I woke up, shooting out of my bed. Nil told me he loved me; last night was so magical especially as we danced. He clearly got more dancing lessons from Duthane to improve as well. My face was hurting from how hard I was smiling. Because I love you; I hate it when you’re all anxious and want to make you happy instead. That dork was so adorable; he even went through the effort of figuring out Temple songs for me. Last night kept replaying in my mind as I quickly got ready for our trip to the Imperial Botanical Gardens. I was curious what the tubots were for as they were his original idea on cheering me up. Only Nil would think of using tubot to try and cheer someone up. I didn’t care; I was bouncing excitedly wondering what he had envisioned. Today was a day for fun. Nil will behave, right? I stepped out, seeing my dad was waiting for me.

“Good morning, Dad!” I told him excitedly. His face lit up when he saw me.

“Excited for your plans today?” Dad checked as he began walking with me to breakfast.

“Yes! I’m going with Nil to the Imperial Botanical Gardens! We’re showing them to Ikol and Lux.” I explained happily. His face shifted awkwardly.

“You seem to enjoy spending a lot of time with him.” Dad observed, I felt a pang of guilt. I should tell him I’m a Regressor. It had been three years since we told Nil’s family. Maybe it was time when I was feeling so happy.

“Yes. Can you give me a second?” I requested. Dad looked a bit perplexed by the request.

“Of course, dear.” Dad replied with a bit of hesitation.

Nil. I probed, seeing if he was in range.

Yes Luna? Nil checked. Good, our could nearly span the castle nowadays.

I’m thinking of telling my dad about being a Regressor. I informed him. I know I agonized over it for the last few years. I think Nil had the right approach, to just go for it.

It’s your decision; just let me know if I need to empty the dining room. I trust your judgement. Nil assured me. Was today the day I finally told him? We descended a few flights of stairs by now as we walked.

“It is okay if you like spending time with Nil.” Dad told me to break the silence.

“That is not it, Dad.” I replied, wondering how I should tell him.

“I know you have some secret you and Nil both know. I suspect some of his family know as well. You do not have to tell me.” Dad informed me. He tried keeping his voice the same, but I could tell it hurt him a bit.

Nil, empty the dining room. I told him. Today was going to have an interesting start.

Where do we stand on Helga? Nil probed. Fair question given Nautilus knew.

Tell her sorry but she needs to leave. I informed Nil.

“Come on, let’s reach the dining room.” I told Dad.

The two of us walked in an awkward silence to the dining room, where Dad clearly noticed the lack of those not in the know. We took our seats, and I sat awkwardly. How do I start this conversation? I looked at Nil, wondering how he managed this. This is surprisingly difficult. Nil always seemed to be able to confront issues like this head on. I felt like my heart was in a vice when I went to speak. I need to get better about this. I always detested conversations like this; being the one to tell someone news they may not like to hear. Nil looked around before he took a deep breath.

“Duke Dawnsfield, I am mentally in my mid-thirties. I am a Reincarnator who has memories of a previous life.” Nil stated to break the awkward silence. My dad’s face went through a wide range of emotions after Nil said that.

Thank you, Nil. I told him mentally.

“I. Hmmm. Why do… I mean. You spend time with Luna.” Dad started, clearly trying to think of how to phrase his sentence.

“Dad, I also am mentally in my mid-thirties.” I squeaked before he got the wrong idea. He looked at me with an intense expression.

“Wait. When you were about five, when you suddenly started behaving differently.” Dad quipped, putting the pieces together.

“Yes, I am a Regressor. I am still me, just got sent back to when I was younger.” I explained to him.

“They are telling the truth.” Emperor Father Nil confirmed for us.

“The hand holding and weird air between you two is because you are dating then.” Dad checked while boring holes into Nil.

“Yes.” Nil confirmed as he looked around awkwardly.

“And the people that know are the ones in this room?” Dad verified as he was still thinking of what he wanted to address first.

“Plus Nautilus. She put it together first, kind of.” I replied. Dad took a few composing breaths.

