Vitmori POV

Before I knew it, what felt like a couple of hours had passed while the kids had decided to take a nap at some point; Basmori having shifted back into a cub and the two of them borrowing each of my legs as their pillows.

At some point, we had finally moved on from talking about Romans and Spartans, as well as the half-truths of my time with Basti and watching the cubs grow up. All this talk of kids and families got Vivia nostalgic enough to tell me of her husband and kids along with some fun little stories of her twin's misadventures while growing up, occasionally mentioning Puh'ma as a close friend of the twins and a love interest to Larkis'. She often talked about how the two were close and affectionate but had yet to make anything official, though she also said how it was only a matter of time before something changed between them.

When a knock sounded at the door, I was suddenly all too aware of the orange glow of the evening sun that intermingled with the illumination of the crystal lights in the room.

As Vivia looked to the door, I could sense she had a similar realization as she smiled a little. "Looks like time got ahead of us..." She mused before looking to the door once more. "Enter." She commanded while setting down her long empty cup of tea back on the table.

The maids soon filed in with a few bundles of clothing in their arms, eager smiles all around as I get the impression that they're eager to dress up Basmori to see how he looks in proper clothes.

Waking the sleeping cub, I eventually managed to get him aware enough to shift back into looking like a beastkin; Basmori yawning noisily in response while rubbing at his eyes.

Despite being rather drowsy, Basmori surprisingly still had the wherewithal to use his shadows to cover his mid-region, not bothering with my poncho this time since he could see the maids standing around with the clothes they prepared for him.

Watching them dress Basmori was interesting in itself since I could tell the maids were used to helping others get dressed, but at the same time, Basmori failed to grasp even the simplest hints and suggestions when it came to putting the clothes on since he had no real experience in actually wearing clothes in any way.

Regardless, they got him dressed soon enough, and with some light brushing of his hair and tail, I'd say that Basmori cleans up really well. From looking like the wild child he was while wearing my raggedy poncho, to now looking properly dapper, if not rather spiffy I'd say.

The maids managed to dress Basmori up into some slate gray breeches that had a special gap to accommodate his tail, a sky blue button-down shirt with rather loose and frilly sleeves, and topped off with a plain black short-sleeved doublet that only goes down to the middle of his upper arm. To finish up his new look, he also had a pair of black leather boots slid onto his feet, though he wore them without socks since that appeared to be the line of discomfort he was unwilling to cross.

One maid, who looked to be a ratkin, even took the time to brush Basmori's hair, managing to tame the scruffy and wild look he had shifted with, into something surprisingly presentable as he was left with a neat center part, his long hair shaping up to be some neat bangs that framed his freckled little face. The hair along the back of his head was also carefully tied up neatly into a short little ponytail.

All in all, he looked like a kid off to a ren-faire to me, dressed in what looked to be strange and somewhat flashy clothes compared to what I'm used to, even if the color palette was rather reserved save for the sky blue dress shirt.

I could tell Basmori wasn't sure what to make of the clothes he now wore, though it wasn't uncomfortable for the most part, just strange and unusual if I had to put words to what he thought of them.

Once he was all dressed up, the maids stood around admiring the handsome little man; one even procured a polished silver mirror so that Basmori could look himself over, which he did with great interest. From what I could tell, he was more interested in his face and looks, which makes sense I suppose since he's likely never even seen his reflection before, let alone one of his new face.

"So, what do you think?" I asked, coming up to stand beside him before taking a knee as I looked at the mirror with him. Now that we were side by side, I could see even more resemblances between the two of us; he really looked like he could be my son.

Basmori just glanced between me and himself, though he couldn't help but just smile as he leaned in, gently touching his cheek with mine as he just admired himself in the mirror, his free hand coming up and gently messing with his bangs.

"Yeah, I think you look good, we'll get you more cozy clothes later, but for something they just had on hand, I think you make it work." I enthused while pulling away and gently patting the top of his head.

