Erina prepared to leave as soon as her decision was made. The day of her departure, Souma saw her off.

"Don't lose your crown before I can take it from you", Erina said with a smirk.

"And don't you lose that sparkling personality of yours", Souma replied with a smirk of his own.

He waved as Erina left, a part of himself leaving with her. He still had conflicting feelings about their shared past, about their fathers' relationship, about how it all ended, about how it could've been different. But there was no conflict in the way he felt about her. It was because of that past, because of the things their fathers had done, that they now shared a bond unlike anyone else's.

Souma went back inside, feeling like a changed man. His future was more clear than it had ever been. Before, he had simply been meandering, doing as he pleased without any real goal in mind. Just what he liked, as he liked. Knowing what he had come from, and the mistakes made before him, he was determined to be better. Not just for himself but for his whole family.

Because of this, he approached his father with a proposition.

"I think you should take your harem back", he said to Joichiro.

"Do you think that's wise?", his father asked.

"I think they shouldn't be punished for the deeds of another. And that if you love them, you should want to be with them. And if they love you, they'll want to be with you."

Joichiro smiled at his son. "Just when did you get to be so wise?", he teased, ruffling his hair.

"Sometime between you sending me abroad to learn about the world and finding out your ex-husband committed treason."

The only thing to do now was to settle things with his own potential harem-mates. Souma had already explained his position to them. And they had all agreed to stay and continue on with his. He was surprised that Ryo and Akira did as well. He had pegged them for freer spirits than that. But they remained firm in their decision to be all-in with Souma.

A week after all that, they reconvened. Or rather, they were all eating breakfast together when Souma cleared his throat to get their attention.

"I've been upfront about everything and my intentions. And you've all given me your response. So, I say we cut the pretense once and for all. Let's get married."

There was a pause before all hell broke loose.

"HAH?!"

"Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Oh m-"

"How can you just ask that?!"

"How uncouth."

Megumi had fainted and thus didn't say anything.

"What's the issue?", Souma asked with a shrug.

"The issue is, you should be asking us separately. One by one", Akira said.

"And romantically!", Ikumi added, then blushed when she realized she was still shouting and at what she had just said.

Mayumi nodded in agreement while holding up Megumi who was still gathering her wits. Ryo was still practically growling and Souma figured he agreed with the rest of them.

"You guys want me to propose to you individually?"

They all nodded and Souma thought about how different they all were and yet this was something they agreed on. Something they were all in sync and on the same wavelength about. Souma simply smiled, feeling something akin to hope well up inside of him.

"As you wish."

and that's a wrap

im really sorry about how this story turned out, i don't know what happened

this'll probably be one of my biggest regrets as a writer