Ch.513Side Episode – Suffered All Kinds of Slander (Complete)

# The act of dating multiple women, especially ‘adultery,’ has been considered a grave sin since ancient times.

Some might argue, citing the exploits of Zeus—the original blonde troublemaker from Greek-Roman mythology—with his impressive record of female conquests (defined as sexual crimes in modern law) and the tales of heroes, that “in ancient times, male infidelity was socially acceptable!” But this is a narrow perspective that misses the forest for the trees.

Remember the Trojan prince? How was that archer who fled shamefully before a sacred one-on-one duel and then kidnapped a married woman received?

While his courage in stealing the queen of the original underwear appreciation club (Sparta) might be admirable, messing with another man’s woman was considered villainous even in ancient Greece, where even homosexuality was embraced. That’s why the furious village chiefs of Achaia assembled hundreds of fishing boats into a fleet and invaded Troy.

For those who prefer modern examples and might argue, “Aren’t regions with polygamy like the Middle East okay as long as it’s not adultery?”—this too would only earn scorn from Middle Eastern men, who would say, “You try it.”

It’s an undeniable fact that the Quran allows up to four wives, and there are indeed many husbands with multiple wives.

However, Allah, the one God of Islam, declared that if you cannot treat multiple wives equally, you should stick to one wife for life.

Arab husbands who couldn’t confidently provide equal financial support, affection, and marital relations (unable to handle the mandatory four-day defense duty) have long since found enlightenment and embraced monogamy.

(*Remember, religious laws aside, having four wives means getting nagged four times as much.)

Of course, French men—even their presidents notorious for infidelity—might not care about having multiple wives.

And the former U.S. president who famously claimed oral sex isn’t really sex might consider such things minor indiscretions.

Nevertheless, by universal social norms, acts like adultery, two-timing, and polygamy were unforgivable sins.

Therefore!

“It’s a misunderstanding, I tell you!”

“Okay, I get it, but could you please back off a bit, brother?”

“I’m telling you, it’s really a misunderstanding…!”

Frederick, who brought home two daughters-in-law simultaneously.

Confirmed scoundrel.

## Side Episode – I Suffered All Kinds of False Accusations

The master and mistress of the Nostrum household, Charles and Grace Nostrum, felt like bursting into tears.

“…Good heavens.”

Charles covered his face with his palm.

He had suspected something when his son didn’t return home, claiming he was meeting a woman. But he never dreamed it would turn into such a major incident.

As the head of the Nostrum family silently wept, the mistress called in her second son to quietly investigate the truth.

“What gave you the confidence to do something like this?”

“What did I even do?!”

“You still don’t understand what you did wrong?”

Frederick seemed somewhat (actually quite) wronged, but in Grace’s opinion, there couldn’t be a bigger scoundrel.

This wasn’t just because her son had brought home two potential daughters-in-law without his parents’ knowledge.

“How could you cheat… Ah, let’s not even talk about it…”

“I’m telling you it’s not like that!”

In the Kingdom of Abas, where social classes existed, dating two women simultaneously was an act worthy of condemnation.

First, it was against the law. In a society that only recognized monogamy, marrying multiple women was legally impossible.

In the same vein, ‘dating multiple people’ was equivalent to fornication, adultery, or cheating.

Of course, nobles, especially hot-blooded young ones of both genders, often caused all sorts of scandals by failing to control their lower halves, yet managed to return to society unscathed.

In fact, during their academy days, several of Charles and Grace’s friends were caught secretly meeting lovers by their girlfriends/boyfriends, briefly returned to their hometowns, and then came back.

But such behavior was tolerated purely because of their young age.

While adults might laugh off academy students’ affairs with a “kids will be kids,” college students or adults doing the same would immediately be criticized: “Did you learn your family values from a fantasy novel?”

And Frederick was a proper adult who had long since passed his minority, as well as a civil servant receiving a government salary.

In a world where even simple affairs make the 9 o’clock news and get publicly shamed, this fearless son had achieved the feat of simultaneously fooling around with a saint and a high-ranking Tower official. A tragedy up close, and still a tragedy from afar.

“……”

Charles and Grace slumped powerlessly on the sofa, watching their son’s performance.

“This is all a lie. A blatant lie, I tell you!”

“Sure. If you say so, then I guess that’s how it is…”

“How many times do I have to say it’s a false accusation!”

