As Celeste nervously greeted my parents with her good etiquette, I couldn’t help but marvel at her.

As expected of the girl that Alt-nii chose!

Not long after she finished her greeting, my parents smiled at her.

“There’s no need to stand on the formality,” Mom said.

“Come inside and rest first. The maids will call you when dinner is ready. Alt, Lyra, take Celeste with you,” Dad said.

“T-thank you,” Celeste stuttered a bit, perhaps it was because she didn’t expect such a warm welcome.

 

Alt-nii and I obediently took Celeste with us as we waited for the dinner to be served.

To not let Celeste be awkward, we spent the time by playing together with Freyr and Freyja as well. It was also good that Celeste seemed to leave a positive impression on the twins. Freyr and Freyja seemed to like Celeste’s company.

We had just played several games to destress when we were called for dinner.

 

As usual, during dinner time, the whole family was there to eat together, with the addition of Celeste.

“Eat more, don’t hold yourself back,” Mom said to Celeste.

“That’s right. Alt, why don’t you pass that meat to Celeste?” Dad encouraged Alt-nii to help Celeste to eat more.

“Roger, Dad! Here, try this, this is delicious,” Alt-nii obediently took one meat to Celeste’s plate.

“It’s alright, I will take it myself…,” Celeste was overwhelmed with my family’s encouragement and tried to escape from being given too much food to eat.

Even if there was the addition of Celeste, the atmosphere in the dining room was warm as usual.

I was happy to see that my parents didn’t seem to mind Celeste’s status at all as long as Alt-nii liked her. It was evident in their small interaction that they welcomed her, although Alt-nii and Celeste weren’t official yet.

 

After a few small talks here and there, suddenly Dad opened his mouth.

“I heard that your maternal family was a fallen noble from Cielle. Do you still have relatives in Cielle? Naraka’s attacks towards Cielle continued. You must’ve been worried.”

I unconsciously lowered my munching speed and perked my ears, as I knew that Dad was trying to probe more about Celeste, starting with the easiest trending topic: conflict between Cielle and Naraka. Though I knew Celeste’s stance already, I was still interested in hearing how she’d answer.

“I don’t think I have any relative there, none that I know of. But it’s true that the condition is worrisome. I just hope that we will regain peace soon,” Celeste answered tactfully.

“Indeed. Naraka empire’s getting so hostile these days, it’s worrisome…,” Mom said.

“Cielle took the bait and got hot-blooded, too,” Alt-nii responded.

“True. In this kind of situation, both parties are equally at fault, though Naraka empire initiated it. If both parties could try to compromise and open up to each other, it’d be great,” Celeste added.

“Yeah. The animosity between the elves and Oni has been ongoing for so long, but it’s natural due to their contrasting elements. Even so, though elven blood ran in my veins, I feel that this animosity is unjustifiable and just like a bad tradition that’s been passed down to the next generations,” Mom said.

This…

My parents are certainly probing Celeste.

“True. My family also agreed,” Celeste seemed to catch what my parents wanted to hear the most, and she answered straight to the point.

Hearing Celeste’s answer, it seemed that my parents were satisfied as well. Not only Celeste herself, but her family seemed to be an open-minded one. This was good.

Though a love marriage would usually be about the man and the woman, a marriage was also tying both families. It’d be bad if both had irreconcilable differences about important stuff.

 

“Speaking of which, what are your parents doing?” Mom asked.

“My father is a merchant, and my mother is helping him,” Celeste answered.

“Oh? What does he sell?” Dad asked.

“We’re opening a small family business of general store, so it’s nothing much,” Celeste humbly answered.

“A small and harmonious family, that’s good,” Dad nodded with a genuinely satisfied expression, as if he was trying to tell Celeste that he didn’t mind her family background at all, so that she wouldn’t feel pressured.

Lots of people wanted to climb up the social ladder and wished for their children to marry someone of good background or someone influential, but I knew that my parents wished the contrary. Rather than letting their children marry someone whose family was complicated—no matter how influential or wealthy their family might be—I was sure that they’d prefer a small, modest family with little to no intricacies.

Our family was already a noble family, so it was alright for us alone to uphold it.

Dad once said so, and that applied not only to Alt-nii’s suitor, but also to my future suitor.

“We do not wish for you to find someone from an extraordinary background, though they might be influential. We only wish for our children to find someone who genuinely cares and loves our children. If their family is modest and warm, it’d be even better,” My parents once said.

 

The small talks continued and I could see how my parents tried not to pressure Celeste at all. I couldn’t really read Celeste’s expression. She seemed to be calm and relaxed upon answering my parents, but who knows how she felt deep down? I just hoped she wouldn’t feel too nervous.

There were lots of topics we discussed, but eventually, it fell back on Naraka-Cielle conflicts.

Since both of my parents worked for the royal family, their current work would involve this matter. So it was inevitable for them to mention it.

Though they didn’t seem like they hesitated in discussing this matter, I knew they wouldn’t divulge sensitive, confidential information in front of Celeste and their children.

The matters that they could talk with us were most likely the stuff that wouldn’t be kept hidden. Even if it was something that wasn’t publicly known yet, the information would soon be publicly spread.

 

Among all the other talks, there was one interesting point, and that was a new information that was still related to the relations of Naraka and Cielle’s conflicts.

“Oh, that’s right. This information is new yet, but it will soon be known,” Dad said.

One of the perks of becoming the child of someone who worked in the royal court was this: getting the latest, hot information ahead of others.

“Are you talking about Naraka’s strict policy?” Mom seemed to get what Dad wanted to say.

