The dragon's harem

Chapter 987: Take Responsibility!

“We can’t do that.” The first thing Plum could think of was violence, and Arad wasn’t going to let her have her way. “It won’t even solve the problem.”

“It’ll prevent it from getting worse.” Plum sat on Arad’s head, sharpening scissors that no one knows where she pulled them from.

“The only ones having a share in his wealth are the sons of the legal wives, and even between those sons, the oldest one might get everything if the king had chosen that. It’s not for you, nor the children to choose.” Mesharra glared at Arthur, the city was indeed the property of the king, not the lord. This mansion, wealth, and everything related to it belong to the king, who leases them to the nobles to rule on his behalf.

As long as the nobles collect taxes and keep peace and order, the king generally lets them profit from the land however they want, as long as it complies with the law and doesn’t harm the people. In fact, commoners can own lands and have them written in their names, while noblemen can’t.

Mesharra explained the written law and made sure Arthur understood that the reason nobles aren’t allowed to own land is so that in case they betrayed the king, they would be left with literally nothing.

“I understand the law, but I don’t want to differentiate between my wives. I want them and all of my children to be treated equally.” He returned the sharp glare back to Mesharra.

Arad looked at him, “They are being treated equally, all thrown beneath the law equally and given their rights based on it. We aren’t using two different law systems to take someone’s rights.”

“I’ve got a quick solution, two in fact.” Echidna smiled and Mesharra glared at her, she knew whenever this woman spoke, she spit poison.

“Don’t give anyone anything and return everything back to the king, he’ll decide afterward.” She lifted one finger, “And if you still want your family to keep ruling the city, how about you put them all into an arena and give the land to the winner?” Either give nothing or throw all of your children into a death battle royal to see who comes on top.

Strangely enough, Arad felt that Echidna’s first suggestion made sense…albeit it felt like she only said it so Mesharra wouldn’t shut her up immediately. Her second suggestion would result in a lot of deaths.

“Don’t even think about the second.” Mesharra growled at her, “But for the first one, the king would immediately give everything back to the eldest son of the first wife. You’re only coming back to my suggestion of applying the law and be done with it.”

Mary looked extremely worried as she found herself almost unable to speak between Echidna and Mesharra’s sharp glares. She poked Arad, whispering to him, “Can’t we…just gather them to speak? We’ll use the church in this city, they are bound to listen in a holy place, I doubt they’ll start arguing.”

“Depends on how each one of them respects the religion. Yog is the sole goddess but I doubt their faith is the same.” He sighed, his head hurting. ^This is going nowhere…^

[Hahahahahahahahahaha!] Yog was laughing her ass up inside his head, adding to his head ach, [How are you doing? Is the problem too easy for you?]

ɅShut up, this is a mess. There is no way to equally treat each son.^ He was already getting exhausted just thinking about it. No matter how he looked at it, splitting the city apart is bad, and going by the law is bad. No one has ever accounted for such a case.

[You too have too many wives, I thought you’d be just the guy to solve Arthur’s little problem. What are you going to do when your sons grow, are you going to just sit and let them fight? End up like Arthur? You’re a dragon, right, but I doubt you’ll want to outlive your children, do you?]

^I’ll not get in this mess in the first place, I’ll…^ Arad paused, “You’re right, I won’t get in this mess.^ Something clicked inside his head and he looked up, his eyes glowing purple. He could see it, the path to solving this problem.

“I see…” Arad started giggling, “Can’t believe I forgot, of course, that’s crucial.” He laughed and suddenly shifted his glare toward Arthur. None of the four women were right, but none of them were wrong as well. They all provided solutions, but never to the real problem. Plum got close, but Arad couldn’t be sure if it was just like or if she actually knew the solution.

The maids behind Arthur pulled their weapons and in a second they were already surrounding Arad, holding their swords to his neck. All while Plum, Echidna, and Mesharra held them at blade point.

“Touch him and I’ll skin you all.” Mesharra growled at the maids.

“Can’t use curses, but test me.” Her fingers were already wrapped around one of the maids’ necks, her nails digging into the soft flesh.

