Lucy had dragged me from her room towards the ballroom of her family's castle. Alma and Katia simply followed while grinning and giggling every now and then…

 

Lucy was extremely excited to introduce us to her parents. She was humming while we were walking towards the ballroom.

 

We are currently right in front of them...

 

"Lucy! My dear little angel!" Lucy's father immediately ran towards us and hugged her daughter.

 

"My dearest Lucy, how was your stroll through the forest?" Lucy's mother started patting her head while smiling warmly.

 

Lucy's parents are both good looking, which makes a lot of sense if you look at their daughter.

 

Her father is 1.80 meters tall. He has short black hair and yellow eyes. He's very thin. At a first glance he looks a bit weak, but in reality his entire body is overflowing with magic power… He must be a very skillful mage. He's wearing some expensive robes with the crest of his house which is a lion holding the Sun sewed on his outfit.

 

Lucy's mother is 1.50 meters tall. She has long dark blue hair which flows towards her lower back. She looks to be very fit and the way she moves reminds me of an expert swordmaster… She's wearing a very elegant black dress.

 

"I had a lot of fun today, Mother!" She replied while hugging her father very tightly.

 

It was a very heartwarming scene that reminded me of my own family. 

 

"Mother, Father, I need to introduce you to some very important friends that I made today!" Lucy said as she stopped hugging her father.

 

"Some very important friends, you say? If it is a friend of my little angel, then I'll be honoured to meet them!" Her father nodded vigorously.

 

"I agree! I would be so glad to meet more friends of yours!" Her mother smiled warmly.

 

"Very well! Allow me to introduce you to them!" Lucy spoke with excitement.

 

Lucy immediately pointed at us.

 

Both of her parents immediately gasped and looked very surprised to see us.

 

It seems like they hadn't noticed us until now… They were apparently too focused on their daughter…

 

I immediately bowed politely. The maid and the sailor behind me imitated my bow.

 

"Greetings, Count and Countess Herrera, my name is Erlan Aerieth. Although I also go by the name of Raul. I don't mind if you wish to use the latter. I'm the eldest son of Count Aerieth. The ones behind me are my companions, Katia, my maid, and Alma, the captain of my ship." I introduced my two retainers.

 

Lucy's parents still had some very surprised expressions.

 

"We hail from the Great City of Aerelieth in the Sky Archipelago. I'm very pleased to finally meet Lucía's parents. She has told me great things about you." I smiled as I finished introducing our group.

 

The expressions of Lucy's parents remained unchanged.

 

"These are my new friends! They are from the Isles of the Gods! They even speak another language and everything!" Lucy spoke with excitement.

 

Her parents suddenly moved away from us and then started whispering something at each other…

 

That caught me off guard… I looked at Lucy who seemed just as confused as I was…

 

After a few moments whispering at each other, Lucy's parents walked towards me with some strange expressions…

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

Lucy's mother and father looked at me in silence.

 

"Is something the matter?" I asked them with an awkward smile.

 

“Hmmmm…”

 

“Hmmmm…”

 

The two of them went all ‘Hmmmm’ on me while inspecting me… It was a bit uncomfortable for me…

 

“I see.” Lucy’s mother was the first one to speak. She was nodding to herself with a serious expression.

 

“Honey… Is it possible that it has to do with…” Lucy’s father looked at his wife with an expression of concern.

 

“There’s no doubt. Hehehe! I have been waiting for this for so long!” Lucy’s mother giggled and then smiled warmly.

 

Umm… You have been waiting so long for what…

 

“You’re right… There’s no way it doesn’t have to do with that matter…” Lucy’s father looked at me with a very serious expression.

 

Lucy and I exchanged a confused glance thanks to the antics of her parents… Alma and Katia were silent behind me.

 

My hand was suddenly grabbed by Lucy’s mother. She started shaking my hand vigorously.

 

“It is so nice to meet you! My name is Victoria, I’m your future mother-in-law!” Victoria smiled at me.

 

Huh…? Did I misunderstand what she said…? 

 

It has been awhile since I last talked in Spanish before meeting Lucía today, so my Spanish must be a bit rusty… Yeah, it must be that… I totally misheard that …

 

Lucy’s father then placed his hand on my shoulder and then started… Crying?

 

“I… I… I finally have a son! I’m so unbelievably happy right now!” He spoke with glee as a tsunami of happy tears was streaming down his cheeks.

 

I… I think I didn’t misheard what Victoria said to me...

 

“Dear, calm down. We don’t want to overwhelm him.” Victoria said with a gentle smile to calm her husband down.

 

“You’re right… My apologies... I almost let my emotions get the better of me.” Lucy’s father cleared his tears with a handkerchief.

