Ever since the first little skirmish over Seele erupted between the wealthy socialite Eden and the elder sister figure Himeko at the gates of the Fire Moth's Australian branch...
Ultimately, because the branch's economic lifeline was gripped firmly in Eden's hands, the fearless songstress managed to claim a staged victory.
Himeko, who used to monopolize Seele's cuteness whenever she had a spare moment, was forced to yield.
She couldn't ignore the 'heavy hints' Eden dropped regarding the living standards of the branch's soldiers and civilians.
In this regard, Himeko ended up just like Elysia—forced to endure the agonizing torture of watching Seele be snatched away by another beautiful girl for hugs and cuddles, while she could only watch from the sidelines.
After all, it was all for the 'bright future of the people in the Australian region!'
'Mhm!' Old Elysia empathized deeply, giving a thumbs-up on the spot.
When it came to the feeling of seeing a beloved girl kidnapped for cuddles by someone else, Elysia was an expert. She had personally witnessed little Seele being hugged and squeezed by other beauties at least three times right in front of her eyes...
However, while Eden currently held the priority rights to cuddle with Seele, she became a bit too indulged in Seele's gentle company. Eden actually considered canceling her concert entirely!
From Eden's perspective, the only reason she had pushed through all opposition to set the final stop of her world tour in Australia was to find and woo her precious Seele-sensei.
Now that they had officially established a relationship, Eden was truly unwilling to squeeze out the precious time she could spend cuddling with Seele just to fuss over some bothersome concert rehearsals.
Even if she didn't go through with the tour, the most that would happen is that the hundreds of billions she invested in the Australian branch would go down the drain.
To someone like Eden, hundreds of billions were just a string of numbers that could be earned back whenever she felt like it.
How could a mere financial loss compare to the joy of cuddling with Seele or personally hounding her for web-novel updates as her number one fan?
However, Lunelle—usually soft and cute—actually got a bit 'huffy' at Eden for wanting to stand up her fans across the globe just to stay glued to her side.
Even if Eden didn't care about the money, Lunelle was already struggling. She was already being squeezed and cuddled relentlessly by Himeko in her daily life, and now Eden had been added to the mix.
Living a life 'caught between women'—while admittedly comfortable to be constantly sought after by her own wives—was exhausting.
Being blatantly snatched away by Eden during the day and then caught by Himeko for cuddles at night meant Lunelle's entire schedule was booked solid from dawn to dusk.
It was a good thing both of them knew that bullying Seele too much would be a crime!
Plus, although Lunelle's physical constitution didn't have a massive Honkai Energy boost, she was still sturdier than the average person, so she was holding up for now.
But considering the terrifying degree to which her two wives were competing and 'out-cuddling' each other...
Lunelle estimated that a soft, cute little 'cuddle-fish' like herself wouldn't even have the strength to 'flop over' in bed if these two ever truly lost all self-control with their possessiveness!
Faced with the lecture from her adorable, not-yet-wedded little wife, Eden couldn't bring herself to be the kind of 'jerk' who only cared about her own happiness while ignoring Seele's thoughts.
Eden knew her future competitors weren't just one or two people.
While she was confident in her ability to secure her own 'territory' in Seele's heart, the thought of beauties like Elysia and Himeko watching Seele like hawks made her cautious.
Eden realized that if she did too many things to leave a bad impression, her plan to marry Seele the moment the girl turned eighteen might run into trouble!
'If I really want to be stuck to her every second of every day, I should wait until I officially join Fire Moth as a high-ranking official and forcibly request her to be my personal secretary,' she thought.
Though Eden promised Lunelle she would go to rehearsals, she claimed that with her transcendent talent, she only needed a quick walkthrough before the show to ensure everything went smoothly.
So, while the massive concert project wasn't scrapped on a whim, poor Lunelle—acting as a 'communal body pillow'—was still being cuddled so much by her two clashing wives that she had zero time to focus on her scientific research.
Fortunately, Eden wasn't the type to take without giving. After hearing about the value Seele's research could bring to the branch, Eden simply used her personal funds to 'buy out' all of Lunelle's daytime.
The resources Seele worked so hard to save for the branch were nothing compared to Eden's wealth.
Even though Himeko was annoyed by this 'rich person flex,' she couldn't deny that Eden simply offered too much!
