Lia laid with her back covered in glistening sweat, panting as she rested to my side on the bed.

‘Well, there's probably no point in talking to her now, at least not for a while...’ I thought, staring at her resting form. ‘I should probably just walk around alone to see if I can find any more information about this ‘Emperor Nio’ that I was supposed to be…’

I rose quietly from the bed, slipping on some robes that I found in the wardrobe, before heading to the bathroom that was connected to the bedroom.

Staring in the mirror at the bathroom, I was surprised to find myself looking at the reflection of a boy in his late teens.

Straight raven-black hair fell in streaks over sharp hazel eyes and a face that looked as you would imagine for someone from the royal class, or in other words like a total scumbag.

Not bad looking.

Although I was no slouch in my previous life in terms of appearance either, I was definitely not a prince or an emperor.

Still, the thing that surprised me the most was that I was only a boy in his late teens.

I was expecting that the Emperor would be someone much older than that.

Musing over the thought, I left the bathroom, heading for the other door out of the bedroom.

A long hallway lavishly decorated in gold greeted my view.

‘This definitely looked like a castle befitting of an emperor,’ I thought as I walked along the hallway, ‘Did I really hit the jackpot? What kind of miraculous luck is this to find myself reincarnated in this type of life?’

Eventually, the hallway led to a grand staircase and I treaded down the staircase, lost in thought as I marvelled the spectacular sights around me.

That was when someone bumped into my chest and I glanced down to see a head of silky golden blonde hair.

“Ah, sorry—” I started to say out of pure habit then stopped when the girl raised her head.

I thought that it was impossible for anyone to look as beautiful as Lia.

But this girl proved me wrong.

Icy blue eyes that were like moonstones gazed up at me, dark thick eyelashes that looked like natural eyeliner fluttered.

Streaks of blonde hair from her fringe fell over the top of her eyes, stirred by a gentle breeze of wind that blew past, and her hair flittered across the snow-white skin of her face.

I had never seen anyone with skin as white as her, and yet, it somehow made her look even more bewitching, just to watch her snow-white skin glistening against the rays of natural sunlight that fell through the vast windows in the grand staircase.

The only unfortunate thing about the girl’s appearance was the size of her chest which was disproportionately small when compared to Lia’s chest. Or perhaps Lia just set the benchmark too high.

That was when I noticed the alluring floral scent drifting from the girl and wafting into my senses.

I couldn’t even describe the scent. I had never smelled anything like it before in my life.

Suddenly, I forgot all about her chest and all I knew was that I wanted to wrap my arms around the girl’s petite body and lose myself in those soft cherry lips of hers. They strutted out towards me enticingly, as though begging for me to touch them.

The girl glanced up at me innocently for a second, adorned in a gothic black dress that was layered with loose transparent dark fabric that swayed gently in the air with each movement she made.

Then suddenly, she jumped onto me with a cry of joy.

“Oh, Your Highness! How I missed you so!” She said, “Even though it was only yesterday since I last saw you…”

The scent coming from her amplified as she pulled me tighter towards her embrace, and I thought I was going to lose myself for a second.

Through the skin of my willpower, I managed to pull the girl off me, taking several steps backwards to recollect myself.

If there was one thing I hated from my past life, it was cheating.

No, not because I had ever been cheated on.

It was because my father had been a total piece of shit, leaving my mother alone to care for me, whilst going off himself with multiple different women.

Growing up with a single mother, I had watched as my mother’s health deteriorated over the years, eventually leading to her early death from overwork.

After that, I had sworn to myself to never cheat in a relationship no matter what.

Well… Technically speaking, I wasn’t even sure if my situation with Lia could be counted as a relationship since I had only just reincarnated into this body.

Still, I had to honour the fact that Lia and I was married in this world, even if it wasn’t by my choice.

“Look…” I said, glancing over at the blinking confusion on the girl’s face, “I’m already married, so if you don’t mind…”

“H, huh…?” The confusion on the girl’s face stayed, her blonde hair swayed against the wind coming from the opened windows in the grand staircase.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed a glint from the girl’s mouth as the sunlight passed over.

Were those what I thought it was…?

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“Forget it,” I sighed, raising my fingers to my forehead.

Maybe she was just being polite.

This is a different culture after all, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were more touchy than the usual social customs in Japan where I had lived in my past life.

“Your name?” I asked.

“What…?”

“What’s your name?” I repeated myself, glancing at the girl with slight irritation in my eyes. “Who are you?”

The girl looked completely shocked, her delicate hands raised over her mouth.

I didn’t care how beautiful she was.

For Lia, I had been a bit more polite whilst talking to her to get the information that I needed, but that was only because she was my wife.

If we’re talking about some random person in the castle, then I was going to be as direct as I needed to be to quickly get the information that I needed.

“Y, you really don’t remember…?” She muttered, her fringe falling over her eyes.

“How many times are you going to make me repeat myself?” I snapped impatiently.

As Emperor of an unknown castle in an unknown world, I needed to make my authority clear here if I wanted any chance of survival.

I guess it’s time to give her a little push.

In truth, I did feel a little sorry for having to do this to her, but it was just unlucky that she had to be the first subject to cross paths with me upon my reincarnation.

“As Emperor of the Tzuya empire, I, Nio de Tzuya, am now speaking to you upon my title,” I announced to the girl, “You have repeatedly failed to answer my question, failed to speak to me in a formal manner as a loyal subject of the Tzuya empire should, and most importantly of all, you have overstepped your boundaries as a servant of this empire by disrespecting my beloved, the one and only Empress Lia.”

