No wonder my voice sounded so raspy. Somehow, that nightmare had affected me in real life too! I can feel sweats running down my back and forehead after Rose showed me a mirror and I inspected my neck. That certainly looked like strangulation marks.
I immediately asked Lily again on whether she was seriously not pregnant and she told me to quit. She was already embarrassed enough that she have to keep answering me on such a question. She warned me that if I continued asking this question again, she's gonna make herself pregnant with my child for real. I quickly submitted to her request and promised her that I won't be asking her again.
On a serious note, what's going on though? Can a nightmare affect you in reality? This is the first time I've ever experienced such a thing. I hope this doesn't become a common occurrence in the future, otherwise I can never sleep peacefully ever again.
Changing the topic of the conversation at hand, I clarified with them on how long was I out. Rose informed me that I was unconscious for about a week. John, together with Peter had taken the liberty of reorganising the city, despite his injuries. He had broken one of his arm during his fight with the Dragon Lord. The Dark and Paladin Lord had yet to regain consciousness. Their intense battle with the Captain had worn them out tremendously. The Elementalist, on the other hand, was still bedridden until he fully recovers.
After the majority of the demons were disposed off, the defected and surviving soldiers helped in escorting civilians back or reconstruction of the city. The Queen's body was available for the public to view albeit without a head. I am surprised her body remained despite her head had disintegrated, but it was charred to the bone by my Lightning Strike. Will people actually buy it? Or will they accuse me or the adventurers guild of mutiny? Either way, I'm sure that people will find ways to twist the truth with all of their conspiracy theories. That's just how the human mind works.
Peter personally took charge in calming the folks, guiding them on what they needed to do and making announcements to the public when necessary. He made it extremely clear that he will not be taking over the city as he is not the rightful ruler and is only here to help out. A new order of council consisting of humans and elves will be elected to run the city. No longer will the City Of Pines be under a single ruler. The royal bloodline is finished as the previous Queen was the only reported royal blood that remained. Thank goodness she didn't have a child.
Lily awoke the following day after she had collapsed while Rose woke up two days later. Lily had to juggle between herself in caring for the both of us, which I thanked her gratefully for it. Will have to treat this woman to a fancy meal after I'm out of here.
After both of them were feeling better, they started helping out with the city which is to collect the corpses of the fallen. They made it very clear that they do not wish to experience it again as it was a difficult and horrendous job to go through. Lily personally went to retrieve Rick's body and the both of them buried him with respect. They will escort me to pay my respect when I officially discharge from here.
A doctor knocked on my door and asked whether it was a good time for him to intrude as he was here to check on my condition. The both of them told him it was alright and headed out of my room. Rose whispered something to the doctor before heading out. He gave a confused expression to her but nodded in response.
"Welcome home, Onii-chan," smiled Rose as she paused before leaving left my room. Wow, that certainly hit me with a reality check. She's completely right. I finally have a place to call home without feared of being discovered. Perhaps I can consider purchasing a house within the city and start a family. Right, for that to happen, I will need a wife first.
The doctor came closer and began inspecting me. "That was a lovely girl. You are— pretty lucky to have those two visiting you. So, tell me, how are you feeling today?" he asked me casually. I informed him that aside from my body aches and raspy voice, I'm relatively fine. He then proceeded to check my neck with a "Hmm" expression and wrote something in his report.
"How bizarre, there was absolutely no sign of strangulation marks yesterday," he mumbled to himself.
"Mister Zen, is it? Do you have a history of alien hand syndrome where you have no control over your own hands? Those are definitely strangle marks caused by someone's hands. Unless, you wish to tell me that one of those two lovely ladies earlier decided to get rough with you." he asked me.
I answered to him with a no. I do not have any history or evidence of that happening before. The doctor was certainly puzzled as strangle marks don't appear out of nowhere. I withheld the information about my nightmare being the reason for causing the marks, otherwise I might be sent to the asylum. I will have to get to the bottom of this myself. Makes me afraid of sleeping now. Perhaps I did choke myself without realising it when I was unconscious.
"When do you think I can discharge from here, doc?" I asked him.
"A couple of days, perhaps. Provided there are no other strange marks that appear on your body for no particular reason," answered the doctor.
I might have to ask either Rose or Lily to tie my hands before I sleep tonight. Rose, definitely. She always seemed eager to tie me up, as I recall. Shit, why the hell am I thinking about all the stupid stuffs that she can be doing with a rope? And why the hell is my buddy reacting to it?!
The doctor made it very clearly that I do not leave the hospital until I am fully recovered. I was, however, allowed to roam the building. Making sure that this isn't another form of nightmare, I stood up cautiously. A quick body check confirmed that my body aches were the only pain I have now. The dagger wounds were healing up nicely thanks to my healing gel. I should donate that recipe to as many cities as I can as it helps in saving lives. No point in capitalising on it when people's lives can be saved.
