Brought those two home.
As soon as she saw Aisha with a swollen belly, Lilia fell.
Not fainted, simply completely collapsed on the floor, but immediately she got back up and head to the kitchen, wielding a large knife on her return. I had rushed to disarm her.
"Let me go! Now that it comes to that, this is the only way I can make amend..!"
As she shouts, I s.n.a.t.c.hed the knife from her hands. I hurried to explain what happened after Aisha eloped, what we already talked about, and that I have accepted their relations.h.i.+p.
After the explanation Lilia finally calmed down, visibly exhausted.
Then she fell asleep.
Her face so pale, it made you wonder if Lilia had always been so frail?
I suppose after spending a year in anxiety, it got the better of her.
While nursing Lilia, I carefully gave her my views on the matter.
Indeed, there are various opinions on the marriage between close relatives.
But the feelings between Aisha and Ars are mutual and sincere.
In the past year, Ars gained a sense of resolution, and Aisha also had grown.
And I, I would like them to have the freedom to live their own lives.
Lilia listened in silence as I slowly explained everything bit by bit.
"I was an unfaithful woman, seducing Paul-sama, hurting Zenith-sama."
"I think that"s why my own daughter would think to make a move on Ars-sama."
"All I could think about in the past year, was if only I hadn"t given birth to that child."
"Of course, I didn"t plan to actually say that to Aisha. Zenith-sama had already scolded me once for saying so already."
Zenith was sitting on a chair in Lilia"s room.
Same as always, looking dazed, at nowhere in particular.
I don"t know when that conversation took place.
But even in her condition, Zenith could understand our conversation, could act upon it.
Words like "if I only haven"t gave birth to that child" would certainly drew a beating.
Even I would been angry.
Because it robbed the purpose of the conversation Paul, Zenith, Lilia and I had on that particular day.
It would erase our happiness on the day when Norn and Aisha were born.
"It"s one thing for her to seduce Ars-sama, but now that her belly is already so big, there"s no turning back."
"... In the end, that girl is indeed of my blood. Seducing the master she swore to protect, buying rank with her body in exchange. It"s all because of lowborn, lecher blood flowing in her."
"Even if she didn"t intent to seduce Ars-sama... Aisha had no doubt manipulated Ars-sama."
I told her that she"s wrong.
Aisha wasn"t lowborn.
It was an accident.
The relations.h.i.+p just happened to be between master and servant.
If you like someone, you naturally want him to like you back.
And if you work hard at it, naturally he"ll respond, even if he didn"t felt the same way before.
It"s only natural.
Aisha and Ars were always close, only an age gap separated them.
Indeed, Ars was a little too young, but Aisha wasn"t much better. She might be older, but her heart was still young.
That"s how I persuaded her.
"Rudeus-sama, what should I do?"
I replied, I have already accepted them.
So Aisha, Ars, and Lilia should sat down and calmly talk it out.
Find an understanding.
He maybe young, but Ars was also acting on his own initiative.
Aisha worked hard to love Ars in her own way.
Even if she had pushed Ars to fall for her, her feelings for him was no lie.
"I understand."
Then should I bring them over?
Or should we wait for a bit?
"Right now is fine."
With that said, I headed out the room.
I called out to Aisha and Ars, whom were waiting meekly in the living room. The children had them surrounded, peppering them with questions.
"Come."
"What happened?"
I explained Lilia"s current condition and her thoughts on them.
She believed it was her fault that Aisha turned out like this.
And that Ars was definitely fooled by Aisha.
That she"s in dismay over what happened.
And that they should have a proper talk with Lilia.
They nod in agreement and stood up.
I stopped them before they left the living room.
"Eh, what is it?"
Several things that you must discuss.
First, three things Ars must remember.
You are not visiting your grandma anymore, but the mother of your loved one.
It was because you couldn"t protect your loved one, that you"re in current predicament.
You need to ask the mother sincerely, for the hand of her daughter.
And three things Ars must understand.
How worried you made everyone around you.
What you have done wrong.
And also what Aisha did wrong, and what her weaknesses are.
Then you need to consider.
How you"ll protect Aisha from now on.
And what you still have to learn.
To accomplish these points, he must learn how Lilia felt.
He must have a heart-to-heart with the mother that raised Aisha, whom more than anyone else worried over her.
If she won"t approve, he must convince her.
If he wishes to be with Aisha, he must pa.s.s that test.
"Okay! I get it!"
Ars nods. He reminds me of Eris.
Aisha, confide to her, all that you said me about what you felt since eloping.
