After returning from the 59th floor, they cut their intended destination short and went back up to the 50th floor. Cirrus and Malion had a… very passionate night together.

"Hm♪ Hm♪ Hm♪" Malion was walking with a stride, clear skin, and a good mood.

"Fuu~" Cirrus was walking with no stress and a refreshed mind and body.

‘Guess three kids are down.’ Cirrus thought to himself.

"Cirrus, I can see how you gained a goddess such as Lady Artemis' affections." She makes a sly glance at him.

"…You know I didn’t get them through sex, right?"

"You didn’t? Amazing! I was sure only the famed virgin goddess, Artemis would have tasted such a delicious fruit that she could not help but take another bite." she said, genuinely amazed. "I found another charming point in you, Cirrus, that I wish to see. Heh I am very happy you are nothing like Zeus Familia's playboys."

"Were they really that bad that you disliked them, even to this day?"

"Not exactly. There were a lot who disliked Zeus’s behavior and frequently informed Hera of his actions."

"Ah. I see."

"But they were very persistent men, I have to say."

"Did you, you know, sleep with any of them?"

"No, they annoyed me too much. Did you get a bit jealous that another has bedded me?"

"Uhh..." Cirrus thinks about it for a few seconds. "A little, yes. But I am not gonna call the kettle black."

"Was your first with another beside Ai?"

"No, Ai was my first. You?"

"Hmm..." Malion thinks long and hard about the answer. "It was many years ago when I was traveling after leaving the Odin Familia. I remember him as a wandering bard. He was a very kind and playful man who could always make a crowd smile. He inspired me to get into the arts."

"He got a name?"

"Pyg. It was a short and easy name."

"So, what happened to him?"

"Don't know. We went our separate ways. I wish him well wherever he is in the world, that he too has found love."

"Hmm. I wish I could sing so you could compare between us to see who was the better singer."

"Hera and Aphrodite told me of your musical talent. Why do you not sing?"

"I only really got into singing because of Nox."

"Ah." She nods. "I understand. Then I look forward to the day I can hear you sing. Also, I know you are thinking it, but you were better."

"Yes!!"

They returned to the surface far quicker than they went down it.

 

Once they made it to the surface, it was already night.

"I will see you in a few days. There is something I am working on."

"Hm. I will go and tell Ai and Artemis."

Both of them smiled and nodded before heading off in different directions, returning to their homes.

Hearth Manor.

"So how did it go?" Hestia said, having waited for Malion to return for days.

Malion smiled at the goddess who encouraged her.

"It was a success."

Hestia smiled ear to ear.

"Ooh!! Amazing! So when is the wedding!"

They arrived in Malion’s room at the far back of the manor.

Malion entered, with Hestia following close behind.

"We have not discussed it yet, but there is something I need to do first." She went to the covered-up canvas and removed the furl. "I need to finish this now that I have inspiration!"

Hestia looked at her canvas to find it missing some key features to make it not look disturbing.

"Are you gonna fill in the—"

"That I am! I remember it as clear as day." She began to mix and stir her paint. "I do not need to sleep. No. I must do this while my heart is aflame!!" She got a paintbrush and began to finish her work.

Brush!!

Brush!!

Brush!!!

 

Moonlight Tower.

Cirrus flew up to the top of his room so as not to wake anyone up.

"So… Did she win you over?" asked Ai, noticing Cirrus smelled like his usual self, that being the smell of a clean, crisp smell ahead of a springtime rain from using his lighting to clean any odor off him. "She didn’t go to Meilstora and get some incense from Aphrodite, did she?"

"No, to that, and yes, she won me over." He said, taking his boots off and lying back on his bed.

"What did she do?" Artemis said, sitting next to him.

"She unintentionally helped me with some personal things I didn’t know I had... She talked about my mom and some other stuff."

Ai and Artemis noticed the slight change in his demeanor. Ai lay down next to him and held him close, as did Artemis.

"And how was it?" Ai said.

"It was nice. I learned more about her, but that did leave a bit of a hole in my heart that I won’t be able to fill."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Artemis asked.

"A bit. She said when she reached level 9, she would walk around the town and look out the window to the front of the Familia home. hoping I would walk up."

They could see a smidge of pain on his face. They held him tighter.

"You don’t need to say anymore if you don’t want to."

"…Can you just hug me for a bit?"

"Of course." They both said.

After lying in silence for a while, it was shortly broken.

Slam!!

