Chapter 7

Following Emma were a handful of maids. For a moment my attention was fully on Emma as she directed them towards setting up a table and placing numerous dishes on it.

When I finally looked at the maids I was a bit surprised. They were all beautiful. Nearly as beautiful as Emma. Which put them well above average on Earth. Not quite supermodel level but fairly close.

Finally they were done and the maids left the room. Emma came over and helped me get to the table and sit down. It embarrassed me a bit to have to rely on her. I squashed that feeling though. Sometimes being weak was unavoidable. Nobody would think less of me for needing help to walk right after waking up from a coma. Although I’d think differently of myself if I was in the same condition in a few weeks. Mostly because I knew that if I hadn’t recovered my strength by then it was because I had been lazy.

The table held a multi course meal. Some of which I couldn’t identify from either of my memories. There was bread, a salad, and some sort of soup. There was also some type of roasted poultry. I had no idea what had four legs and wings though. Probably wild game caught by a hunter in the wilds near here.

“All the maids were quite attractive. Is that normal here in clan Ashton?” I couldn’t help but ask as Emma dished up food for both of us.

There was a slight pause while Emma thought about what to say. Then she continued dishing up food as she explained. “The clan head has spent his entire life working to make clan Ashton one of the middle clans. It was his father’s dream, and his father’s fathers dream. When he found out that I was a life mage he realized there was a possibility of achieving that dream in his lifetime. However, a life mage alone, or even multiple life mages, wouldn’t be enough to achieve that dream. He would also need an army of talented cultivators and mages. Hiring that army would only be a temporary solution. So instead he started to plan on how he could breed them. First he would need a highly talented male cultivator. After that he would need a great deal of women that were loyal to the clan and willing to bear the children of that cultivator.”

“The maids are those women?” I asked, feeling a bit out of my depth. A primal part of me was excited about what Emma was talking about. The Earth part of me was screaming all types of warning signs though. Love was supposed to be between a single man and a woman. And even if I had an entire harem of gorgeous maids there was no way they were all going to get along with each other.

Emma nodded. “He’s spent nearly a decade gathering every pretty woman he could find that would swear loyalty to the clan. Most of the other clans think he’s just been gathering them for his personal harem.”

“Just how many women did he gather?” I asked. Part of me dreaded the answer.

Emma actually had to think about the answer. “The wild lands aren’t a very peaceful place. There were plenty of women willing to join this venture just for protection and guaranteed meals. There are at least a hundred of them.”

I stared at her wide eyed and couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed. I hadn’t even met the guy and yet he had picked out over a hundred women he expected me to knock up. The part of me from this world was impressed and wanted to thank the clan head for being so thoughtful. The Earth side of me was looking for the trap in this situation. Likely one of them would get jealous and try to knife me or something.

I looked at Emma again. She had relayed all this information a bit emotionlessly. “You seem awfully neutral about this whole situation.” I commented.

Emma grimaced. “I’ve found myself liking you far more than I expected. Far better than the alternative. For the past few years I’ve been hoping you wouldn’t be some old lecherous man.”

I blinked at Emma in confusion. “Old lecherous man? What are you talking about?” I asked.

Emma gave me a small smile. “You remember how I said that I wish I had inherited some of my mother’s talent?”

I nodded. “I’m still convinced that the clan never would have let you near the front lines of a battle when you were fourteen. No matter how talented.”

Emma nodded. “I get that. I never want my children thinking the same thing though. I want to give them the best chances possible. Living as a life mage with no other talent has quite a few downsides. For one thing, life mages have very little offensive power. They are often targets on the battlefield. Even at home my clan keeps my existence secret out of fear of assassins or kidnappers. They wouldn’t worry as much if I had the talent to protect myself.”

“I guess those are good reasons to wish to be more talented. I’m not sure what that has to do with the maids though.” I said.

Emma sighed. “Are you intentionally being a bit slow about our situation?” she asked.

I frowned and thought over our conversation. It was only after I decided to stop focusing on the maids that I realized what she was talking about. “Wait. Are you saying that you want to have children with me?”

Emma nodded. “Ever since my mother died, I found out about the clan head’s plans. That’s why I am so ambivalent about the maids. I’ve known that my husband would have plenty of other women and children for years now. I wasn’t expecting to like you so much though. So I’m feeling more irritated by how you looked at them than I expected.”

I nearly laughed. Fortunately I managed to keep from doing so. Otherwise I was sure that irritation would quickly turn to anger. “You’re more beautiful than any of them Emma. Plus I’m finding that I like you a lot also. I’m pretty sure that I was given a choice between you or all those maids I’d pick you.”

Emma blushed. “Lucky for you that you don’t have to pick. I want to be first though.” She said.

I was feeling a bit confused again. “First what?” I asked.

“First wife.” Emma said looking straight at me.

My mind froze up for a moment. This entire conversation was happening way too fast. I had just met Emma today. And now she was basically asking me to marry her. Sure she was beautiful. I could also tell that she was intelligent. As a life mage she was far more talented and powerful than the vast majority of women. Plus she had no problem with me being with other women. Neither the part of me from Earth or the part from this planet could come up with a reason to refuse her.

I realized that I had let the conversation lull into silence at an incredibly awkward time. Emma looked incredibly nervous as she waited for my answer. I couldn’t believe I was about to ask a woman I had just met to marry me.

“I can agree to that. I’m going to have to get some stuff together in order to properly ask you though. With your mother gone, who do I ask permission from?” I asked.

The traditions around asking a woman to marry you on this planet were a little bit different than Earth. First of all you asked their mother and not father for permission. Second, you didn’t get down on a knee when you asked. Third was that they didn’t use rings. Common practice was to give the woman something useful that they would wear everyday. The most common option was a decent quality weapon. Although sometimes it could be different. For instance armor was another appropriate option if the woman was also a warrior. If you were a king then often it was a crown given to the woman you were asking to become queen. I’d have to hope the clan would provide something appropriate.

“My step aunt is my guardian. You can talk to her once you are fully recovered. Despite this conversation I’m not in any hurry to settle down and raise a family. Before you start doing your duty with all these women I just wanted to make it clear that if we are going to be together I want the position of first wife.” Emma said.

I had to struggle to keep a grin off my face when I realized she had said want and not demand or require. Her saying she wanted to be first wife was more important than just saying that she wanted to marry me before anyone else. In this world it was common for talented male cultivators to have multiple wives. Unlike females a talented male cultivator wasn’t limited to only having one child at a time.

The first wife was a kind of title within such families. The first wife was in charge of the household and above any other wives. Depending on the first wife and the household the power of that position could vary widely. For some it meant merely being the first among a group of equals. Other first wives controlled their households with an iron fist and were nearly abusive to the other wives. Although they were usually careful not to go too far. It was rarely done but their husband could take away their position and give it to one of the other wives.

If I did end up with multiple wives I knew that I wouldn’t tolerate any of them abusing each other. From the little I’d seen of Emma I’d be surprised if that would be an issue with her. Just the way she had interacted with the maids was a clear indication of that. She treated them as servants but not with the arrogance and lack of respect I’d seen from far too many cultivators. My suspicion was that the only reason she wanted to be first wife was to avoid the possibility of being under a terrible first wife.

The rest of lunch went smoothly. There was no more discussion of our personal lives. Instead the conversation was focused upon clan Ashton and the area they controlled. Even after an hour of questions and answers I felt like I had barely scratched the surface.