The arm I offered Elizabeth was steady, a solid anchor in a sea of uncertainty. She hesitated for a fraction of a second, her icy blue eyes searching mine for any sign of the panic she expected—no, wanted—to see. Finding none, her lips thinned into an almost invisible line. With a reluctance that was a palpable force, she placed her hand lightly on my forearm. Her touch was cold, even through the fine fabric of my suit and her gloves. It was like being touched by a marble statue.
"Shall we, my lady?" I had asked, my voice a calm island in the storm of my own pounding heart.
And so, we began our walk.
The journey down the aisle of the Silverstein chapel was the longest ten meters of my life. It wasn't a grand cathedral. It was a small, intimate space, but today it felt as vast and intimidating as a coliseum. The air was thick with the scent of old incense and melting beeswax from the dozens of candles that fought a losing battle against the chapel's inherent gloom.
The guest list was small but heavy with power. Every major noble house from the capital was represented. I saw faces that the original Kazuki's memories supplied names for: Baron von Valerius, a man whose family controlled the kingdom's shipping guilds, his face impassive but his eyes sharp and calculating. Countess von Eisen, a stern-looking woman whose family owned the largest iron mines in the north. They weren't here to celebrate a union; they were here as witnesses to a political execution, vultures gathered to watch a powerful predator, Duke Crimson, devour the last scraps of a fallen rival.
Their gazes were like physical weights. I could feel them assessing me, their eyes cataloging my every detail. The whispers followed us like the rustling of dry leaves.
"Is that him? The Silverstein boy? He looks... less dead than the rumors suggested." "Still a twig, though. Look at him. Can he even lift a sword?" "What a farce. Tying the beautiful Crimson Rose to that... weed."
Their contempt was a background hum, the static of a world that had already written me off. It should have been unnerving, but it wasn't. It was clarifying. I was not Kazuki von Silverstein, the Shame of the Family. I was Kazuki Tanaka, the programmer, the outsider, the glitch. Their rules, their opinions, their world... it was all just a system to be analyzed.
[Analyzing crowd sentiment,] ARIA's voice was a cool stream of logic in my mind, a welcome anchor against the social pressure. [General sentiment is 65% contempt, 25% pity, 10% neutral political observation. No positive sentiment detected. Your CHA stat of 8 is clearly not working overtime.]
Good, I thought. Let them underestimate me. It's my greatest weapon.
My focus narrowed to the man waiting at the altar. Duke Theron von Crimson. He stood beside the High Priest, a portly man in ornate robes, but there was no question who held the real power in the room. The Duke was a vision of smug triumph. His smile was that of a chess master who had just maneuvered his opponent into an inescapable checkmate. He thought he had me. He had laid the perfect trap, and he was savoring the moment before it sprang.
And then I saw it.
The Rune of Veracity.
It was etched into the marble floor directly in front of the altar, a perfect circle about two meters in diameter. It was a breathtakingly complex piece of magic, a web of glowing silver lines that pulsed with a soft, holy light. It was beautiful, ancient, and utterly terrifying. It was a magical lie detector, and I was about to step right onto it.
"The rune's energy output is significant," ARIA noted, her tone purely analytical. "It interfaces directly with the subject's mana signature and bio-rhythms. It analyzes fluctuations caused by conscious deception. The resulting backlash is, as she described, a targeted immolation via holy fire. The magic is sound. It is, from a conventional standpoint, foolproof."
From a conventional standpoint, I repeated in my mind. But we are not conventional.
"Elizabeth," I murmured, my voice so low that only she could hear it. "A beautiful piece of magic. Very... thorough. Is this your work or your father's?"
Her hand tightened on my arm for a split second. "My father appreciates tradition," she whispered back, her voice tight. "And he despises liars."
"A fine quality in a man," I replied smoothly, letting a hint of amusement touch my voice.
Her head turned slightly, her eyes flashing with a warning. She was enjoying this, the clever monster caught in a trap he couldn't escape. Her little "word of advice" hadn't been advice at all. It was a taunt. A final twist of the knife before the execution.
