Marcel has been very emotional since his journey to Bladethawl with Allan two months ago.

Sure, he looks different from how he used to, which would bring most humans to tears if they had to give up their humanity, but, then again, he’s not even human? Also, the transformation made him grow more beautiful or rather, handsome, by the day, so that definitely isn’t a main concern of mo— I mean, Marcel’s. You might be wondering, ‘What exactly is the point of this?’

 

Well, the point is that, nowadays, even a former invitation from any race who wants to meet him is enough to bring him to tears, gosh! Maybe it’s because Dave’s a naturally dramatic person, seeing that he almost died because of it at the hands of his own father. Then again, considering how he’s engaged with the major races in the past, this level of satisfaction from something as simple as them sending him an invitation should be expected. ‘Abduction’ by false letter, courtesy of Alverona; kidnapping by elven assassins, courtesy of Tharrelan, then by Miguel Dunkelheit, the Oni, and many other failures and successes that followed. He has a very rough life.

He’s so popular that, over a six-year period, he’s also ‘met’ the King and Queen of Fairies, a race of half-spirits/spirits with natural power of this world and physical bodies; Changelings, trickster fairies who love to switch babies. He also got kidnapped by Imps, regular demons on the average category of the demonic hierarchy, Doppelgänger-Dragon hybrid Fobos, for his formal private apology kept secret from his master, and many more.

Yes, apparently, there are spirits with physical bodies and the fairy race is just that. Marcel’s reaction to the formal invitation was to be expected and this time, it came from someone he knew quite well, or at least, someone related to them.

The letter came from Gregory Leporo Bengalis, Ruler of Kalix in the world Ixis. That name, Bengalis— isn’t that…

 

According to the letter, the one getting kidnapped, or rather, already abducted, is his friend: Valeria, or as she’s known in Ixis, Karshena Lepra Bengalis, the White Tiger Princess of Kalix: his own daughter. Yes, Karshena’s father… kidnapped his own daughter…

In the letter, he urged Marcel to visit Ixis as soon as possible because they had matters to discuss, which involved Karshena being in deep trouble for defying him. Oh no!

 

Marcel, immediately after reading the letter, informed his three worrying maids, then Claude who passed the news further on to the Demon Lord of his absence in the coming days. And just like that, he left for Ixis with Allan, Shalia, the thunderbeast brothers and Kenny. Their mission: to save Karshena, or so, they thought. Silva was also went missing overnight as Karshena had, on the exact same day. It definitely had something to do with latter’s disappearance as well.

***

 

When they arrived on Ixis, the rest of the ‘not kidnapped’ party made their way to the Kalix Beast Empire per Kensuke’s directions. This world was fairly close to his own homeworld. He remembered coming there once or twice with his overprotective father as a child when the man was still fearful that anything would kill him. Also, it’s very close to where— heh, you’ll find out very soon.

Arriving safely, Marcel and friends made their way to the abode of Karshena’s supposed kidnapper. They were each taken away separately by menacing beast guards after they arrived at the palace gates. Overwhelmed by the beast guards’ strength, they followed along quietly without much resistance, except for Evan, of course, who was forcibly restrained and knocked out. None of them saw each other for a while after that.

Unbeknownst to Marcel and everyone’s surprise, the people in the palace were very good to them. Huh?!!

They forcibly put them in a state of relaxation with a bath and comfortable massages, were clothed in beastmen attire fit for meeting the emperor, both practical and stylish: loose enough to beat off the warm weather, and a sumptuous meal. They received premium pampering treatment at Karshena’s. Also, they finally understood why Karshena refused to wear more than a skimpy top and tiny shorts. All of the clothes were so drafty and revealing!

 

Now then, with all of the pampering complete, it was finally time. Marcel was brought to the king. He was brought to a large, open room surrounded by a large flower garden. There, rested a man in a fainting couch as he looked around in a lazy position, eagerly waiting for someone to be escorted by maids to that room.

Suddenly brought before the Ruler, he expected the former’s temperament to be that of the person who wrote the letter; you know, the one who wrote a decent-looking letter with sinister undertones hidden beneath fairly normal words. What he deduced from reading the letter was that the writer was a fairly reasonable person capable of unreasonable things, which included kidnapping and hurting their own daughter. Karshena’s father should be a man who presented humble threats to those who offended him… or so, he thought.

