“Alright, let’s take it from the top!”

From what Mr. Lynn told me, the situation is as such – I want to buy the rights to the Island of Exuul, an island that used to host the worst of the worst. It was primarily used as a place of exile back in the day, and the remains of the maximum security prison can still be found rotting away.

Now you may be asking yourself why exactly I would choose this place as a honeymoon location, and the answer is actually simpler than you may think. Truth is, the last time that place was functional was in 175AD, and about a year later in 176AD it was bought by none other than Schnell Douglas himself. There’s actually a whole 3 chapters dedicated solely to explaining how he walked around the entirety of Cardina gathering signatures for his petition on turning that island into a country.

Finally, after the Island of Exuul was officially and internationally accepted as a country, he spared no time in buying it. Now, it stands as a national exhibition of sorts, in that it has been left untouched since he bought it. Sadly, due to the laws of Cardina, no one has actually been allowed to step foot on that land since Schnell’s passing. Well, that is, until now at least! After I buy the place out, I will be free to do with it whatever I please! Actually, I only really need it for two things: I need a private place to talk with Ed, and of course the honeymoon. But what could I use it for after that, I wonder? Oh, I know! I’m still in Arthur’s debt for helping us out back during the start of our journey, so I’m sure him and Anna would be pleased if I opened up an Arthur’s branch in place of the prison! Right, that’d be hilarious! And a good marketing idea to boot, since people all across the world will obviously want to visit the place after I open the gates for it. Right, I still got my business sense!

But wait, The Island of Exuul is a terrifying place riddled with horrible stories around it. Honestly, even saying the name sends shivers down my spine, since I would often hear stories about the harsh living conditions of the prison there. People will obviously be put off if they hear ‘The Island is back in business!’ so I should probably think about a name change.

Let’s see… I need a name, but it has to be special. This name will probably be on the map for a while, so I can’t just name it something stupid. Even still, it needs to have some connection to me, otherwise people might forget who bought the place to begin with, and I can’t have that! This is my one chance to make it to the history books! So what then, Grimheart Island or something like that? Nah, that sounds too, well, grim. I need something that’s bright, y’know, sunshine and rainbows. Something that reminds people of light, not dark. Hmm…

“Licht…”

Just then, I absent-mindedly uttered the name of my future son (if it even is a son, that is). Since I was currently still in Mr. Lynn’s office, he was quite confused by my murmuring, but I’m sure he’ll excuse this blunder of mine. That being said, now I have one half of the name at least. It’s ‘Licht + something’, and now I just need to find what that ‘something’ is. Well, Licht is a foreign word. I heard it originated from Sulfury, so I should probably choose another Aurolian word to match it. There’s just one issue though, and that’s that I don’t know any other Aurolian words apart from that one.

“Mr. Lynn, do you speak any Aurolian?” I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“Aurolian? I’ve dabbled in it back in my youth, yes. What do you need?”

“How do you say ‘Country’ in Aurolian?”

“Wow, you really picked the one word I always seem to get confused.” He noted sarcastically.

Dammit, this guy really gave off the vibe of someone reliable, and now he fails me in my time of need? Geez…

“Then got anything similar to it?” I asked.

“Meaning wise, there’s a ton of words similar to ‘Country’. Stuff like Stadt which means ‘Town’, or ‘Dorf’ which means ‘Village’.”

Ehh? Lichtstadt? That’s such a hard name to pronounce, not to mention spell! That’s definitely a no-go, but I’m more worried about the latter of the two. Dorf, really? That word most reminds me of Dork! Ew! And to top it all off, the island is neither a town nor a village, so it wouldn’t make sense no matter how you look at it.

“Oh, but there is one other word.” Mr. Lynn suddenly recalled, “Stelle, it means something to the effect of ‘Spot’ or ‘Location’.”

Hold on…! That may actually work! Lichtstelle… Nah, that doesn’t really work after all-

“So if we add it to Licht, grammatically, it’d be ‘Lichtenstelle’. Pretty cool name if I do say so myself.” Mr. Lynn suddenly said as if reading my mind.

