Hey. It’s been a while, a few months in fact. How’ve you been? How’s the wife and kids? Nah, I’m just kidding (although the fact about it being a few months since Issei left is completely true). Marina and I are still enjoying our lovey-dovey lifestyle to its fullest extent, and to top it all off we’re finally reaching a point where we’ve amassed a sizeable fortune for ourselves. Certainly enough to live out our remaining days doing whatever we please.

She hasn’t changed all that much in the meantime, meanwhile my beautiful hair is once again back to its glorious image! I can finally tie it into a ponytail again, granted the tips of my hair are still showing signs of blackness ever since I had it dyed by Issei. That bastard said it would wash off in a few rinses, but it seems a lot more permanent than that!

Eh, I can’t be angry at him. He’s just a guy who had the misfortune of being taken to a completely unknown world. He probably had no idea of the properties of the flower’s dye, since the flora here might be different than in his world. And if you’re wondering, I’m not mad at Issei in the least for leaving us. I sometimes get angry fits, but I have Marina there to help me out in those times. She really is like a Guardian Angel in that regard…

Oh right, I said Marina hasn’t changed at all since then, but that’s kind of a lie, at least in the physical regard. Truth is, she’s becoming a lot more emotional these days, easily switching from being happy-go-lucky to crying out tears of absolute happiness about me handing her a plate of snacks or something, or throwing a hissy fit about me going in the bath before her (even after she so coldly denied my generous offer of us going in together). I honestly don’t know what to do with her in those times, since I’m genuinely not sure if that’s just what she’s like when she’s lax or if there’s some deeper meaning behind it. Guess I’ve still a long way to go before I reach the level of understanding the intricacies of the woman’s heart. Well, I’ve managed to snag two so far, so I guess I should be giving myself more credit…

And Issei… I haven’t heard from him at all since he left. No letters, none, zilch. It’s like we were never friends to begin with, which makes me extremely sad. Wait, wasn’t that how I’ve been treating Anna and Arthur though? Ugh, thinking back, Issei really had that same adventurous look in his eyes as I did back when we left Whitehood. I could tell from his very face that he was thinking I can’t wait to go out and explore the world!, since I was the same.

Well, I keep telling myself that the reason he’s not sending me any letters is because he’s got too many things on his plate, or perhaps he just doesn’t know how the postal system works here. But by the Gods, man, ask around or something! I’m still keeping his goodbye letter on my desk, right next to Nelly’s framed picture. I understand Nelly would probably get a bit jealous of me cherishing him equally as much as I cherish her, but well, friends and children are two different categories. I won’t ever see Issei as my child (since we’re the same age and that’d be weird), and I most certainly won’t ever see Nelly as my friend (she’s my amazingly cute daughter, after all!). So yeah, I’ll find a special place to keep her picture on back home, and I’ll probably just shove Issei’s letter in a closet or something. Sorry Issei, but you’re nothing compared to my Nelly!

Oh right, hehe, did I forget to mention? Humu, what is it that I’m talking about you ask? Well, it’s about Operation “Harem”, of course! That’s right, after finally summoning up the courage to ask Marina if she’d be interested, she finally caved! Well, she was really hell-bent on keeping me to herself (obviously), as the very idea of a man marrying multiple women was frankly absurd, but after some carefully thought out guilt tripping and whining, I finally got her to agree.

“How could you do this to me~?” I started reenacting the scene while I was alone in the house, “After making me cheat on my wife, don’t you realize just how bad I feel about that~? And my daughter, what do you think she would say to this~? I love you, but I love them equally as much, can’t you agree to share~?”

These were the sleazy and scummy words I had used to get her onboard (word for word, in fact). I really didn’t want to abuse the idea of her being the ‘homewrecker’ in this scenario, but sadly it seems she never would’ve agreed to the idea of the three of us coexisting together without me having to use that as a trump card.

