Kyle brought Tori home with him just as the sun was starting to go down. Most people in this world ate dinner after dusk, heading to bed around eight if they were early sleepers, or ten at the latest. Waking up before sunrise was simply normal life there.
Perhaps that was why Layla looked so sleepy-her body clock had gotten messed up from traveling all the way from the Old territory.
When they arrived, Kyle called out to Flare, who was relaxing in the living room. Apparently Layla had used the bath right after they left, then went straight to sleep in one of the guest rooms usually reserved for fishermen. She was still fast asleep.
”She hath been sleeping very soundly, yet quite some time hath passed now,” Flare said with a gentle smile, smoothing her dress. “Perhaps we ought to awaken her shortly.”
Tori bowed his head awkwardly, thanking her in a low voice. Anyone could tell he was a little overwhelmed by Flare’s presence.
It was almost dinner time, so Mei and Taris went to wake Layla up. In the meantime, Flare and Kyle waited in the living room while Tori stayed put as well. It was obvious he wanted to run over to his daughter to scold her right away, but he couldn’t barge in while she was changing.
The table was already set with food, and Martha and Taris were busy going back and forth from the kitchen. They hadn’t planned on having dinner with the Old family, but since it worked out that way, Granny Grace came over to help, making a fancier meal than usual.
Layla, who had just woken up, still looked kind of dazed. She was wearing the same white dress she had on when she first arrived, trimmed with a little bit of vermillion. With her hair and eye color matching, her whole look was white and red. She looked like something otherworldly-almost magical-yet there was no dignity or intimidation to her, resembling a little kid.
”Layla, how are you feeling?” Tori asked softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Do you think you can sit through dinner with us?”
Layla gave a small, quiet nod without a word. Even that gesture was so obedient and childlike.
”I’m literally so sorry for all this drama,” Mei murmured, bowing her head toward Kyle. “My lady’s doing way better now, and honestly, that’s like 100% thanks to you being super sweet, Master Kyle.”
”Don’t worry about it,” Kyle said, waving his hand dismissively. “I’m just glad she’s feeling better, so let’s just relax and talk over dinner.”
”Right!” Tori exclaimed, patting her back. “Come on, Layla, mind your manners!”
Tori guided Layla to her seat. Mei was even pulling out the chair for her from behind-so attentive. Of course, when Flare sat down, either Taris or Kyle pulled out her chair too, but that was basic gentlemanly manners. With Layla, though, it somehow looked more like people were fussing over her.
Once Layla was seated, her eyes lit up at all the food spread out on the table.
”Everyone’s hungry, so let’s skip the formal stuff and just eat,” Kyle said, leaning over the table. “Martha’s cooking is actually really good.”
When he said that, the corner of Martha’s mouth twitched upward as she carried more dishes in.
”Y’all go on ‘n eat up now, hear?” Martha drawled, setting down a heavy platter with a warm grin. “Ain’t no use lettin’ good vittles go cold on the table.”
Martha’s cooking was basically like mom’s home cooking to Kyle, and he truly believed it was better than some cheap third-rate restaurant.
They had a quick toast and then dug into the food on their plates. For the big sharing dishes, Kyle served everyone. Layla was enjoying the food so much one would wonder if she even remembered this was a marriage meeting. The seating went: Kyle with Flare next to him, and Tori and Layla across from them.
Layla stuffed her cheeks full, swallowed with a satisfied look, then spotted the next dish as her eyes sparkled again.
It might not have been proper marriage meeting etiquette, but as the host, Kyle was happy to see her enjoy it so much.
”Hey, Layla, stop just eating and actually talk to people!” Tori pleaded, turning red. “I-I’m so sorry, she’s still just a kid…”
Tori tried to nudge her along, looking super embarrassed. But honestly, it was fine. Seventeen wasn’t a kid, especially when the adult age there was fifteen.
It made Kyle think-maybe she never got to develop social skills because she dropped out of that private school at eleven and couldn’t go out in public after that. The classic sheltered girl who didn’t know how the world worked. That was how he saw it.
”Don’t worry about it,” Kyle said, chuckling softly. “I’m just glad she likes the food. Hey Flare, have you talked with Layla at all yet?”
”Nay, she appeared so weary that I permitted her to rest immediately,” Flare replied gracefully, turning toward her. “It hath been a considerable time, Layla.”
When Flare called out to her, Layla nodded while still chewing, swallowed, and then spoke quietly.
”It hath indeed been… a long time, Lady Flare,” Layla murmured softly, bowing her head.
That was the first time Kyle had actually heard her voice. It was a little husky for a woman-kind of calm and low. Her way of speaking was so slow and relaxed that it was easy on the ears, and listening to her almost made him feel sleepy too.
