My Harem of Dangerous and Crazy Women as a Reincarnated Necromancer

Chapter 258: The Unwanted Guest

The silence stretched on until Rose finally broke it.

With an unusual seriousness for her and an expression hard to read, she fixed her gaze on Mark before asking the question all of them had been holding back.

"Master..." she said, staring at him. "What did she tell you?"

Mark looked down at his drink and let out a long sigh before answering.

"Well..."

For the next half hour, Mark told them everything.

He explained calmly and without omitting a single detail how the Demon Lord had infiltrated his mind, the conversations they’d had, and the proposal she had made to him.

And while he hesitated to reveal Mary’s true identity, after thinking it over for a few seconds he concluded there was no point in keeping it hidden any longer.

These were the people he trusted most in the entire world, and withholding something so important out of mere caution seemed absurd to him.

So he also told them about her past.

About her life on Earth, her death, the betrayal she had suffered, her rebirth, and how she had ended up becoming the Demon Lord.

He confessed that, like him, she was also reincarnated, and finished by explaining the proposal she had made to turn him into her "collaborator."

And when he finally finished speaking, the room fell into absolute silence.

All four stared at him, each trying to absorb that avalanche of information.

Their faces held a mix of disbelief, worry, and shock, while a heavy silence stretched on for several seconds.

Until, after a while, Aria was the one who broke it.

"Master," she said with measured calm, choosing each word carefully. "I think I speak for all of us when I say this..."

She paused briefly.

"That deal is completely unacceptable. ’Collaborator’? Please. What that bitch is offering you isn’t collaboration," she continued, and as she spoke, her initial calm gave way to obvious indignation.

"..."

"She’s reducing you to little more than a slave. Or, at best, a simple servant who has to do whatever she says, whenever she says it, without questioning anything," she added, visibly upset. "And on top of that she expects you to be grateful for it?!"

"Aria’s completely right," Alice cut in, crossing her arms with a frown. "You shouldn’t bow to absolutely anyone."

"Exactly," Ely added, seething with indignation. "And if that bitch thinks she can come put a leash on you like you’re her pet, she is very, very wrong."

Ely paused and then continued.

"I say we deal with that bitch as soon as possible, before her ego swells any more..."

Mark sighed.

"I’d love to be able to do that, but honestly I don’t think it’s possible..." he admitted with reluctance.

"Of course it is," Alice replied confidently. "We already survived a confrontation with her when we were much weaker."

"And what does that prove?"

"That if we could stand against her then, now that we’re much stronger and fighting together, we have a real chance of defeating her."

Alice turned toward Rose, seeking her support.

"Isn’t that right, Rose? You were there. Tell him."

But Rose, who had stayed out of the conversation the entire time, slowly shook her head.

"No," she replied firmly.

"No?"

"You’re remembering that fight very differently from how it actually happened, Alice," Rose said seriously. "We didn’t stand our ground. We ran for our lives, and we barely managed to escape."

"But if we all go together—"

"It would be suicide," Rose cut her off bluntly. "All of us, at full strength, perfectly coordinated... we’d still be no match for her."

"But—"

"The Demon Lord isn’t simply above us... She’s playing in a completely different league," she explained bluntly. "If we tried to face her, we wouldn’t be fighting a battle — we’d be walking straight into a slaughter."

A tense silence settled over the room.

"...Are you being serious right now?" Ely said, looking at her with disbelief. "Since when did you become such a coward, Rose?"

"Coward?" Rose repeated, narrowing her eyes.

"I agree," Aria insisted, joining in. "It seems like you’re so afraid of her that you’d rather bow your head than lift a finger for our lord."

"That’s not it—"

"Then what is it?" Alice pressed, her pride wounded by the refusal. "Because to me it looks like you’re just making excuses. We have the chance to eliminate the only real threat to our Master, and yet you refuse to even try."

"Girls, please calm down—" Mark tried to say.

"I never thought I’d say this about you, Rose, but I’m starting to wonder if you actually care what happens to our lord, or if you only care about saving your own skin."

"That’s not fair, Alice!"

