episode_0280

Inside a cozy home. The space prepared by Athena had an ordinary appearance, but its size was comparable to that of a mansion where dozens of people could live without any problems.

There were easily more than ten rooms, and for some reason, the one that seemed to be my room had a bed that was big enough to fit several people.

Yeah, that bed.

I sat quietly on the large bed and glanced at the girls surrounding me.

“Sister. Say it again. Is that really true?”

Lily’s eyes, which spoke with a look of disbelief, were gleaming so darkly that it could be called madness, and Marie, unable to control her emotions, turned her tail around and looked at me.

“Yeah.”

I gave them the answer.

There is no reason to run away now.

I would have been overwhelmed by their momentum, but instead, I looked at them with even more serious eyes.

“I won’t run away anymore. Because everyone here loves me more than I love myself.”

My deep desire that I have been hiding for so long.

“If it’s okay with you all…I want to live happily together for the rest of my life.”

My words caused a brief silence to fall upon the room.

The first one to step forward was Dania, who looked at me with a longing expression.

“Hera. Thank you.. I’m really grateful that you made that decision..”

Sister Dania gently held my hand and spoke warmly to me.

“Sister Dania..”

“Just like you said. We all live happily together. Thank you, Hera.”

At the end of what Sister Dania said, Marie ran towards me and hugged me tightly.

“Mom..!”

Marie was wiping her face against my clothes with tears streaming down her face, while Lily, still trembling with disbelief, came up to me and grabbed my wrist.

“…I can’t believe it, sis.”

“Liliya.”

When we looked closely, Lily’s dead eyes, with the light inside them gone, were clearly visible.

“You promised to be together forever, but you haven’t come to see me since we broke up. And you left again without saying a word.”

Lily’s voice shook violently, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

Yes, I definitely promised.

Even though I told my cute little sister Lily, whom I considered family, that I would spend the rest of my life with her, I ended up abandoning her twice.

It’s only natural that you don’t trust me.

I held Lily tightly in my arms and spoke to her in a tearful voice.

“I’m really sorry, Unnie. I know I’m not trustworthy, but…Can you give me one more chance?”

“……”

“I won’t hurt you again. I won’t hurt you again. Let’s stay close to each other from now on, Lily. Promise.”

“….”

I held out one finger to her.

A finger promise that Lily and I used to do often at Drax when we were kids.

Lily opened her eyes wide and looked at my outstretched finger, then slowly wrapped it around her little finger.

“I…I actually…had a bad thought.”

Lily’s eyes, where all light seemed to have disappeared.

However, tears slowly began to form in that beautiful face, and little by little, a faint light began to appear.

And soon, tears fell from Lily’s eyes, which seemed as if not even a single drop of water would come out.

“I didn’t want to be abandoned anymore..so I thought that when I met you this time, I would make sure you wouldn’t run away..”

“Lily…”

“I..I actually thought about cutting my sister’s tendons so she couldn’t run away…”

Throb-

My body trembled at the eerie words that did not match my sobbing, desperate voice.

Lily’s appearance, wiping away the tears she had held back and pouring out her sorrow, looked like she really had intended to do that.

“Oh…I see? You must have been very sad, Lilya…”

“Sob…Sister..Sister..”

As I patted her on the back, she snuggled even closer to my body.

It seemed that from now on, Lily couldn’t be left alone.

Looking at Lily’s condition, it seemed like something big would have happened if I had told her just a little later.

“Mom…”

“Sister..”

Lily and Marie, who cling tightly to my arms and refuse to leave.

Athena, unable to stand to see that, separated me from them.

“Do you have more to say, Hera?”

I nodded quietly to Athena’s question.

“Yeah..and actually this is the most important thing..”

At my words, the five women all began to listen to me with serious faces.

“I.. really love you all.. but I won’t get married..”

Kwajik-

As soon as I finished speaking, a strange noise was heard from one side.

As I blankly rolled my eyes, I saw a large crack in the floor surrounding Athena. Athena looked at me with her eyes burning with anger.

“What the hell are you talking about? Tell me straight, Hera.”

“Ah..no, calm down first..”

“You’re not saying that you love me as family, are you? If that’s the case, I’ll prove to you that we’re not family.”

“How are you going to prove that..”

As Athena’s mana seethed, the air grew hotter and hotter, so I quickly grabbed her hand and placed it on my cheek.

Athena raised an eyebrow at my unexpected actions and looked at me with a puzzled look.

I slowly moved her hand to gently touch my cheek.

