”Well…” Misha quickly thought of an excuse and said, “Zach used to come to my house and watch Kayden play those visual novel games. Zach didn’t like to play games, but he liked to watch them as it felt like a movie to him.”
After a brief pause, Misha said, “So Kayden always selected the harem ending, and he used to say ‘Why should I make other girls cry by choosing one girl? I would choose all the girls and make all of them happy.’ And Zach hated that and always said, ‘I hate harems’. So… I was surprised to see Zach chose harem…”
”Oh!” Victoria exclaimed and said, “Yeah. I remember the boys in our class talking about that and how they said a new visual novel game was going to launch that also had a VR function that would also allow them to dive into the visual novel game and play as the main character.”
SIGH!
”Seriously…” Misha let out a weary sigh and said, “Boys will always be boys…”
”I know right!” Aurora seconded.
”…” Aria squinted her eyes at Misha and thought, ‘Something feels off.’
After inspecting Misha with her eyes for a couple of seconds, Aria realized something.
’No, it’s not that she is acting strange. She is acting perfectly normal, or rather, that’s how she acts when Zach is not around.’
Aria recalled that Misha acted friendly with Aria whenever Zach was around, and today was her first time without Zach.
’But why? She doesn’t seem like a bad girl, and she acts like a completely different person in Zach’s absence. Or is it just me?’ Aria wondered.
Unlike Aria, Misha was already friends with Victoria, and Aurora was on good terms with her too. But Aria didn’t want to think too much about that as it could change her opinions of Misha.
Misha was Zach’s friend, and she was like a sister to him, so Aria wanted to get along with her or at least stay on good terms with each other.
Misha turned to Victoria and asked with a curious look on her face: “Putting Zach aside, I never thought you would be okay with sharing him.”
”…”
Victoria didn’t know what to say in response, so she kept her mouth shut. But she thought she would lose her pride if she didn’t say anything.
”I… had no other choice…” she said without thinking.
”I think you are asking the wrong person here,” Aria quipped and continued, “Aurora is the queen of Zach’s harem, so it’s her who has to be okay with sharing Zach with other girls, not Victoria; she is just the newest member.”
”That’s right,” Victoria seconded Aria. “Back then, I was his girlfriend, but we broke up. So I don’t have any say in this.”
Victoria shrugged her shoulders and continued, “After meeting him again, I realized I still loved Zach and I can accept him with all his flaws, just like he accepted me with all my flaws. So We got together again, and I knew that if I wanted to be with him, I would have to be part of his harem, so… I joined his harem.”
”Wow. You said it so casually without any change in your expressions, and that implies you are totally up for it.” Misha bit her lips and got lost in her thoughts.
Meanwhile, Aria couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness. She rarely felt any emotions, and she was not a fan of them.
She thought that mundane emotions and feelings make one weak.
’I know I might get in trouble for doing this, but that’s how I am,’ Aria uttered inwardly and called out to Misha.
”So, Misha, it has been more than two weeks since you and Kayden married. So how is your marriage life going?” Aria asked curiously with a gentle smile on her face. “Did anything change from when you were just lovers?”
Misha shot a soft glare at Aria as though she didn’t want to answer her question.
”Yes, I am curious too,” Victoria said.
”Well… nothing has happened between us yet…” Misha responded reluctantly.
”What, why?!” Victoria exclaimed. “Are you kidding me? You have got to be kidding me, come on~” she groaned.
”Yeah, I think so too.” Aria nodded and said, “They both are married and nothing has happened between them? Considering how fast human relationships work in this era, it’s too strange for us to believe.”
The soft glare in Misha’s eyes was no longer soft, and Misha wasn’t even trying to hide it.
”Misha? Is everything alright?” Aurora asked with an anxious look on her face. “If you feel uncomfortable talking about it with us, then it’s okay. We understand. You have your private life, and we don’t want to force you to share them.”
”Even though we shared ours,” Aria remarked.
”Kayden said we are still in high school, and as my mother is religious, he doesn’t want to do anything until he gets her permission,” Misha stated with a sigh.
”But you two are married, right? Why do you need your mother’s permission? And how would you even take her permission?” Victoria asked with a curious yet confused look on her face.
”After we clear the game. Until then, we won’t do anything,” Misha said with a forced smile on her face.
”…” Aria raised her brows and thought, ‘I swear I overheard Kayden and Zach talking about this topic on his wedding day. And Kayden mentioned he is marrying her, so he could do it with Misha.’
’So unless Kayden said that as a joke, or… Misha is lying.’
Aria glanced at Misha and found her glaring at him with a frowned face.
’I want to mention that, but I think Something bad will happen if I do that….’
Of course, Aria wasn’t scared, she simply wanted to keep her relationships as good as possible.
***
Total players in the game- 1,482,948
0 new players logged in.
7 players died.
====
Thanks, @Jeremy_Lumsdon, and @Cozad, for the gift!