Arthur

Almost two years have passed since I brought Sylvie back and we met Seele for the first time. It seems she kept both of her promises of not telling Kezess and the Asuras about us and bringing gifts when she came to visit again, while they were mostly for Sylvie she did bring me a few things. Seele gave us mostly clothing and accessories made by one of the minor clans of dragons that specialize in it and provide most of what the Indrath clan wears. The quality of the materials and the craftsmanship was what you would expect from something made by Asuras, nothing I could find in either continent was even close to this level.

Unfortunately one of the articles of clothing Seele gave me was a dress that she forced me to wear. When Regis told Tess and gramps about it I was once again forced to put on the dress causing Virion to laugh just as much if not more than Regis while Tess silently analyzed me. The look she had once she was done still scares me.

Sylvie's strength remained around the same as when we came back from Epheotus so there was little she could do in terms of training that wouldn't raise suspicion from Kezess. The biggest change in her was that her aether affinity is now for Aevum instead of Vivum. She could still use some healing arts but they weren't as powerful as before, but they were still much better than an emitter's healing. I've tried to help her develop some Aevum arts of her own by sharing my experience using the Aroa's Requiem keystone and completely opening up our bond when using the godrune and while that did help her gain some insight, it might be better to wait until Windsom takes us for training for her to learn more.

After deciding he had done enough training Regis tried to flirt with Alea and Aya multiple times only to be shot down immediately by them calling him a cute puppy.

Tess made steady progress with her mana core and was now halfway through the solid orange stage. She would've been on a higher stage if the purifying spellform didn't lose efficiency as the impurities were removed from one's core, which explains why they didn't have any effect on the Lances.

Other than training, Tess also spent as much time as she could with her parents and made sure I did as well, which made me get a lot closer with them. We didn't leave the castle as often but I still made sure to take her on a date at least once a week which she very much enjoyed. During one of our dates we caught Merial and Aya following us so they could get new material to tease us with.

I spent most of my time training with Sylvia's will. Thanks to already having a lot of experience using it, unlocking both phases only took a few days after finishing the assimilation process. Unlike last time the acquire phase wasn't Static Void, instead I gained the ability to cancel kinetic energy from my enemies attacks similar to the spellform one of the Djinns I met had. But the biggest change was while using Realmheart Physique, it resonated with its godrune counterpart forcing it's activation regardless of my intent, making the golden runes were now brighter and aether could be seen swirling inside it in a hypnotic way. Thanks to this resonance, I could finally use both of my cores at the same time but only for five minutes, because the mental strain from controlling both forces was too much for me at the moment.

Virion finally finished reading and organizing all the information from Agrona's journal that was relevant to the war and sent a copy to Cynthia and Varay for safekeeping. After he was finished with that, he wanted to contact elder Bhund to ask for his help in keeping an eye on Rahdeas but I told him it wasn't needed since the problem would take care of itself.

During this time I also told him about my past life and his reaction was the one that surprised me the most. Other than asking me if I already told Tess about it he simply laughed it off saying he finally understood how we got along so well. Unfortunately for me the day after I told him about it, gramps started dumping some of his work on me and asked Alduin to get my opinion whenever he couldn't decide on something. When I complained about it Virion just said it was so I wouldn't lose my edge for when I eventually become the King of Elenoir. Thankfully he didn't make me do anything that was too time consuming allowing me to focus on the two most important things I had to do, training and visiting the jewelry stores I had Regis look for when I arrived here in Zestier.

It took me a while to find a store that satisfied me, but it was worth being so thorough. Around two weeks ago I went to the last on the list and found exactly what I was looking for. The owner was pretty young and worked alone. You could tell he lacked experience compared to the other craftsmen I visited, but even the simplest of his pieces were comparable to something royalty would wear. After discussing with him what I wanted to commission and its purpose, he immediately got to work and in a few days showed me the designs he came up with. I settled on a platinum ring with grooves in the shape of vines that would be filled in with gold and would wrap around an emerald gem.

After showing it to Sylvie and Regis and getting their opinion on the ring and the plan for the proposal I felt confident I made the right choice. I had already talked with Virion and got his full support, to no one's surprise. What worries me is if her parents will give me their blessings, even after everyone reassured me it would be fine.

