So, here we are. Nelly's finally turned 13, and the boat has officially sailed off past the horizon line. She is now solely to be taken care of by Meil, the friend who may or may not have a thing for minors.
"Gahhh! What have we done!?" I suddenly started freaking out at Cecily and Anna, "Why did we let her go to that rat bastard!? C-Can I still make it if I start swimming!?"
"Hey, hey, doofus." Anna stopped me as I was taking my shoes off, "While I do think it'd be really funny to see you try, I'd rather my husband doesn't die chasing after a ship."
"She's right, you know?" Cecily sighed, "Ed, you're worrying yourself too much over something unnecessary. Hell, of all people, isn't Meil the guy you're most likely to entrust Nelly to?"
"Well yeah, maybe before I found out he was a damned lolicon!" I shouted.
"Lolico-!? Okay, that is just not a word you call our friend!" Cecily even started to defend him, "Do you even have proof that what he said literally years ago is actually true?"
"W-Well, it's really just a hunch for now..." I scratched my cheek, "B-But a hunch is more than enough for me to justify going back for her! Think about it, she's still holding onto that stupid childhood crush on him despite it being a literal decade, and they'll be spending the next few years living under the same roof! Something's bound to happen!"
"Mn...!" Cecily rolled her eyes, "Ed, I don't want to have to imagine my daughter in such situations, so please stop talking about this. At the end of the day, I'm her legal guardian, so if I trust Meil not to try anything funny, then you have no say in the matter."
"I agree." Anna donned a smug smirk, "I mean, if I was offered to go study abroad with a smart, rich and strong hunk like him, I wouldn't mind doing whatever he asked!"
What the-!? Who's wife are you really, dammit! Stop giving me even more reasons to worry, this damned wife of mine...! Eh, whatever. Either way, she really seemed to have missed the point of Cecily's argument, so in trying to agree with her, she only made Cecily sort of switch over to my side.
"Anna, I didn't say I'm condoning anything happening between them..." Cecily's face seemed rather tense, "Nelly's a good girl, she wouldn't do something like seduce a guy. Same goes for Meil, he's the number one least carnally motivated guy in the world, so I have faith in him not trying anything."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Anna nodded her head with a face that said she didn't know anything, "Just saying, any normal girl would definitely throw herself at him, so I'm glad she at least has the chance to fulfill my childhood wish of living such a perfect life."
"Are you saying your life now is lacking in some way?" I frowned.
"Nah, it's not perfect at all." She stuck her tongue out as she clung to me, "It's better than perfect!"
Pushing her off of me without even batting an Eye, it seems Anna had somehow managed to chain together the perfect statements to soil the mood for both Cecily and me. Anna angrily puffed out her cheeks at me as a sign of dissatisfaction of my distance, but I really didn't wanna fall for her seductions right now. She literally said the person I'm most worried about now is better than me, then tried to play it off with a wink and a smile. Fuck outta here with that bullshit...
"Hrm, okay then, sorry..." She turned around, embarrassed, "Let's just go back home then."
Looking at her small back as she sulked away from us, all it took was a small nudge from Cecily to send me running to cheer her up. Dammit, she's like this, but I just can't get mad at Anna no matter how many stunts she pulls. We officially got married as soon as Cecily, Nelly and I left Entropa. I didn't want to wait any longer, so I had booked a giant venue and just half a year later, we were speaking our vows in front of the altar. It was a beautiful day, and the only empty seat was the one next to Cecily's and Nelly's, the seat labeled "Grim".
"But man." I inspected the ring on my finger for who knows which time already, "We're nearing our third year of marriage. Time flies, huh?"
"Huh? Where'd that come from?" Anna chuckled, "Three years of my friendly teasing being taken seriously. What a lucky woman I am..."
"There's a limit to how sarcastic you can be before it turns into full on worrisome red flags." I shrugged, "Looks like we're both unlucky in that regard."
"You guys are perfect together, don't worry." Cecily, who was walking just a bit in front of us to give us the moment to make up, said, "Trust me, this is what married life is like. Lune would constantly tease me, and judging by his portfolio, I was practically always on edge about whether or not I would catch him in bed with another woman."
"Is that so?" I chuckled, "But didn't you say on our wedding day that marriage is the best decision a person could make in life? I feel like I got scammed..."
"Haha, of course it is." She lightly chuckled with a melancholic expression, "You can have your differences, but the ring on your finger is the bond that ties you together even without any strings physically binding you. No matter what kind of arguments you get into, just one glance at your ring finger will immediately remind you that it's stupid to fight. In the end, you never know when you'll see your spouse smile with you for the last time, so it's best to keep them close."
"Ah." I let out a weird sound as the air around us got awkward.
