Side Story: Everyone’s Morrow, Part 10

◇Deep in a Forest◇

Somewhere deep in a forest, surrounded by trees, there stood a cozy

little wooden cottage. It was here that the doppeladler Hugi-Mugi, a former

member of the Infernal Four, lived out their life disguised as a human.

"Look papa!" said a boy, pointing up at the sky. "A big flying boat!"

"A big flying boat, is it, yes?" said Hugi-Mugi, stepping out of the house

to see what the fuss was about. In their undisguised form, Hugi-Mugi was

an enormous two-headed demon bird, and even in their human form they

spoke with two distinct overlapping voices. The boy didn't seem to find that

at all peculiar, though. He took Hugi-Mugi's hand and led them into the

front garden. "It's true, yes!" Hugi-Mugi exclaimed. "Yes, a big flying

boat!"

"That boat is really cool, isn't it, papa?" the boy said. "I wanna ride on it

too!"

"Hmmm..." Hugi-Mugi considered. "Want to ride on it, yes?" Then they

turned to the house. "Oh, Cartha!"

"Yes, Hugi, what is it?" said a woman, poking her head out from one of

the windows. "I'm a little busy getting everything ready for dinner..."

Cartha once operated a farm outside the nearby village, but now she lived

with Hugi-Mugi full-time.

"Excuse me, yes, but what exactly is that boat up there?" Hugi-Mugi

asked. "Yes, do you recognize it?"

"Ahhh!" Cartha exclaimed. "That must be an Enchanted Frigate! Folks

have been talking about it back at the village! I've heard they're operated

by some shop called the Fli-o'-Rys General Store in Houghtow City."

"Huca says he wants to ride on the boat, yes!" Hugi-Mugi reported.

"Yes, how would we do that?"

"Well, I suppose I would need to go to Houghtow City to learn the

details..." Cartha mused. Then she turned and called out to someone in the

garden. "Excuse me, Shino? You wouldn't know anything, would you?"

A woman walked up, carrying a baby on her back and dressed in priestly

vestments. This was Shino, who worked as a priestess in the village Cartha

was from. "The Enchanted Frigate?" Shino asked. "I've only heard rumors

at the church myself..." Suddenly, however, her expression changed. "WWait, could you hold on just a moment?! There's something warm running

down my back...I think Muno must have wet himself!" She hastily

unstrapped the baby from her back and put it down. "Oh, goodness, you

really did wet yourself, didn't you? You really can be such a naughty child

sometimes, Muno. But I suppose it's something you have in common with

my lord husband, after all!" Blushing, Shino went to change her baby's

clothes. It seemed like a task she was very used to.

Just then, a wagon rolled up to the cottage. "I have returned!" said the

woman driving the team of enormous magic beasts hitched to the reins. She

stepped down to the ground, mindful of her large pregnant belly.

Hugi-Mugi came running right away. "Mato, there's no need for you to

go to town to trade right now, yes! Yes, you are nearly about to give birth!"

Mato had been traveling in the forest one day when she found herself

attacked by bandits. Just when things were looking bad, though, Hugi-Mugi

came to her rescue. Ever since, she had been living with them in their

cottage.

"Oh, well..." Mato said. "I realize it may be a little improper for a wife,

but I would still like to do everything I can to be of use to you, if you will

allow it."

"There's no need to worry about that, yes! Yes, after all, I'm the one

who took you as a wife!" said Hugi-Mugi. "What worries me is your body,

yes! Yes, please don't push yourself too much!" The magic beasts all

nodded in agreement. It seemed as if they could understand Hugi-Mugi's

words.

"Lord Hugi-Mugi... Everyone... Thank you. I will do my utmost not to

push myself overmuch." Then, she glanced up at the sky. "Oh! Is that the

Enchanted Frigate I see?"

"It is, yes!" said Hugi-Mugi. "Huca wants to ride on it, yes! Do you

know how, Mato?"

"Oh!" said Mato. "It just happens that I heard something while I was

doing the day's trading! It seems you can purchase tickets at the village

hall. But to get on board, we'd need to go all the way to a town on the other

side of the mountain..."

"I see!" said Hugi-Mugi. "Well, then, shall we be off, yes?"

"Oh, but Hugi!" Cartha protested. "Won't it be quite the hassle to go all

the way to the other side of the mountain? I know the magic beasts are very

fast, but it would still take two entire days, I should think. I don't know if

we should be leaving Mato alone for so long when the baby could be due

any day now..."