"Dad!!" Callisto shouted, slamming the door open.

"Ugh." Cirrus quickly muttered. "I need to make the door heavier."

"Or put on a special lock like with the elevator," Artemis said.

Callisto quickly ran to the bed, climbing onto it.

"Hmph!" She gets onto the bed and gets in between Cirrus and Artemis. "Why did you sneak in!" She said, a bit peeved.

"I didn’t want to wake you up, sweetie."

"Can I sleep here tonight?" Callisto says, imitating Ai’s puppy dog eyes.

"Haa…" Cirrus looked at Ai and Artemis.

They both nodded.

"Alright."

"!!" Her face immediately lit up.

 

Two days later, on the 1st floor of the Moonlight Tower. Several Familia members were looking at Malion and Ai.

"Hello!" Malion said with a large covered-up canvas behind her and paint speckled on her. "Where is Cirrus?" she said, looking around.

"Malion… what’s that?" Ai asked. "And he is currently doing some paperwork for the days he went with you to the dungeon."

"Ah, my apologies. I have been awake since our return working on this." She put the wrapped-up canvas before herself.

"Again, what is that?"

"It is a gift for Cirrus. It’s very personal."

Ai looks at it and then at Malion.

"…I hope it’s not what I think it is."

"If you think it is a nude portrait, you are sadly wrong about it." A grin formed on her face. "It is something far better."

 

Working in his office, Cirrus was once again signing piles of paperwork.

"I can slay armies of monsters, jump buildings with a single leap, lift a warship from the sea, and run across a whole desert, but the paperwork will always fuck me." He says to himself, reading and signing documents.

Slam!!

The door of his office slams open.

"Callisto, what did I say about—"

"Hello beloved!" Malion said. "I bring you a present!"

"Ah, Malion." He drops his pen. "I was wondering when you'd pop up. I hope to Artemis you can spare me from this paper, hell." He gets up and walks around his desk.

"I am not sure about that, but I made you this." She puts the wrapped-up canvas on a chair. "My time with you helped me finish this piece of art I had been working on since I joined the Hestia Familia."

"Oh?" Cirrus looked on keenly. "Go on."

"Hm!" She unwrapped the canvas in a single pull.

As it becomes visible, Cirrus’s eyes widen.

"This…" He walks to it. A smile forms from ear to ear.

"Do you—" She could see tears pricking his eyes.

"—I love it."

Painted on a large canvas was a family portrait of Cirrus and his mother, Nephele. Malion was able to paint him with his mother. They both had warm and earnest smile.

"The hardest part of it was her smile," Malion said, walking next to Cirrus. "It’s nice, isn’t it?"

"…Very."

Cirrus really didn’t know he wanted this. This was a gift that struck him near and dear to his heart. It was on par with when he married Ai and Artemis or when they gave birth to his children.

"I’ll leave you alone. I didn’t really get much sleep."

"You can sleep here." Cirrus turns to her. "You are family now." He gave her a warm smile.

"!" Malion couldn’t get over his smile. It was truly infectious. "Thank you, Cirrus." She nods her head and leaves.

Cirrus looks at the painting and smiles at it once more.

"Sorry, I didn’t run to you back then... Mom"

Looking at it made him tear up.

Cirrus stared at it. Looking at every detail and line.

He practically engraves this painting into his memory.

Creak~

Ai entered the room.

"So what did she…" Ai could see Cirrus crying while looking at the painting. She walked to see what he was looking at, and she understood. She walked beside Cirrus and looked at her mother-in-law.

Ai has heard of Nephele, of course. She met Hera and had an idea of how Nephele would appear. Yet seeing mother and son together, they could see the striking resemblance that was even more apparent than with Hera.

Her brown hair falls in gentle waves around her face, framing her emerald-green eyes, which seem to glow with a light of their own. It emphasized her beauty through the feeling the painting gives off, the feeling of a mother happy to be with her son.

"So." Cirrus broke the silence. "What do you think of my mom?"

"I think she’s very beautiful. You even have her smile."

"Thank you."

"Hey, Dad! Do you know where Mom is?" Hakushika walks into the room to see his parents looking at a painting. "What are you looking at?"

"Haku. Would you like to see your grandma?" Ai said.

"?" Haku walks closer to see his father, tears staining his face. He walked up to him and turned to look at the painting. "Oh…" Haku saw his grandmother for the first time. "This is Grandma?"

