Even though Mathias was leading the way for the two in the front of the trio, who was he? The butler was a competent old man who could easily single-handedly slay a small group of werewolves with only silver cutlery (A/N: got them Sebby vibes. Can't have a butler without a little bit of Sebastian amirite). Of course he was aware of the two's ,quiet interaction behind him without having to turn his head.

Mathias inwardly sighed, Why is it that they resemble the Old Madame and Old Master in their later years? No, that can't be possible. Lady Cecily had only been gone for two years! And Master Urian has been keeping an eye on Sir Hugh the entire time and they couldn't have met within those two years. What's going on???

Before he could make any crazy assumptions regarding their relationship, they'd already arrived at Urian's office. The two lovebirds were no longer pasted against each other and Mathias knocked twice gently on the dark stained mahogany door before announcing, "Master Urian, Sir Hugh has returned."

He didn't relay Cecily's presence because he wanted to pleasantly surprise his master who had been gloomy ever since the death of his son and daughter-in-law, and even more so when Cecily left in a fit of rage and disappointment.

"Come in," sounded a rugged, yet still powerful voice from the other side of the door.

Given permission to enter, Mathias pushed the heavy door open and bowed to let the two guests enter the large office.

It was just as Cecily remembered with the numerous towering bookshelves filled to the brim with books over every subject. A large window with its long red curtains were drawn to the side for natural lighting; Urian's desk was the same make and shade as the door--dark stained mahogany.

The dignified old man's head was lowered as he read through the documents piled in hills in front of him, creating a somber atmosphere. Upon noticing that more than one guest had entered the room, he casually glanced towards the two figures who had just entered and were still rather a ways away from him since the office was quite grand in scale. When his disinterested gaze fell on Cecily, he widened his watering dark purple eyes and his fingers trembled noticeably as the papers in his hands fell onto the desk and some to the floor messily. He promptly and roughly rose from his oxblood vinyl high-back office chair, toppling it. His arms were poised on the desk to steady himself as his lips quivered and his voice audibly shook, "C-Cici..."

Hugh vaguely quirked his lips at the adorable nickname.

The pleasant memories of the original flowed into Cecily's mind when she heard the nostalgic name that she hadn't heard for over two years. Her grandfather had always doted on his only granddaughter while he was strict with his two older grandsons. When she was a young child, she often sat on his lap when he had to take over his son's neglected responsibilities in this office to read books and out of curiosity she would even read some of his documents together with him. Her father hated being a responsible family head and preferred going out on romantic dates with his wife. Her grandmother had died of a chronic illness not long before her birth, so she never met her.

When Cecily had returned from the gathering to find her family massacred and the mansion littered with their remains and a large man gracefully standing amidst all of the chaos with his hands coated with her loved ones' blood, she had thought she was left all alone in the world when he walked over to her and whispered into her ear only to pin the blame on Hugh Noir of the South before disappearing. That was until her grandfather and Mathias had strolled in on their carriage from a business inspection and Urian immediately ran up to her and brought her into a warm and safe embrace, shielding her eyes from the violent scene that should have never been shown to his sweet, spoiled, and innocent granddaughter's eyes. Upon contact with someone she trusted and missed dearly, the waterworks instantly broke free.

Cecily, still garbed in her leather wear and fully geared up with her silver weapons and the black sword holstered on her back, reverted back to her childish behavior of the past and smiled sweetly to the old man as if she had come to terms with the man beside her, "Grandfather."

Urian immediately bypassed his desk and ran to her as he did two years ago on that tragic night and enveloped her in his embrace, whispering her nickname over and over again endearingly. He couldn't keep his tears from falling.

Cecily soothingly giggled as she rubbed his aged back through his gray suit, "Grandfather, it seems that our positions have been switched."

That night two years ago, it had been Cecily who bawled her eyes and heart out. This time her grandfather played the part of the crybaby.

"You silly child. Worrying this old man by throwing yourself in danger's way for no reason. What would I do if you, too..." Urian started lecturing her as he did her brothers before they died.

"Don't you know he was just using you? How could you believe in whatever that sly snake told you all those years ago? And, you even left home before I could explain anything! Now, you are even walking through the gates of the mansion hand-in-hand with the man who caused you to leave home all those years ago?!"

So, he did see it from the window. Huh. Cecily and Mathias simultaneously thought while Hugh maintained a polite smile as if greeting his grandfather-in-law for the first time.

