...

Cold-Snout Estate, Entrance hall

What was an entrance hall? It was the first impression of a household's estate and what it stood for. When entering, one could immediately guess what to expect from the Lord and Lady. Some were cold and empty, only showing their vastness, while others were beautifully decorated with the most exquisite furniture, almost bankrupting the owners.

Entering the Cold-Snout estate, one would immediately say they were part of the latter group, except for the bankruptcy part. Everything was made out of luxurious materials, like white stone, with fine engravings of vines, flowers, and other miscellaneous symbolicisms that depicted nature.

However, it was also very chaotically decorated with various plants, which were organized in what seemed like a random way. Still, one felt comfort when standing there, as the environment soothingly massaged one's soul.

Furniture was made out of unique and enchanted wood, which, when light fell on it, started glistering, making virtual butterflies and small birds appear, while the ground became greenish, almost like grass. It looked like a forest clearing where one could lie down and sleep peacefully.

This idyllic picture was enhanced by a massive staircase, which was slightly concealed by virtual clouds, and as the higher one walked upwards, the more it felt as if one was on a mountain.

Inside this charming but chaotic hall, three girls were standing. Every one of them was wearing beautiful clothing, portraying their personality and aptitude. They stood in a circle, anticipating their upcoming travel toward the South and discussing their expectations.

The quietest looked shily at her feet and fiddled with her fingers while trying to hide her excitement as her jackal tail swung slightly from side to side, "Do you think this Alexander is really that great? I didn't like the Iron-Claws..."

Beside her, a girl, a head bigger, stood proudly and steadfastly, not matching her fine clothing, shrugging, "Calm down, Vanessa, nobody will challenge you there."

Vanessa nodded slightly, "I know, but..."

Vanessa was interrupted by another girl with a perfect posture and stoic facial expression, her fluffy dog tail hanging almost lifelessly around, "I would assume Matilda will take every challenge for us, so don't worry."

While Matilda straightened up and looked proud, her wolf ears flinching and tail waggling, Vanessa nodded to her as a thank-you and turned to the stoic-looking one, "Thanks, Emma... I really only wish for someone like Dad."

Matilda's ears suddenly flinched as she visibly remembered something, "Ah, right! Hasn't he some kind of charity? So, he should be nice, too, right?"

Hearing that, Emma broke her demeanor and nodded vigorously. At the same time, her fluffy dog tail started to waggle, "Yes, I heard that they started to buy buildings for schools they want to build for everyone!"

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, "This is nice, but how do you know this?"

Emma looked proudly at her sisters, "I just know!"

Matilda, though, smirked at her and chuckled, "She stole Dad's letters, which Aunty sent, haha!"

Emma became flustered, and her face reddened. Out of anger, she stepped on the floor, refuting, "I didn't!"

Matilda screamed back at her, making a mocking face, "Yes, you did!"

While the fight was ongoing, Vanessa nervously tried to calm them down. From above came a loud voice, almost exploding through the hall, "Girls, please calm down! Remember our household's saying! One Household, One Family!"

They looked up the stairs, seeing the Lady, Cecilia. She was a jackal-kin with beautiful curly blond hair and brown eyes, wearing an elegant dress. She walked down elegantly what seemed to be stairs chiseled into a mountain as it was projected through the enchantments on the staircase while wearing high heels.

Everyone who saw her immediately knew she was the epitome of the Cold-Snout's philosophy. As the Lady, she was also Brutus's first wife, thus having the task of mostly looking after all the other wives and their puppies. Those management and socializing skills were also her greatest strength, necessary to ensure peace inside their harem.

The Cold-Snouts were primarily known for their aggressive swordplay by their enemies. Still, by allies, they were known for their aggressive socializing, and Cecilia embodied it with her body and soul.

There was no short-sighted politicking, which would ultimately cause everyone's unhappiness, but pure and unadulterated goodwill, an ability ingrained into everyone in the household, with her treating everyone fairly and relentlessly trying to help them excel in their talents or find a suitable spouse.

The household for the Cold-Snouts was their family. It didn't matter if someone was blood-related or not. The moment someone got the family name, they became a member of that family. It was a very unusual and dangerous path for many, but for them, it worked. For this to work, the first wife needed to shine in many things to hold the household together.

As such, the Lady had always the last word inside their household. No matter what the Lord wanted or not, it didn't matter. He wanted to sleep with only one wife while five others were waiting for him- A ridiculous notion which, if needed, the first wife would personally make sure, through force or otherwise, that it would never happen in the first place, making the Lord, if must, sleep with everyone, not caring what he felt or not. He must tend to his duties as husband. There was no discussion.

