Haruto's eyes snapped open as the bright morning sunlight cut straight through the grand royal windows, hitting his face. He blinked against the glare, his head slightly groggy, and scanned the perimeter. He was still inside the luxurious palace bedroom, but he noticed the heavy bedroom door was now cracked slightly open. Looks like the Queens or the guards finally unlocked it after everyone passed out, he thought.
Needing to clear his mind, Haruto went to push himself up. But the moment he planted his hand firmly onto the mattress to get some leverage, his palm brushed against smooth, warm human skin.
He froze. His gaze shot downward, and his eyes widened in absolute shock.
He wasn't just sharing the bed with Lilith and Seraphine anymore. The royal bed was absolutely massive, and spread out in a chaotic circle all around him were all five of his new fiancées. Lilith, Seraphine, Ivory, Bellona, and Lustra were all fast asleep, completely dead to the world after the wild events of the night.
Before Haruto could even process how the three goddesses had ended up sneaking into the locked room, a sudden cold breeze hit his chest. He looked down at himself and realized with a jolt of pure panic that his royal shirt was completely gone.
A heavy sweat broke out on his forehead as his survival instincts instantly redlined. Wait... where is my shirt?! What on earth happened last night after I blacked out?! Terrified of what he might find, Haruto frantically checked below the heavy velvet blankets to inspect his lower half. He held his breath, his heart hammering violently against his ribs until he finally confirmed the status of his gear. He let out a massive, trembling sigh of relief, sinking slightly back into the pillows.
Uff... thank goodness. My pants are still perfectly on.
Haruto carefully slipped his legs out from under the heavy velvet blanket, doing his absolute best not to disturb any of the five sleeping girls. As he stood up, he scanned the bed for his missing clothes. He couldn't find his shirt anywhere, and when he glanced over at the girls, he noticed their royal outer dresses were scattered on the floor, though they were all completely covered up to their shoulders by the massive blankets. Not wanting to get caught staring or accidentally trigger a disastrous misunderstanding, he decided against doing a thorough search. He quietly crept across the room and slipped out the open door into the bright palace corridor, shirtless and completely barefoot.
The moment he stepped into the hallway, his eyes landed on one of the Queens walking down the corridor.
Haruto instantly choked up. His system clock showed that his daily timer had reset, meaning his voice pack and human emotional matrix were available again. If I don't unlock my voice right now, I won't be able to defend myself or explain this insanity, he thought. Plus, the engagement excuse won't work anymore since the ceremony is officially over. Without a second thought, he mentally hit the button to claim his voice pack.
As the emotional data flooded his brain, a massive wave of awkwardness and nervous tension hit him all at once. His face flushed pink as he realized he was standing bare-chested in front of royalty. Steeling his nerves, he walked up to her, trying to look as composed as possible.
"Good morning" Haruto said, his newly unlocked voice sounding a bit tight from nervousness.
"Could I... possibly get an explanation as to what exactly is going on here?"
The Queen stopped, turning her sharp eyes onto him. She slowly looked him up and down, a highly amused, teasing smile breaking across her face.
"My, aren't we bold this morning? Do you feel no shame at all, walking around a royal palace completely shirtless, Haruto?"
Haruto crossed his arms, his face turning a shade darker as he huffed defensively.
"With all due respect, you all have dressed and undressed me so many times before the ceremonies, and you people practically barged into my bath space before. Compared to that, a missing shirt is absolutely nothing."
The Queen let out a soft laugh, clearly enjoying how flustered he was.
"Alright, fair enough. Tell me, what is it that you want to know?"
"I want to know why all five of them are in my room, and what the palace is doing today," Haruto asked, gesturing generally to the bustling energy in the lower halls.
"Ah, today is a very busy maintenance day for the kingdom," the Queen explained calmly, checking a document in her hand.
"We have a lot of administrative work to catch up on after last night's celebration. Right now, I am personally overseeing the palace structural maintenance. Two of the other Queens are handling the royal clothing and textile shelf, another is managing the kingdom's finance reports, one is out in the grand gardens, and the fifth is currently in a meeting with the King."
She paused, counting them on her fingers with a sudden, puzzled frown.
"Wait... that leaves the last Queen. She was supposed to be stationed near your wing to check up on your status this morning. It looks like she is completely slacking off and avoiding her duties somewhere. I will have to find her and deal with that later. But anyway, you didn't answer my question—what do you need right now?"
"Madam—" Haruto started, but the Queen instantly cut him off with a bright, cheerful laugh.
"Ahaha! Did you already forget what we told you in your room yesterday? From today onward, you are officially part of the family. You must call us 'Moms,' 'Mummy,' or whatever you like, but definitely not 'Madam'!"
Haruto's face instantly flushed a deep pink from the pure, unlocked awkwardness of his emotional pack. He rubbed the back of his neck and stammered,
"Uh... Mummy... please listen to me. Why on earth are all five of them passed out on my bed right now?"