We reached the altar. My father stepped back, his face pale and sweating, and took his seat in the front pew. I released Elizabeth's arm, and we stepped forward, onto the rune.
The moment my feet touched the glowing circle, I felt it. It was a strange, tingling sensation, like a low-grade static electricity running through my body. It wasn't painful, but it was invasive. It was the feeling of being scanned, analyzed, and judged.
The High Priest, a man whose primary concerns seemed to be the quality of the post-ceremony banquet, cleared his throat and began the rites. He droned on in a monotonous voice about the sanctity of marriage, the joining of two great houses, the blessings of the gods. I tuned him out. My mind was a whirlwind of activity, a frantic coding session with ARIA.
ARIA, the core of the problem is the question, 'Do you enter this union of your own free will?' My presence here is the result of reincarnation, a family debt, and political coercion. By any normal definition, my 'free will' is non-existent.
[Correct,] ARIA confirmed. [A direct 'yes' would be a lie. The rune would detect the cognitive dissonance between your statement and your internal knowledge of the situation.]
So we don't use the normal definition, I reasoned. We redefine the terms. A programmer doesn't accept the system's default settings. He writes his own. What is 'free will' from a logical, computational standpoint?
[From a computational perspective, 'free will' can be defined as the ability of an agent to select a course of action from a set of available options, free from deterministic external coercion,] ARIA supplied. [The key is 'deterministic.' Your situation is coercive, but not deterministic. You had other options.]
What other options?
[Option A: Refuse the marriage. Result: The Silverstein family is bankrupted and disgraced. You and your family are thrown into the streets or a debtors' prison. High probability of death from starvation or disease.][Option B: Flee. Result: You are hunted down by the Duke's agents and killed. Probability of success: less than 1%.][Option C: Accept the marriage. Result: You are here now. High probability of assassination, but with a non-zero chance of survival through exploiting your unique abilities.][You, the agent, analyzed the available options and selected the one with the highest probability of long-term survival. Therefore, you are acting according to your own calculated, logical choice. You are exercising your 'free will.']
A slow, brilliant smile spread through my mind. It was perfect. It was the kind of logic-bending, rule-twisting argument that could win a debate with a god. It wasn't a lie. It was a more precise, more accurate definition of the truth.
"...and so we ask," the High Priest's voice cut through my thoughts, bringing me back to the present. He was looking at Elizabeth. "Lady Elizabeth von Crimson, do you enter into this holy union with Kazuki von Silverstein of your own free will, with truth and sincerity in your heart?"
Elizabeth took a small, deliberate breath. She looked not at the priest, not at me, but at her father. Her voice, when she spoke, was as clear and cold as a winter bell.
"I stand here today as a daughter of House Crimson," she began, her words carefully chosen. "My will is the will of my House. My heart is dedicated to its prosperity and strength. This union serves my House. Therefore, I enter it willingly."
It was a masterpiece of evasion. She hadn't said 'yes.' She had redefined the question to be about her duty, not her desire. And every word she spoke was, from her perspective, the absolute truth. The Rune of Veracity pulsed with a soft, accepting light. She had passed.
The Duke's smile widened. He shot me a look of pure, triumphant arrogance. Your turn, boy, his eyes said. Let's see you squirm your way out of this.
The High Priest turned his portly form toward me. His gaze was slightly unfocused, his mind clearly already on the roasted boar at the reception.
"Lord Kazuki von Silverstein," he intoned. "Do you enter into this holy union with Elizabeth von Crimson of your own free will, with truth and sincerity in your heart?"
This was it. The entire chapel was silent. Every eye was on me. I could feel Elizabeth's gaze, sharp and curious. I could feel the Duke's, heavy and murderous.
I took a breath. I focused my mind. I embraced the logic ARIA and I had forged.
