In the morning, as the first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon, a flying carriage, guided by a beautiful woman with long, flowing brown hair and captivating, but tired, almond-shaped eyes, pulled in front of a big mansion.
After overusing her ability to help sneak all the abductees into Zindal, Anna had to return the carriage to the mansion next. Luckily, Zindal wasn't far from Alex's mansion, which was conveniently situated between the two cities of their territories. Still, the former maid was utterly exhausted, and the dark circles under her eyes were proof of her weariness. She had pushed herself to the limit, and it showed in the way she slumped against the carriage seat, fighting to keep her eyes open.
As soon as the carriage rolled to a stop, Lilia, who had been meditating atop it, gracefully leapt to the ground, her movements fluid despite her time spent in stillness.
"Good morning, Lad—" Anna began to greet Lilia, but stopped mid-sentence as the red-headed woman turned a sharp glare in her direction. "G-Good morning," Anna hurriedly corrected herself.
"I've told you before, stop being so formal around me. You're not a maid anymore. Plus, you're also Alex's wife, so start acting like it," Lilia advised, stretching out her limbs. "And good morning to you too," she added, a bit softer this time, with a small nod of acknowledgment.
As the two women spoke, several men nearby, mostly guards and a few members of Alex's family, turned their curious gazes towards them.
Among the family members present were Nox, En, Zo, Ector, and Jonathan. The five of them had been training in the garden when they noticed the carriage landing at the gates. Recognizing the carriage that Alex had supposedly left in, they halted their training, their eyes fixated on the scene unfolding before them as Alex's wives stepped out of the carriage.
While some were merely curious, others like Nox and En wore vicious expressions, eager and ready to challenge Alex. The two of them, along with the others, had been training relentlessly for weeks, pushing their limits day and night. They were itching for the chance to take their revenge on Alex for the humiliation he had dealt them during the competition.
What they didn't realize, however, was that Alex wasn't even in the carriage; he was instead hundreds of kilometers away.
Their anticipation quickly turned into surprise, but not due to Alex's absence. Rather, it was because their attention was completely stolen the moment Anita descended from the carriage.
Nox, En, and every other man in the vicinity froze the instant their eyes landed on Anita. She was, without a doubt, one of the most breathtakingly beautiful women they had ever seen.
Seeing her chatting and laughing with Lilia and Anna, the men were captivated, their eyes drawn to her dazzling smile and pearly white teeth. In that moment, many of them felt their hearts skip a beat as they fell under her spell.
"W-Who is that?" Nox stammered, turning to ask En, but received no reply.
Glancing around, he noticed En was no longer beside him. Scanning the area, Nox's eyes widened in shock as he spotted his brother kneeling before Anita, his hand outstretched as though he was proposing to her.
It wasn't just as if he was proposing to her; he was legit proposing to her, right there on the spot.
"I don't know your name yet, my lady, but I can confidently say that you have already conquered my heart. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" En proposed with the most sincere and devoted expression he could muster.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The whole world seemed to fall into a sudden, eerie silence, with the only sound being the echo of En's voice hanging in the air.
Everyone who witnessed En's proposal was left with a mix of shock and awkwardness plastered across their faces. Some were bewildered, others slightly amused, but most were just plainly uncomfortable with what they had just seen.
'Oh gods, please no, don't tell me he just did that,' Zo thought in utter despair as he watched his twin brother kneeling on the ground with a ridiculous, goofy expression, his hand outstretched towards Anita. In moments like these, Zo truly hated the fact that he was a carbon copy of his brother!
Meanwhile, Anita, the one receiving the unexpected proposal, looked back at En with a distressed expression, unsure of how to respond. She had never been in such a situation before!
The only thing she knew for certain was that she didn't want to marry this man—whoever he was—because she already liked someone else.
Seeing Anita's discomfort, Lilia decided to step in and rescue the half-Virax.
"She is but a commoner, you know," Lilia addressed En with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you despised commoners."
En glanced at her, gritting his teeth, but then quickly refocused on Anita. "I don't mind your commoner origins, my lady. The only thing that matters is the love I feel for you."
"What a hypocrite," Anna spat out loud, her face twisting in disgust.
En had been the very one who mocked her and tried to humiliate Alex in front of the family for expressing his love for her. So, Anna didn't hold En in her heart and made no effort to hide her disdain.
"You—" En started, ready to lash out at Anna, but he froze as Lilia shot him a glare, her scarlet eyes locking onto him like a predator cornering its prey.
Under her gaze, the fiery anger that had sparked in En's eyes was instantly extinguished. For some reasons, he felt that that already scary woman had become even more scary and it was better for him to not cross her.
Gritting his teeth, he tried to regain his composure and focus on Anita again, but when he saw her take a step back from him, his heart sank.
"Sorry, but I'm already engaged to someone else," Anita said, her tone turning cold.
She had noticed how En had been about to lash out at Anna, and it made her feel that he wasn't a good person. Remembering what Lilia had said about his disdain for commoners, Anita became even more certain that she wanted nothing to do with him.
"Whoever the guy you're engaged to, he doesn't deserve someone like you," En replied, his tone dripping with arrogance.
The instant he said that, Anita's eyes glowed intensely for a split second, and she spat out, "He is still better than you!"
A moment later though, she came to a stop and wondered to herself why she was reacting so fiercely.
Meanwhile, En continued speaking, "Say who this person is, and I'll show you that he is nothing compared to me," En demanded, his voice full of self-assured arrogance.
At that instant, Anna smiled and asked, "you sure about that?"
"Hmph, just say who this person is," En retorted, his bravado unshaken.
"If you insist," Anna's smile turned devilish. "The one she is engaged to is Alex."
The moment Alex's name was mentioned, En froze, his lips trembling as he tried to form words. "W-Which Alex?"
"How many Alexes do you know?" Anna replied, looking at him like he was a retard. "Of course, I'm talking about my husband."
There was no mistaking it now. The man who had tortured him and still haunted Zo's nightmares was the one engaged to the sublime woman before him.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, En straightened up and turned to leave without saying another word.
"Where are you going? I thought you were going to show her that the man she's engaged to is nothing compared to you?" Anna teased, her devilish grin widening to reveal her pearly white teeth.
En gritted his teeth but said nothing. As much as he was attracted to Anita, he wasn't foolish enough to try to steal her from Alex. The last time, that monster had poisoned him and inflicted immense pain just for "insulting" his woman. He couldn't even imagine what that psychopath would do if he tried to take his fiancée.
'Now that I think about it, perhaps I should leave the mansion before he comes back,' En thought as he hurriedly disappeared into the mansion.
Meanwhile, the three women burst into giggles as they watched En retreat the moment Alex's name was mentioned.
What they didn't know was that, besides En, several other men, including Ector and Nox, had been preparing to propose to Anita as well. However, En had acted too quickly, and the instant they too heard Alex's name, most of them quickly turned their gazes away from her.
Still giggling, the three women made their way toward the mansion, their laughter echoing through the quiet courtyard.
As they walked, Ector, Zo, and Jonathan couldn't help but watch the three women with a mixture of admiration and envy. Even though they had much more control over their emotions than En and Nox, they couldn't completely suppress the pang of jealousy that stirred within them. How could one man have so much luck? All of Alex's wives were extremely stunning!
If only at that time they had known that Alex would extend his clutches into the family and make all the hotties his wives, they probably would have died of a heart attack.