Don"t employ silence or lies to avoid a confrontation.
Even if Lilia gets angry, even if she becomes agitated, bear it, and talk it out.
Have a true heart-to-heart discussion.
"I understand."
Aisha and Ars nod in earnest.
Watching them walk away, I silently murmured, "do your best!"
Afterwards, I do not know what Aisha, Lilia, and Ars talked about.
They spoke for a significant duration, five, six hours, maybe even more.
Several times I could hear Lilia screaming.
Aisha raised her voice once as well.
But ultimately as time pa.s.sed, the shouting lessened, and eventually stopped.
And it was over.
When she came down stairs, Lilia looked utterly exhausted, near complete collapse, but her heart had finally accepted them.
Afterwards, Aisha and Ars apologized to rest of the family.
Sorry that we made you worried.
Sorry that we caused you trouble.
Sorry that we betrayed you.
They kept their heads down throughout.
n.o.body really pushed the issue over what happened.
Even though Lucy glared at Ars, and Norn scolded Aisha.
Ultimately everyone breathed a little easier.
Then it was time for Aisha"s and Ars" punishment.
It"s a bit complicated.
First, cut off the relations.h.i.+p with Aisha.
For her to be removed from the family name.
This was on Aisha"s own suggestion.
The traitor must be punished.
True in every world.
Aisha also suggested ruining the traitor"s reproductive organs, but I flatly refused it.
Instead, after Aisha gave birth, she"ll lose her family name and be banished.
By banished, I mean she"ll attend Asura Royal Academy.
From the ordeal, she realized her own immaturity.
Become a more wholesome individual from school... Maybe not that far, but she felt she need a fresh start with her education.
Learn how to better empathize with others, she explained.
Also as punishment for what happened, her child will be left in my care.
Until Ars can stand on his own two feet, she would not reunite with her child.
After giving birth, she"ll only have a brief respite with the child.
That was Aisha"s punishment.
Aisha said I"m letting her off easy, but I thought that would be enough.
Because I myself understand the pain of not being able to see one"s own flesh and blood.
Well, even if it"s for Aisha"s own good, I couldn"t help but feel sorry for the innocent child torn from his mother.
Poor child.
Of course, I"ll dutifully care for him...
But it still might leave the child scarred for life.
Now that I thought about it, is this really necessary? Just let Aisha stay home and flirt with Ars. I thought of that too.
But this time, Aisha really ought to accept some punishment.
She must understand the consequences of her actions, and have them carved deep in her heart.
Given that, the only thing I could to do is to shower the child with even more love than a mother can provide.
Of course, just because we banished her doesn"t mean I abandoned her.
After separating from Ars, can Aisha survive and grow on her own?
I look forward to finding out.
This time she definitely can do it.
Ars returned to school after he came home.
He didn"t receive an equal punishment, in consideration of his age.
But neither physically or mentally, he could be Aisha"s support.
I hope he would properly reflect on what happened, and use that as motivation to mature.
And once Ars graduates and becomes an adult, once Eris and I determines that he can live independently, then he can go do as he pleased.
If he wants to go off to Asura Kingdom and bring back Aisha for marriage, I"ll allow it.
As expected, Ars hated the idea of separating from Aisha.
But after the result of his battle with Eris, after seeing the dark circles under Aisha"s eyes, he timidly agreed.
Even though he may not be ready in mind or body, at least his will and fighting spirit are already there.
Ars will definitely grow up and marry Aisha.
If after growing up he lost interest in Aisha, I"d make him pay for knocking her up.
To the public, I announced that Ars got engaged, and Aisha married off somewhere.
No reason to air our family"s dirty laundry to strangers, or cause more trouble for the children... Aisha said.
After that I brought Ars and Aisha to various places to apologize.
All the people involved in the search.
Explained to them what happened.
Of course due to the trouble they caused, I also explained the punishments for Ars and Aisha.
Like always, Zan.o.ba laughed happily and said, "Hahaha, you found what"s most important!"
Ariel inquired, "Since you banished Aisha, can I pick her up?"
Orsted simply nod, looking fearsome as usual.
Alek apparently managed to track down Kiris.h.i.+ka in the Demon Continent, and was about to boast to me on her whereabouts, but it"s a little late for that.
Ruijerd felt conflicted about the whole situation, so he finally could breathe a sigh of relief.
Perugius just snickered, "Ha! So you got caught!" Speaking of which, in this particular situation surrounding Aisha"s disappearance, even though he wasn"t active, he seems to have given Aisha a hand. I should really just snitch him to Orsted...