"There is no need to worry about me, Miss Cartha," Mato said with a

bright smile. "I will gladly watch over the house while you are away!"

"All of you are family, yes!" Hugi-Mugi said. "Yes, I don't want to leave

even one of you behind!"

Under demonic law, a demon could take as many as three wives. HugiMugi had filled out their full quota, marrying Cartha, Shino, and Mato and

having a child with each of them in turn.

"Lord Hugi-Mugi..." Mato said. "I really do appreciate the sentiment,

but..."

"There's nothing to worry about, yes!" said Hugi-Mugi. "Yes, if we do

this we can cross the mountain in half a day!" Their body began to shake

violently and shine with a golden light, and soon Hugi-Mugi had reverted to

their original two-headed body. "Now, everyone, get on, yes!" They

lowered their wings to the ground to make it as easy as possible for their

wives to climb onto their back.

"Thank you, Hugi!" said Cartha. "Come on, Huca! Let's get on papa's

back!"

"Okay!" said Huca.

"Here, Mato," Shino said, holding out her hand. "I'll help you up, so

please do take it easy."

"Thank you very much, Lady Shino," said Mato, accepting Shino's

hand. One by one, the family climbed onto Hugi-Mugi's back.

"Is everyone on board, yes?" asked Hugi-Mugi. "Make sure you grab on

tight, yes!"

"Yes, Hugi, I am!" said Cartha. "I have a firm grip on Huca too!"

"I am quite ready!" said Shino.

"It feels almost disrespectful to grab onto your feathers..." Mato

remarked.

When everyone had responded, Hugi-Mugi began to beat their

enormous wings, taking to the sky. In no time at all, they were flying even

higher than the Enchanted Frigate. "Now, let us fly, yes! Yes, across the

mountain in one go!"

"Oh my gosh, wow!" Huca gasped in awe. "You're even better than the

Enchanted Frigate, papa!"

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Hugi-Mugi laughed. "We can still go higher, yes! Yes,

now hold on tight!"

"Yeah!" Huca nodded happily as Hugi-Mugi flew higher and higher, up

through the clouds.

"Huca," Cartha asked, "isn't riding on papa's back more fun than the

Enchanted Frigate?"

"Yeah! That's right, mama!" Huca nodded again.

"Muno seems delighted as well," said Shino, as the baby in her arms

cried out with delight.

"I hope my child is born soon, so I can enjoy this with them as well..."

said Mato, smiling as she watched Cartha and Shino with their children.

Hugi-Mugi flew faster and faster as they gained altitude, soaring like an

arrow. "Hang on, Hugi! Wait!" Cartha cried. "Too far! Too far! We've

passed three mountains already!"

"D-Did we, yes?!" Hugi-Mugi exclaimed.

"Miss Cartha, perhaps today we can simply enjoy flying through the

skies like this?" suggested Shino.

"I agree with Lady Shino," added Mato.

Cartha looked down at the boy in her arms. "Would you be happy with

that, Huca?"

"Yeah!" Huca said, smiling delightedly. "I wanna ride the Enchanted

Frigate sometime too, but today I wanna fly with papa!" The tiny wings on

his back fluttered with excitement—he had inherited them from his father, a

sign of his demonic blood.

"All right, Hugi!" Cartha said. "In that case, why don't you show us

what you can do?"

"Of course, yes! Yes, just you wait!" Hugi-Mugi said, letting out a

mighty bird call as they sped up even further still. Soon the cottage was far,

far out of sight.

◇Meanwhile—Aboard the Enchanted Frigate◇

The shadow demon Greanyl stood at the hull of the Enchanted Frigate as

it flew through the skies above Hugi-Mugi's cottage.

Greanyl had originally been a member of the Dark Army's intelligence

network, the Silent Listeners. The Silent Listeners, however, had left the

Dark Army when Ghozal abdicated the throne, Greanyl included, and found

employment instead at the Fli-o'-Rys General Store. They were responsible

for transporting Fli-o'-Rys's products to places far and wide, and for

gathering information about the various realms in which Fli-o'-Rys did

business.

"That magic beast..." Greanyl said, staring wide-eyed after the enormous

demon bird that had just flown past the Enchanted Frigate at breakneck

speed. "Could that be Lord Hugi-Mugi, the former Infernal?! I'd heard

reports from the other shadow demons that they had retired from the world

to live a life of seclusion in the mountains, but I didn't realize that this was

where they made their home!"

