"And what does any of that have to do with my bed?" I'll admit it—I was still half asleep.
"Well, where else were we supposed to sleep? On the floor? Your bed conveniently has room for two, so everyone was comfortable. Though, as it turns out, three can fit too."
Now Ju was turning beet red as well.
"Umm… wait a second. When I fell asleep, you were sitting in the chair on watch, which means the one in bed was… were…" Realization finally began dawning on me.
"Yup." At this point, all three beauties looked thoroughly embarrassed.
"Nooooo…" I clutched my head in despair.
"Oh, come on, we understand," the commander comforted me while her subordinates nodded along. "You were exhausted and just didn't notice. Nothing terrible happened, right, girls?"
I looked at them with a mournful expression.
"There were two gorgeous women in my bed, a third sitting nearby in an armchair, and I…"
I paused dramatically.
"…slept! What shame…"
"Pff…"
"Khh…"
"Oh!"
Well then. Judging by their reactions, that round had gone entirely to me.
"M-Ma, don't worry, Master Chan, we won't tell anyone," Ju muttered somewhere off to the side. "Otherwise nobody will ever marry me for sure…" she added quietly under her breath. "This is so embarrassing."
"Hate to disappoint you, but after a morning this loud… well, your chances are basically nonexistent." Ah yes, female friendship. Nothing says support like reassuring your fellow victim she's doomed too.
"Sniff…"
"Alright, enough with the waterworks," I cut in. As if I needed tears first thing in the morning to make my life complete. "Judging by where you all ended up, Suki alone is no longer enough and wants to 'redistribute the workload.' Or am I unpleasant to you, and that's the actual problem?"
The stunned girls froze for a moment before hesitantly shaking their heads.
Meanwhile, the valiant senior warrior reacted to my shameless interpretation of her words and actions by clutching at her chest and opening and closing her mouth soundlessly, apparently unable to decide what exactly she was supposed to say to that.
"And now," I continued calmly, "I suggest we eat breakfast and head out for training. We still have another day before the mountain expedition supplies arrive."
The girls nodded in perfect unison once again and reached for the plates Ju had brought.
"What exactly was that supposed to mean?" the commander hissed once we were alone. Dandan had gone to wash the dishes, while her still mildly shell-shocked friend had trailed after her.
"Well, you decided to mess around with the girls,I appreciated the joke and decided to answer in kind." My grin looked more like a predator baring its teeth.
"And that's why you practically promised them positions as your concubines and dumped the entire thing on me?" One of the warrior's eyes twitched. "You even made it sound like this was all my idea?!"
"Well, I am a Herald. It's practically my duty to turn everything to my advantage." I shrugged. "Including jokes aimed at me."
"You know, that would actually be pretty cruel to them," the girl said, suddenly turning serious. "You're fairly popular already, and I've had to deal with… let's just say, people interested in pushing me aside."
"Hm. So that's how it is…" I said thoughtfully. "But there's one thing you're overlooking. Every joke contains a grain of truth."
"I love you." She blushed faintly again, and I took the opportunity to step closer and wrap my arms around her. "But that doesn't mean I've stopped being an admirer of feminine beauty. I'll be happy if the girls find their own other halves. But if they don't, and they decide they'd be happy with me…"
I sighed quietly.
"I don't want to hurt them. But I'm not going to deceive you or sneak around behind your back either. If you allow it, then yes. If not, then no."
"You're such a bastard," Suki sighed. "Now I feel like some greedy snake hoarding everything for herself while you're over here acting like some kind of tragic saint. And the worst part is, I know perfectly well you're actually all for it yourself, but there's no arguing with the way you framed it. You even dumped the whole thing on me, knowing full well I think of the girls as little sisters. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
"Well, I am a Herald," I dodged the question. Because no matter what I answered, whether "yes" or "no," it would lead to hurt feelings if not an outright scandal.
"I need to think," Suki muttered, slipping free from my embrace. "And blow off some steam. How about a sparring match?"
"I fully support that proposal," I agreed. Clearing my head of unnecessary thoughts sounded like an excellent idea.
Now, replaying the conversation in my head yet again, I honestly couldn't understand how things had escalated this far.
No, I mean, I wasn't going to deny that I was a bit of a ladies' man. I'd been like that even before the whole transmigration business, and Chan's little "gift" had probably only made things worse. But how exactly had a harmless joke and an answering joke somehow evolved into talk of building a harem and selecting concubines was completely beyond me.
Was this karma or something? Payback for drunkenly blurting nonsense to Father half a year ago when I became a Herald?
And what was next? Seducing a princess?
No-no-no, absolutely not. The moment I heard the word "princess," the only person who came to mind was Azula, and according to both canon and rumors alike, that girl was an absolute monster in every possible sense of the word.
Granted, I was a long way from "pure and innocent" myself at this point. The pirates had outright started calling me the Butcher. Still…
Terrifying.
Sure, judging by the portraits she was stunningly beautiful, and from everything I'd heard her personality was genuinely steel-forged, which I actually found appealing, but a "deadly adorable girl" was exactly the kind of thing capable of causing serious damage to my health. Besides, who knew how Ozai would react to that sort of ambition?
So nooo thank you. We're already well fed as it is.
And honestly, getting involved with a girl whose first response to irritation was hurling lightning at you seemed like a terrible idea until I at least learned how to redirect lightning myself. And that glorious day was still about as far away as walking to China on foot.
Alright, enough. Hopefully the ringing of swords would drive these idiotic thoughts out of my head and let me focus on something else.
(End of Chapter)
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