Now, a couple months after hearing about how cool Cecily is, she seems to be a lot more interested in meeting the person in question. Heh, I even caught her asking when we’re going back home, to ‘make the whole thing official’. Now if that isn’t a clear sign of acceptance, then I don’t know what is!

Here’s another fun fact. While we were out and about doing our weekly grocery run, Marina and I actually stumbled upon a wedding parade. A wedding parade, for those of you who don’t know, is a cultural thing endemic to the Cardina region (and some Northern parts of The Kingdom of Carmen). What basically happens is that the bride and groom stroll around the city, and all the guests follow them, making a massive line. Onlookers are free to join if they wanna spread the positivity, and there’s dancing and cheering all around. Marina was enthralled by the cheeriness of it all, but I just found it annoying because they were blocking the market entrance.

Even still, I noticed she wasn’t all too focused on the others, but instead she drew her focus on the bride. She wore a white-as-snow wedding dress, and the smile on her face indicated she was currently experiencing the best day of her life. Well, as a man, I just couldn’t stand seeing Marina get jealous! I’m the type of guy who spoils his loved ones! You want it? Here, have it! That’s how Sol Pandora operates, goddammit! Well, that being said, I’d at least like to wait until we get back home, so I can have Cecily’s go ahead first. Eh, I’m sure she’ll accept it the same way Marina did, so it’s basically all but done already.

Oh? Is someone knocking at the door? Hmm? Adam-?

“Is this the house of Mariabelle Pandora?” He skipped the pleasantries.

“A-Ah, yes!” I noticed he was carrying a sickly-looking Marina by the arm, “What’s wrong?”

“Congratulations, Mariabelle is pregnant.”

***

A COUPLE HOURS EARLIER

Yoohoo!! Hey, it’s been a while! Remember your old cute maid of the Grys Castle? That’s right, I’m Marina Dola, posing as none other than Mariabelle Pandora, and right now I’m on my way to another day of work! Ugh, how much longer are we gonna be stuck here? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Lune’s been making me wait for some stupid reason. That boy, didn’t I already say it was alright to be part of his ‘harem’ or whatever it is that he insisted? What a guy, he just can’t be happy with one woman in his life…

Well, from what I’ve heard, this Cecily girl is really cool. She’s the General of some bigshot gang organization over at Great Hiana or something. The same one as Lune, and she’s apparently really strong. The way he would describe her fighting style was really beautiful, and elegant to boot. His eyes glimmer a special way when he describes that aspect of hers. Different than any time he’d talk about me, that’s for sure. Well, at least I have one thing up on her, and that’s that I was the first to take him to bed! Heh, sucks to suck, girlie, but it seems like that guy’s a total boob maniac~!

“Good day, Mariabelle.” The nicely built Adam greeted me at the gate while on his morning walk, “Ready for another day of making this country a better place?”

“…” I stopped to admire his muscles.

This guy really took my advice to heart. He started lifting weights, grew out his beard and now looks like a total beast. Honestly, where did the feeble-looking young Prince whose head could barely fit his crown go? Now that crown is actually getting refitted because he’s grown so much!

“Mariabelle?”

“A-Ah, nothing. ” I snapped out of the muscle-trance, “But My King, you’ve really grown since then. It never ceases to amaze me just how much you’ve managed to get in shape. Must be because of that Queen of yours~!”

Oh right. Adam snagged himself a girl, can you believe it? Apparently it’s a childhood friend of his, a young girl who’s originally from a nearby village, but they used to play a lot back when Adam’s position didn’t clash with other kids’ positions. Back when he confessed to me, I thought for sure things were going to get awkward between us, but he seems to be doing perfectly fine now.

“Well, I do agree that she’s been motivating me a lot throughout the process, but I will never allow anyone else but you to take the credit for being the catalyst who forced me to get out of my shell and stop with my silly ways.”

