Chapter 23. Reunion and Confession

"Ken. Time to get up and get ready." Emma whispered softly in Ken's ear.

With Genesis refusing to sleep in Emma's room and kept sneaking into Ken's bed every night. Emma eventually gave up on stopping her and instead would just follow her into Ken's room and the two would squeeze into his two-person wide bed and sandwich Ken in the middle.

Luckily for Ken, since he is a deep sleeper, he never noticed the girls when they crawl into his bed at night. One problem he faced every morning was waking up tightly in between two beautiful girls and trying to remain calm enough to not let his lust take over. Instead of getting easier, it got harder each morning for him to contain his urges and he is thankful it's finally time to head back to the academy.

After a hearty breakfast and teary siblings that's sad to see both Ken and Emma go, Ken gave most of the gold he had left to his mom and advised that there should be enough to last the family for a whole year or more but with both him and Emma having a stable income, the family doesn't have to be as frugal and he will bring more gold home by year end.

Saying goodbye to his younger siblings, Ken advised them to keep on studying and learning from the notes he left them from his studies and the lessons he taught them in the past month. After talking to all of them together, Ken pulled Gwen to the side, he thanked her for the chat and asked her to take care of all the younger siblings while sneaking her the leftover coins to get something nice for herself.

At exactly 9am, Genesis and Ken's necklace started to glow and with Ken holding Emma's hand, the three disappeared in front of the family and instantly, they appeared back at the academy.

While Emma stared in awe at the sheer size, grand decorations and extravagant furniture in their common room, Ken couldn't help but smile at her reaction and remembering how he felt exactly the same just half a year ago when he experienced all of this for the first time.

As Ken had his attention on Emma while still holding her hand, he felt someone hugging him firmly from behind. Before he could even take a guess at who was hugging him from behind, he felt lips on his neck as he got hugged from both the left and right as well.

"Are you trying to give me a hug because you are happy to see me or are you just excited to drink my blood?" Ken joked as he got sandwiched by the three girls.

When Ken said he made friends with a vampire, a wolf girl and an elf princess. Emma knew something wasn't adding up from the way the wolf girl acted during the tournament. Now that she had seen the way they acted, Emma knew immediately that their feelings for Ken were obviously more than just simple friendship.

"All I have been thinking about is you this whole entire month and the moment I saw you, you are out here holding another girl's hand! I have been thinking about this the whole month and we really need to have a talk." Alice complained as she finished drinking Ken's blood for her first fresh meal in a month.

"Ken, I need to talk to you in private as well." Clare added while staring at Emma suspiciously.

"Before we do anything, let me just take my sister to the staff room so they can interview her for a possible job. Once we are done, I also have some things I want to discuss with all of you so we can all sit down and have a nice long chat" Ken responded calmly.

As expected, all of the girls tagged along with Ken as the group headed for the staff room to get Emma's situation settled. Along the way, the three girls all whined about how much they missed him and complained about every little detail that happened while they were separated.

While Lovetta and Genesis knew that Ken had spoken with the staff during the tournament to have Emma teleported over for a job interview. Since Alice and Clare spent those days mostly with family, they were totally in the dark about this sudden appearance of a sister and tried their best to pry information out of Ken and see what the exact relationship is like between the two.

As the rowdy group reached the staff room, due to Ken's carelessness and not paying attention to where he was going, he walked straight into a girl and almost knocked her down. Reactively reaching out, Ken thankfully managed to prevent her from falling face first.

"I am so sorry! Please forget me! I did not stand in your way on purpose!" Before Ken could apologize for his carelessness, the girl was the one that started apologizing frantically.

While Ken is decently tall, he isn't the tallest by any means at 6 feet, but next to him, the girl looked tiny and at most 5 feet tall. Petite with hip length ocean blue hair and hazel eyes, the nervous girl who had been apologizing none stop looked to be human.

