Of course, it wasn't so simple.
Damien had been calling them his wives for a very long time, and they'd been calling him their husband the same, but this relationship, at the end of the day, went unsaid.
No matter how secure it was, no matter how certain he was of their answers, he couldn't shale the crushing nervousness that originated from the depths of his soul.
He had shown his love before, and perhaps he'd done something similar, but it was never like this. It was never this real.
"All three of you represent the most important things to ever exist in my life. To live without knowing all of you will always be there for me sounds like torture. It is no longer something I can imagine. I've finally reached a point in life where I feel that I can give you all of me, and I hope you can give me all of you in return. I have never been a person who could express myself, and I've never been a person who enjoys gaudy things, but for you, nothing in the world could be considered too much. Even if you wanted me to betray the universe itself, I'd do it without hesitation. I–"
His thoughts continued on and on. Within the span of a single second, he created a speech that would take hours for him to finish.
But the words that came out of his mouth were as simple as they could be; a single phrase that allowed these women who knew him better than anyone else to understand everything he couldn't say out loud.
It was silent in the quiet house the four shared. The flickering of a small fireplace in the corner was the only thing inhabiting the silence.
The timing didn't matter. Even if he decided to propose to them in the middle of a battle, it wouldn't have mattered.
Because for someone like Damien who still had trouble getting the words "I love you" out of his chest to earnestly propose already meant so much.
Was there a need for them to think over their responses?
Not in the slightest.
But it did take several seconds for them to come out of their shocked trances and say the single word they all wanted to say.
Yes!
As she had a little longer to prepare than the other two, Rose was the first to gather herself.
She stood up and approached him, raising him off the ground with a bright smile.
Though, she couldn't hide the mist in her eyes.
"Do you even need to ask?" She said softly, her tone containing so much love that it almost drowned him.
"Didn't we just joke about meaningless questions?"
She reached up and cupped his face, looking directly into his eyes.
"There has never been a day where 'no' was even considered. Damien Void, we are yours. Forever and always."
"Yes, I will absolutely marry you."
She leaned forward and deeply kissed him, jolting the other two out of their shock.
Ruyue's troubled past made this moment very obviously monumental for her, but it was a matter of reflection and happiness, a fulfilling feeling that washed away any stains that remained in her mind.
She stood up soon after Rose let go of Damien, walking up and looking into his eyes.
She didn't say much, nor did her expression change, but none of these physical reactions were necessary for Damien to wholly understand her feelings.
Their souls were already forever connected. Was there a need for anything else?
A simple yes exited her mouth quietly, and though she was too embarrassed to kiss him so publicly, she hugged him so tightly he couldn't breathe, sinking into him with untold affection.
The most affected of the three was Elena.
The story of Damien and Elena began before mana was anything more than fiction. The Damien she fell in love with was just an innocent kid who had to carry the weight of the world on his back.
Time passed and their relationship went through many twists and turns, almost breaking at one point. Even though they matured and properly established their love, in the depths of her heart, Elena had given up on a proposal.
It had been 20 years; 20 years since Elena first fell for him.
And now, 20 years later, that childish Elena who knew nothing of love but its purest form, finally saw her dream come true.
Even after a minute passed, she didn't recover from her stupor.
Damien watched in worry, turning his head when he felt a nudge on his side.
It was Rose, pushing him forward to confront it himself.
'Right, at this stage, I can't be a coward.'
Damien walked up to Elena, her gaze meeting his as his shadow pulled her back to reality.
"So, what do you say?" he said warmly, smiling at her with eyes full of fondness.
His expression changed, a taunting smile spreading on his lips. "At times like this, why hesitate? We both know what you're actually thinking, fool. I've always told you to stop being so iffy!"
Elena's eyes widened. Those words, filled with an air of youth and teasing…
She thought back to that fateful day, the day before Damien fell out of her life for the first time, the day he was thrown into the First Dungeon to rot.
That day, the two of them visited an amusement park. It was obviously a date, but Elena presented it under the guise of "hanging out" to the dense and unavailable Damien of that time.
Back then, didn't she say those words to him?
She remembered it vividly. That day, she was trying to do everything she could to squeeze a confession out of him.
These were the words she said when she finally gave up.
Even after so long, after everything that happened, he still remembered them?
Maybe he understood what she wanted even all those years ago.
It was a little hateful to realize, but the smile that lit up her face cast rays of sunshine down on the universe itself, filling it with light and happiness.
Things really did come full circle.
"Yes…" Elena muttered.
Her eyes became cloudy. She stood up, gripped his shirt, pulled him closer, and…
"Yes. Yes! Absolutely yes! Yes, I will marry you, you damn bastard! What took you so long?!"
…she poured out everything that had been kept in her heart for these past 20 years.
This moment, shared between the four of them, marked a point in their lives when not only their relationships became complete, they were finally given something material to represent their connection, something that couldn't be questioned by any being in existence, whether past, present, or future.
And though they didn't know it, this seemingly symbolic action representing their union had a far more profound effect.
The Void held two sides. The Breath of All Things and the Breath of Nothingness together could barely embody this duality.
In this case, if the Breath of All Things was translated to their physical union, the act that planted the seeds of the Void in their bodies and made them Void Daughter candidates, then this step they finally took emotionally after reuniting was the Breath of Nothingness.
The statuses that weren't able to totally cement beforehand found grounds to do exactly that, and as a result…
Rose and Ruyue immediately stepped into the 1st revolution, the understanding they required to do so arriving in their minds like heavenly blessings. And while Elena didn't see an increase in rank, her comprehension of Life Laws saw a steep incline.
Was there any better way to celebrate this moment?
It seemed even the universe itself supported their backs.
And if such was the case, there was no need to worry about anything.
The only things left in their hearts were affection, love, security, and of course, anticipation for the adventure to come!
