The sudden silence in the room was abruptly broken by the sound of the heavy wooden doors swinging wide open. All seven queens marched into the private chambers, their expressions a mix of sheer disappointment and simmering irritation.
The moment they walked in, every single girl in the room snapped their heads toward them, completely caught off guard. Seraphine, who was still wrapped in the tablecloth Haruto had thrown over her, looked between the furious queens and Haruto standing there in a maid uniform. The sheer, overwhelming embarrassment of everything that had just unfolded—her breathless confession, being stripped down to her underwear, and realizing Haruto had seen it all—finally reached its absolute limit. Her eyes rolled back, and she completely passed out from the shock, collapsing softly onto the couch.
Seeing the gravity of the situation, Ivory quickly waved her hand, snapping her fingers to instantly deactivate her amplification magic. The shimmering mana faded, finally restoring Seraphine's physical senses back to normal, though the poor girl was already fast asleep.
The queens completely ignored the girls and locked their eyes directly onto Haruto. The playful, mischievous mood they were in earlier had vanished, replaced by crossing arms and heavy scowls.
One of the queens stepped forward, glaring at Haruto with a deeply annoyed look.
"Are you serious right now, Haruto?" she asked, her voice tight with frustration.
"The entire room was in absolute chaos! They were so incredibly distracted that you could have easily grabbed a strand of Lilith's hair and walked out a winner. Instead, you completely ruined your own cover story, blew the entire stealth mission, and failed the wager just to be a gentleman!"
Haruto stood there, completely baffled. Wait, are they seriously scolding me right now? he thought, his mental emotional block failing to process the sheer absurdity of the situation. Still unable to speak, he pointed aggressively at the queens, then at his maid uniform, trying to gesture that they were the ones who had forced him into this mess in the first place.
"What? What are you even trying to say?" one of the queens huffed, crossing her arms defensively.
But before Haruto could point again, Lilith stepped forward, her eyes narrowing as she looked between Haruto and her stepmothers.
"Wait a second..." she said, her voice dropping into a dangerously low, sharp tone.
"What exactly is going on here? Why did you all dress him up as a maid and send him into my room?!"
Instantly, the seven powerful queens—who had just been acting tough—turned visibly nervous. They subtly shifted their weight, completely losing their confident posture under Lilith's glare.
"Look, Lilith, sweetie... it was just a tiny, harmless little game!" the queen in the red dress offered a strained, guilty smile on her face.
"A tiny game?" Lilith countered, stepping closer.
"This 'game' completely crossed the line! And why on earth were you using us as pawns for your little bet?!"
Haruto watched this unfold with a thoroughly blank look. Hold on... they were just screaming at me, but now they're completely terrified of Lilith? Why? The error here is yours, your Majesties, not mine.
Noticing Haruto's judgmental stare, another queen quickly pointed an accusing finger at him to shift the blame.
"Haruto, don't you look at us with that face! We are only angry because you stood there staring instead of finishing your task! You stayed in this room and witnessed private moments that girls never display in front of men!"
Haruto's inner thoughts short-circuited. Wait, shock state detected. Girls actually pull off wild, unhinged brawls like that when guys aren't around? Before he could process this terrifying new data about female behavior, Lilith completely cut through the noise.
"All of you—out. Right now!" Lilith ordered, pointing firmly at the door.
"But Lilith, we should at least check on Seraphine and make sure she's okay—" one queen stammered.
"I said OUT!" Lilith snapped, her voice carrying a terrifying spark of anger that made the entire room flinch. Even though Ivory, Lustra, and Bellona were still a bit dazed from the previous chaos, they quickly scrambled backward. Lilith looked at the queens and coldly added, "And keep Haruto out of your ridiculous games. He has enough on his plate."
Despite Lilith being fully in a fiery, protective rage, the queen in the red dress wasn't about to let Haruto off scot-free. Marching past a glaring Lilith, she firmly grabbed Haruto by the ear.
"Ow, ow, ow—" Haruto couldn't yell, but his face twisted in silent pain as she began dragging him toward the corridor.
"You've seen far too much before the wedding, young man," the red-dressed queen scolded, a dangerous, playful glint returning to her eyes.
"Come along. It's time we give you a proper, thorough 'hospitality' treatment for failing your mission!"
A genuine wave of fear washed over Haruto. Facing a Level 71 mother-in-law in a bad mood was an absolute nightmare scenario. He desperately reached his hand back toward Lilith, silently pleading for a system rescue.
Lilith just stood there, crossing her arms as a smug, teasing smirk replaced her anger.
"Have fun, Haruto! Honestly, you deserved it after what you just witnessed. Oh, and about that idea of making you my personal maid? Don't worry, you'll officially be wearing that outfit for me starting tonight!"
Ivory, finally recovering from the madness and fixing her clothes, adjusted her posture and let out a sharp, annoyed huff.
"Please, Lilith. Flirting with him while he's being dragged away by his ear is highly unprofessional."
As the queens dragged him back into their private drawing-room, Haruto's mind was running its usual diagnostic checks. He remembered the scene he had just left behind—how Lilith, Ivory, Bellona, and Lustra had all burst out laughing the moment the door began to close. Honestly, their laughing didn't bother him at all. His emotional block easily filtered that out.
What did bother him was the heavy, suffocating atmosphere inside this room.
The seven queens were scattered across the luxurious lounge, each of them resting their heads in their hands, looking completely drained and annoyed.
"Ugh, seriously, what are we even supposed to do with him now?" one of the queens sighed, tossing her hands up. "My entire mood is completely ruined."
"Mine too," another muttered from the couch. "The whole excitement of the wager just completely evaporated."
