"Before I got the chance to tell you… actually, Shane and I…"
Ultear deliberately paused there.
Her lashes lowered slightly, and her gaze floated lazily over the boy at her side. A sly curve tugged at her lips.
The moment Shane felt that not-at-all-innocent look, he understood exactly what she was doing.
She wasn't going to finish the sentence—she was leaving him a window to "drop to his knees" and beg for mercy.
But in that instant, Shane's brain kicked into overdrive, and he didn't immediately fold.
He was betting on one thing:
Ur's plans going forward.
Even "groveling" had to be cost-effective. If he surrendered without confirming this, not only would his life be miserable—his "status in the household" wouldn't survive either.
If Ur planned to travel the kingdom, then fine—let her say it. The sky was high and the emperor far away; he wouldn't have to see her every day and die of embarrassment.
But if Ur was going to join Fairy Tail—or settle in Magnolia—
Then he'd be seeing her every day. In that case… he could consider groveling later.
So Shane grit his teeth and, right before Ultear could continue, snatched the conversation away by force.
"Anyway! Now that everyone's reunited…"
His voice rose a few stiff notches as he aggressively changed the subject.
"Ur-senpai, what are you planning to do next?"
"Hm?"
Ur, who had been staring at her daughter with full gossip-mode anticipation, was thrown off by the interruption.
She didn't overthink it. She just rubbed her chin and genuinely considered it.
"I haven't seriously thought about it yet… but since I finally got my freedom back, of course I want to live with Tear—and with my students."
"…"
Shane's heart went cold.
He didn't need to guess.
Living with her students meant one thing: Magnolia.
At the same time…
The girl beside him tilted her head slightly and gave him a look that practically said, At this point, why are you still struggling?
That gaze was like watching a helpless deer caught in a steel trap—nowhere to run.
"…"
Shane went a little dead inside.
A true man knows when to yield.
He let out a long sigh in his head, then—shielded by his body—quietly reached out and took Ultear's hand where it was looped around his arm.
His fingertips lightly scratched her cool palm.
Then he forced a smile that looked more like a funeral grimace, and frantically signaled with his eyes:
I was wrong!
Please, please don't say it out loud!
Feeling the tiny itch in her palm—and the raw survival instinct dripping off his fingertips—Ultear's smile deepened.
She understood the proper "training" dosage for this man.
Enough pressure to make him feel it…
Not so much that she actually cornered him into biting back.
Moderation was how you made it last.
So she stopped while she was ahead, smiled faintly, and smoothly followed her mother's line.
"Then you should join Fairy Tail."
"Gray's there, and it's a really fun guild. You'll like it."
"Really?" Ur's eyes lit up, then she hesitated and looked to her daughter. "But what about you, Tear? Aren't you there too?"
"I have other things to do. I can't join for now," Ultear said softly—then added, with emphasis:
"But I'll come visit you often. Very often."
"Oh… I see."
Ur looked a little disappointed, but nodded in understanding.
Then the surprisingly airheaded mother suddenly clapped her hands, as if remembering something important.
"Wait! Shane threw me off and I forgot—what were you about to say? What exactly is going on between you and him?"
"…"
Shane's heart jumped straight into his throat again.
But this time Ultear proved she actually had integrity.
She released Shane's hand, leaned close to her mother's ear, covered her mouth with her fingers, and whispered a few quiet sentences.
Shane could only watch Ur's expression transform in real time—
Confusion → shock → and finally a warm, teary-eyed, "mother-in-law inspecting her future son-in-law" sort of satisfaction.
Ur turned back, nodded hard, and began openly scanning Shane up and down with a smile that threatened to spill over.
"So that's how it is… good, good, good! Then I won't ask any more!"
"?"
Shane's scalp prickled. Full-body goosebumps.
Whatever Ultear had said… it was dangerous.
"Alright, then let's go." Ur, in a great mood, motioned mysteriously toward the cave entrance. "You still haven't seen the gift I prepared."
Watching Ur's light, cheerful back, Shane only felt his spine go cold.
He grabbed Ultear by the wrist before she could follow and hissed under his breath:
"What did you tell her?"
If she'd said something like "we're married" or "we have a kid"—
And Erza ever found out—
He honestly felt like he'd die before anyone else did.
"You guess."
