"And that's how I met your mother, Angélica," Arthur said after finally finishing the story.
"…That was… more normal than I expected," Angélica murmured.
"I'm surprised you consider something like that normal," Arthur lightly mocked.
"It's because… you know, fights at that level are already normal around here. Natsu and Milim are constantly destroying parts of the city," Angélica replied.
"You've got a point. Anyway, it's already past 9 PM. Time for my little angel to go to bed," Arthur said while glancing at the clock on the wall.
"Is it really that late already?" Luminous asked. "Time passes quickly when you're listening to an interesting story," she added.
"She's right. I never imagined you met Artoria and Irisviel like that," Shion commented.
"To be honest, I didn't expect that encounter to end that way either," Arthur replied with a low laugh. "Especially considering that when I returned, people were shouting my name like I was responsible for everything that happened while I was gone."
"But you usually are responsible for everything," Chloe immediately commented.
Arthur placed a hand over his chest, pretending to be offended.
"That was cruel."
"It was factual," Luminous corrected without hesitation.
"Hmm…" Arthur narrowed his eyes. "You girls are starting to get a little too comfortable teasing me."
"Because it's fun," Shion replied with a smile far too innocent to be trusted.
Angélica, still comfortably sitting in Arthur's lap, simply nodded in agreement.
"It really is fun."
Arthur stared at her for a few seconds.
"…Betrayed by my own daughter."
"You have a lot of daughters," Chloe replied. "One or two betraying you doesn't change much."
"That doesn't make it hurt any less, Chloe."
While the absurd conversation continued, the office door slowly opened.
"Angélica? You're still awa—"
Artoria's voice stopped halfway through the sentence.
Her eyes immediately landed on the little girl completely settled in Arthur's lap, wrapped around him as though it were literally the most comfortable place in the world.
For a brief moment, Artoria simply stayed silent.
Then she let out a small laugh.
"Honestly…" she said while crossing her arms. "It never stops being funny how Angélica treats his lap like it's her throne."
Arthur laughed.
"After all these years, I'm already used to it."
"Because it's comfortable," Angélica replied immediately, hugging Arthur even tighter.
"See?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, clearly pleased with himself. "Legitimate recognition."
"That's not something you should be so proud of," Artoria replied as she walked closer.
Then, without much ceremony, she picked Angélica up into her arms.
The girl immediately made a displeased expression.
"…Mom."
"No complaints," Artoria calmly said.
"But I was comfortable."
"And you'll continue being comfortable in bed."
Angélica still tried to resist for a few seconds, grabbing onto Arthur's clothes as though she had been terribly wronged by the entire world.
Arthur merely laughed at the scene.
"Go to sleep, little one."
"Hmph…"
Even while pouting, Angélica slowly let go of Arthur.
Before leaving, however, she still looked back and lightly waved.
"Good night."
"Good night, my little angel," Arthur replied.
Artoria then sighed softly while adjusting the girl in her arms.
"I'm going to put her to bed."
She gave Arthur one last look.
"And you should rest once in a while too."
Arthur immediately looked away.
"…I do rest."
Every woman present stared at him in complete silence.
The room became so quiet it was almost offensive.
"…Alright, maybe not that much," Arthur admitted.
Artoria merely laughed quietly before leaving the office carrying Angélica, who already seemed half asleep against her shoulder.
As soon as the door closed, Arthur finally stretched out on the sofa and let out a long, tired sigh.
"…That story ended up being way longer than I expected."
The next instant, Chloe appeared behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"But it was worth it," she murmured.
Before Arthur could reply, her fingers began slowly massaging his tense shoulders.
"…Oh."
His eyes widened slightly.
Then he nearly melted into the sofa immediately afterward.
"…This is the true Heaven's Feel."
"What an exaggeration," Chloe replied, though she was clearly pleased by his reaction.
"No, no, I'm serious…" Arthur murmured while sinking even deeper into the sofa. "I can literally feel my soul returning to my body."
"Your body is more troublesome than any weapon or ability in this world," Luminous commented.
"Thank you for the affection."
While Chloe continued massaging his shoulders, Luminous observed Arthur for several seconds before slightly narrowing her golden eyes.
"…Even so, I'm certain you didn't tell the whole story."
Arthur slowly opened one eye and laughed.
"You're right."
"I knew it," Shion immediately commented.
"There's a lot I left out," Arthur lazily admitted. "But honestly… I'm not really in the mood to tell another story right now."
"Because it would involve too many problems?" Chloe asked.
"Because it would involve explaining how I met and became friends with myself."
The office fell silent for a moment.
Then—
"…That's all?" Luminous asked.
Arthur looked at her with a deadpan expression.
"You really have lost the ability to distinguish absurdity from normality after living with me, haven't you?"
Luminous rested her face against one hand while watching Arthur with a faint amused smile.
