"Sis, let's play." Cene poked my cheek.

"Mnn..."

"Big sis~!" He kept poking.

"Uuuuuugh..."

"Ahem, the biggest of sistews!"

"Hey now, you're going so far into the compliment zone you actually circled over to the negatives." I finally snapped out of it, "But I can't right now, Cene."

"Why not?"

"I'm lamenting past mistakes."

Tilting his head adorably at my pointlessly confusing word choice, he kept pestering me without a care in the world.

"Awe you still mad at Lem?" He pouted.

"N-No, he didn't do anything wrong..." I looked away bashfully.

Well, it's the truth. He gave me more than enough time to think this through, yet I was adamant and only ended up doubling down. If there's anyone I should be mad at, then it's gotta be myself.

"Mommy says holding hands is the best way to stop fighting." He buzzed around me.

"That's not as appropriate for our ages, though."

"But mommy and daddy always hold hands whenever they'lre mad at each other." He revealed, "But only when I tell them off."

Heh, they actually own up to their own joke advice whenever Cene catches them lacking? That's actually kinda cute, in a way. But yeah, I remember mama telling me a similar thing when I was around his age. Hold hands and you'll realize just how trivial the entire issue was in general. Essentially it forces you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Wait, look at the bigger picture...

"Cene, you might've just saved my ass." I smiled.

"What's an ass?"

"Another word for butt." I replied truthfully, "Don't tell dad and mama I taught you that though."

"Okay."

Take a step back, right... When the issue is in your face, your sense of judgment is usually clouded and you end up feeling lost on what to do. But if I look at the bigger picture, this is just a matter of two curious teens wanting to explore their bodies. Mhm, yes, it's totally natural. Right, if Meil's the final boss on this grand adventure, then you can't expect a LVL1 player like me to face him from the start. Obviously, I'd need to fight some slimes like Lem to prepare myself and level up. That's it, it's nothing scary! I'm just gonna be doing it with a slime!

"Eugh, I should've thought of a better analogy..."

"Anal olrgy?" Cene tilted his head.

"That is DEFINITELY not what I said, Cene." I made an X with my fingers, "I sure hope your memory is crap, because I'm dead if you ask mama and dad what that means, though."

"Huh...?" He tilted his head once more, "Crap?"

Oh come on, just how sheltered is this kid!? He lives close to that damned potty-mouthed uncle of ours, his parents are reformed gang members, and he plays with the neighborhood kids all the time apparently! How come he's never heard of any of these words before?! Well, I don't expect him to know what anal orgy is, though.

"Can we play now?" He continued with the relentless pestering.

"Fine, but promise you'll forget about those words I taught you."

"Okay!"

Jumping for joy as we sat down on the living room floor next to all his toys, I cheerfully watched him showcase his wide assortment of teddy bears, action figures, and... dolls?

"Cene, did you steal these from a neighborhood girl?" I picked one up.

"Petew said not to talk to girls cause they have cooties." He then took the doll from me, "Also, don't pull on Vanessa's hailr. She doesn't like it."

"Vanessa? You named her?"

"He names every one of those little guys and gals he gets." Othelia happened to be walking by, so she sat down on the couch with a sigh, "He makes some damned good dramas between them too, it makes for some mighty fine entertainment."

"I see..." I glanced back at him shoving the soldier guy's face into Vanessa's, forcing them into a lovers' smooch, "S-So, Cene, what're they doing now?"

"Kissing each othelr goodbye." He said as he split them up, "Fewdinand is going to walr, so he's making the most of the time they have left."

Wow, that's quite the climax scene I just joined at. But he sure does know how to hook his listeners. Surprisingly, he might have a shot at writing a book one day.

"Ferdinand is fighting the evil cult of Evil, by the way." Othelia added with a lighthearted snicker, "He actually rescued Vanessa from them, and that's how they met."

"Oh, so he's just a good guy all around, then."

"Hold on, is Cene storytelling again!?" Auntie Eleanor ran down the stairs to jump on the couch with her fellow wife, excited as a puppy, "Why didn't you call me, dammit! Did I miss anything?"

"No, we just started." I chuckled, "By the way, auntie, aren't you a bit too old to be enamored by these stories?"

Blushing, she quickly tried to cover her tracks up after being exposed.

"N-No, I'm just way too invested in it, that's all!" She pouted, "Or rather, I don't like leaving stories unfinished, so I'm obligated to hear it through until the end."

"Oh boy, everyone likes my stowy!" Cene smiled brightly.

This kid's smile lights up any room he enters, it's like sunshine. I guess he got dad's smile, but mama's facial structure. It's the perfect blend for a pretty boy in the making. He'll be popular with the girls, and judging by his toys, maybe even the boys too...

"Ah, but now, while Fewdinand was fighting with his best fwiend Glrant in the walr, the evil cult of Evil showed up and said bad things about Vanessa to his face!"

"Hold on, when was this hunk named Grant introduced?" I asked.

"Shh!" Othelia and auntie scolded me, "In the last episode, keep up!"

For people claiming to not be all that interested in the story, these two sure do seem invested. I guess I should just keep quiet and let them have their fun.

"That's when Gwant weveals to the Evil leader that he's mawwying the guy's daughtelr!"

"What!? No way, he's just gonna go out and tell the Evil leader he's marrying Gloria!?" Othelia jolted.

