The law of Fiction: Harem in the fiction world

The occurrence of the pool was not as jarring as Yohan's mind reminding him that he had seen this place. Maybe a lot of times by now as well. But he could not recall a single instance where this place had appeared in front of him.

But indeed, his mind had not just started playing tricks on him, right? It would be beyond sad if that were to happen.

'Don't tell me that I am finally going senile after all this time. Did the burden of two realm keys become too much for my body?'

The impossible seemed through filtered through Yohan's mind but he quickly discarded it. His mental image should not be this stimulating if he was going mad.

This place just had too many fine details for it to have come out of his brain.

So then the question was, what was this place and why was Yohan brought here first? What kind of significance did this place hold in his life?

"Should I look into the water? I have a feeling I might be able to discover something if I do."

Yohan followed his gut and looked into the crystal-clear water in front of him. White hair and red eyes, that was the reflection that stared back at him.

His image was looking at him without any obstruction and everything seemed to be alright. So why was the paranoia rising inside Yohan's mind? His heart had started beating irregularly as well.

'This is not good. I should get myself out of this mirage.'

Yohan's mind and body felt disconnected. The water was pulling Yohan's consciousness into its depths and he wanted to touch the water and feel its wetness on his hand. Even now, his body was resisting the wet feeling but his hand was already submerged in water.

He tried to pull his hand out but then another body emerged from around him and a hand landed on his arm. This one was distinctively female but Yohan did not feel the presence of another body behind him.

His shoulder tensed up as the ghostly presence touched him and tried to provoke him. It was just too cold around him right now.

"You should not look that startled when seeing me. Someone would think that I bullied you or something."

The voice called out as Yohan's hand was pulled out of the water it had been submerged into. Yohan tried to move his body but it felt like he had no control over his own body.

The mark of the realm key on his hand was glowing but the magic felt detained in his body. Yohan would not be able to use that magic even if he wanted to.

"So sad that this palace has rules in place for those kinds of things to happen. You will have to try harder if you want to overthrow its rule."

The speaker continued as they noticed Yohan's struggles. He did not even want to think how he had been caught unaware by someone right now. It was humiliating more than anything else.

​ "Is this place a realm? Who are you? Speak up right now."

The person who was talking with Yohan had said something about rules and that generally referred to the realm rules. There was a solid chance that Yohan's consciousness had managed to cross over to another realm.

But even that chance was slim right now. Yohan did not want to risk forming a wrong opinion and making a big mistake in the process.

"Ah, another realm? That's a good guess. But it is not one I can answer for you. Just know that you are always welcome in this place if you want to come. But for now, it's time for you to go back."

Yohan felt a small shove from the back. Once again, no presence could be felt but Yohan's body was moving through the water.

He had tried so hard to resist the pull of water, only to end up in water once again. It was almost poietic at this point and a bitter smile took over Yohan's face.

The next time Yohan woke up, it was with his face in pain and a pair of burning eyes looking at him with a cold expression. Bernetta did not look happy with Yohan as she tried to convey her unhappiness.

He looked around, only to notice that no one had stopped Bernetta from punching him in the face. People like Khole were even looking away in an attempt to show that they did not see anything.

It was beyond humiliating for Yohan but he decided to give Bernetta the benefit of the doubt.

"You scum. How dare you sue Shizue for your benefit? What if she had died in the process? Did you ever think about her safety even for a second?"

Bernetta was beyond angry at what had happened and Yohan did understand her feelings of remorse and revenge.

But he also felt that Bernetta's direction of her anger was unjust. Yohan was not the only one involved in this plan and he had even purposed to keep Shizue out. It was Bernetta's recklessness that caused Shizue to get involved.

Besides, Yohan had even gone as far as to save Shizue when he had no reason to. The central cord could have been taken away even once Shizue was dead.

"Are you done venting out your anger at me? If you are then you should think rationally about what you are doing. Your partner is alive right now, right?"

Yohan asked as he looked toward the black-haired girl who was still breathing. She had gotten so lucky since her body was in a bad state.

"That is beyond the point. Shizue should not have been in this state, to begin with-"

"And that is not something in my control. I did not ask your partner to come in and take control of the central cord. It was her own choice and she reaped the result of her choice."

Yohan did not back down from Bernetta's unjust anger. He also did not take the blame for her unjust and displaced sense of betrayal.

If there was one person who was responsible for Shizue's current state, then it was the girl herself. There was no need for anyone else to get involved in this.

"Ugh, you are such an asshole. I hate how you can make sense and I don't know where to direct my anger at. Anyway, did you at least get what you were looking for?"

Bernetta calmed down once it seemed like she was done ranting. And her question was also loaded for different reasons she was not even aware of.

"Did I get what I wanted? Yeah, mostly I did get what I wanted to get. But it will take some time for me to tame the power of the central cord. Also, Khole, you stay behind while everyone else can go."

Both Diantha and Liza looked ready for the protest but it was Sid out of everyone who convinced everyone to step out.

There was a look of protest in his eyes that said that he did not agree with what Yohan was doing but he was also not going to interfere in his work.

"Good luck with whatever you are planning. As long as you do not make more of a mess in this world, I think I will be able to tolerate you."

Yohan did not want to break Sid's fragile little heart so he did not say anything. Khole caught the small detail and the lack of promise but he said nothing in return.

It was not until everyone was gone and Khole was alone with Yohan did he turn toward Yohan with a serious look in his eyes.

"The fact that you have the central cord and asked me to stay behind means that you want me to do something for you. Now, hurry up and out with it. I do not have much time on hand."

Khole got straight to the point. He had gotten to study Yohan a great deal so he knew how to deal with this man. If there was one self-centric person, it was Yohan Strout and his unreasonable demands.

Yohan wanted to smile at Khole's unforgiving attitude. It was clever of this man to get straight to the point like this. It made Yohan like Khole even more than before.

"You are right. I do want something from you. You said you were interested in studying the powers and authority of the central cord, right? What if you can do that without any danger."

Khole's eyes shot open at Yohan's words. But they were not filled with the naive enthusiasm most people had when they heard those words. Instead, the first thing Khole did when he heard those words was to be filled with suspicion.

"So, what do you want in turn for giving me such power? I am not naive enough to think you are doing this all for free. Surely, there is something you want from me."

It was this property of Khole that made him such an efficient worker and it was also because of this skepticism that Yohan had decided to make Khole his second-in-command in this realm.

"You are right. I do need something from you, Khole."