After a full semester at the academy, Ken quickly understood her behavior. For most low-level commoners who haven't had Ken's luck of befriending the princess of Yelwraek, their life at the academy is anything but pleasant.

Treated much worse than even servants, Ken had witnessed plenty of commoners getting bullied harshly by those higher on the pecking order for various reasons. And as much as he wanted to step in and help at times, Ken knew any intervention by him would only cause more issues especially since he is just a powerless commoner himself.

"Sorry for almost running you over, it's completely my fault and you have nothing to apologize about. If you ever feel like you need some help, you can come look for us." Ken offered as the girl ran off while still apologizing.

With the sudden appearance and disappearance of the girl, the group was still trying to comprehend what had just happened when a staff member came over and asked them what they needed. After explaining that Emma is here for a job interview from the noticeboard, the staff member sent the group over to a plump, cheery, middle-aged lady named Agnes who was the head of the housekeepers.

The interview process was short and sweet and without any issues, Emma was hired on the spot to be a housekeeper for the academy. With the academy's wealth and the importance of its status, the housekeeping staff can only be overstaffed and never under.

After going over the details with Emma, she was provided with a bracelet to input her information and to get her payment. Something that Ken never paid attention to before was that the bracelet they wore was red and the one given to Emma was green.

When asked Agnes what the different colored bracelets mean, she happily explained that red is for students, blue for professors and green is for the housekeepers and other staff members who aren't professors.

After having all her information input on the bracelet and her activation spell setup, the group followed Agnes to the housekeeper headquarters where Emma would be provided a bed in the dorm like the students.

Since Ken got a dorm room to himself with 5 open beds, he asked if she could just stay with him and before Agnes could even respond, the request got shut down by the other four girls immediately. Laughing at their aggressive rejection of Ken's suggestion, Agnes told them that for the free dorms, even if there are open spots, only the ones that got assigned can stay in the room. However, for the paid rooms, depending on the size, up to a certain number of people can be registered and there are no restrictions as to who can share a room.

"Ken! I didn't even know that was the case! You should ditch the dorm and come live in my room." Alice offered while the other girls instantly rejected her suggestion. After much discussion amongst the girls, they decided Lovetta and Emma would go live in Clare's room while Genesis would move in with Alice.

"Isn't the point of getting a private room to live alone?" Ken wondered not sure why the girls wanted to move in together.

After telling Ken that living with friends is not the same as with strangers, and it's good to have friends to talk with in private, Ken moved on from the topic, not able to understand their way of thinking.

With the living arrangement resolved, the final task for Emma is to pick the shift she wanted to work. Unlike students who get a day off from classes every Sunday, the housekeepers are required to work daily but with an over-staffed team, they only need to work a 5-hour shift daily and can request days off when needed but at a deduction from their 200 points monthly salary.

Emma decided to work an 8am to 1pm shift after learning about Ken's daily schedule, so she could be there to wake him up every morning and also be with him in the afternoon. After having everything set up, Agnes provided Emma with where she needed to be on Monday morning and also provided her with two sets of uniforms for free with additional ones costing her points if needed.

Thanking Agnes for all of her help, the group headed back to the staff room to have the room situation updated and headed to the dining room for a simple lunch after they decided to head to town for a big dinner to celebrate the union.

"Did you think that merman girl was cute Ken?" Clare asked out of nowhere as the group ate in the dining hall.

"She was a merman? I didn't even notice."

"I saw her gills when her hair moved. Now answer my question, do you think she is cute or not."

"Yeah, she was cute. But I didn't talk to her because of her looks, Clare. I almost ran her over and just felt bad for how nervous she was most likely due to getting bullied." Ken answered honestly.

"If it was a guy and not a cute girl, would you have offered to help if needed?" Clare asked suspiciously.

"You know, you are right. If it was a guy, I probably wouldn't have said what I did."

"Remember I want that private chat?" Clare reminded Ken, clearly not happy with his answer.

