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Vol.18 Ch.391 - For now and forever

"Excuse me?" I raised a questioning finger, "What exactly are you talking about?"

"Yes, this is rather interesting indeed..." Adam muttered to himself, "Cecily, you have nothing to feel bad about. You have my full support for finding a new man. Ah, sir, a pleasure to meet you. You have very nice Eyes. I am Adam Grys, and you would be...?"

Wait, he doesn't recognize me...? What the hell, we're best men! How?! Oh, wait, could it be because I shaved my head? Right, I do look quite different without my long tied back hair. Add to that the slight stubble I've recently been trying to grow out into a beard, and it just might make me look different enough from the Lune he knows.

"Mn..." I was too stunned to even say my name.

"Don't be shy, now." He smiled, "Whilst we are royalty, Elaine and I are good friends with Cecily here, so speak your mind freely."

"Eh?" Now even Cecily looked confused, "W-Wait, this is-!"

"Now now, calm down." He reassured us, "I can understand why you wanted to keep this a secret, seeing as it'd be quite awkward to tell us, but be at ease. Yes, when we went to your house just now for some tea after you stopped inviting us for a while, we ran into Edward and Anna, who informed us you would be at this restaurant."

"A-Ah! Your Highness, Your Majesty!" The waiter that served us earlier ran next to us to welcome them in properly, "To what do we owe the pleasure? I have to say, we are quite honored to see you at our fine little establishment. Please, have a seat and we'll-!"

"No need, we only came here to seek out this fine lady here." Adam shook his head, "Well, when Ed said we'd find something shocking here, we were expecting something much more dire, so I would like to apologize for interrupting your date. Come on, Elaine, let's leave them be for now."

"Yeah, just a minute." She waited for him to leave the building before turning to frown at us, "So, you gonna explain how your husband suddenly revived and is standing right before me?"

"Oh good, I forgot you're way less dense than Adam." I smirked.

"How impudent!" She hissed, "What he has in brawn I certainly have in brains, and then some! Comparing us is like being surprised when he deadlifts 10 kilos!"

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean it like that." I chuckled.

"...Geez, it really is you." It finally sunk in for her, "Lune, how is this possible? You died three years ago."

"Yeah, and we're still kind of looking into that." Cecily interjected, "Yeah, this is all just way too uncertain and confusing so far, so we didn't really have time to think of telling you the news. Sorry, Elaine."

"Yeah right, so you had time for a date at a fancy restaurant but you couldn't spare a 5 minute wagon ride to our mansion?" She saw right through us, "Yeah, I can see that Lune's stupidity, unlike my husband's, is actually contagious."

"Hey, who're you calling dumb!?" Both Cecily and I yelled in unison.

"...Sigh, what am I to make of this?" Elaine quitely muttered to herself, "That Goddess, she surely has to be behind this."

"Hey." I replied, "We got this. We'll tell you guys everything we know as soon as we find out for ourselves."

"Right, so do I tell Adam?" Elaine asked, "Tell him that his best man is back?"

"...No." I thought about it for a while before answering, "I know this may sound a bit weird, but I think having him think I'm Cecily's new boyfriend is for the best, at least for now."

"How come?" Cecily was taken aback.

"Well..." I scratched my cheek awkwardly, "Adam's a good friend, but he's always been kind of clingy. If he found out, he'd for sure ask to help out, and given my current priorities, that'll only hinder me more than anything."

"Your current priorities?" Elaine furrowed her brow, "What could be more important than figuring out the mystery of your revival?"

"Ah..." I glanced over at Cecily for a moment, "Y'know... Stuff..."

"............."

"...................."

"Sigh, I give up." Elaine finally turned around, "I'll humor you two for now, but only because Cecily is my good friend, and I hope that at least she knows what she's doing."

"Thanks for this!" Cecily smiled, "We promise to reveal it to Adam as soon as possible!"

"Yeah, yeah." She raised her hand as she waved us off, her back facing us as she walked to her husband, "Until then, enjoy the rest of your little outing!"

I really don't trust her to not spill the beans to her husband. Elaine is cunning, she might use this as a form of blackmail for whatever reason. Well, I say cunning, but it's not like she's evil. At best, she'll use this to leverage me into doing some embarrassing stunts, but hey, I'll do anything as long as I don't have to listen to Adam's constant pleas to get me to go to the gym with him. I can't do that, man! My lean look is already good enough for me, I don't wanna be a jock like him!

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"You sure it's smart to keep this farce up?" Cecily asked as we walked through the local moonlit park.

"Well, it's kinda funny having him not realize my identity for the second time now." I chuckled, "That guy, he's good with leading this country, but he's not really bright when it comes to facial recognition. How very unlike a king."

"Does a king have to be good at remembering faces?" She asked.

"The one that killed me knew everyone that ever lived in Entropa by their full name." I winced as I recalled king Chant, "Oh right, he knew your and Carter's last name as well."