Unfortunately, he was very disappointed and honestly, almost terrified for his life when he was brought to the sight of an enraged man who suddenly carried a longsword, ready to flay him to pieces moments later. The moment the man caught a glimpse of him, he despised his very being. His very sight awoke a beast that thought it would be okay with seeing him.

“Scary!” He thought when he made eye contact with the man.

He looked intensely at Marcel with bright golden orbs for eyes, ready to fire lasers at the young man in front of him. He had mid-shoulder length, unkempt, pale white hair, fair skin and wore what seemed to be a revealing, loose white robe that exposed his very impressively sculpted torso, held together by a black ribbon. He was tall with broad shoulders, long limbs, and a well-built figure.

Why are all the guys around here such eye-candy? He’s a father, but damn~ He’s turning heads!

 

“You... You bastard! You seduced my poor little girl! I’ll kill you, you f*cker!” The man roared at Marcel with about the temperament of ten enraged Golden Lion’s. Why was he getting ‘Roden cursing’ vibes from this Ruler? Earlier when Marcel first caught a glimpse of him while he was still resting, he gave off the aura of a terrifying monarch with a prudent and calculating demeanor, but now…

He was seething with so much fury that his aura boiled dark red. All those in the castle not strong enough to withstand the aura showed symptoms of general unpleasantness, well, except Karshena, who was uncomfortably used to such temper tantrums, and Marcel, who only felt a slight increase in the room’s pressure. How good it must be to shrug off casually a Ruler’s power by not feeling any of it.

“You despicable beast! You must be put down for attempting the claim the everlasting sun whose beauty, no man shall ever be worthy of in my eyes! How dare you, puny man?!!!” The man hollered. If earlier, he was boiling with hostility, now he looked ready to curse Marcel’s very being to death with his immense, ardent wrath.

As he called Marcel despicable for doing what he, once again, didn’t do, he’d finally had it with seeing this bug that buzzed around his daughter.

“This f*cker must die!” He thought, brimming with hostility. It was then that he pulled out a two and a half meter longsword from out of nowhere, unlike how it was usually done with spatial magic or the inventory.

How do I explain this? It was like he summoned the longsword to exist; like he controlled the matter in the air into condensing together and created the weapon in his hand.

Carrying his longsword, the man began heading towards Marcel, dragging his sword across the ground, generating light sparks and creating a menacing, screeching sound as he dragged the sword along.

Marcel gulped. This guy was serious! His golden eyes burned with resentment, like he was ready to flay the son of a bitch who seduced his precious daughter, which, once again, he didn’t do! What did he do to deserve this?! All he wanted was to save one or two of his best friend and now, he’s going to die for it. Buhuhu!

***

Okay, so what’s really going on with this Ruler?

Well, the man, Gregory, thought he could handle having a civil conversation with Marcel before bringing him into his abode. Upon seeing his ‘pretty boy, cool beauty of a man’ face, however, he changed tones. He couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much to bear!

He knew it! Dave had to die! This bastard made her hate him so much for bringing her back home through kidnapping.

“He must die!” He thought once again before he held the longsword at an angle, lifting it from the ground and ready to attack.

Again, Marcel’s looks got him into trouble. He always thought he was just ‘good-looking’, but Emperor Gregory thought otherwise. He saw the present, but also the future. To him, Karshena… was already lost!

 

Just when he jumped to approach Marcel, he was hit in the head, by an immense force that suddenly came out of nowhere. The force lifted him and slammed him against the wall, like paint to a blank canvas. The white wall and floor marble were stained in the blood of the Beast Empire’s Emperor.  Marcel was sure that he was bleeding heavily from that.

Who hurt the Emperor of Kalix so badly?

Of course, who better than the beauty who rarely shows herself to even the emperor unless she really wants to, Daleena Lapra Bengalis, also known as Karshena’s mother and his wife.

Ah, this woman~!

