My Harem of Dangerous and Crazy Women as a Reincarnated Necromancer

Chapter 260: Time to Settle Things with the Elven Queen

After the shadow demon disappeared, nobody said anything.

The room remained silent while everyone kept staring at the spot where it had been just a moment before.

The silence stretched on for several seconds, until Ely decided to break it.

"THAT DAMN BITCH!"

Ely’s fist slammed into the table and the thick wood split in half with a crash.

The two halves fell to either side as splinters flew across the entire room.

But Ely wasn’t done yet.

"Who the hell does that bitch think she is?!" she roared, kicking one of the pieces of the table, which went flying and smashed against the wall. "Getting into our Master’s head! And on top of that she comes and spews all that garbage at us in that insufferable voice!"

She grabbed a chair and threw it to the ground, smashing it to pieces.

"I’M GOING TO KILL HER!" she screamed in fury. "THAT BASTARD ISN’T GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

Neither Aria, nor Alice, nor Rose intervened.

They simply stepped back a little from the disaster zone and let the knight vent all her frustration on the furniture, mainly because all three felt exactly the same way and none of them had the energy to pretend otherwise.

When Ely finally stopped, breathing heavily in the middle of what remained of the meeting room, Mark cleared his throat.

"Feeling better now?" he asked.

"No..." Ely replied without hesitation, still with her fists clenched. "And I’m not going to feel better until I get to plant a punch square in that bitch’s face."

Mark let out a short, tired laugh.

"I understand how you feel," he said, trying to sound understanding. "And not just you. I know perfectly well all of you feel the same way, and I don’t blame you for a second... You have every right to be furious after what she said to you."

"Then why—?"

"Because for the time being, it’s far more convenient to have her as an ally than as an enemy," Mark continued. "And whether we like it or not, until that changes, you’re going to have to hold back the urge to punch her face in."

Ely huffed, dropping into one of the few chairs that had survived her outburst.

"I know... I’m not an idiot, Master," she admitted reluctantly, crossing her arms. "But that doesn’t mean I have to like it... It still bothers me a whole lot."

"Nobody said you had to like it."

All of them had more than enough reason to hate the Demon Lord.

After all, she had gotten into his head, spied on them, and had just humiliated them without the slightest hesitation.

However, no matter how hard he tried, Mark couldn’t quite feel that same resentment, or at least not fully.

Because he had met Mary.

To the others, Mary was nothing more than an arrogant, insufferable monster who had just humiliated them in front of their Master.

And, being honest, he couldn’t blame them for thinking that way.

But Mark knew that wasn’t the whole story.

He had also seen the girl still hidden behind that mask, and after getting to know that side of her, hating her completely had become incredibly difficult.

Of course, that was something he never intended to tell them.

At least not that night... and very probably never.

Rose, who had stayed out of the destruction, let out a sigh and decided to step in.

"Girls, I think it’s best we stop dwelling on this for today," she said gently. "We’re not going to solve anything by sitting here complaining about that woman... all we’ll do is sour our night."

"Rose is right," Aria conceded, letting out the air. "She’s already gone anyway, and we gave too much importance to—"

Aria stopped dead and opened her eyes wide, as if she had just realized something.

"Wait a moment..." she said, slowly turning toward Rose. "With all the mess about the Demon Lord, we completely overlooked the most important thing!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ely asked, confused.

"Rose is pregnant!"

Aria’s words echoed through the entire room, and suddenly every gaze fixed on the vampire.

"...Ah, that," Rose said, shrinking slightly in her seat.

"What do you mean ’that’?!" Alice exclaimed, completely forgetting her earlier anger. "It’s true! With all the chaos it completely slipped our minds!"

Ely spun toward Mark, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Master! Did you know?!"

"But of course I knew," he admitted, raising both hands. "But it was she who asked me not to say anything for the time being, so I respected her decision."

All three turned toward Rose at the same time.

"Why?" Aria asked, and there was no reproach in her voice, only genuine confusion. "Why didn’t you tell us, Rose? We’re not strangers, Rose! We’re family!"

