Ch.363Chapter 363 – Patience is Bitter, But Its Fruit Cannot Yet Be Tasted

Summer.

The season when the sun’s rays become the hottest, and consequently, people wear more revealing clothes.

Glesius Academy, now welcoming summer, had begun its two-month summer vacation.

The academy students, facing their two-month break, departed to fulfill their previously planned schedules.

However, there was one place in the academy where the security magic was most stringently applied.

It was the mansion where Pathos, his wife, and his brides-to-be resided.

Though they wouldn’t stay there forever—only until Pathos graduated.

Once Pathos graduated, they planned to move to a grand mansion in the capital.

Even considering that Elena and Mina were living in dormitories and Eterna was staying at the temple, there were still many people.

The mansion’s rooms were surprisingly insufficient to accommodate six people.

For most nobles, having one or at most two wives was the norm, with occasionally one or two concubines.

There would be a separate bedroom for intimate activities, with the official wife having her own room while concubines typically shared quarters.

For Pathos, having eight official wives meant needing eight separate rooms.

The Chancellor’s mansion at Glesius Academy, typically occupied only during one’s term, had only about four rooms total, including the master bedroom, individual rooms, and guest rooms.

Perhaps for this reason, the eight wives and candidates each stayed in different places.

First, Mina and Elena in the academy dormitories.

Eterna, being a saint, stayed at the temple, while Emelda resided in the academy’s professor dormitory.

Regina and Cheon Hyeryeong, not being bound by normal sleep requirements, didn’t sleep at the mansion.

So currently, only the master bedroom, Pathos’s room, Karen’s room, and Aisen’s room were in use.

The remaining rooms were for entertaining the Chancellor’s guests, servant quarters, storage, and other non-sleeping purposes.

The mansion was at full capacity—adding even one more person would create a room shortage.

Usually, not everyone gathered in one place, but today was different.

Today was the day they would temporarily leave the academy with Pathos.

“Has everyone packed their belongings?” Karen asked.

Everyone nodded in response to her question.

This was because she was properly fulfilling the role of the lady of the house, both externally and internally, thanks to her experience as the First Imperial Princess and her regression experiences.

In truth, everyone simply went along with it because what she was doing was both the most troublesome and important task.

No one wanted to raise objections, lest they end up having to do it themselves.

In any case, Karen had prepared everything for this trip from start to finish.

The others were busy with their own responsibilities, and most importantly, most of them were unfamiliar with such tasks.

Becoming the lady of a house meant becoming the second-highest authority after the head of the family.

Properly fulfilling the role of the lady of the house required considerable experience.

And Karen, thanks to her countless regressions and her experience as an imperial princess, was performing the role of the lady of the house more admirably than anyone else.

For this reason, all of Pathos’s wife candidates acknowledged her as the de facto lady of the house.

“It seems we should depart, but it looks like Pathos hasn’t finished his conversation yet?”

“He said he needed to contact an acquaintance regarding the malevolent star,” Cheon Hyeryeong replied.

Karen nodded in understanding.

“Is that so? Then let’s sit and chat until he finishes and comes out.”

The luggage was already being loaded onto the carriages by servants Karen had hired in advance.

All of them had passed the imperial household’s rigorous personnel verification and worked with the same treatment as imperial servants.

They worked silently and diligently as Karen instructed.

Each of these servants had been personally selected by Karen.

They faithfully carried out Karen’s orders, knowing that displeasing her could result in dismissal.

Thanks to this, the women could converse without worry.

“This summer trip will be truly special for me and for all of you. The reason… well, you all know why, don’t you?”

At Karen’s words, the seven women silently nodded in unison.

What she referred to was the intimate activities that occur between husband and wife at night.

In truth, most noble families provide sex education to their children from an early age.

This sometimes leads to noble youths engaging in premarital relations with their betrothed.

However, noble engagements rarely break off and usually proceed directly to marriage, so some noble families even celebrate premarital pregnancy as a “wedding gift.”

Karen, as an imperial princess, had received various sexual education from an early age, including the importance of proper conduct. Regina had received similar education from her family, and Cheon Hyeryeong from the Celestial Horse Divine Church.

Elena, Eterna, Mina, Emelda, and Aisen also possessed basic sexual knowledge.

Some learned out of curiosity, while others were thoroughly educated by their parents from a young age to prevent mishaps.

In short, all the women gathered here had sufficient basic sexual knowledge.

What was curious, however, was that Karen was still a virgin.

This meant that Pathos had never been intimate with Karen.

For a newlywed couple to go half a year without consummating their marriage could be considered a serious deficiency in one or both parties.

In this world, where producing and raising children was considered a virtue for married couples, this was unusual.

Typically, most couples would conceive within 6 months to a year of marriage.

But Pathos and Karen had been so busy with their respective duties that when they came home, they literally just slept.

Even with good physical stamina, mental fatigue from various concerns can be exhausting.

It wasn’t that they didn’t find each other sexually attractive, but their mental fatigue was severe enough to overcome that attraction.

So Karen had decided to set a specific date and depart for a resort.

Thanks to the system she had established, their domain was running smoothly.

During their vacation, an imperial domain management expert would be dispatched to manage the domain in their stead.

In any case, Karen had prepared thoroughly for this trip.

One of the bags prepared for the journey was filled with items that could assist in marital intimacy.

Among these were so-called “battle undergarments”—revealing lingerie.

‘Daughter, I hear you’re going on a long trip?’

‘Mother? How did you know?’

‘My dear, have you forgotten that I manage the imperial resort you’re visiting?’

‘Ah…’

‘Hehe, I’ve prepared something for you to take along. I’ve already sent it to the academy, so you should receive it soon.’

Of course, this wasn’t something she had prepared herself, but rather what the Empress, who desperately wanted to hear news of pregnancy within the year, had prepared for Karen and the others.

Now that they were married, shouldn’t they solidify the established fact?

Naturally, these items were filled with the Emperor and Empress’s earnest desire to see their grandchildren soon.

News of an heir to the Grand Duke would bring great joy to the Empire.

“Ah, darling. Did your conversation end well?”

“Yes, it did. The malevolent star has completely dissipated, they say.”

In this sense, the eight women gathered here were united in a single thought:

‘I will definitely finish this during this trip.’

The thought of finally crossing the line they had been holding back.

Pathos, unaware of what they were thinking, was simply happy that they could finally go on vacation.

In any case, it was good for both Pathos and his women, so it was a win-win situation, wasn’t it?

After Pathos confirmed the final dissipation of the malevolent star, their journey to the resort finally began.

A grand month-long journey: one week to get there, one week to return, and two weeks to stay.

No one could predict what would happen there or what incidents might occur, but one thing was certain:

‘After waiting so long, I’m going to squeeze every last drop out of him.’

Would he be able to survive eight hungry beasts?

That remained to be seen.