Because of this power structure inside their household, many thought that the Cold-Snout household was female-centric, where they always had the last word, seeing the Lord as a symbolic position when it came to decision-making.

However, it couldn't be further from the truth. What happened on the battlefield, in administration, and in trade was none of the Lady's and other wives' concern. They would follow whatever decision he made, be it a bloodthirsty war with allies or peace talks with their most ingrained enemies. As he followed what happened inside the estate to a tee, they would follow him whatever he decided outside.

These strict traditions and confidence in each other made it one of the few harems that functioned for thousands of years. Every other harem mostly imploded due to intrigues and other political machinations.

Hearing her, the girls immediately straightened up, showing her the respect she deserved even though she was only Vanessa's Mother, but nobody cared. Inside their harem, blood relations were frowned upon and considered something one should not be concerned with. The puppies were everyone's puppies, and they had multiple Mothers who loved them all the same.

She nodded at them as she descended the stairs, "So, you read all the information about your cousin?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

They all nodded excitedly, but Cecilia looked at them worriedly, "I am so sorry that I don't have more of that information at hand, but Mari is always so protective of their pups."

Emma was the first to speak, "Don't worry, Mom, Alex will fall for us the moment he sees us!"

Cecilia patted her head softly but reprimanded her strictly, "How nice, but this is not a competition! If you don't like him, just enjoy your time at the estate and try to be nice to him so we don't ruin our relationship, all right?"

They all nodded, with Matilda sounding excited, wanting to share it, "I heard that he is strong! This means..." Cecilia interrupted her, "So you didn't read it?"

Matilda was shocked as she was found out. She fumbled with her hands and nodded carefully, "It was... too much."

Cecilia sighed, looking at her in worry, touching her cheek slightly, "Matilda, he is strong, but you must be careful. You already went through your legacy, but he is only seven years old. So, don't expect too much..."

She took her hand away and smiled at all of them, "However, I heard that he is a sensitive boy..." She looked and pointed at Vanessa, "...I guess he will fall for you then."

Emma interjected aggressively, "But I already like him from what I read! He set up a charity, is incredibly intelligent, and..."

Cecilia interrupted, scolding her in a lovely but strict tone, "Don't think that talent is everything! Because your Father is incredibly talented and has a great personality, it doesn't mean everyone is the same. It is rather rare, and I want you to look at how he behaves and thinks. This is not a household with a harem so that you will be the only spouse then! Remember that! So you need to consider if you could endure him for the rest of your life..." She looked at everyone equally, "...do you all understand?"

While a harem brought many problems, it also brought positives. One of those was that the wives, who liked to have some alone time, could have it while their husbands spent time with the other ones. But in a household where the Lord only had one wife, she would become his one and only. So, a decision needed to be made carefully, especially for two talented individuals who would live together for the next hundreds of years. In Cecilia's opinion, divorce was out of the question and only something for commoners. So, there was no going back.

Emma and Matilda frowned slightly, not really understanding it, but Vanessa nodded, waddling her tail around as she was only looking for a nice boy with whom she could enjoy a peaceful life.

Cecilia looked at them worryingly, knowing why they were this excited. While frowning inwardly, she remembered when Scarlett visited them some time ago and boasted to Brutus so much about Alexander that it became ridiculous. Worse, all her puppies listened to those praises, not understanding that personality was much more important than overwhelming talent, especially since some of those individuals were also a little crazy.

Unfortunately, her boys also listened to her, and their self-esteem plummeted. They were average when it came to socializing, fighting, or administration. Not good, but not bad either. However, they had lovely personalities toward their close ones. They were sensitive and attentive to others' emotions, needs, and problems.

They had the perfect personalities for their harem. So, she and the other wives tried to cheer them somehow up, as their young years were crucial for molding them into appropriate Cold-Snout men. Fighting ability, administration, and socializing skills could all be substituted through their future wives, which they did since the creation of their household, but developing a great personality was almost impossible later on.

This was also what many didn't understand about harems. They all imagined a dominating husband controlling his wives with collars and leashes, but such behavior resulted in the downfall. Without the husband having a fitting personality, a harem was doomed.

Because of that, they looked heavily after their boys, trying to educate them to have a personality that fit the Cold-Snout's picture. Also, while it sounded mean that she called them inwardly average in all aspects, it was much better for their household structure than having a Lord be exceptional in one area but bad in others.

