A few days later a rather peculiar quest arrived at the royal castle. A knight riding a massive armored wolf.

Only two people and another armored wolf greeted him by the gate – a black-haired young man and a short brown-haired girl.

"Nnn! Nnnn!"

The moment that the knight dismounted the monster, the armored wolf started whimpering with her hair waving like crazy – fast and strong enough to create a gust of wind behind her – and she rushed at the black-haired young man.

"Awww! Hello baby! Who's a good girl~?"

"Nn...! Nnn!"

The young man cheered out while ruffling the wolf's fur while the monster large enough to be a mount acted like a tiny adorable puppy.

"Hi, dad~"

The black-haired youngster looked over the wolf while patting her exposed belly and smiled at the knight who removed his helmet revealing his pale-blue-haired and a big smile.

"You've grown up, Zoemi."

Mizoe nodded and chuckled at his adoptive son.

"..."

Leveo looked between the two as if waiting for something...

"I haven't seen her play like this since she was a puppy~"

"They both are always on guard to keep you or the twins safe so it's not surprising~"

Mizoe hummed and joined in on the patting session while Zoemi shrugged his shoulders and reached out with one hand to the other armored wolf that was looking at him longingly since he started paying attention to her sister.

"...umm... I kind of expected a more emotional reunion..."

"...?" "...?"

Leveo furrowed her brows and pointed out to the two men who looked at each other and then at her.

"Really?"

"I mean... I started contacting dad with my law of Pisces as soon as I took care of the most pressing issues."

Mizoe tilted his head innocently and Zoemi went with the exact same motion before explaining.

"We were chatting like that basically every day. I mean, it's nice to finally see each other, but you know."

"...oh...!"

The pale-blue-haired man added, making the brown-haired girl let out an embarrassed gasp.

"...you thought that I didn't talk with my dad at all, did you..."

"N-no...! It's not like that...!"

Zoemi furrowed his brows and groaned in an annoyed voice making Leveo flustered.

"Nah, don't worry, I am just messing with you. I've learned that only an extremely small number of people were able to retain their memories from the past timeline so it's obvious that you would not have the exact same sense of humor. You're the same though, dad."

"...? Thank you...?"

The black-haired young man shrugged his shoulders and assured, nudging his adoptive father in the side and making him confused.

"...and going back to the most pressing matters... Atreterve's army is stationed right by our border and the highlanders had to flee the mountains because of the field practice that the Barbariacca nation's forces decided to hold this year. Honestly, the most surprising thing in all of this is that they haven't attacked yet."

Mizoe breathed out and looked at his son with a grim expression.

"They are waiting for something... according to the intel that Aspy's corpse puppets are providing, the problem is that not even the army commanders seem to know exactly what. They were ordered to be on stand-by by leaders of their nations."

Zoemi nodded and sighed, the situation was truly bizarre...

"Maybe they don't actually want a war and are trying to scare our kingdom into some kind of agreement, or push some demands on us...?"

Leveo said with a rather worried expression.

"About that... huh...?"

The black-haired youth turned to the brown-haired girl, ready to answer her, but then froze in place, and his expression turned cold.

"Z-Zoemi...? Is something wrong...?"

Leveo's eyes widened and she took a step forward toward the tense young man.

"..."

Mizoe didn't try the same approach, instead, she turned around and looked towards the gate of the outer wall surrounding the castle.

There seemed to be a small commotion there, although it was too far for anyone with normal hearing to understand or even notice what was it about.

What it looked like, though, was that a certain carriage was being stopped by the royal guards, but the coachman was refusing to stop and tried to pass despite their protest.

It was definitely not a behavior that was or should be allowed, and the fact that the guards weren't using actual force to deal with the pesky intruder could mean only that there was someone really important on the inside.

"...what is going on there...?"

Leveo looked at Mizoe and then at the spot he was observing and furrowed her brows.

"Isn't that the carriage of the Espine family? Ah! Duke and duchess must be here inquire about young lady Espine...!"

The brown-haired girl squinted her eyes and gasped in realization before pointing out to the other two.

"...umm... why both of you are looking like that now...?'

And she flinched and took a step back when she saw the looks on Zoemi and Mizoe's faces.

"...I am pretty sure that I warned his majesty what will happen to Doregon and Misena if they dare to appear in front of me...?"

Zoemi gritted his teeth and turned around, facing the gate where the luxurious carriage managed to push through the guards while the coachman was shouting profanities at the people who were not only just doing their jobs but also trying to prevent a tragedy.

"...Zoemi... forgive me for being so selfish... but I would like to deal at least one strike on duke Espine..."

Mizoe was shaking, barely able to hold back the pure fury that was coursing through his veins while he glared at the approaching carriage while clenching his hand on the handle of his sword.

"Because of Espines I lost my parents... and you lost the people who helped you out in the lowest point of your life. It's not selfishness, dad. On the contrary, I will be honored to accept your wish."

Zoemi gulped down his saliva, doing his best to not annihilate the carriage and everyone inside with the power of the stars.

"Wh-what are both of you talking about?! You're talking about... wait Mizoe's not your real dad?!"

Leveo shivered and called out before gasping in shock.

"...yeah, you thought I was lying when I introduced myself as the last of the Banemor family...?"

"...o-oh... true..."

Zoemi flinched and looked over his shoulder, staring at the embarrassed girl in disbelief.historical