She’s normally so sweet, except for when her husband’s misbehaving, then she smacks him. She possesses the temperament of a gentle summer breeze which occasionally turned into an overbearing and scorching hot summer heat wave. Judging from how the letter had been written, Marcel judged her to be the writer instead of the temperamental Gregory who would have sent him plain death threats instead of reasonable but slightly threatening words.

“Calm down, husband! Gosh, such a handful!” She said after she came in. She looked at Gregory who bled everywhere, creating a bloody streak on the wall when he slid off it and sighed. She began healing him.

“Now, how did you manage to hurt yourself so badly?! I remember telling you to not pick random fights.” She wondered how he managed to get himself so injured; already forgetting that she did that to him. Heh, she seems a bit… of an airhead.

After healing the king, she asked Marcel to follow and they talked; mostly like civilized adults.

 

“Did you find your earlier treatment to be sufficient, young man?” Karshena’s mother, Daleena, asked with a smile.

“Yes, your accommodations were lovely! It’s one of the best I’ve received right after I got kidnapped.” Marcel answered honestly, eager to express his gratitude for their hospitality.

“I see!” The woman nodded before looking towards her husband who looked eager to pounce on their guest. Wow, he really hated Marcel!

 

She continued, “So… who are you and what is your relationship with our daughter and Natsume?” The atmosphere around her suddenly changed. It grew more terrifying, cold even. She gazed at Marcel with inquisitively cold eyes and a slight smile that told Marcel of his fate if he dared lie to her.

“This woman… plans to kill me!” Marcel broke into a cold sweat and began trying to avoid her gaze. Somehow, no matter where he seemed to focus on around the room, he still felt like he was directly gazing into her eyes. She was everywhere. Terrifying!

Also, the king was very eager to hear his answer, so Marcel gave it,

“Honestly, they’re both my best friends. I met them during my first adventure and we just, stuck together ever since. I don’t know about them, but I’d gladly protect them with my life!” He swore to Karshena’s parents with sincerity.

Unfortunately, Karshena’s father wasn’t eager to believe Marcel’s truth. He knew very little about him. This included Marcel’s or rather, Dave’s mysterious sudden appearance right after another hero, and his adventuring that mostly came from being kidnapped and the dungeons. To him, Marcel was the definition of ‘suspicious character who comes into your home and takes away your precious daughter’. How dare he try to worm his way into his house! He was definitely not going to believe a possible pretty, fuckboy!

Um… I should mention that this guy knows that Alverona has plans for Marcel because of the very recent Fobos incident. To him, someone who wormed their way into that dragon granny’s heart was bad news!

Daleena, however, believed him. There was no change in his aura nor any of the regular lying signs that people usually made. Marcel spoke his truth and thus, Daleena controlled her husband from attacking him once more because he didn’t want to believe such ‘blatant lies’. She crushed his little toes with the gravity of a mountain to start with, unmeasurable pain!

Gradually, he shrugged away the pain and bore his teeth at Marcel like some feral beast. She pinched his hand, and he yelled, “Ow! Aww! Oww!” as she turned her hand to increase the force of her pinching to keep him behaving.

“Ha… I’m sorry for my husband’s behavior towards you. He just, really loves his children, especially Karshena. No matter how many he manages to procure, Karshena just seems to be his ‘forever favorite child’. Currently, she sits right in the middle of all his children and he plans to keep it that way for at least a thousand more years. They’ve been attached at the hip since she was born in what seems like just yesterday. He gives her anything she wants, even that one day when she jokingly talked about getting married. He…”

Daleena carried a slight expression of scolding within her smile as she peered back at Gregory. Gregory instantly got dejected because he believed that Karshena leaving home was truly his doing. He pushed her to leave.

Allow me to explain!

 

[Flashback]

Around almost three hundred years ago, Karshena and her elder sister, Lucia, true name, Judecca, were having a conversation where Judecca talked about her dreams for the future.

“When I get married someday, I want a quiet man who knows how to take care of a million libraries, will see to it that I don’t die while in there, and treats me like a normal person. What about you?” Judecca asked.

Karshena laughed wryly, silently mocking her sister’s dream as she also came up with a funny answer on the spot, “Haha… I really hate the idea of marriage but, let’s say that if I want to get married, I would…”

She approached Judecca’s ear to whisper something that made the latter feel so embarrassed and unholy that an equivalently unholy amount of her blood gushed out from her nose. It took Judecca days to recover from what they both call ‘the Spill’ and made her consider stealing her sister’s made-up, very lewd ideal of a partner for herself.

