Inside Jace's room, Adriel was sweating crazily as soon as she set foot inside. The reason for this was in front of her eyes.
'Wha...wha...what is going on here..!? There's six girls in this room. That is not something unusual. But, what is with their beauty..!? This girl with similar features as Adam seems to be his sister but also his lover..? But she's so cute..! And this two girls near her! One of them is a beauty with blue hair and other is a golden haired beauty...!'
She was obviously thinking about the trio of Amy, Xesteria and Elbereth. But she felt defeated when she turned towards her right. There was two girls with similar features to each other talking. The last one was talking to Adam.
'I don't know if they are trying to fool me or not, but, if I am not wrong, the two standing there seems to sisters..? And who's that beauty talking to Adam..?'
The last three she saw was Jace and her little sister Lucia and Celeste who was talking with Adam.
As if sensing her inner turmoil, as always the kind one, Xesteria asked, "What's wrong, Princess..? Are we making it uncomfortable for you..?"
Flinching slightly at her mention, Adriel was about to say something as Adam said, "She must be confused about everyone's presence. Why don't you all introduce yourself..?"
He obviously didn't want to disclose the information about the girl's identities as it would bring a lot of trouble.
The first one to introduce was Amy, of course!
"It's nice to meet you, your highness, the imperial princess. I am Amanda von Malevier, fiancee of Adam."
"Huh..? You are...his sister, right..?"
Understanding her confusion, Amy explained,
"Indeed. I am his sister. But, I was adopted by the family of my cousins, so my name was changed."
Adriel nodded. But she asked, "I don't want to be rude. But may I ask you something..?"
Amy nodded. "Did you not feel uncomfortable when you knew that your brother is your future husband..?"
Smiling brightly at the mention of her love life, Amy responded by holding her hand towards her heart with closed eyes.
"No. In fact, it was something I yearned for years... I was very scared of how would he react to my feelings. So, when I heard his feelings, I was happy. So happy that i don't know what to do!"
As she said this, her beautiful eyes were looking at Adam lovingly. Even the other girl's weren't unaffected by her display of affection, as everyone other than Adam and Celeste were blushing because of embarrassment.
He only smiled at her which was filled with affection and love. Adriel didn't know what to say. She was blushing as well. As she was a battle junkie, she never had the chance to enjoy something like romance, so, something like this was extremely effective against her.
As if to change the pink atmosphere created by Adam and Amy, Xesteria quickly introduced herself,
"A-ahem! It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness, the imperial princess. My name is Xesteria von Malevier, also a fiancee of Adam."
Following her lead, others also introduced themselves. Only Celeste didn't. She didn't want to. She didn't care. No one, even Adam didn't scolded her. She had her freedom. But, even if she doesn't want to say her name, he will do it to respect Adriel.
"This is Celeste. Although, she isn't cold like you think, she doesn't like to act all familiar with strangers. All you have to know is that, she's also my fiancee."
Only Jace, Lucia, and Celeste were the one who has yet to announce their position as his fiancee. But, incidentally, Jace and Celeste didn't want to marry in front of the crowd. Thus, only the other girls and Lucia was his official future wives. There's also Milly. But, it would be a lot of time before they can be together.
Blinking in shock, Adriel asked, "Are...all of them your fiancee..?"
He nodded and Added, "Jace and Celeste doesn't want to marry officially. But, indeed, they are my future wives."
Adriel didn't know what to say. Now she understood what did Ruby mean when she said that the competition is very fierce. She could only sigh in defeat.
"Ahhh.....! I can't believe this..! You are quite lucky to marry these beauties...!"
Adam nodded and said, "Yeah, I know. I am very, very lucky..." His eyes were glued to the girls. They could see that he was telling this very seriously, and honestly. All of them couldn't but hide their face due to embarrassment. Even if they are world's biggest blockhead, they wouldn't be able to hold back if they heard that the person they love say this filled with truth and gratefulness.
Feeling as if she just tried to self-explode, Adriel felt as if her anger was increasing a whole lot. Thus, startling everyone, she shouted, "Stop looking so dazed! You idiot heartless people!"
Seeing that she is running away after saying this, Adam bid the girls farewell and followed her. The girls all smiled at this. Then, as the representative, Xe's said, "It's increasing..."
The other girls nodded. But, they could only give up. With their experience, they knew how hard was it to reject him. Thus, they could only pray that, Adam would have the heart to reject some of them.
