I'm the Villain, But the Heroines Keep Choosing Me-Chapter 164: Morning Consequences II

Damien managed to stand up this time, though his legs were still protesting. He located what remained of his shirt – definitely unwearable – and resignedly pulled on just his pants.

"You’re going out there shirtless?" Lyristae asked.

"My shirt is in pieces. Unless you have something that would fit me?"

"Everything I own would be comically small on you." She paused. "Though watching you try to squeeze into one of my dresses would be entertaining."

"Hard pass."

"Your loss."

He made it to the door "Last night was incredible. Worth whatever awkward conversations are coming."

Lyristae’s smile was genuine. "Yeah. It really was."

Damien steeled himself and opened the door to find Seria and Elara waiting in the hallway, both wearing expressions that were carefully neutral.

"Morning," he said.

"Morning," Seria replied. "Nice of you to remember we exist."

"I sent a message."

"You sent a message at eleven last night saying you’d be back in the morning. It’s now almost noon."

"I was... delayed."

"By sex," Elara said flatly. "You were delayed by having sex. All night, apparently, based on the fact that you look like you fought a demon horde and lost."

Damien looked down at himself. Scratches on his chest, marks on his shoulders, his hair was probably a disaster, and he was shirtless and clearly exhausted.

"Okay, yes. Sex. Are you upset?"

"Depends," Seria said. "Did you take contraceptive measures?"

"I— what?"

"Contraception. Please tell me you thought about that at some point during your marathon session."

Damien’s brain, still foggy from lack of sleep and excessive physical activity, took a moment to process that question.

Then horror dawned.

"Oh fuck."

"That’s a no," Elara observed. "You spent all night enthusiastically not pulling out and didn’t once think about consequences."

"The Second core was affecting my decision-making!"

"Your dick was affecting your decision-making," Seria corrected. "The Second Core just gave you the stamina to make poor decisions repeatedly."

"I need to—" He turned back toward Lyristae’s door.

"Already handled," Elara said. "I sent a message to her with contraceptive tea while you were eating breakfast. One of her servants confirmed she received it."

Damien sagged with relief. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome. Now, we need to talk. Somewhere private that isn’t outside your new lover’s bedroom."

They commandeered a small sitting room down the hall. Damien collapsed into a chair while Seria and Elara took the sofa across from him.

"So," Seria started. "How was it?"

"Are you seriously asking me to rate my sexual experience with another woman?"

"Yes. We’re adults. We can discuss this."

"It was... good. Intense."

"Intense enough that you forgot about us," Elara said dryly. "That’s concerning."

"I didn’t, besides I wasn’t thinking clearly!"

"Clearly. Were you thinking at all?"

"Not past ’I have to make her scream,’ no."

Seria snorted. "At least you’re honest. Okay, real talk – how do you feel about her now? After spending the night together."

Damien considered. "There’s definitely something there beyond just physical attraction. Like she matters in ways I’m still figuring out."

"That’s more than we expected this quickly," Elara admitted. "We thought you’d need several dates before developing actual feelings."

"Apparently multiple orgasms accelerate emotional bonding." Seria chimed.

"Or," Damien suggested, "I was already developing feelings and the sex just made me acknowledge them."

"Possible." Seria agreed.

They sat in contemplative silence for a moment.

"Are you okay with this?" Damien asked. "Not just accepting it because you feel like you have to?"

"Honestly?" Elara considered. "It’s weird. But not bad weird. She makes you happy, and we want you happy. Even if that means sharing you with a queen."

Elara stood, moving to examine him more closely. "You’re covered in marks. Scratches, bite marks, bruises."

"It was a wild night."

"I hope so, considering how long you were in there." She tilted his head to examine his neck. "These are going to be visible for days."

"So are hers."

"I imagine the palace staff is having a field day with gossip."

"Lyristae’s mortified about that."

"She should be. Queens don’t usually spend the night with controversial figures like yourself, and be loud enough to announce it."

Damien’s eyes widened. "She wasn’t that loud."

"According to the servant who brought your breakfast, yes she was." Seria was clearly enjoying this. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Oh gods."

"So yes, the entire palace knows. By extension, the entire city will know by sunset." Elara patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Congratulations on your very public sexual conquest of the queen."

