"Let's steer clear of the windows and door," warned John as he asked me to sit in the middle of his room.
I obliged and sat with him on the floor as we whispered as softly as we could, as though we were about to do something entirely illegal.
"So, what do you want to know? Why we decided not to stay here?" he asked softly as I nodded to him.
"Well, the final decision was all Daffodil. I gave her a choice on whether she wanted to raise our child here or in the City Of Pines. She actually has a— strained relationship with her parents. Her parents were opposed to our marriage as they wanted her to marry one of their own species instead of some monkey," he sighed.
"Let's— not call ourselves that, please. Hard for me to stop myself from laughing," I held my laughter.
"Right. Either way, things were pretty rough for me to convince her parents. Even though I'm the Viking Lord, it didn't seem to matter since I'm not an elf. It was a tough period indeed. Daffodil almost called everything off when she was at her wits' end. I did my best to convince her that I would only take her as my wife, even if we had to elope somewhere else. She finally managed to convince her parents when she promised her parents that she would marry an elven husband after I passed on," he sighed.
"W— what?! Is that really something you're willing to accept?" I asked him with concern.
"Shhhhh—keep it down. Obviously, I'm not happy about it. But when I think about it, our lifespan is so short anyway. What does it even matter if she wants to marry someone else down the road? We won't be there for our partner anyway, and if she finds someone she gets along with, I would be happy for her. Although, she did promise me that it's her utmost priority to care for our children, no matter the cause. Truth be told, I don't even know whether she'll actually findsomeone else. That promise will only come into play if there's a candidate," he smiled sadly.
"Gee—I never knew you had such a marriage condition. I guess that's why you're trying for another child, isn't it? Perhaps she preferred to be further away from her parents than to stay here, I suppose," I sighed.
"Oh, that's not even the main cause. Come closer," he gestured for me to lean in, which I obliged.
"Apparently, their cultural lifestyle here is not as magical as we thought," he whispered softly.
"Huh? Is there something I'm not aware of?" I asked curiously.
"Well, the elves have placed a sort of compulsory training for every elven child that inhabits here. And they start their training at a very young age. Not to mention their training is—brutal. I'm sure you've noticed the children having scars when we passed by? Those are not from hunting; it's from their training," sighed John.
"That's—strange, I don't recall seeing any on Lily before," I answered as I recalled her naked form for any strange scars.
"I never even knew you saw her in all her glory before, nor did I need to know. Maybe she got lucky or something. Daffodil had a couple of them, and let's just say it wasn't pleasant to look at," he sighed and shrugged.
"Are you trying to tell me that your wife isn't beautiful or something? What're you trying to say?" I questioned him.
"What? No, no! You got me all wrong. What I meant to tell you is that—seeing those scars doesn't bring pleasant ideas, y'know? And it certainly doesn't bring back pleasant memories for her too. She never told me what she's been through as she doesn't wish to relive it again," he explained.
I just nodded in agreement. And here I thought that my grandfather's training was brutal. Turns out elven children had it even worse, and it was I who requested it. But why though? Why the need for such brutal training? John wasn't kidding about those scars as I had seen a few children living here who had them, and some even looked fresh.
"Thinking from their perspectives, perhaps they want their children to be combat-ready when they choose to leave here? Getting children is rare in the first place, ensuring their survival is equally as important to ensure their species' survival in the long run," I tried to keep an open mind.
"Well, Daffodil and I will personally be training our child. We have Uncle Zen and Aunt Rose for additional training as well, isn't it? She made it very clear that she will not subject our child to what she's been through here," he emphasised.
"Fine, you train mine and I'll train yours. I'm on board for that. Provided Daisy wishes to be an adventurer in the first place, though," I sighed.
"Do tell, she's already ten, right? But she—acts like she's five or something. Is your resurrection affecting Daisy or something?" he asked.
"I wish I knew, brother. The elves won't talk, Lily refuses to tell me, I'm in a pinch here, John," I sighed.
"Guess we all have our own problems to deal with, huh? Let's keep our backs covered. You know where to find me whenever you need help. We monkeys have to stick together," he laughed.
"Gosh, stop calling us monkeys!" I shouted at him.
Footsteps could be heard approaching closer but eventually passed by John's room. Is it who I think it is? We kept quiet as we're being careful so as not to offend any elves when we're here. A knock could be heard opposite us calling for my name. I guess it is them. I thought they'd be celebrating longer since the General was supposed to be the main person for that event.
I checked the time and it was about 6 p.m. Still pretty early, all things considered. I guess I should greet them rather than keep them waiting.
