Chapter 43: 43.

The reactions are muted. Roxolane has no particular opinion on Edward, period. Bridgit and Moon Unit are... neutral, though I get the distinct feeling neither of them cares much for Edward at all. Lily-Anne is... complicated. On one hand, she greets him as a brother and generally seems to be quite pleased to see him. On the other, she is notably wary. Which is entirely understandable, as from her viewpoint she had just snatched his engagement from him. Selene is clearly on the other end of the spectrum, because with my endorsement, Abraham apparently gave their relationship tentative approval. Ed... is very complicated. I have a feeling he feels a lot of guilt over his actions, now that he had the time to process them with an uninfluenced mind, and more importantly, contrast my treatment of him versus what he expected. Alright. Let's see if I can defuse this into a more amiable situation.

"So. I think we're on first name basis here... with the exception of you." - I offer, nodding to Edward as cava is distributed, snacks are set out and everyone settles down around the table - "Care to join the trend? Or should we stick with your excellency instead?"

He flinches. "Just... Edward, please." - he then offers - "Lady... Alyssa. I, in my shortsighted presumptions, had given you a lot of grief, for which I do not even know where to begin to apologize. All that time, I was under the misguided impression that... Eh. I do not think my foolish notions need to be repeated. Suffice to say, you are nothing like the harridan I have had expected, and my behavior towards you was nothing short of vile. Your magnanimous aid leaves me greatly thankful and humbled. While I dare not hope to be called a friend after all that, I sincerely hope that from now on, amiability will be the cornerstone of our... dealings."

Well. He is genuinely contrite, at the very least. I only need to take one glance at Moon Unit to see he means every word he speaks.

"Water under the bridge, Ed." - I tell him - "The important thing is that you learned from your mistake, and your new engagement promises to be much more amorous."

He smiles lightly. "And that is yet another thing I will be forever grateful to you for." - he offers - "I daresay I could scarcely believe your compassion and understanding when I had learned you were the one who recommended to my father to let my affection for Serenity be acknowledged."

"You better believe it, brother." - Lily-Anne quips - "Though, to be honest, I'm a little thankful you've chosen to be such a fool before. I'd be left pining for unattainable if not for it."

Ed raises his brow -"Ah, yes. Another bit I could barely believe in. Goodness, why didn't you ever say anything, Lily-Anne?"

She snorts. "What would I say, brother? Gee, that's a fine fiancée you have there, do you mind sharing?" - she snarks - "Nah. I was quite prepared to let that go. Fortunately, now I don't have to."

He grins - "Fair enough. Now, what is that I hear about a harem?"

Ah. Well, that would be fun. "More or less exactly it." - I retort - "You see, I have had taken the advantage of your, ah... heated words before the removal of the control seal..." He winces and scratches the back of his head at this remainder. "...and started my own harem once I was certain it wouldn't interfere with prior engagements." I gesture around - "You see, I have met Moon Unit here shortly before the start of term, and became rather enamored. Then Bridgit admitted she harbored some interest towards me as well during a memorable meeting between her and Moon Unit, and they decided to collaborate. At this point, well... what could I say but yes? Then I ended up rescuing some girls from the evil sultan, and that kind of narration practically demands I get to marry a princess for playing a hero."

I pause, and ruffle Lily-Anne's hair slightly, prompting her to whine and pull back to smooth it out. "Though, I have to be honest. I did not expect that to happen. Lily-Anne, on other hand, had her own ideas and found a good time and place to pitch them to a receptive audience." - I continue - "And here is Roxolane. I have had essentially stolen her from the sultan's seraglio. In all honesty, I was prepared to simply hire some guards for her to let her make a journey back to Kraina where she was born, but... I am not entirely sure what awaits her there. So I offered her a choice between going there now and spending time with me and studying in Academy to come back to her country later on more even keel, so to speak. I'm still surprised she wanted to join after that horrible debacle in Sultanate, but... counting my blessings, here."

I pause, and then shake my head. "But, well... I'm pretty sure most people used to harems would find mine to be very odd." - I offer - "The idea of treating everyone as equally important and valued has yet to gain traction in society. Oh well. One day. I can at least set the example." Girls preen as I say that. Including Lily-Anne, interestingly enough, who I would have honestly expected to be a bit put off about being put on the same level as a maid, elevated commoner and a foreigner. Then again, if there is a lesson I have learned about equality, is that true equality is not when you treat every princess like a peasant, but when you treat every peasant like a princess. Might be something to do with that. But hey, what is the point of having wives, if I am not to pamper them to my satisfaction?

