“Shao… um… what are you doing here? I thought you were in jail?” I asked nervously, feeling the steel against my neck.

“Fufu… as soon as I heard my love’s sweet voice, how could I remain cooped up any longer? Naturally, I left that dark place to bask in my love’s light.”

Heard my voice? When had that happened? Wait, didn’t they say that Shao had been locked away in a cell under the castle? Wasn’t the morgue also under the castle? Shao must have been near enough to hear us as I resurrected Salicia and Carmine. With that on her mind, she managed to escape somehow and followed me home. Then, she slipped into my Master bedroom. What was with my bad luck all of a sudden.

“So… how’s it been hanging lately?” I tried to keep her talking, meanwhile trying to figure out a way to flee.

I could use return, but then I’d be leaving her alone with my girls. Even if I immediately portaled back, there was no guarantee someone wouldn’t be hurt.

“Don’t dare to try to side-step the question!” She finally pulled the knife away and then pushed me, allowing me to turn around. “Admit it, you’ve been sleeping with another woman!”

I immediately looked away. It looked like when they arrested Shao, they hadn’t given her any new clothing. She was still wearing the tattered remains of her robe, which left most of her body exposed. On top of that, it seemed like she hadn’t bathed in nearly a month and a half. She looked quite dirty, and her smell, while not unpleasant since she was still a girl, was quite pungent.

“I have,” I admitted.

“Geh!” Suddenly, blood spurted from her mouth.

“What the! Are you okay?” I almost reached out, but she kept me at bay with her knife.

“Fufu…” She wiped her mouth with her free hand, shooting me an ugly glare. “You admitted it.”

“…”

She sniffed in the air. “I smell pussy, fox, fairy, and golem all over you. Tell me, my love, which woman have you been sleeping with behind my back?”

“Um… all of them?”

“Geh! Geh!’” Two spurts of blood.

“Do you have stomach cancer? Should we take you the doctor? At the least, these rugs were really expensive, so can you avoid bleeding on them?”

I couldn’t say why I was so calm. Perhaps it was because I knew the girl that Shao used to be before this world had warped her. Perhaps it was because I knew her story better than anyone. Or perhaps, it was one of those moments after your life flashed before your eyes where you could face death head-on.

She wiped her mouth. “You lech… you admit your affairs so blatantly.”

“You asked…”

She suddenly put her fingers together with the blade between them and then whispered seemingly to herself. “If I just killed one, it’d be fine, but if I killed them all, he’d probably be mad.”

“No, I’d be mad if you killed any of them. Naturally, I love them. They are my women!”

“What about us!?” She cried out.

“There is no us?”

“Geh! Geh! Geh!”

“And there my carpet went.”

“Y-you could just lie a little…”

“Huh? I thought you valued honesty above anything else?”

Part of the reason I didn’t think of lying to her was that I had a feeling if I tried to lie, she’d fly into a rage. Well, the truth would hurt too, but I think it was safer nipping this all in the butt. She had some strange delusions about us, and it was better if they didn’t get any worse.

“I see… since you have been honest… it’s clear that you truly love me, even if you are a cheater.”

“That…” This was going to take a while.