Chapter 346: She had finally come to claim what belonged to her: Her Husband.

**20th day of Fructus, Year 50,001.**

"Haa... the weather is really nice today."

Luke—or more precisely, the clone he had left behind in the Blackstone Highlands—leaned comfortably against a chair beside the mages' residence, enjoying what had become a rare day without any urgent work demanding his attention.

A calm breeze drifted across the nearby lake, carrying cool air over the grassy shore while faint ripples spread across the clear surface, and Luke had dressed accordingly, wearing an open shirt with nothing underneath and a pair of shorts while relaxing beneath the warm light.

Not far away, Aurielle was swimming through the lake.

More importantly, she was wearing a purple bikini.

Luke had been the one to introduce the idea to her, explaining that people from his previous world commonly wore this kind of clothing while swimming, and with the magical clothes he had previously given her, changing the outfit into something similar had hardly taken any effort.

Luke lowered his sunglasses slightly while watching her move through the water.

"My Aurielle is definitely the best."

His gaze followed his wife with open appreciation as she swam farther across the lake, though before he could continue enjoying the peaceful scenery, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind.

"Master!"

Luke had already heard that voice enough times to know exactly what would happen next.

THUD!

Aurora threw herself at him from behind and wrapped both arms tightly around his body, turning what should have been an ordinary hug into something closer to a body slam, while the chair beneath them immediately cracked before collapsing under the impact.

Luke barely reacted to the destroyed chair and instinctively raised one hand, preparing to rub her head as he usually did whenever Aurora clung to him, but this time something felt noticeably different.

'Hmm? Why does her hug feel softer than usual?'

Curious, Luke removed the sunglasses from his face and turned slightly, only to find Aurora's smiling face already so close to his that she could have kissed him simply by leaning forward a little.

He ignored that part because Aurora had always liked pressing herself against him as though she wanted to completely melt into his embrace, and instead slowly lowered his gaze from her face toward her neck.

'Okay... nothing strange so far.'

His gaze moved slightly lower.

Luke swallowed.

'Damn it, is she trying to kill me openly?!'

Because, down there he could see Aurora's cleavage clearly and Aurora was wearing a white bikini, and with almost her entire upper body pressed directly against his chest, Luke had a very clear view that he absolutely hadn't been prepared for.

'Where did she even learn about this outfit? I'm sure I only told Aurielle.'

Before he could think any further, another softer voice came from beside them.

"Master..."

Luke turned toward the source and immediately froze again.

Vaelira stood a short distance away wearing a blue bikini, one hand holding her opposite elbow while her posture remained unusually stiff with embarrassment. Even with the blue mask still covering part of her face, her nervousness was obvious, because every time her gaze met Luke's, she quickly lowered it again as though regretting the decision to appear before him like this.

'Damn... even Vaelira is wearing one.'

The blue bikini suited her far too well, and combined with her already striking figure, Luke had to admit that the usually composed woman looked dangerously attractive at that moment.

Earlier, he had given all of them magical clothing because they enjoyed the convenient ability to change outfits whenever needed, but he certainly hadn't expected them to copy Aurielle's newly introduced swimming attire this quickly.

Then another voice came from the opposite side.

"Master, how do I look?"

Luke turned again and nearly cursed aloud.

Theia had also appeared nearby, this time wearing a green bikini that contrasted sharply with her long purple hair and green eyes. Unlike Vaelira, she wasn't openly hiding her body or lowering her gaze, yet the faint stiffness in her posture and the almost unnoticeable trembling of her fingers made it clear that she was nowhere near as calm as she was pretending to be.

'This damn main body left me behind to deal with all of this.'

For a brief moment, the clone seriously considered directly connecting with Luke's main consciousness and dumping the entire situation onto him, because dealing with one beautiful woman in a bikini was manageable, while suddenly being surrounded by four of them felt far beyond what his poor subconscious portion of Luke's brain had been prepared to handle.

Unfortunately, before he could make that decision, a sweet voice carrying an unmistakably cold edge drifted over from the lake.

"Darling~ As a Lord, shouldn't you maintain a little more distance from your subjects?"

