Chapter 1: ① An Instant Proposal to My Favorite Queen!?

“I’ve been in love with you this whole time—so please, make babies with me!”

Five minutes after meeting her for the first time, Yuuri stood before the beautiful woman with flowing golden hair—Queen Celine—frozen in shock, and boldly declared his intentions.

The surrounding knights and maids were struck speechless. The summoning chamber fell silent.

(Wait… what did I just say?)

He wanted to ask himself that very question.

(Idiot! Am I an idiot!? I don’t care how much I love her—asking someone to mate with me five seconds after meeting them, what kind of brain do I have!? Do your job, hippocampus!!)

But you know what—it’s the fault of the “ideal woman” standing right in front of me…!

Celine von Oltania. One of the heroines from Harem Kingdom, a bride-acquisition strategy game about controlling the realm from the shadows through political marriages—an absolute beauty, my “favorite” in the flesh.

And she’s right here in front of me.

…This is a dream. Yeah, no doubt about it.

(Calm down. Don’t think about anything weird. If you do, you lose!)

At my age, hand-washing my underwear first thing in the morning would be way too sad.

But her golden hair spreading softly, her ample chest, her sweet honey-like fragrance—I couldn’t look away. Not just her appearance, but her grace, intelligence, and elegance combined made her truly the kingdom’s greatest treasure.

“…To think the hero who answered the Stellar Spirit’s summons would be such a bold individual…”

Her voice carried surprise and a hint of bewilderment—and Celine’s cheeks flushed red. But she quickly composed herself and gracefully averted her gaze.

“…How strange. Such behavior should disgust me, yet…”

Celine exhaled softly.

“My heart is stirring. Could this be… the hero’s ‘power’?”

That gesture overflowed with maternal warmth and nobility, making my heart race even faster.

Hm? Hero? I’m pretty sure I picked ‘Merchant’ earlier… Well, whatever. It’s a dream anyway. If I worry about consistency, I lose.

Yet the world before me was as vividly real as the game Harem Kingdom itself.

(Come to think of it, Gramps brought me that game…)

“It’s a limited edition, apparently. The developer? No clue. But the package art is amazing, right?”

I’d cleared it at least ten times with the Hero class—probably logged seven hundred hours by now.

Man, that package art was divine. Queen Celine and Princess Lieselotte, mother and daughter embracing… I really just want to be sandwiched between them!

As I indulged in that fantasy, an exasperated voice came from near my feet.

“Forcibly summoning and reincarnating your soul must have broken Master’s brain, nya… No matter how you look at it, this isn’t sane behavior, nya.”

I hurriedly looked down to find a familiar black cat standing proudly on two legs.

“Huh, Kokuyou-san? Why are you standing? And why are you talking? …Oh right, it’s a dream. Of course, it’s a dream.”

“Nya? This isn’t a dream, nya. This is reality—another world for Yuuri, nya.”

The black cat—Kokuyou—puffed out her fluffy chest proudly and stated matter-of-factly.

“See, the fact that I’m calling you by your character name proves this is a game dream.”

“That’s why I said it’s not a dream, nya.”

“But I mean, my real name is… huh? What was it? I remember my life up until yesterday, but I can’t recall my own name…”

Her lustrous tail stood straight up as Kokuyou pouted. Round eyes stared up at me.

“To help you adapt to life here, memories with strong attachments or obsessions from your previous life are sealed a bit, nya.”

“Come on, just because I’m a chubby office worker whose only friend is video games doesn’t mean I can’t tell dreams from reality.”

“Nyaaa, you don’t get it at all, nya!!”

Her ears twitched as Kokuyou let out a dramatic sigh.

Before I knew it, I was holding her. My fingers sank into her fluffy fur, and even the scent tickling my nose felt hyper-realistic.

Yet somehow, it didn’t feel real. It was like being drunk on ultra-high-definition tactile feedback in virtual reality—a strange sensation.

My hand didn’t feel like my own. Like I was moving someone else’s body…

(Is this… a dream? It’s too realistic, but… somehow it doesn’t feel like my own senses…)

Only my mind hadn’t caught up to my body yet—a floating, airy sensation.

“…Hey, Kokuyou-san.”

Yuuri’s gaze fell to the black cat.

“If I die in this world… do I really die?”

“…Your brain really is malfunctioning, nya? Of course you die, nya.”

The black cat narrowed her eyes and swayed her tail gently.

“This isn’t a ‘game.’ It’s a battlefield, nya. A life chosen as a hero isn’t just a game piece, nya. Win and you’re king; lose and they won’t even find your bones, nya.”

(Win and it’s paradise, lose and it’s hell, huh…)

Something cold crawled up my spine. Die—would I really die in this world?

…But.

Wait, this is an isekai reincarnation, right? If it’s the same as the game, there should be bonuses. New Game Plus… I hope…

My heart raced, clinging to that faint hope.

(If this isn’t a dream but reality… If this really is the world of Harem Kingdom… Could I actually be… the Harem King!? For real!?)

Heat surged from deep within.

In the game, the first wife was always Princess Lieselotte. No matter how many times I played, no matter how much I raised her affection—Celine always became the Queen Dowager and could never be married.

(But if this is real, game rules don’t matter, right? Plus, I’m the Harem King!)

I’ll never get another chance like this.

She’s not on the other side of a screen. The real Celine is right here in front of me.

If I don’t go all out now, those 720 hours of gameplay mean nothing—!

“Um… might I ask your name, sir?”

Celine’s voice mixed anxiety with hope, as if she wanted to “confirm something.”

My name… my name…

I tried to remember, but yesterday’s me felt like a distant dream.

(But… if I’m going to live in this world, my name is—)

“Yuuri Ravelt. …That’s my name.”

In that instant, the consciousness that had been drifting suddenly snapped into place within my “body.” Like scattered pieces of myself finally connecting into one. The world seemed to acknowledge Yuuri’s existence.

(…This is my new life. Then there’s only one thing I should do. My favorite is right in front of me. I don’t have time to hesitate! I have to go as far as I can. Because I’m…)

He stared straight at Celine.

(Going to become the Harem King!!)

And if I die in the act, so be it—my body shall lie where it falls with no one to bury it!

Yuuri steeled his resolve and looked directly at Celine once more.

“Let me say it one more time! Will you party up with me in life and create the greatest Happy Harem Kingdom in history!!”