"We can talk during dinner. I got some things I want to clear up as well."

"Fine. Oh, and I asked my uncle Zishell for you, he said he managed to awaken and that's why he is no longer losing to Julius but won't go into any details what it meant so I guess we won't know why he got stronger." Clare advised nonchalantly to a curious Ken wondering what exactly awakened meant.

After lunch, the girls went and got their new room situation set up while Ken decided to go to the training facility to get some weight training done since he lacked the equipment at home. All he had to weight train with were bags of flour and rice, and it just wasn't the same as proper equipment.

When the girls finally met up with him in the training facility, it was already late afternoon and Ken had no clue what could have taken them this long to get some simple room update done.

"What took you all so long to get ready?" Ken wondered when the girls finally showed up.

"They were interrogating me." Emma replied feeling drained from getting bombarded with questions.

"Hey! Don't you girls try to bully my little sister!"

"Ken. I am almost a full year older than you! Stop calling me your little sister! They weren't bullying me, just asking me a bunch of questions and it's mostly about you."

"OH! Clare! Your birthday was during the break! Did you have a good party? Sorry we couldn't celebrate it together but happy belated birthday!" Ken suddenly remembered that Clare's birthday was on 7/7 when they were all separated.

"Thanks for remembering my birthday. My mom and two sisters celebrated it with me, but I wish you could have been there." Clare answered while grabbing onto Ken's arm as the group headed for town.

After arriving in town, the group headed to one of the popular restaurants where it was already getting crowded and busy before the sky had even turned dark. Getting a table in the corner away from the view and the crowd, the group settled down as Clare volunteered to go order and pay for the food.

While the group sat around and chatted about what they did during their break and whatnot, dish after dish arrived at their table and soon, with their table filled to the edge, the waitress informed them that all of the dishes they had ordered had been delivered.

Shocked at the extravagant feast with all types of dishes she had never seen before, Emma was at a loss where to begin until Ken started putting things onto her plate and telling her to just try everything and then double down on what she liked the best.

As the group ate, the tension started to build up slowly as the girls got less and less talkative and spent more time staring nervously at Ken, not sure what he wanted to talk about. Noticing the obvious tension, Ken gathered his thoughts and what he had been pondering during the break and started to speak.

"When I was home, I had a heart-to-heart conversation with one of my sisters and it had me reevaluating my decisions and behaviors last semester and how I want to move forward.

I am not stupid or oblivious, so I am sure that you girls have feelings for me beyond just simple friendship. But! If I am wrong and you do think of me just as a friend, please speak up right now so I don't make a fool out of myself thinking that all of you like me when it's only my imagination."

While Ken waited to see if anyone would respond, it was obvious that all of the girls had feelings for him and none of them thought of him as just a simple friend.

"I know all of you have given me clear signs of interest and I have either not responded or tried to joke around it and have acted very vaguely. While I have not given any of you a clear answer, I have also not done anything to show that I'm not interested and it's all because of my selfishness.

After talking to my sister, I realized that everything I had done at the academy was for my own survival and that all my actions were purely to protect myself. I had ignored your feelings and possibly ended up hurting you and I just want to lay everything on the table now, so it doesn't continue any longer."

For the whole month that they were home, all Clare, Alice and Lovetta could think about was how Ken felt about them and after a month of preparation, they all decided to ask Ken directly for an answer. But now that he is all serious and wanted to express his feelings, they all of a sudden felt a sense of fear and nervousness.

"I know most girls want to feel special and as my sister said, she wants a man who's only got her in his heart, and I know that's probably how every girl feels. But I am just not that person. I am greedy, selfish and I have fallen in love with every single one of you and I don't want to let any of you go.

That's why I have been so vague with my feelings, be that it's unintentional and I have only realized that after talking to my sister. I know what I have been doing is wrong now and it's not fair to any of you, so I want to apologize and to set things straight.

