“You guys are so late, what took you so long?” Sumara asked curiously as the other girls slowly made their way downstairs.

The others looked at one another before Tetra managed to reply with, “We were… tied up with something.”

“Tied up with something? What’s that mean?” Sumara asked curiously. Then she noticed the expressions on their faces, which were blushed with red and asked, “And what’s your faces? You’re looking rather red today. Did you have a fight or something?”

“It’s not that, vodina,” said Priya innocently as she and Indira reached the bottom floor and went up to her. “It’s like this,” and she leaned closer to her ear and began whispering what had happened.

When she heard it all, Sumara burst into fits of laughter and looked towards them, who all averted their gazes from her.

“I can’t believe it. Seriously! I simply can’t believe all of you were so childish!” She exclaimed while controlling her laughter. “Honestly, I was expecting you to do something with our hubby but instead, you resorted to a kid’s game to decide who does the morning kiss? I just can’t believe it!”

All of the girls in front of her were radiating with crimson colours on their faces from the embarrassment they felt at her chiding them in such a way.

“Sumara, don’t say that. Admit it. If you were there with me and seen Lucky’s cute sleeping face, wouldn’t you have considered doing it as well?” Silvera asked as she tried to fight back.

This made Sumara react with amusement as she replied, “If I was there, I wouldn’t have waited around and simply went to plant the kiss. I’m not so childish like the rest of you.”

“R-Really?” Silvera asked as she reacted with surprise by the firm tone in which the older woman spoke. Then she quickly recovered and asked, “And just what makes you think I can believe you? Everyone will act tough when they’re not in the situation, am I right?”

“Yes, but you see, as his wife, I don’t feel embarrassed to do such naughty things with him,” said Sumara proudly, “and anyway, this won’t be the first time I kissed him in such a manner.”

This made everyone look surprised before Sonia, who was suddenly intrigued, asked, “Really? What was it about?”

“It’s the time I kissed him on the cheek,” said Sumara fondly with a loving look on her face.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Tetra, who suddenly appeared as though she remembered something and said, “I remember now. You did that to him when he passed your magic test, and you decide to leave.”

“Wait? What?” Silvera asked in surprise, looking at Tetra and then at Sumara. “So, it’s basically a farewell kiss?”

“So what? It’s still a kiss,” said Sumara with a smile.

“That and giving a morning kiss are not the same!” Silvera fumed.

Just then, Ondine came out of the kitchen and said, “Will you stop competing so badly? It’s distracting us from our cooking! Don’t blame us later if the taste changes because of this.”

“She’s the one calling us childish,” complained Silvera.

“All of you are childish!” Ondine fired back with a grumpy face. “Even you, Sumara.”

“What?!” Sumara exclaimed, looking back at her in shock. “How?!”

“Didn’t we all agree that no matter how romantic we get along with our husband, we shouldn’t turn it into a competition?” Ondine asked and this caused the rest of them to look uncomfortable. She rounded on Sumara by saying, “Sumara, I know you cherish the thought of your farewell kiss well but seriously, grow up! You’re his wife! We’re all his wives so you’re being very childish to treat others like that.”

“Well…” began Sumara hesitantly, but she quickly breathed a sigh and nodded her head silently in agreement.

Ondine nodded her head in satisfaction before turning to look at Silvera before asking, “So, who won?”

Before Silvera could answer, they heard Lakshman’s voice say, “Cantia did.”

“Huh?”

They all reacted in surprise and looked up the stairs to see that their husband had come out of his room while carrying Cantia in a princess carry. As for the wife he was carrying, she had covered her face with her hands to cover the embarrassment that was written all over it.

“I am very grateful for you all competing with your affection towards me but remember; I love you all equally and no matter who has the advantage or disadvantage, all of you are my wives and have an equal standing in my heart,” he told them with a sincere voice while making his way down the stairs.

His words caused the wives to suddenly looked embarrassed, but they still made fun of Cantia’s failure. The lady being carried remained quiet still and silent as she was too embarrassed at that time to respond properly.

“Breakfast is ready!” Emilia called from the inside of the kitchen, which was the signal for Ondine and Sumara to go back in and help her out.

As for the rest of them, they made their way to the dining table and sat down. At first, Lakshman wanted to keep Cantia lying on his lap and feed her since he was feeling very fond towards her but she insisted that she could eat on her own. Thus, he let her go, and she scurried away to sit on a chair next to him because the others had already occupied the other chairs.

