Harem System In A fantasy World

After Celeste so shamelessly claimed her place at his side, Aria did the same, and they were all sitting casually around the plush seats while speaking, and half an hour passed before any of them realized.

And as it did, Elion found himself struggling to stay awake. For some reason, his eyelids were starting to grow heavy once again, and he suddenly felt like sleeping.

At some point, his head dropped to the side, falling onto Celeste’s lap, immediately drawing concerned reactions from the ladies.

"I’m fine," he said quickly. "Apparently, one week of sleep still wasn’t enough for me to recover completely."

Celeste placed his head much more comfortably in her lap and immediately checked his condition. He truly was fine. Other than the obvious weakness, his vitality was still recovering steadily.

"It would be better if you did not move around too much," Celeste said with a grimace.

Elion nodded. "Yeah, I’m just going to lie down. Wake me up in an hour or two." He glanced at his other worried women and gave them the slightest smile.

"Well, I’m sure you all want to get to know Celeste a little better, seeing as this is your first proper meeting and all, so I’ll let you get acquainted."

Elion rested his head against the couch and closed his eyes.

’System, what’s up with this anyway? Shouldn’t I be fully recovered after an entire week of rest, especially with all my regenerative abilities?’

[In any other situation, perhaps.]

[However, Master’s regenerative abilities primarily affect stamina and physical injuries. Their effects on vitality and blood restoration are not as efficient.]

[Not to say they are poor, of course. What is considered inefficient for host would still be considered godly by ordinary standards.]

[Under normal circumstances, Host’s vitality should have fully recovered by now.]

[The fact that it has not means you lost an extreme amount of blood.]

[You were, for all intents and purposes, little more than an empty husk.]

[I estimate that a normal person who survived such blood loss, if they survived, would require at least six months before recovering enough strength to awaken.]

[Therefore, Host’s body and regeneration are already functioning with remarkable efficiency in restoring you to peak condition.]

Elion sighed inwardly. ’Well, I suppose I can’t complain too much.’ With that, he slowly drifted back to sleep.

"I have never seen him this exhausted before," Mira said as she approached, crouching before him and gently brushing a strand of black hair away from his handsome face.

"He looks kind of cute when he’s sleeping," Tessa added. The others looked at him and could not help but agree.

He really did.

It was almost enough to make one forget how much of a pervert he was whenever he was awake.

And so, while Elion slept, the five ladies gradually fell into a chorus of idle chatter, which somehow ended up shifting toward the topic of Celeste’s pregnancy.

"So, do you have a name for the child yet?" Isla asked curiously.

Celeste’s cheeks gained a faint pink hue, but she shook her head. "Not yet. I have not really had time to think about it."

"I’ve been meaning to ask. For someone like you, I don’t see how having a child so young makes any sense. What made you decide to bear his child?" Tessa asked curiously, though her own cheeks had begun to redden as well.

Celeste fell silent for a moment. "Well... it is complicated." Her gaze moved toward the sleeping Elion.

"I was in a difficult predicament, and I had very few options. This seemed like the only way for me to not only choose the man I wanted for myself, but also choose what my future would look like.

"What kind of predicament?" Mira asked, understanding that there was more to Celeste’s decision than simple affection toward Elion.

Celeste glanced at Elion again, ensuring that he was still asleep before answering.

"As the sole heir of the Vampire Clan, my future has never truly belonged to me. From the moment I was born, every important decision concerning my life was made with the survival and prosperity of the clan in mind."

Her pale fingers rested lightly against her stomach.

"My education, my responsibilities, the people I was allowed to associate with, and even the person I would eventually marry were all matters that the elders believed should be decided for me."

Aria frowned. "They wanted to force you to marry someone?"

"They would not have described it as force," Celeste replied calmly. "They would have called it duty."

Mira’s lips curved into a humorless smile. "Nobles always have pleasant words for things they would condemn if commoners did them."

Celeste gave her a small nod.

"There were several suitable candidates within the clan. All of them came from old and influential bloodlines, and each family wanted the prestige that would come from joining themselves to the main royal lineage."

"Did you dislike all of them?" Isla asked.

"I felt nothing for them."

Celeste’s answer came without hesitation.

"They were not necessarily cruel or incompetent, but whenever they spoke to me, they did not see Celeste. They saw the future monarch, the pure bloodline I carried, and the authority they could gain by standing beside me."

Her crimson eyes lowered.

"After all the candidates had been properly gauged, the one who was chosen to be my mate ended up being someone from the academy instead.

"We have had quite a bit of trouble with the dragons for a while now, and I guess the elders believed that bringing a powerful noble family from the human kingdom into the fold would give us more of a chance in the event that a war breaks out."

"I had accepted that this would be my future for a long time. I believed personal happiness was something someone in my position simply could not afford."

Tessa looked toward Elion. "And then you met him."

Celeste’s expression softened. "Yes."

"What did he do?" Tessa asked, sounding genuinely curious. "Elion is usually good at annoying women with his ogling stares before they start liking him."

Mira nodded in agreement. "He is exceptionally gifted in that regard."

Celeste’s lips lifted faintly. "He annoyed me as well. But he also treated me differently from everyone else," Celeste continued. "He did not flatter me, fear me, or attempt to gain my favor."

"He probably flirted shamelessly instead," Tessa said.

"He did." Celeste looked down at the sleeping man with visible affection.

"He spoke to me as though I were an ordinary woman. He teased me when I became flustered, and showed concern for me without expecting anything in return."

Aria stared at Elion. "He never does anything without expecting something."

"That is not true," Isla said quietly.

Aria glanced at her, then sighed. "Fine. Not always."

Celeste’s fingers moved toward Elion’s hair, gently brushing it away from his forehead. "For the first time, I began imagining a future that I had chosen for myself."

Her hand returned to her stomach.

"But imagining it was not enough. Even if I told the parents that I wanted him, they would never have accepted a young human of uncertain birth as the husband of their future monarch."

"Especially one with several other women," Mira added.

"Yes."

Celeste glanced among them. "I knew that would make the situation even more difficult."

Aria folded her arms. "So you became pregnant before they could stop you."

Celeste’s cheeks turned slightly pink again. "That was part of my reasoning."

Tessa stared at her in disbelief. "That was your plan?"

"It was not a very detailed plan."

"You decided to have a child without a detailed plan?"

"When you say it like that, it sounds irresponsible."

"It was irresponsible," Tessa replied, though there was more amusement than criticism in her voice.

Celeste looked away. "I was desperate." The lightness in the conversation faded slightly.

"If I carried Elion’s child, my kin would no longer be able to simply remove him from my life and marry me to someone else. Any attempt to harm him would also risk creating conflict between me and the clan."

"You used the child as protection," Mira said thoughtfully.

"For Elion, myself, and the future I wanted." Celeste did not sound proud of it, nor did she appear ashamed.

She spoke as someone who had been cornered and had chosen the only path she believed remained open. "Once I made the decision, I accepted every consequence that might follow."

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