“Wh-?! How did you know I wanted the first word to be Licht?!”

“Well, you murmured it a moment ago, so I logically guessed that you were thinking up names for the place's new name.”

This-! This guy’s scary…!

***

After writing down all the steps I need to do in order to buy the island, I called over some of the maids from the Grys Castle and humbly asked them if they were willing to take care of Marina while I was away on a business trip. For whatever reason, these maids still didn’t trust me, and I even heard them whispering amongst themselves about my ‘business trip’ actually being a front for a tryst with another woman! The nerve of some people, do I really look like someone who would cheat on his wife? (Don’t answer that)

Well, in any case, they seemed to have mellowed out after I explained to them my true intentions, and some were even honest enough to apologize immediately after I cleared up all the confusion. That being said, I made sure they don’t tell Marina, as I wanted to keep it a surprise. After that, I kissed my dear pregnant wife goodbye, and went on one more adventure! Then again, this felt a lot more like I was checking off a shopping list than an adventure…

“Good day, King Adam!” I greeted the King after respectfully seeking an audience with him, “I require your assistance for something of great importance.”

“Oh, hi Sol.” He greeted me back in a surprisingly casual manner, “No need to be so formal, what do you need?”

“Right. Can I buy the Island of Exuul from you?”

Adam wasn’t someone who would beat around the bush much. He’s a straight to the point kind of guy, so I didn’t want to waste too much of his time by not being straightforward from the start. He was surprised by my question, sure, but I also noticed that he appreciated my eagerness to get things done and over with quickly.

“Haha! That’s quite the statement! What, you want a place for your honeymoon or something, is that it?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“…” Adam’s smile twitched as soon as he heard my matter of fact reply, “What?”

Wait, now that I think about it, this guy fell in love with Marina way back when. So if I look at it from a different perspective, I’m literally saying “I’m taking her far away from you!” and just dipping. That’s really bad, isn’t it?! Is he gonna deny me my island now!?

“…I’m glad Mariabelle’s with such a kind husband as you, Sol.” He spoke out in a warm tone.

Huh?

“To tell you the truth,” he continued, “when I heard she loved another man that wasn’t me, I was furious. But a part of me knew from the start that it was you she had eyes for. It’s difficult for me to accept, but with each passing day I keep noticing just how good of a person and husband you are to her. That being said, who am I to deny a loving husband from gifting his wife a part of the world?”

Adam…! You’re gonna make me cry, man! Sniff, you’re the King of the Kings! Long live Adam Grys!

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“That being the case,” he still decided to warn me, “It’s not me you should be asking. As you know, the prison was founded almost a thousand years ago, back in 100AD, and after 75 years of service it finally went out of commission. That’s when the Grandmaster Adventurer, Schnell Douglas, decided to buy and preserve it. You mentioned being a fan of his, so I’m sure you know how he accomplished such a task, no?”

Ah crap, I think I know where he’s going with this. Does he really want me to get a ton of signatures that agree to me buying the place out? That’s gonna take ages, and I don’t have that much time! I’m in a race against the clock, since I already sent the letter to Ed stating we meet up there. I’ll be inconveniencing him a lot if he comes there and gets arrested for trespassing on a national property. Not to mention we won’t be able to meet up if that happens!

“Right… Could I at least use your name as a connection? As a member of Royalty, I’m sure you yourself know just how far a good endorsement will get me.”

Adam gave me a deer in the headlights look, as if to say Whoa, I hadn’t thought of that myself! Even still, he started laughing in a contagious tone as he gestured for the head maid to bring him a quill and paper. That’s when he wrote a letter that basically said “I’m endorsing Sol Pandora to go forth with his idea of buying The Island of Exuul and turning it into a tourist spot.” before signing it and handing it to me.

I immediately kissed the back of his hand, as that is the Cardina Royals' official greeting, and also serves as a way to express gratitude to the helping hand that extended itself to you. After that, all I needed to do was make a few rounds around the entirety of Cardina… Just kidding!