 

I could only look at Lucy… She was as pale as a ghost…

 

“Once again, I apologize for that, Erlan. Is it fine if I call you like that? My name is Gabriel. I really hope we can get along! Welcome to the family!” Gabriel smiled warmly.

 

Why is this happening? Why do they suddenly think I’m their soon-to-be son-in-law...

 

For a second, I turned my head around to look at Alma and Katia.

 

“Young master, you look pale.” Katia pointed that out with a polite tone.

 

“Indeed. Is something the matter?” Alma was also very polite.

 

These two actually predicted the future… I can’t believe it… 

 

Sigh… I believe I shall clear this misunderstanding before it becomes even more troublesome.

 

“Umm… Lord Gabriel, Lady Victoria I’m afraid we’re…-” I was about to clear out this misunderstanding, but I was interrupted.

 

“Call us Mom and Dad!” They both said in unison while smiling at me.

 

I was left a bit dumbfounded to see how quickly they accepted me into their family…

 

Lucy seemed even paler now...

 

“Umm… May I ask why did you reach the conclusion that Lucy and I are a couple?” I asked while smiling bitterly.

 

Lucy’s parents looked at me for a second before smiling from ear to ear. The two really seemed overjoyed.

 

“It should be obvious! Lucía is already 24 and you’re the first boy she has ever brought home!” Victoria nodded to herself.

 

Excuse me… Lucy is older than me? That’s quite a surprise…

 

“And well, since our daughter has a bit of a reputation amongst young nobles, we were losing hope that she could find a suitable partner to join our household.” Gabriel smiled awkwardly.

 

I looked at Lucy again… She was actually sweating bullets…

 

“So that’s why you assumed that I…-” I was interrupted again.

 

“That’s correct!” Gabriel smiled warmly and nodded vigorously.

 

“Dear, we should prepare to announce this wonderful news!” Victoria seemed extremely excited…

 

“Wait! We haven’t even…-” I was interrupted yet again.

 

“Indeed! Everyone must know about this as soon as possible! I will personally send a message to the King!” Gabriel said with glee.

 

“I will prepare everything for the wedding and send invitations early!” Victoria said with sparkling eyes.

 

Gabriel and Victoria immediately left in opposite directions, leaving me extremely confused and Lucy sweating bullets and looking pale as a ghost.

 

“In the name of all the gods, what just happened…?” I said in common.

 

Katia and Alma moved to be in front of me. The two of them had amused expressions. Alma was also giggling.

 

“Erli, it looks like your first meeting with your in-laws went well!” Katia said with a teasing tone.

 

“They seemed to have taken a liking to you! I guess this means that Nueva Cádiz and Aerelith will have an alliance!” Alma said jokingly.

 

My brain was still processing the previous events… I simply couldn’t laugh about the situation with Alma and Katia.

 

“They actually thought that I’m Lucy’s boyfriend… No, I guess it should be more appropriate to say ‘fiancé’?” I looked at them with a serious expression.

 

Their expressions completely disappeared when they noticed I was being serious.

 

“Oi oi… That’s insane… They actually thought that you and Lucy were a couple!? Did they even hear that you two met today!?” Alma lost it. She looked completely dumbfounded.

 

“Erli, don’t tell me that they still think that you two are a couple… You cleared the misunderstanding right?” Katia asked with concern.

I shook my head.

 

“You noticed that I was interrupted several times, right?” I said as I started to imagine the possible consequences of this event.

 

“Oh no… This smells like trouble…” Alma started drinking again.

 

“Erlan, why did the two of them go on their separate ways…?” Katia started sweating a lot.

 

“That’s the thing… Lucy’s father, Gabriel, said that he was going to send a letter to the king of this country to inform him of our engagement… Lucy’s mother, Victoria, said that she was going to arrange everything for the wedding and send the invitations early.” I said with despair.

 

Seriously, how the hell did I end up in this mess…?

 

“If any god or goddess is listening to this, please forgive us! It was just a prank! Just a prank!” Alma suddenly got on his knees and started praying. She had a panicked expression on her face.

 

“I don’t think the gods will help us with this…” Katia smiled bitterly.

 

Seeing Alma panicking made me realize that I needed to calm down.

 

I took a deep breath before sighing heavily.

 

“Well, the good thing is that we still have time to clear this misunderstanding.” I said with a serious expression.

 

I then looked at Lucy, who was still pale as a ghost and looking at the empty air.

 

“First, I need to know why they reacted like that though…” I said to Alma and Katia.

 

“I agree.” Katia nodded while smiling bitterly.

 

Alma was still on the ground praying…

 

I hope this serves as a lesson for Alma and Katia to not joke with this kind of thing… 

 

Katia and I walked towards Lucy.

 

“Umm… Lucy, what was that all about…?” I asked awkwardly.