Unfortunately for Karshena, Gregory had walked around that place and managed to pick up the ‘…I want to get married’ part from her and only that. He was heavily heartbroken to discover that his favorite child supposedly wanted to get married at her age, so much that he did the unthinkable.

Wanting to give her what she desired from what he heard her say, although he didn’t want to, he did what he did best: granting her wishes.

Yes, he prepared good marriage partners for her, which, in hindsight, he definitely shouldn’t have done. She refused them all, saying that she was only joking, which quickly spiraled into a fight between the two.  

He sighed in relief after the misunderstanding was cleared, thinking that the matter had been resolved and that he’d never have to deal with ever giving Karshena away, but then, suddenly she left. The only thing she left behind was a short note, saying that she was adventuring with Natsume, and to not look for her. It brought him right back to thinking about the marriage talk that went horribly wrong.

For the dramatic Gregory, much high-leveled by Dave, Karshena’s sudden action of leaving the safety of home where she could have apparently anything she wanted, equaled her eloping with someone. He had to bring Karshena back, thus, he sent Lucia/Judecca, Karshena’s sister, to find her. When Judecca finally managed to do so, Karshena refused to go back, even after multiple attempts by her pitiful sister, reinforcing Gregory’s made-up motion that she wasn’t returning because of ‘someone’.  This made Gregory angry at whoever it was that was keeping Karshena away from him. He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Karshena again, only to be introduced to a possible grandchild… or ten.

In the current day, this person that Karshena must have eloped with was the pretty, ‘fuckboy’ Marcel/Dave, which explains why Gregory hates him so much, even though the timing doesn’t fit together. Hey, what is time to him when it’s just so different wherever he peers?

 

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!! I’ll kill you!!! I’ll kill you!!!!” Gregory mumbled to himself as he sat to the side, blatantly staring at the pretty boy while Daleena further explained her husband's troubling actions.

Gregory’s aura flared up, bright red, full of murderous intent and hate towards Marcel. Marcel, who felt none of it, sat quietly and listened to Daleena speak as everyone else in the palace finally fainted under the pressure or straight up died from their body being unable to perform normal functions properly anymore. The Ruler’s aura was detrimental to their very existences, especially when he was so angry.

Luckily, there exists necromancy and casual deals with the underworld or else, Marcel would have a lot of blood on his hands that day.

Acting up again, Gregory found himself suppressed by the terrifying force of gravity concentrated around him, intent on keeping him there until he ceased his childish, murderous rage directed at a person… who might only be partially responsible for their daughter not returning home. Since Gregory didn’t bother concealing his hostility towards Marcel anymore, Daleena felt he needed a time-out and gave him one. Making and controlling boundaries, unique Barrier Magic, is her specialty. She can do this all day!

You heard the lady, Gregory! Now stop acting like a creepy father. Karshena will dislike seeing you treat her friend so terribly. She might stop talking to you altogether. Speaking of Karshena, where is she? Come discipline your damn father and save my mo—I mean Marcel!

***

 

While Gregory was stuck in time-out, bound by the awe-inspiring power of ‘The Wife’, Daleena and Marcel conversed. She further explained the situation with Gregory, his beloved daughter and the former’s dramatic and overbearing temper to Marcel, who was slowly developing feelings regarding this particular matter of Karshena not returning home until she was kidnapped as well as Gregory’s drama. Unfortunately, he’d already taken a side but as he eagerly conversed with Karshena’s mother, he felt the deep eyes of hatred and resentment directed at him, making him eager to change sides again.

And just like that, an hour passed and Gregory… had had it.

He could no longer bear seeing this bug happily conversing with his wife anymore. His aura flared up to an insuppressible degree, seething with murderous rage, ready to kill anyone who wasn’t related to him in his palace, especially a specific, aura-unfeeling ‘bastard’.

“Ha ha!” He laughed before withdrawing all of his murderous aura in a second, fulfilling the requirements to break out of Daleena’s suppression boundary.

