The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

Predictably, I spent the longer part of the evening looking for something fitting as a gift. How my wives knew about the party and why no one reminded me or told me about it in the first place was a mystery. For Leonard, I picked one of the fancier swords that Ragnar forged and kept hidden. It was an elegant longsword with a matching scabbard engraved with a series of potent runes that would keep the blade sharp, nearly indestructible, and always perfectly maintained. It was an easy choice since Leonard always wanted an Arcadia-made sword. I could reward his honesty that he never tried to leverage his position to obtain one. The part where I searched for a gift for Cassmira was far more troublesome. Dispatching Dauntless to take Matilda home wouldn't cut it in the slightest. The reason was simple and complex at the same time. While Luna was doing a tremendous job of keeping the enemy agents at bay, we couldn't do much about the Metakan soldiers. While they were not directly dangerous to Avalon, we weren't sure who their masters were. Since I couldn't tell who was watching us, I had to stay in my role as her fiancé to keep my promise. I made Wendy make Cassmira a dress, and Ruby made a fine adjustment to a matching jewellery set to fit the Princess perfectly. Of course, every piece was enchanted with powerful defensive properties. However, this reminded me that I was very close to committing a grave mistake...

"Eva..." I sounded like I was about to sentence someone to death. My voice was cold, yet calm. "I desperately need you to covertly gather info about my wives' birthday dates and preferably other important anniversaries. If anyone catches you, in the best-case scenario, we both will die. In the worst case, I will have to deny that you have ever existed and face tribulation alone."

"Yes, my Lord..." she confirmed, then blinked a few times in confusion. "Ummm... Wouldn't it be easier to simply ask them?"

"Oh, perhaps, probably. Maybe." I nervously ran my fingers through my hair and heavily exhaled. "But you see... I committed a major fuck up since, by now, I should have already known all of that. It somehow flew over my head. You know, between the moments that something tried to kill us, the moments when someone tried to kill us, also let's not forget about the perpetual circle of war, depletion of resources, and basically lack of time in general... Ehhhh... I'm not looking for excuses. It's just... God damn it, I'm a horrible person... "

I sat heavily on the chair and covered my face with my hand. Nilmerthis had precisely the same 365-day-long year and twelve months. Thanks to the summoned Heroes, months were called the same as back on Earth. I had been here for almost ten months, and it never occurred to me to learn when the people closest to me had their birthdays. In the meantime, Eva stared at me awkwardly.

"Well... Queen Amber's birthday is on the first of August, Queen Irene is celebrating her birthday on the tenth of October, and Queen Aoi is on the sixth of July. I don't know if Queens Luna and Hestia celebrate their birthdays at all, while Queen Lavender's date of birth is unknown."

I very, very slowly raised my head, feeling like the worst asshole under the sun. I simply stared at Eva, with different versions of a question running through my mind, and finally decided on simplicity." How do you know?!"

"Queen Amber's date of birth was in the temple archives we recovered from the Temple of Hestia in Cridia City before it was destroyed. Queen Irene's date of birth was recovered from the records of her previous guild before the slavers captured her. There is the possibility that she made up that date. Queen Aoi Sora's date of birth is the most certain of the three since the Dragonkin's archives were meticulously maintained and safeguarded."

"Ohhhhh..." I faceplamed. "I'm an idiot..."

•••

"Theon? Something happened?" Amber asked the moment she saw me after I returned.

"Nothing," I tried.

"It's about our birthdays." Hestia giggled from over her cup of hot chocolate. She was lying on the sofa in a half-tigh-long turtle neck blouse and seemingly nothing more.

I froze in fear, feeling the cold sweat covering my back. There was no escape, so I at least was going to face them with honesty and die with dignity. "Yes. I'm so sorry, my Ladies. I feel terrible..."

"You shouldn't, you know?" I slowly looked at their amused faces, feeling defeated. In the meantime, Hestia continued to explain. "In my case, I don't feel especially entertained by counting the passing years, decades, centuries, and finally, millennia."

"Trust me, Theon, that there was little to celebrate in the wilderness where I spent most of my life. Like honestly, congratulations, Amber, for not dying last year. Big achievement back then, I admit, but really nothing to brag about." Amber wrapped herself more tightly in the light blanket. Her voice was empty because the memories were still painful. "Besides, in Cridia, it wasn't customary to celebrate birthdays annually. Even Josla's birthdays were not celebrated as you would imagine."