 

“Ah…” She gasped as soon as noticed me.

 

She started sweating bullets again.

 

“I’m sorry, Erli… I didn’t think they would genuinely think that you and I were a couple and engaged… I thought that they were joking when they told me that they were expecting to meet soon the one I was going to marry…” Lucy’s eyes looked empty.

 

“Well, there’s nothing to apologize for as long as we clear this misunderstanding with your parents… What do you mean by that?” I asked Lucy.

 

“Well, about two years ago, they told me that they were really expecting me to marry soon. I mean, I get why they wanted me to marry. I’m an only child after all… I never imagined that they were serious when they said that…” Lucy seemed embarrassed. 

 

Ah, I think I can understand why they looked so ecstatic…

 

“They also said that you had a bit of a reputation with other nobles. What do they mean by that? Did you do something that prevented you from getting married?”

 

I mean, I can understand if Lucy didn’t want to marry young. There have been a lot of nobles in the Sky Archipelago that chose to marry later in life. But when it comes to the heirs of noble households, it is more common for us to get engaged and marry as soon as possible.

 

It is also very common among noble households to set up marriage interviews with the sons or daughters of other prominent families to arrange marriages. I know some nobles who got engaged in their teens and then married as soon as they were adults.

 

Well, in my case, I haven't gone to any marriage interview because my parents couldn’t be bothered to set up one. Not that I wanted to participate anyway though. Other families have asked mine for the interviews, but my parents simply said: “We’ll see.”

 

“It is not like I don’t want to get married… I have also tried dating when I was younger, but… Sigh… This is all because of an incident involving the crowned prince of this country…” Lucy said while playing with her hair. She still looked very embarrassed.

 

A prince? This can’t be good…

 

“I was invited to a party in the Capital by a ducal household. It was the birthday of one of my closest friends, so I obviously decided to go. I didn’t know that the crowned prince would also be there…” Lucy looked a bit uncomfortable remembering what happened.

 

“And what happened?” I asked with expectation.

 

“Since I didn’t know he was going to be there, I ignored him when he was trying to talk to me. I mean, I had never seen him in person, so I didn’t know it was him...” Lucy said with regret.

 

Oh… It might not sound like a big of a deal, but ignoring someone higher in the nobility ranks usually means trouble for your family… Especially when it comes to the royal family and the future king…

 

“In my defense, I was desperate because I needed to go to pick up some flowers… I was walking very fast and he was still trying to talk to me...” Lucy immediately blushed.

 

So she was in a rush to use the bathroom and the prince didn’t realize that…

 

“Sigh… Long story short, most noblemen my age who were friends with the prince all started to ignore me, and some others even started to insult me directly to my face. I was very confused at the time.” Lucy was still blushing a bit.

 

“But you weren’t punished by the royal family, right?” I asked.

 

Lucy shook her head.

 

“My father was working at the time with his majesty, The King, and they also were good friends since their teenage years. The King sent a letter telling me not to worry about his son and it was a small incident that was blown out of proportion.” Lucy explained with a serious expression.

 

I see…

 

“But the story doesn’t end there… Thanks to that small incident, a new faction of nobles was born. They were outraged that a future countess like me would dare to insult the future king. More and more nobles started to join their faction and words like: “Punishment”, “Execution” and “War” were starting to be heard all over the kingdom…” Lucy explained awkwardly.

 

Oh no...

 

“The war did not happen thanks to my parents, the parents of my friend that threw the party and the King because they took my side. Since then, the country has been on the verge of a civil war because of me. Everything happened when I was 18 years old. The common citizens don’t really know about this whole ordeal.” Lucy smiled bitterly.

 

Oh my goodness… All of that because she ignored the prince?

 

Sigh… Why am I not surprised… Stranger wars have been fought in our previous world for pettier reasons.

 

“And as you can assume, a lot of noblemen started ignoring me, so I didn’t really have the chance to date someone, but believe me that I tried. As a result, I have not been able to get married yet. Erli, I believe you understand why my parents acted that way… I’m so deeply ashamed that they reacted like that! I’m so sorry!” Lucy apologized again.

 

Yeah, now that I’ve heard this, I can understand why Gabriel and Victoria were so excited. 

 

“Don’t worry, Lucy. Like I said before, there’s no reason to apologize as long as we clear up this misunderstanding.” I smiled at her.

 

“I guess that you’re right… Well, there might be other reasons for my parents to want to get me married. More specifically, my mother.” Lucy smiled awkwardly.

 

“What are those other reasons?” I asked.

 

“The other day I heard her praying to the Gods and asking to send me a suitable partner so she could have grandbabies…” Lucy’s face was painted in several shades of red.

 

I need to clear this misunderstanding now! I’m too young to be having kids!