Gardenia’s Heart

Left behind by the princess in the tearoom, a pair of wives watched a rabbit-eared girl in a red dress sink completely into the sofa.

“Married... I’m married...”

Having never even experienced anything that could be called remotely romantic before, the mage who didn’t even know what it meant to date was now bound in matrimony with three girls.

Selene’s rationality had been completely shattered. Not split in two, but smashed into countless pieces like glass struck with a hammer.

“Congratulations on your marriage.”

A low voice cut through the murmurs of the rabbit-eared girl.

Still holding Lily in her lap, Nia extended one of her tentacles toward the rabbit-eared girl, giving her a few gentle pats on the head.

“I don’t approve of having more than one wife, but I hope you’ll be happy.”

Finishing her words, the purple-haired girl turned her body toward Lily, hugging her and resting her head against her chest, wearing an expression of quiet confidence as though she had just done something good.

Seeing her beloved hide her shyness against her body, Lily couldn’t help but start caressing her head.

Perhaps the girl didn’t understand—or simply didn’t care about—the finer details of the situation, but for Nia, just as for her, marriage was one of the most important pillars of life. And so, when someone she knew announced their marriage, she felt it was important to offer congratulations.

Still, having someone else affirm that what she was processing in her mind wasn’t just a dream, the golden twin-tailed girl turned her eyes toward the silver-haired one.

“Lily...” Selene spoke her name directly. The way she said it made clear just how desperate her plea was.

Seeing this, the silver-haired girl couldn’t help but feel a little more sympathy for her.

“Do you love them?”

A stretch of silence followed the question. Selene seemed lost in thought, her fingers tracing slowly over the bite marks across her body before both hands came to rest over her heart. Then, after taking a deep breath, the golden twin-tailed girl finally opened her mouth.

“I mean, I never really knew what love was, and I haven’t known them for very long, but... the way they treat me as someone special feels different from the compliments I’ve ever received from anyone else. Aster makes sure I eat at the proper times and even cooks meals just for me, even if it means waking up earlier and going to bed later than everyone else. Bell helped me with my recovery and even praised my paintings, asking me to draw her as a form of therapy for my hands. Calla is adorable too—she kept asking me to tell her stories about my time in the mages’ tower, and she listened to them all with a smile, even asking for more details. And yes... I’d be a hypocrite not to admit that I find all three of them beautiful, and that I love everything about their bodies. The way they touch me as someone special and leave hickeys on me to mark their territory is adorable. And I’ve secretly started touching myself thinking of them whenever they go off to help the other maids. But... my... my chest feels so warm when I’m with them. Even in a difficult moment, they stayed together and didn’t abandon one another. And even when they were already safe and could have left me behind, they waited and helped me when I needed it most. I want to keep having them by my side. It all happened so fast, but I don’t know what I’d do without them now.”

The corners of the pink-eyed girl’s eyes began to tingle, and before she realized it, long streams of tears were running down her cheeks.

“Lily, is this love?”

Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, Selene spoke as her cheeks grew warm.

Even though Lily wanted to frown and complain about the amount of detail she’d rather not have known slipped into the explanation, she couldn’t help but sympathize with her friend.

“Only you can decide that. No one else can.”

With no friends her age to talk about lovers or relationships, she truly considered herself a novice when it came to romance—even though she was already married. Still, even she knew that love shouldn’t be defined by the opinions of others, but discovered for oneself.

Lily hadn’t known Nia since childhood, nor had she spent decades with her or crossed the world on some grand adventure before falling in love. Just having Nia by her side when she needed it most was enough to kindle the flame of love within her, making her long to remain by the metamorph’s side for all eternity.

“Hehe~” Feeling the soft fingers sliding through her purple hair, Nia let out a gentle laugh, hiding her face in her wife’s chest as she tightened her embrace.

Seeing her beloved so happy with her touch, and as her own reflections deepened, Lily had no choice but to soften her expression even further.

Nia was one of the pillars of her very existence, and Lily was certain that no opinion in the entire world could ever make her love waver.

