"It makes no sense," Konrad muttered to himself. "Every man can dream of a harem, but why would any of you want to be in one? Especially in mine—"
At least in his mind, he had every right to be suspicious.
After seeing Lily's shared vision? It had to be one of her crazy pranks again.
Besides, his one takeaway from his past life was that if something seemed too good to be true, then it was. Having five beautiful women all want to be with him at once? Yeah, no way.
He had no experience, not much of an appeal, and—
Okay, he had some power now, but that couldn't have been it.
His titles and magic might've explained some gold-diggers, but not a harem.
Not these celestial beings, wying for his attention.
The more he looked at them, the less he believed.
Lily could've had a harem of her own, even without her mind-boggling powers.
She was stunning, cunning, cute—and she could be anything she wanted.
Catgirl? Check. Demoness? Check. Childish or seductive, petite or powerful, it didn't matter to her. So why would she come back for him, a mundane guy, and insist on this harem thing?
Unless it were part of another greater scheme he'd rather not want to know about.
There was only so much he could take.
He had every reason to fear her, to be mad at her, but with those messy copper strands, the freckles—it was impossible. She had a body made for cuddles, and she knew how to use it.
As opposed to Gabrielle.
While she was beautiful, too, she never struck him as one for romance or sex.
She was an angel, after all, and yet she was clinging to him now, like she never did before.
Her fragile-looking body felt warm and soft through her frilly, princess-y blue dress. What came to her? The usually cold eyes were almost pleading, her pale cheeks flushed.
Did she have a fever? Konrad felt like he was starting to have one for sure.
Then, Eyna. Well, she might've been the only one he could understand.
The trauma, the gratitude she must have felt—
If anything, it made Konrad feel dirty for taking advantage of her already. She was an invaluable ally, and her unique looks made his heart race.
The purple eyes were like nothing he had seen before.
Even when they first met—she was starving and broken, but now? Her silvery-violet hair was like velvet, and her dark skin flawless. She was filling out in the best way possible.
But if she only kissed him out of gratitude—
Speaking of gratitude, Stella was also eyeing him. Why was she even here?
Her former captor and torturer—a necromancer even.
Despite her long, blonde hair, she was every bit a masculine statue of power and beauty.
Strong and—somehow bashful? A curious tomboy type, no less appealing than anyone else in his makeshift office. If not for her constant change of expressions.
In one moment, her face was hard and impassive, then her eyes turned pleading or scared.
Like she still didn't find her place, and to be honest, Konrad had no idea what she was even doing here, either. He wasn't mad at her, per se—more like he was cautious.
She was a ticking bomb, unstable and ready to take everyone down with her, and yet—
He found himself wondering not about how to stay as far away from her as possible, but about how to make things work. Pity? No, it was more about losing his mind.
Her madness might've rubbed off on him already.
And if it came to madness, he had to look no further than the dragon.
He set Maple free, sure, but why'd she stick around, especially after Lily's prank? She went from looking for revenge to cowering in the face of the demoness, then becoming horny.
No in-between. And those perverted comments?
She had the over-perfected looks of Lily, too bright, too sharp, but sensual to the extreme.
If she could take any shape she wanted to, it was all too clear that she did it for him alone.
But why? Sure, he understood her loneliness all too well, having spent most of his past alone.
Even if it were only fifty years and not a hundred, they had a lot in common in that sense. But he wouldn't have jumped on the first woman he saw—especially not at one that's already taken.
Because he was, after all, taken. The demoness left no doubt about that.
She claimed his body and soul in both of his lives, and the dragon could read that right out of his mind. Maple feared her, too, and still, she stuck around, making those comments—
He deserved none of that, so, of course, he wouldn't believe it.
But having thought all that—in front of his small club of mind-readers—the girls' smiles widened. Lily closed the distance, smirking, and her pale, freckled face was blushing.
"C'mon, don't sell yourself short, Konny," she murmured.
Even while lost in his thoughts, he didn't miss the intermission between her and Gabrielle.
They said nothing to each other, but the latter was still clinging to him. It was already odd, and no matter how much the demoness tried to step between them, the angel remained by his side.
"I'm not as cold and heartless as you make me seem to be," Gabby explained, her voice low.
"I might've corrupted her, and I'm not sorry," Lily giggled, still only looking at him.
"We're all broken in some way," Maple added, though she wasn't as brave as the other two to approach. "And I slept through most of my time since you freed me, but I've heard enough."
"W-what does it have to do with me?" Konrad asked, still confused, flustered, and horny.
"It has everything to do with you," Stella snapped, then fell back to wring her hands. "Your actions, your powers—the treatment. You should've killed me, despised me, but—"
"You're a kind master, Master," Eyna said with a smile, her purple eyes bright.
"Please don't call me that," he protested, but without any heat behind it.
Was this actually happening? The women surrounding him—confessing?
"I don't call you this because you've forced me," the tribesgirl pouted, crossing her arms. "I'm no slave—and that is only thanks to you. You saved me, gave me a purpose. A future."
"You freed me," Maple added. "And in what a spectacular way? Of course, I'd stick around."
"You're important," Gabrielle claimed. "Thousands of worlds depend on you, and I'm not ungrateful. I owe you in the name of the heavens, and will make up for Lucifer's—"
"Bla bla bla, she means that she might act like a cold bitch, but she's jealous of your affection."
That was Lily again, sticking out her tongue at the archangel.
No matter how much Gabby protested, she claimed her rightful place on Konrad's other side.
In the meantime, he could only hope he wouldn't wake from this sweet dream.
He tried and failed to rationalize the events, with every girl claiming her part—
But even if it was a heartless prank, he could not refute them. He'd regret it later, but now?
Tired, overworked, anxious—he only wanted to embrace this warmth.
"That's more like it," Lily smirked, tiptoeing to kiss his face before her eyes lit up. "So, are we having a proper orgy, or what?"