Chapter 33: Alice’s decision

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Alice’s decision

Mars was relieved the mission tied to his first time alone with Solaris had finally wrapped up.

At least now he had his Limited Edition Frieren T-shirt and a C-rank storage ring in hand. That alone was enough to lift his spirits. There were also four cinema tickets, which was just another way for the System to say,

"A lovely date with your three wives! How does that sound, Consort Fox?"

’Absolutely disastrous!’ Mars thought. ’It’s basically asking me to be the movie everyone else gets to watch instead. What would the title even be? Ah, yes <I Married Three Calamities (And Got a System for It)!>’

[That’s a good title, Consort Fox,] the system said, its tone suspiciously sly. [Would you like to help create the anime?]

’Dude, slow down.’ Mars rolled his eyes. ’I might be dead before the first episode airs.’

"Why are you zoning out?" Moon asked, tilting her head, pulling him from his thoughts. "Tired?"

"Pretty much," he nodded.

"Want Mommy to let you sleep on her chest?"

"Who’s—" Mars’s voice trailed off as he watched Moon cup her breasts, smiling suggestively at him, "—by the bitchy Sun God, like Solaris would say, Moon, please!"

Solaris’s lips twitched. "Don’t copy me!"

Moon’s smile widened. "You could nap on it, you know."

"Not the time for your usual whorish antics, Moon," Willow said, turning to walk back towards Alice. "We have matters to settle. Save it for later."

"Oh? Would you like to watch, Willow? You might discover a kink of your own."

Willow paused mid-step, turned, and Mars felt intense bloodlust radiating towards Moon.

"Say that again?"

"I said—!"

Mars moved fast, clamping his hand over Moon’s mouth. He smiled dryly at Willow. "Don’t take her bait, Willow. You’re above this."

Willow narrowed her eyes, clicked her tongue, and continued walking towards Alice.

Solaris shot Moon a look of disgust, hopping down, ready to follow Willow.

"You keep proving the rumors about you right, every single day," she said. "And you dared say my mother’s a cheater? What about you?" She scowled. "How many husbands have you slept with? How loose are you at this point?"

Moon pulled Mars’s hand away from her mouth and replied, "What I do know is that I’m tighter than your mother." She glanced at Mars, who was frowning. "And don’t you dare say I went too far, sweetheart. She started it. Who told her to butt into my conversation with Willow?"

Mars sighed, saying nothing, which only made Solaris angrier.

"You’re Moon’s little bitch, I see," she said, more upset than she’d expected to be. Watching Moon hold his hand so freely made her want to burn it to ash.

But she didn’t. She walked off instead, following Willow towards Alice.

Moon and Mars were left alone. She lifted his hand and kissed it, Mars watching with exasperation.

"Can you stop provoking Solaris? One day she’s actually going to burn you."

"Unless I poison her first, you mean."

"You’d better not try anything like that, Moon," Mars frowned immediately. "I’m not joking right now."

Moon smiled. "You don’t scare me, sweetheart," she said, kissing his cheek. "But I do like it when you give me orders. Do it again?"

"Maybe I should actually sleep with Willow tonight," he said, walking off towards the living room. "Seems like the safer choice."

"She won’t agree to that."

"’I’m scared, I need your protection,’" Mars said, smiling. "I say that, and I bet sister Willow opens her arms right up for her little brother. Wow, I might actually enjoy this roleplay more than the mother-and-son one."

"Wow." She copied him, "You’re into incest?"

"God forbid!" Mars nearly shouted, spinning to face Moon, who grinned wide. "Keep that filthy mouth of yours shut, Moon!"

He hurried off towards the living room, unwilling to hear any more of it. Moon followed, chuckling to herself.

"Heh. So easy."

...

"Do you accept?" Mars asked Alice, who sat across from him, his wives beside him. "That’s the only way we’ll be able to trust you."

"And if I refuse?" she replied softly.

’Woman, don’t make this harder than it needs to be!’

"Then I suppose we take the harder path," Mars said. "The Prime Families hid my identity for a reason. Sharing it risks their wrath. Doesn’t exactly sound like the smart choice to me."

"No, it doesn’t," Alice chuckled. "But how do you know I care about Captain Snow?"

"I have excellent observation skills."

"Because of your Gift, I assume?" she guessed.

’She’s genuinely terrifying. I really don’t like this.’

"If that’s what you think," Mars said.

"Stop wasting our time," Solaris cut in. "Do you accept or not?"

"And hurry it up. It’s been a long day," Moon added.

Alice smiled.

This decision looked reckless, and it was. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was exactly what she’d been waiting for, since the day she lost her husband and twin children in a car accident.

Since then, hollow and broken, she’d tried desperately to bring her heart back to life. At first, Alice tried helping others, hoping that would fix it.

She’d even become a Protector for that exact reason.

But nothing had changed. Her heart stayed just as unsatisfied, just as disconnected from herself, so Alice turned to darker paths.

She called gigolo after gigolo, hoping sex might fill the void. It hadn’t. Then she turned to drinking, over and over. Still nothing. Then gambling, no better. Then smoking.

She tried everything, chasing some feeling beyond the grey numbness, just anything that could convince her life was still worth living.

Something always remained missing.

Until she walked into this house.

One broken man. Three powerful, unstable, dangerous women.

A murder case. Drugs involved. Tension in the air, both sexual and murderous, tangled together.

Alice had felt genuinely alive the instant the three of them threatened her life. For the first time in ages, her heart skipped a beat. And for the first time in a long while, looking at innocent-faced Mars — a murderer, no less — something dark stirred inside her.

So she smiled even deeper, glanced between Mars, Willow, Solaris, and Moon, and finally answered:

"Well, dears, I suppose that makes me a criminal and a traitor now."