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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The game was over the moment it started to sound plausible.
Of course, it wasn’t like Rudrick had planned this far ahead and presented a calculated proposal as part of some elaborate scheme.
Frankly, he was pushing his luck enough to get slapped for even suggesting this.
It was the kind of thing that would warrant a slap in the face even if it wasn’t in this gender-reversed world.
After all, he’d essentially just declared,
“I can’t choose just one of you, so I’ll choose all of you instead of picking just one or none at all.”
It was practically a harem declaration.
It was certainly an option no one had expected.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve heard that polygamy in the Middle East is actually quite difficult and strict, so only the really rich can pull it off…’
Rudrick thought to himself, shrugging internally.
Even in Arab culture, where polygamy was often associated with societal norms, there were legal restrictions and stipulations imposed by religious law.
Considering the financial burden and the requirement to treat all wives equally, it was something rarely practiced in reality, except perhaps by those with the means of Arab oil tycoons.
It was an absurd notion, especially in this life, where things were very different from his previous one.
It was unacceptable by common sense and societal standards.
But the crux of the matter was that Rudrick held the power in this relationship.
It was a situation where “Take it or leave it” actually applied.
Eileen had already given up, realizing she couldn’t refuse.
But what if one of the remaining four readily accepted this preposterous offer?
He was banking on the possibility that only Eileen would be left out in the cold.
“…Still, I think we need to think about this a little more. I mean, to make a decision right now…”
“I don’t mind,”
Sylvia interjected, having quickly regained her composure.
Eileen, her face a mask of shock, shot Sylvia a dirty look, but the latter simply shrugged, as if it didn’t matter to her in the least.
“Then don’t do it. It’s fine with me. One less competitor. One down, three to go. Maybe one of them will actually refuse…”
“I-I never said I refused!”
Eileen exclaimed, her voice rising in panic.
She usually had an impassive face, and even when she was angry, her tone rarely changed.
For her to raise her voice like this was a rare occurrence, a testament to her desperation. Sylvia couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“My, my, aren’t we a bit desperate? Don’t want to be the only one left out?”
Eileen clamped her mouth shut.
She knew she’d already been baited, anything she said now would be used against her.
Rudrick, who had been mentally prepared to get slapped, decided it was time to intervene.
“Well…”
Thankfully, he hadn’t been slapped yet.
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So much had happened.
I’m so tired… I can’t even think straight anymore.
Rudrick chuckled to himself, recalling a meme from his past life.
He collapsed onto the plush bed.
Finally, some peace and quiet.
He had adjusted to some extent, but the frigid cold of the snowy mountains beyond the wall was nothing to scoff at.
He was bundled up in thick, fur-lined winter clothes with magically enhanced heating, but the icy wind still managed to seep through, sending shivers down his spine.
That was why he’d mainly relied on fire magic to deal with the monsters, though he was technically capable of altering the terrain with his magic if he really pushed himself.
The problem was that the environment was so cold and harsh that the only noticeable effect was melting snow.
He was in the guest room of the Grand Duchess’ residence.
“It’s finally over, right?”
The room was sparsely decorated, typical of the North, but the bed was incredibly comfortable, rivaling even the one in his room at the Imperial Palace.
He lay there, sinking into the plush mattress.
He had come to the North, to this land of perpetual snow and biting winds beyond the wall, to eliminate the recent surge in monsters.
It was essentially his trial by fire to become the Court Mage.
More accurately, it was about dealing with the barbarian tribes who had started migrating south due to the monster surge, much like the Germanic tribes pushed by the Huns.
But somehow, he ended up dealing with way more than just monsters.
“…Were you two really fighting over that?”
He wondered aloud, recalling the conversation he’d had with Sylvia earlier.
It was infuriating to think that he went through all that trouble because of one dragon’s childish antics and although he had forgiven Sylvia, the underlying issue, the reason she had disappeared in the first place, still bothered him.
“I don’t get it.”
He decided to stop dwelling on it for now and closed his eyes.
He wasn’t trying to sleep, his mind was simply exhausted from all the stress he’d endured over the past few days.
He didn’t want to overthink things that were already beyond his control.
But then, he realized he was forgetting something important.
“Oh, right. Arwen.”
He bolted upright in bed.
He had found Sylvia, who had vanished without a trace, fighting another dragon in the northern mountains.
He wasn’t sure how his magic had worked on another dragon, but if he hadn’t intervened, Sylvia might have been seriously injured.
Of course, considering her lineage, she wouldn’t have died, but being struck by a giant paw in her human form would have left a mark.
But Arwen, who had disappeared around the same time, was still nowhere to be found.
Where could she have gone?
“Did she sprout wings and fly away? Or burrow into the ground?”
This was the problem with these otherworldly beings.
They had grand titles like dragons and True Ancestors, making their whereabouts difficult to track.
They could travel the entire continent as they pleased, and there was no way he could keep tabs on them.
Arwen, for example, had infiltrated the heart of the capital, bypassing numerous security measures, including those in the Imperial Palace, to reach the hidden laboratory within the Court Mage’s chambers.
She had even navigated the labyrinthine corridors within, a feat that impressed even Rudrick in retrospect.
He shook his head, pushing those thoughts aside.
He decided to try and locate Arwen using magic.
He figured she wouldn’t have gone far and was probably still near the capital.
He focused his magic, expecting to sense her presence somewhere south of his current location.
But then…
BEEEEEP!
A sharp, piercing alarm went off.
It wasn’t the Grand Duchess’ security system or any alarms within the residence.
Rudrick wasn’t foolish enough to mistake those sounds for something else.
He froze.
He already had a hunch who was behind this, but he couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t reveal themselves.
“Were you, by any chance… watching me?”
“…”
Silence met his question.
To anyone else, it would have seemed like he was talking to himself.
The person he was looking for was right beside him, hidden in plain sight.
It wasn’t simply an invisibility spell or a disguise.
If that were the case, he would have sensed her presence immediately, thanks to his heightened sensitivity to magic.
There was only one place where she could hide without him noticing.
He got out of bed.
Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a long shadow across the floor.
As he stared at the shadow, he noticed it rippling.
“… I-I wasn’t watching you…”
The familiar silvery hair and vibrant violet eyes materialized as Arwen stepped out of the shadows, her expression sheepish.
“How long?”
“Since you left for the North…”
The shadow continued to ripple as if embarrassed.
“You didn’t hear me showering or changing, did you?”
“…I closed my eyes during those times. I assure you, I had no intention of peeking…”
“…”
“… I-I apologize for not telling you sooner. That dragon lives beyond those mountains. I stayed behind to protect you, just in case you ran into her—”
Arwen stopped mid-sentence.
It seemed even she realized how flimsy her excuse sounded.
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[Dam guess we know who hes choosing now, all of them lmao]
