Chapter 904: Humanoid Customs
“I hope you will be responsible for me!”
Rhode twitched his brows. It wasn’t out of surprise. Instead, he just felt exceptionally reminiscent. When was the last time I heard this? Come to think of it, it has been a long while…
He couldn’t be blamed because there were countless girls who said the same thing to him in school—all of whom he had rejected. Of course, this disrupted his school life, but he never reflected upon himself. He believed that he didn’t cheat their feelings or lie to them by saying “I love you forever; please marry me” or “I will take care and be responsible for you” before laying hands on them.
On the contrary, he always informed the other party that he was only fooling around and they were only friends with benefits. If the other party could accept this relations.h.i.+p, great. If she couldn’t, then so be it. Although several of them accepted this relations.h.i.+p immediately, the ‘long-lasting fondness’ from thereafter led to endless troubles. But he didn’t waver no matter how the young ladies wept. He knew that he had clearly stated his standpoint and they had made their choices so they shouldn’t regret them. Love wasn’t a game. One who took love as a game was only seeking one’s death. Besides, one who sought after love in the game was even crazier, just like the ones who visited sleazy bars everyday, hoping to search for a partner who could spend her life with him forever. Even if one found and accepted a wife with a ‘criminal record’, could the wife accept this husband with a ‘criminal record’ too? No matter what, men held the most possibility of having extramarital affairs than women. Since they could find their ‘true love’ in sleazy bars, who knew if they would find another ‘true love’ from the bar after marriage?
Rhode knew clearly that women valued their own bodies. But if this were the case, they shouldn’t treat their bodies with the mindset of playing a game. It would be too late to demand the man to take responsibility after their affectionate night together. There was no medicine for regret. This was also one of the reasons why Rhode and Canary could maintain their relations.h.i.+p for a long time. Compared to immature young ladies who purposely fooled around just because they thought it was a fun thing to do, Canary clearly knew what she wanted, needed, and had to offer.
Rhode had to admit that he thought of ending such a relations.h.i.+p with Canary to move on to a more official phase. If it weren’t for…
Forget it. Those were mistakes that his young self committed.
Rhode shook his head and brought his train of thoughts back to reality. After coming to this world, the boy-girl relations.h.i.+p in the past wasn’t common anymore. Compared to the carefree life, the problems and burdens that he had to carry now… were so much more. But… Come to think of it…
“Did I do anything that I need to be responsible for?”
Rhode couldn’t understand what Rain meant because he had been extremely busy. He didn’t even have the time to approach Anne, not to mention Rain. Besides, he was confident in his memories. He didn’t remember doing anything to this young lady that needed his responsibility.
“..!”
Rain s.h.i.+vered and shrunk instinctively. On the other hand, Rhode sat on the chair and narrowed his eyes. For some unknown reasons, he felt as though he was watching a bitter drama like how a pregnant young lady came knocking on the door of the rich son and was abandoned brutally.
Actually, this seems about right.
“T-That…”
After a few moments, Rain mustered her courage and lifted her head.
“Y-Your Majesty, do you remember when you first took our test?”
“Of course.”
Rhode nodded. After all, that test was his first official battle against three Spirit Swordsmen so he couldn’t possibly forget about it. He thought about the battle and back then when he defeated this young lady… Hmm?
At this moment, Rain said.
“… Your Majesty. You may or may not know that we, humanoids, have a custom where our bodies… can only be shown to the most important person in our lives. Once our bodies are revealed to a person of the other gender, our souls and bodies will belong to that person. I-In other words, Your Majesty, you have…”
Rain fl.u.s.tered and lowered her head in embarra.s.sment, staring at her feet. Rhode finally understood what she meant. Back then, he purposely attacked her chest with blade rays to make her fl.u.s.ter so he could easily defeat her thereafter. Come to think of it, Rain’s att.i.tude was indeed rather odd, but he thought that this was just part of her personality…
Dang it!
Rhode cursed. In the past, he convinced himself that he could touch any chests but never the corpses. But now, not even chests were available for him? How was he supposed to live this way?
Rhode held his forehead helplessly. He didn’t expect that this trouble would surface from a matter that ended a long time ago. If Rain only came to offer herself in bed, he definitely wouldn’t mind. But now she wanted him to be responsible… This was really troublesome. Frankly speaking, even though Rhode had a lot of women around him, he affirmed their relations.h.i.+ps up until this point, which was the reason why they could get along well. But now… If the other women were to find out, his harem would be on fire and a b.l.o.o.d.y river was bound to flow!
From a subjective perspective, he wouldn’t mind accepting Rain into his harem. No matter what, he was a man who couldn’t possibly look at a beautiful woman without filthy thoughts. As for her race—hahaha, even an Undead Puppet like s.h.i.+ra wasn’t a problem for him. As long as the young lady was pleasing to his eyes, he wouldn’t reject her!
But… Like other men, he wasn’t willing to carry unnecessary responsibilities. He was willing to sacrifice for Canary, Marlene, Anne, and Lize because there was an emotional foundation in their relations.h.i.+ps. Apart from them, he didn’t wish to have additional responsibilities.
On the contrary, Rain’s situation was different. It had only been a month since Rhode met her and they only had an ordinary subordinate-master relations.h.i.+p… He naturally wasn’t willing to have another ridiculous burden. Of course, he wasn’t willing now, but he might be in the future. However, based on the current situation…
Rhode stood up.
“Rain, you said that according to your custom, as long as the other gender sees your body, your body and soul will belong to him. Is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right…”
Rain lowered her head shyly. Then, the corners of Rhode’s mouth twitched.
“So then, do you know what you should do?”
“…”
Rain shook her head and Rhode heaved an inward sigh of relief. Then, he stretched out his arm and held his hand on her shoulder, which the young lady instinctively s.h.i.+vered.
“How did you address me earlier on?”
“… Your Majesty”
Although Rain didn’t know why he asked, she respectfully answered.
“So then, what is our relations.h.i.+p?”
“I’m your loyal servant and person, Your Majesty.”
“Good.”
Rhode stroked her hair.
“That’s the way.”
“Huh?”
Rain lifted her head in astonishment. Rhode waved a casual gesture with his hand as he saw her dubious eyes.
“You are my servant while I am your ruler. Since that’s the case, your body and soul should have already belonged to me. Do you understand, Rain? Not only you, but the others are also the same so you don’t need to show more of your loyalty to me.”
“B-But…”
Rain knitted her brows in confusion. Although what Rhode said made sense and according to him, what she did was indeed more than required, for some unknown reasons the young lady felt that something was amiss.
“Could it be that you think there’s something wrong with what I said?”
“N-No, nothing is wrong, Your Majesty!”
“Good.”
Rhode was relieved after hearing her answer.
“Continue doing your job. Even though the people’s resettlement is completed, there are other things to do. If you have any problems, speak to me, Marlene, or Lize immediately. Understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The young lady bowed, turned around, and hurriedly left. Rhode let out a long sigh as she disappeared in the corner.
This problem is settled.