Fortunately for his sanity, Alicia chose that moment to show up.
Sasha and Emily looked over as the front door opened to admit Alicia, her sapphire blue hair shimmering in the mid-day light like spun gemstones. Emily looked a bit panicked while her mother remained as calm as before. He suspected that such composure came naturally when you were royalty. Though, her Peak Tier 5 cultivation likely added to her confidence.
“Ah, I see that I might be a bit late for the conversation,” she said, her usual bubbly tone replaced by a more serious one as she smoothly walked to where he sat on the couch and took her seat beside him, so close that their hips and legs touched.
“May I ask a question?” Sasha spoke, her tone now one of curiosity as she once again took in Alicia with sharp and searching eyes.
“You may,” Alicia replied simply.
“Why are you gathering the young women on the Goddess Ranking?”
“Hasn’t Emily told you that already?” Alicia asked, her head tilting to the side slightly as though confused.
“She has, but I would like to hear it from you as things can be lost in the retelling of something,” Sasha replied, her smile once again turning kind.
Alicia studied Sasha for a moment before she softly sighed, then spoke.
“I don’t agree with the whole concept of the Goddess Ranking,” she said firmly. “By every metric, the Ranking is only there to quantify the ‘desirable’ traits of young women and their ‘eligibility’ as potential wives or trophies. It demeans every woman everywhere by reducing the most ‘beautiful’ of us to mere objects of desire,” she said, a slight frown forming as she spoke.
“I formed my questing team, The Untouchables, to show that we’re more than three measurements and a pretty face. We’re intelligent, capable, have our own dreams and desires, and personalities deeper than a puddle. My goal is to show those who write, promote, and distribute the Goddess Ranking that we’re not just women to be desired and placed upon a pedestal, but real women who also have feelings.”
Sasha took that all in for a moment before nodding.
“Those are commendable goals and sentiments,” she said with a smile of approval. “But, if you pardon an outsider’s perspective, it almost looks like you’re gathering those very young women around young Joram here,” she said, motioning delicately at him. “One might even think that you’re secretly gathering future wives for him.”
Both he and Alicia’s jaws dropped, their eyes nearly bugging out at her words. Alicia’s jaw worked as she tried to say something as he turned to stare at her with a mix of astonishment and horror, much like how Emily was staring at her mother.
Their expressions must have been so priceless that Sasha burst out laughing, her voice melodic and enchanting.
“Oh, that was worth it,” she said, wiping away her tears of mirth. “I can see the truth of the matter, especially after having spoken with both my daughter and Renna and comparing your reactions.
“I’m not a person who criticized others, nor am I one to find fault. But being a mother to one of the ‘study group’ members, I do hope that you will continue treating every one of those young women fairly,” she said, fixing them with a stern look.
“Of course,” Joram said, waving away the concern with a dismissive hand as his brain tried not to think of any hidden meanings in her words.
“Joram,” Sasha said, once again fixing him with her stunning red eyes. “I only have my daughter to go by, but if you treat the others as well as her, are considerate of each of them as you are with Emily, then I am sure that those young women are more attached to you than you think,” she said, causing Emily to once again turn red.
Joram stared at Emily for a moment before slowly turning to regard Alicia, who was coincidentally studying her teacup with the intensity of a collector looking for treasures at a garage sale. He continued to stare at her until she started to fidget, then finally gave up trying to ignore him.
“You’re kind of awesome,” she said, still looking down at her tea. “I hadn’t exactly expected something like this happening,” she said, motioning to the Hornwoods with her off hand. “Sure, there was a possibility of that happening, but with how fawned over everyone on the Goddess Ranking is, I didn’t give it higher odds than successfully navigating an asteroid field,” she said, confusing the mother-daughter duo in the process.
The reference, however, nearly made him laugh out loud because of the stress of the day.
Joram leaned back on the couch, resting his head on the top of the couch at the same time so that he could stare up at the ceiling. He took long and slow breaths to help calm him as the thought about things. To be precise, as nine of him thought about things due to his emergency re-tasking of his Minds.