"I see..." I nodded, still feeling guilty.

"In Ibrevell, we only celebrated births and later the coming-of-age ceremony." Irene grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the sofa near the fireplace. Today's evening was colder than usual because of a storm that barely missed us in the south. The air, however, was refreshing and smelled of water and freshly cut grass.

"So Ibrevell had customs similar to ours. But we celebrated only the coming-of-age ceremony." Aoi beamed a wide smile and returned to her apple pie. Seeing my expectant gaze, she quickly swallowed and grinned. "You have been late to that party for five years now."

"I don't know exactly when I awakened, but if you really want, you can celebrate my birthday on the day you gave me my name." Luna playfully wiggled her ears.

"We Dryads don't especially like to discuss our age..." Lavender plucked a large strawberry from the plate and winked at me before she ate it. "But I must agree with Hestia. After some time, counting that is such a hassle..."

"Totally!" Hestia and Lavender high-fived each other, and all of my Queens started laughing.

"I don't know if this still qualifies as the culture shock or not..." I sighed and leaned over the sofa deeply. "I still feel bad, you know?"

"And I said you shouldn't." Hestia leaned over my left side and rested her head on my shoulder. She looked up straight into my eyes and smiled. "As far as I can tell, annual birthday parties are popular only in a few countries, and the Empire of Metaka is simply one of them."

"What about making it a one-day celebration for us all? A public holiday, if you will?" Amber sat across my lap and closed her arms behind my neck. "But not our birthday because I think Hestia and Lavender are right; we would hate that in no time."

"Huh? If not your birthday… then what?" I looked at her in stunned surprise as I felt Lavender's gentle hands slowly pressing against my tense shoulders.

"The Birthday of Arcadia, my Darling." Irene beamed a beautiful smile as she leaned on my right side.

"That's a great idea, but are you sure about that?"

"Oh, you can shower us with gifts without occasion." Luna giggled.

"That's true. Hmmm..." I suddenly realised something. "Sooo... Why am I surrounded?"

•••

The next day, I woke up in an excellent mood. The cold weather had passed away late yesterday, and today's morning welcomed us with a warm and soft sun. On mornings like this, I was optimistically looking forward to the future. My life was like a dream, and I would do everything in my power to preserve it. With the help of my Queens and many capable people in my service, I managed to create a Kingdom. Looking back, I wasn't sure if I could have done anything differently. The wars my forces took part in, the Dungeon subjugations... I was slowly improving my people's lives and significantly uplifting technology, science, and other crafts of Arcadia. By extension, some of this knowledge would leak into neighbouring countries, which might be a problem in the long run, but that was not something I would focus on right now.

My Queens were already preparing for the party, which would start much earlier than usual. Despite my promise of dispatching Dauntless to escort the Empress to Metaka, Matilda wished to leave as quickly as possible, meaning she wanted to depart right after the party. That being the case, Janet had just a few hours to prepare the guest rooms onboard. While the quarters for the Empress was obviously a VIP cabin, it was harder to accommodate her entire royal guard company. Despite the vastness of the battleship and all the spatial tricks used to expand it on the inside, space was still a precious resource. After a long debate with Major Vargas, it was decided that one of the cargo holds customarily used for the ammunition for Dauntless' cannons would be temporarily refitted to serve the large garrison. After giving the Metakans instructions on what they could and couldn't do and information about restricted areas, it was time to load all the baggage.

The party itself wasn't as official as I expected. The handful of people invited brought symbolic gifts like bouquets and some high-grade pastries. I brought the previously prepared gifts, which, again, made me feel stupid. Fortunately, being the king of the biggest kingdom of Aderon generously stretched the definition of a symbolic gift in my favour. Oh, how little I knew about my new world... While Leonard was delighted with the sword, Cassmira became flustered when she saw the jewellery set she got alongside the dress. The banquet hall consisted of many round tables and, according to the Metaka's customs, was occupied by single-family members. That's why, in the central point of the dining hall of the Metaka Embassy, the Princess sat with her direct family members as close as possible so as not to disturb the private conversations that were taking place at our table. Honestly, I enjoyed this setup.

I leaned over and whispered to Amber as we took our assigned seats. "It was too much?"