As Urian thought and rambled on about Cecily's previous actions he felt more and more wronged and angry. Knowing that the nagging wouldn't end anytime soon, Mathias took it upon himself to clear his throat to interrupt his old friend's list of grievances to which he earned himself a resentful glare before Urian complied and got back to business.

Of course, that didn't stop him from glowering at Hugh in warning before walking back to sit in one of the sofas in front of his desk. He also motioned for the three to follow and seat themselves; he eyed his Cici as if pleading her to sit beside him. She was just about to head on over when Hugh plopped down in the sofa across and pulled her along with one arm by her hips, making her fall sideways onto his large sturdy body.

Seeing this, both of the elderly men's faces were darker than the bottom of a pot. Urian rapidly rose from his seat as he pointed at the roguish man furiously, "What is the meaning of your actions, Hugh Noir!"

Although they had made some agreements in the past, the relationship between Urian and Hugh was still only that of acquaintances as they only agreed to leave each other's forces alone and occasionally providing resources while considering the possibility of an official collaboration against Valentine's forces. In fact, because of this consideration, both sides were gathering as much intel as possible on each other in order to gain the most profit from their deal. Because of this, Urian was aware that his own daughter, the rising-in-popularity Lavandula, had never once met with Hugh Noir until this day when they replaced the king with their own proxy.

He also tried to gauge the man's personality to see if he was lecherous or had any other deficiencies. There actually was nothing the man did that repulsed him--until today! How come they never reported that he was a blatant womanizer! Clearly, it was only the first time the two had met but the man was already all touchy-feely with his precious and beautiful granddaughter! He knew his Cici was the incarnation of Venus in the whole of Grethien (totally not the words of a biased grandfather), but to flirt with her after only seeing her once! Who did this tiny Hugh think he was!

Cecily felt the rumbling of Hugh's toned chest and pecs as he chuckled magnetically, "I'm proposing. Why don't we finalize the official collaboration between the hunters and the Southern faction?"

How shameless. But Cecily was used to this aspect of him by now.

001 was also pretty accustomed to it. More like, he expected no less from the man who persistently proved that his host's luck was indeed a measly 2.

"YOU UNSCRUPULOUS MUTT!" Urian was trembling in uncontrollable fury since this was the first time he'd witnessed such shamelessness from the normally polite and civilized man.

It wasn't Mathias's place to speak so even though he was clearly infuriated by the brazen words, he remained standing ramrod straight, but his face was dyed red in anger.

But who was Hugh? He simply ignored their reactions and added further onto his shamelessness, "I say it's a pretty lopsided deal. You hunters get everything--my men, the silver mines and ore, land, the new king, and more. All I want is Cici."

Cecily felt a chill trail down her spine when he called her by that name. It sounded perverted coming from his mouth. Actually, everything did but whatever.

There was a stalemate for a good hour or two, but Cecily and Hugh eventually convinced Urian and Mathias to agree after much assurances and promises. They weren't really empty, since his main concern was for her to "be happy," for Hugh to not take in mistresses, and for their marriage to last a lifetime. Also, he wanted great-grandchildren but not too fast; he just wanted to see some before he died. And he wanted Hugh to protect Cecily no matter what.

When the topic of great-grandchildren was brought up, 001 immediately piped in with a resounding ding!

[Side Task 5: Give Urian Lavande great-grandchildren. Reward: No limit. (1000 points per child)]

Which made Cecily spit blood. When the hell would I have time to bear a child in this world?!

[Err, host. You could continue focusing on the other tasks and missions. Once you've killed Valentine and become the Ruler by hook or by crook against Hugh's wishes you could live the rest of the lifetime with him and make a lot of human-werewolf babies along the way. Then before you become too weak to kill Hugh, kill him off despite the consequence being your children will be fatherless for the rest of their lives.] 001 gave his best effort in thinking up a solution. Of course, he knew Cecily would have thought of these herself but he wanted to seem useful so she couldn't complain to him later for being idle.

'Well, I guess we can let that come when it does, then. More importantly. Now that we have settled the collaboration...'

"Grandfather, I know it isn't my place to just throw away my name and title as I see fit. But seeing you work so hard even though you are clearly tired makes me unable to bear it. I'm willing to help you carry the burden."

Now that she'd reconciled with Urian, it was time to take up her name and title again in order to fully complete the task.