Turning to Selene, Lily extended one hand to rest on her friend’s head, gently stroking her golden hair to calm her.

”Don’t worry, I’ll bow my head to Abelia with you.”

It didn’t matter that Selene had only known those three elves for a short while—if she truly cared for them and they had already become an important part of her life, then there was no reason not to consider that love.

As Selene’s tears slowly began to subside, Lily finally withdrew her hand, remembering there was something she needed to tell her friend.

“By the way, I’m pregnant with Nia’s child.”

The casual revelation made the rabbit girl sit up straight in a single motion, her tear-reddened eyes going wide.

“What?”

Selene fought to keep from stammering, her mind thrown into disarray by the sudden news, leaving her completely unprepared for the next line.

“And also, keep this a secret—Nia’s a metamorph.”

With not the slightest consideration for Selene’s shocked and confused mind, the silver-haired girl continued explaining secrets so enormous that Selene couldn’t even tell whether her life might be at risk just for knowing them.

---

The sun could not pierce through the window, smothered by the cold fog outside. Lit only by the soft glow of the candelabras, a rabbit-eared girl in a crimson dress knelt on the floor, her rosy eyes avoiding the woman before her.

“So, Selene, would you like to explain what happened?” A chilling voice echoed through the room.

Arms crossed beneath her full chest, a beautiful woman with raven hair and onyx eyes held her chin high, staring down at the girl kneeling before her.

“S-Sis... I...” Turning her face away as cold sweat trickled down her temple, Selene avoided her sister’s gaze and instead glanced discreetly at another figure in the room.

Behind Abelia, wearing an awkward expression, the tanned knight with chestnut hair silently watched the scene unfold. Cleomel, who quickly caught Selene’s pleading look, scratched her cheek and forced a nervous smile.

“Calm down, Abelia. I think Selene is truly regretful.”

Placing a hand gently on her wife’s shoulder, Cleomel whispered softly, trying to ease the tension.

“Cleomel, darling, please...” Abelia turned her face toward her wife with such intensity that it made the knight flinch. Her smile never reached her eyes. “Stay out of this.”

Retreating several steps, Cleomel shot Selene a look that clearly said, I did my best—now it’s up to you, and held her tongue.

“Well then?” Abelia repeated, closing the distance between them.

Each step of the noblewoman toward her felt like a countdown to her doom, and Selene’s mind raced desperately for something to say.

“I-I had no way to contact you...”

Her voice shook as her gaze darted aside. The flickering candlelight seemed to vanish when Abelia stopped right in front of her.

With deliberate care, Abelia knelt to the floor. Her fingers slid into one of the hidden pockets of Selene’s freshly sewn crimson dress.

“This is the communication artifact I entrusted you with, isn’t it? The one meant for emergencies? How about you explain why you never answered a single one of my calls? Or even reached out yourself?”

Her cold tone only made Selene’s body shrink further.

“I-It broke during a battle!”

It wasn’t a lie. Her fight against Belladona had shredded her clothes and body so badly that the artifact she always carried had been ruined in the clash.

“How strange. Because I’m fairly certain you could have used the device you personally gave to Lady Lily to contact us as well.”

Abelia placed her hand against Selene’s trembling cheek, her onyx gaze locking onto the rabbit girl’s rosy eyes.

“You were in the Elven Forest, weren’t you? I’m not ignorant—I know you were busy. But, little sister, you haven’t changed since you were a child. Whenever you sit like this and can’t even meet my eyes, it means you know you’ve done something wrong.”

The obsidian of her eyes deepened, sharp as blades.

“If you were only resting or working, you wouldn’t be drowning in guilt right now. So tell me—what exactly were you doing these past days that made you so cheerful you forgot entirely to let your family know how you were?”

Swallowing hard, Selene straightened her posture, fists clenching as she gathered the courage she’d built up for this very moment.

“Uh... well... I-I got married.”

Not even all her years serving as a noble representative in the palace, nor all her study to aid her son in his struggle for the throne, had prepared the refined woman for those words.

