"Hey... how long do we have to keep living like this?"
I, Lida, complained to my two childhood friends a little while after the wedding.
"Well... maybe four or five years?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
Maria and Mel said it calmly, but still...
Being constantly teased and stopped just before the point of no return—it's driving me crazy.
I'm boyish, almost like a boy.
Being seen that way, I wonder if Ceres even sees me as a woman anymore.
But I am a proper girl... it's embarrassing, but I do have desires.
No, thanks to Zect, I have them more than usual.
Maria, Mel, and I are still virgins, but we're already in a pretty heated state.
Because we've done everything right up to the last line... just stopped before crossing it.
Back when I hoped to join the Hero (Yuusha) party, we did some really stupid things. Zect and I would deliberately tease Ceres every night, stopping just before the final step.
At first, it was just letting him touch my chest while naked, but it escalated gradually... and eventually, we even did things like sumata (T/N: sexual activity without penetration).
But the Hero party is destined to fight demons.
Even if someone got pregnant, we couldn't just stop fighting until the child was born...
We couldn't get the contraceptive tattoos called "preventing pregnancy seals" because of the Hero party rules...
No matter what we tried, we couldn't cross that final line.
Not even Zect did.
But then, the fight against the Demon King was canceled because Ceres intervened.
After that, all sorts of things really happened... yeah, a lot really did happen.
Eventually, everything settled, and Zect, Princess Marin, Luna-chan, and I got married.
Up to that point, everything was fine...
Zect and Princess Marin spent their wedding night together.
Well, she's the legitimate wife, so it can't be helped.
The problem came after that...
The head concubine was Luna-chan.
Which means... we couldn't have our first night before her.
That's the situation.
Even though we were forced to wait during the Demon King's defeat journey... now we have to wait again.
At this rate, we'll turn into old women before anything happens.
"Are you two okay with waiting this long?"
"Can't be helped! You have to respect the order of rank, right? And could Lida really say 'I'll have my first night before cute little Luna-chan'?"
When they put it that way... I couldn't argue.
"Even I can't say that."
"Yeah..."
Zect is fine.
He gets to spend every day with Princess Marin...
But we have to wait here.
Sigh... isn't that awful?
Maria, Mel, and I tried consulting Zect.
"Hmm... if I talk to Marin, I have to follow the rank order... plus Luna is still a child. I'm not cruel enough to sleep with the current Luna."
"Eh— but you did some pretty questionable things with Mel, right?"
"Hey, Lida... we're the same age."
"Looks-wise, they're pretty similar!"
"No, Lida, Mel just looks young, but is the same age."
"Looks young? What does that even mean!"
Well, Mel looks like a loli, but inside she's the same age as us.
"Anyway, imagining me with Luna... I can't. I feel half like she's my daughter."
"Exactly. Wait until your feelings are ready."
What could I say to that? Nothing.
I secretly asked Ceres too, without telling our mothers...
"Even after five years, you'll still be in your twenties. Your charm as a woman is just beginning!"
"But... I'll be an old woman by then, won't I?"
"You're not an old woman in your twenties! Your appeal as a woman is just starting!"
Sigh... I guess that's true.
From Ceres' perspective, with our mothers as his wives, it makes sense.
In the end... I guess we just have to wait.
Notes:
• Marin - A Princess. Zect's legal wife and a princess.