— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
Nearly four months had passed since Nina had visited, and after two weeks, she had returned with her son back to the Sword Sanctum.
She had cald down quite a bit since I t her all those years ago, but I suppose the passing of ti, as well as gaining a family, would make anyone more mature.
While I wouldn’t necessarily call her a close friend, we had talked quite a bit during her ti with us, and we got along quite well, especially if Eris was with us.
But either way, regardless of the friendship between the two of us, considering how her visit had been quite fun for Eris, as well as how Anna was able to gain a new friend in her son, I was glad that she had co to visit, and I had invited her to co whenever she wanted.
It was tough for quiet introverts like Anna to gain friendship, after all, but since Nel seed to be very similar, they got along quite well.
Anyway, with Eris promising to visit them around the sa ti next year, they departed with happy smiles… after I had used a teleportation circle to get them near the Sword Sanctum, cutting their returning trip down to but a few days.
I had asked Nina to not spread the knowledge to anyone, preferably from Jino as well, and thankfully, she agreed… although, that didn’t really matter, since she already knew about it once Eris ca ho from the basent on her first day in our ho.
And as for the possibility of Jino being an apostle… Orsted told not to worry too much, as Jino’s commitnt to his family wouldn’t make him a good pawn.
But the forr Sword God, on the other hand… well, I suppose only ti would tell, since no one knew where he was at the mont.
But past that, today marked quite an important event.
After all… it wasn’t every day that my two little sisters beca an adult.
And so, with the ninth month of the year upon us…
“Happy birthday!”
There was quite the celebration to be had for the two’s fifteenth birthday.
The party was quite relaxed, with only our close family present, although the girls had already had spent all yesterday together as a sort of ‘girls’ night’, including most of Aisha and Norn’s friends.
As for what they did?
Well… those were secrets that n like were not privy to, but from the many bags I helped them take back afterwards, as well as how Sylphy and Roxy dragged to their rooms once they ca back with the scent of alcohol on their breath, I think they had quite the fun night.
But interestingly enough, while the party was supposed to be only composed of our close family… there was one person present that did not fit that description.
At least… not yet.
“Brother, I… no, we… have sothing to say,” Norn said nervously, clutching the hand of the person at her side.
And that very person was Nico… the younger brother of Clara, who had maintained her position as director of the orphanage for all these years.
I see… so it had co to this… I can’t say it wasn’t expected, but still… I felt a bit of pain at seeing them together.
“We… we wanted to introduce our relationship… formally,” Nico added, keeping his chin held high in front of .
“Y-Yes… and we wanted to wait until I was an adult in order to finalize things… so…” Norn said, her gaze trained directly on .
Mhmm… how responsible… yes, how very responsible…
“Haha! Wanted to wait? But didn’t I catch you two going at each other’s lips just a few weeks-”
“Shut it, Aisha!” Norn said, racing over to cover Aisha’s mouth, who had appeared from the side.
…So they were already at that point…
No, Norn was fifteen, and is a healthy and beautiful young woman, so sothing like this was only natural…
“It’s fine… there’s no need to try to hide it…” I said, closing my eyes as I thought over this situation. “But you two… together… interesting…”
I just needed a mont to think… but as for what I should do as Norn’s big brother, that was obvious.
“You two… I trust both of you, especially you, Norn,” I said, placing my hands on each of their shoulders as I turned to Nico, my eyes narrowing. “I trust you, yes… but, if you betray that trust… if you betray her… well, there will be consequences, understood?”
His back straightening, Nico hesitantly nodded his head.
“Good… I won’t tell you to never hurt her, since that is bound to happen, but at the very least… treat her well, and don’t break her heart,” I said, giving him a final pat before letting go.
“Brother…” Norn said with a pout.
“I know! I just needed to make that clear,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “But… if the two of you are happy… then, congratulations.”
Norn’s pout turned into a smile as she nodded her head.
“Thank you…” she said.
“Don’t ntion it… but, do you have any plans?” I asked.
They were both finished with their education, after all.
Although, Nico’s was simply an apprenticeship with a local trader.
“Yes. For now, we plan to move to Ars in a month or so, and while I continue my writing, we are also going to open a library,” Norn said, looking over to my wives who were sharing a drink with Lilia. “Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about anything, as Ariel’s present for was an old shop that had been abandoned and remodelled under the royal family’s na, while Eris, Roxy, and Sylphy all got so books to stock the shelves.”
I see… so that’s why they were so secretive about their gifts… so they wouldn’t tell about Norn’s little secret plan here.
