Men of the Harem (137 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 9
The moment La Til spoke her next words, Duke Atraxi’s expression froze solid—so brittle it might shatter with a mere touch of a finger.
La Til deliberately turned her gaze away from him. Of all people, she truly felt sorry for Duke Atraxi.
Yet, everyone else around them wore expressions nearly identical to the duke’s—stunned faces staring blankly at La Til. Clearly, no one understood her words.
Out of kindness, La Til patiently rephrased her statement once more.
“First… let’s bring in about five or so.”
The previously deathly silent hall suddenly erupted into noise. Amidst the murmuring, the words “five” and “harem” kept surfacing.
Duke Atraxi, only now regaining his senses, cried out in shock.
“Your Majesty, this is absurd! Though there have been several empresses before you, all kept only a single imperial consort. While rumors of secret lovers among men were common, no empress ever openly took concubines—so why—?”
‘Wow. Impressive—you can bark like a dog without even growling.’
“Fifth Emperor Trasishu, famed for his pure devotion, had five concubines, Duke Atraxi. Eleventh Emperor Aintre had six. On average, past emperors each took fifteen concubines. Those considered even slightly flirtatious kept over twenty.”
“But still—”
“If everyone else could take concubines, why can’t I? Like past emperors, I must take at least five as my concubines.”
When La Til added with a playful wink, “I’m rather faithful myself,” the ministers’ jaws dropped wide open. Panic spread among them.
La Til swept her eyes over the nobles’ horrified faces and gave a slight, knowing smirk.
“Wasn’t it always you ministers who argued that an emperor must accept additional consorts to prevent the empress’s relatives from gaining excessive power and to maintain balance?”
There wasn’t an ounce of exaggeration in La Til’s words. Just during the late emperor’s reign, it was precisely these same ministers who had pushed countless women onto her father using that very logic. Recalling this, they instantly fell silent.
La Til added with a teasing glint in her eye,
“You’d all prefer it if I took multiple consorts, wouldn’t you? That way, you could compete to make your daughters imperial consorts.”
For the first time, the nobles’ uniformly shocked expressions diverged.
Duke Atraxi’s face crumpled even further, while everyone else—even those aligned with him—showed unmistakable interest.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, La Til nearly burst into laughter. How could they be so transparent?
“If you’re unmarried, you’re welcome to volunteer yourselves.”
Half-joking but deliberately keeping her expression grave, La Til spoke. Her audience, however, seemed utterly serious in their reaction.
‘Are they really going to volunteer?’
The ministers remained speechless, glancing uncertainly at each other. La Til clenched her jaw to hold back laughter and appointed officials to handle the matter.
Thus concluded the chaotic imperial council.
After exiting through the door behind the throne, La Til noticed a scribe seated near a desk just outside the chamber. Judging by his sparkling eyes as he diligently recorded the proceedings, he’d clearly found the meeting quite entertaining.
Seeing La Til approach, the scribe abruptly stopped writing and leapt to his feet, looking terrified—probably afraid she’d caught him grinning foolishly.
‘What’s there to fear about that?’
“Oh, Scribe.”
“Y-yes, Your Imperial Majesty!”
“I’ll tell you in advance—if I end up taking only five concubines later on, be sure to record it like this.”
“Yes?”
“Record that Empress La Til had ‘merely’ five concubines. And if my relationship with the imperial consort seems particularly loving, you may even describe it as a devoted romance.”
“Yes?”
With a playful wink at the scribe, La Til turned and left the chamber.
The moment she returned to her room, La Til collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach. The ministers’ stunned faces replayed in her mind, and she could no longer contain her laughter.
[This is the timeline separator]“How can His Majesty treat me like this!”
The instant he returned to his mansion, Duke Atraxi roared and roughly yanked off his ceremonial robes. Maids flinched and hurriedly gathered the discarded garments.
His wife, who had attended the coronation but missed the council meeting, quickly approached him.
“How did the council go? Did His Majesty preside well?”
“He did—too well.”
“What do you mean ‘too well’? Isn’t doing well a good thing?”
“From the very first day, he had the ministers dancing on his palm.”
“Is it really that bad?”
The duchess widened her eyes in surprise. Duke Atraxi gulped down a strong liquor sitting on the console.
“Stop just drinking and tell me what actually happened! Did His Majesty treat you coldly? Has he totally forgotten your contributions to his ascension…?”
“He clearly promised appropriate gratitude and rewards for my service.”
“Then what’s the problem? Spit it out already—don’t just stuff your mouth!”
The duchess gently pressed him while swiftly snatching the liquor bottle from his hand. Duke Atraxi stared at her in dismay, but seeing her eyebrows steadily rise in warning, he reluctantly lowered his hovering hand.
“His Majesty says he has no intention of selecting an imperial consort yet.”
“And that’s why you’re this furious?”
The duchess clicked her tongue.
“Whether next year or the year after, we can handle that gradually. The ministers will keep hounding him about an heir anyway—he won’t hold out for more than a few years.”
“If that were all, I’d agree.”
“What else happened?”
“He declared he’ll take concubines—male concubines!”
“…”
Even the duchess was momentarily speechless. She stood frozen like a wooden doll, blinking blankly. Concubines… male concubines…?
“Male concubines?”
Only belatedly did the duchess cry out in disbelief. Duke Atraxi nodded grimly, his expression utterly deflated.
“Moreover, judging from his mention of imperial sons-in-law, it seems he intends to choose his imperial consort from among them.”
“Good heavens… Among all female emperors, who’s ever—”
“None ever have.”
The duchess covered her mouth with one hand, her expression complicated.
“For our Ranamun’s sake, it’s certainly disappointing—but personally, I find it rather amusing.”
