"Yuki-san, may I come in now?"
"? Yes, of course. What's wrong?"
I closed the book I was reading.
"No…well…how should I put it? It's nothing in particular, but…"
She sat down next to me, looking a little embarrassed and fumbling her words.
Then, with a somewhat unaccustomed look on her face, she leaned over me and then lay down on my lap.
…What was going on?
She seemed to be uncomfortable, and after a moment, she raised herself up and held my hand.
Long, thin, beautiful fingers.
When I squeezed her hand lightly, she twitched her body, and then she gingerly squeezed my hand back.
There was a look of embarrassment on her face. Red cheeks.
"Oh, Layla-san. You seem somewhat restless. What happened?"
"No, I mean… It's just, I am now realizing that I'm one of Yuki-san's wives…"
"Well, ah… you did become my wife…"
She said this shyly and with a great deal of embarrassment, and I also started to feel embarrassed.
At last, I finally have a connection with Layla… Well, I mean, a relationship.
She became my fourth wife.
…To have four wives …I didn't think I could be so successful with this.
It was a super harem. Hahahaha. Though I do wonder how much I would be cornered by them in the future.
"So…I'm not really used to this kind of thing, but I thought I should actively spoil you from now on. However, I'm not used to this kind of thing, I'm not sure if I'm pampering you well or not…"
"Hahaha, I see."
I see… so that was what she had in mind and why she was acting so suspicious.
I was surprised to see her acting this way, even though she usually behaved perfectly normal when she was with the others.
When I unintentionally laughed a little, Layla showed a slight pout of her lips to show her dissatisfaction.
Layla was also really showing this kind of face more and more often.
I think it was the cutest thing to see Layla-san, who always looks so calm, making an embarrassed face like this.
Gap Moe, it was good, I think.
"Mou, I'm really worried about it… you know?"
"No, I'm sorry. I just thought it was a very peculiar problem for you."
It was just like Layla-san to be worried about something like that.
"…Unlike everyone else, I am a woman without charm. I'm not sure if I'm doing well in that aspect."
I smiled at her as she honestly shared her thoughts with me.
"Are you saying you're not a pretty girl? I never once thought you were not. There have been a lot of times when I found you really cute, you know?"
"…Yuki-san is so quick wooing us like that…"
With that, she leaned into me again, intertwining her fingers with mine.
Finally, she seemed to be more comfortable in this manner.
"I'm an honest guy, what I think comes right out of my mouth."
"Well, maybe it is true that you are a person who can't tell a lie!"
I wondered why it sounded a bit pathetic when you said it even though the meaning should be the same.
"Don't worry, I've never thought of you as a pathetic person. I can read it in your face, you know?"
"Really?"
"Of course. There have been times when I thought you were strange, but…"
"I'm glad you're being honest with me, because I can indeed feel our bond growing stronger."
"Right? From now on, I have decided to live honestly in my heart like a resident of this labyrinth. So, Yuki-san, please be prepared for that.
"Oh, that's good, but please be gentle with me."
We joked around like that and both laughed at the same time.
"Layla, this is something I've been meaning to ask you… don't you have a custom of having a ceremony in the Sheep Horn Clan?"
"By ceremony, you mean a marriage ceremony like Lyuu did, right?"
"Oh, yes. Yes, that kind of thing."
Layla shook her head.
"Our Clan doesn't have anything like that. We are an almost all-female race, and since we often have children through relationships with men of other races, the idea of 'blood relatives' is probably a bit thin on our side. That's why we probably didn't develop the rituals to become relatives."
…I see.
Layla's family had an extremely low incidence of male births.
This meant that they needed to include the blood of other races more and more, so naturally, "blood relations" may not be considered as important.
In fact, when I visited that village, there was an atmosphere of "home" for the whole place, but I did not think that individual family members were so important.
Well, in their case, I guess knowledge would be more important than those things.
"I mean, to be honest, I think it's more unusual to see something like that! I think in general, just like at Nell's place, if both parties are satisfied, then the only thing left to do is to meet the relatives."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, my family is wealthy…really wealthy, and it was mostly thanks to Yuki-san, but it takes a lot of money to set up such a big ceremony… In Lyuu's case, inviting her family to a formal marriage ceremony is a must, after all, she can be considered a young lady."