"Alright, parents-in-law await. See you tomorrow, John," I stood up and headed to the door.
"All the best, brother," he locked his door as soon as I left.
"Apologies, Noah and Violet. I was hanging out with a friend. Allow me to open the door for you," I rushed over to open it.
"No worries, we were—just excited to hear what happened to her. After all, you're the only one here who had met her after such a long time," said Violet.
"Before—I let you in, can we cut down on the flirting, please, Violet?" I asked sincerely.
"I'll keep her in check," sighed Noah.
"W—what? Don't I have any say in this?" asked Violet as she stared at her husband.
"No," he gave a firm answer.
***
"Wished I could offer tea, but… water is all I have here. Would that suffice?" I asked funnily.
"Water will do. Zen, do tell us. How is she? Is she safe? Is she—in this continent?" asked Noah.
"She's fine. Doing well, actually. She's residing in the East currently, training under Peter Borage himself," I passed each of them a glass of water.
Both of them gasped, and Violet embraced Noah. How lucky for Lily to have parents that worry about her this much. I wonder if my parents would behave the same way if they were still alive.
"Never in my wildest dream would I expect her to become a student of one of the Great Powers, yet even agreed to marry one. She was always timid and a slow learner when she was young. We were so worried about her when she had to leave the forest to become an adventurer," sighed Noah.
"Is it… alright for me to know about her history and why she decided to leave here? She could have stayed here and chosen a different path, right?" I asked both of them.
"Of course, as our future son-in-law, we can certainly indulge you in what she's been through during her childhood. Lily was—a rather quiet child. She was always scared of something, which we could never figure out. It doesn't help that men disturb her constantly despite still being a child. Many of them were hoping that she'd grow to be a beauty like me, and they wished to form some sort of bond with her as early as they could to stand a chance. I'm not arrogant, if that's what you're thinking; I just know full well what I am and what effect it had on Lily," Violet explained.
"We did our best to protect her however we could. But it was just impossible to stop them from disturbing her even when they shouldn't. Alas, since we knew keeping her here would only make things worse, we decided to request her to become an adventurer. To leave here and to see the world for herself," Noah continued.
"One thing you should know about us is that— we have a rather harsh training that all elven children must go through with no exceptions. All of us suffered horrible scars from those trainings when we were growing up. We tried our best to prevent Lily from joining, using our status to supersede what we could or even telling her that her health was in a bad condition because we knew she would not survive the trainings. But deep down, we knew full well that we couldn't protect her forever, so we had to do something. There were only two choices for her: risk her life with those trainings or leave here and become an adventurer," Violet explained further.
"We took a gamble. Since we had taught Lily ways to defend herself, we decided for her to test her luck in becoming an adventurer. The road towards the city was relatively safe, so we assumed it was the best choice for her, but we neverexpected that she would encounter bandits on her way who tried to kidnap her. We would like to thank you and the current Viking Lord for saving her life that day," bowed Noah.
"The two of us were so distraught on the day she left. We were so worried that we armed and prepared her in whatever way we could before praying for her safety. But when she came back to visit us a few years later, your name was the first thing she spoke of. We were surprised at first that who she was speaking of so highly was actually a human. Being her mother, I teased her that she might have feelings for you, but she denied it at first. However, she eventually caved and asked me whether loving a human was actually something we could accept. I won't lie, I was genuinely surprised when she asked me that question and pestered me to tell me more about you. But I knew full well that she was already deeply in love from the way she spoke of you. Noah here was completely caught off guard when I told him that our daughter had fallen for a human male," she smiled.
"This would explain why Lily wasn't proficient in combat when I first met her. And why she was rather clingy to us despite only meeting us the first time. I never knew we were literally her first friends. But, with all due respect, you were mistaken about her. Lily is a brave woman who was willing to use to protect the Viking Lord, even if it meant losing her life. And I can assure you that she's no longer the woman you once knew. She daresay she's even stronger than me now," I told them.
"We know, Zen. After all, she was the one who begged us to help you with the war in City Of Pines. It's all for you, Zen. She was no longer afraid, no longer weak, no longer lost, because of you. Which is why we're glad that you're willing to accept her. We didn't want our daughter to continue with this rough culture of ours. Nor any of our grandchildren for that matter," Noah gave a sigh of relief.
"If I may, why don't the elves just change their way of life then? Reduce the intensity of the training maybe. Isn't it difficult for the elves to conceive in the first place? What's the mortality for these trainings?" I asked them.