Maybe the last part was a bit overboard, but to play a role, one must play the part completely or nothing at all.

I could see the girl twitch visibly at the mention of Lia’s name.

Good, that meant Lia was in fact my wife.

“Now, I ask you, Emperor to servant,” I stabbed a finger in her way, “Announce yourself!”

The girl stood there silently for a moment whilst I waited, her blonde fringe producing a shadow over her eyes.

Then, she raised her head showing tears streaming down her eyes.

“A, Alice de Tzuya, Empress of the Tzuya Empire…” She stuttered quietly in small hiccups, then her voice got louder as she broke down into complete tears, “I'm also your wife, Your Highness…!!”

I felt as though the ceiling had dropped down onto my head.

“M, m, my wife…?!” The words rolled out of my mouth incoherently.

It was no good.

Alice was crying two waterfalls out of her eyes, bawling loudly in the middle of the grand staircase.

I didn’t know what to do.

I glanced around in desperation, half hoping there was no one around to witness this tragic scene and half hoping there was someone around to comfort the crying girl.

Upon seeing no one, I stepped up to Alice hesitantly, “U, uh… are you sure you’re my wife? I already have Li—”

Alice immediately started crying even louder, and I winced, trying to cover my ears.

“Y, y, you’re horrible, Your Highness…! H, how could you forget your most beloved and prettiest wife, Alice, to whom Your Highness promised ‘til death do we part’…!!”

“Alright, alright, I get it, just stop crying now…!”

In the midst of my poor attempts to comfort Alice, I heard the sound of an amused giggle from the top of the grand staircase and I glanced up at the source of the voice.

Lia was standing at the top of the grand staircase, staring down at Alice with her ruby red eyes and a haughty smirk on her pretty face.

Dressed in a black skirt with blue undertones that frilled out around her like a dancer’s outfit, a black corset that highlighted her large bust, and striped tights that ran up her long slender legs, it was the first time that I saw Lia in her clothes.

I was surprised to see that she looked almost as amazing in her clothes as she did naked.

“Oh lil sis, it never ceases to entertain this one to see you in peril,” Lia said, holding a hand to her mouth, as though she was trying to politely hide her smirk but it was evident that she wasn’t really trying, “Your inane outbursts and antics remind me warmly of a sad circus clown I had the displeasure of seeing as a young child.”

“L, Lil sis…?” I repeated, gazing up at Lia, “Lia, are you and Alice related…?”

“Your Highness, I apologies for my language in advance, but humans and monkeys have a stronger relationship to one another than this one and that stray parasite over there,” Lia said, “The only unfortunate commonality we share is that we are wedded to the same man.”

“Ha ha ha…”

I glanced back down at Alice and was surprised to see that the tears were now drying on her snow-white face.

She lifted her head to gaze up at Lia, forcing a smile with her icy blue eyes shooting daggers.

“You’re always so funny and witty, big sis!” Alice said, then stopped for a second to wipe away the remaining wet tears she still had on her face, “I wonder how you find the time to come up with those funny jokes of yours between fucking and sleeping as those are the only two things you seem to do in this place.”

“At least this one fucks,” Lia yawned disinterestedly, then started walking down the staircase towards us, “How many times do you spread your legs, lil sis? Once, twice, or has it been three times now? Please remind this one. This one has sincerely lost count over the three months that you’ve been married to Your Highness.”

“That’s none of your business!” Alice snapped, “A lady should have more class than only knowing how to spread her legs. Otherwise, what’s the difference between you and a random street whore?”

“Is that your excuse for your flat board chest?”

“F, f, f, flat…?!”

All the flair that Alice showed earlier seemed to melt away, her feet stumbled and her snow-white cheeks quickly turned peach red in a very noticeable manner, “I, I am not flat…! B, besides, a lady should…”

“Yes, yes,” Lia spoke over Alice in an annoyed tone as she stopped in front of me. Then, Lia reached out, grabbing onto my hand with hers and caressing it playfully.

“Your Highness, is it not about time we tuck the children back into their beds? Have we not humoured the ugly child enough?” Lia said, then she lowered her voice, “This one has some important business to discuss with Your Highness over bed and some candles…”

“It’s still only morning!!” Alice interjected, having heard everything, she swiped at Lia’s hands to break her grasp.

“Tch,” Lia glanced down at her hand as though she had been bitten by an irritating mosquito, then she raised a hand over her eyes, squinting at the sunlight coming from the windows, “I was wondering why it was so bright and awful…”

“I had been speaking in jest earlier, but I’m beginning to think that you truly only know how to fuck and sleep…” Alice said, staring at Lia in disbelief.

Lia flicked her glance over at Alice, her ruby red eyes narrowing, “What kind of a vampire are you supposed to be anyways? How is it that you are always up when the sun is up and gone when the sun is gone?”

“I just prefer the sun!” Alice said, “Not all vampires are afraid of the sun!”

The two continued berating each other in front of me, while I stood at the sideline, absorbing crucial pieces of information that occassionally came out amidst their insults to one another.

Once I was satisfied that there wasn't any more knowledge to be gained, albeit how amusing their argument was, I stepped in between the two of them.

"That's enough now," I said firmly.

The two girls immediately went quiet.

Good.

So the two of them at least respected my authority.

Now it's time to figure out what the hell was going on.