I ended up not being able to really enjoy the party, and I barely talked as much as I would have liked with the people who are special to me. So many people in such a peaceful environment left me strangely overwhelmed and hypersensitive to everything around me and to my own body.

So besides not enjoying the party, I barely managed to reconnect with my wives as a group, having to leave that for personal, one-on-one conversations with each of them.

"Zephyra, I came to see you." I open the door to my room, speaking up so I don’t catch her by surprise, but the doorknob nearly turns to dust under my touch.

’I’m going to have to transform this entire castle into divine material later if I want to stay here, or it’ll be impossible to live in this place.’ This sort of thing only makes me more impressed with Delphina, who’s been living in this castle for a while now without destroying everything.

"Pandora!!" Zephyra, who was already waiting in front of the door like a little puppy, gives me a smile. I stroke her head with a smile of my own.

"Did you miss me?" I ask, grabbing her by the waist and moving us to the bed as I "lie down," positioning her on top of my body to avoid any accidents.

"Yes!! I-I missed you so much..." She hugs me, snuggling against my body, though her arms are trembling and her fingers clutch at me like I might vanish.

’She still despises Lycoris deeply...’ I give her the affection she seeks, while my tail curls around hers, but I don’t even try to squeeze. I don’t think I have fine enough control not to crush her.

"How was your life here without me? Did they treat you well? Did you do anything new? Did you pick up any fun hobbies?" I ask, even though I know the answers to every question. I just want to give her space to let go and feel at ease.

"I-It was bad... I missed you a lot... I think so, they treated me well... I got a little bit better at alchemy and... I have a new hobby of reading books..." She answers my questions with an animated tone.

I look down, seeing the shadow her body casts. Inside that shadow is Achlys, who protected her from assassins and attacks without her ever even noticing they happened.

"That’s wonderful, love. I’m glad you’re trying to move forward. I adore a strong woman." I give her a kiss on the lips, and she blushes, kissing me back and shedding tears. I just accept her euphoric crying.

"U-Urgh." She pulls back from the kiss with a small cut on her lips. Just her lip touching my fangs caused a small cut.

’...Damn it... how could I ever have any serious physical contact with her if just a kiss wounds her?’ Even if I wanted to go further than a kiss, now is not the time.

"P-Pandora... c-can I?" She asks, looking at our intertwined tails.

"...Okay, but I’m not going to move." She sits up and takes my tail, moving it to her mouth. She starts sucking on it to consume whatever comes out while I think about what to do now.

’I don’t know how the battle against the goddesses will begin... or how it will start... that’s a massive disadvantage...’ Mom said we’ll probably be pulled in by force by Elysia, which means both the setting of the fight and the overall dynamics will be defined by the enemy goddesses and not by us.

Which is very bad. While Zephyra is distracted by my tail, I feel a bit tense, because if the goddesses are the ones who will define the start of the fight, the battle could begin out of absolutely nowhere.

’Mom didn’t give a stable timeframe... meaning... I have to restrain myself. I must never be below 95% magic reserves, or I’ll be at risk if a fight breaks out...’ I decide not to overthink it.

If I keep dwelling on it, I’ll stay tense. It’s better to remain calm. When it happens, it happens, and that’s that. If I can’t control it, it won’t matter; all I’ll need to do is transform the environment into something useful for me.

"H-Hmmm..." Zephyra moans with my tail in her mouth as she unleashes that creamy, hot fluid of Mana that she drinks as if it’s the most delicious thing in the world.

"Have you been able to eat normally?" I ask, curious if she’s managing yet. She starts slurping and sucking my tail hard before finishing by swallowing everything.

"M-More or less... food is kind of tasteless and bland... but I’ve been doing everything to stay healthy for you." She gives me a smile, seeming quite proud of herself.

"Good. Keep it up, Zephyra... Do you want to go on a date later? But for now, we won’t do anything sexual. It’ll just be a date." If I tried to have sex with her, I would completely shred her body due to the difference in strength, or I’d end up crushing her with the physical weight my body has now. After all, my self-control during sex is ridiculously low, so I can’t do that right now.

