"Cecil!"

"Yo!"

"Ima, Luca!"

Cecil's eyes brightened when he saw the two. Fatima rushed over and pulled Cecil into a big hug. After Fatima, Luca did so as well.

"It's really good to see you again!" Luca said with a grin.

"You too, big brother!"

"Your big sis here was the one fretting over you the most!"

"Shut it, Luc! So what if I am? It's not like any of you guys weren't as worried!"

"Hmhm~"

A few maids brought in chairs for the two and Anastasia wanted to order them to go bring in some refreshments but remembered that her two daughters-in-law had gone to the kitchen to fix something up for Cecil.

After dismissing the maids, it was only the family left inside the room. They bantered a little bit and it didn't take long before Lucia and Serilla came back with food for everyone.

"Here, Cel~" Lucia served him some food and even tried to feed him. Cecil was a little too embarra.s.sed so he quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed away the plate and spoon from Lucia which caused the girl to pout and grumble.

"Please Lulu, not in front of my family..." Cecil replied with a strained look as his mother and siblings began eyeing the two meaningfully.

"Hihihihi~"

While they were eating, Anastasia asked Cecil what had happened to him after they were separated. He began recounting his experiences with his family, but what they heard were more or less the same from Lucia and Serilla's recount.

Of course, Cecil's was a bit more detailed and the time he spent in the World Tree's trial was omitted from Lucia and Serilla's explanation so when they heard it, the family was very intrigued that such places and trials existed in this world.

Cecil's recount was a little bit embellished, but it was very interesting for the family to hear. They spent a few hours listening to Cecil. Lucia and Serilla also quipped in from time to time and Cecil's siblings would also add in a few things to say or ask.

Seeing how harmonious and easy-going Cecil's family of three was, Anastasia and the rest were grateful and happy for him. Amid Cecil's explanation, Matheus, Kaiser, and Cecil's grandparents walked in.

It was a good reunion and everyone was happily listening to Cecil. After his recount, Cecil couldn't help but wonder where Silver and the rest of his party was at.

"Don't worry Cel, Quinn is alright while Yuna and Silver are out on a date!"

"He's on a date? Heh, that brat, his Master's bedridden, but he has the nerve to go out on a date!"

"He was here for most of the time you were out, but Silvy grew bored and took Yuna out to play in the city!"

Cecil shook his head and set his gaze outside. He then turned to look at his family who was in the room and let out an involuntary smile. It was different from his usual smiles because this one was much more peaceful and genuine. As he gazed carefully at his family members one by one, Cecil felt like a huge burden was being lifted from his mind and heart.

He was immensely grateful for this moment because his journey across 2 continents hadn't gone in vain. He had reunited with his family and was glad to know that everyone was alive and well. Now it was Cecil's turn to ask his family about what had happened to them, however, just before Luca could say anything, there was a knock on the door and the family's butler, Charles, walked in.

"Oh! It's Uncle Charles!" Cecil exclaimed brightly.

"Oh! Young Master, I'm very happy to see you safe and well! You had our entire family worried."

"Ahahaha~ it's great to be back!"

"Yes, welcome back, Young Master." Charles bowed in response. If you looked at him closely, you could see that the man was holding in his tears.

"Is there something, Charles?" Cecil's grandfather, King, asked.

"Old Master...the the family elders are waiting downstairs in the hall...they want to discuss some things and meet the Young Master..."

"Tsk, can't those old fogies wait?! He's just gotten back and still needs to heal! Kaiser, come, we'll deal with them. We'll have Cecil meet with them later once he's recovered."

"Yes, Father," Kaiser said as he walked out the room with King.

"...Is something wrong?" Cecil asked. He wasn't sure who these 'elders' were since he's never met them.

"It's nothing sweetheart, you can stay here and rest some more," Anastasia said. "Well, since everyone's seen Cecil already, let's leave him to rest."

Cecil immediately stood up and said, "I'm fine Mom... I've already recovered plenty. You already saw me move and train earlier, remember?"

"You may be fine, but I'm telling you to rest! Also, don't do anything reckless! You're banned from training, y' hear me?"

"Ugh...F-fine..."

Cecil scratched his head, but he didn't head back to bed. He started clenching and unclenching his fist. He felt fine, but there was something odd about his body.

"Hn?" He tried circulating his mana and ki, but...

"...what the heck?"

"What's wrong darling?" Serilla asked when she saw him acting weirdly.

"Strange...I can't seem to properly circulate my mana or ki..."

Cecil forcefully tried to circulate his mana inside his arm and this caused his arm to bleed. This immediately caused everyone in the room to widen their eyes in shock.

"C-Cecil?"

"Bro!"

"S-Sweetheart?! What's wrong?!" Anastasia exclaimed in horror.

"...huh...this is a problem..." Cecil said as he eyed his bleeding arm. He tried using his Healing Arts and was relieved that it was working. He quickly healed his arm and then activated his Mana Eyes and turned his sense into his body.

Cecil immediately grimaced when he saw the appalling condition his Energy Circuits were in. His frenzied and reckless use of Ether had greatly damaged many of the minor circuits and there were some minor damages to his main circuits.

He looked up at everyone and laughed, "Ahaha, it's nothing. My energy circuits seemed to be damaged. I used an energy that my body's cultivation couldn't handle and it sort of caused some internal damages!"

Using Ether while only having cultivation still in the Core and Crystallization stage of Mana and Ki was reckless. While it did provide him with more advantages in terms of power, his body couldn't withstand the excessive usage of Ether.