Haruto stood in the center of the room, looking at them with a flat expression. How is any of this my fault? he grumbled internally. Okay, fine. I hesitated and paused the mission, which objectively lowered my efficiency. But I only did it because I wanted to collect data on what Seraphine genuinely thought of me. How was I supposed to predict they would start a chaotic wrestling match? But whatever. What's done is done.
Looking around at the isolated, brooding queens, Haruto realized he was stuck in a total deadlock. Deciding he needed a technical bypass, he pinged his internal link. Sirehtea, can we run a quick analysis here? Is there any thing I can do to fix this atmosphere?
"Hello! Lucky for you, I just finished a full psychological scan of the room," Sirehtea's voice chimed in, sounding smug.
"And let me tell you, this 'anger' is a total system error. It's 100% a fake!"
A fake? Haruto asked.
"Yup! I just read their current emotional code,"
Sirehtea explained. "They aren't actually furious at you; they're just sulking because they wanted you to coax them and play along. Think about it, Haruto. The King is constantly buried in royal paperwork and doesn't give them much attention, and they don't have any younger kids running around anymore. The moment you walked in, they subconsciously started viewing you as their own son. They just want to be close to you."
Haruto's internal avatar deadpanned. Great. So what am I supposed to do with a bunch of high-level mother-in-laws throwing a coordinated tantrum?
"Oh, I have the absolute best idea!"
Sirehtea squealed happily. "Go up to each one of them, one by one, and give them a big, warm hug!"
Are you completely insane? Haruto immediately shot back, a rare spike of secondhand embarrassment hitting his system. I would look incredibly ridiculous doing that. Completely rejecting that option immediately.
"Fine, fine, sourpuss," Sirehtea giggled.
"Here is a tactical backup plan. Look over at that side table—there's a pen and a sheet of royal parchment. Pick it up and write a smooth, logical explanation of why you stopped. Explain your side, and then at the very bottom, write 'I'm sorry, Moms.' Trust me, a tiny bit of vulnerability will completely melt their defensive coding!"
Haruto walked over to the side table, picked up the pen, and quickly scribbled down the note exactly as Sirehtea suggested. He walked into the center of the lounge and gently handed the paper to the queen in the red dress.
The seven queens crowded around to read it. The moment their eyes hit the bottom of the page, a collective gasp echoed through the room. They froze in absolute shock. Haruto had explicitly written the words: "I'm sorry, Moms."
For a second, nobody moved. Then, tears actually began to well up in the eyes of a few queens. The emotional weight of that single word completely shattered their cold facades. Before Haruto could even process what was happening, the queen in the red dress dropped the paper, rushed forward, and wrapped him in a tight, fiercely protective hug. The other queens immediately swarmed in, joining the group hug and burying him in a mountain of royal affection.
Haruto stood entirely stiff, his mind struggling to compute the data. I don't get it, he mused internally. What is it about the word 'Moms' that caused a total system bypass like this? He suddenly remembered what the King had mentioned earlier—that Lilith's other brothers and sisters weren't in this world anymore. Did they pass away? Are they dead? Haruto realized this was a massive, classified secret in the kingdom's history. I'll definitely have to ask Lilith about what happened to her siblings later.
"Look at that! You got your hugs!" Sirehtea squealed gleefully in his head.
Oh, shut up. Yes, I did, Haruto replied, mentally rolling his eyes.
"Awww, look at you being a sweet boy!"
Come on, stop it. This is purely a tactical move, it's not who I am, Haruto shot back defensively in his thoughts.
The queens finally pulled back, wiping away their stray tears and beaming at him with pure affection.
"Alright, alright, we completely forgive you, Haruto!" one of the queens said, her voice full of warmth.
"Ugh, total faker," Sirehtea muttered inside his mind, completely flipping her previous stance.
Don't ruin the mood right now, Sirehtea, Haruto warned her internally. Let the script play out.
"Fine, fine, I'll be quiet!" she giggled.
The queen in the red dress patted Haruto's cheek gently.
"Just remember one thing from now on—we are officially your moms. So yes, you will always call us Moms! Now, since the official engagement ceremony is this evening, we are going to be the ones to get you fully ready. That is our final condition for forgiving you!"
Haruto didn't hesitate for a single fraction of a second; he immediately nodded his head 'yes'.
With his absolute compliance secured, the seven queens pulled him over to the vanity mirrors and went straight to work. This time, there were no jokes, no maid uniforms, and no silly wigs. They were determined to make him look like absolute royalty. They meticulously styled his natural white-and-black hair, expertly braiding a section at the back into a neat, elegant micro-braid that perfectly accented his sharp features.
By the time evening arrived, the queens stepped back to admire their masterpiece. Haruto looked like a legendary prince stepped straight out of a myth.
Haruto turned and looked at his reflection in the grand mirror. For a moment, even his usual detached expression softened. Wow... I actually look incredible, he thought, genuinely impressed by the craftsmanship. He couldn't quite fathom how they had coordinated such a flawless, high-tier royal look, but the visual data didn't lie.
Even though they had finished preparing him a full two hours before the actual ceremony, the queens were clearly ecstatic. They escorted Haruto to a massive, beautifully decorated holding room adjacent to the main hall.
"Now, stand right here and absolutely do not wrinkle these clothes!" the red-dressed queen instructed playfully.
"We have to go get ourselves ready for the ceremony now. Don't move!"
Haruto watched them wave goodbye as they closed the grand doors. He knew they had spent the last several hours completely teasing, exhausting, and bothering him. But as he recalled the look in their eyes right before they left, he couldn't deny the genuine, unadulterated happiness shining within them.
A faint, locked memory core deep within him buzzed slightly. A mother's love... Haruto thought quietly, staring at the closed door. If a real family's affection actually exists in this world, I suppose this is exactly what it feels like.