"You want a goodbye kiss?"

  "That's what I said."

  "……" Rudy didn't know what was going on inside Alice's mind, but he didn't want to miss the chance to kiss her.

  He immediately rushed to the bed and placed his hand on Alice's cheeks.

  Alice closed her eyes and puckered her lips as her face got close to Rudy.

  She expected Rudy to kiss her on the lips, but Rudy, however, kissed her on the forehead.

  Alice opened her eyes in shock and glared at Rudy.

  "Why did you kiss me on the forehead?" she asked.

  "Our current relationship status is… in limbo or something. So I have decided to not be intimate with you unless you give me your answer," Rudy replied in a calm voice.

  "……"

  "What? Why are you upset?" Rudy asked with a slight grin on his face.

  Alice furrowed her brows at Rudy and said, "Are you taking revenge on me?"

  "What revenge?" Rudy asked with a confused look on his face, seemingly playing dumb to make Alice say that from her mouth.

  "I left you hanging, so you are leaving me hanging too!"

  "Am I? I thought I was doing the right thing." Rudy shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's not like it would make much of a difference for you, right?"

  Alice frowned her face and pulled Rudy on the bed. Then, she pushed Rudy on the bed and got on top of him.

  "Do you truly think you can get away after teasing me?" she asked with a judging look on her face.

  "I didn't tease you. I just did what you did. So if you are saying that I am teasing you, that would also mean you were teasing me too. Thus, you weren't serious when you said you needed time to think about the harem," Rudy responded in a calm voice, but the expression on his face said something else.

  Alice and Rudy stand in each other's eyes for a while without speaking a word. Silence had filled the room, seemingly neither of them wanted to be the first one to speak.

  'I love you,' Rudy said to Alice using telepathy.

  "That's cheating!" Alice shouted.

  "Is it now?"

  Alice knew she wouldn't be able to win against Rudy on that matter, since Rudy would use his powers and beat her. So she chose to go physical.

  She pressed her lips on Rudy's lips and kissed him. But, she didn't stop there. She inserted her tongue in Rudy's mouth and started sucking everything inside his mouth.

  After a few minutes of kissing, Alice stopped to look at Rudy's face to see his reaction. She assumed Rudy would be upset, but he was grinning.

  "Why are you grinning?!"

  "It just feels weird to see you are being forceful like that. You will be a fine collection in my harem, you know?" he said with a soft scoff.

  Alice bumped her forehead with Rudy as she said, "I can't even tell if you are joking or not."

  "So…? Do you have the answer ready?"

  Alice moved down and rested her head on Rudy's chest.

  "I don't know. I want to be mine only, but I don't want to lose you either. So… yeah… I will join your harem…"

  "Are you sure…?"

  "Are you seriously asking that?" Alice sighed and muttered, "it's not like I have another choice. If I want to be with you and keep loving you, I have to agree to share with you. At least, that's better than nothing."

  "I would have still loved you and kept loving you even if you hadn't agreed. I am not a petty person… who only thinks of his own good. This second chance is not only for me… but all my loved ones too…"

  "Say…" Alice raised her head with a curious look on her face and asked, "Is there a subscription service for your harem?"

  "…… what?" Rudy's voice alone was enough to describe how confused he was.

  "You did this with the pool girl— Reina, right? The kissing course and blow job course. So I was wondering if you also had a subscription service for your harem."

  "And… what would be the purpose of that…?"

  "I don't know. Maybe a girl would join your harem on a free trial and see if she likes it or not. Then, she will choose a membership plan with the ability to cancel it whenever she feels neglected," Alice said with a smirk on her face.

  "That sounds… very bad for my business. And I would like to add a penalty for canceling the membership." Rudy wrapped his legs around Alice and said, "And that penalty would be a life-long membership."

  "……"

  "In other words, they can't leave once they have joined my harem," he added.

  "Possessive much?"

  "Maybe…?"

  "Jokes aside, how do you feel right now?" Alice asked with a curious yet calm look on her face.

  "Hmm?"

  "You know… now that I am part of your harem. How do you feel about it? Because you don't look happy… at least, judging by the expression on your face."

  "To be honest, I… am not feeling anything at all. I am not sure why, but I think that's due to the fact that deep down I knew you wouldn't want to be away from me. It's like… I was anxious, but my brain… uhh… maybe heart? I don't know…" Rudy responded in an awkward manner, seemingly confused by his own words.

  Alice moved her head close to Rudy's ears and said, "So. You officially owe me now. Wouldn't you like to use me now?"

  "Ugh! Alice… come on. Don't use words like that…" Rudy groaned with a sigh.

  "But I thought that would make you excited!"

  "Well… it did. But hearing those words from your mouth makes it feel like I corrupted yet another innocent girl…"

  "Then…" Alice moved her face close to Rudy's ears and whispered in a seductive voice, "Time to take responsibility now."

  ===

  Author's Note- Thanks, @Mountain_of_books, for the gift!