There was a mirror in the room where I used to inspect my neck wound again. Can this be from that time when the Queen were choking me? No, her hand strangled me from behind and then moved to the front while this one was clearly chocked from the front and with two hands. There must be some unknown force that did this. But who? The God the Queen worshipped? I shuddered thinking about that possibility. If Gods can start killing you in your dreams, then we're pretty much screwed.
I decided to take a walk outside of my room. Peeking out the door, there were certainly a lot of people moving about. Too many for my liking, honestly. I instigated this war, and all the people who ended up in the hospital is because of me. I felt incredibly guilty to even put a foot out of my room. Did I really did the right thing? Was war really the answer? I did not regret killing the Queen but perhaps we could had just assassinated her in the first place? No, we discussed about this. Assassinating her would had earned her innocence instead. Even if we showed her body to the public that she was in fact a Demon, I'm certain that the people in the city will hate me no matter the consequences for assassinating the Queen. At least in an all out war, there was plenty of evidence that demons were in fact involved with it.
I braved myself and took a first step out of my room. Rose and Lily was nowhere in sight. Perhaps they were needed elsewhere. Roaming about, I realised that I was instinctively looking for something. What is it that I'm looking for? I body seems to remember something that involves slotting a coin into something big and food or drinks will magically drop out. Is there no such thing available here? Where is this strange craving coming from?
"Zen? Is that you?" asked a familiar voice from behind.
"Miss Angelica, fancy meeting you here. Are you visiting someone perhaps?" I answered with my raspy voice.
"Oh my, what happened to your voice? Are those— strangle marks?! Did you upset either of your fiancées that they decided to get physical on you?" chuckled Angelica.
"Wait— my fiancées? With an S?" I asked with a puzzled look.
"Oh, don't act dumb, you. Every adventurer knows that Rose and Lily are unobtainable as their hearts were stolen by the dark caped crusader of the era. That's you, by the way," she explained while continued with her chuckling.
"I— what? I never proposed to any of them. How did this false rumour even come about?" I rolled my eyes.
"Huh? You didn't propose to both of them? But the rumours weren't without merits. Rose was seen wearing a ring in her middle finger while Lily was wearing a beautiful emerald bracelet with exquisite design. It was a hot topic in the city at one point," she explained.
"B— but.. those were just gifts," I smacked my head with a sigh.
Seeing how frustrated I was, she offered to bring me to the cafeteria area which I agreed. Despite the size of the hospital, it was packed to the brim. Normally, I would had been concerned that something bad had happened but all I can think of right now is that I'm really sorry for instigating the war.
"Here you go," she passed me a drink.
I gave her my thanks. She ordered what looks to be a honey lemon drink which helped my throat. How thoughtful of her.
"So— is there a room for a third wife in your life?" she asked out of the blue which made me spat out my drink.
***
I can feel my wife's death aura spilling out of her body. I quickly calmed and assured her that nothing ever happened between me and Angelica. Once again, I had forgotten that my wife was listening to the story now. I need to learn to skip unnecessary plot points to avoid getting killed after the story is over.
"Mommy, are you Miss Angelica?" asked Daisy.
"Hell no, I never liked her as she's a snake that is always looking for an opportunity to steal your daddy," she pouted.
"Umm, may I continue with the story?," I asked my wife's permission which she gave a hmph as a response.
***
"W— what? No, there is only room for one. I am planning to only have a single wife. Not even two," I explained to her after I calmed myself.
"Huh? Wait, are you saying that you will only marry one of them? Who's the lucky one? I was just joking on the third by the way," she chuckled. Again with her jokes. I can never understand when she's serious and when she's not even after knowing her this long.
"I— had not decided yet. I thought I knew who I wanted to be with, but some things occurred and now, I'm back to square one. There is a safer option for me though if I really do end up with an inconclusive answer," I confessed with a sigh.
"It's Rose, isn't it? You're worried about Lily being an elf with her long lifespan. She'll definitely outlive you and she'll eventually end up all alone. Am I right?" asked Angelica.
I stared at her with my eyes wide opened and mouth agape. How on earth did she read my mind? It's true that I was concerned about choosing Lily. My heart goes to her automatically but a part of me is hesitating to choose her. I might just be a short fling in her life as a human's life expectancy is so short compared to hers. I felt that it would had been better for Lily to choose an elven partner instead of me so that he can be with her for a much longer period of time. As for Rose, I can't seems to forget about that kiss she gave me when I panicked. It was stuck in my head for such a long time and every time I see her, it reminded me of it. I won't deny that I have more feelings for Lily over Rose. But, it's not a matter of feelings anymore. I need to think from their perspectives and the future as well.
