*Slap!*
(Ah, Clarice just slapped him hard across the cheek!)
Meso, my brother-in-law, planned to overwhelm us with the Duhyō Family’s group duel, filling us to the brim with his plot to test our strength. He intended to defeat us when we were sluggish and make Nare give up on marrying me.
(Yeah, I’ll just call him ‘Meso’ from now on.)
For some reason, Anju reacted excessively… Putting that aside, during that battle, Nare, who was supposed to become my concubine, betrayed me.
“…Could you explain what’s going on?”
“Come here.”
“Th-this, Ah, Aaaah!”
Nastasia forcefully dragged her to the center, practically dragging her. The playing cards she held scattered. Assassins who had been hiding rushed out but were stopped by Otuha’s mini harp.
(Incidentally, Nataira is protecting me as my final defense, holding the ‘Silver Fan’.)
Yes, the roles for each of my harem are perfect.
“W-wait, my sister… Ugh…”
“Silence, Meso.”
Nina, who said that, seems to be holding Meso down the same way she was.
(More importantly, I should handle this.)
In this situation, or rather, in this ‘greeting’, it’s okay to have a moment like this once in a while.
“Um, Nare, since when, and from about when, did you intend to betray me? Perhaps from the moment we first met?”
“I never intended to betray you in the truest sense, not from the beginning, I swear!”
In short, she was testing me.
“Then why did you do all this?”
“Because you’re all too good-natured! You’re too kind, so it’s natural to feel uneasy!”
Ah, I really understand. That’s why she felt uneasy about becoming a concubine and wanted to test me.
(She must have thoroughly investigated everything.)
More than that, at this point, it’s possible she approached me after conducting such preliminary research.
“So, you joined us in the group battle, intending to betray us once it started?”
“I thought it would be a good lesson for you, making you complacent by pretending to be a completely submissive concubine.”
“To collapse us from within and say ‘See what you get?’ There’s no way I wouldn’t notice that.”
Nina probably would have noticed immediately. While I eventually figured it out, several others probably… Well, even if we were taken by surprise to some extent, our family isn’t so weak that a single blow would bring us down.
(Besides, everyone except Nare is too weak!)
Truly, they underestimated us. I glance at Nina, who’s still pressing down on him.
“Deles, what should we do?”
“Well, shall we obliterate this entire marquis’s estate, except for Nare?”
“Not a trace left…”
“If you do that, the country will…”
“I told you to shut up, Meso. I’ll make you a slave.”
Nare began to prostrate himself.
“I am deeply sorry, please forgive me.”
“Anju, after a warning, shall we turn Chanmio itself into a wasteland?”
“Okay, okay, we’ll blast them straight down from above.”
“Yes, using Anju Castle.”
Nare desperately rubbed his head against the ground!
“Forgive me, forgive me!!”
“You tested us, judged us, tried to trap us as we conquered six of the Seven Great Demon Lords and are about to face the last one. Such darkness should be destroyed along with the country.”
Meso, writhing, hastily crawled out. Nina stepped on his head to suppress him, but when I shook my head, she released him. He hurried over to Nare.
“This, Nare is following our orders…”
“Then all the more reason!”
“No, it was my sole offense.”
“You’re part of the family, aren’t you?”
“I’ve already left this mansion.”
“It’s unsightly to keep this up now. We’ll crush you and Chanmio, which keeps you.”
As I began to pull Nina forward, Meso clung to my leg, weeping.
“Th-things didn’t go according to our script, I’m sorry, truly sorry. You know it wasn’t serious, right?”
“No, no, the moment you betrayed us, it was over. You’re history. As for what to do with Nare, we’ll consider that separately.”
“Deles-chan, please forgive me, I’m so sorry. I never expected you to get this angry.”
“What kind of script were you planning?”
“That is…”
Nina scoffed.
“Amusing. Then read that script.”
“B-but…”
“Say it, Meso. According to that script.”
Resignedly, he stood up, trying to regain his composure. Meso… he looks so battered, it’s almost pitiful.
“Then… Well done for seeing through it. I’ll give you my sister. However, you must have keenly felt your own naivete. Being betrayed by a trusted concubine, and having influential nobles behind such schemes, is common. To prevent such things, let us deal with you on equal footing, you Duhyō Family! I acknowledge you, your family!”
Who reacted to this…!!
“Stupid, stupid!”
“Anju… Correct!”
“That’s the story we were writing in the script!”
“What other scripts were there?”
“Well…”
Meso struck a pose again.
“With this, you have officially received my sister. However, Nare betrayed you. Can you honestly take a sister who betrayed you as a concubine? Can you truly continue to trust her?”
“I’ll throw wakame at you!”
“Anju, just a moment.”
Why wakame?
“…I’m sorry, truly sorry. Please, I beg you!”
“Your country’s dark underbelly is pathetic. Besides, my concubines Clarice and Helen were initially wicked women who tried to kill me, to kill us. So, what’s this now?”
Clarice was due to religious war, and Helen was acting out of despair due to debt. As for Nastasia, it was a duel, but she didn’t seem to have murderous intent.
“Hey Deles-chan, I don’t care what happens to me, so please forgive the Duhyō family.”
“That’s wrong.”
“Nina-san.”
“You misspeak, my wife.”
“Ah, something like that. It’s my wife speaking, you see.”
“Um, then… Hey Deles-chan, I’ll do anything for you, so please forgive me.”
Ah, so close.
“The wording is still not quite right.”
“…Deles-chan, I’ll do anything for you, any brutal play, any extreme punishment, even if it fills you with genuine fear, I’ll do it all for you, so…”
“Well, let’s call it correct.”
Her brothers looked on in shock.
“Then Deles.”
“Yes, well, they tried to trap me. It’s appropriate to threaten them this much.”
“Conversely, you’re letting them off with just this?”
“I didn’t like your initial attitude very much, you see. So…”
“Deles-chan, then…”
“Well, I’ll associate with you normally, as with any concubine’s family.”
“I’ll punch Meso!”
“Eek!”
She went beyond.
(I should confirm.)
I moved closer to Nare.
“Are we still good-natured after this?”
“N-no, no, no, I understood perfectly.”
“Then, shall we go back?”
“Y-yes!!”
And so concluded our ‘greeting’. Honestly, I might have gone a bit too far! Ah, I won’t let those parents see us off. They quickly left using a Teleport Scroll.