"I am here because I have weighed all my options," I began, my voice steady and clear, ringing with a confidence that shocked the assembled nobles. "I have analyzed every path available to me, and I have chosen this one. I have chosen to stand here, at this altar, beside this woman. No one has forced my feet to take these steps. This action is a result of my own calculations, my own decisions. It is, by the purest definition, an act of my own will."
The rune beneath my feet pulsed. It glowed brighter, the silver lines swirling as it processed my words, analyzing the intent, the logic, the very structure of my statement. The crowd held its breath. The Duke leaned forward slightly, his smile faltering.
The rune's light softened, returning to its gentle, ambient glow.
I had passed the first test.
The High Priest blinked, slightly taken aback by my unusual, verbose answer, but he pressed on. "And do you do so with truth and sincerity in your heart?"
The second, deadlier question. How could I claim sincerity when my heart was that of a stranger from another world, a man who had known this woman for less than two weeks?
ARIA, sincerity. Define it.
[Sincerity: The absence of deceit or pretense; honesty. The question is about the 'heart.' Your 'heart' is no longer just a biological pump. It is the core of your being, the seat of your consciousness, which is now fused with me. Our primary objective, our most sincere desire, is survival.]
The path forward was clear.
I looked directly at Elizabeth, my gaze locking with hers. Her eyes were wide, her mask of composure completely gone, replaced by stunned disbelief.
"High Priest," I said, my voice resonating with a power that felt ancient and new at the same time. "My heart... is a complicated thing. It has been broken, and it has been remade. But in this moment, it holds one simple, absolute truth. I believe that standing here, beside this woman, offers me the greatest chance of survival. I believe this union is my only path forward. And I embrace that path with all the sincerity a man on the brink of existence can possess. My desire to live, and my choice to stand here to achieve that goal, are the most sincere truths I have."
The Rune of Veracity flared with a brilliant, golden light. It was not the angry, consuming red of holy fire. It was a light of pure, unadulterated acceptance. It had not found a lie. It had found a deeper, more complex truth than it had ever encountered before.
A collective gasp swept through the chapel.
I looked at Duke Crimson. The smug, triumphant mask had shattered. His face was pale, his eyes wide with a mixture of fury, shock, and for the first time, a flicker of genuine fear. The pawn had not only escaped the checkmate; it had flipped the entire board over.
The High Priest, utterly bewildered, stammered through the rest of the ceremony. We exchanged rings—simple, elegant bands that felt cold on my finger. He pronounced us husband and wife.
As he did, a notification pinged in my vision, a glorious, beautiful sight.
[Quest 'A Glitched Wedding' Completed!][Objective: Survive your vows. SUCCESS.][Calculating Rewards...]
The ceremony was over. I had done it. I had walked into the perfect trap and, using the logic of a programmer, had hacked my way out.
I turned to my wife. My ally. My co-conspirator.
Elizabeth was staring at me, her mind, I could tell, racing a million miles a minute. The look in her eyes was no longer one of loathing or simple curiosity. It was the look of a master mage who had just witnessed a new, impossible form of magic. It was the look of a predator who had just realized the creature she was hunting was something far more dangerous than she had ever imagined.
"You..." she whispered, her voice barely audible over the polite, stunned applause that was beginning to fill the chapel. "How?"
I offered her a small, enigmatic smile.
"As I said, my lady," I murmured, leaning in close as if to give her a husbandly kiss on the cheek. "It's complicated."
The reception was a tense, subdued affair held in the manor's dusty dining hall. The food was lavish, provided by the Duke's kitchens, a stark contrast to the poverty of the surroundings. The air was thick with unspoken questions and nervous glances in my direction. I was no longer the pathetic Silverstein boy. I was an enigma. A monster. A man who could outwit a truth rune.
The Duke approached me once, a glass of deep red wine in his hand. His smile was back in place, but it was a brittle, dangerous thing now.
"A remarkable performance, son," he said, his voice a low growl. "Truly. You are full of surprises."
"I aim to please my new father," I replied, my tone perfectly respectful.