The Lord was expected to make decisions and delegate responsibilities to his wives, who were specialized and would help with their knowledge. If he was bad in an area, it could result in a catastrophe, while being exceptional in others didn't mean much.

At the same time, the girls were brought up in different ways, concentrating more on the previously mentioned skills so they could specialize heavily. Like the boys, what they would later do was up to them. Still, since they did not have many male descendants, many stayed in their territory, becoming either the Lord or creating their own harem while administrating a smaller area as an Earl.

However, fortunately, their boys didn't know what it meant when Scarlett praised someone unconditionally. Even Brutus and Marisia, who were both monsters in Cecilia's opinion, were only average for the Slaughterer.

It was ridiculous. Cecilia worried a lot about sending her girls to the Leonandras. However, they always had one or two in each generation who were practically at the top of the food chain, but their talent was mostly only on the battlefield.

Cecilia shook herself awake when the girls started to gossip again between each other, making her smile at such a lovely scene. She looked at them the last time and interrupted their unladylike behavior, "Now, what is the most important thing?"

Emma was the first to answer enthusiastically, "Having fun!"

Matilda came immediately after her, "Eating good food!"

Vanessa was the last and the quietest but sounded the most excited, "Making friends!"

Cecilia's smile widened, leading them to the carriages while thinking, 'I hope Marisa will not be too stuck up.'

...

Arrival at the Leonandra Estate

After a long journey, the Cold-Snout girls arrived at the Leonandra estate and were welcomed by a dozen servants and a lone wolf-kin boy with a lovely smile.

This scene made them giddy as they feared that someone from his family was also there, so they needed to show their best-mannered side and talk to them too, but since they were immediately all alone, it gave them a chance to have some private time.

They jumped out of their carriage, not even waiting for their servants to open the door and help them out, as the trip was too arduous for them to stay any longer cramped up in the carriage.

Matilda was in the front, with Emma next, and Vanessa, being flustered, followed them. They were sweaty, had greasy hair, and looked tired, but they finally arrived, making them forget their fatigue.

Matilda was the first to go to Alexander, who slightly flinched since she stopped right before him, making him confused, "Hello there? You must be..."

She punched her chest, looking proudly at him, "Matilda K. Could-Snout! Nice to meet you."

While Matilda looked at Alexander, who was visibly confused, she also analyzed him thoroughly. She saw that he had a great posture and, while not even ten, was tall. Looking more closely at him, she saw heavy scars, which made her remember that he survived an assassination attempt and saved a Nine-Fire girl while at it, thus suffering those.

For many, scars were not something beautiful, but for her, they were. Most scars told a story of battle and survival. She licked her lips slightly and imagined what kind of scars he would have and where they were. She would love to see all of them, but before that, she remembered Cecilia, who told her to concentrate on his personality rather than other things, which she decided to do.

Matilda's thoughts and Alexander's introduction were interrupted when Emma came confidently forward, "Emma I. Cold-Snout, I am happy to make acquaintances with you."

Emma, on the other hand, wasn't really seeing anything. She only saw that Alexander was flustered slightly, but his looks were not to her liking. He looked sloppy. His hair was not combed, the necktie was poorly tied up, and for some reason, he wore a pair of different colored socks.

However, she decided to wait and see. Something like this could be a unique circumstance, or she would need to teach him some manners, but only if he was overwhelming her with his personality and intellect.

Last but not least was Vanessa, who came timidly forward, sounding nervous, "Hello! My name is Vanessa C. Cold..." though she bit her tongue, "...Schnise...ow."

She wanted to avoid making a scene, but Alexander immediately came over to her, "Hold still..." After a moment, he said something weird, and suddenly, all around Vanessa's head, a transparent greenish film surrounded her.

They all looked astounded at Vanessa. It was magic, and while they knew of some magicians in their territory, Alexander was the first to do it while being a canine-kin.

Of course, they knew he could do magic, but they didn't expect much since a magician needed to study a lot to use some spells. At least, this was what their Mothers told them. Yet, Alexander could freely use it. This display surprised them all.

After another moment, the spell stopped, and they looked at him, astounded. However, he only looked at Vanessa and smiled at her charmingly, saying softly, "Are you okay? Try talking."

Vanessa nodded and could speak well again, blushing, "Yes... thank you."

He nodded back and, at last, introduced himself while looking at all of them, "My name is Alexander K. Leonandra! Nice to meet you, and while I know why you are here, I hope that even if that doesn't work out, we can become great friends!"