"Is there a reason as to why you refuse to marry both of them? You know you're allowed to marry a few wives legally, right?" she asked me.
"Yes, I remember that very well as people kept telling me about it. I won't lie that the thought of marrying both of them certainly came to mind. But— it just feels wrong to me. What's the purpose of having multiple wives in the first place? That sort of defeats the purpose of getting married then," I struggled to explain what I wanted to get across.
"To have children together? To be with the one you love? For a woman, marrying the one we love is like our dream come true," she explained.
"Yes, I understand that. But what about the woman's perspective? If men can have multiple wives, why can't they do it too? You know, all in the name of "be with the one you love". It just feels wrong to me. Getting married should be special and should remain as such. Otherwise, I would rather just have flings instead of having wives," I sighed as I swirled my drink.
Miss Angelica stared at me for quite some time but said nothing. I thought there was something on my face until she started talking.
"You're the only man ever told me that getting married should be special. I won't lie, many women discussed about the topic that men having multiple wives is just plain wrong. There are cases where the first wife ended getting thrown aside and such. It gives men an excuse to fool around with other women even though they are married. You are just so different, Zen. Feels unreal that a man would think so much about the woman's perspective. Whoever you end up married to will be the luckiest woman in the world," she smiled.
"Now I don't know about that. I'm not perfect whatsoever," I confessed.
Both of us went quiet and the conversations from other people can be heard all around me. Upon focusing my attention on it, some people were complaining that the war had made things worse while some said it made it better. Some people swore revenge that their close ones had died for nothing. I felt really guilty upon hearing that. I'm no war leader that had lead people into war and think nothing of their deaths. I'm just a normal adventurer that happened to be the target of the Demon Queen. From the moment I set foot out of the forbidden forest, I was dragged in events beyond my control which eventually led to this war. Sigh.
"Are you here to visit someone?" I asked her.
"Hmm? Oh no, l'm here to help out. Do you remember you met with one of my relatives who worked in a clinic? He's here to help with patients so I decided to tag along. I'm not really suited in construction or other physical work so I felt that the best place I could help out is here, caring for the patients," she explained.
"Wow, that's such a noble gesture. Let me thank you on behalf of all the other patients here. Am I taking your time? I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were helping out in the hospital," I apologised to her.
"Oh, you don't have to worry, I'm on my break now anyway," she smiled.
"There you are, Onii-chan. I was wondering where you went," said Rose as she approached closer to us.
"Alright, break time's over. I'll take my leave then," said Angelica as she stood up and left. I thought she said she was just on her break?
"Thanks for the drink, and your time," I smiled at her.
She whispered something to Rose before she left to which Rose replied with a loud "Huh?". Rose then sat opposite where I was sitting and stared at me.
"Is something wrong?" I asked her.
"What were you two talking about? She whispered something really weird to me out of the blue," she asked.
"Nothing special really. What did she say?" I asked with a frown.
"Hmm, never mind then. Just odd that she suddenly said that to me. Y'know what? Onii-chan, since what she told me is at the top of my head now, may I ask you something?" asked Rose bluntly.
"What is it?" I replied as I sipped my honey lemon drink. Ahh, that hits the spot. Why the hell did that have to sound so sexual? Geez.
"Please answer me honestly, are you really really planning to only marry one of us? You won't consider having two?" she asked directly.
I sighed loudly. What's with today? I felt like I was on repeat at this point.
"Yes, I only plan to have one wife, and only one," I answered her with a straight face.
"I see," she said as she lowered her eyes. Is that the end of the conversation?
"You remember the kiss we had before? Back at the umm—" she bit her lips so she didn't accidentally say the word "secret hideout".
"How could I forget? That kiss was even more awkward than the one we had at my place," I chuckled.
"W— what do you mean?! I was following your lead! It's you who don't know how to kiss properly," she retaliated with a hmph.
"I didn't have any issue with Lily whatsoever. So it's definitely not me," I replied as I crossed my arms.
"Are you sure? What she told me was a complete different story," she answered with a speechless face.
"W— what? She told you about our kiss? Why do you two share such things with each other?" I asked with disbelief.
"We share things with each other often. So don't think that doing something secretive with her and I wouldn't end up knowing. I have ways to dig information out of her," answered Rose with a smug face.
"Eww, even I don't share such information with John. You girls are weird," I squinted at her.
Rose started laughing loudly which triggered me to laugh in turn. I had to stop myself once I started coughing badly due to my throat. Another gulp of the honey lemon certainly calmed it for me.
"That kiss was special to me, Onii-chan. I will forever treasure it in my memory," smiled Rose.
"What're you trying to say, Rose? Are you breaking up with me?" I asked her jokingly.
