บท 91: The birth of the Harem

Ester had gotten used to people calling her a monster or a freak while feeling she wasn't a woman for her small chest. His honest words of proposing surprised her enough for her lips to arch upwards, forming a cheerful smile on their own.

Ester didn't think Vincent would accept her without thinking about it. As if it was on his mind but never had the guts to ask. She didn't feel alone anymore while watching Vincent leaving to change his clothes.

Ester wore a clean shirt without wrapping her chest as usual. She calmed down a while later and stood up.

'Vincent said I'm his fiancee. I need to stop getting nervous, but... he likes me...' Ester thought while covering her face.

Ester approached Vincent a few minutes later. He donned clean ordinary commoners clothes, and in his hands was the heirloom short sword her biological father gave her mother.

Vincent heard Ester's footsteps. He decided to focus on a different subject to calm his excited racing heart. A few questions rose when he talked with Kazumi about the hiltless blade Elsir.

"Did your mother ever mention anything about the short sword, Elsir? Such as from where she received this magical blade?" Vincent asked.

However, Ester shook her head. She didn't know its origin other than the dwarf Vincent previously mentioned. She left it as a memento of her parents, hidden under her pillow, and rarely used it. She knew nothing about its origin.

"You know how I'm an illegitimate daughter of a father that I don't know. " Ester responded, feeling a bit down as if she was unworthy of his love.

"It's okay. I accept both your present and your past. That's why I have accepted your feelings and to marry you. If it was hard to say before, you could say it now as my heart is decided on you." Vincent said with a poker face as his heart was ready to rip open from his chest.

Ester flustered and took a step back. She held her chest as she felt the same emotions and fluttering heart.

"I-I don't know who my real father is. They never told me who he was other than this short sword was a Birth Gift."

"My mother was a dancer from the central desert continent split from this continent by sea. She told me her tribe has many things in common such as crimson eyes and red hair. Their bodies are great for dancing, and their unique dance is only possible by the tribe."

"My mother met my father after wanting to dance throughout different kingdoms. One time she sprained her ankle from losing her balance in Berluica Kingdom's main city. She fell in love with my father after he healed her with a scroll."

"They didn't say anything specific other than they wanted to start a life together while she had me in her belly for a few months. It seems they met because of me since I was the cause of her balance loss and injury."

Ester looked at the short sword Elsir. She never thought an ordinary-looking sword could be a magical sword, one that possessed special enchantments that she never heard anyone talk about.

"What is a Birth Gift? We don't have this system in my world." Vincent asked, perplexed by this word.

"It's when a wealthy family such as nobles have multiple mistresses. They would give one of their possessions, such as items, money, property, or land, as a price to cut all ties with their born child."

"The mistress can't declare her child to be the family's successor and fight for the inheritance. Only certain circumstances where there is no successor can her child fight for the inheritance."

Ester spoke as if she didn't care. She had no intention to find her biological father after her mother was abandoned with an ordinary-looking short sword in her hands and a baby in her belly.

"So, you might be a noble?" Vincent responded with his brows raised in surprise.

"I don't care. My family died because of nobles. So I hate how selfish and arrogant they are. I don't want to think I have the same blood as those that orchestrated my parent's death." Ester frowned. Her crimson eyes looked cold for a second with a hint of killing intent.

Vincent wanted to change the subject. He gave Ester the hiltless Elsir and said, "This short sword is a memento representing both your past and the happy memories spent together with your family. You should keep it by your side at all times now that you have the Gender Bound Bag Of Holding."

Ester accepted the hiltless Elsir. She stored it in the grey bag and placed it in her pocket. Suddenly her cheeks flared, and her face rapidly approached his. Shortly their lips met.

Ester dashed away, headed towards Tula's direction as if her life depended on it, leaving Vincent frozen by the sudden surprise.

[You acted cool when proposing to her, and now you look like a flustered little boy after a simple kiss. And I thought you had grown, heh...]

"I-I didn't expect that... that's all." Vincent tried to make an excuse, but his blushing cheeks didn't lie.

Ester approached Tula and Lupa; both were chewing an Ani Banana with a smile on her faces. Lupa raised her ears when she heard footsteps closing in. She swiftly turned her head and waved at Ester to join in the feast with a delighted smile.

"Why is your face red again?...*Sniff." Lupa quickly approached Ester. She twitched her nostrils and took a sniff at Ester's new clothes.