But, well… if she was happy, then that was fine.
I would have been worried about how much she was investing into sothing right off the bat, but Norn always had an appreciation for books, so I wasn’t too concerned.
But dammit… I was a bit annoyed that they didn’t tell .
“Well… in comparison to that, my gift might look bad, but here…” I said, handing my present over to her. “It might be sothing cheap compared to what such a day deserves, but you already know you can co for for anything, so… I hope you like it.”
The present in question was a dium-sized stuffed animal of a brown bear, one very similar to the old gift I had gotten her so long ago, that had long since worn out of its use.
“B-Brother… this…” she muttered, so tears forming at her eyes as she took the gift. “Thank you…”
Watching her pull the gift into her arms with such a warm expression, I found myself patting myself on the back.
Nice one, .
“Your old one is quite the antique at this point, so I thought it was ti you got a new one,” I said, my gaze moving over to Nico as a slight frown ford on my face. “Although… I guess… in the future… you might want to use it for… your children… I suppose…”
No… don’t gnash your teeth, Leon… keep it together…
“Oh, calm down, Leon,” Eris said, appearing from behind as she lightly slapped my back before she wrapped her arm around my waist. “She’s an adult now, so she needs to start thinking about those things seriously. And you, as her brother, need to accept it.”
“I… I get that, but… thanks, Eris,” I said, accepting her hug.
She was always great at comforting … but I might need so more ‘comfort’ later tonight, thinking about how my little sister was leaving the nest already.
“Y-You two! Just what are you talking about so openly!” Norn said, causing to look back to see her embarrassed face. “T-Talking about kids and stuff…”
Ah… right.
Sorry, Norn.
“Hey… just why is this drama happening to him and not to ?” my father said, having walked up to us with a frown on his face. “Even though Norn told so easily… aren’t the roles wrong here?”
I… couldn’t say anything to that.
And from how Norn shrugged, she didn’t seem to care either.
“Sorry, Father… how about you give the two a talk while I go give Aisha my gift,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “You wouldn’t want Norn to end up marrying soone like you, right?”
“Damn right, I wouldn’t! Wait, what do you an by that?” he exclaid as I began walking away.
Unlatching from Eris’ hold, I then made my way to my other sister, giving Norn a small pat on the head as I passed by, although her betrayed expression remained on her face as I heard the sound of Paul attempting to go into his ‘serious mode’.
“Aisha, happy birthday… like I told Norn, you can always ask for anything you need, so this isn’t anything special,” I said, holding forward the gift bag in my hand as she turned to . “Just… don’t reveal a relationship, please… your dear brother’s heart wouldn’t be able to take it.”
“Jeez, you really are too overprotective,” Aisha replied, shaking her head with a smile. “But… you don’t have to worry about that with . And as for the present… do you think we can do it in my room?”
In her room?
“Uh… sure, but it isn’t sothing that needs to be done in private… I think,” I said in confusion.
“Yes… it is,” Aisha said, taking my hand as she began walking away, pulling along with her.
Well… I guess this was fine.
Heading up the stairs, it didn’t take long before I found myself in her room, the sun lighting the clean wooden floors as Aisha slowly closed the door behind her.
“So? You got your favourite sister a present? I wonder what it is~” she said, turning to with a teasing smirk.
“‘Favourite’ my ass… but yes, here,” I replied, handing her the bag.
“Oho? How fancy,” she said, taking it as she reached a hand in. “I wonder what it is~ I wonder what…”
Her words trailed off as she pulled out the red scarf, her fingers gently tracing along the knitted lines with wide eyes.
“Big Brother… this…”
“It’s a new scarf,” I said with a smile. “I know you loved that old tattered one and didn’t want a replacent, but it was to the point of falling apart, so I made a compromise and asked a tailor to use the yarn he could salvage from the old one to make this… do you like it?”
Still running her hand along the scarf, she inhaled a shaky breath before answering.
“I… I love it,” she said, emotion swelling in her voice as she looked up at . “T-Thank you… and… I’m sorry…”
Sorry?
“Aisha? What do you-”
My words ca to a halt as Aisha rushed forth, her hands gripping my collar as she pulled down… only to have her lips et mine a mont later.
…What?
What was… what?
Before I could even push her away, Aisha did so first, releasing a small exhale as she retreated with her hand reaching up to touch her lips.
“So that’s how it feels…” she murmured with a dreamy expression.
No… what was happening?
“A-Aisha?” I questioned, my mind swimming in confusion. “What…? Why…?”