I know I sound arrogant in saying this, but I want all of you to myself. I am a nobody with no money, status, money or power but I still don't want to see any of you with another man, yet at the same time, I want you to be fine with me having relationships with multiple girls.

Just saying it out loud makes me feel like an imbecile but that's just how I truly feel, and I can't change my desires. And it's not only with you girls, but I have also thought about what Clare said earlier, I don't think I can refuse a girl I find attractive, and I definitely can't promise I won't fall in love with more girls.

So, I want to lay everything out in the open since it's not fair to any of you with how selfish I am, and it took my little sister to help me realize that. I don't want to tie any of you down with my vagueness and selfishness.

I am not a good person, I am selfish, greedy, and obviously an orphan with nothing on top of all that with who knows what other flaws that I haven't noticed yet. Even with all my flaws, one thing I can confidently say is that I do try my best and if I have a flaw I can fix, I will try my best to fix it.

But something I can't fix or maybe just don't want to change is loving who I want to love freely and if that is not what you are looking for and want to be with a man who will love you and you alone then I think it's best if we part ways now before I break your heart.

As much as I would miss any one of you or maybe I will lose all of you because of what I just said, I think it's best for me to be upfront now instead of being indecisive and end up hurting all of you more than I might have already."

Having talked to Gwen about playing with a girl's heart and how he should be upfront and honest. Ken has thought about all the interactions he had with each of the girls up to now and just how much they all meant to him and in these short few months, he realized he no longer wanted to be without them and how much he missed the three during the month-long separation.

After letting out all of his thoughts, Ken sat patiently waiting for the girls to process what he had said.

"Let me ask you this, Ken. I am sure you have thought about it, but which ones do you think will stay with you and for what reason?" Alice asked Ken to break the awkward silence.

"I know Emma will be with me for sure since we've been together since birth, so she probably knows all my flaws and has been dealing with my selfishness. I got to know Genesis very well, especially in the past month, and I think she will stick with me as well. I am also almost certain Lovetta will not leave me, but it will be good to know for sure.

For Clare and you, I honestly have no clue. Both of you are from such high-class families with wealth, power and everything else. For the two of you to even be interested in someone like me is already remarkable enough and with my selfish desires and your personalities, I can honestly see you two walking away and I have come to terms with that possibility."

"You know, my father has so many wives and concubines that he has seen my mom less than 5 times in the past 10 years. I have so many siblings that I don't even know the names and faces of most. I honestly don't think my father loves any of his women and simply uses them to satisfy his lust and to produce children to use as pawns. If that is what you meant by love freely then I will not be a part of it." Clare replied while thinking back to her mother and Cecilla's mother and how both of them lacked any love from her father.

"It's probably the opposite, Clare. I can't stop thinking about the three of you during the month break and I have missed all of you so much that it made me realize I don't want to be apart from you at all and how terrible it would feel if someone else was with you instead." Ken answered sincerely.

"FINE! But you can't just go around looking at every cute girl like she should be yours." Clare replied while turning red at Ken's confession.

"You know Ken, I already told you once no matter how many girlfriends you have, I am never leaving you." Lovetta confirmed while Genesis and Emma also left no room for doubt with their intentions.

"Ken, unlike them, I am not just going to let you be selfish and greedy and do whatever you want. I will make sure to actively discourage you from looking for any new potential lovers and do everything I can to give any new lovers you do find a hard time so they will leave you willingly unless they really think you are worth the hassle of dealing with me."

"I guess the annoying vampire does have her uses." Clare commented.

With everything now out in the open, the mood suddenly lightened greatly. Ken was able to express how he felt about the girls, and from their actions, he felt relieved that none of the girls regarded their decision to fall in love with him.

For the girls, while they obviously would have preferred if Ken was in love with just one person and that person is them, just knowing how he felt was enough for the group to get back to the cheery mood of finally reuniting and after they finished up on the feast, the group returned to the academy and called it a night before the start of the second semester of school life.