"Well, Lord Hugi-Mugi or not, they don't seem to be an enemy," said a

man, stepping up to her with a smile on his face. "It's nothing to worry

about, I think."

"O-Of course, Lord Dalc Horst, you are correct..." said Greanyl. "At the

speeds they are flying, they don't seem to be in pursuit of the Enchanted

Frigate. I will carry on our voyage and report what we saw to Lord Flio

upon our return."

"Right, sounds good," Dalc Horst agreed, nodding.

"I-Incidentally, Lord Dalc Horst..." Greanyl ventured, glancing at her

companion out of the corner of her eyes as she kept the ship on course.

"May I ask why you are aboard the Enchanted Frigate I am piloting?"

"Why?" Dalc Horst repeated. "Well, we demon horses of Byleri Pasture

made the decision to accompany you shadow demons for security, just in

case some disaster should happen. You're the ones Lord Flio had learn how

to fly these things, after all!"

"No, that isn't what I'm asking..." Greanyl said. "It's just that I am

reasonably certain I was scheduled to be with Lord Udkhupa today..."

"Oh," said Dalc Horst. "Udkhupa had something come up. I'm here as

his replacement. Is that a problem?"

"N-N-N-No!" Greanyl exclaimed. "I-I-It's not a problem at all! I-In fact,

after all the time we spent together on the supply wagon teams, having you

here puts my mind at ease..."

That's right... Greanyl thought. Before I started piloting the Enchanted

Frigate, I used to transport goods in a Fli-o'-Rys supply wagon. For some

reason, I was frequently paired with Lord Dalc Horst back then as well. In

fact, I would say it was more common for us to be together than not. A-And

then there was the conversation I overheard, where I learned that Dalc

Horst was intentionally arranging things in order to spend time with me! DDon't tell me he's still doing it!

Dalc Horst, meanwhile, was standing to the side, stealing glances at

Greanyl. I was really at my wits' end when Greanyl got moved to piloting

Enchanted Frigates... he thought. It's a good thing we decided on assigning

protection for the pilots! Thanks to that, I can keep going on missions with

Greanyl! Maybe I'll ask her out to dinner again this time...although, come

to think of it, she never says yes, does she? He folded his arms as he

thought. What to do...?

Next to her, Greanyl carried on deliberately ignoring Dalc Horst's

presence as the Enchanted Frigate made its way over the forested

mountains.

◇Houghtow City—Houghtow College of Magic◇

"What...is thisss...?" Sitting behind the headmaster's desk, Nyt blinked

in disbelief at the mountain of paperwork before her.

Nyt was another former member of the Infernal Four, once known as the

Serpent Princess Yorminyt. Since leaving the Dark Army she had faced all

sorts of trials and tribulations, before eventually finding employment as a

faculty member of the Houghtow College of Magic. And in short order, she

rose in the organization until she became the headmaster.

"It zeemz to be work," said Zarmas, holding her glasses in place as she

bowed dutifully.

Zarmas was a demon as well and had been Yorminyt's aide in the Dark

Army, quitting alongside her and following her all the way to the Houghtow

College of Magic.

"Zarmasss..." Yorminyt said. "I am fully aware of what this isss. But

isssn't this quantity of work...abnormal?"

"It iz only to be expected," said Zarmas. "With the Enchanted Frigatez

in operation, it iz much easier for studentz to travel to attend school. We

have been pozitively flooded with the sudden increaze in prospective

enrollmentz, az well az tranzfer requestz from other schools, and

institutionz wishing to partner with ourz."

"I sssee..." Nyt said, a stoically miserable expression on her face. "You

know, I wasss only forced to accept the role of Headmassster due to the

circumstancesss. I never actually wanted to do thisss sort of work..."

"In that case, perhapz you could quit, and make a living as an

adventurer?" Zarmas proposed. "If it iz your wish, Lady Nyt, I would

gladly accompany you."

Just then, there came a knock on the door. "Excuse me! It's Taclyde the

administrator! Do you have a moment?"

"Yesss, come in," said Nyt.

"Thank you," said Taclyde, entering the room. He was wearing his work

outfit. "Excuse me. I'm terribly sorry, but could you perhaps look over

these papers? And these ones as well? And there's going to be an

emergency staff meeting tomorrow, so I'll need to get your approval on

these too. And after that..." Taclyde immediately began handing over paper

after paper, not slowing down for a second and explaining all the while.

Soon, the mountain of paperwork on Nyt's desk had become more of a

mountain range.