Having successfully broken out of the barrier, he prepared to charge towards Marcel again, his rage condensing into sword, ready to pierce Marcel. Daleena and Marcel were both shocked by the sudden, incoming attack.

Oh no, is this really the end of Marcel’s life?! Good bye Marcel! It was nice kn—Hold on!

Looks like Karshena has joined the match! Marcel may be saved after all. Whew!

“Father! What are you doing?!!” Karshena yelled, rushing towards the vicinity with the force of the wind. She arrived just in time to see Marcel be nicked in the neck by Gregory’s sword.

“Kar… shena??” Gregory looked surprised to see her. Next, he burst into tears, all his anger melting away as he entered a state of endless bliss.

“Karshena’s… finally ready to see me? So happy~!” He jumped around inside his head like a young maiden who just realized that her love was requited.

She arrived, sweating profusely while in her true human form. She rushed here the moment she felt her father’s aura spike through the roof and killed everyone just earlier. She knew something was up, but this? Why was her father trying to trigger Kill-switch Marcel to appear?

 

Speaking of Karshena’s true human form, it was the first time Marcel had seen it. He looked confused. This was Karshena?!

Compared to her adventurer disguise, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

Karshena was a dignified princess, fair and dainty with long black hair with a white gradient at the bottom half, splitting her hair into two shades. The transition between the two colors were so smooth. She had bronze skin, a pair of round, dark eyes clouded by golden hue, like they were in the middle of a major transition. On her forehead laid a faint trace of the golden eye mark she possessed in her beast form, hidden almost perfectly by the hue of her skin. She wore a modestly loose white robe. She looked divine… and that confused Marcel, a lot!

“Is this really Karshena?!” He couldn’t believe his Spirit Eyes were playing tricks on him now. That’s Karshena? No, that’s a future goddess! Karshena, or more accurately, Valeria, is a young woman who hardly cared about what she looked like, wearing nothing but a brazier or a shirt to hold her ‘gifts’ in place and shorts no matter the season.

That. Is. Not. Valeria! I mean, she’s not Alverona but still… Also, is this version of Karshena taller than him or what? She was maybe a 1.9.

Okay, enough rambling about her looks! Back to the current situation!

 

“Good day to you, father! What are you doing?” She asked. She looked nervous, not because she was meeting her father again after almost three centuries but because, HE HAD A SWORD POINTED AT MARCEL’S NECK!

Ah, Gregory felt like he could die in peace now. Karshena greeted him for the first time in a long while.

She didn’t want to meet him after he had her kidnapped off the streets of Sizburn and brought back to Ixis. She locked herself inside her room and refused to eat, sleep, or even come out to look at the sun since arriving three days ago. It hurt Gregory deeply but now…

Now… everyone Gregory had killed during his anger fit earlier, had their souls frozen from escaping the vicinity and put back into their bodies to restart their lives again. He was so happy that he unconsciously performed a resurrection ritual without the aid of the underworld’s servants. How happy Gregory was to be able to look upon his precious treasure again. It was, simply said, a miracle!

After greeting her father, Karshena didn’t go to her father who awaited her in his embrace with a smile but rather, to the stranger: Marcel. She didn't even make eye contact with Gregory and looked at Marcel with looks of worry and concern.

“Marcel, are you okay?!” She asked Marcel, slowly enraging Gregory again.

At this point, Gregory was having even worse mood swings than a pregnant woman. He really despised Marcel for taking away his daughter for so many and yet, so few years, but also for grabbing her attention when he stood right in front of her. How dare he be hurt by his, Gregory’s, blade? So weak! He hated Marcel so much that he could level his entire empire with the hatred he felt towards him. He was making anything a reason to hate Marcel. Simply unreasonable!

Marcel rubbed his neck with a smile, healing the slight cut from earlier and answered,

“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine! Your father is a handful though. He tried to flay me but your mother came just in time to save me from his fury the first time, then he got put on time-out and tried to kill me again, as you just saw.” He made making eye contact with Gregory who was fuming, staring at the attention-grabbing pretty boy.

Gregory’s feelings were about to be very hurt.

