When Sian was informed that Emma, the redheaded girl he had invited to work at the hotel had arrived, he went to the waiting room where she was.
"Why are you going too?" Sian asked Illianna who was following him.
"Although I have eyes and ears in this place, I think it's more fun to see it in person," she replied with an expression as if she was enjoying herself.
From her reaction, Sian was sure she was hiding something. But since he knew he couldn't get her to talk even if he tried, he just continued on his way.
When they arrived in the waiting room, there were three people, Emma herself, a thin middle-aged woman with black hair, and a middle-aged man with a red, almost black hair. Judging by the man's hair and the freckles on his face, he was probably Emma's father and the woman was probably her mother.
Unlike the other two who wore simple clothes, Emma wore a beautiful brown dress with long sleeves.
Next to her was a small cloth bag and on the coffee table was the basket that Sian gave her as a gift.
With the middle-aged woman being the first to react to Sian's arrival, she stood up and bowed politely as she introduced herself. As expected, she was Emma's mother, her name was Teresa.
As she finished, she urged her husband and Emma to do the same. Showing that they really were the father and daughter, the two stammered so much that Sian could barely understand that the man's name was Gerald.
Before Sian had a chance to speak, Teresa said, "Thank you for choosing my daughter. She can be a little slow sometimes and have trouble communicating, but she's a good girl. I'm sure she won't cause you any problems. Since she is hardworking, she will certainly do her best to meet your needs."
"Rest assured, your daughter will be in good hands," Illianna replied politely as she gestured with her hand to Sian. "He may be harsh with words, but he has a big heart."
"That's a relief," Teresa sighed. "When I got the news, I almost went into despair trying to prepare a good dress. Even though I wasn't up to nobility, I did my best with the time and resources we had. Ah, I am so happy. My little girl is now sixteen and taking a step into adulthood. That's the same age I was-"
As Teresa continued talking frantically, the only thing Sian was paying attention to was Gerald, who was clearly nervous.
From the moment he entered that room, Sian had the impression that he had seen this man sometime before.
Interrupting Sian's thoughts, Teresa pushed Emma forward and said, "Come on, my sweetie, you need to be more proactive and communicate."
Receiving the small nudge from her mother, Emma came face to face with Sian and her face immediately turned red.
She seemed to be wanting to say something, but her mouth just opened and closed without uttering a sound. Doing as he did the last time he met her, Sian silently used light magic to calm her down.
"Take a deep breath and try again."
Doing as Sian said, Emma took a deep breath and with the light magic showing its effects, she began to speak quietly.
"Excuse my manners." she bowed slightly and continued. "I was so excited for being able to meet you again that I couldn't contain my excitement."
"Did you see that, honey?" With bright eyes, Teresa grabbed Gerald's arm. "Even though our little girl always stutters like you do when nervous, she was suddenly at ease hearing his words. That's fate's work, don't you think?"
Although this was a misunderstanding, Sian did not plan to correct it.
"Eh-ah, y-yes..."
Gerald said in a low voice, and at that moment, Sian finally remembered where he had seen him. Gerald was the farmer he asked for information when he arrived in Solaris. It was thanks to him that Sian went to the brothel where Ophi was.
Although Sian was not someone who was generous with strangers, since Gerald's recommendation was a turning point in his life, he decided that he will help them a little.
Looking at Emma's parents, Sian said, "What do you guys think about working here?"
"We accept," Teresa replied on behalf of both of them without even blinking.
"That's great," Sian said. "Later, Illianna will talk to you guys about it."
"Thank you for reaching out to my parents." With a look that seemed filled with joy and passion, Emma continued, "Although I am inexperienced, I promise that I will do my best to be a good wife and meet all your needs."
Not understanding the meaning of her words, Sian said, "My wife?"
"I'm sorry for my slip," Emma bowed as she had an apologetic expression. "I don't even know my position yet, and I assumed I would be one of your wives, but from your reaction, I can see that I was mistaken. Still, I am happy to be your concubine and my determination to serve you has not diminished one bit."
Apparently, when calm, Emma is quite talkative like her mother, but what was reverberating in Sian's head was something else.
Since when did Emma become his woman?
Confused, Sian looked at Illianna, who seemed to be amused by the situation. From what she said earlier, it seems that she had already expected this when she came along.
While Sian was trying to figure out what Illianna was planning, Illianna stepped forward.
"He is so happy for your determination that he is speechless," Illianna said. "On behalf of his wives, I welcome you and hope you will take good care of him."
"Thank you," Emma said. "I'll do my best."
"That's great," Illianna said. "Your room is already prepared on the top floor. Go put your things away, the servants will guide you. As for your parents, I will prepare a place for them in the servants' quarters. They can already start working tomorrow."
At the ready, some maids took Emma's bag and guided her and her parents.
After everyone left the room, only Sian and Illianna remained. Still not understanding anything that had happened, Sian turned to Illianna.
"Was that your doing?" he asked.
"Nop, the credit for that is all yours," she replied.
"Impossible," Sian denied. "I know my memory is bad, but I wouldn't forget something like asking someone to become my woman. Besides, if it wasn't you, how come you were already expecting it?"
"Ophi told me. She doesn't seem to have a problem with you getting more wives."
"What?! How?"
Sian was confused, after all, if even he didn't know, how did she know?
"She told me you gifted a young lady."
"What's so great about that?"
"It is common for nobles to give expensive gifts to unmarried young women whom they intend to turn into concubines or wives."
"I don't remember giving her such a thing."
"It might even be cheap to you, but a basket embroidered with gold for a commoner is obviously expensive. Considering that the basket also had your coat of arms, for her, it's like you made it even more obvious that you wanted her as your wife."
Illianna's words made everything clear. Even if Emma had been afraid of him when they first met, when asked by a noble, it is almost impossible for a commoner to refuse.
This also made Sian understand why Fran looked so nervous when he gave Tina the same fruit basket as a gift.
"In any case, you now have one more wife, making a total of six." In a teasing tone, Illianna continued, "That's a rather high number even for a noble, but I guess that's the bare minimum expected for someone known as deflower."
"She's pretty and all, but it's not like I go around propositioning every pretty woman I see. Besides, it wasn't my intention either."
"That doesn't matter," Illianna said. "With your fame, I already knew you would have several women, that's why I prepared the eighth floor exclusively for you."
"Well, I guess that's okay," Sian said. "Now let’s eat, I'm starving. I want to take the afternoon to do a few things."
Placing her hand on Sian's shoulder, Illianna said, "Of course you have things to do this afternoon, but it will be with me."
"Oh, do things with you? I'll be waiting quite eagerly for that." Sian teased her.
Having her body scanned from top to bottom by Sian, Illianna immediately let go of his shoulder.
"Don't even dare think about it," she said with a frown. "I'm referring to the proposal you made before we went to the demon continent. We're expanding the business faster than I expected. We urgently need people."
Pulling on his memory, the only thing Sian remembered was his proposal to buy slaves in the kingdom that had suffered a revolt.
"You want to buy slaves?" he asked.
"That's right," she said. "I've been doing some research, it seems that kingdom is now called the Merchants’ Federation."
"When are we going?"
"As soon as we eat."
Finishing their conversation, the two went to the eighth floor, where the girls were introducing themselves to Emma. After lunch, Sian mislead Milka, who wanted to follow him, and went with Illianna to the merchants' federation.
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Arrrghhh! I have reached the end of what has been written. Now I must endure the agony of waiting for more. Ohhh the inhumanity of waiting. How will I endure it?