Souma and Erina walked the halls separately, their minds full. Eventually, their steps brought them together. For a moment, neither said anything. There was too much to say and they weren't sure how to begin with the information that they now knew.

"I know what your father did", Souma started, the bolder of the two.

Erina flinched but tried to stand firm. "I just found out myself. Your father told me everything. I apologize for his-"

"You don't need to say sorry on his behalf." Souma was still sick to his stomach. But it wasn't Erina who made him sick. "I can't ever forgive him. But you don't need to ask for forgiveness."

"Perhaps not. But I haven't been behaving in a way befitting a queen either. I've been so focused on your lands without thinking of the metaphorical rot of my own", Erina said.

"So you're going back home?", Souma asked.

She nodded. "I'll conquer you in the future, when I've fortified my kingdom to tower above all others."

"Don't let that be the only time I see you", Souma grinned. "A queen's gotta survey her future colonies, right?"

Erina allowed herself a small smile. Her feelings for Souma were wrapped up in so many other things, it was difficult to put a word to them. But there were a lot of things she appreciated about his personality.

"Of course."

Souma didn't sleep for most of the night. He tossed and turned. It wasn't normal for him to be plagued by indecision. Usually he knew the right decision to make. Or at the very least, he knew how to stick with that choice through to the end even if it ended up being wrong. Never before had he simply been at a loss for what to do.

Needless to say, it wasn't a very good feeling.

But soon enough, the morning came and Souma's thoughts did eventually settle. He knew at least one thing he had to do. He couldn't go through the same thing that his father did. But he didn't think the solution was to shut out everyone either. If there was one thing that Souma remembered clearly now, it was the warmth that had been present in his home when there had been a harem.

He summoned each of his potential spouses to meet that morning for breakfast, as well as his father, wanting him to be present for this. Everyone looked at Souma expectantly.

"I've come to realize a lot of things about myself recently", Souma began. "I told you guys what I wanted from you individually. But I never said what I wanted from you as a unit."

Akira raised a brow at that. "As a unit?"

Ryo smirked. "You sayin' you want us all at once?"

"Something like that", Souma replied, causing scandalized looks on just about everyone. "I want all of us to be together. As a family."

"A family?", Megumi repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just what I said. I don't just want to love you guys. I want you to love each other. Otherwise, this can't work."

Some of them shared looks of skepticism after Souma said his piece. A few, like Erina and Joichiro, smiled knowingly. Ikumi was the first to speak up after clearing her throat.

"You're going to give us time to consider it, aren't you?"

"Of course", Souma nodded. "Take all the time you need."

And take their time they did. After breakfast, everyone dispersed to go on their own mental journey. They had been sharing the same space for a while now. But was it possible for them to share the same emotional space as well?