When we went to the Mercenary Corp, those that took Aisha"s side had their tails stiff and wouldn"t look me in the eyes.
This bunch of traitors.
The original purpose of the Mercenary Corp was to expand Orsted"s influence throughout the world.
With so many traitors, should I just clean house?
Though it was a pa.s.sing thought, I was aware of the possibility of traitors from the beginning.
Since this organization was originally created from specifically to counter Hitogami.
In the first place, Aisha wield everyone"s weakness as protection against Hitogami"s ability to turn people.
Even though Aisha used that power to do something naughty...
But this time, I"ll let the Mercenary Corp off easy. Since there are individuals that stuck by my side, like Rinia and Pursena. This way they all owe me one.
Conversely, even if I tried to clean house, there"s so many branches all over the world. It would just be a ha.s.sle. Since many had knowledge of the teleportation circles and telecommunication tablets, it may cause even greater trouble.
Speaking of Rinia and Pursena, they"re busy scolding all the traitors.
Even though they didn"t contribute either...
All the Corp members that took Aisha"s side, while they"re terrified of the consequences of betraying me, none of them tried to blame Aisha or said things like, "I was only following orders", or "I was threatened."
Rather, they all adored Aisha.
I hope Aisha would better appreciate their sentiments next time.
Regardless, no one was angry.
Just a little uneasy.
After the apology tour, Aisha gave birth.
The son of Aisha and Ars.
He"ll be my first grandchild, a son.
Named Leroy.
Leroy Greyrat.
Intelligent like Aisha, but with a perverse fondness for large b.r.e.a.s.t.s like Ars. Similar to both his parents in a way, he"s a rowdy boy.
Originally I suggested naming him after his parents, or maybe grandparents, but Aisha laughed it off as something only Onii-chan would do.
Still, my first grandchild, it doesn"t feel real yet.
After all, Chris was but a baby merely a few years ago.
It feels more like a new child instead.
Somehow I"m already a grandfather...
Aisha sure knows how to take care of babies.
Hard to believe that this was her first.
But not wholly unexpected, since I had relied on her from Lucy until Chris.
Not that she was alone in the effort, but she always had a knack for it.
As expected, she had the knack as mother too.
Of course, all the women in the family helped with child rearing.
Despite what happened, everyone welcomed Leroy and dotes on him.
That makes me happy.
In particular was Lilia, who did a complete 180 as soon as Leroy was born.
You would never believe she once fervently opposed Aisha"s and Ars" relations.h.i.+p, seeing how she spoiled Leroy.
Not that I don"t understand it.
Since Lilia and I don"t have blood relations, Leroy is her first grandson.
If it wasn"t for the fact that Ars was my son, there would be no reason for her to ever resist doting him.
Even though Lilia is happy, I"m getting worried that he"ll be spoiled rotten at this rate.
Ars is diligently learning how to change diapers.
Right now he"s eagerly learning from Aisha and Lilia how to raise a child.
Even though I agreed to raise him, I"ll mostly leaving that to Ars.
Of course, I"ll be supporting him from the side.
But ultimately, Ars needs to able to handle his job as a parent.
Even though he"s twelve, he"s already a father, there"s no escape from the responsibility.
Ars is self aware of this point, and giving it his all.
Attending school like normal, training even harder with Eris. Working hard in other aspects as well.
One day, he"ll catch up with Aisha.
Are my kids all going to get married off, one after another? How many gaggles of grand kids will I have?
Even though Ars might be a bit early, but Lucy has already reached marriageable age.
Although Clive and her dated, now that he"s off to Milis, I"m worried that they will grow apart.
Maybe they have committed to something before separating, but reality could be cruel.
Maybe Lucy would find new love when boarding at Asura Royal Academy, and end up dating someone else.
Lara doesn"t seem particularly inclined in that direction... But she also seems like the type of kid that would suddenly bring a boy home.
Leo still sticks to her like glue. Maybe Leo will help her find someone...
A little too early for Sieg and the rest.
Still, seeing Ars already is a father at his age, would the other ones try to one-up him?
That I do not know.
Maybe it"ll happen again, another prospect with a complicated background.
Since she"s such a daddy"s girl, maybe she"ll end up bringing a fat 34 year old NEET home...
I might feel repulsed and flatly reject him, but eventually I"d have to have a proper talk with her.
If he"s a NEET, maybe we could get along rather well.
No, more than making good conversations, what matters is his strengths.
"Ah, my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Leroy you"re such a brat."
"Aisha, don"t spoil him."
"Yes, mother."
