Harem System In A fa Chapter 274: Illusion

Chapter 274: Illusion

Mira was no pregnancy expert.

She had never seen a woman go through a full cycle after all, and she didn’t have any siblings to compare with, but still... two months was a long ti.

Surely, there should be sothing. So kind of physical change, no matter how small. And yet, no matter how closely she looked at Es...

She seed completely normal.

"Wait... are you not pregnant?" Mira asked, her brows knitting together slightly. "Maybe Elion’s ability didn’t work the way he thought it did..."

Es let out a soft laugh, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

Her blue eyes glowed faintly.

Mira could imdiately feel that she was casting a spell.

The air before her shimred a bit and distorted. Then, right before her eyes, Es’s flat stomach... vanished.

Or rather, it changed form. A small, subtle bump appeared in its place, just barely noticeable, but undeniably there.

Mira’s jaw dropped

"Hahaha..." Es laughed out loud when she saw the expression on Mira’s face.

"I used an illusion to make it look flat, as it always has been," she said, her tone light. "And it’s not just visual either."

She let her hand rest lightly over her stomach.

"Though I don’t always keep it active... I like to feel the little bump from ti to ti when I’m alone."

Mira didn’t respond. She simply stared, completely at a loss for words.

Of course, Es noticed.

"Do you want to touch it?" she asked.

Mira blinked, her lips parting slightly, "P–please... can I?" she stamred.

"Of course," Es replied with a gentle smile.

Mira nodded quickly and stood, walking around the tea table before sitting down beside her.

Es reached out, took Mira’s hand, and guided it gently toward her stomach.

The mont her palm made contact, Mira flinched slightly.

"Unfortunately, I don’t think you’ll be able to feel much of anything yet," Es said softly. "The foetus has barely developed."

Mira nodded slightly.

"Don’t worry, though," Es continued with a small smile. "You can keep visiting to see how much it has grown from ti to ti."

"Un," Mira nodded again, gently pulling her hand back.

She shifted a little, trying to create so distance between them, worried she might be sitting too close, but Es only laughed softly before sliding an arm around her waist and pulling her right back in.

She leaned in slightly, closing her eyes as she took in a quiet breath.

"You say it’s been about a week since he disappeared... and yet, I can still sll his scent on you."

Mira’s face flushed instantly at those words.

"He really must take you to bed quite often then... how lucky," Es added casually.

Mira gave a wry smile.

"You also know how monstrous Husband Elion’s appetite is... he could go on for days if he wasn’t worried about our wellbeing."

Es laughed.

"That is indeed true."

But as the laughter faded, she noticed sothing.

Mira had gone quiet.

Her expression distant.

"Did I give you the desire to have your own child?" Es asked gently.

"Huh?" Mira blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. "Uhm... no, it’s not that."

She shook her head.

"It’s just..."

Her voice trailed off as she humd softly, clearly hesitating, weighing whether or not to voice her thoughts.

Es didn’t rush her.

She simply waited in quiet patience.

After a mont, Mira seed to co to a decision.

She looked up and looked Es in the eye, "You’re so strong, Es..."

There was a brief pause.

Then—

"If you don’t mind... can you teach

how to beco a better mage?"

Es gave Mira a long, searching look. It wasn’t hard for her to understand where this was coming from.

Mira wasn’t weak, far from it.

For her age, she was already quite strong, more than most could hope to be, but... she was asuring herself against Elion.

And that was simply unfair.

’That man is a monster...’

He wasn’t soone you used as a standard. Not for anything related to being a mage. Even Es herself had never been anywhere near that level at his age.

But still...

She understood.

Mira didn’t want to feel that sa helplessness again, the kind she had felt while watching him struggle in the arena, surrounded, wounded, yet still standing alone.

She didn’t want to fall behind him.

Not like that.

And it wasn’t jealousy.

Es could tell it quite clearly. There was no bitterness in her gaze, and not a trace of resentnt whatsoever.

