Shadows on the Horizon, Love at Home

After receiving Arthur's passionate kisses and possessive touches, Margaret enters her home, jumping with joy. She is radiating happiness, which makes her look even more beautiful. Even in front of her parents, she cannot stop smiling proudly. 

"Did you see that?"

Her mother also smiles, happy that her daughter has finally been accepted. "I saw, I saw! He really likes you, but why didn't you let him come talk to us?"

"Well..." Margaret tries to calm down a bit. "I don't want him to propose because he feels pressured but rather when he is comfortable with it."

Her mother laughs. "You really are always thinking of his well-being, aren't you? So, is this your infallible strategy?"

Margaret nods, her eyes shining with expectation. "I can't wait for tomorrow so we can see each other again... he is finally returning my feelings, it's so wonderful!!"

"Go to sleep, girl!" Her mother speaks in a loving tone. "I'll have the fresh ingredients ready for you to make some delicious things for him early tomorrow."

"Thank you, Mom!!" Margaret is truly grateful for having a mother who supports her. Without her, she wouldn't be able to prepare delicious treats for Arthur every day without being late for her cultivation with Aria.

As she rushes to her bedroom, knowing she won't be able to sleep thinking about the future kisses she will receive from Arthur, her mother looks at her husband.

Margaret's father has a surprised expression on his face, making his wife shake her head. "What's the problem, old man? You didn't believe she could do it, did you?"

"Yeah, I guess I underestimated our daughter…" Mr. Carpenter says in a regretful tone. "But don't get me wrong, I always wanted the best for her... it's just that I thought... you have to understand that this isn't my fault!"

The man becomes agitated, surprising his wife, who becomes suspicious at his behavior. "What are you hiding from me??"

"Damn it! DAMN IT!!!" Furious with himself, Mr. Carpenter punches the wall. "I've messed everything up... and now Draven isn't around... I can't push this problem onto the boy... maybe you can talk to Lady Aria? Ask for her help?"

"What are you talking about, you old fool? What did you do??" Mrs. Carpenter becomes worried.

Instead of answering, he retrieves a hidden letter from one of the roof beams and hands it to his wife. She quickly opens the letter, which was written by an old family friend from Lakeview town and delivered by a traveling merchant.

"Sorry for the delay, my old friend, but the truth is I thought I had lost the photo you sent me of your daughter, making it hard to convince the nobles of Lakeview city that a simple peasant could be so beautiful. But my wife found the photo while cleaning our house, and guess what? It wasn't hard to find a noble interested in having her as a personal maid..."

Margaret's mother becomes increasingly worried as she continues reading the letter, in which their old friend explains how the noble is from one of the most influential families in Lakeview town, and the worst part is that their young Master intends to come to fetch Margaret next month to be his personal servant.

Mrs. Carpenter understands how nobles can be both powerful and dangerous, so she can barely prevent her body from trembling just thinking about creating a conflict between a noble family of Lakeview town and Arthur's family.

She casts a stern look at her husband. "When did you receive this letter?"

"Three weeks ago," he replies, and she quickly continues. "So this noble is arriving in five days?"

"One week if you count the two-day journey from Lakeview here," he explains, also worried.

"Why did you do this?!?" Mrs. Carpenter is furious, but her husband just lowers his head in shame. "How was I to know the boy would actually want to take care of our daughter? I sent that photo with my request when she turned eighteen; I couldn't imagine she would become Lady Aria's disciple…"

"I was waiting for Draven to return to ask for his help, but…" He looks at his wife with a pleading expression. "You have to talk to Lady Aria; only she can sort things out."

"What if we cause a war between two noble families?" Margaret's mother cannot help but fear the worst. As common people, they see the noble families as Gods who could end their lives like crushing an ant, and no law on the continent of Eldoria could protect them from them.

From her bedroom, Margaret overhears her parents' conversation, turning the happiest night of her life into a nightmare. She wants to run into Arthur's arms and ask him not to let anyone take her away from him, but at the same time, pushing a possible conflict against a noble family onto his family seems wrong.

Unaware of the problem tormenting Margaret and her family, Arthur heads back to his house very happy and proud of himself.

Seeing this life as his second chance, he tends to be very cautious, but this is not always good, especially when it comes to showing his feelings. But after being more open with Margaret about how much he likes her, Arthur feels much better; making her happy makes him feel delighted.

He arrives at his house and climbs the stairs excitedly, looking forward to his time with Nyx, but before heading to his bedroom, he notices Eve's bedroom door open. Approaching, he sees the cute little girl on her bed, wrapped in her blanket and looking at him expectantly.

"Why are you still awake, little bug?" he asks gently, moving closer to the bed.