Frederick passionately proclaimed his innocence, but it was futile. What good was it to argue until spittle flew? Even telling the truth is useless once trust is lost.

Think about it logically. What would a church saint and a high-ranking Tower official gain by falsely claiming to be their son’s girlfriends?

And when Frederick announced his delayed return, his excuse was “going to meet a woman.” Now ladies who claimed to be his girlfriends had visited the residence, and their son had returned late with a third lady in tow. At this point, it couldn’t even be called a false accusation.

It was most realistic (and closest to the truth) to assume their son was two-timing.

“Jerry, Adela. Where are you?”

Frederick, who had been frantically trying to convince his parents, urgently went looking for his siblings.

“Help me convince them, quickly!”

The Defense Ministry official requested SOS from his brother and sister, but unfortunately, no rescue came. The perceptive Jerry and Adela had already fled to the second floor of the residence.

In the end, Frederick, left alone in the wild, needed to clear up the misunderstanding by himself.

Did his desperate plea reach them? Charles and Grace gradually seemed to be convinced by their son’s pleas.

Love him or hate him, he was still their son, and seeing him so wronged made them think there might be some misunderstanding.

“Excuse me, but what is your relationship?”

“Me? I’m Camilla Rowell. Frederick’s colleague! I apologize for the late introduction.”

“Ah… I see.”

So the red-haired lady was just a regular colleague? They had wondered if their son had brought yet another potential daughter-in-law, but it turned out they were just colleagues.

Camilla, who had politely greeted the elders, kindly explained why Frederick had arrived late. She mentioned that they had been discussing their activities in the Zamria Federation over the past month, among other things, which had caused the delay.

Though they didn’t know the specific circumstances (frankly, the country of Zamria itself was unfamiliar), it seemed the meeting was work-related.

“So that’s what happened.”

“We didn’t know that.”

The royal maid and the high-ranking Treasury official, belatedly realizing the truth, let out small gasps of “Ah.”

This was followed by Frederick’s shy protest of “I told you it was a false accusation!” but regardless of his grievance, this too was his karma.

Why did he have to say he was going to meet a woman and cause this misunderstanding?

Everything was a disaster he had brought upon himself, and he had to swallow it, sweet or bitter.

“I explain, but no one understands… What are you all thinking?”

Anyway, his tearful explanations finally began to see the light. Frederick, who had suffered all kinds of false accusations, could finally shed his false charges (or not).

“Sigh, if we’re done here, please start heading back. I’ll contact the embassy now.”

Frederick, looking a decade older, began directing traffic. He desperately wanted to clean up this mess and rest.

He planned to quickly send the group and the Grand Duke to a hotel or somewhere, and then ask Ayla to buy some food on her way back.

Frederick promptly called his younger sibling and ordered some delicious food, though he wasn’t specific about what kind. Of course, he didn’t give any money. To be precise, he said “I’ll give it to you when you get here,” which everyone knew was a blatant lie.

Anyway.

Two daughters-in-law (maybe, maybe not) who had thoroughly messed with him and were now sitting quietly, parents whose minds were blown from riding an emotional roller coaster between heaven and hell.

A thoroughly annoyed master and an apprentice carefully reading the room, siblings who had abandoned their brother and fled, and finally, a nomad in awkward traditional Mauritanian attire, and so on.

Reporting to the company, contacting the embassy, taking care of people—while Frederick was busy running around, he heard the clearest, most melodious doorbell sound in his ears.

-Ding dong.

Must be Ayla.

With his lips curling upward at the thought of finally getting rid of the unwelcome guests (his own colleagues), Frederick turned the doorknob without looking back and flung the door open. Then he quickly turned his back and was about to shout “Get out of my house!”

To be precise, he was “about to” shout.

*

Just as he was about to shout for everyone to go home, his vision suddenly darkened.

A warm sensation in the form of palms covered his eyelids. His vision was blocked along with the light.

“Peek-a-boo?”

The voice from behind was very familiar.

I, who had opened the door and turned my head toward my family and companions, froze on the spot.

A cold silence swept through the residence, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

No one opened their mouth. The suffocating silence had the power to prevent even the slightest movement of lips.

After a long while.

Standing there blankly and maintaining silence, I finally managed to open my mouth and make an excuse.

## Side Episode – I Suffered All Kinds of False Accusations – END –