Capítulo 233: The Honest Kouro
After the request that Kouro wanted to talk to Theresa was easily accepted, they finally talked again as usual.
But for some reason Mei and Ayame became a little strange after he revealed himself as a Herrscher.
They openly got close to him.
Well... Perhaps because there was no longer a need to worry about the difference in identity, both of their attitudes became more relaxed and open.
For example, like now…
...
"Kouro~ Try this Kaarage, Aahh~" Ayame picked up a piece of Kaarage using chopsticks and held it out to Kouro's mouth with a sweet smile.
Kouro thought nothing of it and opened his mouth to let the Kaarage enter his mouth.
"How is it, does it taste good?"
Kouro chewed the Kaarage, a little crunchy rather sweet and savory, the chicken meat used was also fresh and of good quality, compared to the dark dish earlier, this Kaarage tasted like a heavenly food making him raise his thumb.
"Good."
"Hehehe~" Ayame grinned with flushed cheeks as if she was very happy about Kouro's praise.
Mei was not to be outdone either, she scooped up the Cream Stew and directed it to Kouro's mouth.
"Kouro-kun try this too, it tastes better."
Before Kouro could say anything, his mouth was already stuffed with Cream Stew by Mei, making him have no other choice but to chew with a speechless expression.
Higokumaru who saw this while taking a bite of fried tofu then asked, "Kouro-Nii~ Are you dating Ayame-Nee and Mei-Nee?"
She could detect the feelings of love from Ayame and Mei towards Kouro even though the feelings looked strange as they were split in two as if they had another consciousness.
'Are those feelings coming from the Herrscher Persona of the two of them? ' Higokumaru thought, she turned to look at Kiana who also had two feelings but it was a little strange.
The first that came from Kiana who also had feelings of love but also mixed with sadness and inferiority?
Higokumaru then glanced at Kouro and Kiana back and forth while silently thinking.
'That feeling of sadness and inferiority... Does she not feel worthy enough to stand beside Kouro?'
Higokumaru's eyebrows rose at this thought as she could sense the power of Kiana's Second Herrscher but it was not very active.
'Don't tell me that Kiana doesn't realize that she is also a Herrscher? Even more, the Second Herrscher?' Higokumaru thought with some interest.
Interesting... Is Kouro treading the same path as KOURO trying to use compassion and love to get Herrscher to side with humans?
That method was indeed effective in the current Era where the Herrscher had their own desires, in contrast to the Previous Era where the Herrscher had no other thoughts but to exterminate human civilization.
Higokumaru did not realize that her question at this time made everyone stunned.
Everyone then turned to look at Kouro making him the center of attention.
Kouro felt a very high pressure from their gazes, let alone from Ayame and Mei's expectant gazes which made him really carefully think about the words he was going to say.
"... Why are you asking that?"
Kouro for the time being tried to play it safe and not answer directly.
Higokumaru blinked, she saw Kouro's emotions like a tangle of threads, completely intricate and complex which made her eyebrows raise.
'Those feelings... I see, it seems Kouro is not a very 'dense' man to be oblivious to a girl's feelings. He... Is he just pretending?'
The complex feelings within Kouro were like a dense shadow covering his heart and mind.
She had seen these feelings before, because that was how KOURO looked in her eyes when she was the Herrscher of Corruption.
But KOURO's were denser and always visible, unlike Kouro who would be visible if he talked about something.
Higokumaru had promised herself not to let that happen again! Therefore... She would help Kouro dispel the fog in his heart and mind.
"Hmm? Isn't it a trend now for men to have more than one woman?" She said with an innocent expression.
"What kind of perverted trend is that!" Kouro said with an angry expression.
"Hmm? Don't you know that men are encouraged to have more than one wife?"
Bronya who heard this immediately opened the internet and looked for justification of what Higokumaru said.
And... It was indeed as she said, there was indeed a law that recommended a man to have more than one woman.
"Hmm? From the Internet Bronya found that originally the laws of all the world's governments required a man to practice polygamy before it was changed to only be encouraged because of a case."
"Huh?" Kouro had a speechless expression, he had no idea that there was such a law!
