179 – Polygamy?

Rohan, suppressing an old man’s exclamation that almost escaped him after taking a long-awaited sip, looked towards Zion and Clara.

Just watching them gulp it down brought a smile to his face.

“How’s the first taste of alcohol?”

“Far tastier than I expected. So, this is what alcohol is like.”

“M-, marvelous…!”

Good reactions. A satisfied smile spread across Rohan’s lips.

He then checked on Ichinose, who was sipping away like a little sparrow.

“How is it? Does it suit your palate?”

“Mm. Did Rohan make it well? It’s flavorful and easy to drink.”

“Give me more to drink! And meat, and ramen too!”

Noah suddenly popped up, shoving her glass forward.

The glass that had been filled to the brim was now empty, only half-melted ice cubes rolling around.

It wasn’t like Noah loved alcohol and drank it so quickly. Thinking about this girl’s daily life, she was simply fast at eating and drinking.

“Slow down. You’ll get knocked out quickly.”

“Isn’t my constitution similar to Mom and Dad’s? I should be fine, maybe?”

“Forget uncertain predictions. Treat alcohol as something to accompany your food, and focus on the meat.”

“Meat!”

Receiving her glass, Rohan first piled a generous amount of meat onto Noah’s plate.

As taught at the Orion Academy, getting drunk was merely a status ailment.

If you had some understanding of manipulating mana, you could forcibly resolve any issues caused by alcohol.

After all, the first step in training to withstand poisons was to dispel drunkenness.

Therefore, drinking and getting drunk wasn’t much of a problem.

The real issue was that you had to retain the willpower and consciousness to at least move your mana.

If you became completely senseless and passed out, there was no hope.

Therefore.

Rohan reduced the proportion of whisky and filled Noah’s glass with carbonated water before handing it over.

Turning his head away at the sight of Noah gulping it down in one go, he picked up the ladle and tongs.

As he was ladling ramen into bowls, he remembered his promise to Ichinose and took care of her first.

“Here, eat some ramen too. It already tastes better after just swimming, but it’ll be even better after doing a good deed.”

“Hmph, to raise expectations so high before I even eat it, you have a lot of confidence.”

“Just try it. The taste is guaranteed. I’m confident in my ramen-making skills.”

Receiving the bowl from Rohan, Ichinose swallowed hard.

Rohan, busy distributing the ramen to the rest of the group, caught her eye.

Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Ichinose picked up her chopsticks.

“Hoo… hoo…!”

Her lips, already watering in anticipation, parted to receive the noodles.

And then, Ichinose’s closed eyes snapped open.

‘This ramen!’

The very taste she had yearned for.

How many failures had she endured, attempting to recreate the flavour of Rohan’s touch?

It wasn’t just the ramen.

Any food Rohan prepared and offered tasted better than the most extravagant delicacies.

‘I am happy…’

Ichinose’s smile deepened.

Even as the heir to the omnipotent Cheonoecheon, holding the Samhwa Kingdom in her palm, she found the best rest, the best meals.

And a unique, special happiness.

Ultimately, she was in a position where she had to depend on Rohan. That was the situation she found herself in.

Though she knew and valued the importance of freedom, she felt no unease, only joy, in this near-dependence.

A girl’s heart was truly a curious thing.

The atmosphere deepened as, for what felt like the countless time, glasses were refilled.

Only broth remained of the ramen.

And more meat sizzled anew on the grill.

“More sake?”

“Mmm…!”

“Add one for me as well.”

“Another glass!”

Only Noah continued to devour the meat at her usual pace.

Now, most were focused on the sake.

Rohan accepted everyone’s glasses, added fresh ice, and continued mixing highballs.

And then.

“…”

The three girls who had sworn their night blossom oath exchanged a swift glance.

Clara, Sion Testarossa, and Ichinose Yui each had several options available to them.

To genuinely get drunk, to pretend to be drunk from now on.

Or to simply not drink and enjoy the moment as it was.

The girls were all similar.

They were still only at the point where their senses were slightly dulled, so the courage to do anything hadn’t yet surfaced.

But the intoxication was subtly creeping in. Their cheeks were growing warm, so a decision had to be made.

“Waaang!”

Regardless of what the three were pondering, Noah, who was shoveling meat from the plate, took out her phone as it chimed! and checked the arriving message.

Seeing the message, her eyebrows quirked.

“What is this? Apparently, big brother might get married again?”

“Which older brother?”

At Ichinose’s question, Noah’s tail swished back and forth.

She rechecked the message and flicked her ears! Flick!

“Third older brother. But they might not even have a ceremony.”

“Noah’s third older brother… so this would be…”

“Seventh, maybe? I don’t really know the details!”

Tigrova is polygamous.

Rohan knew this already. It was emphasized openly several times in Abyss City.

