"B-b-b-both of them?" Maa asked, her voice stuttering, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. She gripped the armrest of the sofa as if the room had started spinning.

I rose from the chair, moved toward Nymeria and Ume, and said, grabbing the hand of both of them, "Yes, Maa."

Both of them kept their eyes lowered in respect and shyness, their cheeks flushed with colour, as the entire family looked at them with open mouths and wide eyes. Even Inayat paused her play, staring curiously at the two beautiful strangers.

Maa pressed her temples between her thumb and index fingers, rubbing slow circles as she tried to process what I had just said. A deep sigh escaped her lips.

"Maa, I am sorry for not telling you sooner," I said, feeling nervous from her obvious reaction. My heart pounded in my chest.

"Raj, come here," Maa ordered, her head still down, her voice eerily calm.

For some reason, I did not want to go closer to her. Every instinct screamed at me to run. Nonetheless, I moved toward her, taking a deep breath to steady myself.

As I reached closer, Maa slowly bent forward. My eyes widened as I realised what was about to happen.

"M-Maa, c-calm down. Pl-please hear m-me out," I blurted out, my feet instinctively moving backward, my palms raised in surrender.

From her foot, she pulled out the ultimate weapon that had shaped me into the man I was while growing up on Earth. The slipper. That sole piece of footwear, worn and battle tested, had been the instrument of discipline in countless childhood transgressions.

She rose from the sofa, pulled me down by my hair, and launched strikes of relentless slipper attacks on my shoulder. Each hit landed with a sharp smack.

"You shameless brat! You played with the hearts of two innocent girls. Is that what I taught you about being a responsible man?"

The strikes continued as she muttered, her voice rising with each word, "You even kept them hidden right under our nose. You even slept together before marriage. And y-you rascal! Denied everything when I asked you last night about it."

"I am sorry for not being honest, Maa," I pleaded, covering my head with both hands, hunching my shoulders. The slipper found gaps between my fingers anyway.

"Maa, he even choked me when I tried to tell you the truth yesterday," Aryan said from the background, enjoying the situation thoroughly. A wide grin spread across his face as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

His words made the beating continue for twenty more strikes, which should have ended by now. Each additional smack was a gift from my dear brother.

Her beating did not hurt me physically. A slipper could barely do any damage to my superhuman body.

However... my dignity was completely destroyed.

Right before Nymeria and Ume, on top of that. I really wanted to cry now. My face burned with embarrassment. The girls were going to tease me for the rest of my life.

She only stopped when her breathing grew heavy and she became exhausted. Her arm lowered, and she released her grip on my hair, throwing the slipper onto the ground with a final clatter.

"Bring me some water!" She ordered, her voice still sharp, though winded.

"Y-yes, Maa." I bolted toward the table placed in the hall where a water jug and a set of glasses stood waiting, my heart still racing.

While I poured the water, she turned her focus to Nymeria and Ume, who had their hands resting over their mouths, their eyes widened in shock. They had just watched their man, a prince of the mightiest empire of the Western Continent and a literal god, getting beaten with a slipper.

"Your name is Nymeria, right, child?" She asked Nymeria, her demeanor completely flipping to something warm and welcoming.

"Yes," Nymeria nodded, removing her hand from her mouth, struggling to keep herself from bursting into laughter. Her shoulders shook with the effort.

"You look even more beautiful than in his memories," Maa said, her voice calm and sincere.

Her gaze shifted to Ume.

"I am Ume Kitsune," she introduced herself, bowing her head slightly. "I met him in the later years."

"You are also from another world?"

"Yes," Ume answered, keeping her tone respectful, though a hint of nervousness crept into her voice.

"You do not need to be so nervous," Maa said, holding both of their hands gently. "Come, take a seat. Let us talk properly."

As they settled onto the sofa, I brought Maa a glass of water, holding it out with both hands.

"Do I have to tell you to bring water for them as well!?" She hissed with a sharp glare, her eyes cutting through me.

