By Zephyria 
When did I fall asleep?
It felt like a lie, my confidence that I could live without eating or sleeping. When I woke up after a deep, dreamless sleep, the dawn sunlight and birdsong were filtering in together through the window.
Fortunately, Ruben was still sleeping soundly, breathing softly.
Around the hour of the tiger, perhaps? In the past, I would have been up and running laps in the martial arts training ground or practicing sword forms by now. But even though I could get up, I didn’t. I savored the lazy moments, watching the sleeping child’s face.
After a long while.
“…No!”
Ruben woke up again, startled.
I held his trembling body and pulled him into my embrace. I pressed my lips to his pale cheeks and warm neck multiple times. Ruben, flustered, pushed against my chest, but then slowly stopped.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“…Huh? No… Mika?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
Ruben looked around, trying to get a good look at my face. I willingly lifted my head and met his gaze.
His eyes darted from my eyes, to my nose, to my mouth. After staring at my face for a long time, the tension left Ruben’s stiff shoulders. He whimpered and burrowed into my chest, and I held him, patting his back.
Only then did a smile grace Ruben’s lips.
“…Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, Ruben.”
“Me too.”
He slept so soundly while he was asleep, but now this.
Yesterday and today, every time the child woke up from a light sleep, his startled trembling made me very worried. It was a habit he didn’t have before the Floyd Expedition. Was this my fault too? Because I disappeared before Ruben’s eyes.
The thought brought another worry.
“Come to think of it, that day…”
“What day?”
“Yes. Weren’t you attacked that day? Like this.”
Mimicking the Eagle Claw of the Thousand-Faced Devil, I lightly touched the child’s chest with my hooked fingers. The perceptive Ruben quickly understood what I was talking about and let out a bitter smile.
I knew the expedition was dangerous, but that incident was largely my fault. The moment I remembered Ruben falling backward, my vision still turned white with rage.
“You had that thing Gano Paquin made, didn’t you? A thin armor made by combining divine objects.”
“…Still, it must have hurt a lot.”
“No, I was fine. It was a divine object that could block even a god’s attack once, they said. I was just glad I wasn’t attacked in the head or legs. More than that…”
Ruben’s expression gradually darkened.
“This won’t do,” I thought. “I should stop this conversation and comfort him.” With that in mind, I leaned my head closer. I hugged the child and playfully tried to kiss his lips.
Then, the child covered my mouth with his hand.
“…Mm?”
“Ah, no.”
“…Yes?”
As if he had forgotten his sadness, the child, his face flushed crimson, shook his head. I pressed my lips against his soft palm, rubbing them, feeling a mix of longing and frustration. I gently bit his wrist, just as he had done to me, then let go.
Even after all this, he still didn’t remove his hand.
“…Why?”
“It’s morning… We can’t do it now…”
“Why does it matter that it’s morning…”
I couldn’t understand Ruben’s reasoning at all.
In any case, I decided he didn’t want it now and tried to get up, but he whined that I shouldn’t pull the covers off. When I said I’d go out alone, he shook his head, saying he didn’t want that either. Ruben held both my hands, biting and playing with them. It had been a long time since we’d done this. At this point, I wondered if it was a game, and I felt amused and fond, losing the desire to escape.
When I asked if he could be alone while I went to meet my kin, Ruben told me not to worry, as he had already summoned all my family to the capital, which put my mind at ease.
I simply spent time enjoying playful banter and games.
We were confined to the bed like that until a servant knocked to announce breakfast.
❖ ❖ ❖
After breakfast, Ruben, looking dejected, was led away to work, and I welcomed some other guests.
My comrades from the camping expedition all came to the drawing-room where I was.
Marianne’s hair was curled at the ends, and Jenny’s complexion had regained its color. Benjamin’s hair had grown longer, and Shayden’s skin was a darker tan. Ivan had gained a little weight, while Damian had lost some.
But they all had one thing in common: their eyes were moist.
I received their affectionate bickering and hugs in turn. Benjamin, instead of hugging me, patted my shoulder heavily and said, “I thought you were alive.”
“Haha. Yes. Thank you for relaying the message.”
“Oh, right. Do you know Michael made Benjamin cry?”
“What?”
What was that about? Marianne poked her head in, and I looked at Benjamin, puzzled.
“The day I received the Ranunculus. Benjamin was crying his eyes out, shouting that Michael was alive, and ran to my house. I was so surprised! And even…” – muffled!
Benjamin, his face as red as a heated stone, covered Marianne’s mouth with his large hands.
“Mmph mmmph mmmph! Mmph mmph~ Ooh ooh~!”
“….”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“…Please let go. I won’t listen.”
Only then did Benjamin remove his hand from Marianne’s face. His willingness to touch her, even with his face bright red, was quite interesting. Or perhaps not. They were close comrades before, so I had no way of knowing the status of Benjamin’s affections.
I subtly probed.
