"Hello."
"Oh, hi there."
I responded to a familiar voice and looked up.
Ack?!
I screamed inwardly.
It was the same group I had seen recently—basically, the key members of the main family were all gathered.
"What brings you here today?"
Maybe something about subsidies? But with this many people?
"Here you go."
Misago casually held out a registration form.
1, 2, 3... up to 11...
"Isn't this kind of fast?"
I asked, seriously concerned.
"Well, everyone in this group was more than ready to jump at the chance if this ever happened. Or rather, it's his fault for being way too attractive."
Misago said this with a slightly bitter tone. Instinctively, I looked toward the one who was at the center of all this.
Smile.
Noticing my gaze, he gave me a gentle smile.
My heart skipped a beat.
I swallowed, throat dry.
A flutter deep in my stomach.
No, no. Isn't this all happening a bit too fast? I exhaled deeply to calm myself.
"By the way..."
"Adding one more name to the list isn't a problem, so go ahead and write it in."
I was going to play it off as a joke, but they accepted it before I could even get to the main point.
"Huh?! Really?!"
I asked without thinking.
"Go ahead, go ahead."
Hisui, completely unfazed, gave me a small, wry smile and encouraged me.
"It's better to fill the list with close family rather than strangers."
Customers and others can come later. For now, just sign already.
That was the vibe Misago gave off, like she'd already resigned herself—or maybe snapped a little.
"Well, yeah... that makes sense."
The current list was mostly half-sisters from the bird group, people I was at least somewhat familiar with—but a few toward the end I barely knew.
If this is how things look just days after Misago found him, we'll reach 100 wives in no time.
"What about nights?"
"For the first three nights—honeymoon phase—we'll try to rotate based on who's officially registered. After that, we'll take turns each night, flexibly, depending on work schedules and such."
It seems she doesn't intend to use her status as the first wife to claim special rights. Which means, maybe they'll go with the "grandpa Kohaku" plan—or even a "midnight visit" system?
With Yata-granny as the third wife, it'll probably follow that same structure.
"What about allowance?"
"20,000 yen per month."
Inflation might've bumped it up a bit?
"If this gets out, you'll have women swarming in from across the country."
"Which is why we're keeping it under wraps—for now."
"It's going to leak..."
It will leak—no doubt about that, I thought to myself.
"Daytime is free time—in every sense of the word."
If someone gets frustrated waiting for their night, they're allowed to 'pounce' during the day. That's the implication, anyway.
"The exclusive period might be short, but... well, it is what it is."
We all sighed together, shoulders slumping.
"Next time, it'll probably be Grandma Toki, Aoba, and a few others."
Judging by the flow of things, all the employees from the inn are probably joining in too.
"There's a lot of bird-types here."
You can tell they're family just from the names, but we can't even remember all of them ourselves.
"By the way, I got a message from Sister Hakuto. She's asking the office to help her secure some government-managed housing in the area."
"Keep that a secret," she whispered, holding up her finger.
"So more are coming, huh."
"She's a beauty, after all—Sister Hakuto."
Well, more like a beautiful woman without a... you know. Her looks and build are more in line with Misago and Hachikuma-sis. Beautiful, in that androgynous, striking way.
So yeah, she'll probably fit right in, in every way.
"Okay, I'll call your names—please come up and present your ID cards."
"Sure."
Beep.
No data irregularities or forgeries. Incidentally, the system links IDs to your registered spouse's, so when scanned, the marriage gets publicly recognized on the spot.
If you're known to the clerk, you might even get a congratulatory comment. By the way, surnames generally stay unchanged. Changing them is a bureaucratic nightmare, especially when you're not even living together, so everyone just keeps theirs.
"And now, me."
Beep.
And just like that, I became wife number 12. Honestly, it hasn't sunk in yet—but I can't stop grinning.
Author's note :
The "Family Discount" isn't just for those with bird-related names. It's for those who are ex-staff and familiar half-siblings. So yeah, a little different.
This inn is a surprisingly nice place. Even after Kohaku passed, it's busy during the season. That's why during peak times, relatives come in to help as part-time workers.
Especially in summer, Golden Week, spring break, and winter break—it's a quick and easy job for students.
Because of their sisterly ties, many of them used to come here as kids with their parents.
So for most of them, the inn feels more like a former workplace than a travel destination.
Even now, with Kohaku and Hisui gone, the inn runs smoothly and is a popular job spot. It's that kind of place.
So Misago and the others like Hachikuma and Suzume, who grew up together, are super tight—but there's a slightly different vibe with the rest.
The "Midnight Visit Plan" or "Wife Plan"
Only applies to officially registered wives. Even on booked-out nights, they're allowed to stay—obviously, in the detached room where Hisui stays.
A straightforward "just do it" policy.
Accommodation is cheap because, well, they're wives.
The effectively-free allowance also stems from this setup.
Even at other inns, Hisui could casually stroll in, walk straight through the front, and visit a room without causing any issues.
No one would dare charge him.
And if any scraps fall their way, the staff see it as motivation—so they actually encourage it.
This is also why there are so many affiliated inns nearby.
If you're a local and have consent—or sometimes even without it—you could just barge in like a friendly dinner guest, and no one would bat an eye.
From a security perspective, it's a bit scary, so ideally, he should stay hidden inside the inn—but the freedom to come and go is what makes it a home, not a prison.
Yata-chan would never physically restrict him; she wants to bind him through feelings, not force.