"Marry Lily. This is my one and only request that I'll ever ask of you, Onii-chan. Please honour your little sister's request," she bowed politely to me.
I sighed and gave it some thought. These two girls kept trying to push their rival over the other. Is this their tactic to win me over or something? I had always thought that girls would rather wage war than to give up on the guy they love.
"Why, Rose? Don't you want to be with me?" I asked her.
"I do. But marrying Lily is the best for both of us. You'll get an elven wife and I'll get a sister to call my own," she explained with a straight face.
"Where is she by the way? Is she still in the hospital?" I asked.
"She's checking up on the Elementalist. Doubt she'll be joining us anytime soon," answered Rose.
"Why do you think it's the best option? Care to explain how you reached that conclusion?" I asked her.
"If you marry her, she'll be staying with you and I can visit anytime to meet with you both. And I know that she's your first crush. I also know that you love her more than me," she explained.
I hate how her brain works. She always seems to understand how my mind thinks.
"Rose, you do realised that she's an elf, right? She is going to outlive both of us. She'll eventually end up alone after the both of us kicked the bucket," I tried explaining to her my concerns.
"You're going to have children together. Knowing you, you won't be able to keep your hands off her. She's going to treasure them even without us around. You will have beautiful elven children together, Onii-chan," she tried to convince me.
I won't lie, that certainly sounds appealing. I once saw a hybrid elven and human child before and she looked phenomenal.
"Is that what this is? Your fetish to play with elven children? I knew you were resisting yourself to play with them back when we were in Marrydia," I said to her.
"Partly, but that's not the full story. If you choose me, we're gonna end up a boring couple together. Not to mention, we might not be able to see Lily anymore during our lifetime," she explained with a sad tone at the end.
I sighed again. There are merits to what she's telling me. Not being able to see Lily certainly hurts in some way. But would that really be true? Her guild is here. We can still meet up every once in a while. But Lily could end up going on some adventure and won't come back in about a 100 years or so. Or she might choose to not meet with us anymore if I choose Rose. I thought of considering her offer but some of her words stung me. I stood up, gulped the rest of my drink and proceeded to head back to my room. Rose was confused that I didn't say anything and followed after me.
Making sure Rose had entered my room, I locked the door immediately. She turned to look at me feeling confused as to why I locked the door for no reason. I pushed her against the wall, placed my hand on the wall and leaned closer to her. Our faces were so close that I can see the patterns of her irises which were beautiful. I leaned closer attempting to kiss her and she quickly shut her eyes.
But it was all a trick. I didn't kiss her and just held my face there. I placed my index and middle finger on her neck to check her pulse. It was certainly beating fast. One of her eye peeked open to see what was going on as I had not kissed her even after some time.
"Boring couple, you say? Are you sure? I can think of many situations where we can make things extremely interesting if we ended up together," I smiled at her.
I petted her head and walked to my bed to rest. She suddenly ran to the door, unlocked it and dashed out the doorway. Shoot, did I do something wrong? I was only trying to prove to her that we won't end up being a boring couple. It's going to end up biting me in the arse later, isn't it? Sigh.
***
Why? Why why why?! I thought I had steeled myself. I had convinced myself that Lily is the perfect person for him. We can all be together as a family if he marries Lily. But why? Why?! Why does my heart beat so much just from being close to him?! Why can't I control myself from longing to be with him?
Tears started flowing even though I wasn't sad. I tried to hold myself back but my heart aches badly. I clutched my heart tightly, as though it was being shattered into a million pieces. I can lie to myself, I can fool myself into thinking that Lily is the best for him. But my heart will not acknowledge it no matter how hard I try. It refuses to listen to my request. It knows very well that deep down, I truly loved him. I love that man who willingly extended his hand to help me during the darkest point in my life. I love his smile, his voice, his personality. I love everything about him and I longed to be with him. My denial of my own feelings is what's causing me to cry unconditionally.
Geez, if I'm crying this badly just because I denied myself, what's gonna happen if he really ended up choosing Lily. Will I end up killing myself? My brain will be happy for them but my heart is going to feel worse than what I'm feeling now. I'll probably stay somewhere else as I can't bear to see them together.
***
I followed after her as I felt guilty about my actions earlier. I wasn't expecting her to cry like this. Never before had I seen Rose crying this badly. I know very well that Rose loves me. Perhaps even more so than Lily. From the day we met, we had always been together. We were pretty much inseparable some might say. We stuck together through all the highs and lows in our life. She was there for me when I was alone and she eventually became a real family together.
I wanted to rush over to give her a hug. But I knew full well that if I were to go to her now, I would end up choosing her, even when I had not decided yet. Damn it, why is it so hard to just choose one? Seeing her crying her heart out hurts my heart as I gripped it tightly. It took every ounce of me to walk away from her and back to my room.