She's talking about Grim, surely. It's been three years since he died, but the pain I feel is still the same as it was the day of his passing. Still, I can't imagine how Cecily must be feeling. She's probably in a lot more pain than I am, so I try my best not to openly talk about him in the fear that I'll make her cry or something. Ever since we got back from Entropa, we have started living together with them to sort of help each other recover. I had my PTSD I had to deal with, and they had their mourning. In the end, it seems it was the right choice, because having the house bustling with everyone's voices really did help us. It's exactly because we can so openly joke like this that I know that's the truth.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
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"You guys finished with your stuff?" A light brownish haired girl called out to us as we reconvened, "So Nel's really gone, huh? Cene, just how will he go on without her...?"
"Don't make it sound like she died, Eleanor." I groaned, "She's your niece, so please think before you speak."
"I know, I know. Both her and widdle Cene here are my prized babies, aren't they? Goochie goo~!" She tickled the baby boy she was carrying in her embrace, "Man, I can't wait until I have kids of my own."
"You'd need to find a man willing to put up with your bullshit first before that."
"Oi!"
This woman waiting for us in front of the transport wagon is my younger sister, Eleanor. Before the war, she lived with my parents in Whitehood, but thankfully it seems they managed to sneak out and run away to the other countries accepting refugees. Though, I didn't really know this until I met back up with them way later, when they came to Cardina to celebrate mine and Anna's marriage. Thankfully, it seems sending people who are MIA wedding invitations through the postal system is a great way to reconnect. They answered back as soon as they could, and not even a month later, we were back together. They now live with us in the house, making it even more busy than before, but it helps to have someone take care of Nelly and Cene while we're gone. Eleanor was quite happy to find out she's an aunt, though she still doesn't see Grim too favorably.
"Even after all this, you're still the one taking care of his kids." She sighed as she meaningfully gazed out the window of the transport wagon, "How much more gay can you be, big brother?"
"What the hell! How many times do I have to tell you, we were never like that!" I started going off on her, "And just what the hell are you saying about my late best friend, not to mention in the presence of his wife?!"
"Hmm, I dunno. I can kinda see it." Cecily took a good look at me, "I mean, very few people in the world have a person willing to go this far for them. Seriously, had he not been my husband, I could definitely see you two being a real item."
"Would you all just stop ganging up on me!?" I recoiled in both disgust and embarrassment, "Seriously, what is wrong with the women of this household..."
"Hey now, both of us have our roots in ARA firmly planted, so you should really be used to getting ganged up on." Cecily smirked as she made a god-awful pun, "But okay, I get the three of us, but don't lump your mother and Nelly in with us. They did nothing wrong."
"Seriously?" I gave her a deadpanned rhetorical reply, "Your daughter wants to hook up with a man twice her age and my mother is, well, my mother."
"Urk! Can't deny that..." She quieted down after that.
"Oi, don't talk about mom like she's some sort of psychotic weirdo!" Eleanor immediately went to mom's defense, "Just like dad, she's a hard-worker who does everything in her power to provide for her family! Even now, after they've retired, they still tirelessly help out around the house!"
"God, all this buzzing is making my head hurt!" I finally had enough before slamming my fist against the wagon's wall, making everyone in the room go quiet, "Ahh, that's better~!"
"Everything alright in there?" The wagon driver glanced back to check, "The entire wagon shook, did something happen?"
"No, not that we know of." I lied as I bandaged up my bloody hand, "Must've been the wheels getting stuck on a pebble or something."
"Ah, okay...?" The driver shrugged as he turned back around.
"Didn't we tell you to stop doing that!?" Anna whispered angrily, "Ugh, just look at your hand, it's all bloody now!"
"What do you think the point of punching the wall was?" I put the bandaged hand in front of her face, "It's called blood-letting, and it's a very real remedy for stress. It helps blow off steam, and Lune himself used to do it back when he lived as the Famed Inventor."
"Wait, he did?" Cecily sounded both surprised and worried, "You never told me that..."
"Who cares?" I rolled my Eyes, "If he didn't tell you by now, then he probably shares the same sentiment as me, that being that it's really nothing to be frightened of. Be it punching a gritty wall or just pricking yourself with needle, as long as you bleed a bit, the hormones in your brain will make you feel super relaxed. At least, I think that's how he explained it..."
The rest of the trip back to our home was deathly quiet. It actually helped me immensely not to have the girls constantly badgering me about all sorts of stupid things, so I guess I killed two birds with one stone with that punch. Making it to the little town bordering the two Centralises, we quietly disembarked from the wagon as I paid the wagon driver, even giving him a hefty tip for his troubles. Hell, he'll need all the money he can get for the repair costs...
"Oi, we're here." I opened the front door, only to be greeted by a bunch of terrified old people, namely Arthur and my parents.
"Edward!" They looked at me like I killed someone, "How could you!?"
"Hm?" I tilted my head before finally noticing the Purple haired little girl sitting at the dining table, "Who's this?"
"Gasp, it's you!" She jumped from her seat before running up to me, her head not even reaching my belly-button, "I've been waiting for you! My destined lover!"
...What.