“Umm, Al-sama. If she’s your older sister, does that mean she’s the one who...?” Selene asked, shushing her child, who had started crying.
She looked to be no older than eighteen or nineteen, and while she looked cute enough, it was hard to see her as anything more than a simple village girl. As far as Miledi and the others could tell, she wasn’t especially skilled at magic or fighting.
“That’s right, Selene. She’s the woman I told you about. It seems she really does exist. No wonder I felt a sense of déjà vu when I first laid eyes on her.”
Unfortunately, the appearance of the Holy Templar Knights’ former captain had temporarily pushed all thoughts of Meiru out of Alfard’s mind.
Selene hurriedly got off the eagle, bowed to Meiru, and said, “My name is Selene, Nee-sama. I’m Alfard’s wife.”
“Huh,” Meiru said, sounding a little impressed. Despite being a simple village girl, Selene was quite bold. She didn’t hesitate at all to call herself Alfard’s wife. Moreover, she didn’t seem at all arrogant about the fact that Alfard had chosen her over everyone else. Meiru could tell that much just by looking into Selene’s reddish-brown eyes.
Selene was proud to be Alfard’s wife, and she had resolved to go through whatever hardships that might bring, but she was proud in the same way a mother was proud of their child. At the very least, it was clear she wasn’t just a simple village girl. She had the same resilience as a lone flower blooming in a barren desert.
“It’s nice to meet you, Selene-chan. I’m Meiru Melusine, a pirate captain,” Meiru said, adding that last bit to try and rattle Selene a little.
“You are a dagon, after all,” Selene replied, completely unfazed. If anything, she seemed to respect Meiru more upon hearing that.
Miledi and the others cocked their heads at Selene, looking a bit confused.
“Is he your son?” Meiru asked.
“Yes, his name is Albanor. He turned one recently.”
“Albanor... That’s a good name.”
“Thank you. In the old tongue, it means ‘the moon at dawn.’”
“My, the more I learn about it, the more splendid the name sounds. It really matches his gold-and-black streaked hair. You’re gonna grow up to be quite handsome, aren’t you?”
Albanor had stopped crying, and he was now staring at Meiru with great interest. It seemed he had taken quite a liking to her. Morgan and Nevrai seemed pleasantly surprised that Meiru was so good with kids, while Miledi and the others watched on warmly. But then, Morgan and Nevrai took a few deep breaths and turned to Alfard, their expressions a mix of regret and guilt.
“You two... What happened?”
“It’s a very long story. As you can see, our bodies have been modified, but please believe us when we say our loyalty to you is as unwavering as ever!”
“Please listen to what our companions have to say, Your Highness. The world is currently in grave danger. We’ve seen that for ourselves. These people need your help! Please don’t turn them away!”
“You don’t have to prostrate yourselves to me. Raise your heads and look into my eyes,” Alfard clearly stated.
Morgan and Nevrai looked up to see Alfard’s unwavering eyes looking straight at them. They met his gaze with the same unwavering determination, and Alfard eventually shrugged.
“Welcome home, Morgan, Nevrai. I’m sorry you had to suffer due to my selfishness...and I’m truly glad that you returned alive.”
Alfard got on his knees and hugged both of them. He could tell from their trembling shoulders how worried they’d been that he wouldn’t accept them now that they’d come back changed. But now, Morgan and Nevrai felt like they’d truly returned home for the first time.
Tears spilled from their eyes, and for a while, the three of them just stayed like that. Eventually, though, Alfard rose to his feet and turned to Miledi and the others. Reflected in his eyes was the commander of the Holy Templar Knights, his father’s long-lost daughter, a girl who could control gravity, a cross between a demon and a dragonman, a man decked out in more legendary artifacts than he’d ever seen in his life, another man who could seemingly ignore barriers entirely, and a graceful-looking elf.
“Well, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to run away from these guys even if I wanted to. Plus, it sounds like something serious is going on. All right, fine. I’ll trust Morgan and hear you guys out,” Alfard said with a wry grin, prompting Miledi and the others to breathe a sigh of relief.
The group returned to the log cabin, at which point Miledi and the others spent the next hour explaining everything to Alfard.
“I see. I can’t believe the world has changed so much over the past year,” Alfard said, looking up at the ceiling as he organized his thoughts.
Selene stroked Albanor’s cheek and looked softly down at his sleeping face.
“This might be the world’s only chance to destroy Ehit. This is no time for petty inheritance disputes. Very well, then. I’ll give you my full cooperation,” Alfard stated, looking back down at everyone.
“R-Really? You’re sure?” Miledi asked, taken aback that he’d agreed to return so easily. Oscar and the others looked similarly surprised.
“Yeah. If you guys had just been a bunch of empty-headed idealists, I wouldn’t agree so easily, but you’ve already shown you have what it takes to actually beat him. In my mind, refusing you would be the same as dooming the mortal races of Tortus,” Alfard replied, looking lovingly down at Selene and Albanor.
“Ehit is a danger to the people who matter the most to me as well. If I want to keep them safe, he needs to die.”
“Al-sama...”
“Selene...”
The two of them stared into each other’s eyes. Naiz put his cup of tea down. Even though it was straight black tea, it suddenly tasted as sweet as a milkshake.
“Does that mean you’ll come back to take the throne, Your Highness?” Morgan asked expectantly.
“Definitely not.”
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
“Why in the world would I become the king of a country that refuses to recognize Selene as my wife?” Alfard said as if that should have been obvious. It made Morgan and the others question their own sanity for a second, making them wonder if they were the weird ones for asking that question.
“B-But, Your Highness, our nation is currently in great turmoil!”
“Not my problem.”
“What do you mean it’s not your problem?!”
“This isn’t the time to be acting selfish, Your Highness!”
“Oh, shut up! Listen up, and listen well, you guys,” Alfard said. Then, he pointed his finger up at the sky and said in a booming voice, “The lives of Selene and Albanor matter more to me than the lives of all vampires combined! That should be obvious!”
“No member of the royal family should be saying things like that!”
“Why are you always so unreasonable, Your Highness?!”
Morgan, Nevrai, and Alfard glared at each other, looking like delinquents who were about to start a fight.
Miledi gave Selene a pleading look, begging her to intervene, but Selene simply grinned and said, “Oh, Al-sama.”
Oh no, these guys are messed up in the head...
Resigning herself to her fate, Miledi stepped in to break up the fight.