My Taboo Harem!

Later, Roxanne arrived with Melissa, Mother, Diana, Adriana, Patricia, and Valentina not long after, and this time the room adjusted differently.

Not because they were strangers.

Many of the princesses knew of Melissa; some had met her briefly, some had only heard enough to become curious, and several understood she held a place near Phei that could not be dismissed casually. Mother’s presence brought another kind of quiet into the room. Diana stood with her, attentive and dignified. Roxanne carried her mature, gilded sadness beautifully tonight, softened by the people around her.

Patricia’s eyes immediately began counting heads, next to her, Valentina noticed and smiled as if she had expected nothing else.

Phei saw them enter and wanted to move at once.

But he did not rush.

And more than that, this gathering was full of women still learning the boundaries of one another’s place in his life; walking rashly to Melissa and Mother too quickly would have said something louder than he wanted in a room already full of eyes.

So he walked toward them with warmth, not urgency.

Melissa noticed and her smile deepened with approval, subtle but there.

’See, see what a man he’s become, brother, Mei Lin!’

Mother’s eyes softened at the sight of him, but she too held herself with grace, understanding the courtesy of the room without needing it explained. She was not simply his Mother-in-law tonight, she was also meeting parts of his growing world properly and she was proud of the man he was becoming from the shy and shaking boy she used to know who couldn’t be himself unless he was with her daughter.

’Phei.’ She whispered.

Phei reached them and bowed his head slightly.

"Mother."

She smiled and hugged him: "Phei."

He kissed the back of her hand first, not her cheek. The gesture made her eyes brighten with emotion she quickly controlled.

Then he turned to Melissa.

"Aunt Melissa."

"Phei," she returned, and the warmth in her voice was impossible to hide.

He lifted her hand too and kissed it, slower, their eyes meeting for one private heartbeat before he released her. Roxanne watched with a knowing softness. Valentina’s smile curved and Patricia’s teacher eyes sharpened because no amount of elegance could stop her from noticing everything.

Humanity’s surveillance state wished it were Patricia.

Others came forward to greet them.

Sierra stepped forward first to welcome Mother with respectful warmth. "Its lovely to meet you, I am Sierra Montgomery!"

Mother took her hands gently. "You too, dear."

Delilah greeted Mother the same way before she turned to Melissa with a small smile, polite but sincere. "You look beautiful, Mom."

Melissa returned the smile. "So do you, Delilah."

There was a tiny pause there then Melissa’s gaze flicked to Delilah’s bracelet, and her smile warmed more genuinely.

"Very beautiful," Melissa added.

Delilah’s fingers brushed the red diamonds instinctively, her blush answering before her mouth did. "Thank you."

Maddie approached Mother and behaved with exaggerated politeness for exactly three seconds before Mother smiled at her like she already knew everything.

"You are Maddie Whirtmore, we met yesterday, do not be too humble" Mother said.

Maddie froze. "I am being full-named already?"

Phei muttered, "Natural justice."

Mother laughed softly. "Phei has told me you’re dramatic."

"That sounds like a betrayal to me."

"It was affectionate."

Maddie brightened. "Then I love it, dramatic I will take!"

Patricia hugged Elena and Emily, Valentina exchanged warm words with Yuki and Gianna who she was only meeting today. Roxanne spoke quietly with Jade, both elegant enough that their conversation looked expensive from across the room. Adriana greeted several of the princesses with the composed confidence of a woman determined not to look at Phei too often but they shared meaningful looks and warm smiles.

Amber noticed anyway.

’Daughters are God’s punishment for subtle mothers.

Her gaze moved from Adriana to Phei, then back again.

Phei caught it.

Amber narrowed her eyes faintly.

He smiled like innocence had taken a job it was deeply unqualified for.

"Amber," he greeted.

"Phei."

"You look beautiful."

"Do not compliment your way out of whatever that was."

Adriana coughed softly. "Amber."

"What?" Amber asked, still watching Phei.

Phei placed a hand over his heart. "I am wounded."

"You’ll live."

"Cruel."

"Suspicious men deserve cruelty."

Maddie, nearby, whispered to Sierra, "I like her when she’s feisty."

Sierra whispered back, "You like all our sister, especially who you think will entertain you with taboo and illicit sex."