“It was nothing, dear brother,” Aisha said, shaking her head. “It was… just a final goodbye, you could say.”
A final goodbye?
Okay, that didn’t clear up anything.
I was still incredibly confused.
“Big Brother… you’re amazing, you know? Reliable, safe, comforting… it really is a dangerous combination, especially with that face,” she continued, looking out the window with a sigh. “So it was obvious what would happen… I fell for you. I love you, both as my brother, and as a man… even though it’s wrong… I can’t help it…”
And then the tears ca, gently streaming down her cheeks as her lower lip trembled.
“Once I began to understand my feelings, I was happy that you were adopted, you know? But then, you ended up being Father’s son… my actual brother… how unfair, to take away the only possible chance I had,” she said, shaking her head. “But still… I couldn’t help myself… so… I’m sorry… I’ll get through this, so don’t pay my confession any heed… and I’m sorry for making things weird on what was supposed to be a fun day… I-I’ll… I’ll leave now.”
She then turned away, clutching her new scarf close to her chest as she began to sprint towards the door.
I was still in shock.
Aisha… loved ? As more than a brother?
Why? How?
Was it sothing that I did?
No, she explained it quite simply.
Ahh, this was all sorts of fucked up.
Was this the worry that Ariel and Roxy had ntioned concerning her?
I didn’t know… but what I did know, was that I should not let her out of that door right now.
“Stop,” I said, reaching out to grab her hand before she went out of reach.
“N-No, let go!” she replied as she struggled, still pointedly looking away from .
“Absolutely not,” I said, pulling her with a bit more force, turning her to face as I pulled her into my chest, wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug.
With her remaining quiet, I waited a few monts until she cald down, her panting breaths calming as she sank into my grasp.
There we go…
“I… can’t return your feelings, Aisha… but I think you already knew that,” I said, feeling her slowly nod into my chest. “But I don’t think any less of you. It’s impossible for to. And no matter what, even if it’s not in… that way… I will always love you, and you will always be important to … I promise.”
Her shoulders trembled, and a mont later, she finally hugged back, burying her face into my chest as we remained in each other’s embrace for a few monts.
At least… that was before she did another odd thing.
Sniff!
“Umm… Aisha? What are you doing?” I asked, watching as she continued to rub her face against , the tears on her face having been wiped off on my shirt.
“Just getting my fill… it’s my birthday, so let have this,” she said before releasing a pleased hum.
Uh… should I even encourage this?
As I was having my internal dilemma, she then looked up at with a sly smile.
“Hey… Big Brother… you know, I’m an adult now, right?” she said. “So… do you like what you see?”
She then looked down at her chest, causing my eyes to follow her gaze to where her breasts were currently pressed against .
Well… she really was Lilia’s daughter… but still, I wouldn’t get aroused by such a thing.
“Can you stop making fun of ?” I said, narrowing my eyes at her as I raised my gaze.
“Hehe~ Sorry for trying! But alright, I’ll let you go for now~!” she said, giggling as she hugged tighter. “And hey… Big Brother… can you sleep over tonight? I plan on moving to Ars like Norn after this, so it would be the last ti we can sleep together in this room…”
“Yeah… I can do that,” I said, gently patting her head.
Although… it was a bit troubleso with what she had implied by saying ‘in this room’… but I suppose, just for today, I could ignore it.
It was her birthday, after all.
Even if it ended up being a slightly weird one…
— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
A few weeks had passed since the… birthday incident, as I would call it, and with Aisha and Norn having both moved to Ars, the city of Sharia felt a little more… empty.
But that wasn’t the matter at hand today.
Instead, it was Anna’s fifth birthday.
And with her interests so obvious… well, there was only one obvious gift to give her.
“Anna… while it may be too big for you at the mont, this is now your sword,” I said, handing her the sheathed blade, my eyes narrowed in seriousness as I knelt down in front of her.
There weren’t many people here for her birthday, consisting only of our family, as the only friend Anna really had outside of us would be Nina’s boy, if you could count that, and he was still in the Sword Sanctum, so unfortunately he couldn’t co.
“Wow! Can I… hold it?” she asked, eyes alight in excitent.
“Yes… but it’s quite heavy. This is ant for when you get older, so you’ll grow into it,” I said, slowly unsheathing the sword, revealing a sleek, double-edged blade, with the handle bearing a large red gem.
This sure brought back mories… yes, this was the old sword I had used until I began using the one the forr Sword God gifted to , and this was the sword that Eris had gifted for my tenth birthday all those years ago.