“Yeah. We all know that in relation to the conflicts between them, there are lots of stances, even in our own country. But Naraka’s being really strict about it,” Dad said.

“Strict, how?” I asked.

“Apparently, the empire wanted their people to be unified with the stance of their emperor. So, those who are known to oppose the emperor’s decision are being hunted,” Dad said.

I was surprised upon hearing it.

Opposing peace, and you’ll get hunted?

That’s ridiculous!

“How do you know that?” Alt-nii asked.

“Well, we recently have been receiving refugees, and all of them came from Naraka empire,” Mom said.

“Refugees!” I was surprised.

How strict is Naraka that the refugees decided to run away and seek help from Riviera?

I thought that it’d at most be a strict indoctrination or imprisonment at most, but hearing that… Is it possible that the emperor is so merciless towards people who opposed his decision to fight with the elven kingdom of Cielle?

What does he want to do with them, anyway?

Defeating them, then what?

Conquering the elves and make the elves slaves to Onis… or eradicating them completely?

Both are equally bad…

 

“Though most of the refugees are commoners or mixed races from Naraka, there’s one person that’s different from them. The Fumitsuna clan received this special refugee and discussed about this person with us today because of their questionable identity,” Dad said.

“Questionable identity?” I tilted my head.

“We don’t know if they’re telling the truth or if they’re spy that the Naraka empire wanted to plant, so currently, they’re being held in the royal palace for further questioning and investigation,” Mom said.

I nodded.

Indeed, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

 

“How can this person be treated differently from the rest of the refugees?” Alt-nii asked.

“You see, this person claimed to be the former great general of the Naraka empire,” Dad finally said.

“Former great general…? No wonder their identity is questionable,” I nodded in understanding.

The position of a great general meant that this person was trusted enough by the emperor to assist them in military matters. If that was the case, then the great general should have had the same heart and mind as the emperor. What caused him to change his mind, defy the emperor, and try to seek refugee here?

This was indeed very questionable.

 

“Yeah. He said that he had been stripped of his position and had been imprisoned ever since he stated his opposition to the emperor,” Dad said.

“Imprisoned… If the emperor is that hostile towards those who opposed him, why did he spare this former great general?” Alt-nii frowned.

“There are lots of considerations. Perhaps this great general’s talent is remarkable and the emperor wants to try to change his mind as he’s too useful to be discarded. Or perhaps it’s since this great general has been training the soldiers and has gained their trust, so if he were discarded… it’d bring the soldiers’ dissatisfaction. I think the emperor surely tried his best to keep the great general’s opposition hidden from the rest of the soldiers, lest they were influenced by him. The last possibility, the great general has been viewed as a hero in the hearts of the commoners, so if the emperor were to off him like that, it’d cause turmoil,” Dad explained to Alt-nii.

“In short, it’s a sensitive matter that the emperor postponed to deal with, and he didn’t expect that before he could deal with this matter, the great general managed to escape,” Alt-nii stated his conclusion.

“Right. But there’s another possibility that he’s a spy sent by the emperor. This can explain why he managed to survive and even escape to Riviera,” Mom added.

“Hmmmm, and we don’t know the truth yet, that’s why he’s detained for now…,” I added.

 

“Will this matter be spread in the news?” Alt-nii asked.

“We’re still debating about it, but most of the nobles who held position in the court and other important personnel were already notified of it,” Dad answered.

Being the children of parents who held position in the court meant that we got to know this kind of information. If we didn’t know from our parents, we might hear it later from Luca.

But the fact that my parents openly talked about this even while Celeste was here meant that they trusted her enough or that they already considered Celeste as their future daughter-in-law. Since Alt-nii would most likely succeed my parents, his future spouse should have knowledge of such matter to assist Alt-nii. Perhaps my parents were also trying to train Celeste from early on, or perhaps this was also one of their tests.

Would she try to leak this information to others? If so, then she wasn’t a good candidate as Alt-nii’s spouse who’d automatically become the future matriarch.

I didn’t know which one was the real reason why my parents were open, but I knew that this information wasn’t that much of an important one that needed to be kept confidential.

 

When I turned to look at Celeste to see her reaction, I was surprised to see the usually calm and collected Celeste’s expression seemed to crumble.

Then, she quickly put down her utensils and stood agitatedly.

“Pardon my rudeness, but is it possible for you to bring me to see him? I beg you,” she said in a clearly shaken voice.

Uhmm…

This…

For her to be this shaken, could it be that she knows the great general? But how?

 

I turned to look at Alt-nii who was having a surprised expression as well.

It seemed that he was kept in dark about this as well.

This doesn’t seem good…?

 

Though my parents were stunned at first, they quickly recovered.

Dad asked, “May I know the reason why we have to bring you to see him?”

I turned to observe Celeste’s expression.

“I know him. He’s my…,” Celeste said with a very concerned expression, as if she’d do anything for her request to be granted.

 

D-don’t tell me that he’s actually Celeste’s lover or past lover… or childhood sweetheart, somehow? This is a very wild guess, but I can clearly see that Celeste cares a lot about this person…

I lit a candle in prayer for Alt-nii, hoping that it wasn’t true…

 

In the next moment, Celeste continued in an urgent tone.

“He’s my beloved father!!”

Nooo, as I expected—

Wait a minute, what did she say?!

The great general from Naraka empire is… Celeste’s beloved father?!

 

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Note:

Yes, now is the time to reveal the title/name of the current arc or phase! This arc/phase's title is 'Celeste'~!