"Yes," Cirrus said. "She died 17 years ago. I should also tell you that her goddess, Hera, looks just like her."

"Except for blonde hair, red eyes, and a prideful personality," Ai added. "If you ever meet her,"

"Very likely we will," Cirrus added.

"Then let me, your father, or other mothers handle her."

"Okay… did Aunty just bring it?" Haku looked to his father.

"She did," Cirrus said. "It was a gift."

"So… Callisto hasn’t seen it, right?" He looked back at the painting.

"… You wanna hide it?"

"She took my strawberries and swapped our foods, so I only got the peas!!" He shouted looking back at his father.

"… Okay, I’ll hide it for a few days. But you know she is gonna fight you until you spill the beans."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she is gonna come running to me, and I am going to send her your way."

"I suggest you start to find some good hiding places, Haku," Ai said. "You know how well your sister is at hide and seek."

"Gasp! I need to hide!" He quickly runs off.

"… When do you think you will break it to him that he’s getting another mom?" Ai asked.

"Uhh… don’t know. Do you know where Artemis and Callisto are at?"

"Archery range behind the third tower."

"I will be back to finish my work. Hecton, if you will."

As Cirrus walks away, Hecton’s hands emerge from the shadows, carefully pulling the painting into the shadows for safe keeping.

"You should tell Haku a location in case he needs to throw Calli off," Ai said, following him.

"He’s a smart kid. I’m sure he’ll figure it out."

 

Later on, late at night.

The back of the Hostess of Fertility.

"So… you… succeeded?" Ryuu said, wearing some light clothing.

"I did."

"… Are you here to gloat?" Ryuu said, a bit pensive.

"No. I am simply here to tell you that when you are ready, I will give you my blessing." Malion said it seriously.

"Y-you will!?" Ryuu said surprised.

"Yes. When you feel that you are ready, I will give you my blessing. Until then, do not feel the rush things, but also do not simply sit and wait. My suggestion? Since you also leave with him when he goes on expeditions, his expeditions suggest small gestures. Thou his heart for you is set elsewhere. You can always start to build your way there."

"I… thank you." Ryuu lightly smiles. "I wish you well, Malion."

"I wish you well, as well. Now I must be going. I have a letter to send for the marriage planning."

"Who are you sending it to?" Ryuu asked.

"… Lady Hera." Malion made a disgruntled expression.

"Oh. I thought you didn’t like her much? Besides Olympia, you have never brought her up beside to complain."

"Your assessment is correct. I am merely doing this because I am sure when news of Cirrus and I getting married breaks, she will come to Orario herself and shout my ears off. So this is just saving myself and the city her anger by having to deal with her elsewhere in a far better and joyful mood."

"Isn’t that better?"

"You would think, but she is a frustrating goddess regardless of mood. Anyway. Farewell, I hope you and your snooping friend by the door can make it."

"!?" Ryuu turned to see Syr slowly poking her head out. "Syr!"

"Hello~," she said shyly.

Truth be told, Syr/Freya has stayed at the pub's open rooms for its employees just for when Malion returns to speak with Ryuu since Malion and Cirrus returned from the Dungeon.

"Syr," Malion said. "I would like to apologize in advance, but Bell will not be invited."

"Eh!?" Both Syr and Ryuu said.

"How come!?" Syr said, coming out of hiding.

"It is nothing personal, but... well, I simply do not wish for him and Hera to meet, is all."

This piqued Freya’s interest, as did Ryuu, a bit.

"Is it the same reason why you kept him and her from one another in Olympia?" Ryuu said.

"Yes. I am not one to say this, and I won’t. You will have to ask Bell about that. Once again. Farewell." Malion takes her leave.

Once Malion was gone, Syr went up to Ryuu.

"So… when?"

"… When I am ready."

"Why are you so stubborn!! You are a tsundere!! I am going back to sleep!"

Freya wishes she could just use her charm, but by this point she knows Ryuu needs to take that step on her own, as annoying as it makes her. That was one reason, the other was that they would be able to easily tell if Ryuu was under charm.

‘Why are elves so damn prideful!’

Ryuu stands alone for a minute. Thinking.

She places her hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat.

"How deep within the dungeon can you possibly be? I don’t think my feelings will last till you are reclaimed... Alise, Kaguya, Lyra..." Those three stuck out the most since she checked what weapons Neze took were those threes. "… I should go see Lady Astraea. I am sure I can level up from the last expedition."