Chapter 366: Similar Worlds and Different Traditions
Gina didn’t know when she raised her voice in the middle of her rant, but she was now glaring at the floor with her face twisted into a deep frown! Gina’s mind went back to what she had seen on the balcony earlier, and she felt that anger and annoyance rising from her heart once again! Riyala didn’t know it until now, but she had finally realized what it was that she felt! She felt betrayed! She felt like Riyala had betrayed her trust by going to do something like that! Gina already knew that Riyala loved Jason, and Gina had even been willing to talk to Riyala about it, but rather than waiting and talking properly, Riyala had gone and made a move on him behind Gina’s back!
’I thought we were friends. I shared everything with her, and this is how she repays me?’
All of this really hurt Gina, and Gina felt tears coming to her eyes as she thought about it, but Gina eventually realized that none of the women around her were saying anything. Gina looked up in surprise to see what was wrong, and she was shocked to see that all the old women had looks of confusion on their faces as they glanced at Gina. It was almost like they couldn’t believe what had just come out of Gina’s mouth, and they were trying to tell whether or not she was joking. Gina finally asked the women what was wrong with them, and one of the old women at the side spoke gently.
"So, uhm, if I’m not mistaken. Your issue is that your intended mate is... too desirable?"
It was probably the most absurd thing the old woman had ever heard, and Gina could tell from the woman’s look that she thought it was absolute madness. Gina nodded her head slowly towards the woman, and the woman put her hand up to her mouth to try and stifle a chuckle that threatened to burst out!
"Heheheh!"
"Haha! I really can’t believe this."
"Oh my, you are quite precious, aren’t you, child?"
Gina felt a blush rising on her cheek as all the women around her began to chuckle as well. There was amusement running across the entire gathering of women, and Gina felt completely left out of the joke! She watched them all for a few seconds, and she was surprised to see that even Hadjar was laughing softly. Hadjar was still stroking the head of the child on her lap, and she came down from her quiet laughter before gently smiling. She used her hand to tell the other women to calm down as well.
"Come now, there’s no need for all that. You’re embarrassing our guest, and that wouldn’t do. Look at her, she’s practically glowing red!"
The other women seemed to realize that they were making Gina’s head turn red from embarrassment, and they apologized with amused smiles still on their faces. Gina turned to Hadjar and asked her what they were all laughing about! Gina had poured her heart out to them, and this was how they reacted! Hadjar gently stroked Gina’s hair as she apologized sincerely, but the smile was still on her face.
"I’m so sorry, child. I know our reaction is not at all what you expected from us, but there was really no other way we could respond to your words. You see, in our culture, things are very different. We do not see the desirability of our men to be a disadvantage to our courting, and we know that the more powerful a man is, the more desirable and tempting he would be to other women. That is why we do not have anything against our men taking on multiple wives. As a matter of fact, all of the women you see sitting here today are my sister-wives. We are all married to the same one man."
Gina’s eyes almost bulged out from her skull when she heard this, and she looked around at the seven women sitting around the campfire! They were all married to one man!? How was that even possible!? Gina could tell that each of the women had their own personality and pride, and they all carried themselves with a grace that could only come from possessing very high self-esteem! How were they able to share one man and keep themselves from fighting over him!?
Gina turned to Hadjar, and she spoke in a low voice.
"How?"
Hadjar’s smile widened.
"It’s simple, little dragon. I am the first person he truly loved and the first to enter his heart, and that makes me the headwife. I know that the other wives respect the power I hold over them in this relationship, and they appreciate that I do not abuse that power. We all love our husband, and we all know that he loves us all. From what I have seen, things are very similar between your world and our own, especially in terms of how our people developed mentally and physically. This might not be true for every world, but in our world, men and women are not the same, little dragon. My heart is his and his alone, and I could never see myself loving anyone else while I loved him, but I know that he can love more than one, and I have accepted this reality. And that reality is what brought us all together as sister-wives. I would not have preferred to live my life any other way."
Gina could only stare at the older woman with shock written all over her face.
....
[Inside the Royal Palace.]
Jason followed behind the young female servant named Triya, who had come to call him, and he was holding the hand of the little child Lara, who came with her. Lara rattled on and on about the most pointless things while swinging Jasn’s hand, and Jason could tell that the girl was excited to be around him, so he simply smiled as she spoke. But Jason wasn’t completely focused since he was wondering what the King could want to meet with him for.
"- So I used the trap to catch the golden fish, but there was a greetail swordnose fish in the water, and it used its magic to drag the golden fish out and eat it before I could come get it! All it left behind was the head! It was so funny!"
The girl was talking about the time she and her sister had gone fishing together, and Jason found himself wondering who the fuck was in charge of naming the animals on Radagan? A greentail swordnose fish? That was a terrible name for any animal!
’Well, I guess it’s not so different from the swordfish back on Earth. That sort of name is a little on the nose.’
Jason chuckled at his own joke, but Lara’s voice suddenly drew him out of his thoughts again.
"What about you, Sir Jason! Do you ever go fishing –?"
"We’ve arrived, Sir Jason. Lara, come here, let’s not bother him."
Triya suddenly motioned for Lara to come to her, and Lara’s face fell sadly as she realized that she was going to have to let him go. Jason leaned down and kissed Lara on the head before speaking with a smile.
"Thanks for keeping me company, Lara. I’ll see you later."
Lara’s entire face seemed to turn red the moment she felt Jason kiss her head, and she ran and hid her face in Triya’s robes from embarrassment! Jason smiled at the little girl’s action before he nodded to Triya and entered the throne room. The moment Jason entered, he noticed that there were various soldiers standing inside the room, along with a long line of noble-looking men and women arranged on either side of a long red carpet leading up to a long table! One of the soldiers at the side called out in a loud voice.
"ATTENTION!"