“Amusing?”
“Of course! This will be the first time male concubines appear in history.”
Her face was an unreadable mix of laughter and tears, as though her own words stirred conflicting emotions.
“In any case, with things as they are, our Ranamun becoming imperial consort seems unlikely.”
“Indeed.”
The duke sighed deeply, recalling his son’s proud and haughty disposition.
“With that stubborn pride, he certainly won’t agree to enter a harem.”
[This is the timeline separator]It was the first morning since becoming emperor.
The moment she awoke, La Til flung open the window and bathed fully in the morning sunlight. The slightly damp, fresh air filled her lungs, and she couldn’t help but smile.
She’d had a dream—the dream of the day Hyacinth abandoned her, telling her to wait five years. Apparently, even her new status as emperor couldn’t banish that haunting dream.
‘Of all dreams to have after becoming emperor—it had to be about Hyacinth…’
La Til grumbled inwardly, yet unlike usual, the dream hadn’t left her deeply shaken. Thanks to yesterday’s coronation, her heart still fluttered with lingering excitement. Even the late realization of her harem declaration stirred strangely in her chest.
Though she’d announced it for various political and emotional reasons, it still meant at least five men would officially become hers.
‘It might feel awkward…’
La Til scratched her forehead sheepishly—then suddenly froze.
Hyacinth.
Yes… Hyacinth.
Her lips twisted into a cold smirk. Perhaps dreaming of Hyacinth today was a sign that her chance for revenge had finally arrived.
She even recalled a particularly infuriating incident she’d almost forgotten.
Back when La Til was crown princess, an envoy delegation had arrived from Carissen, requesting that Emperor Hyacinth send a consort.
They’d prattled on about strengthening diplomatic ties and mutual friendship—but the crucial point was that Hyacinth dared send such an embassy to a country where she herself resided.
Though exchanging consorts as political hostages between great powers was common practice, for La Til, it had been the ultimate insult.
A satisfied smile curved La Til’s lips. Back then, she’d simply let it go.
“Well, Hyacinth—now I can return the favor in kind.”
[This is the timeline separator]“The tax system requires minor revisions. Although only half a year has passed, goods haven’t circulated properly around the capital during this period, and small-scale battles have continued nearby. Consequently, the capital’s prices have become unnaturally inflated compared to other regions.”
“Lowering taxes only in the capital would provoke strong backlash elsewhere. Lowering them nationwide would reduce revenues from healthy regions. But aligning with other regions’ rates would burden capital residents.”
“Yes. You’ll need to find a careful balance.”
“How long until prices stabilize?”
“Trade volumes with foreign guilds and visitors have surged around Your Majesty’s coronation. Distribution is already active, so prices should normalize soon.”
“What do you ministers think of this matter?”
“Lowering taxes now would immediately boost commoner support—but dissatisfaction will arise later when trying to restore original rates. The economy will recover quickly anyway, so maintaining current rates seems wiser.”
“But Your Majesty, maintaining current rates burdens commoners. Even if recovery is swift, they’ll struggle for at least a month or two. Pushing too hard may spark immediate unrest.”
Though La Til’s conflict with Prince Tulla hadn’t lasted long by typical imperial succession war standards,
the fighting had concentrated around the capital, affecting almost exclusively this region. This made uniform policy implementation difficult.
From the first day, La Til struggled with divided opinions among financial officials.
‘Administrative work really is different.’
Unlike in books, real-world variables abounded, and the absence of clear right or wrong answers made responsibility feel even heavier.
As crown princess, someone—her father, the chancellor, or her tutor—would always correct her mistakes. But now, no one would. Her errors would directly shape her people’s future.
After nearly five hours of deliberation, La Til slumped exhausted onto her desk. The chief attendant, who’d silently observed the whole time, finally chuckled.
“You must be very tired.”
“More troublesome than I expected.”
La Til muttered weakly.
“Your Majesty will handle it well.”
The next matter La Til needed to decide was the harem she’d announced during her coronation—but fortunately, this issue wasn’t difficult. In fact, she looked forward to it. She’d already given it considerable thought.
Thus, as the official assigned to the harem matter entered and explained various documents, La Til simply smiled comfortably.
“Normally, prospective concubines sign this document beforehand. This is the standard form, but Your Majesty may add specific conditions if desired.”
When the official set the papers down, La Til didn’t bother hiding her mischievous smile and voiced the words she’d long prepared.
“Oh, I don’t need to add anything. Rather… for diversity’s sake—and for our state religion—I’d like to take concubines from other nations too.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Shall I dispatch an envoy delegation? To which country?”
Unaware of La Til’s true intentions, the official clasped his hands and awaited her command. Leaning casually on her desk, La Til cheerfully gave the order.
“Send it to Carissen. To Emperor Hyacinth.”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (8)
I fully expected a weak reaction from Hyacinth. I thought the younger brother forgot about her 🤷🏻♀️.Well, it’s quite fun. It’s interesting and light to read. Feelings of the characters are exposed clearly. 👍🏻
I wonder if there is a competition for who is going to be the first. 🤦🏻♀️
Inline Comments (29)
This wasn’t the time to feel wronged. He had a mission—if he didn’t want to aban
It feels unusually satisfying and amusing as she let him feel the taste of his own medicine.
[This is the timeline separator]
Perfect! Just as I expected! Show them what you are worth! 👏🏻
Ranamun couldn’t accept that.
The vibe in the harem will be quite fun and intriguing. 🔥
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Kitsune
Well, I expected that she would take concubines from other countries as they helped her with ascension.
The revenge against Hyacinth is quite harsh. A man wouldn’t expect something like that, especially one as narcissistic.