If he used it normally as usual, then it wouldn't be a problem. However, his mind was taken over by Corruption and Perseverance so the limiter that he had set for himself was broken and the two weapons had wantonly used up his Ether.

His body wasn't at the cultivation stage where he could naturally produce Ether from within so every ounce of Ether created from his combination of Mana and Ki was precious. It should normally be used to set a foundation for the time when Cecil truly stepped into the cultivation stage where he would cultivate Ether directly, but when he had checked earlier, Cecil found that his reserves were nearly empty.

'c.r.a.p, there goes 4 years' worth of Ether...'

It was no wonder his Energy Circuits was damaged to such a degree. Although they were damaged, Cecil had noticed that there were traces of Ether that had merged with his Circuits. The Ether had strengthened and expanded them to some degree. In a way, it was a blessing amidst misfortune.

He'd have to put in some effort to heal up his body and during this time, he wouldn't be able to use too much Ki or Mana. Else it would harm his body just like earlier when he had forcibly circulated his Mana.

Everyone who had heard Cecil's words were a little puzzled by the unknown terminologies, but the fact that he had sustained 'internal' injuries were clear to them. Anastasia especially freaked out and had her son immediately get back into bed to rest.

"Don't worry so much, Mom, I can heal myself so I'll be okay after a few more days."

"Tsk, it doesn't matter. You stay here and rest. Your two wives will be here to accompany you and we'll come to visit. Anyway, just stay put and don't come out of the room!" Anastasia emphasized.

"...Okay, I'll listen to you, Mom."

"Good, Lulu, Seri, keep an eye on him. Make sure you don't let him out until he's fully recovered!"

"Yes, Mother~" The two answered together.

Anastasia and Cecil's grandmother, Lucidna, walked out of the room together after talking for a bit with Cecil. Luca, Matheus, and Fatima exited the room a bit later after catching up with Cecil. They had duties to attend to. Only Gabriel, Angelia, and the two wives stayed behind to accompany Cecil.

"Neh, big bro Cel~ how do I look? I look cute now right~?" Angelia said as she emphasized her new beastkin attributes. Even now, the girl hadn't requested for Lucia to dispel her transformation. She had gone to school and roamed around the city in her foxkin form.

"You look cute—hold up, fox ears and tails?!" Cecil exclaimed when he finally noticed his beastkin little sister. He immediately snapped his head over to the giggling girl lying next to him.

"Lulu!"

"Angel wanted to turn into a foxkin, so I let her~"

"Yeah, I'm the one who asked!" Angelia quipped up.

"Oh gosh...does this mean that everyone..."

"Yup, they know about us being beastkin," Serilla answered.

"Ugh... they didn't say anything...did they?"

"Nothing, in particular, your family has already accepted us as your wives."

Cecil nodded. It was a good thing. He didn't want his family to be averse to the fact that his wives weren't human. He was going to tell them when the time was right, but now he didn't have to since his family already knew about it and accepted the two.

"Big bro, I wanna ask, but why can Silv turn into a human?! Is magic that powerful? They can turn animals into humans?"

"Well, magic did transform Silver, but it's not that all magic can do it. The magic spell Silver used isn't known any more and it's something he can only use on himself."

"Oh... I wanted Silv to teach my pets how to turn human... too bad then~"

"Your pets?"

"Yup! I have a lot, but... a couple of them pa.s.sed away during the war..."

Seeing the sad expression his sister was making, Cecil smiled ruefully and said, "How about this, when big brother is completely healed, we'll go out hunting for pets later? What do you say?"

"Really? Big brother will help me?!"

"Sure, it was my fault for coming late and letting my little sister's precious pets die."

"It's not big brother's fault... but you promise to come with me later?"

"Yup!"

"Yay! That means I should help you heal up then!"

Angelia stretched out her hand and placed it on top of Cecil's arm that was bleeding earlier and started channeling the energy inside her. When Cecil saw the familiar glow of Ki on her sister's outstretched hands, he exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

"Oh wow, you're able to use Ki, Angel!"

"Ki?"

"It's the same kind of energy you big brother and big sis Serilla uses."

"Oh? That means I can get strong like Big Brother and Big Sister?"

"Sure you can, but it seems like your Ki is more focused on the gentle and healing side, you should stick to healing instead of fighting, Angel."

"Okay~"

"Once I'm better, big brother will teach you some things. Like this, Cecil raised a hand over his arm and started using his Healing Arts. The light green glow coming off of Cecil's hands attracted Angelia's gaze.

She couldn't see it, but she could feel it. The internal injuries inside her big brother's arms were slowly being healed. Under Cecil's Healing Arts, the circuits inside his arm were slowly being repaired.

It would probably take a few days before he's fully healed all his circuits, but he had time now so he wasn't worried.

"Angel, let's get going. It's late already and I'm sure Cecil and his wives would like some alone time."

"Hm? Okay, big bro Gabe~ I'll see big brother and big sisters later then~" Angelia said as she bade farewell to Cecil and the girls.

Now that no one was inside the room, Serilla, who had been sitting down on a chair next to the bed immediately moved and sidled next to her husband. Lucia, who was being reserved, finally let go of those pretenses and tightly wrapped her arms around Cecil.

"Cel~"

"Darling~"

"...You two...I knew you were desperately holding it in."

"Eheheh~ we were in front of your family so we naturally couldn't do this~" Lucia replied.

"...We missed you a lot..."

"It was only a few weeks..."

Serilla and Lucia looked at him reproachfully and said, "That's not what you're supposed to be saying darling..."

"Yeah, Cel... don't you have any other thing to say to us?"

"...I'm home..."

The girls giggled and said in unison, "Welcome back!"