Interlude ─ The Path to Manhood

After the party, Alex was summoned to a secluded room far from the others.

The maid knocked on the door and left, and a voice from inside said, "Come in."

He recognized that voice. When he opened the door, he saw Queen Angelica lounging on a long sofa, sipping wine while wearing a babydoll.

"Your Majesty, what do you need from me at this hour?"

The queen had clearly been drinking for a while. Her long legs were stretched across the sofa, but she delicately moved them aside and patted the space next to her.

"Come, I want to talk to you."

Alex obeyed and sat down. The queen placed her nearly empty glass on the small nightstand.

"I apologize for calling you so late, but today is the last day we'll see each other, A-kun."

"You're right. But it's only for a while, Your Majesty Angelica."

"Goodness~ I don't like being called that. Call me like you did before you knew who I was."

"Angelica-sama?"

"No!"

"Ange-sama?"

"Nope~!"

The signs of intoxication were obvious, yet she maintained her composure effortlessly.

"I feel like I shouldn't say this..."

"It's an order. Call me like before."

"You won't?"

She gave him a pout that looked far too adorable for a woman in her thirties.

Alex couldn't help but think how endearing she was.

"Ange... san?"

"I'll punish you if you keep being so formal."

"...Ange?"

"Yes!"

She smiled brightly.

"I'm happy that even now, after knowing who I am, we can still have the same relationship as before."

"Of course. I'll call you like this when we're alone. But in public, I'll address you properly."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just call you that from the start?"

The queen pinched his cheek in displeasure.

"I want us to have the same bond as before. Even if it was built on lies, those were some of the happiest moments of my life."

"You might not believe it, but A-kun, you became an important part of my life—almost like a second motherhood."

"I watched you grow, helped raise you, and now you're leaving."

"It feels like seeing a child go after finally getting an opportunity."

"Your Majes—Ange, I won't be gone for long."

(At most, three years.)

Ange leaned in until their shoulders touched.

"Hey, A-kun. I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Have you and my girls... been involved?"

Her hand slid over his.

"I could tell from what you told me years ago and what I saw recently. Those girls adore you."

"We've always been friends since childhood."

"No. A man and a woman can't just be friends, even if they grew up together."

"You'll grow into adults, and two adults of the opposite sex can never stay just friends."

"They cherish you, but now it's different. That affection has turned into devotion."

"I've seen how Anne and Mary look at you. It's the gaze of a woman who desires a man."

"I'm sure when I try to arrange their marriages, they'll refuse and confess their love for you."

"If you had stayed, I could've easily made you a count and married you to one of them."

"But since it's both of them, it'll be hard to stop them from competing."

She playfully tapped his nose.

"You're a terrible womanizer. You have two girls who haven't started fighting over you yet, but they will one day."

"When that happens, what will you do? Will you accept them?"

Alex pondered her words.

"Anne and Mary are important to me. I want to protect them."

"I know. But I want to hear your answer as a man."

"What will you do if those girls confess to you?"

Almost as if recalling what had happened earlier, Alex fell into thought.

"As a man... I want to marry them both."

"I want to make both Anne and Mary my wives."

"I love them and want to make them happy."

"I know that in my current position, I can't even dream of being with a princess, let alone the heir of a principality."

"But if I go to the kingdom, achieve merits, and rise to count, then maybe... Uh... Sorry, I don't know what to do from there."

Ange laughed—not mockingly, but with amusement.

"Goodness, you try so hard to act like a man, but you still stumble sometimes."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. You're inexperienced in these matters. So once you finish whatever business you have in the kingdom..."

"I'll help you marry both of them."

"It'll be difficult, especially since Mary will insist on being the legal wife, but it's not impossible."

She cupped his chin and whispered, "You know, I've been thinking about something ever since we lived together."

"Now that you're 15, you're legally an adult everywhere."

"You can work, enlist in the knights, and most importantly..."

Ange brought her lips to his ear and murmured words he never expected to hear.

"You're at the age where you can father children. I imagine your sexual desires have finally awakened?"

Alex turned red as a tomato.

"W-what?"

"Remember that time you walked in on me in the bath?"

"Yes, I was so embarrassed."

"I didn't mind, you know."

"...?"

"When I saw you, I got a good look at your body. You were lean but well-muscled, taller than most grown men—probably taller than Jason."

"But most of all..."

Her hand slid down to his thigh, rubbing up and down.

"The part down here meant for making babies... was big. For the first time in my life, I felt a tingle I'd never felt before."

"It was my instincts as a woman telling me there was a real man in front of me."

"I love my husband, but ours was a political marriage. He even told me I could take a lover if I wanted, since I was a foreigner."

"I thought long and hard about whether this was right, especially since you mean so much to my daughters. That's why I called you here."

"I want to get this out of my head. So, A-kun, tell me..."

Ange's eyes burned with lust and something like regret.

"What do you want to do? Would you like to make a mistake you can't take back... or would you rather ignore me and let me leave?"

"But if you do that, I might end up in the arms of some stranger. A woman's desires cloud her judgment—holding back isn't healthy."

Alex's thoughts raced.

(She's the mother of the women I love. Instead of feeling wrong, this feels like a gift from heaven.)

(My body is at the age where my urges are strong. But beyond that, there's the thrill of doing something forbidden—and knowing I'd do it again.)

(It's true. In the game, Ange was dead, but here she's alive. She was the mother of the villains, so she's a villain too.)

"Ange."

Alex pounced on her, and she giggled coyly. "That's right... A man shouldn't hold back."