"What can I do?" she asked. "Every day is an interesting adventure in this family."
Her words made all four of them laugh almost simultaneously.
"Unfortunately… she's right," Arthur commented between laughs.
"You say that like you aren't the main source of those adventures," Shion immediately replied.
"That's slander."
"That's reality," Chloe corrected.
Arthur merely huffed dramatically.
"Honestly, nothing compares to Ritsuka's insanity."
Just hearing that name made Luminous raise an eyebrow.
"…That sounds concerning."
"Because it is concerning," Arthur replied without hesitation. "Recently, she found a parallel universe where all of us were made of plushies."
The office fell silent.
"…What?" Shion slowly asked.
"You heard correctly," Arthur confirmed with a tired smile. "Plushies."
"…Does that even make sense?" Chloe asked.
"Since when has that ever stopped anything?" Arthur immediately shot back.
"…Fair point," Luminous admitted.
Arthur sighed like someone traumatized by his own memories.
"And do you know what the first thing Ritsuka did when she got there was?"
"I don't even want to imagine," Luminous commented.
"She started squeezing everyone's faces while saying we were 'way too cute.'"
Shion immediately covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
"…That really does sound like something she'd do."
Arthur pointed at her.
"Exactly. She would, and she did."
He then rubbed his forehead.
"And that wasn't even the worst part."
"There's more?" Chloe asked.
"Of course there's more," Arthur replied. "According to her, the Artie from that world was 'an absurdly adorable little lion.'"
Luminous slowly turned her face toward the door through which Artoria had left.
Then, for a brief moment, she imagined a tiny plush Artoria dressed in a lion costume.
The result was disastrous.
She immediately burst out laughing without restraint.
Chloe also turned her face away while trembling slightly, clearly trying not to laugh too loudly.
Even Shion had to cover her mouth.
"…Now I actually want to see that," Shion murmured.
"Artie looks better as a bunny, and besides, don't encourage her," Arthur immediately replied. "Ritsuka wanted to bring that version of Artoria home."
"She tried?" Chloe asked.
Arthur stared at the ceiling in absolute silence.
That alone was enough of an answer.
"…You're serious?" Luminous murmured.
"I had to spend almost two hours convincing her that kidnapping alternate versions of family members was wrong."
"She seriously argued about that for two hours?" Shion asked in disbelief.
"With arguments," Arthur replied with empty eyes. "She had prepared arguments."
The three women fell silent for a moment.
Then they started laughing again.
While Arthur watched all of this with absolute resignation, Shion suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Speaking of that…" she began curiously. "How did that trip with Ritsuka and Alex to that world go?"
The instant he heard that, Arthur slowly closed his eyes.
Then he let out a long sigh.
"…It was a mistake."
"That doesn't answer the question," Luminous commented.
"Maybe you don't know because you were away for about two weeks. Ritsuka developed such an absurd obsession with capturing Eevees that I had to create an entire district in New Uruk just for them."
Silence.
"…How many Eevees?" Chloe slowly asked.
Arthur opened one eye.
"Yes."
"…Arthur."
"I stopped counting after the fifty-second one."
The entire office froze.
"SHE CAPTURED FIFTY-TWO EEVEES?!" Shion practically screamed.
"No," Arthur calmly corrected.
Then he pointed toward the ceiling.
"Fifty-two was when I GAVE UP counting."
"… "
"… "
"… "
The three women stared at Arthur in complete shock.
Luminous was the first to recover.
"How did that even happen?"
Arthur immediately answered:
"Eevees started appearing near her spontaneously."
"She blushed because one of them sneezed cutely," Arthur continued, completely ignoring the comment. "After that, it turned into a chain reaction."
Chloe finally lost composure and burst out laughing.
"A chain reaction?!"
"I'm serious!" Arthur replied indignantly. "She looked at an Eevee for five seconds and another one would appear out of nowhere!"
"And Alex?" Shion asked, already laughing.
Arthur stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then he revealed a small smile.
"…He thought the situation was hilarious."
"Of course he did," Luminous commented.
"In fact, that traitor started encouraging her," Arthur continued. "'Look mom, there's another Eevee behind that tree.'"
Shion nearly fell off the sofa from laughing so hard.
"And you just let this happen?!"
"What exactly was I supposed to do?" Arthur asked. "Tell Ritsuka no while she was holding an Eevee in her arms and making that abandoned puppy expression?"
"… "
"… "
"…Fair point," Chloe immediately admitted.
Arthur sighed in defeat.
"There is now literally an entire district in New Uruk inhabited by Eevees and Eeveelutions."
"That sounds adorable," Shion commented.
"That sounds like a logistical nightmare," Arthur corrected. "Do you have any idea how many Flareons can accidentally start fires at the same time?"
(End of Chapter)