"Get outta here." She brushed me off, "Even I don't remember my last name anymore. Mom told me to throw it away right before she died."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Your mother... I never got to ask, but what's the story behind your family?" I dared to ask, "You would always just say you and Carter were raised by the streets, pickpocketing to make ends meet, but you never mentioned your parents before."

This is a genuine concern of mine. Chant told me he had them killed, but apparently Meil killed him, and Ed Vivia, so I guess I can't really say I'm looking to avenge them or anything. Still, it doesn't hurt to learn a bit more about your in-laws, and by proxy your wife. History is important, kids, especially if it involves you directly!

"My parents, eh...?" She looked at the stars in the sky with a nostalgic face, "Mom was gentle and sweet, and dad kinda resembled you, actually, though he had my hair color, whereas Carter got mom's."

"They both had Red hair?" I chuckled, "I'm sure that was one hell of a conversation starter."

"Well, not exactly the same hair color, but similar enough to catch each other's gaze, it seems." She smiled as well, "I was too young to remember what mom and dad were doing to provide for the family, but I have my suspicions that they were involved in some pretty shady businesses to constantly get harassed by gang members."

"They were harassed by gang members?" I raised an eyebrow at that one.

"Yeah, mom said dad angered some guy in a high position of power, so we had to move a lot back then." Her face grew more sad the longer she went on, "I don't know who it was that made their life a living hell, but I know one thing..."

That guy was Chant, surely. He said he killed them, and if we connect the dots, it's the only reasonable explanation. Regarding the gang members, however, I assume Cecily's either misremembering that part or Chant just put up a bounty for said gang members to kill her parents. I think he actually said Cecily and Carter were also on his list, how frightening... Still, do I tell her? Will it give her closure, knowing that he's dead? Or will she feel helpless and angered that she wasn't the one to send him straight to the afterlife? Will she hyperfocus on finding out the exact reasons for why that asshole put a bounty on them, or will she just let it go?

"I know one thing, and that's that my parents were strong and kind people." Her nostalgic and proud smile returned, "No matter what they faced, or how many times they had to run, they always made sure to tend to our happiness without fault. If Carter was alive today, I'm sure he'd tell you that we lived perfectly normal lives under their care. That's how good of a job they were doing as parents. They completely kept us out of harm's way, and were always present whenever we needed them."

"Oh, how nice." I looked up to the skies as well, "But, heh, I guess that means we've got some pretty big shoes to fill."

"Eh, I've been doing my part with Cene and Nelly thus far." She lightly jabbed, "You on the other hand? Quite the irresponsible deadbeat, my dear."

"Y-Yeah, I deserve some critique every once in a while..." I let out a guilty chuckle, knowing full well I missed out on both of my kids' childhoods, "Well, I can't say anything about Nelly, but it wasn't my fault when it came to Cene. We can at least agree to that, right?"

Pulling my gaze away from the stars and back down onto her face, I was surprised to see her staring directly at me, her golden Yellow Eyes streaming tears down her cheeks. Did I say something bad just now?

"Hm? O-Oh, sorry about that." She wiped her tears away with a reassuring yet weak chuckle, "It just finally dawned on me that you're really here. This isn't a dream."

"...Psh, what took you so long?" I felt a single tear start to well up in me as well, though I quickly hid it by going in for a hug, "Yeah, a lot of things happened, and it seems some force just keeps trying to separate me from you, but this time I promise I'll be with you. From Heaven and back."

"Sniffle, yeah..." She gave me a peck on the cheek, "Then, let's do our best. For Nelly, Cene... and whoever comes next."

"!!!" I immediately grabbed her by the shoulders, my Eyes wide open, "S-So that means...!"

"Yeah, maybe not yet, but sometime in the near future..." She glanced up at me adorably, the moonlight falling perfectly on her face as she spoke, "I'd like a third child."

She's perfect... My wife, the mother of my kids, and the woman of my dreams! Even though I cheated on her in my youth, even though I left her when she needed a father for her kids the most...! She says this without even hesitating for a moment! She's just, too good for me... She deserves more, she could've just as easily found another man at any time that would give her way more happiness, and yet she believed in me even at the worst of times. Now, I need to properly return the favor.

"Cecily..." I smiled earnestly as I knelt on one knee, "Now that I recall, we never actually got officially married, nor did we ever hold a ceremony. I want to treasure you from now on and for the rest of time with all my might, and I think this is the best way to start with that."

"L-Lune?" She looked surprised more than anything.

"So, even though I don't have a ring yet to give you..." I apologized while I was at it, "I'll have to go and buy one first thing tomorrow, but until then... Cecily Briggs, will you marry me?"

"Lune... You dummy...!" Her face, now riddled with tears not of sadness but of joy, blushed lightly under the Blue moon, "Geez, you could've at least waited until you got a ring... Of course! Of course I will!"

"T..." I wobbled, almost falling after suspensefully holding the difficult pose this whole time, "Thank goodness! I promise, for now and forever, to always be together with you, Cecily."

"And I too, Lune." She held my hand as I got up, "For now and forever."