Selene finally pitches in with - "And this is why you get to have what you want, you know. Because you honestly try to give everyone a good deal. I mean, given how awful I was to you the first few meetings, I wouldn't be surprised if you wouldn't give me time of day, let alone encourage me to pursue my relationship with your fiancée."

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Edward raises his finger. "This is something I was very curious about." - he offers - "I can clearly see why you would want to be rid of me, but why help Serenity even before you were certain the engagement is to be called off?"

I sigh. "Because, Ed, if it wasn't called off, I'd still try to coopt her as your mistress." - I tell him bluntly - "For many reasons, but the chief of them being that all political marriages end up involving mistresses at some point, and making sure yours is one I can reach an accord with would be much preferable to alternatives."

His face goes through a complicated series of expressions, finally settling on awed. "You know? This the most cynical and compassionate thing I have ever heard in my life." - he offers conversationally - "I just... Just... what." He turns to Lily-Anne and shakes finger in her direction - "You keep both hands on that one, missy."

She smirks - "Hands and legs, brother." He processes the statement, and promptly blushes as the innuendo becomes clear.

"Er... Moving on." - he stammers - "Serenity had told me a little about your plans for the future, and I am intrigued. You are already putting out a great deal of new things to people. Things that improve life. Do you think there is any chance I can pitch in? I may have missed on marriage with my foolishness, but I hope it's not too late for some mercantile dealings, at least?"

That's... pretty interesting, actually. "Tell you what." - I begin - "Start by taking a list of what you have. As a third prince, you do have some personal holdings, right? Check on them, find out what are the traditional wares your holdings tend to produce. Then come back to me once you have some figures on hand, I should be able to suggest some profitable avenues for you that will compliment my own endeavors well."

He hums. "It will take a couple days to collate the facts you want, but I can tell you one thing right now. The capital of my holdings, Bakarat, is famous for glassblowers." - he proffers - "I'm not sure how much you can do with this, glassblowers are by their nature solitary artisans."

And I can't help but laugh. GLASS. Finally. I have a line establishing proper glassworks. Oh, Ed, I forgive you all the initial headaches. Glassworks are worth it ten times over. "You'd be surprised, Ed. You'd be surprised." - I tell him, as the plans and numbers begin to swirl in my mind.

___

Much to my chagrin, I get a little distracted with all the plans I have for industrial glassmaking, and this is capitalized on by girls ruthlessly. While Ed had clearly regained some of the goodwill by offering apologies and trying to be a nice guy, this still does not buy him enough leeway as my harem with gleeful aid and abettance of Selene drives him spare about his new engagement. As it turns out, he had not been out on a proper date with Selene yet, and the amount of floated suggestions ranges anywhere from plausible to extravagant to outright ridiculous. Thankfully, after some mirthful chortling, Selene mercifully puts an end to this by suggesting that brainstorming dates as a group is not exactly conducive if the group is not participating in the date to begin with.

On other hand, their attention turns to ME! And the dates they consider for my participation are even more outlandish. On the other hand, I do have some... interesting ideas. Chief of them is being slowly prepared by a bunch of well-paid carpenters, blacksmiths and tailors at the family mansion in the capital. Keeping Bridgit out of there had been a bit of an effort, considering I do not want to peak her curiosity by outright forbidding her from visiting the place. So instead I keep her busy with personal tutoring on magic. (Bridgit declined my offer to get her enrolled into Academy as well. She says she much prefers our one-on-one studies and doesn't really need the grounding in politics that is interspersed in the curriculum. I can't fault that logic, though I do have a suspicion her primary motivation is simply to get more personal attention from me.)

Before long, Selene and Ed bow out, citing late hour and classes tomorrow. And I start the long but ultimately pleasant task of wrangling my horde of girls into bed one by one. Bridgit is such a dear, helping everyone. I hope she's not terribly unsettled by me helping her in turn. Blushing is fine, though. Totally fine.

And, once in bed, I discover the last pleasant circumstance of the day - now that all of them are well familiar with my plasticity of form, I can easily afford to get four arms out and hug all the girls in the same time. Mm... Cuddles.

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