*Baaaaaaam!*
A violent crash echoed, violently shaking the main assembly hall of the harem. The crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling of the Uranus Palace nearly shattered and rained down upon our heads.
"Whaaaaaat!!! Pregnant?!!"
Roxy roared at the top of her lungs. Her crimson eyes widened in pure shock as she slammed her fist onto the marble table.
A crushing silence engulfed the hall for several seconds. Every single gaze locked onto me.
I stood there before all eight of my sister-wives. My face burned with enough heat to melt planetary ice. Denial was impossible. The greatest shock wasn't the news itself, but my belly—visibly and undeniably swollen despite only a single month passing since my wedding!
*This is embarrassing... so embarrassing!*
The swelling wasn't the only issue. Due to the rapid biology of an Orion pregnancy, my body emitted radiant blue lights. They pulsed steadily beneath my skin. Those azure glows ruthlessly exposed my condition to everyone.
I tried to cover my flushed face with my hands. I instinctively hid behind the long black cloak of the Emperor, who sat with his usual terrifying calm.
*By the cosmos... I wish the floor would crack open and swallow me and this glowing belly right now!*
*Fufufu...*
The moment the wives absorbed the magnitude of the shock, the silence shattered. A carnival of mockery and sharp comments launched like arrows, all aimed squarely at the Emperor's monstrous virility and terrifying fertility.
Roxy laughed uproariously, slapping her thigh hard.
"Hahaha! I knew our Lord was a beast, but a One-Hit KO in the very first month?! What terrifying stamina!"
Layla concealed her mouth behind her silk fan, shooting me a piercing, malicious glare.
"Ara ara... it seems our Lord is unacquainted with the concept of pacing. Only one month of company to achieve conception? He was undeniably in a rush to plant his seed."
In the corner, Kaori crossed her arms inside her kimono with absolute gravity, as if analyzing a grueling battlefield.
"It is the quick draw—Iaijutsu. A lightning strike unseen by the naked eye. He bypassed her defenses flawlessly. An immaculate tactic."
*Click...*
Veronica adjusted her glasses and sighed.
"This is a blatant violation of the succession hierarchy I established. It disrupts the entire palace structure. The timing is completely illogical. How exactly am I supposed to rectify this error of yours, Oria?"
Isabella shrieked in panic, gripping her head with both hands as if a catastrophe had struck.
"Exactly! My entire schedule is ruined! I needed at least six months to launch the 'Imperial Maternity' fashion line! How am I supposed to maintain the Visual Identity of the palace through this utterly inelegant rush?"
Camille, meanwhile, stared at my glowing stomach with bizarre, dreamy eyes.
"But look at that azure glow beneath the flesh... the swelling of meat to contain a new body... it is so very inspiring. It makes me want to paint a canvas, or perhaps pour a glass of wine to celebrate this beautiful mutation of form."
Through the surrounding noise, Celine barely managed to open one eye halfway. She mumbled sleepily.
"A rapidly growing seed... please... do not let him be a child who cries too much at night... I just want to sleep..."
*Please stop! I am melting from embarrassment here!*
I screamed internally. The blue lights in my belly pulsed frantically from sheer stress.
*Beep...*
Suddenly, Eve intervened. Her glasses flashed with a cold light. She spoke with her usual clinical detachment.
"Statistically and biologically, this gestation velocity is completely anticipated given the Emperor's supreme genetics. Have you forgotten when he impregnated all eight of us simultaneously, in a single night? And immediately after their births, we discarded our eight children onto Planet Earth. Therefore, Oria's rapid pregnancy is no anomaly. This is simply the power of my Lord."
*Y-you threw your children onto Planet Earth? The moment they were born?*
I blinked in sheer disbelief. It was terrifying, brutally cruel information.
Yet my sister-wives didn't pause on it at all! They stepped right over that dark past and resumed their usual banter. I remained silent, watching the grotesque secrets of my new family unfold before me.
A few days passed since the announcement.
