“I intend to have five wives,” Ethan stated. “And Lily will be one of them.”
Chloe, Luna, Nicole, and Emma were very surprised by Ethan’s declaration.
He didn’t even beat around the bush, directly stating that he intended to have five wives and that he had chosen Lily to become one of them.
After nearly a minute of silence, laughter broke out inside the room, and it came from the person that everyone thought would take this as a laughing matter. 𝒪𝒱𝑙xt.𝗇𝓔t
Nicole, who had just finished laughing, eyed Ethan with an amused expression on her face.
“I didn’t know that you had this much backbone,” Nicole commented. “The Ethan from two months ago would never say such a thing like this. He would probably be too insecure and too uncertain of himself to declare that he intends to have five wives. You must have experienced a lot in the past to say such a thing.”
Ethan met Nicole’s gaze and smiled.
“We might have been gone for less than two months here in the present, but we spent more than a year in the past,” Ethan said. “At a time when life is filled with uncertainty, Lily and I became very close. If not for the fact that we still had many things left unsettled in the present and still have plenty of room to grow, we might have gotten married back in the Lands of Alastor.”
Ethan said this clearly and firmly, making his intention to make Lily his wife known to the ladies in front of him.
Chloe and Luna, who heard his words, felt as if their hearts were being pricked by a needle.
A part of them regretted that they didn’t act earlier to let Ethan know about their feelings. If they did, Lily might not have been able to take a lead in the young man’s heart.
Chloe lowered her head because she could feel the tears that were threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes.
‘It shouldn’t have been like this,’ Chloe thought. ‘If only those bandits hadn’t attacked us, things would have been different.’
Unlike Chloe, Luna didn’t lower her head and continued to look at Ethan.
She appreciated the fact that he didn’t use sugary words to hide his relationship with Lily and that he admitted it straight. Although she felt a bit heartbroken, it wasn’t as bad as how Chloe was feeling at the moment.
Luna was a noble. She was raised in a family where her father had two wives, so although she felt hurt after hearing how deep Ethan’s relationship with Lily was, she still was able to think properly.
Ethan had stated that he intended to have five wives, and Lily would take one of those spots. She could accept this fact since they had been together for a year.
A young man and a young lady were forced to fake their relationship as husband and wife to fool others. Luna understood that, with such a setup, it was only a matter of time for fake to become real.
Nicole, who didn’t really think of Ethan as a love interest, found his declaration amusing. In order to have more than a wife in the Wizarding World, someone must have enough riches and influence to make it happen.
The current Ethan might be a Double Pillar Holder in the academy, but outside of that, he was only a farm boy who had been living in the countryside until a few months ago.
He didn’t have the money, influence, or position to have five wives. So, for now, she just treated Ethan’s words as false bravado.
Nicole thought that this was Ethan’s way to make Chloe and Luna still consider him as a potential partner and become part of his family.
Emma, on the other hand, thought differently from Nicole.
Unlike the pink-haired beauty, Emma was well aware of Ethan’s background. So when her Liege and Master declared that he intended to have five wives, she just accepted it as a fact.
In fact, she was even thankful that Ethan wished to have only five wives. If Ethan only knew who he really was, then he would understand that he could have as many women as he wanted.
But Emma didn’t plan to tell him any of this until the right time had come.
‘Having fewer women is good,’ Emma thought. ‘Master doesn’t have to be like his Great Grandfather, who had over a hundred wives and concubines.’
A few minutes later, Lily, Nicole, and Emma left Ethan’s room to give him and the two ladies who stayed behind some space.
After leaving Dud Manor, Nicole walked beside Lily and asked her in a teasing tone.
“So how far have you gone with Ethan?” Nicole inquired. “Did he reach Fourth Base?”
Lily ignored Nicole’s question and continued to walk with steady steps. This made the pink-haired beauty giggle.
Even after observing Lily since she arrived, it was impossible for Nicole to tell if Lily was still a chaste maiden or not. Considering Ethan’s character in the past, she doubted that the boy would actually have the guts to make a move on her.
But a year was a long time. There was also a high chance that the two of them had crossed the line, especially when Ethan even declared that he planned to make Lily his wife.
However, as long as Lily didn’t admit anything, all of this would just be speculation.
In the end, Nicole just tossed this matter aside. What she was more curious about was how strong Lily had become after spending a year in the past.
Her warrior instinct was telling her that Lily had not only changed but had become more powerful as well.
She also felt this way when he looked at Ethan.
If not for the fact that she could read the mood, Nicole might have asked the handsome young man to spar with her just to know how much improvement he gained after spending some time in the past.
Emma separated from the two and headed to the Schwartz Manor.
She needed to write a letter to her mother and inform her that their Young Master had returned.
Their Clan had been very anxious since Ethan disappeared and always asked Emma to send a weekly report to inform them if there were any changes in his situation.
————————
Meanwhile, in Ethan’s room…
Ethan held Chloe in his embrace as the latter buried her head in his chest and cried. Unlike Luna, she had been born into an ordinary family, and her father only had one wife.
Simply put, she had the monogamous mindset instilled into her.
Even so, she would go as far as to compromise to learn more about nobles and their relationships. Luna had told her that her father had two wives.
Because of this, Chloe thought that it would be fine if she and Luna became Ethan’s lovers and married him in the future.
This was her limit, and she just couldn’t see herself sharing Ethan with women aside from Luna, who was now her best friend.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” Ethan said as he gently patted Chloe’s head. “But I also don’t want to lie to you. It would be unfair for the feelings you have for me.”
Ethan knew that his cousin and Luna were starting to have feelings for him. He wasn’t dense, and he was also troubled about this in the past.
Similar to Chloe, Ethan initially had a monogamous mindset. He didn’t even like the fact that he had to kiss random witches in order to absorb their magic powers.
For him, relationships should be taken seriously, so he couldn’t possibly kiss a girl without the intention of making her his lover.
This was why he settled for Fairies because, for him, Fairies weren’t Human, so kissing them wouldn’t make him feel guilty.
Luna walked up to Chloe and hugged her from behind.
She didn’t know if her best friend’s feelings for Ethan would change, but one thing was certain.
Luna would be there to support her in whatever decision she was going to make, even if it meant that Chloe would bury her feelings for Ethan and look for another person to love.
But if she had any say in it, she didn’t want Chloe to remain heartbroken. Also, she wanted her best friend to follow her heart and remain by Ethan’s side.
Luna knew that Chloe really loved Ethan, and didn’t want this sudden turn of events to change anything between them.
Suddenly, an idea popped up inside her head and decided to act on it before things got out of control
“Ethan, can Chloe and I stay with you tonight?” Luna asked. “I wanted to hear the full story of what happened in the past. I’m sure that Chloe will want to hear this as well.”
Ethan nodded as he continued to pat Chloe’s head.
“Of course,” Ethan replied. “I promise to tell both of you everything, including the event that happened to Lily and me, which almost cost us our lives.”
Chloe, who was holding on to Ethan, tightened her grip when she heard that he would tell them everything.
She had seen the scar on Ethan’s back, and truth be told, she understood that such an injury was enough to kill a person.
Although her heart was hurting, she wanted to know what truly happened to her cousin, whom she thought of every day while waiting for his return.