The morning of the next day, Ophelia wandered into the kitchen to discover Raven preparing breakfast and Jun nowhere to be found. Aurelius was outside drawing some water from the well to carry up to the bathroom. Ophelia, who was almost 8, had been forced to mature early because of her past predicament as a Dark Omen, and having been around these three men long enough, she understood the present situation.

As she sat down at the table to wait for breakfast, she flashed Raven a thumbs up. Wearing his usual expressionless face, he returned the gesture, though there was a bit of a spark in his eyes. Two men and one little girl ate breakfast while Jun slept until late afternoon, completely worn out.

When he eventually woke up, a light meal and some iced milk tea were waiting for him by his bedside. The corners of his lips curved, Raven patted Jun’s head and helped him sit up. Aurelius leaned in and started massaging Jun’s waist, hips, and legs for him. They had overdone it just a little the night before. 

Life continued smoothly for their family of four for the following three years. While in Illia, they scarcely left the city unless there was a need for it. Illia had a protection stone in place, so Dark Flames were never a problem. Perhaps because there was no plot to rely on, the world didn’t try very hard to bring about Jun's suffering. At the most, there might have been a shortage of tea leaves, which was very torturous but acceptable for him. Somewhat.

The week that happened he was extra unmotivated to do much of anything, laying around listlessly with a look of despair on his face. 

In about two months, it would be March and Ophelia’s 11th birthday. It was a special age because it was the last year she’d be considered a “child” before transitioning to a teenager. To celebrate, they allowed her to decide what to do, and having never been there before, she wanted to go to Gondoa, the capital of the continent where the King was.

Gondoa was also where Aurelius and Raven had been born and raised. They had the same mother but different fathers, and Aurelius was the result of a second marriage. Raven’s father passed away a year after his birth and had left his mother nothing, but as a gentle and beautiful lady, she was able to remarry easily. Her second marriage was with Aurelius’s father and both of them were still alive, residing in Gondoa.

The two men hadn’t seen their mother for years, and she probably assumed they were dead. This would be a good opportunity for Aurelius to visit his parents and let them know he was still alive. And of course, to introduce his wife to them. His mother, Gracie Gravadain, most likely wanted to see Raven as well. Because he was still a wanted man, Raven often wore an intricate wooden mask created by Jun whenever they went out, covering the top half of his face. They weren't worried about being caught.

A week before Ophelia’s birthday, their family set out on foot. The last time they left Illia was half a year ago, so it was a nice change of scenery to be back on the road again. Who would have thought that about halfway to Gonda, they’d run into Aurelius’s old party? 

Regarding Aurelius’s old party there was no plot left to rely on and Jun didn’t know what to expect. Aurelius never talked about what happened with his party. Jun had assumed they perished, but that was apparently not the case. 

On a plateau high above, they stood by and watched Aurelius’s old party battle against several hundreds of Dark Flames below. Purifying a Sword required deep focus and time. When Shields weren’t performing their responsibility, they were essentially useless while others were busy fighting and protecting them.

“They seem to be struggling,” Ophelia stated. “Are we not going to help them, Ark?”

Frankly, Aurelius didn’t want to, because he had severed all ties with them in his heart the moment he realized they had left him for dead. As he had anticipated, his old party had managed to secure not just one, but two Swords to replace him. But since they had previously been teammates, he would help them just this once.

With his hand raised toward the sky, palm facing upward, Aurelius drew upon his light and water magic to form hundreds of glowing turquoise swords in the sky above them. At the wave of his hand downwards, the hundreds of swords rained down on the Dark Flames, disintegrating them instantly.

Ever since they started sleeping with Jun, Aurelius and Raven noticed their magic abilities seemed to be increasing in power without having to do any training or otherwise. After all, they had been living peacefully in Illia for three months before the first time and their magic remained stagnant until that point. There was only one change in their daily routine, and to verify, they made sure to do Jun thoroughly as much as possible.

Not only were they becoming stronger each time, but they could also use it as an excuse to solicit for “one more time” to become powerful enough to protect Jun and Ophelia from anything and everything. Jun knew they were just using that as an excuse but he always relented, unable to refuse his two perverts. As a result, such feats as the turquoise swords Aurelius created were as simple as snapping his fingers.

The party below noticed their saviors and prepared to greet and thank them. At first, they didn’t recognize Aurelius. Over 3 years had passed since the last time they saw him, not to mention he no longer wore the standard Sword armor. Rather, he wore a simple tank top and pants that displayed his muscles.

Eventually one of the beautiful women recognized him, a certain Lucinda Duskbloom, who was a Healer. She quickly sprinted and was about to throw her arms around Aurelius when he side-stepped and dodged at the last moment.

Those women were truly annoying, always throwing themselves at him quite literally. Besides his family, Aurelius disliked being touched by other people, Jun and Ophelia being the only exceptions thus far. The reason he tolerated those women touching him in the past was that it was necessary for healing and purifying.

By then the rest of the old party caught up and upon seeing such a scene of blatant aversion, stood by awkwardly. Ophelia, fuming, stood in front of Aurelius with her hands on her hips.

“What are you trying to do to my dad!?”

