The three youths now stood before Kazien, who was slumped limply on the sofa.
"My Dear?" Alvin called softly, touching his husband's shoulder.
"My Love, snap out of it. What is wrong with you?" Allen joined in, his voice trembling as he held back his anxiety.
"My Huby... please look at us." Arken added, gently shaking his husband's arm.
However, it was to no avail. There was no reaction.
Even when his three spouses called out to him with deep concern and shook his body, Kazien gave absolutely no response. The youth seemed to have sunk too deeply into the bottom of his own ocean of regret. His gaze was completely blank.
His physical body was indeed breathing on that sofa, but his soul seemed to have drifted off to nowhere, shackled by a dark sense of guilt.
Seeing his husband completely lost and disconnected from the real world, Alvin took a drastic measure that he desperately did not want to take.
The High Elf youth took a deep breath, then turned toward Kazien's nephew, who was still standing frozen nearby.
"Vildan, look away right now!" Alvin commanded in a very firm and authoritative voice. His pair of mint-green eyes glared sharply at the young boy. "As soon as you look away, close your eyes and cover your ears tightly! Do you understand?!"
Receiving such a warning-laden reprimand, coupled with the sharp glares from Allen and Arken directed at him, Vildan instantly shuddered in fear.
Having no other choice but to obey, Vildan immediately turned his body to face the wall. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears with his tiny palms.
After making sure that Vildan would neither see nor hear what was about to happen...
Slap!
A hard slap landed squarely on Kazien's cheek.
"My Dear!"
Alvin's shout echoed loudly across the room, accompanying the sound of the slap. His hand trembled violently in the air after slapping the man he loved the most.
The sudden numbness and stinging pain spreading across his cheek, coupled with the deafening, shrill shout, successfully and forcefully jolted Kazien back to his senses. The youth flinched, his eyes blinking rapidly, and his focus finally returned.
As soon as his consciousness was fully intact, the first sight that greeted him felt like a heavy blow to his gut.
He saw Alvin standing before him with tears streaming down his cheeks. Beside him, Allen was staring at him with a cold expression filled with suppressed anger. Meanwhile, Arken, the brown-haired youth, was biting his lower lip with a sad and worried look on his face.
"Why... why did you let yourself get swept away in a daydream so laden with regret?!" Alvin cried out, his voice cracking from his sobs. "I had to force myself to slap your face! You completely ignored us, even when we called out to you and shook your body!"
Allen stared sharply, straight into Kazien's eyes.
"What exactly are you thinking about, My Love?" the purple-haired youth asked in a cold and probing tone, though he could not hide the anxious quiver at the end of his sentence. "Why are you letting yourself fall into such profound regret right now?!"
"My Huby, please... could you just be honest with us?" Arken pleaded, his voice trembling violently. "We don't want you to drown in regret that will ultimately only become a heavy burden on your mind."
Seeing the tears, anger, and worry radiating from the faces of the three people he loved, Kazien's chest felt tight. He just realized that he had hurt and saddened his three spouses.
The youth rubbed his face, then looked at the three of them with a gaze full of guilt.
"Forgive me, Alvin. Forgive me, Allen. Forgive me, Arken." Kazien said hoarsely, his tone filled with sincere regret. "I am truly sorry. I... I was just thinking about my family."
"What were you thinking about regarding your family?" Allen pressed uncompromisingly. "Tell everything to us!"
Kazien lowered his head, staring at his own palms which felt cold.
"To be honest... I am deeply regretful because, up until now, I have never once attended my family's wedding ceremonies." Kazien answered, his voice still heavy with sorrow. "Even though... I promised them that I would be there on their happy days. But in reality? I didn't attend a single one of their weddings."
The three youths were instantly stunned. Kazien's disappointment and regret seemed to break their own souls.
"I really wanted to see their happy, smiling faces at their wedding altars." Kazien continued softly, lifting his sorrow-filled face. "The four of us are immortal, but they are not. Time cannot be rewound, and I... I will never be able to turn back time to experience their moments of happiness in person ever again."
Hearing such an honest and fragile confession, Alvin, Allen, and Arken finally understood. The root of their husband's grief was the time that had been forcibly ripped away from his life.
They simultaneously stepped closer to their husband. There was no more anger, only the desire to be the anchor holding their husband steady as he collapsed under a burden that would crush him.
They sat down with Kazien. Alvin and Allen took the seats to Kazien's right and left, gripping his arms tightly. Meanwhile, Arken immediately sat on Kazien's lap, wrapping his arms around the neck of the person he loved so dearly.
"We understand what you are regretting." Alvin said very softly, resting his head on his husband's right shoulder. "But you must know, you are not the only one feeling that pain right now. The three of us feel the exact same ache. We also never attended their weddings."
"They will surely understand your circumstances, My Love." Allen chimed in, his tone now turning incredibly gentle and attentive, his hand rubbing his husband's arm in a soothing rhythm. "But right now, our main focus is solely on saving this world from destruction. Don't let Lunarias destroy the happiness of our family and the families of others in this world!"
"What Brother Alvin and Brother Allen said is true!" Arken added as he tightened his embrace, burying his face in the crook of his husband's neck. "If you stay slumped in despair like this, I am really worried that you won't be able to focus on the mission Goddess Nirfelia has ordered us to do. And if that happens... we will truly fail to save this world. We... we will truly lose their smiles forever!"
Listening to the barrage of comforting words and encouragement from his three spouses, Kazien's eyes widened slightly. Their words worked like healing magic, instantly sweeping away the dark fog inside his head.
The silvery-white-haired youth looked at Alvin's and Allen's faces, then returned the embrace of Arken, who was sitting on his lap.
They... are truly extraordinary. Kazien thought inwardly, a sense of awe slowly replacing his regret. He had not expected his three spouses to be so resilient, strong, and rational when he himself was so fragile.
As a husband and their leader, I should feel ashamed! Kazien cursed in his heart, a harsh reprimand to himself. I, who should be their pillar and role model, let myself become so weak like this.
Kazien took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air and newfound courage.
The time that has passed can indeed never be returned. Kazien thought inwardly, his resolve now fully formed. But lamenting it will not change a thing. I shouldn't have made my three dearly beloved spouses worry and feel sad. I am a complete fool!