Still, seeing it discussed so casually in front of him felt bizarre. He’d encountered similar cases in internet articles from this world, but the realism was at its peak right now.

“I’ve never met him, but your older brother must be quite something.”

At Rohan’s words, Noah’s gaze darted about.

Then, the corners of her lips curled up with mischievousness.

“You shouldn’t get married too many times.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. It’s annoying to go multiple times, so try to do it all at once. I’ll give you a big wedding gift.”

Rohan and Noah were the only ones exchanging words nonchalantly.

The girls of the Night Blossom Clan seated around them froze solid! – that topic creating a unique sort of tension.

“Giving me a big wedding gift is nice and all… but marriage.”

“Why? You don’t want to?”

The three girls held their breath at Rohan and Noah’s conversation.

Concentrating every sense on their hearing.

“I do.”

“Then you should do it, shouldn’t you?”

Rohan burst out laughing at Noah’s words.

Her pure, questioning blue eyes, as if genuinely not understanding, were especially amusing.

“Marriage isn’t as easy as you make it sound. I need someone to marry, and the ability to support them, too.”

“Idiot! Show them the power of someone from the South! Don’t lose to our idiot older brothers, get married quickly!”

Noah casually brought up what could be seen as a sensitive topic, startling the three people who had been silently listening.

Rohan, however, didn’t mind and chuckled.

It seemed Noah’s face was flushed slightly, and not just from the flames.

“Are you tipsy?”

“Not at all! Would a beautiful girl like me get tipsy?”

Despite saying that, she definitely seemed a little drunk. She was more energetic than usual.

She’d downed twice as much as everyone else in an instant, so maybe it was to be expected.

He was about to play along with the joke about marriage being a competition when…

‘Huh?’

Rohan’s mind raced as he felt a sense of disharmony in his conversation with Noah.

The flow of the conversation felt subtly off.

Noah’s words, telling him not to get married too many times, to do the wedding ‘all at once’, seemed different in nature from the jokes of his past life that meant ‘don’t get divorced and live well’.

Noah hadn’t said just ‘once’, but ‘all at once.’

That feeling, it wasn’t just the booze, I knew it.

‘Solarea of the South… monogamy? Polygyny? Polyandry? Which one exactly?’

A piece of information Rohan didn’t possess with any certainty.

Polygynous countries were few and far between, monogamy being the norm, so he’d simply assumed that was the case.

A topic he’d never deeply considered now abruptly dominated his thoughts.

“Ichinose. Give this tiger some water, would you? I’ll go grab some more meat.”

“Ah, understood…!”

As Rohan turned with the empty plate, a booming roar echoed from behind.

“More drinks too! And get some ice cream!”

“Yes, yes. Just wait a moment.”

It was good to see Noah so full of energy, practically overflowing.

Rohan felt being here was nothing short of a blessing.

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Rohan stood before the refrigerator, pausing before taking out the food to continue his search on his phone.

Then, his mouth dropped open.

“!”

No need for a lengthy search; the information was right there.

Solarea, like Tigrova, was clearly stated to be a representative country with a tradition of polygyny.

Though the country itself was gone now, nothing but ruins remained.

There was even a manly interview with surviving Southerners, stating how they were proud of polygyny and would continue to uphold it.

‘Polygyny? Is this for real?’

So that’s why Noah had said that.

It all clicked into place instantly.

‘This body of mine hails from such a grand nation?’

It was surprisingly common knowledge online, yet Rohan, the person involved, had been completely oblivious.

He’d assumed he knew the situation in the South well enough through Abyss City, and had never bothered to look into the cultural aspects.

His searches had been limited to the matters he’d seen marked as restricted.

He couldn’t deny that this incident had revealed how narrow his perspective had been.

‘Ah!’

One by one, the pieces of the puzzle that had been swirling in his mind began to fall into place.

Matters that had been incomprehensible were now starting to make sense.

‘So that’s why Lethe…’

Looking back to when her replies started to become infrequent, he could make a rough estimation.

He remembered confidently replying “the South” when asked about his origins.

The Sepia Archipelago, like the Samhwa Federation, was fundamentally monogamous.

With that value system, it wouldn’t have been easy to commit to a man from the South with its polygynous values after just a single meeting.

Along with the relief of having a question answered…

Rohan savored the implications of reality.

‘Anyway, a harem… legally?’

Had the culture shock from Samhwa Nation hit me too hard?

There wasn’t even time to feel conflicted comparing it to my past life. Surprisingly, it was being accepted so easily.

No.

The feeling of wanting to cherish the girls before me more than my own life, the desire to love them more than anyone else. Maybe it was because that longing had finally been answered.

The alcohol was making even my delusions surge like clouds.

‘A man’s dream, indeed.’

To enlighten me to such an important truth, all hail the Great Noah.

‘I worship thee.’

The resolve to grill the meat diligently solidified once more.