It all lasted but a brief moment, and soon he had handed over everything

he had. "Terribly sorry about all the work!" he said. "I'll leave it in your

hands!" With a bow, he departed from the headmaster's office, leaving Nyt

to glance over the papers with a dry grimace on her face.

"What shall we do, Lady Nyt?" Zarmas asked. "Give up on all thiz work

and flee?"

Nyt sighed deeply. "As much as I might want to, he did give usss an

explanation at least..." she said. "And it seemsss there is a meeting

tomorrow. Let'sss do our best, at least until all thisss paperwork is done..."

Sighing once more, Nyt began to look over the papers. It seemed it

would be a while yet until Nyt and Zarmas left the Houghtow College of

Magic.

◇Flio's House—Blossom Acres◇

The shadow of the Enchanted Frigate passed over Blossom Acres.

"Oho!" cried Hokh'hokton, pausing his farmwork and wiping his brow

as he looked up at the sky. "It seems one of Lord Flio's Enchanted Frigates

is departing! Ah ha ha... It makes my heart race every time!"

Hokh'hokton had originally been a goblin soldier in the Dark Army, but

now he lived and worked on Blossom's farm together with his friend

Maunty, Maunty's wife, and their rather excessive number of children.

"That's right!" said Maunty, folding his arms and nodding intelligently.

"And with the Enchanted Frigates, we'll be able to ship our vegetables

farther than ever before!"

"Indeed!" Hokh'hokton nodded. "Well said!"

"By the by, Hokh'hokton..." Maunty ventured, furrowing his brow and

pointing towards a woman some distance away from them in the fields.

"What are you planning on doing with that woman?"

Hokh'hokton furrowed his brow as well when he saw who Maunty was

pointing at. "That's the rub, isn't it...?" he said darkly. "She refuses to leave

me alone no matter what I tell her, she can't cook, she can't do laundry...and

whenever she has a spare moment, she spends it stealing drinks of my

precious liquor! I tell you, I am really at my wits' end with that one..."

The subject of Hokh'hokton's diatribe was Telbyress, a former goddess

in charge of an entire world. She had been exiled from the Celestial Plane,

and with nowhere else to go, ended up staying in Hokh'hokton's room.

Currently she was busy doing all sorts of energetic motions among the

vegetables. At a glance it looked like she might have been helping with the

farmwork, but on closer inspection, she had been standing up and sitting

down in the same spot for a while now. Her harvesting basket was

completely empty.

"Excuse me," Hokh'hokton said, walking up to the errant goddess.

"Madame Telbyress? Might I have a word?"

"Hwuh?" Telbyress said, staggering as she turned around to face

Hokh'hokton. Up close, Hokh'hokton could see that her face was flushed

and her breath smelled strangely like alcohol. "Oh, if it isn't ol' Hokey!"

"Yes, quite..." said Hokh'hokton. "You haven't been pretending to work

while you drink my liquor, have you?"

"Whaaa?! I'd never!" Telbyress protested, slurring her words as she

tried to defend herself. "Seeee? I'm helpin' out with the farmwork all—hic!

—all proper n' stuff!"

Hokh'hokton's eyes shone dangerously as he peered up at the former

goddess. "Oh? In that case, what's this!" He leapt in the air, thrusting his

arm right into Telbyress's cleavage.

"Eeek!" Telbyress cried, doing her best to quickly cover her chest.

"Hokey, you perv!" But it was too late. Hokh'hokton had already extracted

something from between her breasts—a small bottle of alcohol.

"You scoundrel!" Hokh'hokton shouted. "Look! You've attached a tube

to the lid of this bottle so you could sneak drinks out of it! And worse, this

is my very finest liquor that I keep hidden under the floor in my room!"

"But I can't heeelp it! The liquor tastes so gooood!" Telbyress protested,

entirely straight-faced. "You can't 'spect me to not drink it jus' 'cause you

tell me not tooo!"

"Useless idiot!" Hokh'hokton spat. "This is why everyone calls you the

no-gooddess! I'm confiscating this liquor! You hear me?!"

"No waaay!" Telbyress pleaded as Hokh'hokton made to leave with the

liquor bottle. "This is cruelty! I'll diiiie!" she wailed pitiably, clinging to the

goblin's feet.

Maunty smirked knowingly as he watched the two go at it. "Hard to

believe we're seeing Hokh'hokton, the world's most ineligible bachelor,

sticking his arm into that woman's chest like it's nothing..."

