Relief.
In this very moment, I finally understood the true weight of that word.
Senior Mei looked at my wife with disbelief as Bronya's hand clamped down on hers. Bronya met her gaze with a cold, piercing stare, then—hic! She let out a small, involuntary hiccup. Wait... a hiccup?
"Hic!"
"...?"
"Big Sis Mei, *hic!* Please... *hic!* Let go of that hand."
...Wait. No way. Surely not.
It couldn't be what I thought it was, right?
With that nagging doubt, I narrowed my eyes, trying to get a clearer look at my wife's face.
The moonlight was hitting her from behind, making it hard to see her features clearly, but I saw enough.
That expression I thought was a cold, calculating stare? Her eyes weren't narrowed in focus—they were glazed over, struggling to stay open!
Between her blurry gaze, her heavy, ragged breathing, and that flushed face, it dawned on me: my wife hadn't sobered up at all. She was still deep in the throes of a massive hangover.
Normally, entering a Herrscher state would allow her to burn off the alcohol toxins instantly, but for some reason, her recovery seemed agonizingly slow.
I wasn't the only one who noticed. Senior Mei's tense expression softened back into its usual composed, confident smile.
"Impressive as always, Bronya-chan. I didn't think you'd be able to stand, considering I had you dosed with Ativan."
Wait, what? Ativan?
"The Bronya... *hic!* ...never dropped her guard. *hic!* The Bronya deduced that if Kiana was here, *hic!* then Senior Mei would be close behind. When the wine tasted... *hic!* ...unusual, Bronya immediately analyzed the components and synthesized an antidote. *hic!*"
"For someone who neutralized the drug, you look like you're in quite a state."
"The dosage... *hic!* ...increased with every glass. Dealing with the sedative... *hic!* ...left no resources to process the alcohol. *Ugh...*"
Ah, I see... So that was why. Normally, Bronya is meticulous about never showing her intoxicated side to anyone but me, yet she had been acting so clingy and affectionate earlier. There was a reason for it.
And with Kiana constantly pouring more drinks, it had turned into a silent battle of wills. Bronya had to keep drinking to maintain appearances.
She had been doing it to avoid tipping off Mei, who was surely watching from the shadows.
All so she could catch her in the act.
"Even so, Bronya-chan. You already accepted the fact that I would become a secondary wife, didn't you?"
"*Hic!* ...That is correct."
"Then why are you getting in my way now?"
"It is true... *hic!* ...that in the past, I was swayed by what was right in front of me. I agreed that if I became the primary wife, *hic!* I would accept Big Sis Mei as a secondary wife. However, that was contingent on my husband's consent. *hic!* I never intended for this to be forced upon him."
Bronya looked at Mei as if she wanted to travel back in time and punch her younger self for ever agreeing to such a condition.
Come to think of it, my wife had mentioned something like this to me once before.
She told me she never expected me to accept her confession.
She said she never imagined we would actually end up married.
And she had apologized.
At the time, I didn't understand why she was saying those things.
If she was apologizing because we only married after she 'pounced' on me and got pregnant, I told her she shouldn't be sorry. I told her that if I didn't love her, I wouldn't have chosen marriage, even with a child involved.
Honestly, if I didn't love her, wouldn't I have just run away after that night?
No matter how sad or unfair it felt, trying to resist a woman who is essentially a living natural disaster would have been suicide!
I would have accepted her apology, sure, but I would have kept my distance.
Wait, no. Now isn't the time for 'what if' scenarios.
Back then, after hearing my answer, what did Bronya say?
She told me that wasn't the only thing she was sorry for.
"Please wait for me... wait until I can find the courage to tell you when the time is right."
Seeing her sad smile then, I couldn't bring myself to pry. I just nodded, having nothing else to say.
Looking at the current situation, I suspect Bronya apologized because she anticipated things would spiral out of control due to the words of her younger self.
Ultimately, she never found that courage. Since no symptoms of this mess had appeared for years, she probably let her guard down and lived her life forgetting it entirely.
