“Well then... I guess we’ll go with that.”

I had already let go of my attachment to the matter, so I just gave them permission to do as they pleased.

If my wives were saying they wanted to do some skincare and anti-aging treatments, there was no point in objecting. I’d just get scolded.

If this were my previous life, I probably would’ve said something like this:

‘You think I’m doing this for myself? It’s all for you. Think about it. If I get prettier, does that make me happy? Or does it make you happy?’

‘It makes you happy, right?’

‘If I get bigger boobs, does that make me happy? Or does it make you happy?’

‘It makes you happy, right?’

‘Then should I do it? Or not?’

‘O-Of course you should...’

Yeah, running a simulation like that always leads to the answer being “yes.”

Because if my wives got prettier, I’m the one who benefits.

‘Still, it’s kinda wild that in just a single day, the singular “wife” has turned into the plural “wives,” and it already feels natural. What a strange thing.’

Even as I mused to myself about how I’d adapted better than expected to having multiple wives, the princess beside me spoke with a surprised expression.

“But... was it really that easy? I thought the Flower Mirror realm wasn’t something one could reach so lightly?”

Eyes wide with disbelief, the princess stared at me.

At her words, Gun Hye-rin nodded and explained.

“When I asked about the sword a few days ago, he already seemed to have enough insight.

He said he wanted to forge a sword in his heart, like the breeze that blows, like the ripples in the wind—that’s already the mind of a disciple. So all that’s left is solving the inner energy issue, and apparently, Hwa-eun has some Spirit Core.”

“Spirit Core?”

“We’ve got a few of those just lying around the house.”

“F-Few?!”

I said it half-jokingly, but the princess’s eyes went as wide as lanterns.

Hwa-eun gave me a look that said Don’t mess around, and added seriously.

“So-ryong, let’s not joke around. But if you want to get that from Yo-hwa, you’ll probably need to trade something for it. It was a gift from you, so Yo-hwa cherishes it a lot.”

“Oh, right. That’s true.”

That bell was something Yo-hwa really treasured.

If I wanted to get it back from her, I’d probably have to give her something in return.

She might still think of it as a present from me, so it’s not like I could just ask for it back.

She always treated it with great care, constantly jingling it around.

“If it’s just another bell, that should be fine. I’ll have to go check the market and see if they’ve got anything decent.”

I was just about to say I’d head out to the market in the capital to look—

—but then the princess untied two jade bells from the silk thread attached to her sword and held them out to me.

“If it’s a bell you need, I’ve got these. Here.”

—Clink.

They chimed with a clear, pure tone.

They looked like incredibly rare bells, made not of the usual green jade, but of a striking blue jade.

I figured they must be valuable—I'd never seen blue jade like that even in the Tang Clan.

So it clearly wasn’t ordinary jade.

“Are you sure? They look really precious.”

“It’s fine. The Empress gave them to me for my sixteenth birthday. I’ll trade them for that.”

“Wait—so they were a gift from your mother? Are you really okay with that?”

Of course. They turned out to be something the Empress had gifted to the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) princess.

And now that the Empress had passed away, it was essentially a keepsake from her mother.

I wasn’t sure it was right to take it—but the princess shook her head firmly.

“You said it’s something precious that So-ryong gave to Yo-hwa, right? Then it’s only fair to trade it for something equally precious to me. I’m sure Yo-hwa will treasure it just as much.”

Such a beautiful heart.

Smooth skin was nice, sure—but in the end, a heart as kind and lovely as this was the real beauty. I nodded in agreement.

‘Yep. The princess is definitely “my girl” too. She’s already smooth enough, so I don’t need to mess with that anymore.’

“Alright. I’ll go talk to Yo-hwa, then.”

I was the one who made the original bell, so it made sense for me to be the one to exchange it.

I stepped outside and headed toward the large tree nearby.

I’d heard Mama and Yo-hwa were there.

“Yo-hwa!”

I ran out and shouted up at the massive tree, looking for her.

Almost immediately, Yo-hwa descended upside down on a thread of silk—

—like some kind of spider girl.

—Kisssh. 『Did you call me, big brother?』

I patted her little spider head and said,

“Yeah. I’ve got a favor to ask.”