He went through hundreds of pros, cons, and scenarios as he breathed, all surrounding his study group as well as those closer to him. After a few minutes of that, he sat back up and regarded Sasha and Emily a moment before he spoke.
“I’m not as awesome as all that,” he said, resigned. “I have more flaws than I’d care to count. I’m also more introverted than you’d imagine. I have dreams and goals that I can’t share with you yet, if ever,” he said as he looked Emily in the eye. “I may die pursuing those goals only to leave you, or anyone else who’s decided to be with me, alone.
“I’m not perfect. I’m terrible at telling what women are thinking, needing things to be clearly spelled out for me. As is evident by what’s been revealed to me just now,” he said, a self-deprecating grin on his face.
“I’m definitely not as pure and gentlemanly as you make me out to be,” he said, not quite able to meet anyone’s eye. “It’s the hardest thing in the world for me to be surrounded by such stunning beauties almost all the time and not have dirty thoughts about them,” he said, now blushing in embarrassment at the admission before turning to look Sasha in the eye.
“I have a perfect memory with perfect recall. Do you understand just how torturous that is?” He asked, motioning towards Emily who was now in danger of having an aneurism with how much blood had rushed to her head. Even Sasha blushed faintly at that.
“Anyone with eyes to appreciate just how beautiful your daughter is would be filled with such joy at being able to marry her that I suspect they’d instantly fall over dead and transcend the heavens,” he said, causing Emily to finally faint due to having too much blood rushing to her head.
“But am I worthy of that? Of any of their affections?” He finished quietly as his heart raced; his eyes locked with Sasha’s as she held her daughter up with one arm.
She regarded him seriously for a couple of minutes before speaking.
“Probably not,” she said bluntly, but with a smile spreading across her face. “But I don’t think there is anyone alive who is,” she said, her eyes twinkling once again. “You’re good to my selfish daughter. You treat her well, are kind and understanding. You’ve proved that you care enough for her to give her something like this,” she said, plucking Emily’s body suit with her thumb and forefinger. “So, answer me this. What more can a mother ask for when leaving her daughter in the care of a man?”
“Love?” He asked, brows going up.
“Bah, that’s something the develops over time,” Sasha said brusquely. “There’s no such thing as ‘love at first sight’. More like ‘lust at first sight’,” she said, repeating something he often said. And by doing that, convinced him how sincere she really was about all this.
“Alicia?” He said, turning to the woman in question.
She had been quiet the whole time, taking it all in. Finally, she turned to him and spoke.
“I really didn’t expect something like this to happen, you know,” she said quietly before continuing. “I’m not against it if you aren’t,” she said simply.
“Well, I guess things’ll be a bit more complicated now,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger before turning back to a beaming Sasha. “So, how’s this going to work? Are we just considered married? Are we going to have to attend a lavish wedding that would beggar a kingdom? Will there be some sort of engagement announcement with a marriage date set sometime in the future?”
Sasha continued to shine her radiant smile on him as he saw her tail gently waving back and forth, pleased as a cat in a creamery.
“We don’t need anything fancy,” she said, waving those concerns away. “As a matter of a fact, we can perform the wedding tonight. With my husband, the King here, as well as Emily’s siblings, we have everyone we need,” she said, almost causing him to fall off the couch in shock.
“Isn’t that a little too fast?” He asked, looking over at the still fainted Emily.
“Hmm, then maybe just some vows would work,” she said as she gently stroked Emily’s forehead. “We can settle for an engagement while your feelings grow for one another. We can set a wedding date later.”
“There’ll be an order to the weddings though,” Alicia suddenly piped in. “I’ll be the first wife-,”
What about Xiora?!
“- but there are others to consider. Bai Lian and Mo Yu have already confessed their love for Joram. Though they’re all taking things slowly, one should consider the feelings for all those involved,” she finished, causing Sasha’s eyes to widen in shock as she turned to regard Joram.
