Elijah scanned the boys in front of him; stiff and nervous but there was an unwavering light in their eyes, one that could not be moved with simple words. "Do you still want to get engaged with him? Even after all these years?" He wasted no time questioning them, "You boys are at the age where you should start looking for potential partners."

"No, we are certain that we still want to get engaged with Lex," Lucius answered back, his gaze firm.

"And you Darcel?"

"Of course, my mind hasn't changed at all."

Elijah sighed, "If that is how you feel, let's ask Alex about it. He is the other party in this engagement as well." He was about to stand up when Lucius abruptly stopped him. "No, let's not ask."

Their families knew about Darcel's and Lucius's feelings towards Alexis. They also knew that he didn't see them in the same light, which led to their children remaining single and without a fiance to this day. It's an open secret that's been running since five years ago, ever since their elemental appraisal.

"We don't want to tie him down just yet. After all, he doesn't know how we feel yet and we have yet to make him fall in love with us." Darcel backed up Lucius with their reasoning. Elijah raised his eyebrow, suspicious of their behaviour.

Elijah smiled, his eyes reflecting a cold, doubtful light, "Do you not think it is wrong to ignore and lie to him?" He paused briefly before quickly resuming, not giving them any time to refute, "I thought he was the person you cherished the most. So why are you disregarding how he feels?"

They nervously glanced at each other, before Darcel spoke up, "It should be okay," Lucius flashing him reassurance, "He won't hate us in the very least. We have a reason why we can't tell him now."

Elijah hummed, slowly tap his fingers on his arms, "And I'm assuming you can't tell me? Then I refuse. Your engagement won't go through." They dimmed significantly at his words, subtly hanging their heads low. It wouldn't be wrong to assume that they had assumed the worst scenario. Elijah was their beloved's father; someone who wants the best for his son. Their reasoning wasn't sufficient enough for Elijah to trust them with his son.

Elijah smiled, his son was academically smart but was simply slow in picking up certain emotions. "But I will compromise, Alex will not be engaged with anyone until you graduate from the academy." He paused, letting them contemplate his conditions.

Although it wasn't exactly what they wanted, it was the best they could settle for, nodding in agreement to Elijah's terms. "What will you do if he chooses to fall in love with someone else?" Elijah threw a question towards them, poking at their sore spot. He wasn't planning on stopping Alexis from choosing someone else, they only wished for him to live his life contently while continuing with his responsibilities.

"We will accept his choices although we will be sad that it's not us making him happy," Lucius bitterly smiled.

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Elijah paused, staring at them blankly before laughing quietly, "I highly doubt that you will take the rejection sitting down." Both Lucius and Darcel smiled, their eyes holding a deep emotion. Elijah could feel their loving gaze beneath it. It was as if their love had transcended time, carrying onto the present from their past life, like they could wait for eternity for their darling. "What has my son done for him to have such passionate suitors?" He sighed, dealing with these children made him mentally fatigued.

Darcel replied vaguely, "Perhaps he left us so we came back to find him."

Elijah quickly dismissed them, waving his hand to send them off, "Hurry along now. Although I am not your father, I hope you can rely on me as well. Now go, don't keep him waiting."

The boys nodded and thanked him for his words, leaving the office. Lucius smiled back, "We wouldn't want him to wait any longer too."

They quickly left the study, walking back in silence. "Do you think this was for the best?" Darcel broke the silence, a little absentmindedly staring into the distance.

"I... can't say for sure. After all, we never asked Lex about his opinions."

"But even if we were, wouldn't he be fine with it? At least he likes us as a friend."

"Yes, but do you want him to only see you as a friend? Do you want to repeat the same thing again? For the second time now?"

"..."

Darcel couldn't answer him but neither could Lucius. They were desperate to know Alexis more intimately but they also knew they couldn't rush into things. Because Alexis himself was slower to recognise his own feelings, let alone noticing how others truly felt.

"Then can't we just limit the amount of people he comes into contact with?"

"Darc, we can't do that. That's the same as imprisoning him! Do you really want to go that far?"

"I think you should ask this question instead. Can you handle him being together with someone else?" Darcel sneered lightly, he was having a hard time coming to terms that their current situation was no different from back then. And now a chance had appeared in front of them and yet, they weren't taking it.

Lucius casted his eyes down, "No, that is not what I meant. Wouldn't it be nicer if Lex came to like us naturally over time? It's better in the long term." He grabbed Darcel's arm, preventing him from walking away, "Darc, if we forcibly trap him, when he finds someone else, don't you think he would realise our intentions and start to resent us instead?"

"Could you really bear with the fact that he would eventually hate us just because we weren't patient enough? If we're able to control his love, then it isn't love at all."

Darcel's eyes became dark, he didn't want to experience it again, seeing him with his eyes closed, countlessly waiting for him to wake up. He felt impatient, wanting to make him his immediately but Lucius had stopped him, "Miyamoto, do you really think that there's no possibility of Fujisaki-san liking us?"

Lucius continued to press on, "Not only does he have his original memories, he has the memories from this world too." Darcel disorientedly stared back at him, "Don't forget, we have a mission too. We have to complete it no matter what." Lucius weakly smiled at him, "We have a home to return to, one that we share with him."

Both of them knew that they had only one chance to change things around. They had to return home with Shin in their arms. Darcel could feel his buried emotions slowly bottling up in his throat, Lucius knew how he felt because they had loved him for too long to not understand one another. Even if Shin was the person of their affection, they were still friends even before their feelings had developed. To sabotage one another was simply killing them because the one who would suffer the most was not them, but Shin.

"But what if he doesn't? And if we fail our mission?" Darcel choked out, it wasn't right for him to become vulnerable but the idea of losing him again overlapped with his memory. "Aikawa, don't you think this is a bit cruel?"

Lucius gave a self-deprecating smile, "It's the price we paid for. The price for a second chance."