[It appears you might actually be scarier than a vyker.]
William completely ignored the teasing. His mood, however, became slightly worse.
Rather than allowing the misunderstanding to continue growing, he simply stepped forward before gently grabbing Lia’s wrist.
She instinctively tried to pull away.
William was much faster. The moment he held her wrist, soft silver moonlight quietly flowed from his hand. His Lunar abilities gently calmed her restless emotions while soothing the fear clouding her thoughts. The silver light felt warm rather than forceful, allowing Lia’s tense breathing to gradually settle.
Meanwhile...
Inside one of the peaceful gardens of the Elven Imperial Palace, Tamasya quietly sat beneath the shade of blooming trees. The gentle breeze carried the fragrance of flowers through the air, yet her thoughts remained far away.
She absentmindedly looked toward the small pond before her while replaying countless thoughts inside her mind.
Eventually, she quietly spoke.
"...Would it sound childish if I asked him?"
Virgo immediately replied.
[Not really.]
Before Tamasya could continue thinking, Shadow interrupted with her usual sarcasm.
<Listen to this virgin, and you’ll stay one for the rest of your life. >
Tamasya completely ignored the comment.
She remained lost in her own thoughts.
Virgo patiently continued.
[It is always better to speak about even the smallest concern while it remains small. If you continue hiding those feelings, they eventually accumulate and become much more painful than they ever needed to be.
Tamasya slowly lowered her eyes. She knew Virgo was right.
Just then...
"Hello."
A gentle voice interrupted her thoughts. Tamasya looked up in surprise.
Standing before her was Seraphine.
The young woman wore a bright, cheerful smile that naturally warmed the atmosphere around her.
"We never properly introduced ourselves."
Seraphine clasped both hands together before smiling even more brightly.
"Since you’re like my big sister, I think it’s only natural that I should introduce myself first."
"My name is Seraphine."
"I’ve heard so much about you from William."
"Oh my... I’ve been looking forward to meeting you."
Her excitement seemed through the roof.
"I heard you defeated a Phoenix Primarch using chains."
"That was incredible."
"I’m really happy that someone so strong and brave as you is my big sister."
Once Seraphine began talking, the words simply continued flowing one after another. She resembled a cheerful chatterbox who had finally found someone she genuinely wished to know better.
Every compliment she gave sounded completely sincere.
Shadow quietly observed everything.
<She’s frighteningly good with words. > She almost sounded impressed.
Without openly mentioning rank or hierarchy, Seraphine had already dissolved nearly all of Tamasya’s subconscious worries.
By naturally calling her "Big Sister," she had silently conveyed that she recognized Tamasya’s position in the harem without resentment or competition.
That single gesture unconsciously lowered every barrier. Tamasya had built inside her heart. The atmosphere quickly became comfortable.
Soon, the two women were chatting naturally.
Seraphine gently held Tamasya’s hands while occasionally praising her beauty and demeanor.
She was not deliberately manipulating the conversation.
Instead...
She was simply putting into practice something Selena had taught her.
Her mother had taught her that genuine praise, kindness, and positivity often opened people’s hearts far more effectively than complicated words ever could; all those lessons and pep talks about communication were finally coming to use.
Now, for the first time, Seraphine was truly applying those lessons.
As for acknowledging Tamasya as the first wife...
That decision had not been made lightly.
After witnessing the worldwide broadcast and hearing how Tamasya had repeatedly stood against Primarchs and countless dangers for William’s sake, Seraphine had gradually reached her own conclusion.
Perhaps a small part of her felt guilty for not being as strong as Tamasya, and perhaps she simply loved William enough that she wished to remove every unnecessary burden from his shoulders.
Or perhaps. It was both.
More importantly, she trusted William completely. She never believed he would value one wife more than another simply because someone held the title of first wife.
William was not that kind of man. He had never treated the people he loved according to hierarchy. He loved them because they were themselves. She still remembered when William talked about old Lady Su; she was there for such small moments in his life, but still he remembered her often. That spoke volumes about what kind of man he was.
Nothing else mattered to him.
After chatting happily for quite some time, Tamasya suddenly remembered something.
"Have you seen William?"
Seraphine blinked before returning from her thoughts. She gently shook her head.
"No."
"It’s already been almost an hour."
"I think he’s probably inside the Infinite Domain."
Tamasya’s eyes immediately brightened. A mischievous smile slowly appeared across her face.
"Should we sneak inside and see what he’s doing?"
Seraphine giggled.
"Let’s do it."
The two women immediately stood up. Without another word, they silently wished to enter the Infinite Domain.
The scenery around them instantly changed. When they opened their eyes once again, they found themselves standing inside the Infinite Domain.
Both of them immediately looked ahead towards William.
Instead of their smiles brightening, they turned into a frown. Both of them conveniently ignored the new massive world tree behind them and looked straight at the man in question.
He was calmly holding Lia’s wrist while soft silver moonlight surrounded both of them.
Lia lowered her head nervously, while William appeared completely focused as he closed his eyes.
The scene remained perfectly innocent.
Unfortunately...
Neither Tamasya nor Seraphine had enough context to understand what they were seeing; for them, it was just William casually holding hands with a third woman. Jealousy was a real thing among women, and that too when it came to their favorite man; the consequences of a tiny mistake could be catastrophic.
Both of them instinctively shouted at exactly the same moment.
"WILLIAM!!" X 2
Their shouts were enough to make the eternal sovereign’s soul shiver.
<"Hahaha!! This guy is done for; I already told you, Tammy, don’t let the mating process delay, now look what happened. Hahaha!" >
[Fuck, stop putting fuel to fire.]