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After running away from the room filled with pink mist of love, Adriel stopped at a beautiful looking garden filled with flowers. In the middle of it, there was a beautiful platform decorated by vines. She sat on the chair she saw on the platform and sighed.
'I was only trying to make him love me, so that i can get stronger under his guidance. But after seeing them, I can say that he doesn't have an interest in me. What's more, his love for them was real. So even if he fell for me, he would have loved me sincerely. But, here I was trying to use him, just for my desires..! I am not worthy of him! How am I going to face him from now on..?! That's right! I should leave as soon as I can....'
"Hmmm.... I've never thought a muscle brain would actually think so much... So you can also think huh..."
Hearing a familiar voice mocking her, her whole sadness left her mind as she shouted at the owner of the voice, "Who are you calling muscle brain..?! Y-Y-Y-You blockhead..!"
Although he was surprised, he only chuckled at her shout. Mistaking that he was making fun of her, Adriel glared at him and but her body flinched when Adam suddenly changed his attitude and asked,
"What is troubling you, trouble princess..? Perhaps, you were thinking of something bad..?"
Seeing her reaction, he wanted to chuckle once more, but held back as she again asked, "So, what were you thinking..?"
Feeling guilty, she kept her face hidden as she answered him, "I...I was trying to..trick you..."
Although he heard it, he asked like he didn't care, "I see. So what..?"
Blinking in confusion, Adriel asked, "Didn't you just heard me..? I said, I was trying to trick you...!"
Adam nodded and threw another question, "I heard it. So what..? Tell me, were you thinking of hurting me physically or mentally..?"
She thought for a moment. 'Although I wanted to trick him into loving me, I never wanted to hurt him or his feelings. If he had accepted it, I would have obviously loved him.'
She shook her head. He continued, "Did you wanted to hurt my family, or those who are important to me..?"
She raised her brows and shook her head again.
'Who does he think I am..? Why would I even try to hurt your family..?'
"Then, did you had any I'll intentions, when you were planning to trick me....?" She denied again.
"Then, I don't see, why are you feeling guilty..."
Not understanding his thought process, Adriel asked in frustration, "I was trying to trick you, and you are saying that, there's nothing wrong with it..?"
He smiled and asked, "What were your aim..?"
"I..i was going to make you love me, and then learn from you, so that, I can be stronger..!"
She said it. She admitted her mistake. But against her expectations, Adam laughed loudly. Blushing at his reaction, Adriel wanted to bury this laughing boy deep into the ground. But feeling too embarrassed, she hugged her knees and hid her face.
"I can't believe this..! You were actually trying to make me fall in love with you so that you can learn from me..?!"
She didn't respond. Knowing, he was actually making it more bad, he stopped laughing and said, "Why do you even think that you have to be my lover to learn from me...?"
Hearing this, she too, blinked in surprise. She didn't thought that far ahead.
Trying his best not to laugh, Adam said, "Ruby is not my lover, you know..? In fact, I was going to pick someone I liked from the tournament participants to be my next student. So, how about, for the sake of our friendship, I accept you..?"
She immediately perked up and asked in a low voice, "You aren't angry..?"
He smiled. "If I was, I would have long ago punished you. I am very magnanimous~"
Feeling as if he was mocking her again, she puffed her cheeks and pouted. But, she smiled which was the perfect reflection of a blooming flower and said,
"Mmm~! I want to learn!"
He nodded. "Very well. But before that, you have to return to your father and explain it to him. Without his permission, I won't take you in. It's not because I am scared or anything. I just don't want a stupid parent who's spoiling you too much to march here with an army just because of this small reason."
She wasn't surprised by this demand. But she was very reluctant to leave. But, wanting to learn more from him, she decided to return. But surprising him, she asked, "I am willing. But I too do have a demand. I want you to come with me to the empire. I want to introduce you to my father. After he see you, may be he will accept this easily."
This was true as well. But, he didn't want to leave the country unless it's necessary. But seeing Adriel showing a pitiful face, he sighed and said,
"Haah... Very well. You can decide when to leave. I will go inform the king and the girls." Saying so, he left. As she was alone in this garden, Adriel muttered to herself while looking at the sky,
"I can understand why those girls are so in love with you... With your gentle character, it's impossible for a pure maiden to not fall for you. Even me too...."