"This is a nightmare."

"This is what happens with someone who has a reputation for being reserved. People talk." Seria stood. "Come on. We need to get you back to our quarters and cleaned up before someone sees you looking like this."

"Too late," Elara said, pointing to the window.

Below in the courtyard, several servants were clearly discussing something while looking up toward this wing of the palace. When they noticed Damien in the window, they scattered.

"I’m never going to live this down."

"Nope," Seria agreed cheerfully. "You’re now officially ’the shadow lord who seduced the virgin queen.’ That’s going in history books."

"She seduced me if anything."

"Details. The narrative is already set."

They managed to get Damien back to their quarters without encountering too many people, though the few they did pass immediately averted their eyes while clearly trying not to smile.

Word had definitely spread.

Back in the safety of their rooms, Damien immediately headed for the bath. His entire body needed soaking, and he had marks in places he didn’t want to examine too closely.

Seria and Elara joined him, claiming they needed to "assess the damage."

"You have a bite mark on your shoulder," Elara observed. "That’s going to bruise spectacularly."

"She got carried away."

"Clearly. You have matching ones on your inner thigh."

"Can we not catalog all my injuries?"

"It’s our job to assess your physical condition." But Seria was grinning. "Besides, this is entertaining. You’re usually so controlled. It’s nice seeing evidence that you can completely lose it."

"I didn’t lose it."

All Seria had to do was raise a brow.

"Fair."

They soaked in comfortable silence for a while. The hot water was helping with the muscle soreness, though Damien suspected he’d still be feeling this for days.

"So what now?" Elara asked eventually. "With Lyristae, I mean. Are you dating? In a relationship? What’s the official status?"

"I don’t know. We didn’t define it."

"You spent all night with her and didn’t define the relationship?"

"I mean, we were kind of busy."

"Yes. We’ve established that." Seria splashed water at him. "You need to actually talk to her. Figure out what you both want from this."

"I know. We started to this morning, then you showed up."

"Then go back and finish the conversation. After you’ve recovered enough to walk without limping."

"That might take a while."

"Then it’s a good thing we have the day free," Elara said. "Rest, recover, then go have the mature relationship discussion you avoided by jumping straight to bed."

"I didn’t jump straight to bed. We had dinner first."

"Oh, well then. Dinner first makes it completely different."

Damien splashed both of them, which devolved into a water fight that left the bathroom floor soaked and all three of them laughing.

Later, after they’d dried off and Damien had attempted a nap that his sore muscles made difficult, there was another knock.

A palace servant with a sealed note.

From Lyristae.

*I can walk again. Barely. We should probably finish that conversation. Also, I miss you, which is ridiculous since it’s only been three hours. - L*

Damien smiled despite himself.

"She wants to talk," he told Seria and Elara.

"Then go talk. We’ll be here when you get back." Seria paused. "Try to keep your pants on this time."

"No promises."

Seria threw a book at his head as he dashed out.

He left to the sound of their laughter, heading back toward Lyristae’s chambers.

This time with slightly more clarity and significantly more soreness.

But also with the certainty that whatever this was between them, it was worth exploring.

Even if it meant dealing with palace gossip and relationship logistics and the complexity of loving multiple people.

Some things were worth the complication.

Lyristae was definitely one of them.

Lyristae answered the door herself this time, which told Damien that she’d dismissed her usual attendants. She’d changed into a simple dress – dark green that brought out her eyes – and her hair was pulled back in a practical braid.

She looked beautiful and nervous in equal measure.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, which was absurd considering what they’d done to each other the night before.

"Come in," she finally said, stepping aside. "I had the servants clean while I was bathing. The room is... presentable now."

The bedroom had indeed been restored to order. New sheets, furniture back in place, the torn curtain replaced. No evidence remained of their extremely enthusiastic activities except the faint scent of sex that still lingered in the air.

"Sit anywhere," Lyristae gestured vaguely. "I had tea brought up, though I realize that’s probably inadequate given the conversation we need to have."

Damien sat on the sofa by the window. "Tea’s fine. Better than wine – I don’t think my decision-making needs any more impairment."

She smiled.