"I smell the scent of Vincent on you... what did you do? I want to do it too!" Lupa insisted as she took a few more whiffs confirming the scent emitted from her lips.

"You win, you win..." Ester took a few steps back as Lupa's intense curiosity overwhelmed her.

"Vincent said he will marry me." Ester blushed soon after saying this.

"What does it mean?" Lupa was still learning about the human language and its meaning. She usually says what pops into her mind.

"Will big sister Ester become a mommy soon?" Tula butted in, seemingly excited for her.

"Mommy?... wait! Did you mate with Vincent before me?" Lupa immediately arrived at a wrong conclusion, making Ester hide her face in embarrassment.

Vincent was approaching when he heard Lupa say this. He quickened his pace and loudly cleared his throat, "AHEM!..."

"It means Ester will be my wife. To stay by my side until death does us part..." Vincent abruptly stopped when Kazumi made an announcement.

[This is the crucial moment to acquire two wives! Ask the first soon to be wife Ester, to get Lupa as the second soon to be wife. Hurry! Time is ticking, and every word counts.]

[Wasn't your dream to be surrounded by people you can trust with your life? Isn't having a harem with trusting wives the same thing?]

[PS. Don't forget about me. I'm the third one. I call dibs.]

Kazumi revealed a hint as to why she pushed him to build a harem. She wanted to be one of the people that stood by his side while having her seat reserved for the future. No one knows what might happen, she always thought.

-Thank you for the moral support. I don't think these next words would've exited my mouth without your encourgment.-

Vincent confessed before he asked Ester a crucial question.

"Ester... you wouldn't mind if... Lupa also becomes my finance?" Vincent mustered his courage to ask such a question with a poker face, barely holding his emotions.

Only a few minutes passed after he proposed to Ester. He never thought he would propose to two beauties in less than half an hour.

It suddenly became quiet for a while. Lupa stared at Ester with a pair of golden puppy eyes, and Tula stared like a kid interested in what was happening.

"You don't like me? You don't want to share my mate?" Lupa broke the silence first. She wanted to know how Ester felt about her.

[This is getting spicy, yey.]

Kazumi enjoyed this drama while recording any action that was happening.

"I..."

"I-I wouldn't mind sharing Vincent... b-but I'm afraid." Ester paused for a few seconds.

She looked down at her body, then turned her gaze at Vincent while saying, "I'm not as beautiful as Lupa. My chest is that of a small... I don't know if you... "

"Don't say that. I won't have any preference over both of you. I would love you equally. No one is perfect; that's why both of you are special to me."

"I don't care about appearances. I only care that I can trust those beside me with my life. That's all I ask."

Vincent placed his hands on Ester's and Lupa's shoulder. He first looked at Ester and said, "Ester, will you marry me even though I will have more than one wife. I will treat you with the utmost attention and equality."

Vincent then turned his gaze to Lupa and repeated the same words. He decided to ask once again since the conditions changed.

"Yes, I will share my mate with my sister." Lupa swiftly embraced Vincent with utter joy. Shortly she slyly turned her head and, with a smirk, said to Ester, "But I will be better, hehe."

"F-fine. I will marry you. But you must treat me the same... even if I don't have a chest to grope." Ester boldly said in the heat of the moment.

Soon her cheeks flared bright by these words. She swiftly ran behind the cart to hide and settle her feelings.

"Hehe. I win." Lupa cheerfully said.

[Nicly done, casanova. Two women in the house. Remember, I'm number three. Never forget that.]

"Ahem... let me check how many fruits you have collected." Vincent approached the cart to check the amount harvested.

The cart with dozens of Ani Banana in the cart soon came to view. There were too many delicious yellow fruits to count, giving them the hope not to starve before arriving in Laurel Town. The more they could obtain, the better the chances to survive.

Ester later joined them, but she stood behind Tula. She sorted most of her happy feelings but still flustered at the sight of Vincent.

"Lupa, did you feel strange after eating an Ani Banana?" Vincent wanted to confirm it was safe for her to eat more. She was an animal two weeks ago.

"It's good. I like it as much as fish, but I don't feel different. Well, other than wanting to eat more." Lupa soon started drooling to eat a couple more as if her stomach was endless.

[Lupa is half-wolf, half-human, and I didn't say anything since you had other things to take care of. However, I stayed observant of her actions.]