"O-Of course!!!" She agrees, eagerly going back to sucking my tail. It’s kind of cute. I even wanted to talk to her about Lycoris, but I don’t want to ruin the mood, so I decide to leave things as they are.

’When she falls asleep, I’ll go talk to Delphina...’ Delphina said she won’t help in the fight, and that’s fine by me. Even though it would be much better with her helping, she’s still a goddess.

And a goddess won’t fight without a reason that makes her go against the natural order of the universe. After all, no goddess should normally fight; we should just tolerate each other.

But it’s obvious that in the current situation, just tolerating one another is impossible. Yet still, Delphina is powerful, so she has the power not to be persuaded by either side, and thus she can stay out of this, which is the most correct thing to do.

And because I understand that, I accept her choice. Even if I wanted her help, I think I prefer it this way.

...

...

...

"Isn’t it a bit cowardly of you not to help our wife? Delphina, how pathetic of you." Grimm speaks to me with mockery while Pandora is in her room with Zephyra. I’m not jealous; I know full well why Pandora chose to interact with Zephyra first instead of me, Grimm, or Mikael.

"I have nothing to do with it, and even if I love Pandora, I’m not simply going to involve myself in her affairs as a goddess. There’s a very obvious separation between duties as a partner, duties as a goddess, and duties as a loved one." I tell Grimm, giving a stern look to her for invading my room.

"Ehh, you divide it up like that?"

"A fake copy like you wouldn’t understand divine balance." It is precisely because of actions like mine that there have been no fights for millions to billions of years.

Even if hatred, intrigue, and conflict exist, it takes a very long time for it to escalate into battles to the death. Goddesses don’t fight all the time; if we did, we would destroy all the "normal" things in existence, leaving only the rawest concepts behind.

It’s all a matter of basic equilibrium, defined by who can kill the other while causing the least amount of trouble for the universe. If a certain limit is exceeded, a fight cannot happen.

However, things have currently reached that state. I’m certain Elysia will do everything to ensure the fight meets the requirements, and with that, a battle between goddesses is inevitable. But just because they’re going to fight doesn’t mean I have to get involved.

I have no obligation or divine reason to fight, because there is no specific hatred between me and the goddesses who will fight. It’s more of a personal conflict, and since a direct personal conflict isn’t something that would make me fight, I decided not to.

Besides, it’s something personal for Pandora, Echidna, and Azraelith. The three of them have issues with the goddesses who will fight. And while Echidna and Azraelith have issues with me, it’s less than what they have with Elysia.

"I see... what a shame. I would have liked to see you fight." Grimm sits on top of the table as if she owned the place while speaking falsely.

"And you? Why aren’t you going to fight, Grimm? You’re not a goddess; there are no rules imposed on you." I throw the problem back at her. If she wants me to go fight alongside Pandora so badly, then why doesn’t she go help?

"Hahahaha, me fight? In the midst of those monsters? I’m weak compared to Echidna, Azraelith, and Pandora as she is now. I wouldn’t be able to do much; I’d only get in the way." She cackles as if it’s hilarious.

"Hypocrite. You just can’t wait for the chance for me to disappear, can you?"

"Oh no, never, Goddess of the Sirens!! But don’t worry—"

"Why don’t you tell Pandora the day the goddesses will make their move? You can see the future, can’t you? You could warn Pandora."

"...I wouldn’t do that. Me warning her could change the future. I don’t want everything to crumble and fall into a bad future. I will simply observe. Obviously, I will know what day it is, but warning her would be foolish." She speaks with seriousness.

"...Then let’s speak of this no more. We should just enjoy the fact that she’s back." I say to her with a wave for her to leave my room.

"Of course, of course. We’ll do it that way, then." She, as suspicious as always, simply leaves my room. I never know what this damn woman wants, and I only don’t end her because it would destroy the castle and everything with it, and Pandora would be angry.