—Kisshi? 『A favor?』

“Mm. It’s about the bell on your leg. I kinda need that bell, so I was wondering if we could trade for it?”

—Clink.

I shook the new bell in my hand as I spoke. Thankfully, Yo-hwa answered like it was the most natural thing in the world.

—Kishii. 『It’s something you entrusted to me, big brother, so go ahead. Just a moment.』

I was worried she might say no, that it was hers now—but to my relief, Yo-hwa still thought of it as something I’d entrusted to her.

Yo-hwa spun in a graceful twist, then cut the red thread tied to her leg and handed me the two bells.

—Kissh. 『Here you go. I’ve been keeping them safe for you, just like you asked.』

“Can you take the contents out for me?”

—Kk. 『Yes.』

—Chiring.

As before, the bell holding the Spirit Core made a strange, resonant chime.

I asked her to untie the silk and retrieve the contents, and from between the loosened threads wrapped around her foot, two Spirit Core appeared.

Snow-white, translucent crystals.

After carefully collecting them, I shook the bell the princess had given me and said,

“You did great. Here, big brother’s gonna tie this one on you. This isn’t something I’m leaving with you—this one’s a gift.”

—Kissshshsh. 『Th-thank you so much, big brother.』

Yo-hwa’s voice trembled with emotion at the word gift.

I had to be careful. Yo-hwa might actually have feelings for me. But this time, I didn’t have much of a choice.

So I carefully tied the new bell—left behind by the princess’s mother—onto her pedipalp in place of the old one.

—Tinkle.

A clear chime rang out every time Yo-hwa moved her leg.

Leaving her there, I went back into the warehouse and handed the Spirit Core to Hwa-eun.

She and Gun Hye-rin were going to examine the energy and draw up a breakthrough plan.

“Here you go, Hwa-eun.”

“Wait, the Spirit Core actually exist?”

“Of course. Did you think they were fake?”

“That’s not what I meant... Thank you so much, So-ryong. This is... so precious...”

Tears welled in the princess’s eyes as she looked at the Spirit Core I’d brought her.

Honestly, even an emperor would have a hard time getting his hands on something like this.

Though to be precise... it was Moji and Soji’s poop.

Just in case Gun Hye-rin might be feeling left out, I turned to ask her as well.

“Hye-rin, do you want your Spirit Core now? The one I promised you for later?”

Originally, I had planned to give her the Spirit Core as payment for helping raise Moji and Soji.

I was going to squeeze at least ten years of labor out of her with that deal... but now that she was my wife, I couldn’t exactly hold her to the same contract terms.

That would’ve been a slave contract, after all.

'You can’t just slap a slave contract on your own wife. Seriously.'

So I told her she could have it now if she wanted—but Gun Hye-rin shook her head and turned bashful.

“N-No, it’s not like I urgently need to advance my level right now...”

'Why is she blushing like that?'

I couldn’t figure out which part had embarrassed her, but I told her again to speak up if she ever needed it.

At that, she clenched her fist and spoke in a firm voice.

“Just... let me know when you need me.”

“Uh, sure. But Hye-rin? Can you... call me that again?”

She was embarrassed just because I called her name?

Apparently, Gun Hye-rin was the complete opposite of the princess.

I didn’t mind being called that—but with Hwa-eun and the princess right here, we couldn’t exactly start flirting openly.

I pointed to the Spirit Core in Hwa-eun’s hand and said,

“I’ll call you all you want later. Let’s take care of that first.”

“Got it.”

The Spirit Core was ready, so all that was left was the breakthrough itself.

***

The princess sat down cross-legged, and Gun Hye-rin placed both her palms on the princess’s back.

The princess had already removed her outer robe.

Of course, like most martial women of this era, she wore cloth tightly bound around her chest and a front chest guard—to cover her bust.

'That’s gotta be uncomfortable...'

Feeling a bit bad for her, I was just thinking how tight that must be—when the princess smiled sweetly and silently mouthed some words at me.

Her lips formed: “I’ll show you later.”

'Oh, for crying out loud...'

Now that she was officially my wife, she’d completely transformed into some kind of succubus.