"R-right at it." I pivoted on my feet and went to bring water for Ume and Nymeria as well. Although as goddesses they did not need it, I was in no position to argue with Maa. Not after that display.

Meanwhile, Sister Aisha finally spoke up, still processing everything that had unfolded in the past few minutes. "You both certainly look like beauties from another world. I could look at your faces for a whole day and still not get bored."

An instant blush appeared on their faces, a faint rosy hue spreading across their cheeks.

"Thank you," Ume answered softly.

"You do not need to feel nervous," Sister Aisha chuckled, her voice warm and reassuring. "We are only taken aback because Brother Raj suddenly revealed all of this without any warning. Please, be relaxed."

It was easier said than done. They had just watched me receive the beating of my life. They were afraid of not being accepted by the family.

"My ladies," I said, extending the tray forward with two glasses of chilled water placed neatly upon it.

Both of them grabbed a glass. Ume only took a small sip, her movements delicate, while Nymeria gulped hers down in one go to calm her nerves, her throat bobbing with the effort.

"How many months have you been together?" Maa asked once they placed the glasses back on the tray.

"Maa, we—"

"Shut it!" Maa gave me a sharp glare, her eyes flashing. "Sit on your knees here."

"Yes, Maa," I sighed, moving onto my knees beside the sofa, the marble floor hard beneath me.

"Hands up!"

"Maa..." I whimpered, glancing back and forth between Nymeria and Ume, silently pleading for mercy. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Don’t make me repeat it!"

"Yes." I raised both my hands straight up, parallel to my head, feeling utterly ridiculous.

"Pfftt—cough-cough."

"Sister Nym—pfft—cough, are you okay?"

Both of them were enjoying my misery to the fullest, struggling to keep their laughs under control. Their faces were red with suppressed mirth.

My face turned an intense red with shame. I really wanted to hide myself away in a corner and never emerge.

"He proposed to me two years ago," Ume revealed, her voice steady despite her amusement.

"For me, he had been promised to me in childhood, but we only started living together a year ago," Nymeria added.

Both Sister Aisha and Maa exchanged confused glances. "But he had been in coma until the last month."

"I was not in a coma. My body is split into two. My soul was shifted to another body during the time I was in that state," I explained to them in as simple words as I could, causing another wave of shock to ripple through the room.

"At this point, I do not even want to think logically," Aryan shook his head, standing against the wall beside me, a wide smirk plastered on his face. "Nonetheless, today is the best day of my life."

I glared at him with murderous eyes, my gaze sharp enough to cut steel. ’Just you wait, old shit! You will be paying with compound interest for everything,’ I muttered inwardly, already planning his future misery.

He only gave me an opposing smile in response to my glare, a smug curl of his lips that further added to my fury.

"So you started dating Miss Ume when you had lost your memory of your promised wedding with Miss Nymeria?" Sister Aisha concluded, piecing together the timeline carefully. "In that case, he did not cheat on Miss Nymeria. And because he had already made a promise to Miss Ume, he did not abandon her either. So he has not done anything wrong except trying to hide it from us."

Maa gave a slight nod, understanding my position. Her expression softened as the logic settled in.

She was about to put a stop to my punishment when I said in a firm tone, my voice unwavering, "It was not because of the promise. I love Ume as much as I love Nymeria. It has nothing to do with duty."

Sister Aisha released a sigh, long and deep. She had been helping me escape the punishment, offering me a way out. However, I did not want it like this, not by giving the wrong idea that my relationship with Ume was born out of a forced promise rather than genuine love.

A smile formed on Ume’s lips, her face lowered in blush from my declaration. Her cheeks glowed with warmth. Nymeria also nodded with a satisfied smile from my answer, her eyes glinting with approval.

Maa closely noted the reaction of each of them, observing every flicker of emotion on their faces.

"You can lower your hands," she ordered.

"Thanks, Maa." I instantly lowered my arms, shaking out the stiffness from my shoulders.

After a brief pause, Maa asked, her voice gentle but curious, "So, have you given any thought to marriage?"