Letter

Mabini was just about to set out himself to do his daily grind with his men when Angry Bakunawa landed in front of him and opened its mouth. He and his men were startled and immediately got into defensive positions. After all, they were not aware of the pocket dimension either. Seconds later, the gate appeared and Maxene stepped out of it.

"Hello there, dear Uncle!"

"Maxene? What are you doing here?" Mabini asked, bewildered.

"I have an emergency and it requires your immediate attention! Follow me, quick!" Grabbing Mabini's hand, she pulled him towards the gate.

"Wait, what about my men?"

"Fufufu, an audience is good, makes it more official with more witnesses. They can come too! Hurry up all of you!"

Mabini's regiment didn't have any assignments today, so they were just going out to grind some levels. Usually, they would be out towards the North as well, but thankfully Boni and the rest had that covered today.

Inside the pocket dimension.

All the soldiers had awkward looks on their faces. In front of them were three people, Mabini, their leader who was one of the few people who could actually match Boni. The second one was the one famously known as the Demon Flower of the Sovereign Nation. The third one was the most mysterious, despite being the bubbliest, Lady Maxene, daughter of Lord Luna and Lady Sura.

Hana currently had her head down, blushing and sweating bullets. "This little girl, I swear I'm gonna kill her!" she was currently panicking in her head. She was in disbelief that not only did Maxene turn around to pick up Mabini, she actually picked up his whole regiment!

"Maxene, what's going on?" Mabini asked. Based on Hana's current actions, he had some idea of what was about to happen, but he was hoping that his hunch was wrong.

"Ahem, ahem! I now pronounce you, husband and wife!"

"EH?!?" Everybody had the same reaction. What drugs was this little girl on?

"Ah.. Maxene, what are you doing?" Mabini kept his composure and asked calmly.

"Oh, I married you two." with her hands clasped together and the innocent smile on her face, Maxene gave the impression that she was quite pleased with her handiwork.

"M-Maxene, that's now how it works."

Tilting her head to the side with a bewildered expression on her face, she replied. "Oh? That's how it worked for my Mother and Father. Tito Boni said that someone usually recites those lines and you two kiss and then you're married."

"Uhm.. Your Mother and Father are a special case, you see. Usually, it takes some time." Mabini tried his best to explain but didn't have much experience with this either.

"So you're saying it'll take some time before you start liking Hana?"

"It's not that I don't like her."

"So you do like her."

"Well, yes."

The soldiers who wore surprised expressions before suddenly felt as if they were watching a reality TV Show. Some of them started whispering at this new development. They were aware that Hana and Mabini were fond of each other, but they've never really shown much endearment in public, if at all. Just that they preferred to go on missions together, and Mabini's sister, Apple, seemed to be supportive of it.

"Do you like her a looooot?" Maxene's voice went higher in pitch as she extended the word "lot".

Mabini knew there was definitely no way out of this. This little girl will not stop until she gets the truth out, so he might as well admit it.

"Yes, a lot."

Hana who was shaking in embarrassment a moment ago suddenly went still and slowly raised her head to look towards Mabini.

"Oh my. Is this what's supposed to happen when I find my future husband as well?" Maxene thought. Truthfully, she quite liked this. She just didn't like her parents being mushy, because, well, who actually likes seeing their parents being mushy in front of them? Other people, on the other hand, it was quite pleasant. Especially in a time where relationships were more valued, since everybody was aware that with the onset of the new world, there weren't that many "fish in the sea" so-to-speak. Well, there were, just that majority of them are either infected or undead.

Her next question made Hana's soul almost leave her body. "What about you, Hana?" At this point, Maxene was already incredibly intrigued with this development. She had her sofa chair turned around, with the back part facing the future couple as she was kneeling on it. This made it so it looked like she was peeking from it, and all they could see were her smiling eyes. Everybody could tell that she was enjoying this.

Hana knew there was no running away from this. They were still about twenty-five minutes away from their destination, and there was no way to stall, so she did something she had never done in her life before. Much to everybody's surprise, she didn't say anything. She stood up, walked towards Mabini, pulled out an envelope with a cat sticker sealing it. Holding it with two hands, she extended it towards him, as her face turned an even deeper red, especially her cheeks.

The soldiers couldn't help but whisper among each other.

"Wait, is that, a love letter?"

"Hooo boy, this is like a confession you make in High School."

"Will we have another power couple?"

"Shh! Let's see what Col. Mabini does."

Mabini was still in shock, but he had enough awareness to know what this meant.

"Was she planning this with Maxene? No, that's not Hana's style, so it's definitely a coincidence." He thought. Thinking this, he quickly stood up and received the letter.

"Well, well, well, as much as I'd like to see what's going to happen next, I think you two need to enjoy the rest of this trip."

After saying that, she actually laid down wooden walls that were cheaper and only took two seconds to install. Then she modified so it's not too high, but just high enough so the two could have their time together without any eyes watching them.

"Shoo! All of you, go all the way to the back!" Maxene wasn't going to allow these soldiers to eavesdrop, of course. Only she could do that. She was way too curious to not listen in.

***

Meanwhile.

A man garbed in camouflage gear, spying on a large group of soldiers dressed in unfamiliar gear, wearing masks. This was one of the scouts President Emil sent.

Just as he was about to leave and report what he saw he felt a blade on his neck.

"I wouldn't move if I were you." a man suddenly spoke from behind him.

"Please don't kill me! My name is Genesis. I come with a message from the President of the Philippines. I need to speak to your leader." He knew he would die if he couldn't justify why he was here.

"Well then, Genesis, why the need to spy on us?" He heard a female voice in front of him but couldn't see where it came from. Just then, a girl with blonde hair came out of stealth. The man was quite surprised, this woman has to be a high ranking officer. He was aware of how rare the Stealth skill was, it could drop from zombies, but the drop rate was so abysmal, that you'd have to be an RNG God to get one to drop. In their whole army in the North, only one person had one, the prisoner turned General, Tomas Mascardo.

This was true, even with Luna's incredibly efficient way of farming, they only had a few. What surprised him was the fact that he had no idea despite her being right in front of him. This meant that she vastly surpassed him in levels. As a matter of fact, he felt that each and every one of those soldiers were much stronger than him.

"Just taking precautions, Ma'am. I didn't mean to offend. I just need to speak with your leader."

"He's busy right now. You're going to have to wait." A man behind him spoke. It was Boni.

"Yes, of course." Genesis quickly replied. Waiting was definitely better than having his head lopped off.

"In a cell." Boni finished his sentence.

"You..."

While this man did claim to be a representative, it couldn't be denied that his previous actions were pretty shady. The <Sovereign Nation> couldn't care less where he was from or who he represented. The safety of the <Nation> came first.