Inside the palace's grand reception hall, the air was thick with the scent of expensive
incense and impending doom. Jee-shahn lay on a velvet rug, still wrapped in Lupa's
iron chains. After several hours of death-like silence, one of his eyes twitched open
just a fraction. Through the haze of his exhaustion, he saw twenty eyes—sharp,
beautiful, and terrifying—staring directly back at him.Nope. He slammed his eye shut so fast it made an audible click. He went back to
pretending he was a piece of decorative furniture, hoping that if he stayed still long
enough, the "noise" would simply evaporate.
"We've brought him home, senior sisters," Jasmine announced, her voice echoing
with triumphant mischief. She patted her pregnant belly and gestured to the skeletal
figure on the floor. "He's a bit... 'used up' at the moment, but he's all yours. The Aurex
Empire is oficially returning the borrowed property."
"Used up?" Yui's smile turned sharp enough to cut through reality. She leaned over
him, her silver hair brushing his pale cheek. "Don't worry. We'll make sure he wakes
up. We have so much to discuss. The 'vacation' you took... the 'extinction' you
caused... and especially these new additions to the household noise."
Jee-shahn's body gave a violent, involuntary tremble, but he refused to break
character. He remained as limp as a wet noodle, his breathing shallow, his soul
desperately trying to hide in the furthest corner of his mind.
Another hour passed in a brutal standoff of wills. The wives sat in a circle, sipping tea
and watching him with the patience of predators. Finally, Faeloria let out a low,
predatory chuckle that vibrated through the floorboards.
"Well," Faeloria said, setting her cup down with a deliberate clink. "If he's truly fainted
and his flow has stopped, he obviously won't be needing his legendary wine
collection or those hand-stitched silk pillows anymore. It's such a waste. Let's give
them all to Sora and Ryuki as a reward for their 'hard work' in letting him escape."
That was the absolute breaking point.
Jee-shahn's eyes snapped open—red, bloodshot, and filled with the frantic, manic
energy of a man who was about to lose his only reason for living. He sat up with a
sudden, jerky force that nearly headbutted Lupa, his chains rattling like a thousand
angry snakes.
"The wine..." Jee-shahn rasped, his voice sounding like two tectonic plates grinding
together in a dry desert. "The wine... stays... with... ME."
The ten wives didn't flinch. They didn't even look surprised. They simply tightened the
circle, looking down at the "resurrected" Monster with their arms crossed in perfect,
terrifying formation.
"Welcome back to the living, Beloved," Yui said, her smile widening into a lethal
blade. "Now... let's have a very long, very detailed talk about your travel itinerary."
The Azure Lizard, waking up at that exact moment, took one look at the ten angry
goddesses and promptly decided to faint again. Jee-shahn wished he could do the
same.