I feel happy seeing her, because this beautiful woman is my wife.

"Naivara Tidewhisper."

"Luke, what are you doing here?"

Naivara asked with a confused expression, as she didn’t expect me to come here.

With a smile on my face, I told her.

"We got the invitation from the Count; that’s why we are here."

But as I finished speaking, I suddenly felt Aurielle’s hands trembling within mine.

"What happened, honey? Are you ok?" I bring my hands towards her face to check if everything is alright and then ask her. on which she nodded, but when I look into her, I can feel she is hiding something, like she is afraid.

"Seems like you have become familiar with each other." Naivara said with a normal voice as she saw our intimate action.

On this I smiled at her and said. "Yeah, all of you are my wives, and as a husband, I have to take care of all of you."

But after completing those words, Aurielle’s hands trembled more, and Naivara’s face changed little but before she could say something.

"Know your place, talentless hero."

Suddenly from the Naivara side an angry male voice came, and then I noticed that there were some other people as well.

Behind Naivara stood two beautiful women clad in full body armour coloured like the ocean, with intricate golden linings running across its surface. Though their helmets concealed most of their features, their faces could still be partially seen through the narrow visor slits.

Then, on her other side, stood a young man with dark blue hair and black eyes. He was dressed in luxurious clothes, resembling a finely tailored tuxedo.

Behind him also stood two women. Though they wore the same ocean coloured full body armour, theirs was adorned with silver linings instead of gold.

However, I could clearly see the disgust on his face as he looked towards me.

He stepped forward and looked down at both of us, his eyes filled with contempt.

"I don’t know how you managed to win the heart of this exiled princess."

He paused for a moment as he looked towards Aurielle with disgust as well.

"Well, I can’t expect more from someone who is really discarded, that she has to cling to a talentless person."

I clenched my fist as he said bad words about my wife, but then he added another line.

"But don’t expect Naivara to fall for you, because she has many better men for her in line."

"Enough, Oryn Seavale", Naivara, from the side, told him to shut up, and then she looked towards me with a sorry face.

Then she took a deep breath before saying it.

"Luke, we can’t be together, so forget about me."

"Huh?" I was stunned when she said that, and a moment later I asked, "What do you mean?"

Naivara sighed and told me. "Luke, you know, we were forced to marry you, and none of us are happy with this."

I felt pained in my heart as she said those words. But she continued.

"So my father has already decided to announce the ritual after some time."

Naivara said this to me while looking at my eyes.

"And what is this ritual?" I asked her back, holding onto a sliver of hope that perhaps we could stop it.

In response, she spoke in a resigned voice, as though her fate had already been decided.

"Ahh, this is the ritual that every Sea King holds. In it, one of his daughters is offered as a trophy to the strongest man who comes from every land and nation."

"They will fight among themselves, and the winner will marry the princess, as she will become his. And my father has chosen me." Naivara finished her last words in a sad voice, as though she didn’t want to be treated like a trophy to be won. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

I got stunned by this; she is my wife. How dare they try to do something like that?

"But you are my wife!" I said in a slightly loud voice, on which I felt Aurielle hold tremble even more.

Naivara shook her head. "Does anyone even accept this marriage?"

I paused. As I turned around, I saw that some people had started gathering around us, and everyone wore the same expression, as if I were some kind of zoo monkey on display.

Then I turned to her and said with a loud voice.

"I don’t care about anyone, Naivara; I know only one thing: that you are my wife and these golden chains and those vows are proof."

As I finished my sentence, the golden chains connected to our hearts appeared. Everyone could see that two chains were connected to the girls present, while three others extended in different directions.

A small smile appeared on Naivara’s face.

"Sadly, Luke, those things do not matter; only strength matters. And the things about chains – my father has found the way, so he will also break the chain when I am married."

"What?" As I heard those words, my mind went blank for a moment.

"They will break the chains that are binding my wife to me? and then they will take her from me?"

Those words echoed in my mind as I unconsciously released Aurielle’s hand. on this her eyes had become so wet that tears seemed ready to spill out at any moment.

"Don’t go, Luke, please don’t go."

Aurielle muttered something in a very low voice, but I didn’t hear it, as all of my focus was now on Naivara and the words that kept repeating in my mind.

Slowly I start moving towards her and raised my hand to touch her while saying with a slightly trembled voice.

"But Naivara, I have taken a vow to protect all of you, a vow to protect all my wives. So how can they take you away from me?"

Then-

"Insolent! How dare you try to touch the Sea Princess?" one of the women besides her, whose armour was adorned with golden linings, suddenly shouted. Then she threw a punch at me.

"Too fast." I felt that her attack was moving faster than anything I had ever faced in my life; even sound speed seemed slow compared to her punch.

Suddenly Nyx and Myrkhal, who were sleeping inside me, came out and shouted in my mind.

"Look carefully, or you will get injured badly."

BANG!

But it was too late –

"Aghh!"

The punch connected with my gut at such terrifying speed that I couldn’t react at all.

BOOM!

A deafening shockwave erupted from the impact point as the air around us exploded outward.

For a brief moment, I felt as if all the air had been driven from my lungs.

My feet left the ground instantly, and the world became a blur.

But I vaguely saw Aurielle’s face twist into horror as my body was launched backwards through the air like a cannonball.

WHOOOOOSH!

Wind roared past my ears.

Then—

CRAAASHHHH!!

My body slammed into the side of a nearby building.

Stone shattered upon impact, and cracks spread across the wall like a spiderweb as chunks of brick and debris exploded into the street.

RUMBLE...

Dust clouds billowed outward, covering the surrounding area.

I smashed through part of the wall before finally stopping amid broken stone and splintered wood.

For a moment, my vision turned completely white.

A high-pitched ringing filled my ears.

Eeeeeeeeee...

Then, slowly, the world came back into focus.

"Ugh..."

A cry of pain escaped my mouth as I tasted something metallic.

Warm blood trickled from the corner of my lips.

My chest felt as though it had been crushed by a giant hammer.

Looking down, I immediately realised the severity of the damage.

Several ribs had broken from the impact, and the shattered bone fragments were now digging into my internal organs.

Every breath felt like a knife twisting inside my body.

"Luke!!!"

Then I heard Aurielle’s panicked voice as she shouted my name at the top of her lungs.

Weakly, I turned my head towards her.

Through the dust and debris, I saw her running towards me, tears already streaming from her eyes.

Her usual composure was completely gone, replaced by fear and desperation.

"Luke!"

Her voice trembled this time more as she pushed through the crowd, not caring about anything else.

Seeing her like that, a faint pain stirred in my heart, far worse than the injuries covering my body.

The surrounding people were laughing at my foolish attempt, treating the whole scene as entertainment.

In the distance, I also noticed several knights bearing the symbol of Stormveil County standing nearby, yet none of them made a move to intervene.

Then my gaze fell upon Oryn. A broad smile was plastered across his face, as if he were the one who had landed the punch himself.

Finally, I looked towards the woman who had struck me. Now that I could properly sense it, I finally felt her aura.

[Chapter End]