Back when Schnell was alive, post offices weren’t a thing! That being said, they are now, and so are copy shops! I can just copy tons of copies of Adam’s endorsement letter, then I’ll send it out to each and every person in Cardina! Logically speaking, the Benevolent King’s words are absolute, so I’ll easily get at least 51% of people to accept my terms! I’ll just need them to send their signed letters back, then I’m all done!

***

And just like that, not even a week later…

“Lune dearest…” Marina creeped up from behind me while I was working on another one of the numerous inventions from Issei’s Book of Blueprints, “What the heck are all these letters?!”

“Uhh, Fan-mail?” I tried to come up with an excuse, “Don’t worry about it and just go back to bed.”

“I don’t wanna stay in bed anymore!” She tugged on my sleeve, “My legs are gonna atrophy if I stay bedridden any longer! I wanna go for a walk!”

“A trophy?” I questioned her funny words.

“Atrophy! It’s a medical term, it means they’ll shrivel up.”

“That can happen!? Then what are we waiting for, come on, get dressed! We’re going out for a walk immediately!”

It’s the husband’s job to curb his pregnant wife’s worries, but it seems she somehow turned the tables on me. Geez, why did no one tell me about this Atrophy thing? It sounds really scary! Does it only affect pregnant women? Can it happen to me too?!

While pondering these naïve questions, Marina was jovially walking next to me, all the while holding tightly onto my arm. It made for a romantic sight, especially now that her belly is starting to show signs of growth. Well, not when she’s got clothes on, of course, but I would sometimes steal some glances while she was changing into her night gown and would notice the bump.

“Ah, the Sun feels so nice! Ever since Adam broke the news, you really didn’t let me out of the house at all.”

“A-Ah, sorry about that. I was just making sure you were safe is all.”

She giggled at my sheepish remark before going, “Actually, I had a lot of time to think back on how we met while I was in bed. Don’t you remember, you taught me how to play chess and we would go at it until dawn broke.”

“Heh, yeah. Now that I think about it, I haven’t played chess in a really long time. Think our kid will be any good at it like his parents were?”

“Pfft, good? We were terrible at it, it’s just that our lack of skills is on equal footing to one another, so it was hard to notice.”

Wow, you didn’t have to be that brutally honest! I don’t want our kid to think badly of his parents, so let’s at least pretend we know our stuff, okay? If he starts to think his parents aren’t up to par from an early age, he might leave the house at age 12. Heh, just like me...

At this thought, I suddenly remembered my parents' faces. Were they like this when I was in my mother’s womb? Was dad at one point as playful and unserious as I am right now? Will I be as serious at some point in the future as he is? I sure hope not, but then again isn’t the goal of every kid to be the exact opposite of their parents? It’s that primordial urge to be rebellious I guess, but I feel like that’s always the case, judging from the parents and children I’ve met in my life.

“Hey... Would you be open to stopping by my parents’ house on the way back to Great Hiana?” I asked after some thinking.

Marina’s eyes started glimmering at the prospect, and her grip around my arm suddenly tightened as she warmly replied “I’d love to!”

“But then, I’m sure my parents would like to meet their grandchild as well.” She said, “They’re from Boreal, so it might not be en route, per say, but it’d be nice to visit them once in a while.”

“Sure. I mean, it’d only be fair.”

After our little walk around the district, we finally came back full circle to our little inn. I decided now was the best time to pop the question, so I mustered up all my courage and went:

“Marina, I think it’s time to meet with Ed. Would you accompany me?”

She was caught off guard by the sudden question, but she knew better than to act surprised and dodge it. Instead, she gave me a warm smile and told me to start packing.

***

“So when you said ‘Honeymoon location’, you meant this?!”

“Yep, welcome to The Island of Exuul! But that’s no longer it’s name. As of now, it’s officially Lichtenstelle!”

“…” Marina held in a stifled laugh at my naïve naming conventions, “Still hoping it’s a boy, eh?”

“Y-Yeah!” I shot back defiantly, “So what?”

Still looking at the island’s dock as we approached it via ship, she simply put her head on my shoulder and with an empty expression noted, “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”

“Yeah…” I followed suit, “To think we went from nobodies stranded on a shipwreck to getting our hands on a historical island such as this. Marina, this is my wedding gift to you.”