My daily routine in the private wing grew noticeably heavier. I was physically in my final month, even though it was only the first month of my marriage.
*Such heavy weight...*
I walked down the corridor with slow, deliberate steps. Whenever a maid passed, she bowed respectfully. I always caught their stolen glances darting toward my glowing stomach.
Every single time, my ears burned red. I recalled the piercing comments of my sister-wives regarding my husband's monstrous virility in bed, which led to this lightning-fast outcome.
That night, I sat on the sofa beside the massive window.
I placed my hand gently over my belly, illuminating the dark with calm blue pulses. I gazed out at the glittering stars scattered across the vast void of space.
I felt a faint movement inside me. I smiled a warm, maternal smile and whispered to the void.
"I will name you... Altair... the soaring eagle who will fly through a peaceful sky."
Later in the evening, I sat on the suite's balcony.
The Emperor entered with his customary calm. His mere presence violently altered the air pressure in the room. He sat beside me. We began to spend a quiet, romantic evening together, far from the chaotic noise of the harem.
But... the negative side effects of an Orion pregnancy offered no mercy.
Suddenly, without any warning, the blue lights across my body began to flash rapidly and erratically. It signaled a violent spike in my mood and hormones. I puffed my cheeks. I frowned with intense, irrational, and absolute jealousy.
"Why were you looking at Layla like that this morning?!!" I snapped suddenly, crossing my arms. "Are you bored of me because my movements have become slow and annoying?"
I glared at him with childish fury. I fully expected him to grow furious at my audacity and illogical jealousy.
Instead, he smiled quietly.
He leaned closer. With his irresistible, majestic presence, he pulled me in with extreme care—mindful of my swollen belly—and seated me on his lap.
"You are my center now, Oria... There is nothing else in this universe worthy of my gaze but you."
He whispered those warm, deeply romantic words right against my ear. My jealousy melted instantly.
The blue lights calmed, returning to their slow, comforting pulse. I leaned against his broad chest. I closed my eyes, fully absorbing this internal peace enveloping me.
Tranquility flooded the room. The Emperor smiled, resting his large, warm hand over my stomach.
*Thump...*
A tiny kick from Altair. The Emperor's smile widened slightly. It was a picture-perfect family moment.
Until...
*Bzzzzzzzt... Kraaaaaak!*
The air in front of us violently warped.
The very fabric of reality shivered. A terrifying pop followed, deafening our ears!
The walls trembled. The barrier of spacetime itself tore open in the middle of the room. It formed a massive, human-sized black fissure—a rift that aggressively swallowed the surrounding light.
*W-what is happening?!*
My eyes dilated in horror. The Emperor stood up instantly. He shielded me behind his back, his eyes narrowing as he prepared to defend me.
*Thwaaamp!*
From the heart of that dark tear, something fell out. Or rather... someone.
He rolled weakly across the marble floor. It was a grown man.
His skin possessed an unnatural pallor. His hair was as white as snow polluted by ash. His eyes were entirely pitch-black, utterly devoid of whites.
His clothes were shredded to rags. Deep, bloody lacerations and gruesome burns covered his body, reeking of charred flesh.
*Haaah... haaaah...*
He panted with agonizing difficulty. Blood dripped from his mouth. He tried to hoist his shattered body up, only to collapse onto one knee.
He raised his face slowly. His eyes—brimming with indescribable agony and profound despair—met the Emperor's gaze... and then mine.
His stare held a crushing sorrow mixed with an overwhelming, frantic joy. He looked as if he had finally found a long-lost warmth he had been desperately seeking for an eternity.
His cracked lips trembled. He forced out fragmented, hoarse words that violently shook my core and shattered the limits of logic in this universe.
"F... father..."
He reached his trembling, burned hand toward us.
"M... mother..."
*Thud.*
The mysterious man collapsed completely. He fell unconscious upon the marble floor in a pool of his own blood. He left the Emperor and me in absolute shock, our peace shattered forever.