“The winner gets to marry me.” Bea smugly tapped her chest.

  “Huh?! Wait wait wait… Is that some kind of joke??” What a bomb to drop out of nowhere… Was this what she was aiming for when she brought up the topic of the tournament?

  I get it now… This is why she wanted Flanne out of the room. With me and her being the only people in her office, she could invite me to join without Flanne butting in. She probably doesn’t want me to join a tournament for Bea’s hand, and I can imagine why. She seems to care about the future of this kingdom, after all.

  Her office was clean, the couches were soft, and the sun was pleasantly warm. We were having such a nice time until she ruined it with something so outrageous.

  I was so startled that I accidentally kicked the foot table between us while scrambling on the couch.

  Ouch… That hurt… “I… I don’t get it… Are you seriously going to marry whoever wins the tournament? Doesn’t that make the winner the next king? That seems really dumb… Are you really okay with that?”

  Bea shrugged with a resigned sigh. “It’s a long tradition, and it’s not going to be changed now just for me. It does annoy me a little bit, which is why I want you to join. I think it’d be really funny if you participated and managed to get a good result, and it would be even funnier if you won.” What a naughty smile on her face… “How about it? Won’t you consider joining? Wouldn’t you like us to get married?”

  Those words carry a serious power punch… “Ma- married?! Y- you and I? A- a- are you serious?” Be- besides… I haven’t told her about myself yet… Is there something she’s not considering? “Di- did you forget that we’re both girls? Wh- why are you assuming I’d want us to get married?”

  “Fu fu fu… You think I don’t know?” A cunning glint flashed in her eye. “I secretly told Flanne to spy on your group when she accompanied you. She told me everything.”

  “Ev- everything?!” Oh no, oh no, oh no… She knows! She knows everything! Play it cool. “Wh- what are you talking about?”

  “No need to play dumb. She said that excluding the heroine and her friend, you and all the other girls were very close… Very intimate…” Bea’s breathing grew heavier. “You all slept in the same room and shared the same bed. The noises coming from your room got louder as the night got darker until the moaning was so loud that Flanne couldn’t sleep!”

  “Bullshit! There was no moaning! We haven’t gone that far yet!”

  So loud… Bea jumped from the surprise but smiled as she relaxed. “So you do admit there’s something between you, hmm?”

  “That’s…” She got me… That cocky smile… This was her plan from the start. So embarrassing… I fucked up. What do I say now? Anything I say is just going to look like a pathetic excuse!

  “Arrgh! Dammit!” I threw a pillow at her face. “Okay, fine. You win.” And curled up with a second one.

  Bea blinked in surprise after the pillow fell to her lap. “Pfft… Ahahahahahaha! Why are you reacting like that? Isn’t it a good relationship? It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” She threw back the pillow with what could only be described as a princess throw. “Give me some details. What’s your relationship with them like?”

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  I easily caught the pillow and put it down, glaring. “No point in hiding it anymore, is there? *Sigh…*” I let my guard down. “It’s a harem. My harem. Carol, Hecate, Ririna, and Sarasa… They’re all my girlfriends… That’s why you and I can’t get married…”

  “No no… That’s one thing, and this is another. I’m not asking you to break up with anyone. Just marry me as well. They do say no good harem is complete without a princess in there, you know?”

  “Listen to yourself! Don’t you run an entire country? You’re way too important to be in a harem. There’s too much at stake. I can’t accept you into my harem! It’s inappropriate!”

  “Good point, good point.” She sarcastically nodded. “Now try saying that again without salivating.”

  Ah… *swipe* “Anyway… I don’t mean to say that you’re the problem, okay?” How red are my cheeks right now? “It’s just too great of a responsibility for me. I’m kinda just a nobody, remember? I can’t become the king of Ebrilyon while caring more about keeping my girls happy. The responsibility is just too much.”

  “It’s really not.” She shook her head casually, her voice being just objective. “In Ebrilyon, the king is just a figurehead of the army. As long as someone’s strong is the king, everything’s fine, and you’re strong enough. The women are the ones who actually take care of the paperwork, so you wouldn’t have to worry about policy for a single second.”

  “Uhmm… I’m a woman too, remember? You’ve already decided I’d just play the husband part?”