Plum’s eyeballs were fully red, burning with magic as a sharp and vile smile crossed her tiny face. The whole mansion tumbled as she giggled, “This doll house is built with wood, right? Want me to toss it into the monster-infested forest?” Her hand was touching one of the maids’ neck, and the maid felt something wiggling inside her stomach.

“Seem you didn’t chew your beans well. This might hurt.” Plum’s magic controls plants. She wants to use it to grow some of the beans that survived the maid’s digestive system and rip her from the inside.

Mary was confused, her face switching sides as she gasped, trying to understand why everyone got suddenly so violent.

“Sit down! Sit down!” Arad waved his hands with a smile, telling the girls to sit. They obliged and the maids remained in their place.

“That includes you two.” His eyes glared at them and then switched to Arthur, “Get your wives away or I’ll kick them back myself.”

“Let him talk, get back to your places.” Arthur sighed, his wife holding his hand as the maids backed away. “Sorry for the maids…” Before Arthur could finish speaking, Arad kicked the table into the ceiling, “Wives, those aren’t your maids, that’s their job. To you, they are your wives.”

The wine that was on the table splashed everywhere as the table shattered on the ceiling. Arad stood, and so did Arthur, “It’s time you took proper responsibility. Get to work and prepare a decent portion for each of your children. You’re a noble that can’t own land, but your children can.”

Roseline jumped between them, “Arthur, keep a safe distance from him. He’s dangerous.”

“There is no safe distance from me.” Arad replied with a smile and the women behind him remembered, the magic he was about to use in Echidna’s execution. They didn’t what that was or how it would work, but they were certain of one thing, it was going to blast the whole

place.

Roseline’s eyes shifted between Arthur and Arad, if there is no safe distance from Arad, she must make one, and there is only one way. In the blink of an eye, she pulled a dagger from her waist and swung at Arad’s neck. If he’s dead or dying, there’ll be a safe distance.

The two other maids rushed in, swinging daggers at Arad’s chest and stomach. Everything happened so fast that Arthur couldn’t even see it, but Arad saw it in slow motion. He pulled his left leg back, going into a low stance as he reached for his sword. His eyes traced a line linking all three daggers together, and in a fraction of a second, he drew his blade, slashing all three daggers with a single swing.

Mesharra couldn’t believe her eyes, the way Arad moved with a weapon, it was nowhere near how he moved against her. Those were Alcott’s moves, a backstep counter.

At Echidna’s execution, Arad wasn’t willing to kill anyone or cause a scene, but now his problem with Arthur almost became personal. Since Yog said they both look similar, it got under his skin. He won’t kill or harm anyone, but destroying their weapons is back on the

table.

The maids gasped, their dagger exploding in their hands as a loud crackle thundered across the whole room. Without a master swordsman, they won’t be beating Arad in a sword fight. The only one in the room capable of matching him was Mesharra.

With a single step forward, Arad threw his hand and grabbed Arthur by the face, lifting him up. “If you’re worried they are going to fight over your wealth after your death, then spend the rest of your years making sure they each get a slice of life. Make them merchants, buy them land, teach them crafts, and spread them across the kingdom.” Arad started walking with Arthur toward the window and pushed him against it.

Arthur struggled, unable to free himself from Arad’s iron grasp. The maids lunged at his back, but Mesharra stopped them with Plum’s help, even Echidna caught the sword of one of them

with the chains of her shackles.

“He’s above the law.” Mesharra growled.

“Get your dirty sword off my man!” Plum gasped.

“He’s my free get-out-of-jail card.” Echidna stared at the maid with a smile and then jumped above her, wrapping the chain around her neck, and started choking her.

In the back, Mary had locked the room and restrained Arthur’s wife. She was quite worried about how the situation developed but had trust that Arad knew what he was doing.

“Listen, man…you can’t give birth to children and then leave them hanging…it’s your responsibility to raise them well, get them to behave well, and make sure they aren’t harmed by powers beyond their capabilities.” Arad pushed Arthur harder against the window and it

started cracking.

“I don’t need a goddess scolding me and using you as an example.” Arad’s face finally shifted into an angry one. “Take responsibility! I’m not here to fix what you birthed!”

The window shattered and the two fell out.