His eyes narrowed. "See that you do. But remember, a surprise that pleases once can be a threat the next. And I do not suffer threats to my family."
He clapped me on the shoulder, his grip like iron, a clear warning. Then he turned and walked away, a man already plotting his next move.
The true conversation, the one that mattered, happened later. Elizabeth led me not to the master bedroom—a place neither of us was ready to contemplate—but to a small, private study.
She closed the door and turned to face me, her arms crossed. The facade was gone. Her face was a storm of raw emotion.
"That was not an 'Ancestral Awakening,'" she stated, her voice shaking with a suppressed, intellectual fury. "No bloodline power in any history book allows for the manipulation of conceptual logic. You did not tell a truth. You redefined it. You treated the rune's law as a piece of code and found an exploit. That is not magic. That is something else entirely."
She was brilliant. Of course, she would see it.
"I am what I need to be to survive," I said simply. "And so are you."
She stared at me, her mind clearly at war with itself. "My father will not let this rest. He is terrified of you now. A terrified man is a dangerous man. He will redouble his efforts to eliminate you."
"I know," I said. "And he will fail. Because he is playing chess, and he thinks I am a pawn. He doesn't realize I'm not playing on his board at all."
I took a step closer. "The alliance stands, Elizabeth. We need each other now more than ever. He will come after me, and through me, he will try to control you. We must be ready."
She was silent for a long time. Finally, she gave a single, sharp nod. "The assassins in the dungeon. We will interrogate them tomorrow. We need intelligence. We need to know his plans."
"Agreed," I said.
Our alliance, forged in secrets and survival, was now sealed in the cold fire of a shared, powerful enemy.
"This marriage," she said, her gaze dropping to the ring on her finger, "remains a contract. Nothing more. You will have your chambers. I will have mine. We will present a united front to the world, but in private, we remain as we are."
"As allies," I finished for her.
"As allies," she confirmed, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes.
She turned and left the study, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the silent hum of my system.
The moment the door clicked shut, the promised notifications flooded my vision.
[Rewards for Quest 'A Glitched Wedding' Issued!][EXP Gained: 500. (Note: EXP is currently unusable due to Level Lock. Stored in reserve.)][Title Unlocked: 'The Loophole King.'][New Skill Unlocked: 'Harem System (Prototype).']
My jaw dropped.
Harem System?!
[The 'Harem System (Prototype)' is a glitched subroutine created from the host's... notable personality flaws and media consumption habits,] ARIA explained, her voice tinged with what I could only describe as profound digital disappointment. [It is designed to manage relationships with key female NPCs who have demonstrated high levels of loyalty, affection, or strategic importance.]
A new tab appeared on my status screen, labeled 'RELATIONSHIPS.' I opened it.
There were two entries.
[Elizabeth von Crimson (Wife/Ally)][Relationship Level: 1 (Tense Alliance)][Loyalty: 25/100][Notes: Views host as a dangerous but necessary tool. Highly intelligent, highly ambitious, and highly likely to betray you. Proceed with extreme caution.]
[Luna (Maid/Follower)][Relationship Level: 3 (Hero Worship)][Loyalty: 85/100][Notes: Views host as a legendary hero and savior. Her loyalty is nearly absolute. She is your first true asset. Protect her.]
I stared at the screen, a slow grin spreading across my face. This was insane. This was absurd. This was the greatest system ever.
[First 'Harem Slot' has been filled by 'Elizabeth von Crimson' due to contractual marriage obligations,] ARIA continued. [Recruiting additional members requires fulfilling specific loyalty and affection thresholds.][Congratulations? You have successfully recruited your first wife. Please try not to get her, or yourself, killed.]
My wife. My tool. My ally. My incredibly dangerous, beautiful, and brilliant co-conspirator.
I looked out the window of the study, at the dark, sleeping world. My wedding day was over. I had survived. I had won.
But the game was just beginning. And I had a feeling that 'Wife Recruitment 101' was going to be the most difficult, and most interesting, tutorial I would ever have to play.