The Queen raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a knowing smirk.
"My, didn't you drink the Drape Fruit juice last night?"
Hearing that name, Haruto instantly remembered the horrifying projection of his burning internal organs. He jokingly stuck his tongue out in disgust and muttered,
"I drank it, alright. A lot of it. They forced an entire two-liter bottle down my throat."
The Queen's eyes widened, and she burst into a hearty laugh.
"A whole two liters?! My goodness, with that massive dosage, you should have been completely knocked out cold for at least three or four days! How are you already up and walking around? I honestly thought Lilith forgot to make you drink it."
"What do you mean by that?" Haruto asked, his analytical mind blinking.
"Well,we told Lilith to make you drink that but leave that aside, normal people take four to five days just to wake up from that stuff," the Queen explained casually.
"And as for why all five are in your room—when we noticed that every single finger on your left hand was suddenly loaded with engagement rings, and that the three girls were wearing matching bands on their ring fingers, we immediately understood what you did on that balcony. So, we gave those three their own doses of Drape Fruit juice and sent them right into your room to join the party. Tell me, did anything... interesting happen between you five last night?"
Haruto's face instantly redlined into a burning neon crimson.
"N-No! Absolutely not! We all just fell asleep immediately! Heheh..." he laughed nervously, his heart racing.
The Queen tapped her chin, genuinely baffled.
"How strange... then how did your body process the toxin so quickly?"
Before Haruto could worry about his hidden god-level internal entities being discovered, the Queen clapped her hands sharply. From the shadows of the corridor, an elderly maid with a warm, deeply lined face stepped forward and bowed elegantly.
"Haruto, meet one of our most loyal and trusted palace officials," the Queen introduced with a soft smile.
The elderly woman smiled warmly at him.
"It is an absolute honor to finally meet you, sir. My name is Emilie. I am looking after your schedule today."
Haruto managed a polite, albeit awkward, bare-chested smile back.
"Nice to meet you, Emilie."
The Queen turned back to Emilie, her expression softening with genuine maternal pride.
"Emilie, give this boy a proper taste of the high-tier royal luxury life today. After all, he has completely won the hearts of our daughter, and she loves him dearly."
With a final, playful wave to the shirtless and thoroughly embarrassed Haruto, the Queen turned on her heel and elegantly walked down the corridor to return to her maintenance duties.
"Queen! Wait!" Haruto called out, but she kept walking, completely ignoring the title. Realizing his mistake, he quickly corrected himself and shouted, "Mom!"
The Queen stopped instantly, turning around with a satisfied, triumphant grin. "Now that is much better. See? You're learning fast. What is it?"
"Where are you going?" Haruto asked, still feeling incredibly exposed.
"I already told you, I have an endless mountain of administrative maintenance to handle today," she replied, waving a hand dismissively.
"We can't play around. By the way, why don't you head to the academy today? If you're feeling out of place in the palace, take Emilie with you. In fact, from today onward, she will be moving into your mansion to serve you until you officially shift here to the royal quarters."
"Wait what?" Haruto nodded.
As the Queen turned to leave again, she added over her shoulder,
"The King is entirely tied up in meetings, but since no one expected you to clear that and wake up this quickly, we've arranged a personal escort for you today. You'll have five royal guards and Kobi—you remember him, right? He'll be your personal rider. Is there anything else you need?"
Haruto frowned slightly, using his clear voice to object.
"Mom, listen... I really don't need this army of guards or a personal maid following me around. Please just take them back."
"Oh? And why is that?" the Queen asked, pausing.
"I just prefer handling things on my own," Haruto muttered. "Please, just let them stay on my own."
Before the Queen could answer, Emilie stepped forward, her elderly face filled with a sudden, deeply earnest look of worry.
"sir... please. The Queen has personally commanded me to serve you today. If I am sent back without fulfilling my duties, what am I supposed to do? Please, I beg of you, just allow me to serve you for today."
Haruto looked directly into Emilie's warm, pleading eyes. With his emotional pack currently active, the sheer sincerity in her gaze hit his system metrics, and he found it absolutely impossible to say no to her.
He let out a defeated sigh.
"Alright, fine. But I am absolutely not taking those five royal guards. Kobi is useful since he's my rider, but no extra guards. And Emilie... you are only coming with me for today, okay?"
Emilie's face completely lit up, and she bowed deeply with a bright, grateful smile.
"Thank you, sir, as you wish."
Seeing him handle the situation, the Queen raised a hand in a silent, approving gesture and elegantly vanished down the corridor.
Haruto turned back to the elderly maid, rubbing his bare arms as a chilly draft passed through the hallway. "Emilie... since I need to head out, can you find me a spare set of my academy uniform? I really need to get to class today."
Emilie smiled warmly, bowing once more with absolute grace.
"Of course. Your command is my absolute honor. I will have it brought to you immediately."