There were many things Rei had learned to fear in this world.
Rosette's whispers behind doors that shouldn't exist.
Drakana's "affectionate" headlocks that required emergency neck braces.
Seraphina's divine judgments disguised as kisses.
Lilia's constant attempts to rehearse their wedding vows… in his sleep.
But this—this was something new.
Emilia was smiling.
To someone else.
Not just smiling—the soft, sunlit smile she usually reserved for tea and being adorably oblivious to how much danger she was constantly in. No, this was the kind of smile that made the poor soul on the receiving end blush so hard they nearly fainted into their soup.
It had started during lunch.
Rei was enjoying a rare moment of peace—"enjoying" being a strong word, as Rosette was surgically de-boning a fish with her butter knife while eyeing the nearby female staff for "mistress potential."
Then it happened.
"Good afternoon!" Emilia had said sweetly to a random male student.
And just like that—
The universe shifted.
[System Alert: Irregular Event Detected]
[Achievement Progress: "School Idol Ascension" (1/7 Steps Completed)]
[Warning: Wife Faction Emotional Integrity Dropping. Trauma Sync at 18%.]
Rei blinked.
The male student, who normally looked like he'd lost a fight with a bookcase, instantly perked up like he'd been plugged into a lightning socket.
"H-Hello, Emilia!" the boy stammered, cheeks ablaze. "I—uh—I like your ribbon!"
Emilia looked down at her modest blue hair tie. "Oh! Thank you. It's just one I found on sale. Rei helped me pick it."
The boy's smile faltered slightly. Rei's name was like garlic to a vampire around this crowd. Still, the damage was done.
Two tables away, a noble girl whispered, "Did you see that? She spoke to him!"
Another chimed in. "She's so wholesome... almost normal."
"Normal?" Rosette repeated. Her smile cracked slightly.
Drakana growled. "Don't they know she hasn't even declared blood oath priority over Rei's soul yet?!"
Seraphina's spoon twitched. "Her aura's… popular. This is spiritual pollution. I'll call the bishop."
Raeliana narrowed her eyes. "Time to monitor. Possibly assassinate."
Lilia began scribbling into a notebook titled 'Emilia's Sudden Rise – Betrayal of the Purity Pact?'
Rei, blissfully unaware of the impending apocalypse, just sipped his lukewarm tea and whispered, "It's probably just a one-off."
It was not a one-off.
By the time their afternoon lecture on "Magic Ethics and Legal Arson" began, Emilia had already:
Received three handwritten notes confessing admiration.
Been invited to join the Gardening Club, Baking Club, and surprisingly, the Demonology Review Board.
Had a desk with flowers on it.
Acquired a nickname: "Angel of Hallway Smiles."
[System Notification: Event Update – Emilia Popularity Spike Now at 71%]
[Bonus Title Unlocked: "Too Pure for This Plot"]
[Wife Factions Now Experiencing Shared Delusional Disassociation: Trauma Link Level 2 Established.]
"I blame you," Rosette said without blinking.
Rei looked up from his notes. "Me?! What did I do?"
"You gave her tea. Affection. A ribbon. Encouragement. Emotional reinforcement. That's more than the standard yandere ration for an entire year."
Rei blinked. "Wait—wait, there's a ration?"
Raeliana pulled out a scroll. "Yes. Signed in blood. We meet every solstice to review it."
"I was drugged during the last solstice."
"You were relaxed."
"I fell into a coma."
Raeliana shrugged. "Semantics."
Drakana paced like a caged beast in a schoolgirl skirt, her muscles flexing with every footstep. "We have to do something before this 'idol' phase reaches its final evolution. That's when music starts."
Seraphina's halo sparked. "I hear instruments and I smite."
Lilia, now on a conspiracy board kick, slapped down a map of the academy with thumbtacks connecting Emilia's every footstep for the last 72 hours. "Observe. Her route intersects with six major population centers. We have to cut off her supply lines."
