New arc!
I think my new schedule will be 1 chapter of each WN series a week, pending manga chapter releases. This is at least until I get settled into a routine with the new job.
Chapter 16 - Demon lord, meeting his wife"s parents "Sire, did you enjoy mountain climbing with your daughter?" Toralina asked me at work.
"I think something important was missing."
"Remember your lessons on public speaking? You need be clear and concise, but also specific."
I had no reason to hide it, so I explained everything that happened in detail.
"I see. Basically, you thought she wanted to go down the mountain with her own power, but then, when you brought up teleporting, she snapped. She"s certainly at an age where you might expect children to easily lose their tempers. Many heroes are hot-blooded as well."
"You shouldn"t be so prejudiced based on someone"s profession, you know. Also, this is a problem regarding my daughter, so it won"t be resolved just by a.n.a.lyzing how most people act."
"Well, your daughter is getting her just deserts; when scaling mountains, you should always identify how you"re going to get back down in advance. Although that"s just as much your fault, sire."
"Aah, I know already… I lack discretion; after all, I"ve never had to deal with children before."
I had drowned myself in my work for so long that I"m completely used to dealing with anything work-related, but when I try to be a parent, it never seems to work out well. I want to believe that I"m not completely hopeless, but I just feel like something"s always off.
"Be that as it may, there really is a lot of work. We"re getting about forty percent more approval requests than last year."
I was signing a mountain of doc.u.ments.
"Of course there"s a lot of work for us. We suddenly stopped warring with the humans, so jobs need to be a.s.signed to all the discharged military personnel and whatnot. We"ve set up a lot of frivolous community service projects for now. Once again, this is mostly your fault, sire, because you suddenly signed that peace treaty."
Toralina was working dispa.s.sionately, but her words had a little bite to them.
"I could not help it. Love is sudden, you can"t plan for it."
"Even if love is abrupt, greeting your partner"s family, having a ceremony, applying for government benefits, all those things require advance planning, no? You know, making sure your wedding ceremony takes place on your anniversary, that kind of thing."
I dropped my pen on the table.
"You"re right—we need to have a ceremony. It completely slipped my mind."
This was something absolutely necessary. However, I immediately identified an obstacle in my way.
"Are Laetia"s parents still alive…?"
"If you don"t know, sire, then it"s completely out of the question for me to know."
I"m guessing her former-husband"s parents were dead, since she didn"t seem to have any connection with them. After all, as soon as I proposed, she immediately gave me the OK. Laetia also never talked about her own parents, so at least they didn"t seem like the type to be overly protective of their daughter.
That said, if they were still alive, I really needed to meet them… I had just completely forgotten to consider it…
"Sire, please do not stop working just because you"re processing shock. Work is still piling up."
"I may have much more important matters that I need to attend."
"This is official government work. Please remember that this has much higher priority than your family matters," Toralina stated coldly. But then… "You are hopeless, you know that? Fine, I will increase my efficiency by forty percent."
Her hands began to move much more briskly. I really do have a dependable secretary. From now on, I will definitely be relying on her even more.
That evening, I inquired about Laetia"s parents.
"Yes. My parents are both still alive. They moved to an location above a port town and are happily enjoying their retirement."
So they"re still alive… Wait, it"s rude to look so disappointed to learn that they"re not dead.
"Did you inform them about your remarrying?"
"Yes, I sent them a letter. However, even if I hadn"t, I think they"d have found out; our marriage is national news, you know."
Well, it was the reason why the war ended, after all, so of course it would be a big deal.
"Um, I think I would like to introduce myself to your honorable parents at a time convenient for them. Do you have any insight on when might be good?"
"Hmm, let"s see~. I think any time should be fine. Our house will probably be safe no matter how long we"re away, too~."
In that case, we should go as soon as possible. The more I put it off, the worse their impression of me will get. But well, if they"re calm people like Laetia is, maybe it"ll turn out all ri—
"You say that now, demon lord, but Grandpa is really ornery, you know."
Angelica jumped into the conversation while I was s.p.a.ced out.
"Is-Is he now……? But, in that case, her mother must be very kind, to create an equilibrium—"
"Grandma is strict too. Have fun telling them about your marriage."
Am I perhaps digging my own grave here?! d.a.m.n! What a blunder… I was so focused on my relationship with my stepdaughter that I completely neglected to consider my in-laws! But, I absolutely had to somehow be peacefully acknowledged as a suitable partner for her. If not, it would definitely make Laetia sad! That alone must be avoided! I will protect Laetia"s smile!
"Laetia, why don"t we go meet them on my next day off."
"Alrighty~! Angelica, you"ll come too, right? I"m sure Grandpa and Grandma want to see you too."
"Yeah, I know, Mama."
So Angelica will be joining us. It would really help my appeal if my stepdaughter would be approving of her stepfather, but there was little hope of that, I think. Blithely asking for her cooperation was like poking a hornet"s nest; she would probably say that it was too embarra.s.sing for a hero to have a demon lord for a father, so I couldn"t rely on her a.s.sistance. Anyway, I just hope she doesn"t get in my way. If Angelica decided to actively oppose me, then my chances of victory would drop to nothing.
"Umm, Laetia, do you know what kind of sweets your parents enjoy?"
"Let me think~. It should be fine if you bring like a tin of a.s.sorted cookies."
All right. I"ll look for a local bake shop to buy cookies. My adversaries live together, so I should find something tasteful, but not too big.
"Angelica, what do you say to helping me look for cookies sometime?"
"You"re really going all out on this, aren"t you, demon lord…"
"I am thorough even on trivial matters. One small lapse in vigilance could result in disastrous fallout."
"I"ll at least agree with the words you"re saying, demon lord, but you"re applying them to something really stupid."
My daughter was once again casually mocking me, but this time, I wouldn"t make a big deal out of it. As long as I received my in-laws" approval, I would bear it!
— — Chapter 17