edging backward until she was half-hidden behind Diana’s protective figure.
"Y—Your Majesty?" Diana, looking equally bewildered by my prolonged silence, finally found the courage to speak up.
"Hmm?" I mumbled, pulling myself from my reverie. I glanced back at Diana and smiled graciously.
"You have a very beautiful sister, Diana," I observed. "In but a few years, she may very well rival your own ethereal beauty."
"Y—yes..." Diana flushed also pink, at a loss for how to properly accept such a praise.
Lavenda had completely buried her face on her sister’s back.
I smiled and finally turned on my heel, directing my attention toward Morgana. She, too, wore a deep blush, though hers was born of an emotion entirely distinct from re shyness or embarrassnt.
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