I started to wonder whether it had been a mistake letting her reach the Flower Mirror realm.

If I left her unchecked, she might become downright dangerous.

But I couldn’t exactly stop her now, so I made a plan instead.

'I’ll just register my next venomous beast right after this.'

Currently, my lineup of the Ten Great Venoms consisted of:

— Cho, Hyang, and Bini, the centipedes.

— Hwayang, the Azure Fire Magma Toad.

— Cheongwol, the Stone-Armored Scorpion.

— Cheong-yu, Yeondu, Orange, Heukhwa, and Baekhwa, the five snakes.

— Yo-hwa, the spider.

— And now Moji and Soji, the silver ring eels.

Jeokwol hadn’t been registered yet.

So I figured I’d match the princess’s breakthrough by registering either Moji and Soji or Jeokwol next.

If I could get one or two more venomous beasts added, I’d be able to enter the Manifestation Realm.

'Once I reach Manifestation, my energy control will be smoother than it was in Flower Mirror, and my power will increase too. I should be able to handle three Flower Mirror wives without dying, right?'

I had once asked Grandfather Mandok Shingun about cultivation stages.

Specifically, what kind of strength you could expect from reaching Flower Mirror—how many top-level experts it could counter, that sort of thing.

I mean, I wasn’t usually interested in those rankings, but I was curious about power balance.

“How many peak-level fighters can someone in the Flower Mirror realm take on?”

“Heh. So-ryong, are you finally curious about how the levels stack up?”

“Yes.”

“Well, the Flower Mirror realm comes after the peak-level stage. People think several peak-level fighters could gang up and take down someone in Flower Mirror—but that’s only because they don’t understand what that realm actually means.

A Flower Mirror martial artist is like a tiger among sheep. Even a male goat with strong horns can’t take on a tiger.

Maybe if they charge together as a pack—but otherwise?”

According to Grandfather, someone in the Flower Mirror realm could kill up to twelve peak-level fighters instantly.

But he added that after killing all twelve, they’d need to pause for at least a breath—so if more enemies attacked during that moment, even they could be injured.

'As for how many Flower Mirror fighters it would take to challenge someone in the Manifestation Realm?'

Grandfather said: at least five.

I didn’t know how much of that power balance translated to the bedroom, but either way, I needed to hit Manifestation soon.

Of course, if I reached the Life-and-Death Realm, that’d be total OK status—and I’d finally be able to assert my dominance as household head even in bed.

But for that, I’d have to gather all Ten Great Venomous Beasts first.

'...Would anyone believe me if I told them I was pushing for Manifestation just to survive nighttime activities? Probably not, huh?'

As I pitied my own pitiful life, Gun Hye-rin’s voice rang out.

“Alright, let’s begin. Hwa-eun, I’ll support her from the back so you can focus on dissolving the Spirit Core in the front. Swallow it now!”

With her hands pressed against the princess’s back, Gun Hye-rin gave the signal, and Hwa-eun, who was seated directly in front, placed her palm gently over the princess’s chest.

At the cue, the princess swallowed a Spirit Core in one smooth motion.

Gulp—the crystal slid down her throat, and immediately, both Gun Hye-rin and Hwa-eun began channeling their internal energy.

A white lotus bloomed above the princess’s head.

'Must be because her martial arts come from Buddhist origins...'

It wasn’t something I’d seen during the Five Qi Returning to Origin cultivation.

Her technique originated from Bo-ta Temple’s Buddhist martial arts.

That must’ve been why the lotus appeared.

Not long after they began channeling energy, Gun Hye-rin pulled away and said,

“So the temple master really was raising her as the next sect leader. They did good work. Her meridians are mostly open already—one core should be enough.”

We’d planned to give her a second core if the first didn’t work, but apparently it wouldn’t be necessary.

Since there wasn’t much energy loss while opening her meridians, one core was enough.

And with the pathways already clear, the breakthrough progressed at lightning speed.

Less than an hour later, the princess’s body began to radiate light—and my consciousness started to blur.

I was probably being drawn into her mental world as part of her breakthrough.

'Should I head into the Three-Chest World next?'

If I wanted to love them fairly, I had to give them fair conditions too.