At my reassurance and the head pat, his rounded ears waggled with clear delight as his tail curled and swayed behind him.

The maids and Vivia both looked on with interest, motherly smiles abound as they watched Basmori revel in his new looks now that he didn't feel like he looked all too weird.

It was then that Freyli hopped from the couch, lunging as she landed on my back while her claws dug into my armored coat to keep herself stable. "Did they find me a ribbon? A green one, remember?" She asked rather eagerly, though I could sense a small hint of jealousy that Basmori got all these interesting-looking things when she hadn't gotten anything yet.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I just chuckled softly at her expense, reaching up and affectionately stroking her chin while touching my cheek to hers. "Now now, you're asking the wrong person here, and don't forget to be polite." I mentioned while pulling my hand away and looking at one of the maids.

Freyli followed my gaze as her feline tail lashed behind me in clear anticipation. "D-did you find me a ribbon? One that's green like Papa's eyes?" She asked in a much more gentle manner than before.

It was at that moment that I realized I would have been a real pushover if I had a daughter under normal circumstances. If I didn't know for a fact that I didn't have any organs due to being made of wood, I could have sworn my heart just fluttered at being referred to as 'Papa.'

The maid smiled warmly as she nodded her head. "Yes, Miss Freyli, we found one that's as close as can be to your Papa's eyes." She said while gesturing to another maid as the woman stepped over and presented a roll of ribbon, unfurling a little for Freyli to inspect.

Freyli looked at the ribbon intently, sniffing at the fabric before humming softly as she looked closely into one of my eyes and then looked back to the ribbon and studied it again. After a rather long thirty seconds, Freyli finally nodded with clear satisfaction. "I like it. Make it a nice and big bow, please." She asked with polite enthusiasm as she impatiently kneaded her claws into my shoulder.

"Of course!" The maid enthused as they procured a pair of well-made scissors and snipped a cut of ribbon.

In the next moment, the ribbon was securely tied around her throat, the bow itself now resting along the right side of her neck as Freyli audibly rumbled with a content purr.

After Freyli got to admire herself in the silver mirror as well, there was another knock at the door, causing various ears to perk as Vivia looked at the door and spoke up. "Enter." She commanded ever so casually.

At that, the double doors opened as what I could assume was a butler stepped inside, a dogkin man dressed in fine livery that was black with grays which had accents that were a deep blue in the same shade as Vivia's gambeson. "Madame Vivia, the feast has started to get underway, Master Trelio has asked me to come and make sure you and the Great Mage are aware of this."

Vivia nodded some more before looking over at me, a smile now on her lips. "Well then, shall we go?" She said as she stood, taking up her sword and strapping it to her hip before gingerly taking up my blade and offering it to me.

Standing, I made sure to return her smile as Freyli continued to cling to my shoulder, taking my blade from Vivia before sliding it into place on the loop of my belt. "Sounds good to me." I mused cheerfully enough as I then held my hand out to Basmori, taking his hand in mine before looking over to my bed. "Come along Legosi." I called out while mentally prodding him awake. The massive wolf let out a noisy yawn as his tail swayed, hopping off the bed and following after me as I followed Vivia out with my children.

Krys POV

After returning from visiting with Vito, Krys found himself working alongside the adventurers and his team to clean up the inn as well as the surrounding village. There were a lot of little things to be done, such as moving away ruined furniture or cleaning up general rubble from the streets and plaza.

From what he gathered, it seemed that Vito managed to do a great deal of the major cleanup on his own, so there was less to contend with all around as it was merely a matter of people putting their lives back together.

As the hours go and the sun begins painting the horizon into a beautiful array of purple and orange. Krys watched as some villagers were lighting torches around the village plaza, while the guards and soldiers went around and gathered all the ruined and scrapped wood furniture into a massive pile in the center of the plaza before setting it alight into a grand bonfire.