“Nothing’s happened between us,” he said, raising his hands defensively. “I’m still sorting things out,” he said, reflexively pinging the two women to get a feel for where they were.
Sasha looked at them with more than a little disbelief.
“You’re saying that my daughter won’t be your first wife?” She asked, then seemed to catch herself as her eyes flickered slightly. “Well, I should expect nothing less given your stature,” she said, taking on a more meek bearing. Which really confused him.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“What do you mean by ‘stature’?” He asked, reminded of her referring to him as someone of “great standing”.
“Why, your noble bloodline, of course,” Sasha replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Joram wasn’t following. Did this have something to do with his draconic and phoenix heritages?
Wait. Is this another trope that’s true here? A more powerful magical beast being able to suppress “lesser” bloodlines? Was that why my aura was so effective? Damn, I just thought that beastkin were more sensitive to battle auras than others…
“Ah, well, that’s something… different. I had a fortuitous encounter and was able to refine some dragon blood,” he explained as he tried very hard not to show his nervousness.
If this was all due to their mistaking him for a dragon clan member or something, then he’d better come clean before the misunderstanding went too far. No need to make the whole situation into one of those poorly written manga/manhua/manhwa/anime/sitcoms. Because damn, he hated that shit!
Sasha regarded him oddly for a moment before shrugging.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said as she let out a sigh. “The fact that you’re strong enough to be the man that my daughter needs… well, that’s enough for me. That said, any children she bears for you will also inherit your bloodline. There are no downsides for her,” she finished, turning to Emily as her smile turned tender again.
“Ah, well. Glad that was cleared up,” he said, not knowing what else to say.
“On another note,” Sasha said, turning back to him with a predatory glint in her eyes. “Emily tells me that you make wonderful things with your viridian silk,” she said, emphasizing her words by running a finger over Emily’s body suit-covered clavicle.
Ah, this’ll be awkward, he thought before Sasha truly made it more awkward.
- - -
“So, she left her here, huh?” Alicia asked after everything wrapped up. Pun intended.
“Yup,” Joram said, looking lost.
“You going to be OK?” She asked, noting his thoroughly drained countenance.
“I think we need another bedroom,” Joram said, still staring vacantly at where Sasha had been seated.
“I’ve got spares if you need,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of support.
“Yeah, that’s good,” he said vaguely.
“I’m sure she’ll be OK staying at my place,” she said, trying to get through to her semi-catatonic boyfriend.
“How many more?” He asked, his gaze still far away.
“More?” She asked, knowing what he was asking about but was unwilling to go there yet.
“Gabrielle? She’s like a puppy following me. Alyraele is always asking for more private lessons. Daleira is always lightly touching my arm, or anywhere else convenient, and seems to be in a bit of a rivalry with Kassandra over getting my attention.
“Faenwyn is nice, though kinda tsundere. She’s got psionic talent, but isn’t nurturing it as she should be. Maybe she’ll come around? Sophia is also nice. I don’t think that she’s after me like that. Renna is Renna. I’m not sure if she’s just one of those people who are hopeless romantics, always yearning and chasing after the next show. Or is she one of those types who is always pushing romances on others but secretly wanting to be the target of affection?
“Will the entire study group become my harem?” He finished, looking nothing like she’d expect most normal young men to look like at the prospect of having so many beautiful women attached to him.
“Hmm, probably not,” she said musingly. “I’m pretty sure that even though they don’t talk about their families that Renna, Kassandra, Faenwyn, and Aenwyn are nobles. Their families likely already have plans to marry them off to someone or another for political reasons.
“Sophia is a merchant through and through, so unless you can help her and her family increase their profit and connections, she’s not likely to pursue you. Though Gabrielle and Daleira seem to be free, so that could happen,” she reported analytically.
“That’s not very reassuring, you know,” he said, finally leaning back again to stare up at the ceiling.
“So? Are you really that determined to keep people away? If they’re genuinely interested in you and are OK with everything, what’s wrong with that? Sure, I’m not happy that I’ll have to share your time with even more people, but I understand.”
