This chapter was a response to readers and a roundup of the issues they raised.
Readers, you could read it or skip it.
Skipping it wouldn't affect your reading of the main story.
Consider it a little interaction between me and my readers.
First:
The chapter resolving the issue of Lilia's affair.
Some readers called it utterly toxic, hypocritical, and so on...
Let me start by explaining where the inspiration came from.
It came from one line: "At seventy, I could follow my heart's desires without overstepping the bounds."
Put simply: "Once I'm old enough, whatever I do falls within the rules."
When I read that part of the manga, the word that came to mind was "compromise."
Paul was afraid of Zenith and didn't dare speak up.
Zenith, out of consideration for Lilia and the child, didn't dare drive her away.
Lilia did feel guilty.
Even though Paul owed her a great deal.
After all, she was the one who seduced Paul.
Rudeus's attempt to save her had a certain "it's fine whether this works or not" attitude to it.
So my idea was: what would happen if none of them had any lingering worries?
Following your heart and being truly at ease is a very difficult state to achieve.
Second:
The so-called cuckolding.
Some readers criticized me, saying I'd even managed to find satisfaction in cuckolding.
My thinking came down to how the three girls were characterized.
If we really had to call it cuckolding, Roxy was the only one who truly counted.
Because she was the one the protagonist actively pursued.
Alice and Sylphy were both cases of chance encounters and circumstances.
Look at Rudeus's romantic storylines in the original.
With Sylphy, it was because he saved her when she was little.
As long as someone saved