Souma was happy with his life. Most crown princes usually were. But for Souma, it didn't matter much that he was royalty. There was only one perk that he took advantage of and it was the access to food. He didn't gorge himself on excessive amounts of exotic dishes. He cooked. Souma loved cooking and serving and having people enjoy those dishes.

In another life, this could have been his ambition. But one day he would have to rule over Sumiredori. While it was a small kingdom, there was still a great responsibility that came with being the emperor. While Souma's passion was cooking, he didn't shirk his other duties and lessons too often. He was only twenty, so he wasn't going to become emperor for a while, not until he father was no longer able to, but he wanted to be properly prepared.

His father would come to the kitchen often and observe Souma, while giving him some advice. Apparently, before inheriting the throne from his own father, Joichiro found himself in the kitchen as well. This was Souma's life and it was shaping up pretty nicely. That is until he woke up one day by way of a servant calling him to a meeting with his father and his advisors.

"Good morning, Souma", he greeted.

"Good morning", Souma replied. "What's going on?"

"We're here to discuss the matter of your harem."

"...Huh?" Of all things, Souma didn't expect this. Emperors usually kept a harem during their reign. A household that lived to entertain him personally. Sometimes harems stayed the same from ruler to ruler. But often when a new emperor was coronated, the old harem was dismissed. The prince's harem was thus elevated, and usually had been there for some years.

But Souma didn't have a harem. It wasn't a particular problem, at least Souma didn't think so. His father didn't have one either. At least, not anymore. Souma vaguely remembered some of them being around when he was younger but then they were gone. He never really questioned it.

"You're going to inherit this land one day. But before then, you need to build up your harem", his father said.

"...Huh? Huh?! Why do I need to do that? Is it really that important?", Souma complained.

Joichiro sighed and crossed his arms. "It is important to the image of our family."

"Then why did you dismiss yours so early?"

"That's a story for another time. The fact of the matter is that the harem's quarters have been empty for over a decade. By refilling it, we open our home to our people."

"Couldn't we just do that with some sort of banquet?"

Joichiro shook his head. "That is not enough. You need a harem. You can't become emperor without one."

"Is that an ultimatum?", Souma asked.

"It's a challenge."

"So, that's the story", Souma finished retelling it to his childhood friend, Mayumi, who listened intently. She was a child of one of the servants and now she also worked for the royal family. She wasn't all that skilled with cooking, her duties were mostly cleaning. But she tasted all of Souma's new creations, even the purposely disgusting ones.

"That sounds very troublesome. How are you going to get a harem?"

"I was hoping you would help me with that, Mayumi." Souma looked at her with a serious gaze, one rarely seen on his face.

"Huh...EH?!" Her face burned bright red. "Y-y-y-y-y-you w-w-w-w-w-want me t-t-t-to-"

"You're life won't change all that much, since you already live nearby and work here. You'd just be moved from the servant's quarters to the harem. You could still do your chores. I just need someone in the harem to get my dad off my back. Will you do it?"

Mayumi's mouth couldn't form words. Her face was still burning. She had been harboring feelings for Souma since she was a child but she never expected to be invited into his harem (even though it was under less than romantic circumstances). Emperors got members from everywhere from all walks of life, even servants. But Mayumi had never hoped for such a thing.

She took a deep breath and finally got the nerve to answer him. Mayumi would take this chance to get closer to Souma. There were stories of those who had joined a harem and eventually married into royalty. Maybe that could be her destiny.

"Yes. I will join your harem."

"Alright! Now we can end this whole thing and my old man can stop making such a big deal out of this."

"No. Just one isn't enough."

With only those words, Souma's smile broke and fell from his face. His father stood before him with crossed arms. Mayumi had stood beside Souma but in the intimidating presence of the emperor, she hid slightly behind him. Right now, she was beginning to second guess her decision to accept Souma's invitation.

"If one isn't enough, then how many do I need to get?", Souma asked, crossing his arms.

Joichiro crossed his arms as well, contemplating it. "Ten."

"TEN!?"

"No, no, that's too much, even for you. You should add more to it as the years go on", his father backtracked. "Hmm, then, five. Find five people to join your harem and I will be satisfied."

"Five..." That sounded more reasonable after hearing ten. And he already had Mayumi so he just needed four more. And being part of it was considered something enviable to most citizens. But Souma didn't want to pick just anyone. Even though he had no plans to use the harem as intended, he didn't want to surround himself with people he couldn't trust.

"So we are agreed?", Joichiro confirmed.

Souma nodded. "I'm going to go and find the others. And they're gonna be the best harem that there ever was!"

His father smirked and slapped Souma's shoulder. "I look forward to seeing it."