Once most of the food was gone and they got to dessert and tea, the actual marriage meeting talk finally started.
Tori asked Layla what she thought of Quinta land and Kyle. She answered honestly-that the bath was nice, the food was tasty, and stuff like that.
And when he asked if she thought she could get along with Flare, Layla talked about how back at the private school, even when everyone else was being mean, Flare never changed her attitude, which made her happy. She only had good things to say about Flare.
Layla met Flare’s gaze without flinching, and Flare in turn seemed to sympathize with her because she’d also been an outcast.
”Well, haha, looks like my daughter has a good impression of you and this land too,” Tori said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Which is actually pretty rare for her. And what about you, Kyle, after meeting my daughter in person?”
For most of this conversation, Tori-the father-had been doing about eighty percent of the talking compared to Layla herself. He was trying really hard. All the while, Mei was wiping Layla’s messy mouth with a napkin and fussing over her like a mother hen.
”Bro, she’s literally so adorable, right?” Mei whispered excitedly, dabbing Layla’s cheek. “Like, total main character energy, I can’t even!”
Honestly, it almost seemed like overprotective parenting.
”Yeah, I was surprised by her appearance at first,” Kyle said, glancing at Layla. “But she seems like a sweet girl, and I think she’d get along with Flare too.”
At first Kyle was shocked by how she looked-like some kind of supernatural spirit-but that was just on the outside. Inside she seemed more like a spacey kid. Her looks weren’t scary, just beautiful, so he didn’t have any bad feelings about her.
She just went along with whatever Tori and Mei did for her, and Kyle didn’t see any harm in that.
If she couldn’t take care of herself at all, that would be a problem, but it didn’t seem like that was the case. If she were a commoner who didn’t work, she’d be called useless, but for a noble’s daughter, that was pretty standard.
So Kyle told Tori that his impression of Layla was actually pretty good. Tori’s face lit up as his eyes got all watery.
”Well now… I had hoped that maybe you’d be the one, Kyle,” Tori said, clutching his glass tightly. “But I never expected you to judge Layla so fairly, without any prejudices. You really are the man I thought you were…”
He got emotional and kept praising Layla.
”And it’s not like Layla’s just some kid who gets taken care of,” Tori added, leaning in closer. “She actually has a special talent…”
Tori got serious again. “This is the ‘thing I wanted to talk about at dinner’ that I mentioned earlier.”
(Talk about at dinner… oh yeah, now Kyle remembered-back when they were walking home from town and talking about mages, Tori did say something like that…)
”The truth is, Layla has talent as a mage-especially with plant magic,” Tori explained, lowering his voice. “We keep it quiet because if people found out, they’d call her a witch even more. But I heard that in Quinta, mages aren’t persecuted that badly, so I decided to come clean.”
”Wait, really!?” Kyle asked, widening his eyes.
There were two types of mages: mineral-based, like Fidek, and plant-based, like Tori just mentioned.
Mineral-type mages were also called Magicraft engineers. They took energy called Arcanos from minerals called magic stones and turned it into crystals. It was a rare talent, but there were still a fair number of them around.
”Cor, you won’t find a finer craft than workin’ with proper magic stones, mate!” Fidek shouted across the memory in Kyle’s head, as if hawking goods. “Pure quality Arcanos, bargain of the century, innit!”
Plant-type mages, on the other hand, could pull liquids with all sorts of medicinal properties from plants that contained Arcanos. They were like magical pharmacists, basically. They were much rarer-Kyle had never actually met one.
”Isn’t that an amazingly rare talent?!” Kyle blurted out.
One would think the royal capital would welcome someone like that with open arms. But in this world’s common sense, noblewomen didn’t work in the first place. In Layla’s mind, she’d probably be seen as “some suspicious witch making creepy potions,” What a waste.
”O-oh, I see,” Tori stammered, his hand trembling slightly. “You really think so? Um… you don’t think it’s… creepy or anything?”
”Not at all!” Kyle said firmly.
Tori nodded over and over again, clearly moved.
”I see… then it seems Layla is truly fated to marry into this household,” Tori declared, letting out a deep sigh of relief.
”Huh?” Kyle gasped.
(Wait, hold on, that was way too fast! With Flare, it was a punitive political marriage, so that was different. But this was a normal marriage meeting! Even if they liked each other here, shouldn’t they meet a few more times, get engaged if it worked out, then go through all kinds of stuff before actually getting married?)
”Is there perchance some reason thou art in such a haste?” Flare inquired, tilting her head gracefully. “Layla is merely seventeen years of age, thus I perceive no necessity to rush.”
