“Your Majesty, there has been a slanderous rumour circulating in the Imperial Palace . ”

“In what regards? My policies? Was something we discussed leaked, or is there some strange rumour being spread?”

“None of the above . ” Freya bit her lip . After much hesitation, she elaborated, “The topic is spreading primarily from the maids and some gossip from the n.o.ble ladies . They are claiming your relations.h.i.+p with the Consorts is facing problems . They say you cannot satisfy them, which is why lots of people have an urge to do something to your relations.h.i.+p with them . ”

The rumour left me with a stupefied look: “What sort of bizarre rumour is that? Where is this coming from? Nier, Lucia and I haven’t had any conflicts . Why do I suddenly have a problem with my Consorts?”

Maybe that was why the rumour existed .

Freya smiled helplessly: “Sorry, Your Majesty, but I do not know how the rumour started, myself . Either way, the topic has now reached the streets and alleys, too . Whatever the case may be, it is not bad news about the imperial family . Of course, we cannot punish the person who started the rumour . However, we can, at least, clear up the rumour . It is not favourable to you as a man, after all . It will be troublesome for your dignity . ”

“Have I not been intimate with Nier and Lucia for a long time these days?”

I touched my head . Recently, I had relatively lots of work . I needed to handle the military business and meet with lots of people . I was busy all the way until night time . Nier turned in by the time I was done . It wasn’t the best idea to disturb Lucia, either, as her energy was at its peak during those hours, while I was too tired to play with her . As a result, I didn’t done anything with my two wives in a long time .

I ate breakfast together with my wives, but I gave Freya more attention because she might say something important . My two wives were understanding and sensible; they never interrupted us . In saying that, I finally realised I hadn’t spent time with them in a long time .

“I’ll leave a little earlier tonight . Freya, I want to have dinner with my wives . ”

Freya softly chortled: “Sure . You have done so much since returning that even I feel sorry for the two Consorts . You should have dinner with them tonight . It would be best if you could go on a holiday somewhere with them . That will show the public that your relations.h.i.+p with them is healthy . ”

Several hours later…

Lucia gently pushed the door to the kitchen open . Xia had her back to the door . She was in the midst of humming a cheerful melody that accompanied the gurgling from the pot . She had her head down as she chopped up vegetables . Evidently, she enjoyed the process of cooking .

“My husband invited me to dinner at noon today, which means an opportunity!” rationalised Lucia .

Lucia looked at the ceiling of the kitchen . For Lucia, the beams were no different to a normal road . She tightened her grip on the vial in her hand and then grabbed onto the pillar .

“Xia,” Nier came in and called out to Xia .

Xia quickly put her knife down and spun around . She bowed with a smile: “Your Majesty, how may I help you?”

“I want to personally make a dish for my husband . You can leave for now . Is there anything in particular that I need to pay attention to?”

“Oh, sure, you have to keep an eye on this pot . The contents are almost ready . You just need to ensure the cheese does not completely melt . ”

“Understood . ”

Because Nier was competent in the kitchen, Xia was able to leave Nier in charge of the kitchen by herself . While the two were speaking, Lucia poured the contents in her vial into the meat stew from above . She hopped down from the beam in similar fas.h.i.+on to a monkey to shut the lid, and then jumped back up to slide her way outside .

At dinner…

Nier and Lucia were seated on either side of me . They both hugged one arm each and hostilely glared at each other . I silently picked up my knife and fork to cut the steak in front of me . I dipped it in a bit of meat stew and ate it . I said, “I invited my two Consorts so that we could talk and get along . I thought you two knew what would happen . I couldn’t possibly invite just one of you . ”

Nier gave me an aggressive look . Then, she suddenly slammed her hand on the table and jumped to her feet: “That’s not the issue, Dear . The issue is that there should only be the two of us tonight! I went out of my way to buy a drug so that you’d come to me, but is this woman supposed to join us for a threesome now?! I can overlook the other times, but not this time! I can only accept one person this time!!”

“What?!!” Lucia looked at Nier with shock . She also slammed the table: “You despicable human! How dare you drug my Prince Troy?!! It’s obvious you’ve lost your charm, human! You’re resorting to drugs?! I just used a teeny bit of our elven love potion, yet you want to use aphrodisiacs for animals?!”

“And you have the right to complain about me all of a sudden?! Didn’t you resort to drugs all the same?!”

“Our love potion shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence as your sinister drug! Don’t you frame us! What we have is a n.o.ble love! Wait!! Wait! What are you doing?! Your Highness! Your Highness… don’t… don’t… not here… what are you doing?!”

“Your Majesty! That drug is mine! It’s mine! You should be doing it with me… Wait… What are you doing . . ? What are you doing?! Stop! Stop! I can’t accept a threesome! I can’t… ah! Your Majesty… You… you, hnng…”

The maid delivering the food awkwardly stopped at the door . She could hear the ecstatic moans that would make anyone go red in the face coming from inside . She had no idea what she was supposed to do .

Everyone said that the King’s relations.h.i.+p with his Consorts wasn’t as good as it was in the past . Some even said His majesty fell for his sister, Freya, and therefore gave his wives the cold shoulder . Some went as far as to claim that it was because the two Consorts didn’t give birth to a boy . If he could do it with both of his Consorts simultaneously in the dining hall, there was no way that he’d have a poor relations.h.i.+p with them, would he?

“Based on the sounds coming from within, His Majesty seems to be in good health… They sure are open-minded, though… It’s probably going to be a big effort to clean up after…” thought the maid .

The rumour was quickly squashed thereafter . But nevertheless, a miraculous drug began to circulate among the n.o.ble ladies . The drug could even be used to seduce men whenever one pleased . Later on, Freya captured the man and had him executed to ensure the dangerous drug would stop circulating . Needless to say, that was all afterwards . After what happened, Nier and Lucia no longer felt so apprehensive about each other . After all, they did something strange to each other that evening .