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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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After finally informing Elena, everything moved quickly.
Each of them made their preparations, mental and otherwise. Gathered together, there were six of us in total.
Looking at the group, a mix of oil and water that would never have mingled were it not for me as the common denominator, I felt slightly dizzy.
“Everyone’s really dressed to the nines, huh?”
Silence.
Even Elena, who’d had the least time to prepare, looked completely different.
The exhaustion from days of wedding planning had vanished, replaced by… well, a transformation so complete it was almost alarming.
She fidgeted, self-consciously touching her hair.
I wasn’t sure what she was so embarrassed about, but with time so tight, I couldn’t afford to dwell on it.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Whew…”
Arwen, who had somehow claimed the spot beside me, let out a small breath.
A glance at her face revealed her nervousness.
She seemed incapable of hiding it.
Why my mother was being treated like some kind of dragon perched atop a mountain, I still couldn’t understand.
My mother was the most henpecked woman I knew. She jumped at every word my father uttered.
What was there to be so worried about?
For a moment, scenes from over-the-top dramas from my past life flashed through my mind.
My mother spitting out water like she’d just taken a mouthful of orange juice when I told her I was marrying all five of them. Or slapping me across the face with a steak, declaring she’d never allow such a marriage.
…Well, she probably wouldn’t actually do that.
“Are you that nervous?”
“Of course I’m nervous! Wouldn’t you be?”
I’d casually asked the question before activating the teleportation magic.
Arwen responded immediately, trying to sound nonchalant, but her voice trembled at the end.
It wasn’t just Arwen. Everyone looked tense.
I wondered if it was really something to be so nervous about. I tried to apply the logic of my past life.
My values were still more aligned with the world I’d lived in for so long, rather than this… backwards one.
Five men, one woman.
Even in a reverse harem scenario, they wouldn’t actually marry the woman, would they?
If I applied that logic to this situation, it would be five men vying for one woman, finally agreeing to a 1-to-5 marriage at her suggestion.
Polyandry, not polygamy.
The word itself sounded strange.
It didn’t roll off the tongue as easily as the reverse, a clear indication of how strange this must seem to everyone else.
Anyway, here we were, about to meet the woman’s parents before the wedding except they were the man’s.
“Ah.”
I realized.
Even the most brazen person would be nervous in this situation.
Putting myself in their shoes, I understood.
Regardless of how I felt about it, they were about to ask for my parents’ blessing to marry their precious son. And there were five of them.
Even I would be a little nervous.
I nodded, quickly understanding their apprehension.
“Arwen.”
“What is it?”
“Isn’t it better that there are five of you? The ideal scenario would be just one, but with five, you can share the burden, right?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
My attempt at comfort was met with a cold response.
I tried a different approach, taking Arwen’s hand. She was so nervous her palms were sweating.
“W-what are you doing?”
“I thought holding your hand might help. There’s no need to be so tense.”
“I’m not tense, it’s just…”
She trailed off, her face flushed.
“My hands are sweating.”
“Doesn’t bother me, but…”
“It bothers me! And look around.”
“Aha.”
While Arwen and I were having our little melodrama moment, the other four were giving us daggers.
“I should have taken Rudrick’s hand,” Eileen said, glaring at Arwen.
It seemed even with my thick skin, having four pairs of eyes on me was a bit much.
I quietly released Arwen’s hand, and she let out a small sigh of relief. I’d been thoughtless.
Even in Islam, the Quran emphasized fairness among multiple wives. I needed to be more careful, especially with so many watchful eyes.
The moment I let go of Arwen’s hand, the others looked at me expectantly, like hyenas waiting for their chance.
My suspicions were confirmed.
There was no point in delaying any longer.
“Shall we go then?”
I looked around, asking one last time. Without assistance, it would take about fifteen mages to activate this spell, but I was the Court Mage, an Archmage.
I pictured the coordinates of my family estate and asked again.
Everyone nodded.
As I activated the teleportation spell, the world around us shimmered. The familiar sensation of weightlessness, like a plane taking off, accompanied by a flashing light.
The bright light filled my vision, then vanished, replaced by the familiar pastoral landscape of Weiss County.
“So this is…”
“My second time here.”
Everyone expressed their impressions of Weiss County.
Elena had visited once before, right after the regression, using an inspection as an excuse to see me.
For the others, it was their first time.
“No one visited our territory before the regression?”
“Was there any reason to?”
This was an exceptional visit, to seek my parents’ blessing for our marriage.
Otherwise, there was no reason to come to this remote corner of the Empire.
I nodded, accepting her explanation.
Then, I saw someone running towards us from the direction of the manor.
It was normal for someone to investigate if they saw a sudden flash of light and felt a strange magical presence, even if they couldn’t sense magic directly.
The maid running towards us was a familiar face.
“I’m home!”
“Young Master Rudrick?!”
I waved, and the maid, her eyes wide with surprise, stopped in front of me.
“What brings you here so suddenly?”
“Catch your breath. You’ll pass out. I have something to tell my parents. Are they both inside?”
“Yes, they are, but… who are these people?”
“Then it’s fine.”
I brushed past the maid and headed towards the manor. The air around us grew heavier.
Everyone tried to hide it, but their faces were tense as we approached the house.
I understood their apprehension, having considered their perspective. Instead of saying anything, I walked silently.
As we neared the modest two-story manor, the atmosphere grew as heavy as the silence that enveloped us, like cows being led to slaughter.
I, too, was nervous.
Even though I felt less pressure than the others, I was still about to announce this absurd marriage.
I’d imagined various scenarios.
Surely, my mother wouldn’t outright reject me to my face. She’d probably ask what I meant, then fall silent after hearing the full story.
This defied common sense, so I could guess her reaction.
Judging by the expressions on the five women’s faces, they’d probably be too flustered to speak coherently.
It would be up to me to explain everything.
“Sigh…”
Someone let out a short breath.
We finally arrived at the Weiss manor.
My mother and father, alerted beforehand, were standing at the entrance, their eyes wide with surprise.
“Rudrick? What brings you here so suddenly? And Your Highness…?” my mother asked, her face a mixture of confusion and surprise.
I hadn’t sent word beforehand, and Elena, a princess of the Empire, had arrived without any attendants or knights.
Their reaction was understandable.
“Mother, there’s something I need to tell you…”
I opened my mouth, but the words caught in my throat.
What should I say?
I couldn’t just blurt out, “I’m getting married!”
I tried to form the words, but they wouldn’t come. I needed a certain level of conviction before I could utter them.
My mother tilted her head, looking puzzled.
“What is this all about…? Well, we can’t just leave Her Highness standing here. Please come in. Your Highness, please come inside, even though our home is humble.”
“There’s no need for that.”
Elena shook her head.
She looked at me, then at my mother.
With a determined expression, she clenched her fists and…
Thud.
She knelt on the ground.
“Mother, please give me your son’s hand in marriage. I’ll make sure he never has to lift a finger and will keep him happy for the rest of his life.”
With that unexpected declaration, the meeting began.
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[Your Text Here]
Ahahaha Elena took the lead!!