"Correct."

David arrived a little later, and for once the universe offered him no mercy.

He came with the waitress Melissa had once shown him.

The girl looked nervous but happy, dressed beautifully, her hand hovering near David’s arm as if she wanted to hold it and feared making it obvious. David, to his credit and everyone’s collective surprise, was not staring at his phone.

’Somewhere, historians are weeping.’ Phei thought but he was smiling, happy for David.

Melissa spotted him immediately and her smile turned lethal.

David saw it and physically braced:

"No," he said.

Melissa walked toward him anyway. "So."

"Please don’t, Miss Melissa."

"You finally did it."

"It was one date."

"And here she is!"

"That is how invitations work."

Melissa ruffled his hair. "I am proud of you."

David looked betrayed by affection. "Why does that sound worse than mockery, Miss Melissa?"

The girl laughed softly.

Maddie appeared. Again. The woman truly moved through drama like a shark through water.

"Welcome," Maddie told the waitress warmly. "If he starts narrating the party like a livestream, take his phone."

David groaned. "Why is this the first thing everyone says?"

Brian, entering with his three women, said, "Because we know you."

Landon, arriving with Cherry, added, "And we have suffered a great deal too."

Cherry smiled apologetically at the waitress. "They’re not wrong."

David pointed around. "This is bullying."

Melissa beamed. "This is community."

"Awful community."

"But a very strong community."

His date laughed properly but relaxing at last, and David’s complaint softened into a grin he tried and failed to hide.

Phei watched that and smiled.

Good, all his boys were finding happiness.

The room continued filling.

Brian settled with his three women, each greeting Phei with warmth and amusement. Landon and Cherry found their place near Valentina’s table. Clara, Priya, Juliette, Zara, Paige, and Brielle slowly drew closer to the main circle, guided partly by Yuki’s shameless hosting and partly by curiosity they could no longer pretend was only social.

Natasha stood near Jade and Elena, occasionally looking toward Phei when she thought no one would notice.

Someone always noticed.

Usually Maddie.

Sometimes all of them.

The princesses’ attention on Phei became one of the quiet currents of the room.

They were too well-bred for that, unfortunately for comedy.

But he could feel it in their glances; in the way conversations dipped when he passed, the way new eyes followed the black-white shimmer of his attire, the calm authority of his movements, the ease with which older women warmed around him and younger ones teased him like they had already granted him some dangerous privilege.

Above the hall, unseen by nearly all, Eira floated along a line of crystal strands and watched everything with bright, amused eyes.

Far beyond the hall, past walls and distance and ordinary sight, Selene watched from a place of shadow only Eira could perceive.

She silently stood at the edge of the unseen, silver hair shifting in darkness that had no wind, her attention fixed on the gathering below. No one in the room felt her gaze. No one looked toward her. Not Phei. Not Mother. Only Eira, for a brief moment, turned her head slightly toward that far shadow and smiled with something softer than mockery.

Selene remained silent:

A shadow watching family gather around a birthday that had not yet named its owner.

The music began to change.

The room was still in the stage before revelation, when greetings were ongoing, glasses were being lifted, tables were being found, and beautiful people were still pretending they were not all arranging themselves around emotional landmines.

Phei stood near the central platform and looked around.

Mother was speaking politely with Sierra and Roxanne, Diana just behind her. Melissa had drawn Delilah into a softer conversation that made the younger woman blush once and smile twice. Adriana was being interrogated by Amber with the subtlety of a daughter holding a knife behind etiquette. Jade had joined Elena and Natasha, though her eyes still found Phei whenever he laughed. Maddie was bothering David’s date in a way that somehow made the girl more comfortable, Maddie was that welcoming.

Patricia was observing everyone like she would assign homework if the evening became disorderly.

Cassiopeia stood near a shadowed column, watching visible and invisible threats alike.

And above them, hidden, Eira crossed her tiny arms.

Phei glanced at her.

She mouthed, without sound, "Not terrible."

Phei rolled his eyes faintly.

The hall warmed around everyone:

Dark, silver, violet and alive.

The birthday owner had not arrived.

Or perhaps the room had not yet been told who the night was truly for.

Either way, anticipation sat quietly beneath the laughter, waiting for the moment the celebration would sharpen into meaning.