"But they've been keeping their relationship a secret from him out of fear this entire time!" Auntie too looked frightened, "Gods, this is kinda hitting too close to home, though..."

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Yeah, I'll bet." I chuckled, "I was at grandma and grandpa's house, and Issei told them about you guys getting married. Seriously, Cene's not being obvious with his source of inspiration, haha!"

"Eh?" Auntie's and Othelia's Eyes widened, "He said what?"

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Oop, should I not have said that? I didn't get any details wrong, did I? No, he really did bow and ask grandpa Sigmund and grandma Camilla for their daughter's hand in marriage. "I want to spend the rest of my life with her and make her happy" or something like that. That's not just a declaration of love, but a lifelong commitment.

"Wait, is Issei planning on m-marrying us?" Auntie looked woozy as she asked Othelia.

"How the hell should I know, girl! Get it together!" She shook her around a bit.

"Wait, I'm confused, aren't you guys already married?" I asked anxiously.

"Sigh, no, not yet." Othelia calmly explained, "We didn't expect Issei to change his mind about going back to his world, so we never felt the need to go through all that annoying paperwork."

"Oh, but surely he told you...?"

"No, he said nothing about this." Auntie smiled brightly, "Oh, we're getting married, we're getting married! Argh, why couldn't we have been there with him, Othelia! I wanted to see mom and dad's faces light up when they heard him propose!"

"This is horrible." Othelia gagged, covering her mouth from the nausea even, "Dammit, I'm getting sick..."

"What's wrong?" I sprung up on my feet, "Need me to call someone for help?"

"Nah, she's just overcome with joy!" Auntie giggled.

"You idiot, this is fear, not joy!" Othelia shouted at her, "Issei, if he already told your parents about it, then that means he wanted to surprise us with the actual proposal!"

Ah, I knew it. I ruined Issei's plans by accident because of my stupid ignorance. I didn't know, I'm sorry! I genuinely thought you guys were already married!

"Well, so what?" Auntie shrugged, "We'll just pretend like we heard nothing and act all surprised when he does do that. It's no biggie."

"No biggie? No biggie!?" Othelia's pupils shrunk, "Don't you know it's bad luck when the woman hears about the proposal from someone else!? They say we'll be cursed forever if we get married!"

"Now wait just a second." I interjected, "That's just an old superstition, isn't it? There's no way it's true!"

"It is! My mom found out about my dad's proposal a day before it was supposed to happen, and she told me he dropped the ring on the way there!" She yelled.

"Don't say that, it'll be fine! Come on!" I was on the brink of tears, "I didn't curse you, I'm sorry!"

"Hey." The man in question popped into the room just at the right moment, "I come here to grab some water and find my two favorite girls bullying my best friend's daughter. What's going on?"

"A-Ah, Issei..." I immediately broke down once I saw his naive hopeful face, "I'm sowwwyyyy~! I'm sowwy I cursed you, wahhh~!"

"Whoa, whoa, cursed!?" He jolted, "You two, I need an explanation on just what in the world you said to her to make a 14 year old cry like this?"

"Issei..." Othelia and auntie both asked carefully, "Are we getting married?"

"...Yeah?" He chuckled, "But one thing at a time, okay? We still have the house to finish."

"N-No, what we mean is..." Auntie gulped before asking, "You went to tell my parents, right? You asked for my hand in marriage?"

"...I did?" He glanced down to whisper to me, "Hey, you were there, right? I only said I'm dating their daughter, didn't I?"

"No, you said you wanted to spend the rest of your lives together." I replied with a deadpanned stare.

"That's not exclusive to marriage, dummy." He whispered, "So what? You told them I was gonna propose soon?"

"Y-You're not?" I sniffled.

Pausing to glare at me with a highly annoyed face, Issei had heaved a long and tired sigh before dropping down on one knee right here and now in the living room. Both girls could barely believe what was happening with how things were going, and it seems Issei here was willing to do things out of his self-imposed order just to bail me out of looking like a fool.

"I-It was supposed to be a surprise for later, so I don't have the rings on me right now." He lied with an honest smile, "But I guess since the cat's out of the bag, I have no choice but to pull a Reiner and Bertholdt and do this right here, right now."

"Issei!" They gushed.

"Othelia Hermes, Eleanor Saint, you two have been with me through a lot." He extended his hand towards them, "Through thick and thin, we've seen all the Wonders of this World and then some, yet I can't help but feel deep in my heart that you two have been the greatest treasures I have found in it."

He said the rings aren't with him currently, but since he wasn't expecting to propose for a while yet, I'll just assume that he'll be making a quick stop to dad to ask him to Materialize some. Still, for being put on the spot, he's pretty good at making up a compelling proposal.

"You two, though it is unconventional in today's society, will you stay with me and support me for the rest of our lives, just as I plan to support you? Both as friends, and as lovers."

"Yes!" Auntie was in tears by this point.

"W-Wait, but the curse..." Othelia whispered.

"Shut up and answer him!" Auntie growled.

"Okay, I do!"

"You're not at the wedding hall yet, you idiot!" Auntie shouted through her tears, "It's yes, not I do!"

And with that, another happy ending. Wow, I must be an Angel of Love in disguise, seriously! First it was Kevin and Kiria, and now these three!

"Issei, the fuck's taking so long?" Uncle walked into the room as the two girls hugged and kissed Issei.

"Sorry, I was proposing?" He shrugged back.

"Oh, cool." Uncle nodded before stopping, "Also, what."