Gathering Wives with a System

The situation would not change no matter how much Isaac thought about it, so eventually he gave up trying to find a solution and went to sleep. There was no point in torturing himself over something he could no longer undo, especially when his thoughts were becoming less useful with every passing minute.

He woke up groggily the next morning, thanks to his internal alarm clock. When he opened his eyes, he found Emily asleep in his arms while Celia was hugging him from behind, apparently having no intention of letting go even while unconscious. Catherine was nowhere to be seen, which meant she had probably left sometime during the night after deciding that staying any longer would make it difficult for her to keep control of herself.

Isaac sat up slowly and massaged his forehead. His mind felt strangely empty, and he spent several moments simply sitting there while he tried to remember where he was and why his body felt so exhausted. Then his memories returned.

He covered his face with both hands.

’What the fuck did I do last night?’ he thought.

He had wanted to punish Celia and Catherine, but now that his mind was clear, his reasoning from the previous night seemed completely absurd. The effects of the aphrodisiac had messed with his judgment so badly that what had seemed like a perfectly logical punishment at the time now looked more like something taken directly from the worst kind of ridiculous fantasy.

It was even worse when he remembered Celia’s reaction. She had kissed him afterward and thanked him, which meant she clearly had not considered what he had done to be punishment at all. If anything, she had probably enjoyed the whole thing far more than she should have.

Then there was Catherine.

Isaac lowered his hands and stared blankly ahead as he remembered making her stay and watch while deliberately teasing her as well. He had somehow convinced himself that this was another form of punishment, but now he could barely understand how his brain had arrived at that conclusion.

He wanted to groan, find a hole somewhere, and bury himself inside it until everyone forgot what had happened. Unfortunately, there was one particular problem that made hiding impossible: Celia knew everything.

’Should I ask Celia to keep last night’s events a secret?’

Isaac considered the thought for a moment before immediately throwing it away. Asking Celia to keep quiet would be like handing her another reason to talk, and she would probably make a dramatic promise not to tell anyone before happily recounting the entire story to every one of his wives.

"Ugh."

Isaac covered his face again.

He did not even want to think about the Sword Empress. There was a good chance his master had been peeping last night, and if she had actually watched or heard what happened, Isaac suspected that explaining himself would not save him from her judgment.

’She wouldn’t punish me, right? I didn’t even do anything willingly. I was also a victim.’

He immediately knew that argument would not work.

Isaac eventually dragged himself out of bed and left the room before he could spend another hour worrying about the previous night. His internal clock would not let him sleep much longer anyway, so he decided to use the mansion’s gym and exhaust himself properly.

When he entered the gym, he found Alice and Althea already there. Althea was wearing a bright smile as she worked out with Alice, clearly pleased to finally have someone around who could be her friend, while Alice looked as though she would rather be anywhere else.

At first, Isaac assumed Alice was annoyed with Althea. Alice was the sort of person who preferred quiet surroundings, so Althea’s enthusiasm could easily have become irritating after a while. However, when Isaac approached them and asked Alice to give him a spot, he was met with complete silence.

Isaac slowly looked at her.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked in a whisper while Althea was not paying attention.

Alice did not answer.

That was when he realized he had guessed correctly.

After the workout, Isaac followed Alice toward the room where she was staying. He slipped inside before she could close the door in his face, then gave her what he hoped was an innocent smile as she turned around with an increasingly annoyed expression.

"What happened to my mad princess?" he teased.

Alice scowled at him and walked toward the bathroom without answering. This time, she did not try to slam the door in his face, which Isaac decided was probably the closest thing to permission he was going to receive.

He followed her inside and waited until they had settled down before speaking again. As he helped scrub her tail, he glanced at her and tried to sound genuinely confused rather than defensive.

"No, I’m serious. Why are you angry?" he asked.

"Are you an idiot?" she asked back.

"What do you mean?" Isaac questioned, now completely confused.

Alice turned around and stared directly at him. Her expression made it very clear that she was wondering whether he genuinely needed an explanation or was simply pretending not to understand.

"Where are we, Isaac?" she asked.

"Uh... in Althea’s house?" Isaac answered, hoping it was the answer she wanted.

"Yes, we are in someone else’s house, so can you please behave responsibly? You..."

Isaac tried to interrupt, but Alice continued before he could get a word in. Apparently, Emily had tried to visit his room fairly early the previous night, only to become shocked and embarrassed by what she saw and immediately return to Alice.

According to Emily, Isaac and the others had been "going at it like animals," which was a description Isaac desperately wished he had never heard. Alice was particularly irritated because they were not in their own home, and there was always the possibility that Althea had some form of surveillance or that the walls were not as soundproof as they had assumed.

Isaac lowered his head and accepted the lecture.

For nearly half an hour, Alice grilled him about his complete lack of restraint. She seemed to be mostly angry because someone else might’ve seen or heard the intimate moments of her family. Isaac tried to defend himself by explaining the effects of the aphrodisiac, but even he knew that explanation could only excuse so much.

Then he sensed someone outside the bathroom.

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