After cheating death on multiple occasions, fighting in duels that would decide the fate of my country and even challenging god-like beings, it was talking to my girlfriend's parents that left me the most nervous. But it's something I have to do. I said I wanted to do things the right way this time and this is one of the steps I need to take.

Gathering all my courage I knocked on the door of Alduin's office.

"Come in." I heard him answer.

Opening the door I went in. The room was very simple in its decoration, but still felt like a space that was meant for a king. Alduin was sitting at his desk while Merial was on the couch looking over some documents.

"It's unusual for you to come to us. Is there anything we can help you with Arthur?" He asked, a bit surprised.

"I came here because there is something I want to talk to you two about." I paused for a second. "About me and Tess."

Alduin looked at me with curiosity and Merial with a smirk.

"Are you finally going to ask her?" She said like a giddy teenager and a look of realization hit her husband.

"So that's the reason. It seems father was right, I just wasn't expecting this day to come so soon." Alduin said.

Wait, they already know why I'm here? How?

"I'm pretty sure everyone knows what you're planning papa." Sylvie chimed in from the garden, where she was having tea with Tess.

"Well, if you already know why I'm here then I won't beat around the bush. I want your permission to ask Tessia to marry me." I said with the most resolution I could muster in my nervous state.

Alduin chuckled before responding. "You don't have to ask for that, but I'm glad you did. I can see how much you two care about each other and knowing how strong you are I can rest easy knowing my daughter will be safe. I trust you will make her happy Arthur." He said with a smile.

"You have our blessings Arthur, and even if you didn't, I don't think it would've mattered much. I'm sure elder Virion would've found a way to make you Tessia's partner." Said Merial.

"Thank you, I'll do anything to live up to your expectations." I paused for a moment before asking another thing that was on my mind. "I'm curious as to how I knew what I was going to ask for."

"Other than father always mentioning how you and Tess are meant for each other, Alea told us she saw you multiple times visiting jewelry shops but always leaving empty handed until recently."

I knew I should've stored the ring before going out.

"I see. I assume you would like to see what I got." I said while taking out a small box from my pocket.

Merial took the box and as she opened it her eyes went wide.

"Oh my, this is beautiful. No wonder it took you so long to get it. I'm sure she will love it." She said while Alduin had a look that was questioning how I was able to buy something like this.

"Beautiful indeed. I take it you already planned on how to propose?" Alduin asked.

"Yes, all that is left is to do it."

"Alright then, make sure to tell us how it went later." He said.

"Yes, I want to know every detail." Said Merial.

"I will." I said and left the room feeling relieved.

"Alright gecko man, today is the day." Regis said from my room.

"Today is the day."

____________________________________________________

"Didn't they agree too easily to let you marry their daughter? I know that the pointy eared king offered you in the last timeline, but that was after you saved her for, like, the third time?" Asked Regis as he was laying down in my bed while I was getting dressed for tonight.

"You think so? Maybe it's because I spent more time with them. That and that old coot being a lot more vocal about it."

"You're probably right. It's just these small inconsistencies in the timeline worry me a bit. What if I never meet my horned goddess again?" I felt genuine worry coming for him.

"Of course that's what has you worried." I paused for a moment. "I would be lying if I said they didn't worry me as well, but I expected as much. And now that we have three regressors besides us that we know of, the butterfly effect will be that much stronger."

"Right, we did meet a member of the Indrath clan that the gecko princess never even heard of."

"We just have to be careful to not change the important parts too much before the war begins. As long as we can control how Agrona moves we'll be fine."

"If you say so. What are your plans anyways?" Regis asked.

"Other than helping everyone get stronger, I want to minimize the casualties in the Xyrus attack and get rid of Uto before Alea is sent to the dungeon he will be in."

"So we're killing him early then. We could use that to gain some trust from the lizards."

"We aren't killing him there. While your idea isn't bad, it could backfire on me, imagine if a kid shows up claiming he killed the strongest retainer. Even if I'm closer to being an Asura than Uto, he's still one of Agrona's elite forces, it would be weird for him to lose to a kid."

"Then what are going to do with him?"

"Send a message."