“That is why the Void King wants to kill you?” Dad asked Nil directly.

“That is correct.” Nil answered. Dad took a another deep breath as he thought of how to continue.

“Duke Dawnsfield, it is okay to speak freely as I understand this is a difficult subject to discuss while remaining perfectly polite.” Emperor Azzeck told my dad.

“Thank you. First off, what makes you think you can date my daughter? You snuck her out so many times with your and I was thinking it was just kids playing around, but that nonsense is stopping now.” Dad snapped at Nil. Nil looked at his mom.

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“Do you two have the same book you read?” Nil checked, sounding a bit offended.

“Do not worry Duke Dawnsfield, we fully agree with you there. Their hormonal teenage nonsense has been under tight supervision.” Empress Senna informed my dad.

“We are not hormonal teenagers!” Nil defended us. Nearly every physical adult stared at him.

“We are mentally by demon standards, Nil.” I informed him. Nil looked displeased by the information.

“You used my ignorance to sneak around!” Dad snarled at Nil. Nil looked away as his parents gave him a death stare.

“Oh really?” Empress Senna inquired. Nil looked like he was mentally panicking.

“And you, sneaking around with a boyfriend behind my back!” Dad continued. Why did the adults always start with that point?

“Not sneaking around. You knew where we were going.” I deflected. I could tell by my dad’s face he was nowhere near convinced.

“I am the Crown Prince. How am I not suitable for your daughter?" Nil challenged. Nez looked at his nephew like he was an idiot.

“You are a obsessed kid who regularly enjoys making mischief with his abilities, you need countless lessons on how to behave and act like proper nobility, and not even a day ago you picked a fight with your because you thought it would be fun. Do I need to continue?” Dad shot back with no hesitation.

“I am getting better. I was going to behave today.” Nil grumbled in his defense.

“Nil is sweet, hardworking, and loyal.” I tried, hoping to paint Nil in a slightly better light.

“Not to mention spineless when it comes to you.” Krahinn added with a smirk. I glared at him.

“I am not spineless when it comes to Luna.” Nil snapped at his .

“Just usually go with what she wants?” Krahinn corrected himself, knowing he was being no help.

“Why are you like this, Krahinn?” Nil asked him.

“I just wanted to accurately represent the facts for Duke Dawnsfield.” Krahinn taunted. His smug smile betrayed the real reason.

“The several Imperial Hunting Festivals. You knew what you were hunting for her and what the animals meant.” Dad realized, as he seemed to be really fixated on this point.

“I did. Why are you harping on me dating your daughter? There has to be plenty of other questions you could be asking.” Nil tried. I was a bit curious as to why my dad was focused on this.

“Because Luna has made a conscious effort to be an excellent daughter and spends a lot of time with me regularly which means I probably do not live as long as I would like. A lot of her behavior makes more sense as she’s clearly trying to make up for time that she didn’t spend with me which is a bit depressing to realize. As for you, I am putting together the depths of the troublemaking and how cognizant of your actions you are.” Dad informed him.

“Things are quite different this time.” I told my dad, hoping to cheer him up a bit.

“I also understand why you suddenly stopped being so bratty and befriended Nil. This is a lot to process, and several bizarre things suddenly make a lot of sense.” Dad stated while he took a few more composing breaths.

“We understand and sympathize with you on that. Take all the time you need.” Emperor Mother Poam comforted my dad.

“Another thing young man, this outing will now be chaperoned.” Dad told Nil. Nil looked like he was being personally attacked.

“What kind of miscreant do you think I am?” Nil checked, sounding like his feelings were starting to get hurt.

“I am sorry, Nil, were you under the impression you don’t like pranks and gambits against those around you?” Krahinn asked. Ever so helpful that Krahinn.

“They are small little things.” Nil defended himself.

Can you ease up on Nil a little please? I requested.

