ME?

Humans getting bullied was probably the norm. In fact, calling it "bullying" was too much of a disservice to what the Human Race had suffered since the fall of the God Beasts.

But he had plenty of rage to go around if these people kept wanting to test him, council or not. He had his own methods of dealing with these things.

A giggle suddenly came from Aina.

"What's so funny?"

Aina laughed harder, causing Leonel to smile and shake his head. He could guess what she was laughing about. What he had just to the lion Beast was eerily similar to what Aina had joked about doing to him. The difference was that he had actually done it.

But only this woman could laugh about such a gory scene. This was, indeed, his wife. Cute, adorable, and a little too bloodthirsty.

Leonel was about to make a joke when his head suddenly snapped up.

"Hm?"

Aina noticed a moment after him and her eyes widened.

"Yuri! Savahn!"

Aina's eyes reddened with excitement as she flashed forward, practically hopping onto the two women. She was so fast that those two couldn't even react. They didn't even realize who was hugging them until they saw the familiar Leonel and it clicked for them.

Inwardly, watching this scene of the three women hugging and crying in each other's arms, Leonel actually sighed out a breath of relief.

There was only so much that Leonel could do as Aina's husband. Although they were also each other's best friends, there were sometimes Aina might want to spend some time with someone other than him.

Unfortunately, he had no idea what happened to Yuri and Savahn. He just made the assumption that they were swept up in whatever plans his grandfather had. But it seems that they got swept up in Miel's plans instead.

By Yuri and Savahn, there were two men that Aina had directly ignored. Leonel doubted she did it on purpose, but honestly, even if she had noticed them she still wouldn't have cared very much.

Yuri was practically balling her eyes out. She was certain that Aina was dead after her near fall out with Leonel. She hadn't expected that she would end up randomly running into her like this.

The women sniffled and finally pulled back from their bear hugs. However, one wave of tears was soon replaced by another as Aina held out her left hand and wiggled around her fingers.

Yuri and Savahn's eyes widened before the waterworks started again.

Leonel had been about to interject, but he chose to hang back again. He compared the difference between his brothers and Aina's sisters and couldn't help but laugh. One had ended up in a wrestling pile, and this one had ended up with more tears.

However, it brought a smile to his face when he saw the pride in Aina's side profile. It made him feel guilty that he hadn't just done this earlier, how much happier could he have made her already?

"What the hell is that supposed to be? A tattoo in place of a ring?"

One of the Half Spirituals seemed a bit ticked off for whatever reason. He didn't speak very loudly, but Aina's eyes had already flashed with murderous intent so potent that the skies shuddered with sparks of red cracks.

However, neither she nor Leonel got to do much of anything before he was slapped in the back of the head by the other Half Spiritual.

"Idiot. Do you not recognize a Soul Bind when you see one? What wedding ring is more valuable than it?"

The irritated Half Spiritual grabbed the back of his head, rubbing it.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Stopping you from doing something stupid. If you see a woman with a Soul Bind, give up. There's no point in being jealous, she would rather die than be with you. Get over it."

"What are you talking????"

The Half Spiritual gave him a knowing glare as though he could see right through him, causing the one who started it to blush with some hints of shame and unwillingness.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you two. My name is Zephyr. This is my idiot kid brother, Silvanus. Don't mind him, he hasn't seen much of the world and his mouth speaks before his brain thinks."

Aina gave him a glance before turning back to Yuri and Savahn. Clearly, she was a bit irritated. She would have probably preferred to kill Silvanus, but now she couldn't. He could consider himself lucky.

Leonel smiled in her stead, shaking the man's hand.

"Leonel Morales."

Zephyr's eyes widened. "You...!?"

"Me?" Leonel laughed.

Zephyr looked back toward the two women, the astonishment still clear in his eyes. They had mentioned a chance that Leonel might be someone they knew, but how vast was Existence? The odds of two people sharing the same name wasn't just common, it was practically a certainty.

The only people who could get away with this were those who had names in Ancient Languages like those of the Gods, or those like Mo''Lexi who had Dream Force strong enough to give their name real character that couldn't easily be replicated. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Leonel had obviously done no such thing to his name. There were probably all kinds of Leonel Morales out there, whether the same literally or at least phonetically.

Toward Zephyr's gaze, Yuri just gave a bitter smile. She had been somewhat expecting this, but she was still surprised as well.

Then, her happiness was hit by waves of worry. Weren't Leonel and Aina still humans? Didn't that mean if they didn't enter the Finals, their lives would end up in the hands of others?

"Aina, we need to do something about this immediately, we can't let you two-"

GONG! GONG!

Their expressions changed. Wasn't that the council bell? Why was it ringing so early?