Leroy is happily burying his face in Aisha"s chest.
Lilia sits by, smiling warmly.
Ars has a "it can"t be helped" look on his face.
Don"t act like that, you"re exactly the same when you"re little.
... Eh?
Don"t tell me Leroy will make a move on Lilia or Chris when he turns ten...?
I"ll be a great-grandfather by forty?
No, no, that"s impossible.
That won"t happen again in this household.
Well, I don"t know how it"ll turn out, and there"s no way to predict the future.
If that happens again, maybe I"ll get a better handle on it than this time.
Looking at the blessing before me, I couldn"t help but wonder.
Then it"s time for separation.
Aisha switched to a travel outfit, completely different from what she wore as a maid, carrying a baggage on her back.
In it only a few select cloth and personal items from her room.
But no maid costume.
The maid costume she had wore for so long is now stored in the bas.e.m.e.nt.
"Goodbye, Leroy..."
Aisha hugs Leroy.
The boy she only spent a few short days with.
Even though she once said the punishment was too light, but as she hugged Leroy, tears still flood out.
Seeing this, I knew that Leroy wasn"t a unwanted boy, and couldn"t help but cry also.
"Well... mother, Onii-chan, I"ll leave Leroy to you."
Aisha hands Leroy to Lilia.
Leroy looks blankly at Aisha.
But as if realizing something, he suddenly cries out.
Instincts tell him that his mother is leaving him.
Aisha could only kiss the crying Leroy on the cheek.
"Ars, do your best."
"Yes!"
Ars answered.
He"s still small.
He now reached Aisha height-wise.
When they reunite, he"ll probably be even taller.
"Well, everyone, I"m heading out."
To those seeing her off, Aisha finally said, "I"m heading out."
Not good bye, not I"m sorry, just that I"m heading out.
That makes me glad.
Aisha steps by the gate, and turns around once more.
Looking at me, the three wives, and the kids.
She slightly bowed.
Then after touching Beat by the gate, she leaves.
"... Hey, Sylphy, Roxy, Eris."
When I head back in, I called out to the three wives.
They all stopped to look at me.
Looking surprised.
"I have something I must say. Can you come to the bedroom?"
"... Is it important?"
"Yes, very important."
Maybe not absolutely necessary.
That"s what I still believe.
But I do want to tell.
After telling Aisha, I must tell them too.
About memory of my past life.
And who I was in my past life.
After today, I"ll spend more time with my children, talk with them more, play with them more.
That way, I won"t let this mistake repeat itself.
But no matter how careful, no matter how clear minded, sometimes the body can"t control itself.
Since in the memory of my past life, there are probably other terrible scars that I still don"t remember.
I want to explain to my wives that.
That way if I act unreasonable again, they could come to my aid.
"It"s very, very important."
I won"t disappoint again.
Holding on to that belief, we head to the bedroom.
Four years pa.s.sed.
Eris has pa.s.sed on to Ars "Longsword of Light".
Sword G.o.d Style Saint Level.
Water and Fire Magic Advanced Level.
Even though he"s not very good at healing magic, in chantless magic he has reached Intermediate Level.
Because he was held back a grade, he couldn"t graduate on stage, but he still scored very highly.
On his graduation, I asked Ars, have you become an adult that can stand on your own two feet yet? Are you mentally and physically prepared to protect Aisha?
Ars said he didn"t know.
But reflecting on what happened, and he understood that it could not have continued. Yet he still loved Aisha the same as those days, he"ll keep working hard, he answered.
Pleased by his answer, I said, "I"m waiting for you."
Ars gasped in surprise.
And loudly he shouted, "Yes!"
Then he raced toward Asura Kingdom to marry Aisha, who had already graduated and currently working under Ariel.
In four years, Aisha had changed slightly as well.
She now works hard to empathize with others.
No longer just pinging for their weaknesses, speaking selfishly less often, no longer constantly scheming, and tries to look for the best solution rather than only that which was most efficient.
In a way, Aisha no longer has that sharp edge she once had.
But the current Aisha no longer tries to use everyone around her to her own advantage, and no longer pressures people just to get things done.
I think this is also personal growth.
The couple settled down in the City of Magic Sharia and bought a house.
Ars, Aisha, and Leroy are living together there.
Of course, they maintained a warm relations.h.i.+p with my house.
They"ll often visit, and we always welcome them here.
Like before, Aisha would busy herself on housework, tending her gardens.
But she no longer wears her maid uniform.
Never again would she wear a maid uniform.
Aisha had finally became an adult.