But even as I hobn.o.bbed with those who approached me and stuffed my face with small portions of every delicacy on the buffet tables, half of my mind was still immersed in the moment Artemis and I had sealed our bond.

There was a book I had come across in the Regiis public library that had called to me more than any other. I had read it cover to cover in the short bursts of free time I had during my week-long training montage before my fight with Artemis.

It had been an eye-opening experience. The author – the Prime Minister – had talked about his life and experiences as a Tamer. As a man who had reached the highest political post a Hominum could hold in Regiis, his words were quite persuasive. He had spent a large portion of the first half of the book expounding on how he had managed his relations.h.i.+ps with his six wives and resolved conflicts when they arose. He had distilled his entire life experience into several rules he had instructed his readers to follow while giving anecdotal evidence from his personal life for his successful application of each one.

As informative and at times entertaining as that had been, it was the second part of the book which had grabbed my attention and earned him my respect.

In the second half, he went on to discuss the darker aspects of marriage to multiple women. Not all of his wives were equally talented in the martial path. This had led to them plateauing out at different Tiers. Three of his wives had never managed to exceed Tier 3 while the rest had broken through to Tier 4 and one of them had even reached Tier 5.

What this meant was that three of his beloveds aged much faster than the others. In the book, he had discussed how he had dealt with the mental burden borne by those three wives and finally, how he had coped with their early pa.s.sing.

Before reading the book, this was something I had subconsciously known, but never really thought about.

The entire book was full of similar crystallizations of his magnanimous experience from having led a full life. It was a crying shame that it wasn't more popular than it was. There was a stigma attached to being seen reading such books. It was akin to admitting that you weren't capable enough to manage your relations.h.i.+ps.

Which, in my opinion, was utterly short-sighted and silly. What I took away from reading the book was that the author had learnt many things from a life full of missteps that he didn't want his later generations to repeat. If we could take advice from our elders about magic, then why was asking for relations.h.i.+p advice so different?

For pus.h.i.+ng past that stigma and publis.h.i.+ng this book, as well as for its contents, I was a great fan of the Prime Minister. Not to mention, he was a wonderfully accomplished artist and one of my idols in the field of calligraphy.

I had been really excited about getting to see him working on our contract marking. But Artemis had given me a really pleasant surprise. First of all, by the touching gesture of having me mark her like the rest of my wives, showing her willingness to integrate into our little family, and secondly, by giving me the opportunity to complete an artwork under the Prime Minister's guidance. I had learnt a great deal about his style and technique as I worked on his design, with him holding my hand through each step. The finished bond was undoubtedly the best work I had ever created.

After it was over, the venerable man had invited me to drop by his residence with Artemis sometime for a chat over a cup of tea. Apparently, he was an accomplished linguist as well, and the person who had taught Artemis what she knew about languages. That was why she had referred to him as Teacher.

I was looking forward to the visit.

Glancing around, I noticed Lara talking to Ceres. She had a young girl by her side who resembled her really closely. Probably her sister. What was her name again… right! Rhea. They seemed to be hitting it off well with each other with the girls chatting with animated gestures.

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Leaving them to it, I scanned the crowd again.

Phobos seemed to have been abducted by a lanky, bespectacled professor from the Academy who was in the process of having a heated discussion with her. Or, at least, he was getting heated while Phobos was picking at her plateful of fish fillets with her fork while occasionally poking holes in his arguments with an accompanying gesture with said fork.

I shook my head. Not going to poke my head into that mess.

Deimos… No need to guess. That glutton resembled her element as she gusted through the tables of food and swept them into her bottomless pit of a stomach like a whirlwind. Watching her eat always made me wonder how she managed to keep her lithe figure. It was unscientific.

I made my way towards her. She needed to talk with people more. Using food as an excuse to rebuff conversation wasn't a very healthy practice.

On my way, I caught sight of my final and newest wife standing with her family. Artemis still looked as stunning as she had the moment she had stepped into the hall and stolen my breath away, the Emperor, the Empress and Venus by her side.

By not going over to talk to them, I knew I was procrastinating… but I was feeling quite awkward about meeting the in-laws. And, to be honest, my intentions for interrupting Deimos weren't pure, I wanted to grab her as a s.h.i.+eld before I went to have my first real conversation with my bride's family.

Just as I reached my little white-haired cheetah, a melodious ting rang out through the venue and all conversation slowly faded away as everyone turned to the source.

Emperor Cyn Pavone lowered the crystal goblet and the silver spoon he had been ringing it with.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, We are very thankful for your presence this auspicious afternoon and for the blessings you showered upon the new couple. We shall take up but a bit more of your time to make an announcement before We let you return to your revelry."

He paused, panning his gaze across the audience to ensure he had their attention.

"In view of recent developments, We in consultation with the Council have reached the decision to alter the rules of the current Swayamvar." Waiting for the murmurs of the crowd to die down, he continued, "For the first time in history, the contest will be open, to not only Regiis, but the entire world."