Ch.340How Did It Come to This (2)

“Honey.”

Zernya didn’t get angry like last time. Or rather, to be precise, she didn’t raise her voice. Instead, she approached me with a sweet smile.

“Zenya, I can explain everything…”

“Don’t make excuses and come here.”

Zernya grabbed my sideburns.

“Darling? Aaaagh!”

“Follow me. To the bedroom.”

I was dragged along with my head in her grip. My head naturally bowed down. I never knew a 30cm height difference could be so painful.

After throwing me into the bedroom, Zernya spoke through gritted teeth.

“…Answer me. Why were you doing that?”

I confessed the truth in this room of honesty. Whether to believe it or not was Zernya’s choice. Of course, even to me, my statement lacked credibility.

Why?

Because right now, I was carrying Cartesia on my back.

“When are you going to put that outer god down?”

“It’s a quest.”

“What kind of quest?”

“I have to go to the laboratory like this. Otherwise, I’ll receive a penalty too embarrassing to even mention. Really, believe me. I’m not doing this because I want to!”

Forced climax every 10 minutes for a week. How could anyone come up with such a terrible penalty?

“Really?”

“How could a mere human understand the hardships of a transcendent being?”

Cartesia answered smugly. Zernya frowned and lowered her voice.

“I feel like it was just yesterday that I allowed you to be with Sonia, and now you’ve seduced two more women. Impressive, honey. Hmm?”

“I’m sorry.”

The one who answered wasn’t me but Ireh. Peeking from the living room, Ireh hesitantly entered. With slumped shoulders, she apologized to Zernya in a small voice.

“Zernya. I’m really, really sorry…”

“Why are you apologizing, unnie? It’s this womanizer’s fault for not rejecting you when he already has three women.”

Ireh shook her head.

“No, it’s my fault. Eidel pushed me away many times saying this wasn’t right, but I couldn’t control myself and kept putting him in difficult situations. So if you want to blame someone, blame me instead…”

Zernya’s eyes wandered. She cleared her throat repeatedly and looked at me.

“Your skinship with Ireh unnie. When did it start?”

“It’s been a few years.”

“I mean, when exactly?”

“If I had to go back, around when I entered college?”

“…That’s before we even got married.”

Come to think of it, that was true. Ireh and I had been growing closer, knowingly or unknowingly, even before Zernya reformed. Of course, back then, Ireh would jump in surprise if our fingertips so much as touched.

“Sigh, wait a minute.”

Zernya took a deep breath.

“Were there other women who approached you before we got married? Excluding unnie and this outer god.”

“There were. I rejected them all.”

“And after marriage?”

“Even now, I occasionally get them in my inbox.”

“…Can I see?”

I willingly showed Zernya my inbox. But I had forgotten something. Recently, there were more emails insulting me than proposing marriage.

By the time I realized, it was too late.

Zernya’s expression crumpled like never before.

“What… is all this?”

“Ah, hate comments?”

“Who the hell are these bastards to insult you like this?”

“I made changes to the government budget. Welfare spending was reduced because of me. Conversely, research funding increased significantly.”

National budget decisions are a zero-sum game. And the government took my side.

It was good for me, but it also meant more people suffered as a result.

“Even so, they attack you personally like this? These trash. If anyone’s going to insult Eidel, it should be me. How dare these nobodies speak such nonsense about my husband and Rustila? I’ll kill them!”

“Calm down, Zernya.”

“Do I look calm to you?”

I sat beside Zernya and tried to stop her rampage. Zernya growled in an ice-cold voice.

“Sue them. Sue them right now and get settlement money.”

“Sonia is already handling it.”

“Sonia is?”

I nodded.

“…Sigh, good. That’s right. At least she’s efficient at handling things.”

Having calmed down, Zernya scrolled further back in my inbox. The further back she went, the more marriage proposals appeared. Naturally, I had rejected them all.

“Let me get this straight. Besides Ireh unnie and this outer god, there are no others, right? Really?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Four, five?”

“Including Cartesia, five, ma’am.”

“Wait, you’re really including an outer god?”

“If I don’t become this outer god’s husband, this outer god might become my husband, ma’am.”

Cartesia laughed, wrapping her arms around my neck. Zernya gave me a meaningful look.

I was standing at an important crossroads. Whether to receive permission from my existing wives or not. After contemplating for a while, Zernya quietly spoke.

“Ireh unnie.”

“Y-yes?”

“Let me ask you one thing.”

***

Bang!

A bullet passed through my head.

It didn’t hurt. It was a spiritual bullet with no physical form.

[— Your energy has been restored.]

“How is it?”

“All my fatigue is gone.”

I heard that one of Ireh’s spiritual bullets costs about 500 coins. Though not free, once hit with an “Energy Bullet,” you could move vigorously for hours even in extreme situations.

“With Ireh unnie around for unlimited energy, and applying the Great Triangle effect… ahem.”

Zernya smiled like a devil. It gave me chills.

