Chapter 77: ~Chapter 25~ Part 4

As it turned out, Josh had many questions, most of which were still about the very basics of the supernatural part of this wonderful, weird, and horribly inconsistent world we lived in, and I tried to answer all of them to the best of my ability. Before we noticed it, the sun was already near the horizon, though it didn't seem to bother the others.

"… So, as I said, I'll get Snowy today, and then we'll look into getting Angie out of house arrest tomorrow. I may ask for your help with the latter, you would probably have a better chance persuading the class rep." I finished recounting my plans to Josh. Maybe it was all too much for him to take in at once, but he actually looked visibly worse than when he first arrived, to the point I was actually worried about his health.

He kept staring at me with a difficult expression, and in the end, he let out an audible groan and massaged his temple while tentatively asking, "So, what should I do?"

I glanced back at him and told him the first thing that came to mind.

"Get a good night's sleep. You look bad."

"That's not what I meant," he responded with a critical look in his eyes. "You explained a lot of things to me, and you told me what you're planning to do, but I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do! Angels, demons, dragons, prophecies; I don't know what to do with any of this crap!"

I shrugged my shoulder and told him in a slow, even voice, "Okay, then here are some basic instructions: First, go home, take a hot bath and get some shuteye. The Abyssals are out of town, the Mages are neutral, the Draconians won't bother you because of the princess, and the Celestials are…" I paused for a moment and peeked at Judy. She noticed my gaze, and after a moment she shook her head, so I let out a small sigh and told Josh, "The Celestials are none the wiser for the moment. You should be safe. Go home, calm down, and sleep. I'm not going to repeat myself, but I will try to get everyone together tomorrow and we'll come up with a plan together, okay?"

Josh still looked wary, but ultimately he hung his head and told me, "Fine. I really feel like crap, to be honest." He looked up and stared at me for a few seconds, then he added, "Leo, can I trust you to keep me in the loop?"

"Of course. You are the center of the loop, it would be impossible to keep you out at this point."

Josh let out a derisive chuckle in response and said, "You are not making me feel any better, man."

"But a good night's sleep will."

"I suppose…" Saying so, he wearily stood up from his chair and stretched his back. I followed suit and walked over to him. After a moment of thinking, he seemed to reach some kind of decision and offered a hand to me. "I didn't actually thank you for saving my skin back there. Thanks."

"You are welcome," I told him as I accepted the offered hand and shook it. "I'll have your back in the future as well."

"That's… Huh." My friend raised a surprised eyebrow let out a dry chuckle. "You know, that's actually very reassuring."

I couldn't help but smile at his response.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." After saying so, I waved for the girls to remain seated (not that it seemed like they wanted to go anywhere) and I led Josh to the entrance of the house. Once we were outside, and I made sure there were no magical eyeballs peeping on us, I patted him on the shoulder and told him, "Don't worry, things are not as complicated as they first seem."

He didn't answer at first, but then he looked behind me as if to check if the girls were in earshot before he asked, "Leo, why didn't you tell me about this ahead of time?"

"I had my reasons," I told him, then I immediately shook my head and added, "You probably wouldn't have believed me anyway."

"I might have," he answered with a huff. "It would've at least prepared me."

"Trust me, Josh, I knew about this for two weeks, and I still wasn't prepared."

My words got a surprised frown out of my friend and he looked me over with dubious eyes.

"Did you just say 'two weeks'?"

"Yup."

"… And you figured all of this crazy stuff out in just two weeks?"

"What can I say? I've been busy. I also had Judy to help me." As I said that, I glanced back into the house and then my shoulders sank a little. "Speaking of which, I have to sit down and talk with her. The princess too."

"About what?"

I fell silent for a few seconds, debating whether I should tell him or not, but considering the cat would be out of the bag very soon, I decided to come clean.

"About our relationship and stuff."

Hearing my mumbling, the corners of Josh's lips finally rose a little as he shook his head. "You know what? I'm glad that, even when my entire world turns upside down, there is at least one fixed point that never changes."

"Me?" I ventured a guess.

"You," Josh nodded, and then he added, "and your womanizing."

I was tempted to punch my smirking friend in the shoulder, but considering how exhausted he looked, I was afraid he would keel over, so I just pointedly shut the door on him, earning me a displeased 'Hey!' from the other side. I didn't care though, as I turned on my heel and marched back into the living room, where my assistant and the princess were sitting still like mannequins. For a moment I thought they might have overheard what I was saying to Josh, but then again, the princess was way too calm for that. Ultimately, I walked over to my usual comfy chair and sat down with a quiet sigh.

"So," I spoke up with a slightly awkward voice, "It's just the three of us now."