And now, that karma had come home to roost.
But as things stood, I had no idea how my own karma would come back to bite me.
I was using this trip to escape my own thoughts, but Seele had asked me to marry her.
In the past, when I was mentally exhausted, maybe I would have wavered. But now? The idea felt wrong.
After she rejected my proposal all those years ago, I truly believed she had moved on from me entirely.
So much time had passed. That sudden kiss recently caught me off guard, but... I was the head of a household now. I had a daughter.
My wife was my priority, and I had to consider my child's future above all else.
I worried about what kind of influence such a complicated situation would have on a child's emotional development.
That was the reason I kept rejecting the confessions from Senior Mei and Kiana. I never dreamed that Seele would be the one to bring up the subject of marriage again.
...No, seriously, how long was I going to keep running away from reality?
I needed to focus on what was happening right in front of me.
The psychological warfare between my wife and Senior Mei was peaking.
"But you didn't say that back then, did you?" Mei prompted.
"Back then... *hic!* ...I did not realize it would come to this. But now, I am more than just a lover. I am his wife. His legal wife. Even if Schicksal permits polygamy, *hic!* if my husband does not wish for it, I will respect his choice."
"Respect, huh..."
Good God, someone look at this! Look at the world!
This magnificent woman is my wife!
She's mine!
Compared to her, I'm just a piece of human garbage with no honor!
I'm the lowest of the low, a man who committed adultery!
But I can say with absolute pride that meeting my wife and marrying her was the greatest stroke of luck in my life!
Honey, I love you!
"Hmm~ You really have grown into a wonderful woman, Bronya-chan."
Mei watched Bronya's speech with eyes full of moved affection, softly clapping her hands and wiping away a stray tear.
Now that I thought about it, Senior Mei always treated Bronya more like a daughter than a younger sister.
Was she genuinely proud of how much Bronya had matured? Like a parent witnessing their child's growth?
I certainly hoped that meant she was going to give up and back off.
"However... I don't think you're in any position to talk, Bronya-chan."
Mei's words cut through the air like a blade. I realized then that my optimism was incredibly naive.
What the hell did that mean?
"...That sounds... *hic!* ...unpleasantly sarcastic."
"It is. And for a very good reason—"
Senior Mei shot a brief glance my way before leaning in close to my wife, whispering something directly into her ear.
Instantly, the drunken color drained from Bronya's face. She turned deathly pale, her eyes widening in shock. Her mouth fell open slightly as if she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Her pupils trembled as she stared at Senior Mei.
"How... how do you know that?"
Her voice was strained, caught in her throat. Mei maintained her smile, bringing a single finger to her lips in a 'shhh' gesture.
Bronya ground her teeth so hard I could hear it. I called out to her, my voice laced with concern.
"Honey?"
"Ah—!"
She flinched violently, not expecting me to speak. She looked at me with eyes trembling with a cocktail of emotions—guilt, terror, sorrow, and self-loathing.
Why? Why was she looking at me with those eyes?
Just what did Mei say to trigger a reaction like that?
"Ah... I... Ah..."
I tried to step toward her, but as I moved, her eyes went blank, and she began to spiral into a full-blown panic attack. I bit my lip and stopped where I was.
She kept glancing at me, checking my reaction. I didn't understand what was going on, and the feeling of helplessness made a surge of irritation flare up within me, causing me to sigh unintentionally.
"...!"
She must have misinterpreted my sigh as disappointment. Her eyes filled with tears, her shoulders slumped, and she looked at me with a heart-wrenching expression. My heart twisted in pain.
If only she would talk to me, I could handle it. But looking at her now, it was clear she had no intention of explaining herself.
"Hm?"
I looked at Senior Mei. Even she seemed taken aback by Bronya's extreme reaction. Her brow furrowed as she looked at her ward.
Mei called out to her, her voice now serious and quiet.
"Bronya-chan, you—"