I was originally planning to wait until later… but I doubt there was a need to.
After all, Anna loved swordsmanship, and she would likely be the one to inherit my Elental God style… even though I didn’t really care about passing it on.
But if it protected Anna and made her happy, then I would do it in a heartbeat, and it would be great if this sword got a new owner rather than simply hanging on the wall.
“Woah… and my mana feels funny,” she said, gently gripping the ornate handle.
“Yeah… it helps with that, but you won’t be using this for a while, so for now, just focus on taking care of it while you grow up. I’ll show you how to maintain it later,” I said, gently patting her head as she nodded to . “And speaking of that… if you still want to learn swordsmanship, then from now on, I will start training you seriously. But it will not be easy… understood?”
“Yes… please, Papa,” she said, looking up to smile at . “I want to get better, so please train !”
“Of course… I’ll make you a wonderful swordsman,” I said with a smile.
But if she wanted to use my style, she would definitely need to train her magic too, if not to use magic, then at least to form a better connection with mana and touki.
It would be hard, but… if anyone could do it, it would be my daughter.
— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
It was the beginning of the year K429, and as a present for my 24th birthday, I was granted with the best news a husband could get.
“Leon… I’m pregnant,” Sylphy said, cupping my face with her hand as she gave a beaming smile.
Hi pregnant, I’m dad.
No… control yourself, Leon. Don’t fall to such temptations. That’s sothing that Paul would say.
Instead, I simply wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close as I planted a soft kiss on her nose.
“Congratulations…” I said, returning her smile as she humd in happiness.
Indeed, she was ecstatic at the news, as she had been quite worried about not getting another chance at getting pregnant after Anna.
She had reason to be, as we had been going at it ‘natural’ style ever since Ars had been born, yet to no avail until now.
I suppose it was only a matter of ti before we broke through the barrier of her race’s fertility rate.
“That is wonderful, don’t you think? Now ours will get to be close in age. Practically twins!” Ariel added, joining in on the hug as she looked lovingly down at her belly.
Yes… Ariel was pregnant as well, although we had gotten the news a few weeks ago.
According to Ariel, she was equally happy for the new baby as she was for having an excuse to not be swamped with the kingdom’s issues for around a year, as she would be staying ho with us during the later stages of her pregnancy, as well as the first few months of our new child’s life.
Watching the two of them excitedly exchange the possibilities of raising a pair of sisters or brothers, I found myself smiling widely as I pulled them both tighter against my chest.
Of course, I was extrely happy as well.
Although… with two more mbers joining the family at approximately the sa ti… there were so… logistical concerns that I needed to think about.
Mainly concerning the house.
It was big, yes… but big enough for four wives with two children from each of them?
That… that was another question.
There were ten rooms in this house, two of them being very large ones, four being large ones, and four being average sized.
One of the very large rooms acted as my room, but was also used for sleeping with all of my wives, including our private activities, and each of Roxy, Sylphy, Ariel, and Eris had one of the four large rooms to themselves, which was sotis used for sleeping by themselves, but mostly for having their own space in the house.
And as for the kids, each of them had their own rooms, with Roana taking the very large room while the rest had an average sized room, and while Alice was currently sleeping in either my room or Eris’ in her bassinet, once she got old enough, she would end up sharing with Roana.
But now, having two more kids, when Aria and Anna weren’t even close to the age for moving out… that would complicate things.
“What’s the problem, darling?” Ariel said, having apparently noticed my current state. “You look lost in thought… what are you thinking about?”
“Just… wondering what the room situation will look like. Should I look to build an extension to the house?” I said, resting my chin on Sylphy’s head.
“Well… I had been thinking about that as well… but can’t I just share a room with Sylphy?” Ariel said with a smile. “We both usually sleep in your room anyway, and as for having our own space… well, we have the entire palace to ourselves, so there really is no need for that.”
“I know… but this is your ho too,” I said.
And her being a Queen didn’t change that.
“It’s our ho because we’re all here, silly, not because we get our own rooms,” Sylphy said this ti, planting a kiss on my neck. “So I’m more than fine with sharing with Ariel. And then the two younger ones can move into Ariel’s room, right? Easy fix!”
“I… guess that works…” I mumbled.
Right… by the ti Ariel and Sylphy’s youngest got old enough to start wanting independence, Aria and Anna should be about ready to move out by then, so they could take those rooms.
Haa… but still, those were all plans for the future, and there was no need to get stuck thinking about them now.
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