Well... It's technically Kouro's own fault that he didn't study the law thoroughly, he only studied the things that were important to him in carrying out his plan to help people who were unfairly treated by fate.
He really didn't know such a law existed.
"What kind of case is that?" Himeko asked curiously.
Kiana and the others were also watching very seriously even leaving out Kouro whose expression was completely complicated.
Higokumaru immediately answered her question, "It was because a few years ago there was a man who had 24 wives and unfortunately the man later died from exhaustion unable to satisfy his wives. This is why the law was changed."
"Hmph! That guy must have been a high-class womanizer. He really does deserve to die. Kouro, you must not follow that man's path!" Theresa said with a serious expression.
Kouro immediately nodded his head hurriedly due to their serious gazes.
"So, Kouro-Nii~ Are those two your girlfriends?" Higokumaru asked once again.
Kouro was stared back by all of them, this time Kouro did not try to divert the topic or even avoid the question, he put on a thinking expression before finally saying with a doubtful expression.
"I... Don't know."
Mei and Ayame opened their mouths to say something but were stopped by Himeko and let Higokumaru ask.
"Hmm? You don't know your own feelings?"
Kouro shook his head, he turned to look at Mei, Ayame, Kiana, Himeko and the others before turning his attention back to Higokumaru.
"... I do like them and if I'm honest I want them to be my girlfriends."
Everyone's expression instantly turned red and their hearts immediately beat at a rapid pace.
"It's just that... I'm scared." Kouro continued with a complicated expression.
Higokumaru's eyebrows raised, she could feel that what Kouro meant was not that he was afraid of a girl but something deeper and more complex.
Kouro continued, "You know... There is a saying embedded in my mind, 'A man who is liked by many women means he understands women, but a man who loves one woman means he understands what love is'."
He then looked down at his hands, "This makes me always wonder if my feelings for you all are just out of lust but not love."
(E/D: I love this. For the first time, a harem protag has thought this deeply. I love this. I love Hanged_Man… No Homo.)
"What's more... I feel that it's really unbecoming to not pledge your love for the one you love."
Although Kouro in his previous life read a lot of Harem-themed novels, he knew very well it was too good to happen in reality.
Even if it did exist, it was definitely not him.
Some might tell him not to think too much about it because he's still young.
But as someone who has experienced two lives.
Kouro will not play around with relationships, because when he is dating someone, for example Mei, he will definitely be serious about the relationship and will marry her.
He will not try to change girlfriends like changing clothes.
When you start to get serious about a relationship, of course you won't have thoughts of turning to other girls.
Although Kouro is well aware that he has a 'dense' personality but of course not so dense that he cannot see the feelings of Kiana, Ayame and others to him.
Usually a man would think about when he would get a partner while Kouro was the opposite.
Because there are many girls who love him, Kouro is confused about who he should choose.
Sometimes there was a temptation that whispered into his ear to create a harem, but he continues to ignore the temptation.
Indeed, creating a harem is the dream of all men but not everyone is able to carry the responsibility and Kouro feels that he is not able to.
If you create a harem just to fulfill your own lust, then you are a trashy man.
(E/D: Tell that to Yuuki, Haru and Shishio.)
Maybe that's a really childish and unrealistic reason.
Perhaps this was also the reason why in his previous life he was single until death because the women in his previous life preferred bad boys.
But when they were ruined by those men, the women felt hurt and said, "All men are the same."
So a Good Guy like himself was also affected.
As these thoughts flashed through, Kouro didn't realize that he was saying all his thoughts to all of them and by the time he realized it...
It was already too late.
"Kouro!" Ayame immediately hugged Kouro so tightly that he fell to the floor.
"Ouch!" Kouro rubbed his head with a pained expression before realizing that 'Ayame' was looking at him dangerously.
There were pink 'love' marks in her pupils.
"You really make me can't stand it Kouro~!"
"Hold on, Ayame! Hold on! You'll regret it!" Kouro tried to persuade Ayame to calm down but Kouro really underestimated the feelings of a girl in love.