Before, Aurelius was irritated but when he heard Ophelia’s words, he was overjoyed and whirled around to deliver a gloating smirk at Raven. “Look, your daughter called me ‘dad’ first.”

Raven clenched his fists and Jun palmed his face, but truthfully he sympathized with Raven. He was the one who found Ophelia first! Noticing the frown on his beloved’s face, Aurelius coquettishly scooted over to coax and placate Jun. “Baby, it’s ok, I’m sure Lia knows you’re her mommy!”

All four women present stiffened upon hearing this. Who was this white-haired person with the blindfold that was a man and what was his relationship with Aurelius? Then they glimpsed the white hair bracelet on his left wrist and immediately understood. Aurelius was married to this person?

Jun nudged Aurelius away and stood to the side, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. Ophelia went up to him and held onto his hand. “Mommy.”

A bit frustrated, Jun sighed. “It’s dad or daddy or I'll stop teaching you magic.”

“Daddy, then.” 

Raven joined them and stared at Ophelia with expectant eyes. The little girl giggled and held onto the ends of Raven’s shirt. “Father,” she said.

Over the moon, Raven revealed a rare smile. Ophelia said ‘father,’ meaning she respected him most. Aurelius, who was watching this scene, snorted with his nose held high. So what? It didn’t change the fact Ophelia acknowledged him as ‘dad’ first.

One of the more brave women, Estelle Bennet, a Summoner, stepped up to Jun. His interaction with the little girl implied he might have been the Mage who saved them. “Thank you for saving us.”

“It wasn’t me,” Jun said.

Estelle Bennet glanced at the other man, the masked one with long black hair. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“Was it you, sir?” She asked.

Raven shook his head and gestured at Aurelius, who was walking over. Estelle Bennet gaped at him in surprise. “Aren’t you a Sword?”

Not even sparing her a look, Aurelius responded in the same way Jun did in the past. “It’s just magic.”

“Huh?”

Aurelius held out his arm for Jun to hold on. “We’re done here. Let’s go, baby.”

“Ok.” Jun was indifferent to these people and let Aurelius decide since they were once members of his party, though it was a shame he couldn’t see just how “beautiful” those women were. He took Aurelius’s arm and walked away with him.

“Aurelius, wait!” The person who spoke was perhaps the most beautiful of the women, Sofia Magdalen, a Shield and a Princess of Gondoa. “It’s great to see you again… To think that you were alive all this time. If, if we had known…”

“What? You wouldn’t have left me for dead?” Aurelius couldn’t help but respond. He knew what she was after. “I saved you this time because we were once a team but don’t assume I’ll do it again.” 

“Don’t, don’t you still need a Shield?” 

“No, my baby has already completely purified my corruption.” Aurelius possessively wrapped his arms around Jun’s waist, resting his chin on the top of his shoulder. 

The two Swords hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation but when they heard that part, they focused their ears to listen in.

“Wha—What? You know that’s not possible… Aren’t you just being fooled by this fake—”

Aurelius sent a light sword flying at the spot next to Sofia Magdalen’s feet. “Just now, I intentionally missed. I won’t the next time you slander my baby.” 

“...!” Sofia Magdalen’s eyes widened. Magic! Aurelius truly could use it, and it was a kind she had never seen before. 

“If you’re feeling regret over leaving me behind, don’t bother.”

Shortly after, Jun’s party departed. But their luck was Jun’s luck, and Sofia Magdalen’s party was headed toward Gondoa as well. When they happened upon the luxurious “campsite” consisting of a small, attractive cottage in the middle of a forest devoid of people, Aurelius’s old party members were stunned. The house had been made smaller by Jun to be less conspicuous, its purpose mainly for sleeping and maintaining warmth, yet its quaint design evoked a sense of awe.

As for cooking and eating, those were done outside at their campfire. When he “saw” these people, Jun lamented that maybe he should have slept in the wild, but Aurelius and Raven presumably wouldn’t have let him. 

“We seem to be headed in the same direction. Do you mind if we join you?” Sofia Magdalen asked Aurelius, who evaded her outstretched hand and turned away to gaze at Jun.

“What do you think, baby?”

Jun shrugged. “I don’t care. They can stay if they want to, as long as they don’t get in the way.”

Raven watched the newcomers for a period before resuming to help Jun prepare dinner. Ophelia ignored the newcomers, not halting her magic practice, and displayed her awesome skills for everyone to see. There was a Mage in the other party, a middle-aged man named Dominic Moore, and his years of experience as a Mage couldn’t compare to this one little girl.

His lips twitched as he approached her. “Little girl, you’re very talented. Do you want to be my apprentice?”

“No, my daddy is my teacher.”

Daddy? Was she talking about that white-haired young man? The blind one? Dominic Moore laughed. “Little girl, are you mistaken? What can a blind person teach you?”

Ophelia ceased practicing and stomped her feet, indignant. “Other than my father and dad, no one is stronger than daddy! And before daddy taught them how to use their magic, he was the strongest!”

—

A/N: Me and my abrupt chapter endings… 🙈

And Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year everyone! May we all get rich! 😂 

Also, sorry for the delayed post. Today, I took my son to get a speech screening done to check for speech delay. Everything seems ok, but we will do an official speech assessment in 4-6 months.