"Yup." She giggled.

I sighed. "I should have asked your opinion before blindly preparing an almost random gift."

"But it's better this way." She smiled with a vicious smile. "Now, the spies in Matilda's surroundings will have to inform their masters about the engagement. After the Empress returns from Arcadia on board Dauntless, Cassmira should be out of the picture for most of them."

"Most... Yes. With those few remaining, it should be easier to deal with..." I agreed and sat down. "Thank you, Amber."

The dinner was, of course, prepared by a Metakan chef. I should say that the dishes were tasty, but in all honesty, they weren't. It wasn't the lack of skill of the cook or subpar ingredients, but there was something inherently wrong with the dishes. After I finished my food, I was sure that the dishes were simply plain. It was like it was made in an Indian kitchen without spices, or if the Japanese suddenly started using boiled wheat instead of rice in their dishes. I wasn't a gourmet of any sort since I always preferred relatively simple dishes, but just one glance at my wives told me the food was simply horrible. Even if our tastebuds tried to tell us otherwise, I could tell something was wrong by looking at the Empress. She was furious, Leonard was agitated, and Cassmira was close to tears.

"Theon, I think that someone sabotaged this party." Irene sighed after she took a sip of water. "Metaka's cuisine is famous for its spicy and fragrant food as well as excellent wine. I wonder what kind of ploy someone had on their mind."

"Hmmm..." Luna took a deep breath. "Maybe it's just to harm the image of Cassmira in front of you?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It's not like she made the food personally." I almost laughed but quickly choked on my words. "No. Wait. This is very plausible. I just ordered my slime to observe the people very closely. May I ask you the same? I'm going to play with them."

My Queens smiled and pretended to discuss something about the wine we were served, but I knew they were observing the Metakans. The waitress who observed our table approached it and tried to take the plates, but I turned towards her and beamed a wide smile.

"I would like to have seconds." I raised my voice to make sure that everyone would hear me. "If that's possible, of course, I would like to have this fish dish and a glass of red wine. I find it quite intriguing."

Cassmira and Matilda looked at me, horrified. The dish I ordered was probably the worst one we had been served today. The panicked waitress glanced at the Empress, who tried to mask her emotions and nodded with a forced smile. The waitress, without uttering a word and, most importantly, without clearing the table of excess plates, turned away and headed towards the kitchen.

"Hmmm.." Luna swirled the white wine in her glass and inhaled its aroma. "This is an excellent wine that went bad on purpose." She took the smallest sip possible with a straight face. "It turned into vinegar..."

"I still don't get what the point is. It's not poisoned..." I quickly glanced at Irene, who shrugged.

"It just tasted like it was. As far as I can tell, it's not harmful in any way." If she said that, no one could argue. "I don't think that waitress is involved. She is just extremely nervous."

"Are you really going to eat that fish?" Aoi asked nervously, watching the waitress return.

"I’ve eaten worse things in my life..." I sighed.

"I think I saw two people surprised and angry with your reaction, Theon," Lavender informed as she picked up a glass of red wine. She gave it a troubled look after resting her cheek on the other hand. "This is a crime against wine..."

"I want to know for whom they work before we tell the Empress about them." I made my way through the tasteless, and this time, undercooked dish. "Somehow, I find this situation hilarious."

"I don't think Cassmira is that amused..." Hestia lifted the glass under the light and let out a sigh. "But Lavender is right. Whoever did this committed a serious crime against wine."

"Let's be serious for a moment. What could be the aim of the person doing it?" I finished the fish and drank the wine in one go while my Queens gave me a disgusted look. "What?"

"I told you it's not poisoned, but you will upset your stomach like that..." Irene slowly shook her head.

"Don't worry." I grinned. I would tell them later that I may have eaten one or two bites of each dish. The rest was safely disposed of as lures for these damned weasels that kept attacking our chickens. "Any ideas?"

"Besides forcing some low-intensity drama?" Luna sighed and took a sip of water. "Wait... This is it. This entire situation was forced to spoil the mood. To make us or the Princess as uncomfortable as possible. If the Empress is going to depart in a bad mood, it might be used as the foundation for some nasty rumours..."

"Let's have good fun then and check who is the most furious about it..." I grinned and extended my hand to Amber once the music started playing and some people stood up. "It's time for the dance, I assume..."