That girl, even though Lyuu acted like a tomboy, was still the daughter of the Chief.
"Well…maybe that's true. In my previous life, people were considered a married couple when they performed a wedding ceremony, so maybe my common sense is a little off."
In reality, I think they were considered a married couple after the wedding ceremony, although the marriage was actually registered with the authorities.
I did not get married in my previous life, nor did I know anyone who was married, so I did not know the details of the marriage.
"In Yuki-san's world, it was different, wasn't it?"
"Oh, it was different. I don't know the details, though. On the contrary, I've hardly ever heard of people not doing so. …I guess it's because people were much richer in my previous life than in this world, after all."
"I see… Yuki-san's stories about his past life are always interesting…"
"It's different from the way the world works here."
I see. Layla's place didn't have that kind of ceremony?
Hmmm…
"Yuki-san, do you want to have a wedding ceremony?"
"Hmm, yes, I do. …Well, to be honest, it's not so much that I want to have a wedding, but rather I want to see you in a beautiful bridal gown. You have such fair skin and your white hair is so beautiful, I'm sure it would look great on you."
Layla was especially fair-skinned, so it's easy to notice when she turned red from embarrassment, I like that.
"…Really, you're so quick to say things like that…"
"Oh, I've always wanted to say that. Now that we're in a relationship where I can say as much as I want. Don't you like it?"
"…That's not fair, that way of asking…"
She was my wife now.
Now, even if I said this to her face, it wouldn't be considered sexual harassment, so I could say it as much as I wanted.
From now on, I would like to say a lot of things that I have been suppressing until now.
"…Since you've had relationships with Lefi, Nell, and Lyuu, Yuki-san, you've definitely become less shy about saying those words…"
"I won't deny it."
I laughed, and she looked embarrassed after all and continued her words in a mischievous way.
"…At any rate, I understand Yuki-san's wish. If that's the case…when I bear a child, will you allow me to hold a blessing ceremony in our family's village? At that time…I will also wear the bridal gown that Yuki-san wants…"
"Nn…okay. That would be great."
Together…let's get the other three to wear them too, right?
I was so excited.
And then Layla made a face as if she had come up with some kind of payback, and unlike the embarrassed look she had earlier, she now looked at my face from up close, with a bewitching smile on her face.
My heart beat loudly as she unexpectedly directed her sexy expression at me.
"So, Yuki-san…please love me a lot from now on…?"
"Oh, oh…of course. What's the matter, you suddenly started pushing me?"
"I'm not just going to be beaten either, you know? I've had so many words of love whispered to me. As a wife, I have to return the favor."
Layla stroked her finger under my chin, and the feeling sent an involuntary jolt through my back.
Then she clutched my arms tightly around her ample breasts and held them tightly against me.
This was a bad idea…when Layla started to go on the offensive, she was particularly the most aggressive one among my wives…she was the most stylish and feminine among all my wives as well.
"Oh, Yuki-san, what's wrong? Your heart seems to be beating a lot faster than before."
Layla placed her hand over my heart and said so with a bewitching smile.
"No, that's not true. I have multiple wives, I'm a winner! I'm good with women!"
"Yuki-san, I don't think it's right for you to say that, and I don't think you're that good with women if you get so excited by this, you know…?"
Kuh, calm down… I should not give away the initiative here.
Well, rewind, rewind.
…Okay, now was the time to deal my cards.
I pulled out the arm pinned to Layla's chest and faced her directly, though to be frank, I was very reluctant to do so.
"Layla-san."
"Yes, Yuki-san."
"I have something I want to give you. Can you give me your left hand?"
She looked as if she had realized something, and then she held out her left hand to me with such a happy expression on her face that she could not hide her inner feelings anymore.
I opened my item box and took it out of it and put it on the ring finger of her slender, smooth left hand.
It was a ring.
Like the other three, it was a simple silver ring with the same design as the others, only the jewel embedded in the center of the cross was a different color for each of them.
I started making it some time ago and finally finished it the other day.
"I've been trying to figure out when to give it to you…"
Layla held the ring on her finger out in front of her, looking at it from various angles.
Eagerly, with a passionate gaze.
"Layla."
"…Yes."
"Again. From now on, please live with me."
At my words, she.
She wiped the tears from her eyes with her fingers.
She let out a full, unclouded, flower-like smile.
"Yes!"
She replied.