Chapter 12: I Want Them All (Patreon)

[March 7th: Wings?! Well, guess he's collecting the whole set!]

[Silver Wolf: Classic line. Someone should carve it on a monument.]

[Hu Tao: Ooh, ooh, ooh, This Director likes it nice and blunt!]

[Elysia: Wings, huh? Now that's a textbook player line, isn't it?]

[Keqing: ...Indecent and immoral.]

[Ningguang: At least he's honest about it.]

The livestream carried on.

At that moment, Gusttave stood with his arms spread wide, waiting for Belle and Feixiao to throw themselves into his embrace.

Reality, unfortunately, was cruel.

Without any prior agreement, Feixiao and Belle both drove their fists into his chest at the same instant.

"Wings? Like hell!"

Caught completely off guard, Gusttave went flying.

He slammed hard into the courtyard wall, spiderweb cracks spreading across the surface as dust drifted down.

He pressed a hand to his chest and slowly straightened up — his Ultimate Life Form physique meant a hit like that barely even registered as pain. Looking at the two fuming girls in front of him, he managed a helpless laugh. "That's quite a punch you two pack."

Feixiao planted her hands on her hips, her fox ears twitching upright, a trace of anger still lingering in her deep blue eyes. "That's what you get for talking nonsense! Who said I'd be your wings!"

Belle crossed her arms, her ponytail flicking back and forth, disdain written all over her face. "Exactly. Dream on! You really think the two of us are pushovers?"

Feixiao and Belle exchanged a glance, both huffed at the same time, and turned their heads away.

Wise stood off to the side, a faint blush rising on her pale cheeks, a hint of embarrassment in her gentle features. She gave Belle's sleeve a light tug. "Belle, that's enough."

She said nothing more, but the look she gave Gusttave carried a worry she couldn't quite hide.

She hurried over to his side, drew a handkerchief from her sleeve, and began brushing the dust from his clothes.

"Honestly, Daoist," Wise said, her voice soft and gentle, carrying a note of exasperated reproach. "You knew they'd get upset, and yet you had to go and say something like that."

[March 7th: Hahahaha, serves him right! That's what he gets for running his mouth!]

[Silver Wolf: I thought he was some kind of romance master. Turns out he's a total rookie.]

[Elysia: Hmph, if you play the field, the girls just might team up against you, you know?]

[Keqing: Frivolous words, frivolous conduct. He had it coming.]

Gusttave slid down off the wall, dusted himself off, glanced at the two still-fuming girls in front of him, then at Wise busily brushing off his clothes, and suddenly laughed.

It was a shameless, unbothered kind of laugh.

"Fine, I spoke out of turn," he said, raising both hands in surrender. "But since we've already gotten this far, I won't hide it anymore — all five of you. I'm not letting a single one go."

Feixiao's fox ears shot straight up, Belle's ponytail practically puffed up like a squirrel's tail, and even Wise's hand froze mid-motion as she brushed his clothes.

"You—!"

"Shameless!"

The two voices rang out almost in unison.

Gusttave couldn't have cared less. He strolled leisurely back to the stone table, poured himself another cup of tea, and said unhurriedly, "Go ahead and scold me all you like. I've got nothing but time. You curse at me for a lifetime, I'll listen for a lifetime."

[Kiana Kaslana: This guy's face must be thicker than a city wall corner!]

[Silver Wolf: No, it's a steel plate. The reflect-damage kind.]

[Hu Tao: This Director has seen thick skin before, but never this thick!]

Just then, the soft sound of footsteps drifted in from beyond the courtyard gate.

Huohuo and Tingyun walked in side by side.

Huohuo wore a deep green fox-fur robe, her bearing straight and composed. But the instant her eyes fell on Gusttave, something flickered behind that quiet gaze, and the tight line of her lips eased, just slightly, without her meaning it to.

Tingyun, as ever, fanned herself with her folding fan, a gentle smile on her lips. Her fox ears gave a small twitch as her gaze swept over the people in the courtyard, and she grasped most of the situation at once, a flicker of slyness crossing her eyes. "My, my. Seems we've come at a bad time — interrupting the Daoist's reunion with some young friends."

The moment Feixiao spotted her two elder sisters, she rushed forward, grabbed Huohuo's sleeve, and jerked her chin toward Belle. "Sis, it's this pink-haired girl. The second she showed up, she started trying to steal him from me."

Belle spun around and glared. "Steal him? He's the one who came sniffing around me first!"

[March 7th: Whoa, all three Tushan sisters are here! The love triangle just leveled up!]

[Silver Wolf: Now that's the whole family bucket, no joke.]

[Kaeya: Tsk tsk tsk, pink-haired sisters on the left, fox spirit sisters on the right — how does this bastard get so lucky!]

[Kiana Kaslana: So many cute girls surrounding him, it's really enviable... wait, no, I mean infuriating!]

[Bronya (Honkai Impact 3rd): Silly Kiana, you let it slip.]

Tingyun's fan kept moving, her gaze flicking briefly to Wise before settling back on Gusttave's face, her smile carrying just the right touch of knowing amusement. "You're quite the fortunate one, sir — beauties follow you wherever you go. Though I wonder, this time, how exactly do you plan to settle these young ladies?"

The question sounded light and easy, but it put everyone on the spot.

Gusttave fell silent for a moment before answering. "I'll pick an auspicious date and go to propose marriage at both the Divine Fire Manor and Tushan."

The instant the words left his mouth, the whole courtyard fell so silent even the wind seemed afraid to stir.

Feixiao's fox ears froze mid-twitch, disbelief written across her wide eyes.

Tingyun's fan stopped mid-motion, hanging still in front of her chest. For the first time, real, genuine shock showed in those peach-blossom eyes that always carried a hint of a smile.

Huohuo's reaction was the most obvious of all — her fingers clenched hard into her sleeve, knuckles going white, and across a face that had carried a century of melancholy, a flicker of unmistakable panic broke through like ice melting away.

Belle opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again, like a fish flopping on dry land.

Belle instinctively turned to look at her sister, only to find Wise had already turned her face away, leaving nothing visible but the tip of her ear burning red and her shoulders trembling faintly.

[March 7th: Ahhhhhhhh he said it!!! He actually said it!!!]

[Silver Wolf: Wow, I've got no other word but wow. One foot he's getting punched into a wall, the next he's proposing marriage. This guy really isn't afraid to die.]

[Hu Tao: This Director has lived this long and never once seen someone propose to five people at once!]

[Kiana Kaslana: Wait, is he serious?! Five of them?!]

[Yanfei: From a legal standpoint, he's already committed bigamy.]

[Silver Wolf: The guy transmigrated to another world. What law is he even bound by?]

[Keqing: Indecent and immoral! A disgrace to propriety!]

[Ningguang: Though come to think of it, if he really could marry all three Tushan sisters and both Dongfang daughters at once, the alliance of power behind it... would actually be a shrewd move.]

[Bronya (Star Rail): Miss Ningguang, aren't you focusing on the wrong thing here?]

Tingyun was the first to recover.

She started fanning herself again, the fan hiding half her face, leaving only a pair of peach-blossom eyes curved into crescents visible above it. Her tone returned to its usual gentle composure. "Are you serious about that, my benefactor?"

"Dead serious," Gusttave said with a nod, his tone utterly resolute. "I never joke about things like this."

[Author's Note: Mid-Autumn Festival reading event! Recharge 100 and get 500 VIP coupons! Grab it now (Event period: September 25 to September 27).]