"There aren't many recorded deaths so far, but you definitely won't emerge unscathed. The biggest problem with these trainings is that all children must attend and finish them, in spite of their circumstances. However, not all children are physically fit or even meant for such trainings in the first place. Our main issue is that we don't like change. But that's not to say that there haven't been elders that raised this concern," he explained.
"So—I take it that the councillors decided to ignore the concerns of their people? I guess it's common for old folks to be stubborn no matter the species," I shrugged.
"I would lower your voice if I were you. But that's not the only thing we are facing; we have conservatives that refuse to change even a single thing about our culture. Which is why we have elves who would rather choose different species for their partners just to avoid embracing our old culture," he sighed.
"I guess that's why you're glad that I decided to marry her. Thank you, for giving me your blessings. I'll admit, I was sort of caught off guard earlier when it happened so quickly. Please don't expect a grandchild anytime soon," I bowed to both of them.
"We were surprised as well. What she told us previously was that you chose Rose as your partner and you have absolutely no interest in getting another. You broke our daughter's heart, Zen. You never knew how sad she was, even after what she did for you. Thinking about it, I should give you a spanking for making her cry," she chuckled but Noah glared at her.
"I'm incredibly sorry. Circumstances changed my perspective and principles. I'm… not sure if you can tell me if I have stopped ageing or just suspended in age due to what Lily did to me? I no longer aged, even a bit, ever since that day. Will I live longer than what a normal human should?" I asked them curiously.
"We really have no answer for you on this. Not because we can't speak of it, but we really don't have an answer for your case since there's no one else out there with your circumstances. Hang on a minute, are you marrying Lily because you think you'll outlive your current wife? Is that the only reason why you changed your mind?" asked Noah as he slightly raised his voice.
"Absolutely not. I didn't choose to marry Lily on a whim. Hear me out before you choose to murder me. I chose Rose as my wife because she was a human and I know we share a similar lifespan. I also realised I care about her more so than Lily, despite my feelings for Lily being stronger. It's a little hard to explain what I'm trying to say, but I'll try my best. As I came to realise, if I were to live longer than Rose, then who's going to care for my daughter? I know full well that I'm not fit to care for anyone, since I'm so slow to realise things. If that end up being true, then having Lily at my side might be for the best, and perhaps we can be together longer. I hope that makes some sense?" I shied myself.
"We won't harm you, Zen. It will be good news for us if you're able to live longer than a century, as you will have more time to spend with our daughter. Sigh, we do hope Lily would be able to resolve her current predicament so that we can celebrate your wedding here. I will ensure it'll be the most extravagant wedding you will have in your entire life. Leave all the preparation to us; we will ensure that it's ready when the time comes," he assured me.
"Zen, you're not as bad as you say you are. You willingly raised Rose on your own in spite of your circumstances. I don't believe you're a bad father when you're so worried about your daughter. You are an excellent father, Zen. Don't think otherwise," smiled Violet.
"I—thank you. I really appreciate you for saying that," I bowed to her.
"Alright, we have taken much of your time. Thank you so much, for spending time informing us about our daughter's condition. We're really glad that she's safe and sound. Have a good rest and prepare yourself for tomorrow's planning; we are definitely going to need your insight," both of them bowed before leaving, which I gladly returned.
"I'll do whatever I can. Goodnight, my future parents-in-law," I chuckled a little, which made them laugh in return.
They exited my room, and I heard them knocking on John's door. Perhaps they wish to convey their thanks to him as well. I lay on my bed and thought of our discussion about Lily. She had been suffering a lot, huh? Damn my stubbornness for not marrying her earlier. I might have been able to help Lily in many ways after she resurrected me. Perhaps I could have helped her in reducing her sentence or something, anything at all. Damn it, I really wished she would tell me what actually happened. Knowing how stubborn she is, I really wonder if there would come a day where she'll actually tell me. Maybe I should force her to tell me before we get married, a condition before we tie the knot. Heh heh.
Thinking about it, I'm rather amazed at how fate had linked us together. If I had left a day later or sooner, I would not have met Lily, John, or even Rose for that matter. It felt like it was due to circumstances that we met, but I'm fairly certain it was due to fate. Maybe I was actually fated to marry Lily in the first place, but meeting Rose changed that? Ah well, what's the point in thinking about possibilities when it had already occurred?
Damn it, this bed is just too comfortable. Should I even sleep right now? It felt too early for me to hit the sack. But what can I even do here? Hmm—oh, I thought of something! But will he even entertain my request? Doesn't hurt to ask, I suppose. A bit of training in their turf sounds interesting and a good way to improve my skills. Alright, no point in wasting time, let's have some fun.