“Hui… Can I talk to you in private?”

The day following Edrick’s birthday, after getting some rest, his third wife naturally returned to her duties at the library. Looking like an innocent, studious young woman with her big braid and large, round glasses perched atop her nose, wearing the uniform of the librarians not too tightly.

She looked up from the book she was reading upon hearing Yin’s voice, forming a smile before immediately agreeing. The two disciples moved deeper into the library, which was really not necessary as there wasn’t anyone here at this hour, but the tomboy felt a need for secrecy, even if unwarranted.

“What’s the matter, Yin?” she asked, still quite upbeat following the events of yesterday. It was not every day that Edrick exerted himself so much, so Hui had to cherish the memory until the next time rolled around the corner.

She was especially looking forward to getting her skin burned again. That new sensation was so incredible that she had almost been tempted to do it to herself. But no, it would not feel as good if it were someone other than Anoteros doing it, she just knew it.

Yin cleared her throat, still not quite believing what Edrick had told her. After all, what sort of relationship was it if his wives did not give a single care about their husband sleeping around like this? Hui, in particular, would probably not be too content about her best friend doing such a thing… So the inner disciple did not quite know how to bring it up.

As it turns out, being a skilled and talented cultivator who was accustomed to fighting with life-or-death stakes did not help much in such awkward social interactions. Still, she had to own up to her mistakes. It was not right to keep such a thing secret.

“Hui, I have done something that goes against my code of honour, and against our friendship… I-”

“You slept with Lord Lucien?”

“-Did he tell you?!”

“Did I guess correctly?”

The two women stared at one another with blank expressions for a few seconds before Hui pushed her glasses up with a smile.

“Seems like I did guess correctly. Very nice, Yin! Do you know how long I have been waiting for this?”

“...What?”

“I mean, it was getting pretty obvious that you were starting to lust for him. The way you spoke about Lord Lucien after your ventures into the woods got more and more personal as time went on… I didn’t want to intervene, just letting things play out naturally. How was it? Good, right? Lord Lucien really knows how to use his body, doesn’t he?”

As she spoke, the librarian leaned closer, bumping her elbow against Yin’s side, who did not budge in the least.

An incredulous expression was stuck on her face for several more moments before she snapped out of it.

“You really don’t mind?” she asked in a slight daze, truly not believing it.

“More than that, I am happy for you…! Mmh, so what are you going to do now? You must have liked it a lot, right? Want to join the residence? I assure you, Lord Lucien will treat you better than the Myriad-Arm Sect ever did, and he’ll make love to you, too! No downsides”

“I… I know that it would benefit me in both the short and long run... But even so, it still doesn’t sit quite right with me…” replied Yin. It was not so easy to get over the fact that she had betrayed her own morals. Just because the people concerned did not mind, and even encouraged it, it did not help alleviate the fact that she had gone against her principles in the heat of the moment, driven by nothing but lust.

Hui rubbed her chin for a few moments, wondering how she could convince Yin to stop worrying about those things.

“Say, did he kiss you?”

“Huh?”

“Did he kiss you, like on the lips and with his tongue?”

“Hum… Yes?”

“Oh! You know, that means quite a lot from him”

“Does it?” the tomboy tilted her head to the side, not quite sure what her bespectacled friend was getting at.

“Of course! Listen, Lord Lucien is a real patriarch, a man of a calibre you don’t often see. Everyone in the household has to be subservient to him, but that does not mean that he doesn’t love us. In fact, he loves everyone, even the maids!”

Hui continued.

“But still, it would not be right to show the same affection to his wives and maids, right? The only ones who get to be kissed by him are us, the wives! And since Lord Lucien wants you to be part of the residence, doesn’t that mean that he wants you as a wife? In that case, you didn’t break any of your morals. You just got taken as a new wife in a harem, not the same thing at all!”

Yin blinked a few times at that. It sounded strangely logical, but was it because it truly was, or because Yin just wanted to believe it?

“Listen, just come to the residence for a little while to see. I don’t know, be a maid or something similar before making your decision. I’ll vouch for you to Lord Lucien, alright?”

She hesitated for a few moments, but in the face of Hui’s enthusiasm, Yin could only sigh and nod affirmatively.

“Sure… I guess I could try it” she relented, making Hui smile brightly.

“It's a deal then! I’ll speak to Lord Lucien tonight. Just come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you what to do! Oh, and by the way, if he agrees, don’t start calling him ‘Lord’, just continue addressing him in the same way as usual”

“Is that alright?”

“Of course! You two were friends before this, you should continue speaking to him like before. The maids have to refer to him as ‘Master’ because it’s only natural for them to do so, but we wives only call him ‘Lord’ by choice. We were all pretty much taken as wives from the get-go, and only got to know one another deeply after beginning to wear the ring” explained Hui, bringing both arms behind her back whilst smiling broadly.

“Now… Tell me every detail! How did it go? When did it happen? Was it yesterday when you were distracting him-?” Hui sent a barrage of questions that were most embarrassing to answer... From how it felt to be stretched by Edrick’s massive girth, to how she had felt while being held by him.

Not only was it making her a bit uncomfortable to speak of this, but it was also making her think back to that moment, and this was causing her to feel warm on the inside…