Luke immediately looked toward Aurielle with an aggrieved expression.

Aurielle, however, wasn't looking at him.

Her attention was fixed entirely on Aurora, who was still happily wrapped around Luke while pressing herself against his chest without even realizing why Aurielle's expression had become increasingly dangerous.

'He certainly looks like he's enjoying himself.'

Aurielle clenched her teeth slightly while moving closer to the shore.

When Luke first told her about bikinis, she had secretly thought that wearing something like this might help capture even more of his attention, and she had looked forward to spending a peaceful day swimming with him while enjoying some time alone.

Instead, the three women who had barely left Luke alone since his return had somehow copied the exact idea and followed them here as well.

'Why can't I spend even one peaceful day alone with him?'

Aurielle cursed her luck inwardly.

After spending so much time together, she had grown considerably closer to Aurora, Vaelira, and Theia, and she no longer disliked their presence the way she might have earlier, but whenever Luke became involved, that possessive feeling still surfaced before she could stop it.

Some part of her wanted him entirely to herself, without Aurora hanging from his neck, without the others surrounding him, and sometimes even without his other wives appearing between them.

As for why that feeling had been growing stronger recently, even Aurielle herself couldn't properly explain it.

Luke, meanwhile, looked from Aurielle to Aurora, then toward Vaelira and Theia, and immediately reached the only sensible conclusion available.

Escape.

"All of you, I suddenly remembered something important that I need to take care of, so I'll be leaving first."

Aurora blinked in confusion, but before she could tighten her embrace again, Luke slipped out of her arms and moved several steps away.

Her hugs might have looked harmless, but Aurora had never properly understood how much strength she used when clinging to him, and if Luke's current body hadn't already reached the Silver-Rank foundation, an ordinary man probably would have had several bones crushed long ago.

Silver-black energy immediately gathered around Luke as **Valzareth** materialized over his body, and before any of the four women could stop him, space distorted around his figure.

WHOOSH!

Luke disappeared.

The four women remained near the lake, staring at the empty place where he had been sitting only moments earlier.

Far away from them, Luke reappeared and released a relieved breath, believing he had successfully escaped the growing disaster.

Unfortunately, his enhanced senses were still far too good.

Aurora's confused voice carried faintly across the distance.

"Ahh... why didn't Master let me hug him longer? Even though that poking thing down there was a little annoying."

Luke's entire body stiffened.

Back beside the lake, silence descended.

Aurielle slowly turned toward Aurora.

Theia also looked at her.

Vaelira remained frozen where she stood, clearly wishing she could somehow disappear before the situation became worse.

Aurora merely looked between them with the same innocent expression as before, completely unaware that Aurielle's and Theia's faces had darkened considerably after hearing her words.

Far away—

"It's over!"

Luke grabbed his head in despair.

None of this was his fault.

Aurora had suddenly appeared in a bikini and pressed her entire body against him, so naturally his body had reacted slightly on its own, and there wasn't exactly much he could have done about that while she refused to stop hugging him.

"I need to disappear for a few days."

The decision came almost instantly.

Without wasting any more time, Luke activated the connection to the Time Chamber and vanished from inside it, deciding that escaping Blackstone entirely was currently much safer than returning anywhere near that lake.

Besides, the actual Luke was already on his way back and had crossed roughly half the remaining distance.

'The main body's almost here anyway, so this can become his headache.'

With that extremely irresponsible thought, the clone escaped the calamity he had personally created.

Unfortunately for the approaching main body, the bikini incident was far from the only problem waiting for him in Blackstone.

---

High above the territory, an uninvited visitor floated silently in the sky while looking down at the buildings, roads, and people spread throughout the Blackstone Highlands.

Two black dragon horns curved upward from her head, while brilliant golden draconic eyes calmly examined the territory beneath her before a faint smile appeared on her face.

"So... this is where the cutie has been living?"

The woman continued floating above Blackstone, completely unaware that the Luke currently returning home had no idea she was already waiting for him.

After all, she had finally come to claim what belonged to her.

Her husband.