As the new bishop had claimed, he secluded himself in Haiten's small abbey to pray.
Grumpy knights from the Holy Order of Amarr guarded every entrance and exit, and—
Now—all they could do was wait.
"Sorry for causing you trouble again," Stella moped. Yeah, she definitely wasn't the girl Konrad saw in those memory fragments yet. "When I heard he'd come to Halaima—"
"Not your fault," he said, nodding at his second wife. "Gabrielle wasn't transparent enough."
"Well, excuse you," the angel scoffed, turning back from her way to her carriage. "I'm trying to balance everything on my back. From this world to your future, and fighting Lucifer—"
"And coming clean with your secrets would make that so much easier," Konrad sighed.
"What secrets?" Gabrielle asked, giving him a look. "You didn't even ask me anything."
Yeah, well.
"If I knew there was something to ask, it wouldn't have been that much of a secret, would it?"
"Tough luck," she said. "Since you won't let me read your mind anymore, I had no way of knowing you were so confused. You ask for transparency, but you lock yourself away?"
"You confuse honesty with unrestricted surveillance," Konrad pointed out.
But the angel would only scoff.
"Whatever. I've a headache, Dear Husband," she claimed, turning away. "I'll wait in the carriage."
Ugh. She definitely wasn't his favorite wife.
Heck, not even in the top three in his harem.
But even Konrad knew that, grumpy and soulless as the angel behaved sometimes—
Without Gabby, all the other heavenspawns would have all been up in his ass by now.
Like, especially after irradiating their homes.
Ugh. But talk about home—when was the last time he visited Haiten?
"When you burned their caravanserai down?" Lily offered with a lopsided grin.
And—talk about not letting them read his mind.
"I'm sure I've been here since," Konrad muttered, looking around. "During the Halaima Pass Campaign. Or right before my duel with Maou Midori? I don't know. It's all a blur."
'Well, I can't help you with your own memories right now,' Paula claimed, voice strained.
She was still busy organising the images Brigida had transferred earlier.
"Guess I'll inspect my home village, then," he sighed, scratching his head. "It's not like we have anything else to do until Mister Cat Ears finishes talking with his Saints."
"Oh? Mind if I tag along?" Lily asked, still smirking. "Let's pretend it's a date."
Hmm. Now that she mentioned—
"Did we ever go on one during this lifetime?" Konrad wondered.
"Nope. We started with raw, unprotected sex. Then marriage," the little ginger noted, her grin widening. That was one way of putting it. And the worst part? It was actually true.
"A date it is, then," he sighed, reaching for her hand.
His life was a mess.
He'd worked himself ragged in the previous one, and still died alone.
Then, in Kasserlane, he grew up as an orphan with almost nothing to do.
But once he turned eighteen and set out to find the Green Mage, everything flipped onto its head. He ran into Lily, who saved him from the Griphlets, and the next thing he knew—
Thanks to Vargas' schemes, he'd become a noble.
One that everyone wanted to take advantage of, imprison, or flat-out kill.
He learned magic, cleared a dungeon, and fought the Church—
And now he was back where it all started, at least in this life, as the Prodigy of Haiten.
Merchants and villagers who saw him stared and whispered behind his back.
The Church's guards wouldn't take their eyes off him, either.
And while Father Alastair was trying to smooth things out with the locals—
"Some date this is, if all you do is worry about things," Lily noted, kicking at his ankle.
"Ugh, you're right, sorry," he admitted, dragging his leg. "Don't know what I'm doing. Both in general, like, what am I even doing with my life, but—also, how does one go on a date here?"
"I don't know," the girl shrugged, too. "How did we do it in your past life?"
Konrad shot her a glance.
"What? You can't remember?"
"Sweetheart," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I remember seven different timelines right now. Five of them with us, doing all sorts of things together back on Earth. I remember way too much."
Some problems the demoness had.
"But that's good, right?" he asked, furrowing his brows. "Like, more inspiration to pull from."
Because thanks to Lucifer's machinations—
His own memories of Lily from his past life were rather murky.
He knew for sure they met and he fell in love, but—how, when, and why?
No. Actually, he knew the 'when' as well.
That event pretty much derailed his entire life, so how could he forget?
But what made him fall so hard so fast? He had no idea now.
"Don't worry 'bout that, Konny boy." The little ginger squeezed his hand, freckles dancing on her face as she smirked. "Rather than remembering, you can fall in love with me all over again."
"Might be a bit too late for that," Konrad noted with a laugh.
Yeah. He couldn't deny it.
There was definitely something between them, and not because of the vague memories.
"Good. Then I'll think of a date plan," Lily offered, looking around. "Something that'll work in this world and era, too, because we can't exactly do the same we did back on Earth."
"How far do you think we are from opening Kasserlane's first amusement park?" he asked.
"Dunno." She shrugged. "But we've never actually been in one together."
"Huh? I thought that was the definite dating spot."
"Well," Lily sighed, before grinning again. "Guess you sucked at dating already back then."
What was a date, anyway?
Ever since he returned from Ukraine, he was so busy he had no time for himself or his wives.
Or rather, not enough time for fun.
Yeah, sure, they shared the bed most nights, and that was great, but—
If Konrad were honest, he never lasted that long.
Lily was a monster in more ways than one, but—
"Hey," she snapped, squeezing his hand. "If you want to flatter me, say it to my face. It's not the same if I have to read it out of your mind, you know. It feels bad to peek."
"And yet, you still do it," Konrad laughed, gripping her hand back. "Okay, yeah."
"Yeah, what?"
"I like being with you," he admitted. "You're both an inspiration, a goal, someone to keep me safe and warm, and—yeah. I guess you're cute and sexy and amazing in bed."
Ugh. He meant every word, but—
Saying it all out loud made him so embarrassed. Even though he had only complimented his own wife, he couldn't even look her in the eyes for a while.
But once he actually did?
The little ginger was blushing hard, too, her freckles standing out.
"S-see?" she stuttered, averting her eyes. "It hits much harder when you say it out loud."
Yeah. It definitely did.
And touring his home village with the woman he loved the most?
Konrad swore that no matter how busy he got—
"I'll make sure to keep telling you as long as I'm alive."