"She's not a warlord!" Rei protested. "She's just… being nice!"
Rosette narrowed her eyes. "Too nice. Suspiciously nice. As if… she were raised by grandparents who made her cookies."
"You leave Grandma Maple out of this!"
In a quiet corner of the Academy gardens, Emilia knelt beside a patch of roses. A small crowd of students surrounded her, offering snacks, asking questions, and generally hovering like moths around a particularly wholesome flame.
"I like spending time with the flowers," she said softly. "They don't judge, or yell, or trap people in basement love dungeons."
The students all laughed like she'd told the joke of the century.
"Oh, Emilia! You're so funny!"
"I swear, she's just so calming."
"Do you think she's dating anyone?" one whispered.
"I heard she's close to that Duke's son…"
"What? Him?! He's always being chased around like a cursed protagonist!"
"They say he once tried to flee through a dumbwaiter and got caught by his ankle."
"Tragic. But kind of relatable."
Back in Rei's Corner of Suffering
He was watching the scene unfold from a bush. Not on purpose.
Rosette had thrown him into the bush.
"She's been active for three hours," Rosette hissed. "That's enough emotional radiation to destabilize a small country."
Lilia handed out leaflets. "We need to re-brand. 'Team Rei First' must counter 'Emilia Nation' before noon tomorrow."
Raeliana loaded a blow dart. "Say the word."
"No poison darts!" Rei whisper-yelled.
"It's just a mild anti-popularity serum. Tested it on a squirrel. He's super humble now."
Before Rei could argue further, the crowd around Emilia broke into spontaneous applause.
Why?
Because Emilia had just gently helped a lost freshman find the bathroom.
[System Alert: Critical Popularity Event Detected]
[Title Earned: "Hall Pass Hero"]
[Fan Club Formation Now 39% Complete. Estimated: 2.5 Days Until Emilia Has Her Own Banner.]
That was the last straw.
The wives gathered in a secret bunker beneath the library—one that had originally been built for "Rei Containment Drills," but was now being used for an emergency trauma circle.
Rosette sat cross-legged, sharpening knives.
Drakana crushed a grapefruit with her bare hand.
Seraphina prayed for strength.
Raeliana scribbled a 10-step plan on a chalkboard, five of which were just "eliminate smiling."
Lilia sipped tea brewed with emotional damage.
They all sat in silence for a long time.
Then Rosette spoke.
"I dreamed of Rei saying Emilia's name in his sleep."
Gasps.
"I heard her laugh echoed in his chamber corridor," Seraphina muttered.
"I watched him smile when she offered him a fork," Drakana snarled. "A FORK."
They nodded grimly.
A new trauma had bound them.
[System Notification: New Shared Status – "Yandere Core Trauma: Emilia Ascension Arc"]
[Special Buff Unlocked: 'Spite Coordination' – Increases group intelligence when plotting against common threat.]
The next day, the inevitable happened.
A student—a nice, friendly young man with zero sense of self-preservation—walked up to Emilia in the middle of the hallway and asked:
"Would you… maybe want to go to the Harvest Festival together?"
The entire academy froze.
Time itself stalled.
And then—
A spear embedded in the wall behind him.
Rosette appeared on his left.
Drakana on his right.
Lilia behind him, holding a bouquet of flowers with thorns.
Seraphina descended from the ceiling like an angel of rejection.
Raeliana casually closed the boy's locker, which had a wanted poster inside now reading: "Threat Level: Charismatic."
"Harvest Festival, huh?" Rosette said softly. "That's cute."
"Rei and I already made plans," Lilia said. "He's dressing as my groom."
"In dragon silk," Drakana added, cracking her knuckles.
The poor boy dropped the invitation and sprinted off screaming something about needing new pants.
Emilia just tilted her head, blinking. "Was that… aggressive?"
Rei, standing off to the side with a bag of snacks, facepalmed. "You have no idea."
To be continued…