Ultear glanced back, blinked innocently, and flashed him a meaningfully mischievous smile.
Then she ignored Shane's frantic, itchy panic entirely, even humming lightly as she hurried after her mother.
"…"
She was absolutely doing this on purpose.
Shane froze for two seconds, then could only swallow the anxiety and follow, stiff-backed.
The moment they entered, the light dropped sharply and the cold bit deep.
There were no signs of daily living—Ur clearly didn't live here. It was just an ice cellar for storage.
As they went deeper, using the faint daylight leaking in from the entrance, Shane finally saw the missing behemoth.
Deliora.
He'd wondered where it had gone; turns out it had been hidden inside this enormous natural cave.
But the "undying demon" looked… wrong now.
Its skin had turned a dead, ashen gray. A thick layer of frost coated its surface; to the touch it would be cold and hard like iron, as if it had been completely frozen from the inside out.
No breathing. No heartbeat. Even that signature, violent pressure was gone.
It looked like nothing but an empty shell.
"This is the gift you meant?" Shane stepped closer and tapped the ice encasing the demon, producing a crisp, ringing knock.
"…Don't tell me…"
"Right. It's almost dead," Ur said, standing by Deliora's legs, looking up at the foe that had once driven her to despair. Her voice was as calm as if she were commenting on the weather.
"All these years, aside from maintaining the seal, I've been doing one thing over and over—killing it."
"Again and again. The instant it tried to heal, I killed it again. Until its life force ran dry."
Shane's gaze dropped.
At Deliora's heart, there was a massive hole punched clean through.
The wound Lancer's twin spears had carved—still gaping, still grotesque, not even slightly healed after all this time.
Ur wasn't exaggerating. She must have killed it countless times.
Even "immortality" had limits.
"Originally I wanted to leave it for Gray," Ur sighed, sounding genuinely regretful.
"I wanted him to get his revenge himself—to untie that knot in his heart."
"But that brat didn't come today."
…She really did love her students.
Hearing that, Shane suddenly felt a little jealous of that idiot Gray.
Being loved that deeply by a teacher like this… was a rare kind of happiness.
"Since it's an 'undying calamity,' it should hold on a bit longer," Shane pulled his hand back and suggested.
"Let's leave it here for now."
"When everyone's gathered, let Gray—and… the others—deal the final blow together and finish it for good."
"Let it be… a belated gift everyone shares."
Even though the Book of Heroic Spirits still had a "kill Deliora" trial objective, this demon was basically dead already.
It wouldn't run. They could finish it whenever and clear the trial.
And Shane had just unlocked Lancer—he needed time to acclimate. He wasn't desperate for new "summon permissions" right this second.
"Everyone together… sounds nice." Ur smiled and accepted the idea.
"By the way…" Staring at Deliora made Shane think of the other boy he'd seen back in Memories of Time.
"Your other student—where is he?"
At that name, Ur's smile faded slightly. She sighed.
"That silly kid…"
"He truly believes I used Iced Shell and died along with Deliora."
"These past few years, he's come to this snowfield several times. Poking and prying everywhere—like he wanted to do something to the sealed Deliora."
"He didn't find you?" Shane asked, a bit tense.
The bonds between teacher and student ran deep. If Lyon ever found this place and discovered Ur was alive, it would be a disaster.
"No."
Ur shook her head.
"As agreed, every time I sensed his magic, I hid in advance. He never found me."
Then she rubbed her head in frustration and clenched her fist.
"That idiot student! Every time he comes, he looks like a storm cloud. He must've fought with Gray again—why else would he come alone to a place like this?"
"When I'm back, I'm going to grab those two troublemaking brats and properly hammer some sense into them!"
Watching Ur's mix of anger and affection, Shane went quiet.
It was true—aside from that one time, Gray almost never mentioned Lyon.
They were all so damn stubborn.
Shane sighed inwardly, then turned his head to see how Ultear reacted.
But the moment his gaze shifted, he collided with a pair of quiet eyes.
Ultear had been watching him.
In the dim ice cave, their eyes met.
Her gaze was too clear—too piercing.
After only a moment, Shane lost the stare-down first and looked away.
Just like Ur with her students…
He really had no defenses against Ultear either.
"Every family's got its own impossible mess…"
~~~
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