It wasn’t only Nadia that froze.
Tristan too froze.
His hands were still cupped around Nadia’s breasts, his fingers sunk into the soft, heavy flesh that no gentleman had any business touching within minutes of meeting a woman.
He couldn’t believe he had actually done it. The rational part of his mind, the part that had spent years studying politics, philosophy, and court etiquette was screaming at him. While the other part of his mind that couldn’t function properly with the absence of intimacy was enjoying the feel of Nadia’s breasts in his hold. And this part was louder than the other.
Meanwhile, Nadia stayed froze. For a split second, pure disbelief widened her blood-red eyes. The husband she had known for nearly a thousand days had never been this forward. That man had been passive, almost timid in bed, content to let the three of them lead whenever intimacy happened. And now the husband woke up from death and had simply reached out and squeezed her breasts?
That was shocking. However, her shock lasted only a heartbeat. Then her lips peeled back from her fangs in a snarl.
"You think *that* will stop me?" she hissed, her voice coming out low and venomous. "Even if it makes me bleed, I will still-"
She lunged for his neck again, her fangs bared, ready to sink them deep.
"Wait!"
The sharp cry came from the smallest of the three.
Cora stepped forward, her wavy hair bouncing with the sudden movement, purple sparks flickering nervously in her eyes. "Nadia, stop!"
Talia’s golden eyes flashed with irritation. She turned on the witch with a low growl.
"Stop being so unnecessarily pitiful, Cora. Death is painful no matter how it comes. Your little poisoning plan didn’t spare him any suffering, did it? Yet, he still woken up. Just let Nadia finish it for good, now."
"He’s not the man we need!" Cora shot back, her voice rising.
Nadia halted mid-lunge, her fangs still bared, and looked over her shoulder. "What are you talking about?"
Cora’s expression was tight, her brows furrowed tightly. "This is a different soul. It’s occupying our husband’s body, but it isn’t *him*."
Nadia stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "That’s impossible."
She glanced at Talia. "Sniff him."
Talia made a disgusted sound. "You know fully well that doesn’t work for identifying souls."
Still, Cora moved closer. "Nadia. Step down. Let me look properly."
Nadia hesitated, clearly unwilling, but finally released her grip on Tristan and climbed off him with clear reluctance. Tristan staggered back two steps, one hand going instinctively to his bruised throat as he sucked in air. His legs felt unsteady, but he forced himself to stay upright.
Cora stopped in front of him. Her dark eyes narrowed as she studied his face with unnerving intensity, her head tilting slightly like she was listening to something only she could hear. After several long seconds, she straightened and gave a single, grim nod.
"I was right," Cora said quietly. "This is not our husband’s soul."
She fixed Tristan with a sharp glare. "Who are you?"
Before he could answer, Talia had clearly reached the end of her limited patience. She shoved Cora aside hard enough to make the smaller woman stumble, then slammed Tristan back against the nearest wall. One strong forearm pressed across his throat, pinning him in place. Her golden eyes burned with raw fury.
"Bring our husband’s soul back right now, or I swear I will crush the life out of this body myself." she growled at him.
"Talia, stop! That isn’t the solution!" Cora grabbed her arm.
What followed that was immediate chaos.
"Don’t touch me, you silly witch."
"Don’t call me silly, you dog. If not for our damned situation, you wouldn’t have opened your mouth before I tie your tongue with my magic." Cora yelled angrily.
"Now, you two should stop being silly. This isn’t the time for your bickering." Nadia spat out, with a bored expression.
"Keep quiet, bloodsucker. Nobody involved you." Talia snapped at Nadia.
"You didn’t just open your mouth and say that to me..."
The three women turned on each other, shouting profanities at each other.
That was when the familiar sweet voice slid back into Tristan’s mind, thickly laced with amusement.
"Look at you, my darling Host. Grabbing and squeezing a woman’s breasts within the first five minutes of meeting her. I knew you had potential." Lysander’s tone was pure wicked delight.
After that, the system’s machine chimed, bringing information into Tristan’s vision;
[Ding!]
[System initialization complete.]
[All functions online.]
A clean interface bloomed across his vision:
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ WIFE STATUS PANEL
├─────────────────────────────────────
│ Nadia Bellrose —Vampire
│ Attraction : 0
│ Craving : 0
│ Submission : 0
│ Obsession : 0
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Talia Moon — Werewolf
│ Attraction : 0
│ Craving : 0
│ Submission : 0
│ Obsession : 0
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Cora Boone — Witch
│ Attraction : 0
│ Craving : 0
│ Submission : 0
│ Obsession : 0
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
```
[Main Mission]
Raise all four meters of each wife to 100%.
[First Mission Issued]
Make your three wives remain silent for one full minute and introduce yourself.
[Reward: +1 Charm, +1 Dominance, +5 Lust Points]
Failure Penalty: Unbearable itching around the Host’s private area for five hours.
Lysander’s voice turned syrupy and teasing.
"Now, don’t ask me how to shut them up, darling. You could always suggest their mouths would be put to better use sucking your cock instead of arguing. But then again... you’re the intelligent one, aren’t you?"
Tristan swallowed hard. He looked away from the interface, back at his supposed wives. They were still at it. Their voices overlapped, growing louder and more heated by the second.
"I’m not irrational like you two. Aren’t you two thinking at all? What if the ancestors had deliberately sent this new soul? What if he was meant to be the missing piece - a cure, a key, something we haven’t considered?" Cora snapped at the two women, her voice carrying weight than her body.
"Shut up, witch. You think everything revolves around your little boneless ancestors? Shouldn’t we use our initiative and just end his life, send his soul back to where he crawled from?"
Tristan heaved a sigh. He knew If he didn’t do something soon, either Talia or Nadia was going to remember he was still alive and finish what they started.
He thought about Lysander’s crude suggestion... then discarded it.
He was not going to speak like that.
Drawing on every ounce of composure he had left and a healthy dose of the arrogance that had once made him a crown prince, Tristan cleared his throat and spoke in a loud voice that cut through their argument.
"My ladies..."
The word was enough to make all three heads turn toward him.
He met their hostile stares without flinching, then delivered the line with an intentional calmness, the corner of his mouth lifting in the faintest smirk.
"It seems the universe has decided your previous husband was insufficient... and sent you a replacement who’s better equipped to handle you all in every aspect." A dry, slightly nervous laugh escaped him afterward, then he added;
"Allow me to introduce myself..."
Silence fell over the room like a blade.
Nadia, Talia, and Cora stared at him as if he had completely and utterly lost his mind.