"Mister Hokh'hokton and Miss Telbyress have quite a lot in common, I

would say," observed his wife.

"They've been spending every day in the same room, but I haven't seen

any signs of them pairing up," said Maunty. "I wonder what'll happen from

here..."

The husband and wife watched as Telbyress abased herself at

Hokh'hokton's feet, pleading desperately. Meanwhile, in the skies above,

the Enchanted Frigate gleamed in the sunlight as it passed by overhead.

◇Flio's House◇

The children were at school, and as it was a weekday, Flio and the others

had left for work, leaving Hiya and Tanya alone in the living room. They sat

facing each other, with the table between them.

"Madame Tanya, there is something I feel we must discuss, if I may,"

ventured Hiya.

"Of course," Tanya said. "What is it?"

"Well..." Hiya began, taking care to speak gently and calmly. "As the

maid of the Exalted One, you have taken it upon yourself to perform

domestic duties for this house. These duties, however, were once tasks that

fell to me. If I may, I would like to ask you to refrain from such activities in

the future."

"So you say," Tanya said bowing deeply. "However, with all due

respect, if I am to be Master Flio's maid, I cannot yield on the matter of

housework."

"Under no circumstances?" asked Hiya.

"Yes, under no circumstances."

With their opposing positions now clearly stated, the two fearlessly met

each other's gaze.

"It seems we are at an impasse," Hiya observed. "Would you perhaps be

amenable to entreating a third party to deliver an impartial judgment on this

matter?"

"Very well..." Tanya conceded. "You may use who you like, as long as it

is not one of your training partners. Then, who shall be our judge?"

"A good question," said Hiya. "Shall we, perhaps, use him?" They

pointed towards the corner of the living room, where Sybe was amusing

himself by rolling around on the floor.

"Master Sybe..." said Tanya. "I have no objections."

"In that case, let us begin immediately." The two nodded to each other

and stepped up to their designated judge. Hiya scooped the unicorn rabbit

up in their hands, holding him aloft by the armpits.

"Snuffle?" Sybe asked, tilting his head curiously as he looked up at

Hiya.

"Sybe," Hiya intoned. "Do you believe myself or Madame Tanya to be

more worthy of this estate's housework?"

"Snuffle snuffle?" Sybe repeated, peering questioningly between Hiya

and Tanya's faces. It looked back and forth between them for a while before

finally, with a loud cry of "Snuffle!" it leapt from Hiya's hands and raced

for the door.

"I'm home!" cried Rylnàsze, appearing in the front entrance. Sybe leapt

through the air and into her arms. "Oh, Sybe!" she said, hugging him tight.

"Thank you ever so much for coming to greet me!"

Hiya and Tanya, meanwhile, watched Rylnàsze and Sybe snuggle

affectionately from across the living room.

"I suppose we will have to call it a draw for the time being..." said Hiya.

"Indeed..." agreed Tanya. "So it seems..."

◇Flio's House◇

That day, Ellie—the Maiden Queen—happened to be visiting. As

reigning monarch, Ellie ordinarily spent her time managing the entire

political apparatus of the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode, but between all of

the busy days in her schedule she found time about once a week to stop by

Flio's house, where she took part in the daily chores as a full member of the

family. At the moment, she was busy helping Rylnàsze wipe down the

living room table after dinner.

"Big sister Ellie, would you wipe over there too, please?" Rylnàsze

asked.

"Yes, right away!" Ellie went to the end of the table and began to wipe.

Rylnàsze looked somewhat apologetic. "U-Um... I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't

ask the most important person in the kingdom to do something like this..."

She clasped her hands together and bowed gravely.

"Oh! There's really no need to stand on that sort of ceremony between

us," Ellie hastened to correct her. "As long as I'm in this house, you may

treat me like any other member of the family."

"W-Well, then..." Rylnàsze ventured, looking up at Ellie with big,

puppylike eyes. "I-In that case...may I ask you a question?"

"Of course!" Ellie nodded, a smile on her face. "Ask me anything you

like, as long as it's something I can answer!"

"U-Um..." Rylnàsze stood there for a while just fidgeting. "Th-There's

something I've been really, really, really wanting to know..." Embarrassed,

she stepped up to whisper in Ellie's ear, cupping her hands so that nobody

else could hear what she was saying. "Big sister Ellie...when are you and

Garyl going to be getting married?"

"Bfweh?!" Ellie exclaimed, before being suddenly overcome by a

violent coughing fit.