You realize that the two of you have not been as subtle as you think about your relationship? I was convinced that I was just reading too far into it and Grisbane had no legs to stand on, but no, I was not. You two are dating and I am not paranoid. I feel I am reacting an appropriate amount given for three years you two have been all cutesy and dating each other. Dad shot back. It was hard to retort him when he was being reasonable and raising good points; I sounded a bit too much like Nil there.

“I am not a rampant troublemaker!” Nil cried, looking distraught as the adults were dogpiling him a bit.

“No no no, you just enjoy using your to test the security systems.” Nez teased Nil.

“Why are you all bullying me?” Nil whined. I mean, I did warn Nil that he needed to behave more.

“You all are being mean to Nil.” I defended him. There were several curious eyebrows raised at that. He got the ball rolling for me, and I am not thanking him with them dogpiling him.

“You are defending him? Knowing full well less than a day has passed since he antagonized his into attacking him?” Empress Senna inquired. Well, Nil, you were about to be sacrificed a little bit.

“Someone promised me he would be on his best behavior and cut his mischief down across the board after we informed my dad.” I covered for him. Nil nodded along, acting like he made that promise.

“Really?” Nez checked, sounding immensely skeptical.

“I too, find this hard to believe.” Emperor Father Nil added on.

“You are not just lying for him?” Dad pressed. Nil, this was going to be a tough sell.

“She kissed you once and you made that promise?” Emperor Azzeck teased his son. Nil went wide eyed, eyes forward, and began power chugging the water in front of him as he was now getting a lot of stares; sweat was rolling down his brow as he looked distressed now.

“You did what?” Dad inquired because Nil’s reaction confirmed Emperor Azzeck was telling the truth.

“It was one time, and Emperor Azzeck interrupted us.” I explained. Nil was remaining silent, eyes forward.

“He is your son.” Empress Senna chuckled as she seemed to find the narrative believable. Nil, this is the closest to winning you’re getting here.

“What do you mean by that?” Emperor Azzeck challenged. Emperor Father Nil and Emperor Mother Poam both looked at their son.

“Do you want to tell your son about what happened after your third date and Senna agreed to officially date you after kissing you the first time?” Emperor Father Nil asked. Emperor Azzeck immediately turned a bit red. Oh?

“Nothing. Nil made a prudent decision.” Emperor Azzeck deflected, mimicking what Nil was doing.

“I’d like to compare Nox’s reaction to the other two.” Nez chimed in. Prince Nox stared at him, looking a bit betrayed.

“Why?” Prince Nox asked, his voice raising almost an entire octave.

“Apparently you all do grand over-the-top gestures.” Nez teased him.

“Oh, you do not know the half of it.” Emperor Mother Poam informed Nez. He looked giddy to be able to gossip about it later. Emperor Azzeck, Prince Nox, and Nil were all silently looking at each other.

“I still want to chaperone the outing to the Imperial Botanical Gardens.” Dad insisted. Empress Senna was giving me an odd expression.

“Empress Senna, why are you looking at me like that?” I asked politely.

“I struggle to believe it was only once, and that my husband not only saw it, but failed to inform me of it.” Empress Senna informed me while side eyeing her husband.

“To be fair, I was struggling not to laugh when Nil hit the piano and they both tripped on the bench.” Emperor Azzeck defended himself. Nil and I both glared at him.

“It was romantic.” I defended us. Nil looked pleased with himself.

“By the overwhelmingly romantic nature of tubots?” Emperor Azzeck challenged. A lot of the adults looked at Nil.

“How did you turn the tubots thing to be romantic?” Empress Senna asked her son.

“Is that why you wanted to go the Imperial Botanical Gardens?” Dad probed. I looked at Nil who had a smug smile going.

“Trade secret.” Nil answered his mom. He had his cocky smile going, so the adults knew he somehow managed to make tubots something special.

“Pretty much and Ikol would like it.” I told my dad.

“I have many more questions and concerns.” Dad retorted. That was totally understandable.

“We will answer them.” I replied as I imagined this was going to go for a lot longer.