“But what about me? Can’t we take things… slow? Slower? Does it have to go that way at all? Why can’t things stay the same?”
“That’s why you’re an idiot,” Alicia said, leaning over to lay her head on his shoulder. “The only true static things are those that are dead. Life progresses. If things don’t change, they’ll end. They’re all very talented, capable, and intelligent young women. They know what they’re doing. But if they don’t see a desirable future with you, they’ll leave to find one that’ll make them happy,” she said softly.
“I really do like everyone,” he said equally softly, still staring up at the ceiling. “They’re fantastic girls. Anyone would be thrilled to be with any one of them. But would they really be happy with someone like me?”
* * * * *
She’d woken up before her mother left, though hearing her words had embarrassed her so thoroughly that she’d decided to pretend to still be asleep. That the first thing upon waking that she heard her mother speak of was children, well… that wasn’t a conversation that she was willing to step into just yet. Especially not this early in her… relationship with Joram.
Then came her mother’s request for lingerie form Joram and she’d wished she could have disappeared on the spot. Thankfully, Joram had been quick about it and soon her mother had gone after leaving her a kiss on the forehead.
That her mother had also left her in his “care” had also set her heart fluttering and emotions swirling so much that she hadn’t had the courage to “wake up” yet.
And now. Now, she was hearing Joram’s heartfelt words. Sure, she hadn’t been thrilled to hear that she’d be staying with Alicia, but at least she would be much closer to him than she was currently.
But hearing just how deeply he felt about them all had set her heart aching. But in a good way. She’d noticed everyone else’s advances on Joram, from incredibly direct to so subtle that she’d almost missed them. She still wasn’t sure about Renna, but for someone who’d been at the Academy for nine years already to have stayed with their study group so long… there was surely something there.
That Joram was worrying so much about their feelings, about their own thoughts and considerations cemented her own feelings about him. Yes, she thought that he should be less wishy-washy about them, but she found that it was oddly endearing. Which was weird, because she’d always thought that she preferred firm and assertive men who knew what they wanted and went for it.
Which got her thinking of all the boys who’d chased after her these past few years. Anyone from her “preferred type” to boys so scared to approach her that they’d just hand her a letter of confession and run away. Heck, she’d even had a few young women give her a letter of confession, but that hadn’t interested her.
What ultimately swayed each of her refusals had been the fact that each of them were… boring in their own way. They couldn’t keep up with her. Sparring, for her, was more important than what they looked like or how they acted around her.
A good spar told her everything that she needed to know about a person. Everything from how they stood to how they attacked. Their exchanges told the story of their training and their philosophy surrounding their chosen martial art. It revealed their thoughts to her, what their intentions were during the spar.
Their fists were more honest than their mouths were.
But when she’d first sparred with Joram, things had been different. At first, she’d felt that he was another condescending and overconfident boy who’d agreed just because of her looks. For what young man hadn’t ogled her, their lust plain as day for her to see.
As the minutes had gone on, her opinion of the boy who’d smelled subtly of sex to her keen nose, her impression of him had changed. He hadn’t tried to “brush” up against her while they exchanged moves. Her bouncing breasts hadn’t provided her the openings that she was so used to, which had actually put her on the back foot for a time.
For the first time when sparring another student, she’d… been happy. The exchanges were so direct, so honest, that she’d been thrilled. He’d kept pushing her, leading her along in the fight to draw out more of her ability. The pure exchanges had triggered her loved of the fight, heating her blood until her bloodline had awoken.
Then she’d awoken in her apartment with Renna, who’d then filled her in on things.
After that, every time she sparred with Joram, she’d given it her all. Well, not quite her all, for she didn’t want to lose any of those fights to the oblivion that came from her bloodline awakening, even after he’d gifted her the viridian silk combat clothes.
She’d wanted to savour every moment spent sparing with him. She’d wanted to learn, to continue pushing herself to greater heights. Their sessions had proved so fruitful that she felt that she was getting a feel for his combat style, that she was finally catching up to him.