As soon as the bonfire roared to life, the villagers began to cheer and go full swing into proper celebrations as alcohol, meat, and sweets were brought out from various households and set out on large tables which were carried into the plaza from the castle itself.

Music was struck up from somewhere in the group as stringed and percussion instruments were played with great vigor and enthusiasm and it wasn't long before adults and children alike were dancing, chatting, or even singing as the plaza was illuminated by a mix of crystal lanterns and flame torches.

Looking to Sera who stood by his side, he couldn't help but smile a little bit at the scene playing out before him. "It's almost hard to believe that this village was nearly razed to the ground and looted for all it was worth. Yet here they are, enjoying life to its fullest." He mused with a smile, watching as Ren played some sort of game with the children of this village, keeping pace with them without any noticeable effort on her part.

Sera returned his smile, hooking her arm around his and bringing herself nice and close to him. "Well, as far as I gathered, they all thought they would die today to those foreign soldiers, yet despite the overwhelming odds, they only lost seven people today. Even I'd say that was something to celebrate about." She mentioned before resting her cheek on his shoulder while watching the proceedings.

Krys' tail started to slowly sway and curl behind him as his smile lingered for a while longer. "All I have to say is that it's a good thing the boss took a liking to us. After seeing what he did that day and hearing about what he did today, I'd say we made ourselves a powerful employer, and perhaps even a partner." He enthused to Sera, even though for Ren and himself, he was more of a patron than anything, not that the others knew anything about that.

Sera nodded slowly, her cheek gently rubbing against his shoulder as she let out a slow exhale. "No kidding, but I still can't help but wonder what sort of work he's expecting from us, he's been keeping his cards really close to his chest and I haven't been able to get a good read on him."

Krys just chuckled at that comment as he glanced down at Sera. "You don't know the half of it, Boss Vito's got an entire deck he's playing with and we've been lucky to see what few cards we have peeked at."

Sera just hummed thoughtfully as they then watched Wither and Blight be crowded by a gaggle of families attempting to force gifts of food and goods onto them as thanks for their help in healing all the injured, and even though Krys couldn't see their faces; he got the vague impression that they were slightly overwhelmed by the attention, not that they hated it.

As the celebrations went on, maids and butlers started filing out from the castle bailey, carrying large trays just filled to the brim with all kinds of fancy and even ornate-looking foods, there was even an entire platter filled with what Krys could only describe as a bouquet of colorful looking fruits; though soon that was followed by soldiers carrying large kegs of some kind of alcohol that was no doubt leagues better than what was already being served.

It wasn't long before Ren was running up to him, yes, she was actually running; with some sort of puff pastry that had some kind of meat filling and holding it up to him. "Krys, Krys you have to try this!" She said rather excitedly as her ears waggled so much they looked like they might fly right off.

“What is it?” Krys asked with a cheerful smile, taking up the fancy looking food and looking it over while Sera pulled away to watch the siblings with cheerful interest.

“I have no idea, but it tastes so good!” She said while procuring another and taking a big bite of it.

Krys took a bite as well, his own ears starting to twitch and sift around as he did his best to savor the flavor of the food. The meat was incredibly tender and moist, yet it somehow didn’t ruin the texture of the puff pastry that was wrapped around it. Despite having experience with a good amount of food, he couldn’t recognize the meat he was eating and didn’t dare to hazard a guess as to how expensive the cut of animal or even monster that this meat could have come from.

He was about to comment on the food itself when he noticed what was essentially an honor guard of soldiers escorting Vito and his kids along with a half-elf, a human woman and a beaverkin mage. “Looks like the boss is finally joining the party.” Krys commented with a smile as he popped the rest of the meat and pastry into his mouth.

“Hey.. Who’s that kid with Vito, I don’t recognize him?” Ren asked, her ears perked with intent curiosity while tilting her head at the view.

“Ah right, that’s his son. Basmori.” He mentioned with an amused look on his face, relishing in the confused expressions of Sera and Ren as they glanced between him and the child at Vito’s side.