"Yes," Judy nodded and then raised her phone. "Chief, about the prophecies being routes—"

"Not now, Dormouse," I interrupted her, causing her to twitch and for the princess to raise a curious eyebrow.

"Dormouse?" she asked incredulously, earning a slight squint (translation: bone-chilling glare) from my assistant, which was then subsequently aimed at me.

"Chief, I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that in public."

"We are not in public," I told her flatly while I gestured for her to calm down. It didn't work right away, but then she softly clicked her tongue, which I decided to interpret as her taking a step back. I took a deep breath in turn and looked the two girls in the eye (though not at the same time; that would've been hard) before I spoke up again. "Since it's just the three of us, I wanted to have a serious talk with you two."

The princess inaudibly swallowed before as she linked her fingers in her lap and insecurely asked, "About… what happened at the school?"

I shook my head.

"No, it's about the three of us." The moment I said that, the air suddenly became heavier in the room, so I lightly cleared my throat and continued with, "You know, I just went through a near-death experience, right? I… would like to say it opened my eyes to certain things, but the truth of the matter is that I've been aware of our ambiguous relationship for a while."

"You mean our love triangle," Judy stated expressionlessly, earning a small gasp from the princess and a silent chuckle from me.

"Exactly."

My assistant tilted her head to the side and, with some actually perceptible concern in her voice, asked, "Chief, are you all right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You are unusually…" She paused while looking for the right word, then finally uttered, "… blunt."

I gave her a wry smile and told her, "As I said, while my near-death experience didn't give me any sort of last-second revelation, it did put some things into perspective." I once again paused, partially to change my posture, but mostly just to steel my nerves. "Listen. Things are going to get hectic from now on. We have to deal with Josh as his prophecies, resolve any lingering issues with Snowy and Angie, and I can guarantee that there is going to be some fallout after the incident at the school. Having our ambiguous love-triangle situation on top of that is just too much, so I want to break the ice and resolve it for good."

"W-W-Wait! This is too sudden!" the princess raised her voice in protest, so I turned toward her first.

"Elly?" The previously blushing princess suddenly went deadly pale, prompting a confused, "What?" from me.

"Whenever you call me by name, something big happens! I'm not prepared!"

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"Calm down, calm down. I just want you to answer a simple question: Do you remember what you told me on the rooftop a while ago?" She cautiously nodded towards me, so I continued, "Have your feelings changed?"

There was a long moment of silence before she sharply inhaled and sputtered, "No! If anything, I like you even more!"

As if only just realizing what she said, her face contorted and she immediately hid it in her hands. She couldn't see it, but I gave her a toothy smile and said, "I'm glad to hear that," which made her shudder like someone poked her side.

"So, Judy?" I turned to my assistant, and to my surprise, she also twitched a little. "Correct me if I am wrong, but based on aaaaaaaall the clues you've been giving me since pretty much the first day we met, can I venture a guess and say that there is a slight chance that you might like me?"

Judy looked me in the eye for a few seconds, then she let out a decidedly defeated sigh, only to immediately snap back into a determined expression.

"Yes chief, I like you," she told me with a firm voice and a tiny, barely perceptible blush. "A lot."

"I am glad to hear that," I told her with a smile just as toothy as the one I gave to the princess before I closed my eyes and took a huge breath. Now came the hard part. I calmed my nerves and slowly exhaled, and then I stated, "I'm also glad we are on the same page. I also like both of you."

"You do?" Elly blurted with a frankly incredulous expression peeking through her fingers.

"Of course. Why else would I spend so much time with you two? The truth is, through all our misadventures since this school term started, I grew to like both of you for different reasons. I didn't want to move our relationship forward because I wanted to make sure things could work out between us, and I hoped we could transition into a relationship without too much drama. However, with how things are developing right now, I don't think I can pussyfoot around any longer." I was also getting really annoyed by the others thinking I was either a Casanova-wannabe or some dense idiot, but I didn't spell that out for them. "So, after some thinking, I decided it would be best if we actually made things official." I flashed them my winningest smile and finally asked, "So, would you like to go out with me?"

The silence that followed my question was deafening, and the two girls in front of me were slowly alternating their glances between me and each other. Finally, after close to ten seconds, Judy broke the ice.

"Chief… Which one of us were you asking?"

I gave her a look that implied it was a silly question and answered, "Both of you."

"Both of us?!" Elly exclaimed so loud it almost hurt my ears, while Judy only looked at me uncomprehendingly for a second before there was a glint in her eyes.

"Chief, are you aiming for a harem?"

"No, just you two."

"So an OTT?"

"Erm… Maybe? What does that stand for?"