Rose looked down at her hands and clasped them in her lap, not quite sure how to put into words something that had been turning over in her head for so long.

"...I didn’t know how to tell you," she replied finally, quietly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It’s just that I was scared..." Rose admitted. "I knew none of you could have children, and here I was suddenly showing up with the news that I was expecting the Master’s baby..."

She was quiet for an instant.

"How was I supposed to break news like that without making any of you feel bad?" Rose said in a low voice.

Rose’s words left all three of them completely silent.

However, the pause lasted barely an instant before they all reacted at the same time.

"How could you even think something like that?!" Aria exclaimed.

"Rose, please!" Alice added.

And before the vampire could respond, all three of them threw themselves on her.

Aria was the first to hug her, wrapping her arms around her neck with such enthusiasm she nearly knocked her off the chair.

Alice joined from the other side, and Ely, who a minute earlier had been smashing furniture with her fists, knelt in front of her and, without the slightest embarrassment or permission, placed both hands on her belly.

"Hey!" Rose protested, blushing. "Ely!"

"Shh," the knight said with absolute concentration, not moving her hands. "I’m saying hello."

"There’s nothing to say hello to yet! It’s barely been a few weeks!"

"Doesn’t matter, it’s listening to me."

"It’s not liste—!"

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Aria asked excitedly, not letting go. "Tell me you’ve already thought of a name!"

"What if it’s a girl?" Alice cut in. "Please let it be a girl! Boys are a disaster!"

"I vote boy," Ely said, still with her hands on Rose’s belly. "A strong one, so I can teach him to fight."

"You’re not teaching a baby to fight."

"We’ll see."

"Girls, wait, calm down a little," Rose pleaded, completely red and buried under three excited women. "I haven’t even had time to think about any of that."

"Well you’d better start thinking about something," Aria said. "This calls for a celebration! Tonight we’re going to make a dinner worthy of the occasion!"

"I agree," Alice seconded. "And no wine for you, Rose. You have to take care of yourself now."

"I’ll drink hers," Ely offered generously.

"Nobody asked you to."

"It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make."

Rose, caught in the middle of all that chaos, ended up letting out a soft laugh, feeling the weight she had been carrying in her chest for so long finally lift.

"You’re all idiots..." she murmured, though her eyes were a little damp.

"And you’re a fool for not telling us sooner," Aria replied, hugging her tighter.

Mark watched the scene in silence from a corner of the wrecked room, and without realizing it, a small smile ended up forming on his face.

After everything that had happened with Mary, the tension, and that conversation that had dragged the mood down, seeing his wives laughing again while arguing over the name of a baby that hadn’t even been born yet was exactly what all of them needed.

But then, in the middle of that warmth, a thought crossed his mind and wiped the smile off his face.

’Emilia...’

Because, in the end, Rose wasn’t the only one pregnant.

In that very palace there was another woman carrying his child. Another who had decided not to tell him, and with whom he still had far too much left to talk about.

And with everything that had happened since his arrival, the welcome, the Demon Lord, the argument, he hadn’t even had a chance to go find her.

’I can’t keep putting this off any longer...’ he thought. ’The longer I wait, the worse it’s going to get.’

Mark cleared his throat.

"Well, ladies, since it seems we have a celebration tonight, I’m going to take the chance to go shower," he said aloud, drawing everyone’s attention. "I’ve been traveling for days and, honestly, I feel disgusting."

"Would you like us to join you, Master?" Ely said. "We could all have some fun together."

"Nah, you all go ahead and get things ready," Mark continued, walking toward the door. "I’ll be back in a bit and we’ll celebrate properly."

Rose gave him a warm smile from her seat, still surrounded by the other three.

"We’ll be waiting for you here, Master."

Mark nodded, left the room, and closed the door behind him. However, the moment he found himself alone in the corridor, the calm on his face disappeared completely.

After all, he had never actually intended to go take a shower.

The only thing on his mind was finding Emilia.