"I was waiting for my goodnight kiss," Eve says in a slightly upset tone with a pout due to Arthur's delay in coming home that day.

"Oh, sorry, my dear," he approaches Eve and places a gentle kiss on her forehead, making the girl smile as she yawns. "Goodnight, little bug… I love you."

"Love you too, big brother…" Eve says with a sluggish and content tone after which she closes her eyes to sleep.

Arthur smiles and covers the room's magical lamp before leaving and closing the door. Putting Eve to sleep is part of his routine every night since she likes it that way, and he never fails to make his little sister feel loved.

Then he goes to Aria's secret laboratory, where he finds her working on resources and techniques to help him and Margaret in their cultivation. Both are working hard, and his mother is no different, always doing her best to help them in their paths.

"Mom…" Arthur smiles when he sees her. "It's late; you should go to sleep."

"Oh," she smiles back at him, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "You took a while to come back… should I assume things with Margaret are going well, right?"

"Yeah," Arthur doesn't try to hide it. "I know you asked me to go slow, but I think I can't hold it back anymore; I want her to know how special she is to me."

Aria couldn't help but feel conflicting emotions in her heart, which are reflected in her eyes. But she still smiles gently. "It's fine; I doubt that it hinders her cultivation. Even though she's still far from reaching the next grade of the Apprentice Rank, she's actually surpassing my expectations just with her determination."

Arthur knows how strong Margaret's determination is, but he also understands how her progress is linked to the rare resources that Aria uses in her cultivation, in addition to her teachings and constant help. That makes him even more grateful to his beloved mother.

He tries to say something but ends up yawning, feeling tired due to all the hard work during the day. Aria smiles and speaks in a loving tone. "Go to bed, darling; you need to rest to be able to keep working hard tomorrow. I won't be long here."

"Alright," He responds while turning and heading to his bedroom. "Good night, Mom."

Aria keeps her gentle smile, but the sparkle in her eyes fades a little. "Good night, son."

Arthur arrives in his bedroom and lays on his bed, very tired. Nyx appears in his arms, and the night goes as usual; he never fails to show her how much he loves her by showering her with kisses and caresses throughout the night.

As soon as Nyx falls asleep in his arms, Arthur can't help but wonder about his day. The happy image of Margaret returns to his mind, and he realizes how important it is to show the women he loves how important they are to him.

Showing his love to Eve and Nyx always seemed natural, and now he feels that he should do it more often with Margaret. But then, such thoughts make him think of his mother. 'She is so important to me… maybe I'm not making it clear enough…'

That is his last thought before his exhausted body shuts off; then, another night ends and a new day is born. Arthur is woken up by Nyx with kisses and heads to the kitchen as usual.

He finds Aria preparing his breakfast, and something clicks in his mind; thanks to the interaction with Margaret the night before, he now understands that he must be more honest with his feelings, especially towards the most important people in his life.

Aria hears Arthur's footsteps behind her and smiles. "Morning, darling-"

Surprising her greatly, he approaches her and hugs her from behind, his strong arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her body tightly against his, making his warmth mix with hers. "Oh my~~!!"

Arthur hugs Aria even tighter, not caring about any reaction from his body, just wishing to make her understand how important she is to him, how much he loves her, through his own actions.

He rests his chin on her shoulder and kisses her cheek. "Good morning, Mom!" His voice is full of affection. "I love you."

His words hit Aria deeply, making her feel thrilled and emotional. Of course, her relationship with Arthur has always been great, and it is improving even more recently, but this is the first time he has taken such a spontaneous action to express himself.

Aria feels her heart overflow with happiness and quickly turns around, hugging his front and resting her head on his shoulder. "You are such a good son! Mommy loves you too, baby."

Arthur feels various reactions all over his body, but this time, he does not try to contain them or retreat, as he simply wants to show her how special she is to him and how much he loves her. So he continues to hug her tightly, his arms wrapped around her waist, dangerously close to the outlines of her heavy ass.

Aria also notices the reaction of his body, and even though she feels similar responses, she does not stop hugging him, not wanting to stop feeling this closeness.

"From now on, you're going to have to hug Mommy like this every morning," she asks as she nuzzles into his neck.

"Every morning?" Arthur thinks out loud. That doesn't seem bad, on the contrary, but having to deal with his little brother getting hard against his mother's soft belly every day seems a little problematic.

"Ara Ara~ you rejecting me?" Aria sniffles like a spoiled child about to cry if she doesn't get her candy, and Arthur hugs her even tighter. "No way! How could I deny anything to my beloved and beautiful mother?"

"Good, good," Aria smiles, her eyes shining beautifully as she just wants to stay there, receiving all of Arthur's love. "You're really the best son... Mommy is so happy."