“Father! How could you?!” Karshena shouted at her father for what was probably the third time in her life. It made Gregory remember all the precious memories he had with his daughter and saw them all shatter right in front of him because, to him, they could no longer continue. Karshena hated him now and the entire world was over! He might as well just break the agreement with the Koto Empire and his parent and destroy Ixis before taking permanent residence in Duat.

“I knew it! You like this guy! Why would you shout at me if he wasn’t the one you love? That’s the only person you’d be willing to shout at this old man for!” Gregory, the ‘old man’, said, dramatic tears forming under his eyes and biting at the phantasmal handkerchief in his hand.

“No, he isn’t! Marcel is just a friend. One of my best friends!” Karshena said. Marcel was touched by her words. He blushed, which made Gregory even more unbelieving of this truth. There was no way a man and a woman could remain friends for very long unless well, the man was gay. He was definitely sure that Marcel was more of a lover to Karshena and not a friend, although, again, very wrong!

“Fine, then! If you say that he’s just your friend, then you can come back home, right? Since you’re finally back, you should stay here by my side... like you used to, my beloved daughter!” The king was eager to do anything to bring Karshena back home, even if it was using the old psychological trick of proving a point on his daughter, but it wasn’t going to work.

“No! I’m not coming back home! I have a life outside now. Being a pretty princess is way harder than living the life of an adventurer. I’m not leaving that life to come back in this stuffy place.” She answered honestly in a calm voice. This was going to erupt into another argument otherwise.

Karshena was one to always voice her honest opinion, although not always as truthfully as Silva. How she was currently behaving was more like a child who refuses to go back home after a fight with their parents. She planned to come back home someday in the next few hundred years or so, just not now.

“Bwah! What about me~~?!” Gregory was in actual tears. The flood gates hath opened! He seemed so sad and acted like a toddler who’d been denied his favorite play toy. All that was left was for him to stomp at the floor like a three-year-old and—Oh, wait! Haa, he did it! We’ve got a child, ladies and gentleman~

Marcel, looking at him, felt sorry for the poor guy, so he helped him, although this same poor guy hated his guts. Actually, Gregory would like to have a bit of his guts. There was nothing better than ripping out your enemy’s guts and making a meal out of it. The rush it brought… was simply lovely! Now that Karshena had rejected him, he could just do it, no holding back.

Marcel, sensing the impending shift in Gregory into ‘All-or-nothing’ mode, did something, quickly.

“Um, Karshena... Can we talk over there real quick?” Marcel called Karshena to the side where they could speak in private just out of sight. She nodded and followed after. There, they whispered for a while and Marcel said some things, then she instantly changed her mind about not coming back home yet.

It was very fairly quick, enough that the prodding Gregory couldn’t destroy Daleena’s new barrier stopping him from listening in on the two in time. Yes, Gregory ‘tch-ed’ at the prospect of not hearing his daughter talk to the pretty boy.

Karshena rushed back to the table and sighed before she said to her father in an unwilling tone,

“Fine! I’ll come back home every three days.” She said, smiling slightly.

“Huh?!!” Gregory’s mood was obvious. This answer from Karshena pissed off Gregory. Why?

Because Marcel managed to convince her in just a minute while he’d been trying for almost three hundred years since she left. How unfair and impartial is his own daughter? This made his argument towards Marcel being her lover even stronger than before, which zero points for him, because, wrong again.

“He’s definitely your lover! How could he have managed to convince you with just a few words if he wasn’t? Buhuhu~” He said, biting on the phantasmal handkerchief again and gnashing his teeth like some jealous maiden. How an old geezer like him is full of so much drama is something I’ll nev— Oh wait, I do!

It’s because he fell in love with his daughter from the moment they first laid eyes on each other on the day of her birth. They formed an instant connection the moment that little guy opened her eyes and grabbed his hand. He could never forget that precious moment.

 

So, yeah, how did Marcel convince Karshena to come back home every three days? Well, it has less to do with Karshena’s love for Marcel as a person and more to do with her stomach’s love for the chef who fed it consistently for almost 9 years now. Whoever first said that ‘the way to someone’s heart was through their stomach’ was very right. Ten points to you! Gregory’s definitely not going to be happy about this.

 

[Flashback]

Marcel, after calling Karshena to the side for a quick conversation, said,

“Go back home! Your father seems to be genuinely worried about you!”