“Selene, it’s all right... I forgive you. You don’t need to make things up like that...” Abelia’s voice softened suddenly, her fury washed away as though doused with a bucket of cold water. Her onyx eyes filled with empathy, and her tone grew warm as she reached out to gently stroke her sister’s blonde hair. “It must have been a hard week. I won’t press you. It must have been something important. Let’s just have some tea, all right?”

“W-Wait, don’t look at me with pity! I’m not lying, I swear!” Selene’s heart raced, and with tears in her eyes she began to cry out desperately to the silver-haired girl beside her. “Rival, please!”

Having her black cloak tugged and pulled on repeatedly by the rabbit girl, Lily—who, since arriving at the mansion in Caligo, had not found a way to intervene—let out a deep sigh.

After asking Selene for help to resolve the urgent situation in Lampides, Lily had forgotten to inform Abelia and the others that she had called the rabbit girl to the elf forest. With no word from her sister for several days, Lily knew that Abelia’s worry and anger were justified. After arguing for an entire day with Selene about how they would explain everything to the noblewoman, Lily knew her moment had finally come.

Asking Nia—who, indifferent to the entire conversation, continued hugging her beneath the cloak—to wait for a moment, Lily crouched beside Selene and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It was a surprise to me too, but… it’s true. During the battle, Selene ended up protecting three maids of the royal family, and they grew very close during the time she spent recovering from her injuries.” Adding this to one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, Lily continued to explain what had happened, her face burning hot. “And well… it seems elves have a tradition of marrying their first partner, so an acquaintance of mine, to show goodwill, went ahead and prepared all the formal documentation… even though Selene didn’t know about that custom when she slept with them.”

Finishing her words and unable to show her face any longer, Lily lowered the cloak’s hood over her head and handed a paper to Abelia.

The handwritten document contained all the information linking the demi-human Selene to three elven girls in marriage. It also granted her elven citizenship, including the right to own a residence in the city of Lampides.

Such a certificate, which could never be falsified, made Abelia’s hands tremble as soon as she saw the golden butterfly-shaped seal.

“The royal seal of the elves…”

She had only seen it once at the palace, but there was no mistaking it.

Now, with an inexplicable expression on her face, Abelia stared at her sister, her mind utterly blank.

It was like asking for a glass of water and receiving a chicken. With such an absurdly different context, no logical sequence in her mind could form a coherent reasoning as to how the situation before her had come to be.

“You’re not being blackmailed, are you? It’s alright, you can tell me. Your sister will help you sort this out.” Finally processing the information as best she could, Abelia whispered firmly, prepared to act.

“N-No! I really love them!” Desperately grabbing the noblewoman’s hand, Selene shouted energetically. “Yes, I was taken by surprise too! Yes, it was so fast! But I don’t regret marrying them!”

Her fluffy ears trembled as she spoke, but with her back straight and her eyes determined, Selene declared with confidence.

This had been her decision, and she would accept everything that came from it.

And then, after a long silence, at last, the tense expression on the noblewoman’s face began to soften.

“Even as your sister, I don’t have the right to interfere in your happiness.” With gentleness, Abelia wrapped her arms around her sister’s neck, pulling her close and softly surrounding her with warmth. “I was so worried when you just disappeared. I’m glad you’re safe. It must have been a hard battle, wasn’t it? You gave it your best.”

“Sis…”

With trembling fingers, Selene wrapped her arms around her sister’s back, tears welling in her eyes as the affection of her family embraced her.

For a long while, the two women held each other in that position. As she prepared to return to Lily’s warm and comforting arms, Nia felt Cleomel’s gaze. The dark-skinned knight discreetly waved her hand, calling her over.

“Lady Gardenia, we managed to do what you asked us the other day.” Whispering to the purple-haired girl, Cleomel once again scratched her cheek with a slightly awkward expression.

Appearing suddenly through a portal a few days earlier, Nia had brought several vulnerable people directly to the mansion and told the two women to take care of the situation, since she had already done her part. Without elaborating any further, Nia had simply left after telling them to keep it a secret.

“We managed to place them in the city shelters. There were some mages who had been Selene’s students, and they managed to explain the situation to us. Thank you for taking care of the Stardust Spring’s request.”