All the while, Layla just poked at her cake and sipped her tea, like none of this had anything to do with her.
”Well… it’s a bit hard to say,” Tori admitted, looking down at his plate.
What Tori told them wasn’t totally unrelated to Kyle and the others.
Apparently, after the whole incident with Flare back in the royal capital, conservative thinking had taken an even stronger hold. The idea that “women should be obedient, good daughters, and good mothers” was now more deeply rooted than ever. Any girl who didn’t fit that mold suddenly had way less value on the marriage market.
In other words, it had gotten even harder for a girl with “baggage” like Layla to find a husband.
On top of that, House Regal recently bought several Magicraft devices from Quinta, which-combined with their already bad reputation-made Magicraft technology seem even more sketchy.
So Layla already had a bad image and was seen as “damaged goods,” On top of that, she was secretly a mage. If that came out after an engagement, there was a real chance the engagement could be called off.
And yet, she’d heard that Flare Regal-the one who supposedly caused all that trouble-was living happily somewhere. When she actually met her, Flare really did seem happy. Coming to Quinta and seeing how nice it was there, she became convinced that the only option was to marry Layla off to this land.
So basically, the fallout from Flare’s violent scandal had indirectly messed up Layla’s chances at marriage.
”Well… I am most grievously apologetic for that,” Flare murmured, lowering her eyes in quiet guilt.
From Kyle’s perspective as a reincarnated person, it was crazy to think all women should act the same way just because they were women-Flare and Layla were totally different individuals. But he knew that in this world, people with that kind of thinking were in the minority.
And he never imagined that him getting so into Magicraft tech, and giving it to Flare’s father, would lead to him using a ton of Magicraft lanterns in Regal territory.
”I thought that here, she could be accepted even if people knew she’s a mage..,” Tori said, his voice cracking slightly. “I honestly couldn’t think of anyone other than Kyle who would accept her. As a parent, the thought of watching Layla grow old without ever getting married…”
Tori bit his lip there.
He didn’t seem to wish she’d been born a normal girl instead, but he still looked like he felt helpless as a father.
”Kyle… would it not be proper for thee to assume responsibility and accept her?” Flare asked, looking directly at him. “Thou dost not possess any aversion toward Layla as a woman, correct?”
”Uh? Oh, yeah,” Kyle stammered, scratching his cheek. “I mean, she’s pretty, and I think she’s cute.”
”And what of Layla’s standing as a mage?” Flare pressed further.
”Yeah, I actually think it’s an amazing talent,” Kyle answered honestly.
”Then what sayest thou, Layla?” Flare turned to the quiet girl beside her. “How dost thou feel regarding a marriage to Kyle?”
”…I do not mind,” Layla replied softly, setting her teacup down smoothly.
”I shall remain the primary wife, meaning thou shalt be a concubine,” Flare noted calmly. “Art thou yet content with such an arrangement?”
”…It is quite fine,” Layla assented without hesitation. “I believe I shall get along comfortably with Lady Flare…”
When Flare turned to her, Layla agreed to the marriage with such a casual air that one couldn’t tell if she really understood what she was signing up for.
Kyle was totally fine with it-honestly, he was more worried that Flare would hate him for taking a concubine when she was already there. But now Flare herself was the one pushing things forward…
Still, Layla did seem to be attached to Flare in a way. They had a sisterly vibe, being four years apart, and it really did look like that.
”Oh! For Lady Flare herself to welcome her so warmly!” Tori exclaimed, clasping his hands together emotionally. “How truly grateful I am!”
Tori was moved all over again hearing the exchange between Flare and Layla. It was pretty much settled at this point-Layla would marry into Quinta. Fine by Kyle, as long as Flare was okay with it.
”Well, if Flare’s fine with it, I don’t have any objections either,” Kyle said, offering a warm smile. “We can work out the details through correspondence from here on…”
”Yes, yes! I look forward to our future as in-laws, Lord Kyle!” Tori cheered, bowing repeatedly.
So somehow, even though Kyle felt like he’d been swept along, it was decided that Layla, a daughter of an old family, would join Quinta as a concubine. It would still be a while with all the preparations and stuff, though.
That night.
After the guests from the old family had gone to sleep, Kyle visited Flare’s room.
It must have been past midnight. Flare let him in with an exasperated look, even though it was way too late by this world’s standards, and then he held her in his arms.
Kyle didn’t know why, but he just desperately wanted to hold Flare right then. Maybe he was feeling anxious.
Afterward, in the dim room, Kyle asked Flare why she’d been so eager to accept Layla.