She looked up at me for a moment before pouting, “Sheesh, that’s gonna be a high hurdle to pass over, you know? How am I gonna compete with such a gift?”

“With this, of course!” I lightly touched the bump on her tummy. Right in that moment though, I felt something remarkable.

“Was that… a kick?! Marina, the baby! It kicked!”

“Hehe, did I not show you that before?” She laughed, “That’s been happening for a while now.”

“You did! But it’s always so cool to feel! He’s really eager to start living, isn’t he?”

Right as I was about to start marveling at the beauty of life, the captain told us that the ship is docking, so we should grab our luggage and hop out of the ship. I made sure Marina safely made it onto the land, then I quickly followed her example after grabbing our luggage.

We didn’t really pack all that much, just some clothes, food, and a tent. This was more so a little sightseeing expedition than anything else, as I’m only here to meet up with Ed for now. I’ll look into refurbishing the place at a later date. But right now I just really wanna look at the place as a whole!

I can feel the history just oozing out of the prison! It’s exactly as I imagined it from Schnell’s Handbook! Like over here, that’s the staff only entrance, and to the left of it is the prisoner’s entrance! Whoa, you could really tell the difference in how they treated the prisoners as opposed to the guards. The place is really dead inside, literally to the point where there aren’t even any bugs or critters or anything. Due to the climate of the island, it’s also quite hot, despite it being the middle of winter. It was raining lightly as well, but we didn’t really mind. It was a lot easier on our skin than the snow back in Cardina.

“This place is kind of unnerving.” Said Marina, “Reminds me of… that place.”

‘That place’ she was referring to was obviously Shaid’s Lair, the dungeon we explored in Sibirus with the rest of the party. Marina and I were the sole survivors of the expedition, and I guess you could say that we didn’t really come out unscathed from the trip at all. It took a really long time for Marina to get used to being in tight spaces, and I’m still a bit shaky when out at sea.

“Right, back then we were just a bunch of strangers who couldn’t get along at all. We still need to tell their families about their fates when we find the time for it.”

“How did it go again? First one to die was… Lil' Bro Sully, right? He got lost in the labyrinth and we never got to find his body, we just heard from the Book about his death.”

“Yeah, after that was Genevra.” I continued our melancholic recollection, “She really went off the deep end when she started religiously following the Book’s orders. But she ultimately died due to a rock fall in the caverns.”

As I said this, I took a quick glance at my left hand, which was missing its pinky finger, and the ring finger still had a rad scar from the stitch marks. After that I took a look at the person who stitched said finger back on, and held her hand as a reminder to keep her close.

“Finally, and most mysteriously, was Old Man Linus. We were playing chess like nothing was wrong. We thought everything was behind us, but then after he suddenly took hold of the Book of Fortune, his hands burned off completely and he died of the injuries caused from it.”

Marina’s face turned into a worrying frown as she noted, “We never did investigate that accursed Book…”

“And we don’t have to.” I comforted her, “Every day I wake up thankful that I survived up until now, and I don’t want to have to think about why it is that I was gifted the chance to live another day. Heh, I may be a Purple Iro, but believe me when I say that I’ll stow away the intrusive thoughts at least when I’m around the kid.”

At these words, Marina took a look at my eyes and started softly crying into my chest. She knew very well that a Purple Iro Beholder had a way tougher time with living their regular day-to-day lives than other Iros. Even still, the fact that I was willing to fight on for the kid probably tugged on her heart strings. Geez, could I be any more of a romantic?

“Wait, do you hear that?” She said as she turned around to face the dock’s general direction, “Could it be him?”

“Ed…” I uttered, “You made it! Alright, I told him to meet me at the courtyard! Let’s go!”

“W-Wait, Lune!” Marina tugged at my sleeve, stopping me from advancing, “I’m a bit nervous, after all…”

“That’s alright. If you want, you can hide over there, behind the corner. If you get the courage to approach us, feel free to do so at any time. I don’t want to force you to do this with me.”

“…Alright.”