“I know, but I’m not ready yet!” She whined, “There are so many things that I want to try before I do. It’s stuffy being a princess. If I don’t do everything now, then I’ll be stuck as a princess in this palace for millions of years until I die.” She grumbled. Wow, people of the demon realms take time perception to a whole different level.

“Ok, but what about him, your father? If you leave without doing anything, he’ll flay me! I don’t want to die just yet!” Marcel whispered, remembering the angry temperament of dear Gregory.

“Deal with it! You have that vine thing! You’ll be fine! Your pain resistance and bleed resistance are good too, so you’ll survive. Take one for the team!” She whispered back. Unbelievable! She was suggesting he bore a Ruler’s rage for her.

Marcel, seeing that convincing her was going to be hard, used his final card that would swing Karshena’s decision in his favor,

“Okay, fine! But if I’m stuck here getting my ass handed to me by your father, then I won’t have time to cook; for you or anyone else for that matter. Silva will be pissed, Kenny will ooze dark aura for days and you’ll have to go back to boring old inn---”

Yes, that which controls the stomachs and thus, the mood of your other friends, controls you.

“Okay, fine! Deal! I’ll go home every three days! In exchange, you’ll cook me a delicious meal, preferably a good piece of meat right after I come back. Deal?” She stretched out her hand.

Marcel sighed,

“Ha! Fine! Deal! I’ll give you a good meal every day after you come back from home.” Marcel shook the hand and thus the deal was sealed. This was better than having his ‘Pain Resistance’ skill turned into ‘Pain Immunity’ and gaining the ‘Bleed Immunity’ skill by bleeding at the hands of his friend’s father for years, so he had no choice but to take it. And thus, the deal was struck!

[End of Flashback]

 

Now back to the very dramatic Gregory;

“He’s your lover! I’ll kill him!” Gregory was throwing a temper tantrum again, raising his sword to strike Marcel who was recalling his deal with Karshena.

“No, he isn’t! Marcel’s already taken! You should know who you’re dealing with before accusing him of something he didn’t do, father!” Karshena yelled. At this point, all both of them did was yell, so Daleena just sat to the side and watched the show. It’s been so long since she saw one like this. If she remembers correctly, the last time was during the famed ‘marriage’ incident where the palace exploded after Gregory picked suitors for his daughter who didn’t want any.

“Huh, who could possibly take him if not you?! I might be conceited in saying this, but you are an excellent beauty of a daughter. Try me!” Gregory dared his daughter, wanting her to tell him the truth; that Marcel was her lover. He was so sure that he’d win too. He held the smug expression of victory on his face.

“The Demon Lord! I’ve mentioned his name twice or so, haven’t I?” She replied smugly. She’d won the argument and Gregory was about to lose the moment he searched his memory for anyone with that unique name.

“Um, I think I’ve heard that name somewhere before, darling? Where was it?” Daleena also tried to recall from her memories.

Gregory froze for a second before…

“Yes, I remember now! I think ten years ago, Supreme Guardian’s castle, something about an engagement?” Gregory tried his best to recall. He still wasn’t there yet.

“Ah, I remember now! Demon Lord’s castle, ten years and eleven months ago, night… celebration, glass… announcement… engagement, name ‘Marcel’ from the Demon Lord… Yes, I remember now!” Daleena remembered clearly now.

Gregory’s shock was now plastered across his face as he recalled the name.

“I remember too. It was almost the 274th year anniversary of the day Karshena left me. An invitation arrived and we went to the Demon Lord’s castle where he announced his soon-to-be engagement to a hero with blond hair and blue... eyes—” He stopped to look at Marcel whose appearance and aura was now very different than the description that he’d just gave. He was baffled.

“Yes, father! It’s just who you think it is! He’s the Demon Lord’s soon-to-be consort. I was surprised too and didn’t believe it but then I saw the Demon Lord come pick him up many a time after adventuring. He even came to our shared home to visit him once.” Karshena said, looking at Gregory who was tasting defeat. Daleena was shocked too.

“But how?!” Gregory asked.

“System Administrator’s ‘Warped Perception’!” Karshena answered.

