“Sis! Mira!”

  We hadn't even made it fully through the doors before a little blur of green came flying towards us to be caught in Luci's arms.

  “Lia! How have you been?” Luci smiled as she set her little sister back down, only for her to run over and briefly hug my waist next.

  “Good! But Sis is an SS rank adventurer now, I'm jealous!” Tahli's just as cute as I remember her, except now she's maybe an inch or two taller and is wearing a dark-green dress. “I'm supposed to be the ‘ringbear’ at Brother's wedding! What does that mean?”

  “I told you already Lia, it's ‘ringbearer’, not ‘ringbear’,” said brother, Vic, stepped in to pick her up. “There are others trying to come in now, let's not keep them waiting.”

  The three Elf siblings led the way as Setsuna and the rest of our group came in.

  “Fluffy! So many Fluffies!” Tahli, seeing the Kitsune and their tails, immediately tried escaping from her brother's arms to no avail.

  “Little Lia, it's been a while,” Freiya said, approaching the two so Tahli can fluff her tail. “Young Vic as well. Though, I suppose you've outgrown that nickname. You are marrying after all.”

  “Good to see you too, Mrs. Freiya,” Vic bowed, leading to an awkward moment where Tahli ended up pulling on Freiya's tail, causing the poor woman to slightly flinch before pulling it back to herself. “We've stalled enough. Let's get going.”

  Without further ado, we finally entered the throne room to stand before the King and Queen.

  “Greetings to you all. I hope you've had a safe trip here,” Luci's father stood up, extending an air of professionalism and respectfulness befitting that of a ruler. “I apologize for skipping the pleasantries, but there are a lot of necessary preparations to be made. In any case, I, Wendell Excelsus Regali-Pristel, would like to extend a formal welcome to the Foxkin of the Territories. The servants will show you to your rooms. I hope you all have a pleasant stay here.”

  As the others headed downstairs, I remained with Luci and her family in the throne room. Once they were gone, Luci's father sat back down in his throne.

  “Lucindell.”

  “Y-Yes, Father?”

  “Welcome home. It seems you've been making a name for yourself, it's not every day one becomes an SS rank adventurer,” despite sounding a little ominous when first addressing her, he spoke softly and full of pride for his daughter. “Imagine my surprise when my daughter sends home a letter saying her party just became one of the only four to reach that rank barely a couple weeks after my son comes home to marry the sister of another one!”

  “Well, we're technically not SS rank yet. We still have to return to the Guild in Lithhelm to cim it. And did you say Vic's marrying the sister of another SS rank?”

  “Allow me, father,” Vic said, standing beside his parents. He had let Tahlia down before, and she was now running around to the side, trying to py with a few of the maids. “You'll get to meet her shortly, but my fiance is Mary Revierre, from the Osakara Empire. Her family is mostly made of Light mages, her included. She's a third tier mage, which is fairly impressive on its own, but her brother is a sixth tier. Not only that, but he also managed to make it to SS rank as a solo adventure, and almost entirely by tackling byrinths of undead too.”

  “Wait… Mira.” Luci turned to me. “Do you think it could be-”

  “Issac Revierre! Pleasure to see you two again!” A familiar voice came from the directon of the stairs. Sure enough, it was Issac, the same man from Lexica. I unconsciously began wiping the back of my hand on my pants as I remembered that night…

  He wasn't alone. Behind him was a woman greatly resembling him, down to the same eyes and hair color. Only where he had a sharp, defined jawline, hers was softer and more rounded. I assume this was Mary.

  The two walked past, briefly nodding at me before engaging in conversation with Luci and Vic. I went to join them, only to be stopped before I had the chance.

  “Mira,” I was addressed simirly to Luci was earlier, only it was her mother speaking this time.

  “Y-Yes, Ma'am?” Of course, I reacted simirly as well, suddenly feeling a chill run down my spine.

  “No. Not ‘Ma'am’. I believe I told you already to call me Lana, didn't I?”

  “Er… yes, Lana.”

  “That's better. Now, what I wanted to talk to you about,” she leaned forward, pcing her chin on her hands. I began to sweat under her scrutinizing gaze. “I'll get straight to the point here. What do you pn to do to my daughter?”

  “M-mother?!” Luci, who had just realized what was going on, excimed. “What are you-?!”

  “Hush. I asked you a question, Mira.”

  I was practically shaking at this point. Was this how it would all end? Death by the overwhelming pressure from standing in front of my girlfriend's mother…

  I gnced over at her, kind of hoping she could do something, but… she seemed just as scared as I was, if not more. If she's scared, then isn't it my duty as her lover to protect her. Steeling my resolve, I made eye contact with Lana once again.

  “You want to know my pns for your daughter, correct? Well, I… I pn to date her.”

  “Oh?” She leaned back into her throne, crossing her legs with an amused smile. Meanwhile, her husband seemed too shocked to function, his jaw hanging so far it seemed like it would come off.

  “Mira! Why-” Luci was just as shocked, probably not expecting me to just tell them like that. To be honest, I didn't expect to either, but it's done now, I just need to follow through, no matter the result.

  “I love her, so I want your permission to be with her.”

  “Very well then. My permission is granted.”

  “I know that- Wait… What?”

  “I said it's fine. I know the two of you have probably already started dating without my permission anyway, and I'm not one to deny someone so serious about it. In fact, I had a feeling from the start it might turn out like this. Though I wonder why I let her leave with you even knowing that… In any case, you're a good woman, one who I don't mind having as a daughter-in-w. In fact, why don't you go ahead and do that? We could have two weddings at once!”

  “Huh?!” at that comment, nearly everyone in the room shouted at the same time, excluding Mary for some reason.

  “Don't I get a say in this?!” Wendell was the first to voice his compint.

  “Hm… No,” Lana coldly replied.

  “Mother… That's too soon!” Luci was next.

  “Is it? If I recall, the two of you have known each other for more than two months now. Meanwhile your brother decided to marry Mary here within just a couple weeks of meeting her.”

  “That's… We both wanted to do this, so why do we need to wait?” Vic took offense at that statement.

  “Even if I want to be with Mira, I've been dreaming of becoming an adventurer my whole life! At least let me have a year or two before I settle down…”

  “Alright, alright,” Lana chuckled. “I'm just kidding with you all. Except for you, Darling.”

  “What did I even do…?” Poor Wendell sunk into his throne, suddenly making it seem like less of a throne and more just an overglorified chair with how he's acting in it.

  “Again, I merely jest. Hm…” Lana seemed deep in thought for a moment, before she suddenly cpped her hands together. “I know! Mira. How about you go get the Foxkin chief. She's the only leader allies with us that I haven't spoken to yet, so I'd like to get to know her. I believe she's been assigned the room you previously stayed in.”

  “Oh. Um, sure. I think I remember where that's at.”

  With that, I took my leave, heading down the stairs to the guestrooms. Once I was out of sight, all of the tension suddenly left my body. I guess it was a lot easier than I expected to convince Luci's parents to let me date her.

  As I was walking down the stairs however, a group of women headed to the throne room brought me out of my thoughts. They all had shiny, silver hair, and were all heavily armed, whereas I had to leave Yuto with the rest of my belongings.

  Wondering who they were, I made my way to the room Setsuna was staying in.

  Alpy376