The buyout fee for Seele's time significantly exceeded any value the girl could have created using the branch's current, meager resources.
As the head of the Australian branch, Himeko—who still hadn't been 'conquered' according to the simulator—ultimately chose to turn a blind eye to Eden's behavior for the sake of her people.
After all, as the saying goes: 'Who can say no when the price is that high?'
Thanks to the resources Eden provided, Himeko no longer had to worry about the lack of medical supplies. She even went on a shopping spree, doubling the orders for urgent medical goods with money to spare.
However, because Seele's research time had been bought out, the work on the anti-serum—which had been entirely entrusted to her due to her brilliance—fell into a several-day hiatus while she was 'kidnapped' by Eden.
Coincidentally, the massive shipment of supplies Himeko bought arrived exactly during those few days when Lunelle couldn't squeeze out any time.
Since Lunelle's previously improved serum-booster was still in stock, what the branch actually lacked was the 'low-grade anti-Honkai serum' used as a base.
Once the goods arrived, Himeko immediately distributed the still-scarce serum to the frontline soldiers.
At that moment, Himeko had no idea that this 'rational choice' would become the most catastrophic error of judgment in her life!
While Himeko carelessly allowed the 'expired' serum—which had been 'extra-spiced' by the corporate hacks at HQ—to flow to the front lines, the Eden World Tour, two months in the making, finally reached its opening day.
News of the opening spread quickly.
Since this was billed as the final world-class concert of Eden's career, countless devoted fans flocked to the site from all over the world, despite the 'somewhat' terrible location.
Missing this meant likely never seeing such a grand performance again. After all, Eden's wealth had already made her a household name as the world's richest person.
The main reason Eden agreed to this concert—aside from her true goal of wooing Seele-sensei—was to help some of her 'business associates' make a bit more money.
Eden had reached the top through her own strength, but she was willing to look after the 'useful tools' she called friends when it was within her power.
Up until the day before the concert, Lunelle—who had been busy being 'occupied' by her beautiful wives—finally got a breather because Eden had to get busy with preparations. She finally had a moment to tinker with her research.
But before she could even finish testing the new batch of serum that had arrived a couple of days ago, Eden called again...
The gist of the call was a request for her 'darling future wife' to join her on stage for a special performance!
The reason Eden asked Lunelle to perform was because Lunelle had recently confirmed through the simulator that Eden truly loved her, leading her to 'save and settle' the simulation.
However, since Eden wasn't a MANTIS yet and hadn't bound the Divine Key 'Star of Eden' at this point in time, the talent Lunelle drew wasn't exactly a combat-booster.
Lunelle, who had been hoping for some 'Eden-style gun-kata,' was a little disappointed.
Instead, the talent consolidated all of Eden's artistic abilities and transferred them to Lunelle. The simulator description read:
--+--
[Artist (Purple/Permanent): Grants the host world-class talent in artistic creation.]
[For arts that the talent-source 'Eden' is skilled in, the host will receive extra proficiency and additional boosts.]
[Current boost range covers: Singing, Composing, Designing, Dancing, Acting...]
--+--
With this talent bound, Lunelle was essentially a 'cuter, mini-version' of Eden.
It was the discovery that Seele possessed an artistic talent equal to her own that led the perfectionist Eden to demand Seele assist her in a duet.
Eden's true motive was to use this globally broadcast stage to arrogantly announce her intimate relationship with Seele to the entire world!
If she succeeded, Seele would become world-famous overnight. More importantly, Eden could use the massive public pressure to solidify her status as the 'main wife' before Seele even turned eighteen!
Even if Seele had intimate contact with other girls before her, Eden had a professional PR team. As long as she could create 'hard evidence' of her status in a formal setting, she was certain she could become the absolute 'First Lady' in the eyes of the world!
Thinking about the massive research funds Eden had personally provided, Lunelle felt too embarrassed to refuse. She obediently put down her unfinished work.
After all, as a researcher, how could she give her 'big boss' attitude? Especially when that boss was also one of her wives!
As Lunelle rushed to the concert venue, she had no idea that shortly after she left, the equipment she had set to analyze the serum components suddenly flashed a warning!
The message read: [Honkai Energy levels severely exceed safety limits!]
And at that very moment, on the front lines of the Australian branch, that batch of 'spiced' and expired low-grade serum was being used en masse by unsuspecting soldiers and civilians!
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon!
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.