As if remembering something, Cleomel’s expression brightened and softened.

“Ah, the demi-human you brought was adopted by that couple you rescued in the forest that time.”

Noticing the knight subtly lowering her head in a sincere gesture of gratitude, Nia only shook her head gently.

“I only did what was necessary.”

Turning back to her beloved so she wouldn’t have to deal with another flood of thanks, Nia quickly embraced Lily from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder as she watched the sisters finally stop crying.

“But three girls, huh…” Abelia let out a light laugh. “Considering I married Cleomel without yet annulling the formal marriage I have with the king, our family truly is unique when it comes to romance.”

“I-I’ll go bring them so you can meet them, I’m sure you’ll get along!” Waving her arms energetically, Selene could barely contain her silly smile.

Seeing the sisters calm down and begin to laugh softly, Lily finally knew it was time to say what she needed to.

“Abelia, I would also like to apologize. Since the situation was really complicated, I asked Selene for help. However, in the heat of battle I ended up failing to protect her.”

Trusting too much in the mage’s strength, the silver-haired girl had been careless and didn’t give her friend the support she needed.

Although everything ended well, if Selene hadn’t received the maids’ help, the chance of her dying before getting assistance had been very high. Because of this, Lily knew she had to apologize to both of them for everything that happened.

“In the end, after discovering that I was pregnant, I completely forgot to make sure Selene was alright. I ended up disrespecting both her and you. They may just be words, but I truly apologize.”

Lily prepared herself to keep apologizing as much as necessary. Even though she couldn’t say she had a good relationship with many people, Abelia and her family were undoubtedly ones she cared for. For that reason, she didn’t want to bring them sadness or show them any disrespect.

However…

“You are what!?” Abelia’s muffled voice rang out.

Before she even realized it, Selene had been tossed aside, and now Abelia and Cleomel were kneeling in front of her, both of their faces so fixed on her that Lily froze in place.

“You’re pregnant, Lady Lily!?” Barely able to contain the scream that escaped her mouth, Cleomel’s amber eyes were shining.

It was only then that Lily finally understood the implications of what she had just said.

Nia was her wife, and she was a girl. Knowing she would never have a child with anyone else, both Abelia and Cleomel were now so confused they couldn’t pull their eyes away from her face.

Lily didn’t believe that, when faced with someone as enthusiastic about magic as Cleomel, she could escape the situation as easily as she had with Agatha. Likewise, she didn’t think she should explain the fact that Nia was a metamorph to them. Even if she trusted them as much as she trusted Selene, it was safer for the noblewomen to remain unaware of that truth.

Lily concluded that the three-star mage would eventually deduce Nia’s identity, if she didn’t already have doubts about whether or not she was human. So, she judged it would be better to explain everything now, considering it was safer than letting Selene discover it on her own, like with Elarielle.

“Y-Yes, Nia can use a kind of spell that alters her body to create sexual organs of the opposite sex and then—you understand, right?” With her face so red it might as well have been on fire, Lily glanced at her wife still clinging to her back, her cheeks brushing against her without a care in the world. “But… this is something only she can do.”

Nia’s ability to modify her own body was due to her metamorph nature, not magic. However, since explaining that wasn’t an option, Lily did her best to make it clear that it was something only her beloved could accomplish.

When she finished her explanation, her heterochromatic eyes caught the faintly shaken look on Abelia’s face, and she didn’t need to think much to understand the reason.

Although she already had two children, this could be a way for Abelia to have children with Cleomel.

Unable to hold back a saddened sigh, Lily grasped Nia’s hands, ready to ask her to open portals to bring Selene’s wives waiting in Lampides.

“Hm?”

Noticing her wife’s look, Nia, who was puzzling over why Lily was so flushed, tilted her head before reaching a conclusion.

“Cleomel doesn’t know how to use spells, but if Lily wants, I could try to adapt this into a magic usable even by beginner mages like Abelia. It would just take some time.”

Before she could even finish her words, the shapeshifter didn’t have time to react when two women were already in front of her face, shouting in unison:

“Please!”