“Hey, honey.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“For the peace of the Rheinland family, I think we need to make a lifelong promise that won’t change. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I do, ma’am.”

Zernya showed her left hand. Her thumb was folded, and the other four fingers were spread.

“Four.”

“Four?”

“I’ve been discussing with Rustila since two weeks ago. If you want more women, it’s up to four including the two of us. If you bring in more than that, I’ll make you a eunuch for life. Understand?”

“Uh, uhh…?”

“I said, do you understand?”

I tried to say something but could only nod. The number of wives I could have increased by one. It was miraculous that Zernya gave permission at all.

What on earth caused this change of heart?

“Hmm.”

Cartesia hummed. With her help, I scanned Zernya’s mind. The result was truly shocking.

‘Even so, abandoning Ireh unnie doesn’t make sense. Despite how she is, she’s always treated me well. She remains important to me.’

This part was fine.

The problem was what came next.

‘Also, Ireh unnie is necessary for maintaining the Great Triangle and graviton bullet research. Above all, if Ireh unnie can restore stamina, there’s no need to fight with Rustila or Sonia over frequency.’

Good heavens.

Is that really one of the reasons for accepting Ireh? In other words, for bedroom activities?

‘It’s embarrassing but… what can I do? No matter how many times we do it, he’s never satisfied. Better than falling into a rut.’

No, being unsatisfied after doing it more than a dozen times doesn’t make sense.

I couldn’t close my mouth. I never dreamed that the Great Triangle and spiritual bullets could be so useful in that area.

My head turned stiffly. Zernya was cooking now.

I approached her cautiously.

“L-let me help.”

“No need.”

[— She regrets slapping your cheek.]

Zernya is preparing a meal after a long time. And for me.

It was a balanced diet with seafood, vegetables, and meat. Plus a sweet fruit punch for dessert. It was a home-cooked meal I hadn’t tasted in a long time.

As soon as I took the first bite, my eyes widened.

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious, ma’am…”

“This… is my apology.”

“Huh?”

“I slapped your cheek before. Too… harshly. So I’m sorry.”

“I deserved it.”

Zernya looked a bit surprised, then smiled with a “pfft.”

Meanwhile, Cartesia examined the side dishes and dropped a bomb on the dinner table.

“These are all foods good for mating.”

“…Oh.”

Now that she mentioned it, that was true. I belatedly noticed there was grilled eel. And the dessert… was watermelon good for men?

Zernya twisted the corner of her mouth and stabbed an onion with her fork.

It seems that way.

“Eat more.”

This is it.

A defense alert signal.

Since Zernya apologized to me, I should also apologize to her. Reconciliation between spouses usually works that way.

As I steeled my resolve, Zernya put all the onions on my plate and whispered.

“…Take those two to school and come back.”

“Wait, that’s not possible.”

“Why?”

“You know. I face assassination threats every other day. If Rustila, Sonia, and Ireh unnie aren’t around, who will protect you and me from sudden attacks?”

“Hmm.”

Zernya swallowed. She answered.

“Then just once.”

“What about Cartesia? I need to keep carrying her on my back because of the quest…”

Zernya clicked her tongue. I felt bad for making excuses when she had prepared such a feast. Before she could pout, I added:

“I’m free this weekend.”

Zernya smiled brightly.

***

Ireh pondered what Zernya had said.

‘Four.’

She had permitted one more wife. The formidable Zernya had.

She wondered why it wasn’t five including Cartesia, but… it made sense. An outer god wasn’t suitable as a human companion. They were different species.

‘Me, with Eidel…’

Ireh imagined becoming Eidel’s fourth wife.

A wedding chapel with bells ringing. Herself in a pure white dress. People cheering.

Walking down the red carpet with white petals falling, and at the end…

‘I’m crazy, I’m crazy, I’m crazy…!’

Her face instantly flushed.

She didn’t understand why she felt this way. In the past, she had vowed never to be with a man, even if she died. Now, just thinking about marriage made her heart swell.

‘Well, since it’s come to this.’

She wouldn’t remain just a research colleague.

As the background star Altair had said, she would seize a more perfect happiness. Even if it was due to compensation psychology, she had to do it.

Moreover, today while dozing off on the sofa, she had dreamed.

A sensual, naughty dream of spending her first night with Eidel.

Having no direct experience, her memories weren’t clear. But whenever she tried to recall, she seemed to hear a hissing sound in her head.

“Phew, we’ve arrived.”

Ireh returned to the Stellarium with Eidel.

Eidel brought Cartesia to the professor’s office and seated her. Cartesia looked around like a sparrow and spoke.

“I finally feel a bit refreshed. But what’s that?”

Cartesia looked around the professor’s office randomly. It was a small space, but that didn’t matter. What was important to her was freshness.

Papers, so many papers!

‘The white hole that only existed in theory was here!’

Since the walls were all painted white, it must indeed be a white hole.

‘From now on, this is my newlywed home.’

Cartesia imagined becoming Eidel’s fourth companion.