I am Ren.
"Ababababa~" "Babu~" "Meow~"
Morning. I was awakened by the voices of the sextuplets in their cribs.
It was a bit tiring, but they still required less effort than Normal Species humans. Their eyes had opened, and their vocal cords were fully developed. The cooing period had been almost nonexistent; they had transitioned to babbling immediately. They didn't yet possess the intelligence to be self-aware, so they just cried "mya-mya."
They seemed to be hungry. I rang the bell.
A lady-in-waiting arrived and began feeding them milk. I picked up the children who needed breastfeeding according to their tags and began nursing them. I took turns with each of them. Formula wasn't particularly a problem either, though.
As Husband-sama had suspected, it seemed the biological strength of humans in the Galactic Empire had weakened. Apparently, many people couldn't produce breast milk, and natural childbirth was difficult for most. Perhaps because of that, the survival skills of infants had reached an extraordinary level. With medical care at the level of the Imperial Capital, they almost never died. I was truly grateful to Veronica-chan.
Even so, our little cats were just so cute. I couldn't tell yet if they looked exactly like their papa, but they were all beautiful kittens with fine coats.
Much like Husband-sama, many people at the Officer Academy had struggled with family relationships. Usually, it was either a matter of being treated as a nuisance or being crushed by noble obligations. There were many like me who had made deals with their father’s legal wife or their siblings: "In exchange for leaving the house after graduation, promise not to target my life or my younger brother’s."
It hadn't been uncommon for blood to be shed over the inheritance of noble titles. Now, Veronica-chan had completely banned such things. Since that alone would have caused friction, she had apparently created an arbitration agency. I heard that succession disputes were decreasing. To begin with, the Zork War had caused casualties even among noble houses, so that was also a factor... It would likely all be resolved in time.
Since the number of births per person was despairingly low, it was common sense to have multiple wives. And yet... Husband-sama had managed to get Veronica-chan pregnant, even though she was supposed to be the most difficult to conceive. Was he actually a member of the Beast Race after all? Instinctively, I felt like he was one of us.
Melissa-chan was feeling depressed. She was young, so I didn't think she needed to be that down. The test results had only shown that she possessed a genetic factor specific to the descendants of the Imperial Family. Veronica-chan naturally had the factor as well. Claire-chan and Husband-sama did not. Since I am Beast Race, the factor was apparently excluded from my system. It was because we were stronger.
With a burp, the nursing session finished. The lady-in-waiting handed me a jelly drink. It was for a mother’s physical recovery. Mine was prescribed with a focus on amino acids and soy protein isolate. The Beast Race can synthesize vitamins within our bodies, after all. Since I had just given birth, I needed a massive amount of protein.
More than this, I wanted to eat meat... Of course, breakfast was served separately, but... I wanted to eat a whole roasted pig...
...Alright.
I ate breakfast. As expected, it wasn't enough. However, I had a plan. Once it reached a reasonable hour, I contacted a friend: Melissa’s older sister. When we had spoken previously, we had hit it off immediately.
"Uta-san, would you like to go to an all-you-can-eat yakiniku place? Naturally, Leonidas-sama is welcome to join us. My treat, of course."
"I'm in!"
I hadn't been using my salary. After that, I pushed the childcare onto the lady-in-waiting and Husband-sama... I mean, I entrusted it to them and headed out for yakiniku.
"I am so sorry for Uta's idiocy!" Leonidas-sama said, bowing in apology.
"It's quite alright, we're friends. I wanted to go out once in a while, too. Besides, Leonidas-sama, you are a relative. There's no need for reserve."
Leonidas-sama was Husband-sama’s clone, but his appearance was quite different. He was more of a wild type. In Husband-sama, a beast-like ferocity flickered within a suppleness reminiscent of a feline, much like the Beast Race. In contrast, Leonidas-sama gave the impression of a powerhouse, like a member of the Galactic Empire Space Marines Special Forces. He wasn't fat by any means, but the impression was entirely different.
Now, for the meat. Uta-san and I looked at each other and laughed.
"Meeeaaaaattttttttttt!"
All-you-can-eat yakiniku. It was our amusement. I chose the most expensive course. Truthfully, a high-end restaurant would have been fine, but Uta-san would have held back if it wasn't all-you-can-eat. She tended to be reserved in strange ways. That part of her was cute and very much like Melissa-san’s sister.
"Hey, hey, Ren-chan. Why didn't you bring His Majesty?"
"If I'd mentioned it, Husband-sama would have bought a whole cow and started hosting a barbecue."
I wasn't in that kind of mood. I wanted to eat the restaurant's meat!
"Ah... well, His Majesty is pretty confident in his cooking, after all..."
Exactly. Furthermore, he was actually good at it, so I couldn't even complain. Saying "I am going out with a friend" was the easiest way. The lady-in-waiting serving as my guard was at a different table. The evidence was perfect. Yes, I was going to savor the restaurant's meat!
Short ribs, short ribs, short ribs!
"Hey, hey, Ren-chan. They have limited-time steaks."
"Steaks!"
Chunks of meat. They were justice. While we were devouring meat, Leonidas-sama was eating a Choregi salad. Come to think of it, Husband-sama always started with vegetables, too.
"Captain! Eat meat, meat!"
"I'm the type who eats vegetables before meat!"
"Are you a girl?! Hey, Captain. Want some offal?"
"I'll eat it."
"Okay, okay. Ordering now."
"Fufufufufu."
"What is it, Ren-chan?"
"I was just thinking how nice it is that you two get along so well."
"That's the composure of a married woman for you!"
In fact, I was a married woman. Fufu, I had even given birth to children. I was invincible.
"By the way, have you two officially started dating?"
"Fufufufufu... He's my Kare-pi!"
"...I'm worried because we haven't progressed past a middle-school level, though," Leonidas-sama muttered.
Uta-san delivered a chop to Leonidas-sama.
"Uta-san may look like this, but she was raised as a lady of a high-born house, after all."
"And this is the end result of wasting my youth on judo. Right, Captain?"
"Don't say it yourself!"
Somehow our wavelengths matched, so being with Uta-san was fun. Veronica-chan and Claire-chan were also friends, but... they were family, too. This was a bit different.
While eating meat, Leonidas-sama was grilling corn.
Was he a girl?! As expected of Husband-sama’s clone, their behavior patterns were similar. Even so, sisters falling for men with the same genes... how interesting.
The meat was delicious.