After being thrashed by Eilische at the training ground, Rest was immediately carried to his room to receive treatment.
His spine had been on the verge of snapping and his internal organs were a step away from rupturing, but fortunately, his life was not in danger. If anything, it seemed he had been precisely beaten down to the exact point just before healing magic would no longer suffice.
"Rest...!"
"Lord Rest...!"
Viola and Primula—the Rosemary sisters—stayed close to his side, nursing him.
It was a scene that felt like a repeat of their first meeting, but what followed was entirely different. While the sisters were tending to Rest, their mother summoned them to the lounge within the manor.
"...Do you have business with us, Mother?"
"Hmph..."
The two of them glared at their mother as they entered the room. Being subjected to such resentful stares from her beloved daughters, Eilische gave a wry smile as she shifted her crossed legs on the sofa.
"Don't glare at me like that, my lovely daughters."
"But Mother..."
"To go that far was simply cruel..."
"I intended to hold back. Believe me, if I had hugged him for real, his internal organs would have burst right out of him."
"............"
"It was a joke. Stop glaring at your mother so much."
Eilische tried to soothe them, but Viola and Primula’s gazes remained sharp. They were clearly unable to stomach the fact that she had injured Rest so severely.
"That’s enough, both of you. Sit down," interjected their father, Albert, who was also present. "We called you here to talk. Sit."
"............"
"Excuse us."
The sisters sat on the sofa opposite their parents, their posture guarded and wary. Once they had settled in, Eilische spoke.
"Now then... I'm not good at sugarcoating things, so I'll be blunt. Viola, Primula... I want the two of you to bear Rest's children."
"............!?"
"Wait... Hey, watch your phrasing!" Albert hurriedly stood up, shouting at his wife as the two girls sat there, stunned by the bombshell. "At least try to... I don't know, wrap it in a little bit of tact!"
"Being direct is much faster. I've decided to welcome him as a son-in-law of the House of Rosemary. He will marry both of you. I expect each of you to bear at least three children."
"M-Mother... are you really sure about this?" Primula asked timidly.
Beside her, Viola sat with her mouth hanging open, looking like a dazed, hollow-eyed statue.
"Welcoming Lord Rest as a son-in-law makes me... well, very happy. But is it really alright for you to permit both of us to marry him so easily...?"
The proposal was exactly what they wanted. Primula had already decided she wanted to marry Rest, and she expected her sister felt the same. Because it was so convenient, she couldn't help but be suspicious. She worried her mother might have some hidden motive.
"Don't be so wary. I have no ulterior motive," Eilische said, her expression softening slightly. "Originally, I intended for Viola to take a husband to succeed the house, while Primula would marry into another family to forge an alliance. However... when an exceptional talent like him appears, the plan changes. Rather than forming external connections, ensuring he fathers as many children as possible will lead to the prosperity of the House of Rosemary—and this entire kingdom."
"Mother... you must have taken quite a liking to Lord Rest."
"When you trade blows with your fists, you understand the measure of a person," Eilische said with a shrug. "Once, I fought a mage known as the Heavenly Emperor—the Chairman of the Council of Sages and the strongest man in the world. Rest is still immature and lacks experience, but I felt something in him that connects to that man."
"The Heavenly Emperor..."
"If we can secure a mage with potential equal to his, then giving him both my daughters is a small price to pay. Even if you both had cried and screamed that you hated the idea, I would have tied you up and handed you over to him myself."
"............Hey now." Albert grimaced at the comment, unsure if she was joking.
"It's a stroke of luck that it didn't come to that. Since you both like him, things can move quickly. As soon as the entrance exams for the Royal Academy are over, the three of you will be formally engaged. After graduation, you will marry and immediately begin the work of continuing the bloodline."
Eilische continued to drive the conversation forward, pointing a firm finger at the sisters.
"I won't forbid premarital relations, but be careful about contraception! Children born before the marriage is official won't have succession rights, and you'll only make things difficult for them later!"
"...I won't permit premarital relations," the father muttered under his breath, his voice full of quiet resentment.
The conversation had moved so fast that the dazed Viola only now found her voice. "I-Is it really okay? Can the three of us actually get married...?"
"That is what I just said."
"Then... even after graduation, I can stay with Rest and Primula forever?"
"Sister..."
"I'm so happy...!"
Viola beamed with a smile as bright as a blooming rose and threw her arms around her younger sister. Primula smiled back, stroking her sister’s hair. Even as close as the twins were, they had always known they couldn't stay together forever. Eventually, their paths would have diverged.
But by having a man like Rest between them, they could walk the rest of their lives side by side. For them, that was just as wonderful as marrying the man they loved.
"Primula...!"
"Sister...!"
Overwhelmed with emotion, the sisters embraced with tearful smiles. Albert, who had been grumpy about losing his daughters, let his shoulders slump in resignation at the sight of their joy. A warm, peaceful atmosphere filled the lounge.
"Oh... that's right. I forgot to mention one thing."
Eilische's casual remark instantly shattered the harmony.
"I intend to have him father children with several other women as well. I'll select girls of appropriate age from our branch houses and vassals... and depending on how things go, I might gather concubines from other allied houses. Make sure you get along with them, too."
"WH-AAT!?"
Just when everything seemed to have settled perfectly, the announcement blew the peace to pieces. Angry shouts from the parents and daughters echoed through the lounge, and the heated argument continued late into the night.