"One true threesome," Judy stated, earning another exclamation from the princess before she slouched down like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Well, not really. What's I'm thinking of is more along the line of a subtype of the polyamorous Type 8 Triang Relationship with a platonic link in the triangle."

"… So you did your research," Judy noted, and I instantly responded with an unabashed nod.

"Yep. This isn't something anyone could just come up with on the fly, much less attempt, but if it's you two, I think it would work out. It would also be a lot of fun." I stopped for a beat, and then lowered my voice and added, "Also, you know what kind of world we live in, right? If this can work anywhere, it's here! We even have precedents already!" I tried to appear as confident as I could, and then asked the big question, "So, what is your answer?"

Judy gave me a very, very flat look and told me, "Chief, that—"

"That could actually work!" Whatever she wanted to say, it was forcefully erased by the princess's sudden exclamation as she jumped to her feet with sparkling eyes. "Why didn't I think of it before!?"

"Whoa, princess! Calm do—" I began, but then this time it was me who got interrupted as the blonde girl rushed over to my side and grabbed hold of my hand.

"Leo, listen! There is actually an old tradition in the Dracis family, where the head of the family can have multiple lovers! It's to uphold the bloodline, but if I asked dad, I'm sure he would allow it!" All of a sudden she sat down onto the armrest of my comfy chair and linked her arm with mine. "I never really considered it before, but this way I could be the official wife, and Judy could be the concubine! Everyone wins!"

"Hey!" my assistant suddenly exclaimed as she also walked over and grabbed hold of my other arm. "What makes you think I will let you be the official wife?"

The princess leaned forward and smirked at Judy.

"Of course I will be the main wife! It's my family's rules!"

"Chief, Eleanor is trying to use her family influence to get ahead. It's cheating. Do something."

"No, it's not!" Elly protested with a huff. "This is the best way!"

"I don't like it," Judy said with a barely noticeable pout while holding onto my arm even harder. "If you want us to go with your plan, I'll let you be the concubine."

"Leo! Judy is being obstinate! Do something!"

I glanced at the two girls dragging me back and forth and let out a small groan. Well, I supposed that's as far as avoiding love triangle shenanigans went, huh? Oh well, it was my decision to do it this way, so it was my responsibility to deal with situations like these. That said, I smoothly disentangled my arms and grabbed both girls by their waists, abruptly pulling them towards me until they ended up practically sitting on my lap.

"So," I told them with a smile I hoped wasn't too impish, "I gather you are fine with my suggestion?"

The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds, seemingly engaging in that weird, girls-only communication that seemed to be able to get complex ideas across using eyebrow movement and small grimaces, until Judy finally exhaled and told me, "It's the prisoner's dilemma all over again."

"That's right," the princess added. "With the super-something of the coin, right?"

"No, it's the other half, though it still has nothing to do with the actual prisoner's dilemma," Judy grumbled under her breath, and I couldn't help but grin at her. She rolled her eyes at my expression, but after a long moment of consideration she softly said, "I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting something like this to happen, but so long as it's just the three of us, it's not a terrible solution to the problem."

"Right," the princess nodded in agreement.

"I think we can give it a try, at the very least."

"All right then," I spoke with palpable relief, now that this ordeal was behind me, and I went ahead and used my already in-position hands to pull the two even closer into a bear-hug. "Let's all get along, shall we?"

"Sure," Judy said with barely reddened cheeks, then after a moment she turned towards the other girl. "First things first, we should figure out a rotation."

"A what?" the blonde girl asked while cocking her head to the side.

"A rotation for when we can have the Chief all to ourselves, and when we should share him."

"Oh," Elly's eyes practically sparkled as she nodded. "Great idea. What about the cooking?"

"We should schedule that too."

"Today is mine!" the princess exclaimed, much to my assistant's disapproval.

"No, I will cook today," Judy stated unusually empathically. "The Chief is recovering, so he needs something simple."

"Hey! I can make simple dishes too!"

I glanced between the two bickering girls sitting on my lap, and I couldn't help but feel that I might've bitten off more than I could chew… but at the same time, I felt that if I forced myself to pick one or the other, I would've regretted it in the long run. My life was already messed up beyond belief, so this polyamory or polygamy or whatever situation didn't even feel like that big of a deal.

More importantly though, while I felt tired, mentally exhausted, and just a touch famished, I was also strangely content. Giddy, even. As such, I simply let my lips curl into a smile that I hoped wasn't too dopey and continued to hug both my girlfriends until they figured out their 'rotation' and whatnot. That was one dilemma successfully solved. I only hoped everything else would proceed this smoothly as well.

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