“That’s not it..I love you with affection. I wish you would touch me like this..and tell me that you love me.”

At my words, the air that had been boiling around Athena gradually became quiet.

After that, Athena waited silently as if telling me to continue talking, and I looked at my older sister Dania, who was quietly watching me from the side.

“I…I’ve been hiding it until now…but I actually really like Dania unnie a lot. Not out of family, but out of affection…”

“Huh..?”

“Well… isn’t Dania unnie my ideal type..?”

“….”

My shy confession made Dania’s body freeze, and the blush that rose on her face told me how agitated she was.

“Hera..”

At the end of Sister Dania’s words, Iris carefully grabbed my sleeve.

“Hera-nim.. Me.. Me? Of course, I don’t have a big heart yet, but I also Hera-nim..-”

“You too, Iris. You too are so precious to me.”

“Ugh..!”

Iris’ face burst into a bright red.

“Uh..Sister, I..!”

Lily looks at me urgently.

I stroked her head and smiled faintly.

“Of course I love Lily too.”

A blue-haired girl running towards Ododo.

“What about Marie?”

“You too, Marie.”

Lily is greatly relieved by my words, and Marie cannot contain her joy.

To be honest, my feelings for them were still more of a family feeling than affection, but… I thought it would be a big problem if I said that now.

I conveyed my feelings to them once and looked at Athena.

“That’s why. The reason why I can’t get married.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Athena frowns as if she doesn’t understand.

But I rather didn’t understand that Athena.

Didn’t you understand what I meant?

“Ah..I just said that. I like them all.”

“That’s right. But?”

Athena shrugged her shoulders with a puzzled look on her face, as if to say something strange.

“Of course..! I like them all, so how can I get married!”

“Why doesn’t that work?”

Athena looked at me as if I was a strange person, and I also looked at Athena with a frustrated face.

Finally, after mumbling for a while, I raised my voice as if shouting at Athena.

“Well…well, marriage is only between one person! I can’t do that…”

I spoke to her as if I was vomiting and then lowered my head.

My heart, in some ways, could be said to be selfish.

It was no different from what I just said that I would not settle on just one person.

If this were South Korea, it wouldn’t have been strange at all for it to have been criticized as a fishing ground, and it wouldn’t have been strange at all for it to have been buried by the wind.

But there was nothing I could do.

They all loved me more than my life.

But how can I choose just one?

“Phew.”

Athena looked at me with a funny face, not knowing what I was thinking.

“Why…why are you laughing?”

Athena’s faint smile felt slightly annoying.

Someone is thinking about it so seriously…what on earth does it mean to think about it so lightly?

“Oh, sorry. It’s such a trivial worry.”

“What..what?!”

“Why do you marry only one person?”

Athena’s soft words left me feeling embarrassed.

“No one here wants to monopolize you. If you can’t decide on one and won’t get married…why don’t you just marry everyone?”

“What…? Ha…but that’s morally…”

“What are you talking about, Hera? How many nobles have multiple wives?”

Athena’s words brought back to mind something I had forgotten.

This is not the Republic of Korea, but a world of different people. Naturally, the ethics are completely different.

A world where it is not strange for one person to have relationships with multiple people, such as polyandry or polyandry.

I had momentarily forgotten something so obvious.

But marrying everyone?

I thought it would be quite heartbreaking if the person I truly loved were to share a love with someone other than me. I would rather not do that kind of love.

“But…marrying multiple people? You guys aren’t okay with it.”

“It’s okay.”

Athena’s answer came back so confidently.

“I’d rather watch you drag it out like this because you can’t choose anyone. I’d rather share a little of your love and develop a deeper relationship.”

The others nodded in agreement with Athena’s words.

“It’s okay, Mom.”

This time it was Marie who spoke.

She patted my shoulder with a bright smile.

“Marie can endure for a long time. As long as her mother faithfully does her night duty as a bride, that’s all she needs to do.”

“Night..Night work?!”

When I was taken aback by Marie’s words, Athena grabbed my opposite shoulder tightly and said.

“You can do it alternately.”

Athena thought about something for a moment, then looked at me with a kind expression and said.

“It will definitely be hard to adjust at first. For now, each of you should fulfill your duty as a wife twice a week.”

“There are 7 days in a week?”

“You can take on two at once. Don’t worry, Hera.”

What exactly is it that I should not worry about?

I looked around in bewilderment at the unacceptable story.

Everyone was looking at me, smacking their lips.

It felt like I was surrounded by fierce predators.

“Hey..kids..?”

Only a trembling voice came out of my mouth.