Chapter 367: An Awkward Revelation

Mark walked quickly through the corridors, while all around him the entire palace had become a hive of activity following the appearance of the intruders.

Guards ran back and forth with weapons drawn, the maids had locked themselves in the kitchens, and the doors leading to the garden were already sealed.

More than one person stepped out of his way with a hasty bow the moment they saw him coming, but Mark barely noticed them.

He was too busy cursing himself.

What bothered Mark most wasn’t just that two players had managed to get into the palace, but how easily they had done it. They had gotten past the walls, the guards, and every checkpoint without being detected until they reached the garden where Rose was.

One of them had remained invisible less than a meter from his pregnant wife.

And nobody had noticed her.

Not even Yuki.

The worst part was that Mark knew perfectly well this could have been avoided.

A few months earlier, the elven druids and the court mages had proposed raising a magical barrier around the palace.

A barrier that didn’t block passage, but detected anyone who crossed it without authorization, no matter how well they hid.

It was exactly what would have been needed that morning.

And still, Mark had decided it wasn’t necessary.

The price hadn’t been the problem, nor the upkeep. He had simply considered such a measure excessive when he already had Yuki, Ely, Rose, Alice, and Bayle, in addition to his own strength as a level 99 player.

Who would dare enter the palace of the Death Emperor?

Now he had the answer.

’I’m a fucking idiot,’ he thought, clenching his fists. ’If I could, I’d punch myself.’

He had let himself be carried away by the same arrogance he had so often had in Eternal Conquest Online.

He’d reach the top, start feeling untouchable, and end up lowering his guard until another player found a way to surprise him.

Only this time it wasn’t a matter of losing a match.

If those two had decided to attack Rose instead of going for him...

Mark gritted his teeth.

Luckily, nothing had happened. Rose was fine, the baby too, and nobody else had been hurt, apart from a wrecked fountain and half a dozen ruined flower beds.

But that had been luck, not any merit of his, and if something had happened to any of his wives because of his overconfidence, he would never have forgiven himself.

’That barrier goes up today,’ he thought with determination. ’And nobody goes out to the garden without an escort until it’s ready.’

Mark went down some stairs, crossed a narrower corridor, and stopped in front of a door reinforced with iron plates.

Ely was standing guard in front of the door, sword drawn and eyes fixed on the corridor. But the moment she saw Mark, she lowered the weapon and ran to him.

"Master!"

"Are they all inside?"

"Yes. Yuki gathered them as soon as she got your order, but you stayed alone with the intruders and I wanted to go, though she told me that..."

Ely stopped talking when she noticed the blood and took his face in both hands, examining him with a mix of worry and panic.

"Are you hurt? Did they do something to you?"

"I’m fine, Ely."

Ely frowned, not at all convinced, though she ended up opening the door to let him through.

The safe room was a wide windowless hall, lit by glowing crystals, its walls covered by a golden shimmer that Mark recognized immediately.

Alice stood in the center with her hands joined and her eyes closed, maintaining a holy barrier around the entire room.

And the rest of his wives were in there.

The moment the door opened, they all turned toward him at once.

"Master!"

"My love!"

"Darling!"

Zilu was the first to reach him. She threw herself at him and pressed her nose to his chest, sniffing him with her ears trembling.

"You smell like blood," she said, alarmed. "Why do you smell like blood?"

"It’s not mine... Well, a little of it is, but it’s already healed."

"What do you mean a little of it?" Aria appeared beside him with her eyes wide. "Did they hurt you? Who? How many were there? Are they still in the palace? Do we need to evacuate the capital?"

"Aria, breathe."

"I’m breathing!"

Cali approached more slowly, holding her belly with one hand, her glasses crooked and her eyes moist.

"We heard an enormous crash from down here, Master," she said, her voice trembling. "As if something had collapsed. I thought..."

"It was the garden fountain," Mark assured her, placing a hand on her cheek. "The only thing that collapsed was the fountain."

Emilia watched him from one of the armchairs, too pregnant to get up quickly, but with her gaze fixed on him as if she were counting his wounds one by one.

Beside her, Luna had half risen, leaning on the backrest.

"Well?" Luna asked, frowning. "What the hell happened up there, darling?"

"Are they dead?" Yuki asked.

Mark shook his head slightly.

"No. They escaped."

The room fell silent as he ran a hand over the back of his neck before continuing.

"There were two. They’d managed to get into the garden invisible, and I was about to finish both of them, but one woke up at the last moment, hit me in the face with an explosion, and they used the chance to vanish with a teleportation stone."

"Do you have any idea who they were, my lord?" Alice asked, still concentrating on maintaining the barrier.

"A couple of reincarnated, like me... I could tell from their gear, especially one of them, who had an outfit that--"

"They weren’t reincarnated."

The interruption made everyone turn at once.

Rose was sitting in a corner of the room, somewhat apart from the others.

She had her hands on her belly and her eyes fixed on the floor, and for the first time since Mark had known her, she seemed not to know where to put herself.

She had bitten her lower lip so much it was red.

"What do you mean?"

Mark took a step toward her, but Rose didn’t answer right away.

She opened her mouth, closed it again, and busied herself tucking her hair behind her ear as if that could buy her time.

"That they weren’t reincarnated...," she murmured at last.

"Then tell me who they were."

Rose looked up at him with an awkward expression.

"...My sisters."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"HUH?!" everyone said in unison.