Cantia glared at them with an expression of “You did this on purpose!” and they gave her a return expression of “Have fun being cuddly with our hubby” to which her face went bright red again.

“Come on. Open your mouth. Say ahhh~!” Lakshman said, offering his spoon with food towards her.

Cantia blinked at him in surprise and though still feeling embarrassed, she managed to open her mouth and clamp it shut over his spoon. Then he withdrew the empty spoon, smiling brightly at his wife accepting him spoon feeding her.

It was at this moment that he saw that she had transformed into her humanoid form and with her cat ears and tail swirling around slowly and her facial expression; everything about her screamed at him with cuteness. As such, he grinned, extended his hand out and began rubbing her head gently much to her surprise.

She looked towards him and blinked in surprise before asking, “W-What are you doing-nyaa?”

“Rubbing your head,” he replied with a smile.

“Rubbing my head-nyaa?” She asked while blinking her eyes. “Why-nyaa?”

“Why not?” He asked back with a grin.

She blinked in surprise and began with, “Uh…?”

“But if you really need a reason… then it’s because you’re cute… nyaa,” he said finally.

They were not sure what had happened in that moment, but when Lakshman had finished his sentence with such a word, something inside of Cantia had burst. Her face was suddenly filled to the brim with crimson blush that made it look like steam was erupting from her ears.

“Ahhh!”

With a sudden scream, Cantia began eating the food on her plate as fast as possible and often beating her chest if the food got stuck in her mouth. Once everything was over, she put the plate down and clapped her hands together while uttering the phrase they had gotten used to using since Lakshman’s departure from that world.

“Thank you for the meal!”

Then she soared to her feet and raced out of there and up the stairs before anyone could say anything. All of this happened in the matter of five minutes much to everyone’s surprise and disbelief. A moment later, Lakshman began chuckling as he resumed having his breakfast.

“Wow. She ran away,” commented Tetra in amazement.

“She certainly has,” agreed Sumara in amusement.

“As I thought; she’s all bark and no bite,” remarked Silvera with a snort.

As if she heard her words, they heard Cantia shout from upstairs, “I’m not a dog!”

This resulted in everyone seated at the table to burst into fits of laughter at how hilariously funny the whole situation was.

Once breakfast was over, Venezuela, Erza, and Cantia departed. Lakshman bid his wives to have a good day and also fleetingly winked at Cantia, who blushed once again and began fidgeting with her hands nervously.

“I can’t believe she of all people was reduced to this girly state,” remarked Stuart in amazement as he watched them leave.

“I didn’t either, but it certainly feels refreshing from her usual loud and energetic self,” commented Lakshman brightly.

“And you know what they call it? Bullying. You’re bullying your wife.”

“As if!”

Laughing, the rest of them headed back into the house.

***

Elsewhere, at the castle of Floria Kingdom, Venezuela, Erza, and Cantia arrived to be met by several guards and the Phoenix Emperor, Zen. All of them wore grim expressions on their faces, especially Zen because he knew of the difficult meeting on their hands regarding the compensation demands.

“Are all the preparations completed?” Venezuela asked him.

“Yes, your highness,” said Zena promptly with a bow, choosing to stay professional when on official business.

Venezuela nodded in acceptance but suddenly called, “Phintex Raja.”

In an instant, a masked warrior warped out of thin air and appeared to kneel before her with his head bowed.

“What is your bidding, your highness?” He asked while looking down at the ground.

“Listen very carefully because it’s very important that you understand and inform everyone else what I’m about to say,” she said while looking very seriously down at the kneeling figure. “No one is to speak, or appear to have any knowledge about the meeting that will be held today. If anyone does come across my husband, accident or not, I want you to pretend that today’s meeting is just about providing security towards transportation. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes. I have heard it clearly and will inform all parties immediately!” The kneeling figure replied courteously.

“Good,” she said with a nod of satisfaction. “Now make haste.”

“Yes, your highness,” the kneeling Phintex Raja said before warping out of there into thin air just like the way he came.

After he was gone, Zen asked her, “If you don’t mind me asking; why exactly are you trying to keep this under wraps from the Phoenix Titan?”

To that, Venezuela let out a sigh in exasperation while Erza explained in her place.