Luckily Sakura and Mei immediately restrained 'Ayame' and took her away from Kouro.
Seeing 'Ayame' who tried to rebel with her gaze still focused on him made Kouro shudder and felt regret for letting out the burden of his heart.
Theresa cleared her throat before saying seriously, "I think, Kouro. With that kind of thinking, you're a quality man who thinks about women's hearts. So I guess you deserve to have a harem."
"S-so you want to marry all of us Kouro?" asked Himeko in embarrassment.
This was the first time she had heard a man say that to her.
From what she had heard from her married friends, most men were like wolves always looking for fresh prey.
But from what she saw, Kouro did not have that kind of personality, at most Kouro's annoying personality was that he was 'Dense', but that was still better than a womanizer who could not control his lower half.
Kouro smiled embarrassedly in response to Himeko's question, he didn't answer but from his smile alone one could determine Kouro's answer.
Higokumaru could see that the black fog in Kouro's head and heart was slowly fading and quickly disappearing.
"Yes. Thank you, Higokumaru. If it wasn't for you... Maybe I would have kept this feeling hidden and would regret it later on " Kouro said while smiling peacefully at Higokumaru.
"Hehehe~ Being honest with yourself is not shameful, Kouro-Nii~ In fact it shows how brave you are."
Kallen who saw this smiled slightly before a flashback of the past flashed through her mind.
'If I had been honest back then too... Would everything have changed?'
Sakura who was holding 'Ayame' could see that she had started to calm down and come to her senses, she saw Ayame suddenly stop moving with her head bowed before hitting her head on the floor hard.
*BAM!*
"Ahhh!!! I want to die!! How embarrassing! "
Ayame felt that her actions were truly shameful even though it wasn't her but her Herrscher persona that did it.
"So Kouro, who do you want to date first?" Theresa asked, pretending to ignore Ayame.
She could see that almost everyone here liked Kouro, from Kiana, Mei, Ayame, Bronya and even Himeko.
"Ah?" Theresa's question made everyone stop and turn to look at Kouro attentively.
Kouro immediately stood before Mei and held her hand before saying seriously, "Mei, I will repay your confession back then. I accept it from the bottom of my heart, I want you to be my girlfriend."
Mei was completely dumbfounded that Kouro really didn't hesitate to confess to her in front of all of them. But then she smiled happily and hugged Kouro very tightly then kissed him.
"Ah! That's not fair, Mei! Just because you're the first girlfriend, doesn't mean you also take Kouro's first kiss!" Ayame said while pointing at her with an unaccepting expression.
"Tehe~ First come, first served."
Kouro, who was previously kissed by Mei, seemed to freeze because he remembered Hei Xuan who kissed him too.
'That really doesn't count as a kiss, does it?'
Theresa, who saw Ayame and Mei arguing with each other, could only remain silent and turned to look at Kouro with a strange expression.
If there's also someone in Schicksal who likes Kouro... It looks like his life is going to be very busy.
She shook her head at this thought and turned to look at Kiana who didn't say anything.
Theresa was worried that her niece would do something she might regret later on because she knew Kiana was careless and a little naive.
Kiana looked at Kouro who was focused on trying to break up Mei and Ayame's argument, she didn't know what expression she was wearing right now.
But she hoped it wasn't something that would worry Kouro.
She might look close to Kouro, but her heart said otherwise, she felt very distant from him.
Originally, her goal to become stronger was to find out the whereabouts of Siegfried, her father.
But since meeting Kouro, she has vowed to become stronger so that she can stand beside him to help him.
Only... Even though she is stronger than most Valkyries, in the end she cannot be as strong as Mei and Ayame because they were both Herrscher.
At first she didn't find it a problem because she knew Kouro and Bronya weren't a Herrscher.
But when she found out that Kouro had turned into a Herrscher... That meant he was getting stronger and her goal of standing by him was becoming more and more distant.
She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter and just needed to train harder so she could be on par with them... But she knew that was just wishful thinking.
"... If only I had a Herrscher's strength..." she muttered under her breath.
Deep in her consciousness, the silhouette of 'Sirin' was grinning widely.
"It's a success..."
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