"O-Oh!" Rylnàsze said, flustered by Ellie's panicked reaction. "I-I'm so

sorry! Did I ask something I shouldn't have?" Confused, she began bowing

in repeated apologies, her head bobbing up and down.

"N-No, no! You have nothing to apologize for, Rylnàsze! I-It's just, well,

I would like to be Garyl's bride someday, but—"

"We're back!" Just then, Flio and Garyl entered the living room, having

just returned home.

"Abahhhffh!" Ellie sputtered incoherently at the sudden appearance of

the topic of the conversation.

"Huh?" Worried, Garyl hurried over to Ellie's side. "Miss Ellie, what's

wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

"I-It's nothing of importance!" Ellie insisted. "I was simply a little

startled, I suppose..." She turned her face away so that Garyl wouldn't see

how red she was blushing from sheer embarrassment.

"Well, maybe it's my imagination, but I thought your face looked a little

red..." Garyl said. "Are you sure you don't have a fever?" Then, he pressed

his own forehead right up against hers.

Wh-What? Ellie thought, suddenly unsure of what was even happening.

A second later, Garyl pulled back. "Hm..." he said. "Well it doesn't feel

hot to me, but you should probably take it easy anyway..."

G-Garyl's forehead...was touching mine... the Maiden Queen thought,

her mind finally processing the latest turn of events. And then she fainted,

keeling over backwards.

"M-Miss Ellie!" Garyl rushed to support Ellie's body, holding her in his

arms as she collapsed, her body bereft of strength. "Miss Ellie! Miss Ellie,

are you all right?!" he cried, staring intently at her face.

Hmm... Flio considered as he watched the scene play out from behind. It

would be easy enough to wake her up with one of my spells, but if Miss Ellie

came to now, she'd probably just faint again upon realizing Garyl's holding

her in his arms. Now, what to do... He reached out towards Ellie,

considering option after option, but was unable to act from sheer

overthinking. This might be harder than capturing that magic beast... he

thought as he desperately searched for the optimal solution.

"My lord husband, is something the matter?" Rys asked, hurrying over

from the kitchen where she had been tidying up. Then she followed Flio's

eyes to where Garyl stood holding an unconscious Ellie in his arms. A wry

smirk came over her face. "Oh my, has our dear Miss Ellie had another

fainting spell?"

"Yes..." said Flio. "It's becoming a rather common occurrence..."

"Well, after all!" Rys said, laughing with amusement. "Every time Garyl

gets close to her, she faints dead away!"

"Yes, I suppose she does..." Flio agreed, nodding.

"U-Um..." said Garyl, his own face starting to turn red at his parents'

talk. "I wish you wouldn't have that kind of conversation where I can hear

you... Now I don't know how I should handle Miss Ellie when she wakes

up..."

"You don't?" said Rys. "But there's no need for you to worry about such

things, is there?"

"Huh?" Garyl asked. "I-Isn't there?"

"Of course not! You're arranged to be married, after all—she's going to

have to start getting used to you one way or another!"

"I-I guess that's true..." Garyl said, but he didn't seem to be entirely

convinced.

"You agree, don't you, my lord husband?" said Rys, beaming cheerfully

in Flio's direction.

Flio winced. "W-Well, I suppose it's certainly one way of looking at

things..." he said, dodging the question.

"Oh, dad, that reminds me. There's something I've been wanting to ask

for a while..." said Garyl, looking up at his father. "Would you tell me how

you proposed to mom? J-Just for the sake of future reference..."

"Huh?" said Flio, his eyes blinking open in surprise at the unexpected

question. "M-Me and Rys?"

Rys, however, held her chest high with pride despite the blush creeping

into her cheeks. "I see no harm in telling them, my lord husband, do you?"

she said, smiling rather smugly. "First, your father used his body to—

Mrrff!"

"R-Rys!" said Flio, quickly clapping a hand over her mouth. "That's

quite enough! L-Let's take it one thing at a time when it comes to that

subject, okay...?" The clearly forced smile on his face, however, did nothing

to help the impression that he was trying to hide something.

By this point, Ellie had actually regained consciousness a while ago, but

she had kept her eyes shut, pretending to still be unconscious. Wh-What do I

do...? she thought. It seems they're in the middle of some sort of important

conversation! It would hardly do for me to wake up now of all times! I-I

suppose I had best simply stay like this a while longer...

Because she still hadn't opened her eyes, Ellie had yet to realize that

Garyl was the one holding her in his arms.