As Judas crossed the gate leading to his home, a surge of anticipation filled his chest. He imagined his three beautiful wives waiting for him inside.
However, that excitement curdled into cold panic in an instant. The windows were dark, staring back at him like hollow eyes, and the metallic tang of blood hung heavy in the air.
'It's bad,' he cursed internally.
He desperately searched his mental connection for Nubble, but the spirit monster was gone. He had sent Nubble into the deep woods earlier to scout for bandits, fearing they might return.
With no time to waste, he sprinted toward the house. He slammed his shoulder against the door and barged inside.
A deafening boom echoed instantly.
A bullet tore through the air just inches from his neck, whistling past him to nearly strike Zephriya.
"Aaahh..." she cried out, shrinking back in pure panic.
The overhead lights flickered on to reveal a terrifying tableau. His three wives were huddled together in the center of the room.
Ezra stood at the front with the handgun pointed straight at his chest, a thin wisp of gray smoke rising from the barrel toward the ceiling.
Although she shielded Nina and Luna behind her and maintained a facade of icy calm, Judas could hear the truth. Her inner monologues screamed with anxiety.
All three women had squeezed their eyes shut at the thunderous sound of the gunshot.
Slowly, they opened them. They looked first at the weapon shaking in Ezra's grip before shifting their gaze to the intruder.
As they recognized him, their fear-stricken faces morphed into shock. Then came the relief.
Nina did not hesitate. She rushed toward him and jumped, her legs curling tightly around his waist as she buried herself in his embrace.
Luna followed close behind. Since she could not reach him from the front where Nina clung to him, she circled around.
She hugged him tightly from behind, resting her forehead against his spine. Judas felt the warm wetness of her tears soaking through his shirt.
His gaze then fell upon Ezra. She had not moved an inch.
She was not weeping openly like the other two, but the rims of her eyes were raw and red. She averted her gaze instantly.
'Glad you are back,' her thought echoed softly in his mind.
"Husband, why are you so late? We were so scared." Nina raised her head to look at him. Tears streamed freely down her face. "I thought..." Her voice broke as more tears spilled from her eyes.
"Hooligan, if you disappear like this again... I will do the same to you." Luna bit down hard on his back.
Judas let out a pained cry but stood awkwardly, accepting the punishment from his wives.
The moment lasted until Ezra's eyes drifted past him to land on the girl standing in the doorway.
She frowned. 'What a potent Abyss energy. Who is she?'
"Husband, who is she?" Ezra asked aloud.
Only then did Nina and Luna notice the stranger. Luna untangled herself from his back and walked around to face him.
She placed a hand on her hip.
"So is this why you are late today?" She raised her eyebrows in mild irritation. "Horny."
"Husband..." Nina backed away from him as well, her eyes still shimmering with tears. It made Judas feel as though he had committed a horrible crime against his wives.
"Darlings, it is not what you guys think it is."
In response to his statement, the three women crossed their arms in unison.
They watched him with narrowed eyes, showing clearly that they did not trust his words.
"Zephriya, explain to them..." He said coldly.
"Which part? The part where you touched my breasts or the part where we were rubbing against each other?" Zephriya asked innocently.
"You..." Judas widened his eyes and felt all the fine hairs rise on his back. He tentatively looked toward his three wives and saw a shade of darkness fall over their beautiful faces. He knew he was thoroughly fucked.
'Deserve it.'
He heard the sneering voice of Zephriya in his ears. Although he could hear her thoughts, she couldn't hear his. Otherwise, he would have cursed her.
Judas gritted his teeth as he thought of ways to escape this situation, and finally, it clicked. He squeezed out a few drops of tears.
These days with his wives, Judas had become experienced in the art of fake crying.
"Wives, she bullied me..." he rushed to the three of them, pulling them into a tight embrace. The coldness in his wives was instantly replaced with worry as they patted his back soothingly.
Zephriya stood there frozen, her eyes wide with shock at the sheer shamelessness of the man. Judas didn't forget to shoot her a sneaky look and made a childish face, sticking his tongue out at her.
"You... hateful thing." Zephriya gritted her teeth in anger.
[Affection: -90 -> -95]
Judas ignored her as he explained everything that had happened without leaving out any details, but he framed himself as a poor, bullied victim.
With each passing second, the coldness in his wives shifted direction toward the lone woman standing awkwardly near the door.
Finally, after finishing the whole story with a bit of added spice, Judas leaned onto Ezra's shoulder, sniffing her neck while his two hands brazenly rubbed the breasts of the other two.
"Wives... see? I didn't want to bring her here. But she is the one who forced herself on me. Poor me, I just wanted to quickly come home to my wives and sleep in your warmth. Oh, wait. Ezra, for you I want to..." Judas licked her neck, eliciting a sharp inhale from Ezra.
She glanced down at him, then looked up at Zephriya with freezing coldness.
"Shameless," she said.
"Utterly shameless," Nina followed.
"Completely, utterly shameless," Luna spat.
The perfectly laid trap by the Princess of the Abyss had turned back on her, as his three wives now glanced at the woman with hostile gazes.
'Don't fight with a man with three wives. You can't win,' Judas scoffed internally while continuing his acting.