It was no surprise that by now, everyone within the boundaries of the castle was aware that the Phoenix Titan had returned. This leak of this piece of vital information occurred when Zen accidentally heard Venezuela and Erza discussing about the vacation that Lakshman had planned for the entire family to take a week off from work.

Upon hearing it, he had spread it like wildfire with joy at the news that the Phoenix Titan had returned. However, this was quickly put to a stop when Erza caught on and quickly had Venezuela order all the Phintex Rajas to threaten everyone that they would not receive a year’s worth of salary if they ever dared to leak that information to the public.

“I still don’t get why you’re trying to keep his return a secret,” said Zen as he scratched his ear with a confused look.

“We’re giving him some room to breathe, get some fresh air, and relax since he’s been constantly working tirelessly,” replied Venezuela adamantly.

Zen could only sigh at how overprotective the wives of the Phoenix Titan were, but he still went on to ask his question nonetheless.

“That may be, but even so, what about today’s meeting? It’s a very important meeting that he should personally attend himself if he’s able. Why keep that completely under the wraps?”

“You see, Zen. Our husband is a very righteous person that believes everything must be done fair and with justice in mind. However, at the same time, he does not like it when injustice is being conducted and that causes him do things that tend to end up causing opposition against him.”

“Especially since we never had great relationship with the King of Mardana Kingdom ever since the last one was brought down,” added Venezuela gloomily.

Zen understood her meaning as he too could vividly remember the war that was waged between the soldiers from the Mardana Kingdom and the Floria Kingdom over twelve-years-ago. It was also the result of the war that cost the life of the previous King of Floria Kingdom who was none other than Venezuela’s father. To make matters difficult, the one to bring down the kingdom almost to its knees was Lakshman, but he was also the one who helped in its restoration though much of his involvement was hidden and the achievements were diverted to Felix, the previous Phoenix Emperor on personal request from the Phoenix Titan himself.

“So you think that Luk—I mean, your husband would attack them or threaten them perhaps?”

“Maybe,” said Erza vaguely, which startled him.

“What do you mean ‘maybe’? It almost sounds like you’re unsure,” remarked Zen worriedly.

“I am because he changed somewhat ever since his travel to another world,” said Erza with a disgruntled look.

“It has?”

“Yes. He’s calmer, easy going, free spirited, and much more relaxed. It’s almost like he was tired of being constantly at attention and felt to relax more,” expressed Erza as she thought back to when she first met Lakshman in her home world to how he was on his final days there, “but that’s where the problem starts.”

As they saw that Zen did not understand what she meant, Venezuela said, “Do you remember the saying; the more relaxed they are, the angrier they get?”

“Uh. Yes? Although, I doubt it’s in those exact words,” said Zen doubtfully.

“It doesn’t matter about the exact wording, but following those lines; I fear that knowing the unjust demands from the Mardana Kingdom will make him fly into a rage and even make him threaten them.”

“They’re basically asking for the collapse of our Floria Kingdom after all,” added Venezuela wearily, “in a roundabout way obviously.”

“Regardless of what their intentions are, we cannot let the Phoenix Titan attend this meeting no matter what,” said Erza adamantly. “The world is still recovering from the war between the two titans and there are strange rumours circulating around that the war got started because of the Phoenix Titan as it seemed like he had some kind of relation with the demons. If he threatens a nation during this upheaval, I’m afraid he will lose the trust of everyone around the world.”

There was a moment of stunned silence that followed after her speech before Zen said, “That makes sense. He had been gone for more than a month and many had been demanding his whereabouts and whatnot. Some even started to speculate that he was probably hiding because he had something to do with why the war with the demons had started. I mean, he didn’t kill the Calamity Titan unlike the enemies he had come across till now.”

“Yes,” answered Erza and Venezuela in agreement.

“So, you see why we’re being extra careful?” Venezuela asked.

“I do now,” admitted Zen finally with a sigh and clutched his head. “It won’t just affect him but it’ll also make the Phoenix Clan look bad since a lot of people lost their families during this war and… might not be willing to accept reasonable words if anything negative about us gets out.”

“Exactly and that’s why we’re going to make this meeting work flawlessly!” Erza said confidently. “That’s why I’m asking you; are all preparations absolutely completed and ready?”

“They are, madam,” replied Zen firmly with a determined look on his face.

“That’s good to know,” she replied with a smile.

“Let’s go,” said Venezuela firmly and began leading the way as she finished her sentence with, “we have a battle to win.”