Flare’s answer was simple. First, she felt she had to take responsibility if her actions had hurt Layla’s chances at marriage. Second, it had been over six months since their wedding and she still wasn’t pregnant, so she figured a concubine might be necessary.
And the biggest reason, she said, was that even though their personalities were different, she and Layla shared similar circumstances-and she couldn’t help but feel for her.
”I have known such happiness since marrying into this house,” Flare said, resting her head against his chest. “Thus, I merely wished for Layla, who shared my plight, to find equal happiness.”
Flare smiled as she said that. Her expression seemed free of lies or jealousy-no negative emotions at all.
”Don’t scare me like that,” Kyle mumbled, pulling her a bit tighter. “You were so eager for Layla to join as a concubine that I started thinking you didn’t even care about me anymore.”
”Hehehe, that is entirely untrue,” Flare giggled, brushing his hair back.
”But you know, accepting someone as a concubine means… well, doing that kind of thing with Layla too, and maybe even having kids..,” Kyle trailed off, looking away slightly. “Doesn’t that bother you, Flare? No jealousy or possessiveness about me being with another girl?”
Being too jealous would be a problem too, but when she wasn’t jealous at all, it made him feel insecure. As a husband, Kyle kind of wanted Flare to be a little jealous. Because if one didn’t really love someone, they wouldn’t get jealous in the first place, so wasn’t it kind of proof that Flare really loved him?
Kyle knew it was a pain, even he thought that, but wasn’t that just how guys were? Or was it just him?
Flare gave a thin smile and answered.
”Well, if that is the nature of the companion thou seekest, we already possess Taris,” Flare noted playfully. “It is hardly a novelty… Furthermore…”
”Furthermore?” Kyle blinked.
”Believe it or not, I am absolute in my conviction that I am the one thou lovest most,” Flare declared, gazing deeply into his eyes. “Is that not so?”
”Y-Yeah, you’re right!” Kyle blurted out, turning red.
Okay, sure, sometimes he messed around with Taris when he wanted to try something special, but there was no doubt-Flare was the one he loved most. He could say that for sure.
”Thou seest?” Flare smiled softly, stroking his cheek. “That is precisely why I do not mind shouldst thou take Layla as a concubine and share her bed. And naturally, that lady-in-waiting Mei as well… She possessed a certain charm we lack, alongside several fine qualities. I observed thee paying keen attention to her, thou knowest.”
Flare giggled as she said that. Look, it was just-when a guy saw big boobs, he was gonna look, right? Kyle didn’t even know who he was making excuses to, but apparently he wasn’t staring that hard. Still, Flare noticed anyway.
”So in the end, so long as I remain thy primary love, that is all which truly matters,” Flare said, leaning closer with an imposing gaze. “Thou dost understand, dost thou not?”
Flare smiled like that, radiating the full presence of an empress. At this point, all Kyle could do was nod.
”Yes, absolutely..,” he squeaked out.
Man, he was really stressed out. He was worried that bringing in Layla as a concubine would make everything super complicated from then on, but that worry just vanished in an instant.
Kyle looked at his wife smiling beside him and thought to himself-yeah, he’d never win against Flare. He realized that all over again.
Trivia:
- The narrative explicitly notes that Layla’s husky, slow voice is pleasant to listen to but almost makes Kyle sleepy, subtly foreshadowing a possible connection between her voice and her plant magic.
- Flare’s empathetic reaction to Layla being an outcast mirrors her own past social exclusion from the same private school, deepening the implied bond between the two women.
- Kyle’s internal reasoning about noble daughters being expected to be helpless reveals his pragmatic adaptation to this world’s social norms, contrasting with his modern Earth-born perspective.
- Flare’s proactive acceptance of Layla as a concubine stems from three layered motivations: guilt over the political fallout, practical concern about producing an heir, and genuine empathy as someone who also faced a difficult political marriage.
- The conservative backlash in the royal capital directly links Flare’s violent scandal to Layla’s diminished marriage prospects, creating an indirect chain of cause and effect that Flare feels obligated to repair.
- Kyle’s sudden, desperate need to hold Flare after the marriage meeting reveals his underlying insecurity—he fears that Flare’s willingness to accept a concubine might mean she doesn’t truly love him, despite her reassurances.
- Flare’s unshakable confidence is so absolute that she transforms Kyle’s anxiety about a concubine into immediate reassurance, showcasing her emotional control over him.
- Despite Kyle’s denials, Flare has already observed and catalogued his wandering eyes toward Mei, proving she is always watching and calculating.
- Kyle’s internal admission that he “messes around with Taris” suggests this is not the first time Flare has permitted such arrangements, hinting at a pattern of controlled indulgence.