“Did you draw a lot of blood?”
“Huh? What blood?”
“Benjamin became a Sword Master to be Marianne’s test subject.”
“Ah, he did say something like that. But that’s not my specialty. Collecting blood from Mana users is common in the monster major. They compare humans and monsters and do this and that. I’m currently double-majoring in Mana Structure and Magic Circle Overlap Theory.”
“…Hmm.”
It hadn’t gone well yet. I watched Benjamin’s eyebrows droop for a moment.
Even the usually aloof Ivan hugged me tightly once and then let go. Seeing this, I realized how much they had worried about me. I let out a hollow laugh.
“After dying and coming back to life once, I feel like my friendships have improved.”
“Want to die twice?”
I made a nervous joke and was then thoroughly manhandled, my collar grabbed, and I suffered for a long time.
When I told them I thought I had fought for three or four days, but it had only been until now since I returned to the Empire, they all sighed deeply. Still, they said it was fortunate and hugged me again. I felt like a stuffed doll, tossed back and forth.
They asked me strange questions to confirm if it was really me, and I answered them.
“The Emperor’s birthday.”
“Hah… October 31st.”
“What does Off-Zai-nung mean?”
“…Huh? Uh, verdure… what?”
“What about Judia Pan-Gem?”
“I just won’t be Mikael anymore.”
“Wow. He really is Mikael.”
“Huh?”
It was utterly unbelievable.
They all said they had been in that hall yesterday. When I asked how they had been, they didn’t answer properly. Instead, they talked about the people who were thrown into chaos by the proposal I had so casually thrown out, rolling on the sofa, finding it hilarious.
Jenny’s voice, as she explained, was so excited it sounded like a melody.
“Actually, the bill to legalize same-sex marriage still hadn’t passed. Last year, the provincial academy nobles, who had just gained voting rights, needed a grand New Year Festival to come to the capital, but there was no energy for anything like that.”
“Hmm.”
“You know why, right?”
“…Yes.”
They were blaming me. Having committed a sin, I simply nodded.
“Actually, even though same-sex marriage was illegal, nothing really came of it, and people just got married and dated as they pleased, so everyone stopped thinking of it as an important issue. That’s why everyone was so shocked by what happened yesterday.”
“…Why?”
“The Emperor cried and hugged Mika so tightly.”
“….”
Ah.
Even though I tried to hide it, it was impossible to conceal completely. My face flushed with embarrassment.
“The side that opposed it, saying same-sex marriage goes against the will of the gods, was completely turned around. We saw the Emperor’s solemn will so clearly. If they made a mistake, they could all be struck by karma, so how could there not be an uproar?”
“Karma?”
“Well, you know, common things. Not paying enough taxes, buying too many things, not donating. If there’s someone who doesn’t have dust on them, he’s the kind of person who’ll shake them until dust flies. That’s our Emperor.”
Shayden tapped his left palm with the edge of his right hand, mimicking the action of shaking off dust. He looked pale, as if he himself had been thoroughly shaken and beaten. Still, they were my comrades, so he wouldn’t have done anything too harsh; his complaint seemed exaggerated.
“Hmm.”
“Honestly, at this point, I think if the Emperor had just faked some tears, it would have been an easier path than building provincial academies… but well, there are people who benefit.”
“Me, me,” Jenny said, pointing to her chest, which made me laugh.
How could that possibly benefit Jenny? Educating more people might make Jenny proud, but it didn’t seem like it would be of great help to her, who was already well-established in the Imperial Palace.
“Still, everyone… is calling Ruben ‘Your Majesty’ now.”
“That’s right. It’s already the second year. Plus, Jenny and I see His Majesty so often that we have many occasions to call him that.”
“See him often?”
“Because this is my workplace.”
Ah, right. Jenny and Damian work in the Imperial Palace, so it was natural for them to see Ruben frequently.
Marianne shook her head.
“It’s still strange to me. It’s most comfortable to call him ‘Your Highness’.”
“Even so, I know you’ll call him that soon enough when you’re in front of him.”
“Of course. I am the god of adaptation. The king of sociability. A master of flattery!”
Demian, watching us chatter, let out a hearty laugh and changed the subject.
“Still, it was an impactful proposal. ‘Instead of territory, give me you.’ That’s something that can be considered even without a ring.”
“Don’t tease me.”
“I’m not teasing, it was genuinely good. Right?”
“That’s true. This time, it was a confession that caught us off guard, unlike Mikael. The fact that it was a public confession could have been a minus… but our Emperor always wants to show Mikael off to the world.”
“No, so. When is the wedding?”
Seeing the children chattering away, I felt proud and also a little tickled.
However, I hadn’t thought about the specifics at all. I had attended a few weddings in the Central Plains and knew how they worked, but my knowledge of continental weddings was only secondhand, so I had no idea.
Still, I knew one thing for sure.
“First… we’ll need to get permission from both sets of parents, won’t we?”