She spent the next few hours explaining what she knew about how Marcel came to defy the image everyone had of him to stay safe, with Marcel there to add additional details. From how he became a pretty boy and a demon, to becoming Dave, both via transformation and the System Administrator’s granted privilege of specially masking people’s perception of him into that of a demon’s, especially those who met him before his transformation, their adventures together and many more things.

Marcel explained a lot together with Karshena that, slowly, Gregory felt unthreatened by him anymore. It was great if he wanted to keep being friends with Karshena. He was finally convinced that Marcel wasn’t Karshena’s lover since, um, who could compare to the Demon Lord… unless Marcel wanted to take a concubine?!  

Ah, yes… the concubine, or rather, the second spouse. Let’s get back to that topic much, much later!

After that conversation, Gregory’s treatment of Marcel took a 180 turn and he welcomed him as Karshena’s friend like he had been with her other friends currently relaxing in his palace… until they died and resurrected, heh, although, he was still apprehensive of him because Marcel was still a guy.  This was probably why if Karshena ever decided to choose to have a lover, it will probably be a woman, but then again, who knows?

After discussing the heavy stuff were out of the way, Gregory was happy again since precious Karshena was home and was treating him like she did before, which filled him with happiness. He held a banquet for her and her friends, inviting all 544 of his other beloved kids to come celebrate.

 

At the banquet, the siblings, expressed how happy they were that the favorite, Karshena, was back again in tears since none of them, even the youngest, could bear with their father’s smothering love. Their mothers always told them to try and win as much of their father’s love as they could, but after Karshena left, they realized how much their mothers were, apparently, TRYING TO KILL THEM!

Karshena was their meter who made sure that they received just enough love from their father, which had always made most of them jealous, but after she left, they began feeling so grateful for her existence. They realized that… they don’t want the brunt of all the love their father had to give! It was too much! Karshena has been their savior since her birth and they dared get jealous of her? How ungrateful they’ve been! They want their average love percentage from their father back. For that, they’re willing to give anything.

With this, it wouldn’t be long before news of the return of the White Tiger Princess became public and Karshena earned the title ‘Little White Empress’, used first by her siblings to express her position amongst the Bengalis children.

 

Also, soon after, Karshena gave her father reason to be grateful for the companionship between Marcel and herself. She finally showed everyone the gift she attained from becoming Marcel’s Chosen years ago that she’d refused to tell anyone about, even Marcel and her friends.

She transformed into her beast form, and unlike what she used to look like, her power’s purity had not only increased, but her overall power had grown too. It was almost A-class in her true form, so it wouldn’t be long before her human form caught up. Also, her golden eye-like mark had turned into a true golden eye, sitting on her forehead and functioning as a third eye.

“Oh~. You’ve undergone your third evolution already?! I’m so proud of you!” Gregory smothered his big tiger of a daughter in disgusting, fur-wetting tears. If he’d said, ‘They grow up so fast,’ Karshena would have smacked him away from her. Instead, Daleena was the one who said it. Karshena can’t beat her mother so... father gladly took a beating in his wife’s stead. It was strange for Allan, Kensuke, and the others to see a Ruler being pushed around by his child like this. Even Kensuke could swear that his father would never allow him to do this. Again, that’s just how much Gregory loved his daughter. She had him completely wrapped around her finger. Terrifying!

 

“You can thank him for this too. He’s the one who gave me the power to grow again. I can fully see life force now, even if I close my third eye. It’s very effective in locating weaknesses and striking where it hurts...” She praised Marcel’s power enhancements so much after that, her father started feeling threatened again.

“Is this bastard trying to also steal my position as the granter of power in this family? Unacceptable!”

He glared at Marcel with a murderous glint in his eyes. Again, Gregory was finding a reason to smite Marcel. Daleena had to strike him again to pull him back together, then forgot about her earlier act of violence and healed him again. For some reason, she forgets her own acts of violence, then she blames Gregory for it. It’s almost like she’s cursed to forget her acts of violence towards her husband, though, I can confirm she isn’t.

Ah, what a nice family they have here.

Oh, speaking of nice families, there’s one more stop Marcel has to make now that he’d cleared things up at Karshena. Hint: It has to do with a certain young lady with a goddess for a mother.