I was away a lot longer than I had expected when I was called away from the duel arena. The meeting with the Demigods didn’t take that long. It was over in a few hours. No, what delayed me was creating a soul anchor at the Nexus so I could pop in at any time and have a direct hotline to the other Demigods.

The main problem was that my soul was too weak, and I had to make up for that with time. So, there I was for the last three days and nights, sitting cross legged, meditating to leave an imprint in a crystal sphere wrought out of equal concentrations of all six elements.

Apparently it would take on the appearance most suited to me over time like it had for the rest of the Demigods – adding a ninth feature to the broad cavern where there had been eight.

Morgan had returned me to the exact same spot from where she had dragged me into the Nexus. The location of which was a closely guarded secret. All I was told was that it was somewhere close to the Capital.

Well, at least I was back before it was time for my scheduled award ceremony. That was where I would get married to Artemis and receive the medal promised to me in the letter that summoned us to the Capital.

I shook my head inwardly as I entered the lobby of our hotel. I had hoped to hash things out with Artemis a bit more before we tied the knot. This sudden call up had thrown a wrench in that plan.

“Sir! Sir Felidae!”

Turning to the receptionist, a young man with canine characteristics, I asked, “Yes?”

“Sir, there’s a package for you. I was told to hand it over only when you arrived.”

“Oh? From whom is it?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. The package was unmarked… but it came with a high level of priority indication and the sender left a message. He told me to tell you that it was a gift on first meeting. He said that you’d know what I meant.”

“Ah, yes. I do. I’ll take the delivery.”

It was the package from Fenrir Lupin, my great-grandfather-in-law to be. He did say he'd sent something I’d be pleasantly surprised by.

The receptionist led me into the backroom and unlocked a safe there before taking out an unmarked parcel. Calling upon the shadow mana in the environment, I opened up a shadow space. My shadow darkened and deformed, turning into a circular portal upon the ground in front of my feet. As the receptionist placed the parcel on top of it, it sank into the darkness like it would into a bog and vanished.

My shadow returned to its normal shape, if a bit darker from the mana saturating it. “Thank you,” I said.

The receptionist vigorously shook his head. “No, no. It’s my pleasure… and I’m actually a big fan. I’m a student at the academy’s battle mage division and this is a part-time job I do to get some pocket money.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I just promoted to Tier 2 recently... It’s really amazing to see someone my age doing so well.”

I smiled and extended my hand. “Thank you and all the best.” He grasped my hand and we shook.

As I climbed the stairs, I mulled over the marked shift in attitude towards me. The last time we had signed in, this guy was as disinterested as could be. Except for checking the girls out a bit he had been mechanical in the execution of his duties. None of the enthusiasm that he had now.

Even on my way here from the palace gates, I had been recognized several times on the streets and asked for an autograph. Unused to the sudden warmth, I had taken a circuitous route to get here as inconspicuously as I could manage.

Reaching the door of our apartment, I dithered a bit as I thought of what to say if Artemis was there before heaving a sigh. Let’s get this over with. Pulsing some mana into the doorknob, I unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Leaving my shoes at the door, I entered the living room and called out, “I’m home!”

Deimos poked her head out of the kitchen, her eyes lighting up in delight when she saw me. “Master!” she exclaimed as she ran up to me and leapt into my embrace. Throwing her arms around my neck and locking her legs around my waist, she locked lips with me, kissing me deeply. I responded passionately.

Breaking off the kiss after an interminable amount of time, I found myself reflected in her sparkling green eyes as she leaned back breathing hard. “You were gone so long… we were starting to get impatient,” she gasped out.

Leaning forward, I licked the cream off her upper lip. “So, you got a bit peckish while waiting, eh?” I grinned. It was a clear case of mid-morning munchies. She had been in the middle of raiding the larder when I came. No wonder her lips tasted like whipped cream.

Reaching out with a finger, she wiped some cream off my face and put it in her mouth. “You’ve got some on your face too,” she chuckled.

Walking up to the sofa, I sat down, positioning her sideways on my lap. Taking out my handkerchief, I wiped my face before wiping hers and tossing the cloth onto the table.

She rested her head in the crook of my neck and I wrapped my arms around her.

After a stretch of companionable silence, she asked, “So, what were you doing these days?”

“Meeting the Demigods of Regiis… Isabella introduced me to them.” I wasn’t allowed to say anything about the Circle of Demigods or what I specifically did there due to my oaths. But I could speak about the broad outline of the events.

“That’s great,” said Deimos, sitting up in my lap. “If they help, Phi-Phi’s project will be done in no time.”

I could only smile wryly. I had obviously brought the topic of Phobos’ mother and war widows up. But the unanimous consensus was that the Regiis secret technique couldn't be spread as the impact on society would be too broad. They had made a concession for me, allowing me to save mother-in-law using the technique, but only if I was confident of camouflaging it as a non-replicable accident.

To that end, even though I knew that she would be safe… yearned to take the pressure off the minds of my girls, I had to remain silent and watch them fret. This was going to be hard.