Eh? Stop that! Hearing a buff guy say such things is making me start to regret saying ‘No’ to you! Hey, Lune’s gonna get pissed, so just shut those puckered lips and move that tight ass inside!

“Mariabelle…” He acted a bit hesitantly, “For today, please just wipe off the tables.”

“Again? Ugh, why are you coddling me all of a sudden?! I’m perfectly capable of doing harder jobs still, y’know?”

He approached the situation carefully, as if treading on thin ice. Ugh, just because I accidentally spilled some tea on those two lovebird guests that one time… I promise it won’t happen again, come on!

“Mariabelle, do not overexert yourself. I know it’s tough, so don’t force things.”

“What’s tough!?”

“…Oh.” He finally realized that I didn’t know what the hell he was on about, “Never mind, just listen to my orders and be glad you’re getting lesser work.”

Well, that’s certainly one way to look at it. Actually, didn’t Lune say that we can go back soon? Maybe he secretly met up with Adam and had him shorten my workdays because it’s gonna be my last day here soon or something? In that case, heck yeah Lune!

Generally, the other maids were doing the harder jobs, like cooking and cleaning, so you’d expect them to be at least a tad bit jealous of me getting the easier jobs these days. But no, they’re really acting weird too! It’s like they know something I don’t! Wait, maybe if I ask Erie, she’ll know what to do! She’s always got my back, she’s the head honcho here! She’ll definitely-!

“No.” Erie gave me a serious reply, “If you don’t know what’s going on, then I will most DEFINITELY not tell you myself.”

“Oh, come on~!” I tried nudging her, “You’ve always been the most honest one of all us maids! Surely you’re not gonna let that streak end here, will you?”

“A-Ah…” She started blushing, “M-Most honest, you say? W-Well, thanks for the compliment… Wait, no! I’m not falling for your flattery this time! Go to some other maid!”

Heeding her advice to a T, I yelled out to another maid who was in the same room as us, “Yo Leah! You’re the most honest maid I know! Could you tell me why everyone’s acting so weird around me!?”

In that moment, Erie finally realized that Marina’s previous remarks were nothing more than hollow compliments.

“Ugh, why are you guys being so careful around me?!” I finally lashed out.

“Hey, Mariabelle, calm down now…”

“No! Screw you all, you’re just a bunch of… a bunch of…!” Right then, the thoughts from my mind completely disappeared, and I fell to the floor in the midst of my sentence.

Waking up, I was in an unfamiliar room. It was one I had never been to, even though I cleaned almost every place in the castle because of my job. I was feeling really sluggish, and my mouth tasted awful. Like I had just thrown up moments prior. My eyesight was foggy, but I could barely make out two people standing right outside the wide open door.

“…My Prince, if you noticed signs of this earlier, I honestly don’t see why you hadn’t contacted me earlier on the matter…!” The female wearing a doctor’s coat reprimanded the other speaker.

“…You’re right, sorry for the short notice. I’ll be sure to take her home, her husband will probably be really glad to hear the news…” Said Adam.

After that, they both noticed I was awake and staring at them with eyes of confusion. They didn’t react almost entirely, rather they simply gave me a warm smile and waved. I waved back because it was the obvious thing to do, but I still didn’t understand what had just happened.

Even still, Adam finally joined me and told me I get to leave early today. I didn’t really have the energy to ask why, since when I tried to speak I immediately threw up. Thankfully, he somehow expected me to do this, so he swiftly handed me a bag so as not to make a mess.

“You’re in a clinic right now. Must be a new sight, huh? Don’t worry though, you’re fine. C’mon, I’ll take you home.”

And just like that, he had me stand up and put my arm around his shoulder, then slowly but patiently escorted me back home without even saying a word the entire time. It was quiet, and he wore a kind smile on his face, but I could tell from the countless days we’ve spent together that that expression was fake.

In the end, he opened the doors to mine and Lune’s house, then greeted Lune with the news, “Congratulations, Mariabelle is pregnant.”