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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Sigh…”
The first thing that escaped her lips was a deep sigh, one that seemed to come from the depths of her soul.
It was a sigh so profound that it made her wonder if the ground beneath her feet would cave in.
She was speechless.
Rudrick had corrected her, saying “they” instead of “she.” The meaning of those words was initially beyond her comprehension.
It was normal for her to be confused. It wasn’t like he was simply two-timing someone.
It was unheard of for a man to openly have multiple wives, like a woman taking multiple husbands.
Rudrick, who was about to do something so unconventional, chuckled awkwardly.
“Hehe…”
“This is not the time to be laughing.”
His awkward laughter vanished under Serilla’s icy glare.
Serilla had a headache.
Just moments ago, he was her beloved younger brother. But now, he had confessed to having multiple girlfriends, instantly demoting him to “the family’s black sheep.” And it wasn’t just a confession.
He was declaring his intention to marry them all. As his older sister, she couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.
“I can understand having two girlfriends. I’m being really generous here, but… marrying them all? Isn’t that a bit much?”
Her voice was raised, but her tone was cold.
Rudrick, unable to respond, avoided her gaze and finally spoke, trying to correct her misunderstanding,
“…It’s not two.”
“What?”
“It’s not two girlfriends.”
Rudrick dropped a bombshell, revealing the shocking truth.
It would have been better if it were just two.
The truth was, it wasn’t two, but five. Even in a world where gender roles weren’t reversed, this would be considered quite a feat.
It was a truth that Serilla would rather not know, but he couldn’t keep it from her.
“…Tell me everything. Everything, without hiding anything.”
“Well, it all started when…”
The speaker had changed, but the context was the same as when Elena had explained it to the Crown Princess in her office.
Both Rudrick and Elena were involved in this situation, and while it wasn’t something they could go around bragging about, it wasn’t something they could hide either.
A long, rambling, and poorly constructed explanation followed.
He couldn’t tell her the whole truth, so he made up excuses on the spot.
His explanations were full of inconsistencies, and Serilla’s expression changed with every passing moment, from anger to shock, from shock to resignation.
“…And that’s how it happened.”
After listening to his entire explanation, Serilla covered her face with her hands and muttered,
“…This isn’t the place to talk about this. Let’s go inside.”
“Okay…”
Her colleague, who had arrived to relieve her from duty, looked at Serilla with a puzzled expression, sensing the tense atmosphere.
It was too embarrassing to talk about in public.
Even though the entire Empire would soon know about it.
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They ended up in Serilla’s quarters.
‘…Maybe I should have cleaned up a bit.’
As was typical for a single woman, Serilla’s quarters weren’t exactly tidy. Servants from the Knights Order were assigned to clean the knights’ quarters on a rotating basis, but Serilla, being a noble, wasn’t used to doing chores.
She averted her gaze from the pile of clothes scattered around the room, and when her eyes landed on a stray undergarment, she quickly shoved it under the bed.
‘Why is that here?’
It was embarrassing for an older sister to show her undergarments to her younger brother.
Well, to be more precise, she didn’t mind, but it would probably make Rudrick uncomfortable.
Besides, the atmosphere was quite serious right now.
Having reached this conclusion, Serilla cleared her throat and said in a low voice,
“Have a seat.”
She gestured for him to sit down, and he did, but they sat in silence for a long moment, staring at each other.
She didn’t know where to even begin.
As the future head of the Weiss family, she knew she had to scold him.
But how?
If he had simply caused some minor trouble, she could have easily lectured him and moved on. But this… this was on a whole other level.
She sighed, staring at him, then finally spoke,
“Do mother and father know?”
“Not yet. You’re the first person I told.”
“Sigh…”
She had expected that.
She had heard his explanation, but it was still a ridiculous situation.
Five women were in love with Rudrick, and they had all agreed to marry him at the same time, even after knowing about the others?
It was a story worthy of being headline news in the Imperial Gazette.
And the protagonist was none other than Rudrick, who was currently the center of attention. The repercussions would be enormous.
Serilla, lacking the confidence to deal with the fallout, asked weakly,
“So who are these women? I can’t believe they agreed to such a ridiculous arrangement.”
“…You might know some of them.”
“What?”
“You would have to be living under a rock not to know some of them.”
Serilla was momentarily confused by his words, but she quickly realized who he was talking about.
“Elena, Eileen, Lassiel. You should know those three.”
He listed the names, counting on his fingers.
She tried to recall if she knew anyone with those names.
He had started with “Elena.”
‘That name sounds familiar… familiar…’
It wasn’t an uncommon name, but it wasn’t common enough for there to be multiple people with the same name.
A name suddenly popped into her head.
Elena Esgelant.
The Second Princess of the Esgelant Empire.
Even Serilla, who wasn’t interested in politics, knew about the recent power struggle between Elena and the Crown Princess.
‘Don’t tell me…’
She hoped she was wrong.
She asked cautiously,
“You don’t mean… the Princess… No way, right?”
“That’s right.”
Rudrick confirmed her suspicions, crushing her hopes.
She felt like the world was collapsing around her. The name “Elena” carried a lot of weight.
How could she not be shocked to learn that her family was involved with the Second Princess of the Empire in such an absurd way?
As if to confirm her worst fears, Rudrick continued listing the names.
“Grand Duchess Eileen… Lord Admiral Lassiel… and the other two… Well, you might be too shocked to hear about the other two right now, so I’ll tell you later.”
“…I think I’ve been shocked enough.”
“But the non-humans are a bit… different. Could you accept a dragon as your sister-in-law?”
“…”
Serilla was speechless. She had brought this upon herself by asking.
It seemed her brother had been up to some extraordinary things without her knowledge. And this was the result.
She sighed, drained of all energy, and asked,
“How are you… I mean, how are we going to tell mother and father?”
“We have to tell them… I can’t just get married without telling them.”
“What if mother faints from shock?”
“It’s fine. I can heal her with magic. I’m an Archmage, remember?”
“That’s not the point… Never mind.”
Serilla closed her mouth, her face aged by several years in a matter of minutes. There was no point in arguing.
As far as she was concerned, this was beyond her control.
She had initially intended to scold her brother for his reckless actions, but the situation was far more complicated than she had anticipated.
It was beyond her control, and even beyond her parents’ control.
She could already envision the headlines in the Imperial Gazette, announcing the wedding of the century.
And for the first time, she spoke her true feelings,
“…How am I going to show my face in public?”
Rudrick, who had initially been avoiding her gaze like a scolded child, had regained his confidence and said,
“It’ll be fine. Probably.”
Of course, he wasn’t so sure himself.
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