  Bea shrugged. “Well, if you really insist, we can always swap. I’ll learn how to swing a sword, and you can go through mountains of paperwork every single day for the rest of your life.” She pointed to her desk, where the papers were stacked. Scary… I think I’d rather just be grateful that she’s willing to do that…

  Or at least I would be grateful if we were to get married. Which we aren’t! “Wh- what about heirs? Don’t kingdoms need a lot of babies to run?”

  “Oh please… Don’t you have anything better to worry about?” She waved her hand in an exaggerated way. “You have an alchemist as a friend. She could come up with a way for us to make babies in less than a day.”

  “Huh!?!? Ririalchemcanwhat?!” She can?! I can’t even speak…

  Ririna! What have you been keeping from me this whole time? Was that really a thing this whole time? How? How does it work? I need to know more, but I can’t ask that right now… She’d probably laugh if she knew how interested I am…

  Ahem… And it’s probably still too early for us… We’re too young to be thinking about babies, and we’re not in a good position for that yet. That’s for later down the road. Mhm… Let’s be wise here.

  “How about it, Iroha? If you don’t have any other reason to refuse, why not participate in the tournament? Just go and have fun without worrying too much about winning. The reactions from a girl joining alone will be more than enough for me.”

  “No, listen… I got one more thing I haven’t told you about yet…” My last resort.

  “You’re smart, Bea, so no matter what I say, you’ll come up with some way to make it work, so I’ll have to show you.” As I said that, Bea’s eyebrows showed interest. “Can you keep a secret?”

  “Of course.” She nodded, unflinching.

  “Take the day off tomorrow and meet in the morning. I wanna take you to a special place.”

  …

  “I’m sorry…”

  When I returned, I got caught by Carol. She made me kneel in front of the couch.

  “I- in my defense, there is nothing between me and Narumi… I definitely didn’t hold hands with any girls behind your back… Or speak about marriages and relationships with anyone.”

  We were the only ones there. Carol glared as she looked down on me.

  “*Sigh…* I’m not mad, I understand the situation with Narumi. It’s whatever. Just make sure you tell me if anything changes.” She’s letting me off easy! She’s so nice!

  I nodded. “That means a lot to you, huh?”

  “Naturally.” She wanted me to be only hers, so… “I need to know how many rivals I have to keep them in check. Don’t forget I don’t want to be sharing you with other girls, okay?” She crossed her arms.

  “Haven’t you heard that jealousy is unsightly, Carol?” Hecate showed up around the corner. Elegant steps, and one hand gently brushing along the wall. “If you want Iroha to truly like you, you should try to keep it in check. Right?” She winked at me.

  “Shut up, weirdo… You, Sarasa, and Ririna should learn to be a little more jealous instead. We wouldn’t be in this position then.” Carol turned her nose up at her. “Besides, this is between me and her, so mind your own business.”

  “I’m only trying to help. Iroha would appreciate you a lot more if you were honest and more supportive. Isn’t that what you want?”

  “Grrr… You…” Did Hecate nail it? That one affected Carol. She was gritting her teeth while blushing. Was that really the answer?

  “If I may…” I’m the root of all evil here, yet I raised my hand. “Carol’s really cute when she gets on my case, so I don’t mind when she gets like this.”

  “Huh?!” Carol was stunned but rolled with it. “Hmm… We- well…? You see, Hecate? Our relationship is perfectly healthy, and we’re both happy, so thanks for nothing. Mind your own business now, okay?” She just hit Hecate with a gloating smile. How will Hecate respond?

  “Guhhh…” Biting her lip. “You’re so lucky! I’m jealous!” Oh no! Looks like she just broke!

  “Lu- lucky?” Carol frowned, confused. “Who? Me? Iroha? Wh- what are you talking about?” Hecate wants you to pester her too, probably. That’s why she’s jealous.

  Ahh… Best of luck, Hecate. Maybe one day we’ll kneel and get chewed out together. But for now, I gotta change topics before Carol catches on.

  “By the way, since you’re both here, I’d like to ask for some clothing advice. For no particular reason. They’re not for me.” Vague and very disjointed… I couldn’t have made a more awkward transition, could I?

  “Iroha…” Carol shook her head. “That sounded so suspicious… Are you even trying at this point?” And facepalmed.

  “Right…?”