"Oh, isn’t it? Then prove it," Ely continued, giving no quarter, carried away by frustration. "Because right now all you’re doing is trembling and telling all of us to give up. A real warrior doesn’t turn her back on a fight just because she’s afraid of getting hur—"

"IT’S BECAUSE I’M PREGNANT!"

Rose’s shout exploded through the entire room, cutting off every voice, every reproach, every breath at once.

And all at once, silence fell like a slab of stone.

Aria was left with her mouth open mid-word. Alice froze in place. Ely, who had been about to keep pressing, went cold, the rebuke dying on her lips.

For a couple of seconds, none of them were able to react.

They simply stared at Rose, processing what the vampire had just said.

Rose was breathing unevenly, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright.

Trembling slightly after having shouted out something she had been holding in for so long.

"...I’m pregnant," she repeated, this time in a much quieter voice, almost a whisper, instinctively bringing a hand to her abdomen. "That’s why I can’t throw myself into a suicidal fight, just like that."

"..."

"I can no longer afford to act as if nothing has changed," she said, calmer now. "There’s a small life growing inside me now, and protecting it is my priority."

Rose looked up at her companions, and none of the previous cold firmness remained on her face.

Only a vulnerability she rarely allowed herself to show to anyone.

"It’s not that I don’t care what happens to the Master," she said, her voice breaking. "It’s precisely because I care that I’m begging you not to do this. I don’t want to lose anyone... not him, not any of you, not this baby."

For several seconds, nobody said a word, until Aria finally brought both hands to her mouth.

"Rose... I... I had no idea," she stammered, her face falling apart with guilt. "I’m so sorry... everything I just said... I shouldn’t have..."

"We pushed you without knowing," Alice murmured, lowering her gaze, clearly regretting her words. "Please forgive us."

Ely, for her part, had gone completely speechless.

Having been the harshest with Rose, all she could do now was look at her in silence, her expression reflecting both surprise and guilt.

Mark, who had watched everything in silence, felt a pang in his chest.

He already knew about Rose’s pregnancy, of course; she herself had confided in him some time ago, with the explicit request to keep it secret for the time being.

But seeing her forced to use that secret to defend herself against her own companions tied a knot in his chest.

He was about to step in, to put an end to all of it and go to Rose, when suddenly something interrupted him.

Suddenly, a booming laugh echoed through the entire room.

It was impossible to pinpoint its source. It resonated in every direction, bouncing off the walls, the ceiling, and the air itself, as if the entire room were laughing at them.

"Oh, you all really do know how to entertain me!" that voice said between laughs, savoring every word. "Honestly, I could spend hours watching you argue and never get bored."

In an instant, the warmth of the room evaporated.

"What the hell is going on?!" Ely exclaimed, springing to her feet and reaching for her sword, scanning the room with her eyes.

"Where’s that voice coming from?!" Aria shouted, tense, taking a defensive stance beside the others.

Alice and Rose slowly rose from their seats, their faces pale and their eyes wide. They had recognized that voice instantly.

And then, from Mark’s shoulder, something moved.

A small shadow demon, the size of a palm, emerged from within Mark’s clothing, where it had been hidden the whole time without anyone noticing.

The tiny creature leapt nimbly to the center of the meeting table, straightened up, and opened a mouth disproportionately large for its size.

And from that mouth came the Demon Lord’s voice.

"Hello, darling," she said in a sweet, mocking tone, addressing Mark as if the others weren’t even present. "Did you miss me? Because I missed you a ton."

Unlike the rest, Mark didn’t seem surprised. He simply let out a long sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose with resignation.

"Mary, what are you doing here?" he said, trying to keep his composure. "Wasn’t it enough getting into my dreams? Now you’re going to spy on me while I’m awake too?"

"Oh, don’t be a killjoy," she replied through the shadow demon, letting out a little laugh. "I didn’t come to spy on you... well, not just for that. This time I came for a different reason."

"And that reason would be...?"

The Demon Lord’s voice paused deliberately, loaded with intent, savoring the suspense.

"I bring news, darling... and I have a feeling you won’t be able to ignore it."