In the mansion's dining room, the atmosphere felt so silent and fraught with anticipation. The eleven youths had sat in their respective chairs, surrounding the long dining table.
Only Arvin did not sit down. He chose to stand at the head of the table because there were simply no more chairs available for him. However, his standing position actually gave off a very strong impression of leadership.
All the youths in the room focused their attention and looked straight at their husband, carefully waiting for what important matter he was going to convey tonight.
"Alright, I will say everything I want to say to all of you!" Arvin stated in a calm yet firm tone, breaking the silence that had shrouded the dining room and starting the conversation. "First, this is about Orvion, who was accidentally killed by Alrain in the tournament arena."
Hearing that name mentioned, Alrain's facial expression immediately turned more serious.
"What about him?" Alrain asked curiously, his gaze demanding the answer that had been hanging in his mind all this time. "I have been waiting for your explanation since that day."
Arvin looked at Alrain for a moment, then swept his gaze across all his spouses.
"Elenora... that woman can see a glimpse into the future."
That straightforward statement was like a large stone thrown onto the surface of a calm lake.
Alrian, Dylan, Davin, Arion, Kaydan, and Victor instantly widened their eyes. Shock was clearly depicted on their faces. A power that could see a glimpse into the future was something extremely rare.
Seeing the shocked reactions of the majority of his spouses, the head of the household paused for a moment so they could digest the information before he resumed speaking.
"And regarding Orvion..." Arvin continued, his voice now sounding colder. "In Elenora's vision, Orvion is a traitor who will stab us in the back. Therefore, I firmly asked Alrain to cancel his intention of asking me to make him my spouse."
Hearing that fact, Alrain finally understood the real reason behind his husband's harsh refusal that day.
"I suspected as much." Alrain said with a relieved exhale.
Fortunately, I listened to his words and did not insist on bringing that traitor into this family. he thought, grateful for his husband's decision.
However, that relief did not dull the green-haired youth's mind. He looked back at his husband with a searching gaze, piecing together the puzzle fragments from the string of events at the Victoriaz Academy.
"But, My Love..." Alrain called out in a suspicious tone. "Were you the one who caused the uproar at the Victoriaz academy by stealing his corpse?"
Arvin met that probing gaze without blinking. "Yes, you're right!"
Hearing such a casual confession from his husband's mouth, Alrain's brow furrowed deeply.
"But for what?" Alrain shot back quickly and without pause, feeling puzzled by his husband's thought process in going through the trouble of stealing a traitor's corpse.
"Someday, I will explain it to you in detail!" Arvin answered, politely refusing to disclose his plan regarding Orvion's corpse. "For now, there is a much more pressing matter. I will resume what I want to convey to all of you."
Realizing that his husband did not yet wish to uncover his plan regarding the corpse, Alrain yielded and leaned back in his chair, refocusing his attention to listen to the continuation of the household head's words.
"This time, it has to do with you, Alrain!" Arvin stated, his gaze now fully locked onto the green-haired youth in front of him.
"Has to do with me?" Alrain repeated while pointing at his own face with his index finger. A look of confusion was clearly imprinted on his face.
"That's right!" Arvin answered straightforwardly, not wanting to beat around the bush. "I know you deeply hate the members of the royal family. But I want to tell you... that I want to make Oliver my spouse."
Thump!
The green-haired youth's heart seemed to stop beating for a beat after hearing the name that had just come out of his husband's mouth.
The atmosphere in the dining room instantly turned incredibly tense.
Alrain clenched both his hands tightly on top of the table. His eyes stared at Arvin very sharply, radiating rejection and a profound dislike toward the Astoria royal family.
"Why do you want him to be your spouse instead?" Alrain asked in a restrained tone, trying hard to control his surging emotions as he demanded further explanation. "Wasn't it you who openly rejected King Garland's wish to marry you to him when we were at the palace?"
Arvin let out a soft sigh. He had already predicted the harsh reaction of his second spouse.
"To be honest..." Arvin looked straight into Alrain's eyes, expressing his genuine intention without hiding anything. "From the very beginning, Oliver has indeed been one of my targets."
Alrain widened his eyes. His body tensed slightly upon learning that the third prince of the Astoria Kingdom was one of the targets his husband had indeed wanted for a long time.
"Then why did you reject him back then?" Alrain demanded, unable to hide his confusion.
"Because you deeply hate the members of the royal family." Arvin replied again, his voice softening yet sounding very clear in everyone's ears. "I never wanted to tell you and decided to reject King Garland's request at that time solely to protect your feelings. I did not want to hurt you if I took a prince as my spouse."
That honest confession struck the dining room like an invisible wave.
It was not only Alrain who was shocked to hear what Arvin had just said. Allen, Ordion, Alvein, and the others also felt the same emotional tremor.
All of them fell completely silent. None of them had ever expected that their husband would be willing to hold himself back, throw away his opportunity, and even reject the wish of a king just to protect the feelings of one of his spouses.
Knowing how great his husband's sacrifice and care were toward his mental state, the anger that had previously ignited in Alrain's chest was instantly extinguished. He let out a very heavy, long sigh, as if wanting to discard all the negative emotions and the remnants of hatred within him.
"I already know how you are, My Love!" Alrain said, his sharp eyes now radiating deep respect and understanding toward his husband. "You are not someone who acts recklessly. You must have already weighed the pros and cons of that decision for our family."
With slow movements, Alrain stood up from his chair and walked around the table, approaching Arvin's position. He stopped at a fairly close distance, then looked up slightly to gaze at his husband's face.
"Tell me honestly!" Alrain urged, seeking final reassurance. "Did you finally decide to say this now, only after Elenora said that Oliver would be loyal to you?"
"Even without her telling me that, I would have still sought the right time to discuss it with you properly!" Arvin answered without the slightest hesitation in his eyes. "I already said that from the very beginning, even when I had just married Allen, Oliver was already one of my targets if Allen permitted me at that time!"
Alrain stopped right in front of his husband. The two of them looked at each other in silence for a few seconds.
"Tell me one more thing!" He urged, ensuring there would be no more surprises in the future. "Except Oliver, how many people from this Astoria Kingdom are you going to make your spouses?"
"There are no more!" Arvin answered firmly, without hesitation. He shifted his gaze briefly toward Victor, then looked back at Alrain. "Victor is the last person from this Astoria Kingdom. And I can be certain of all that thanks to Elenora's vision, which said that one of my spouses has purple hair."