Only the resolution that ca from making a firm decision. A quiet, burning determination.

She wanted to stand beside Elion, to support him, and to be soone he could rely on in his tis of need and his weakest monts.

All of that... Es could see it clearly in her erald green eyes.

That steady, unwavering look.

And beneath it, a faint trace of fear. Fear that she might be rejected.

"I understand." Es smiled softly. "Do not expect it to be easy, though," Es warned, her tone calm but firm. "It will be a steep mountain climb."

"As it should be," Mira nodded without hesitation.

"You know Lord Husband is a unique case," Es continued. "So I would advise you not to compare yourself to him. That will only leave you feeling inadequate... and in the worst case, insecure."

Mira shook her head.

"I know that. I won’t waste my ti trying to catch up to him or anything like that. I only want to do my absolute best."

Es smiled softly and nodded in approval, "You know, I envy your resolve."

"Huh?" Mira blinked in surprise.

Es laughed lightly.

"Don’t get

wrong. You might think I have no reason to envy you since I’m much stronger, but that’s not it."

She leaned back slightly, her expression turning more thoughtful.

"I pledged my allegiance to Lord Husband for my own reasons, and while I do love him deeply, and want to see him in his most glorious form... I lack the sa ambition and drive that you have to stand by his side."

Mira remained quiet, listening.

"I want to stay with him, to be with him, to stand by his side as well... or at least, I thought I did," Es continued. "But now, I see that all of that pales in comparison to what you feel for him."

She gave a small shrug.

"Perhaps it is simply my own lacking... or maybe it just ans your love for him is greater than mine."

Mira smiled at that, "As you said before, there’s no reason for any of us to compete or compare. We should just work together and do our best to support him."

Es’s smile deepened. "Well said, dear sister... well said."

They both paused for a bit as they let their thoughts and words settle.

"I am curious, though," Es added, tilting her head slightly as her gaze drifted off for a brief mont.

"Where do you think our husband vanished off to?"

Mira paused.

Her expression shifted, her brows knitting ever so slightly as she thought back to everything that had happened, the way he disappeared, the circumstances surrounding it, the state he had been in.

She let out a small breath.

"I’m not entirely sure..."

Her fingers curled slightly in her lap.

"But I don’t think he’s anywhere nearby."

There was a brief pause before she continued.

"The way he left... it didn’t feel like a normal escape, and we should be able to communicate through the seal." Her gaze lowered slightly.

"The only reason I think of now, why he is not able to speak with us, is that either he is too far, and there is a distance limit on the harem seal. Either that, or the seal has no distance limit at all; that would an the link has been cut off sohow, aning he might be in a separate space..."

Her voice trailed off.

Es leaned back slightly, her expression turning thoughtful.

"So he has been taken to so sort of separate space..."

"Most likely," Mira replied.

Silence settled between them for a mont.

Then Es smiled faintly. "Well... wherever he is..."

Her eyes glead softly.

"I pity whatever is on the other side."

...

anwhile, outside the gates of the Manor...

A fuming Gale arrived in his carriage, accompanied by an entourage of five or six people, two of whom were the very sa shady figures who had been following Mira.

"This is the damned place!?" he practically hissed as he stepped out of the carriage, his cane tapping against the ground as he leaned on it slightly.

"Yes, Master," one of them replied.

He had brought with him a pair of won and several n.

Though his daughter had been extrely disobedient lately, it wasn’t to the point where he would use n to restrain her if it ca to that, hence the won.

As for the n...

They were there to deal with anyone who might try to get in their way.

Gale walked forward, his gaze sweeping over the estate before he reached out and placed a hand against one of the cold tal bars of the gate.

"How do we open this damn thing!?" he snapped.

Clang!

He struck the gate with his cane, the tal ringing dully as his belly jiggled slightly from the effort.

At once, the four n stepped forward, moving to the gates as they began trying to force them open, gripping the bars and testing their strength as they looked for a way inside.