Then their spar this morning had initially disappointed her; his choosing to engage her, in front of her parents, with another martial art had been embarrassing. His grasp of its forms had been terrible. She’d been so angry that she’d gone all out to vent her frustrations on him, striking every opening she found.
But the honesty she felt in his form and technique, as horrible as it had been at first, had eventually gotten through to her. So, she’d chosen to do for him what he’d done for her dozens of times in the past. She began to train him.
Emily had been sure that her parents and siblings hadn’t understood what she was doing or, rather why she was doing it. Especially because the match had been meant to show off how strong Joram really was. But that was precisely why she’d chosen to do it.
Her love of the fight had come out in spades as she watched Joram’s form and technique improve as their exchanges continued. Her heart began to soar as he began to push her as she pushed him. Her battle lust had awoken, sending a feeling of such exhilaration and life through her that she hadn’t cared that her bloodline had started to awaken.
Then she’d woken up in her bed and disappointment had flooded in because the fight had ended.
After her talk with her parents, then her mother, then back to both her parents, they’d gone to see Joram again. But the direct and blunt way that her mother had spoken had struck her blows so hard that they’d thoroughly knocked her unconscious.
Which brought her back to the moment. To the silence that came after Joram’s last question revealed that he wasn’t the confident young man that he seemed to be in front of everyone. She recalled her mother’s words about him being what she needed and couldn’t help but blush, especially the words following those about their future children.
“Ah, I think she’s up now,” Alicia said, outing her.
Emily cracked an eye open to peek at the pair on the couch and felt a sudden surge of emotion that she couldn’t quite place. What she got from it though, was that she too wanted to cuddle up to Joram, which made her blush even more than before.
“… and I think she also wants cuddles,” Alicia said, a sly smile tugging at her lips.
“Just cuddles are fine,” Joram said, still looking up at the ceiling. “But there’s lots to talk about, so I think we’ll be here for a while. So, yeah, may as well get comfortable,” he said, not unkindly.
As used to being an outrageous flirt who loved teasing people just to see their reactions as she was, the thought of cuddling up to Joram now sent an inexplicable fright through her. Instead of hopping over like she would have done yesterday, she instead just sat up straight on her couch as she rearranged her shawl.
“Yes, lots to talk about!” She said, her heart now racing as she saw Joram’s lips briefly twitch into a grin.
“How serious are you about wanting to marry me?” He asked as his chin dropped so that he could look her in the eyes.
So many unfamiliar emotions began swirling about her chest that a lump formed in her throat to contain them all. The crazy urge to deny everything and say that it was fine to continue on how they’d been surged to the top of the pile.
Her lips opened to speak, but then the thought of not getting to know him better quickly strangled that first impulse dead. She wanted to be around him more. Wanted to see what heights they could achieve together as they continued to spar whenever they could.
Then, when they’d spent much more time together, would he start looking at her like a woman and not just a friend? Like someone whom he wanted to spend more intimate time with, like Alicia?
That last thought nearly stalled out her brain. She’d grown up the daughter of a concubine, so seeing her mother sharing the attention of her man had been normal for her. Until she’d gone to the Academy and found that there was something called monogamy where a woman didn’t share her man with other women.
She’d thought it odd at first, but then the idea had started to grow on her. Being put up onto a pedestal by the makers of the Goddess Ranking had further pushed her in that direction, for she found that she could choose any one of her fans and not have to share him with anyone else.
Emily realized then, that that was when she’d started her over-the-top flirting. Then another realization struck. Since that first spar with Joram, she hadn’t been flirting like she used to. Instead, it had all shifted onto Joram.
Her cheeks heated up so much at that thought that she grew light-headed. She was groggily wondering what she should do when she felt a cool sensation run through her body, leaving her clear-headed and refreshed. She looked up to see Joram standing in front of her, his hand extended. It was then that she realized that his hand was resting on her head.
“Yes. Yes, I am very serious,” she suddenly blurted out as her cheeks heated once again. But oddly, as the words left her mouth, the tumultuous emotions in her chest calmed.