"What?! The Merkruz army was thoroughly decimated?!" Albert exclaimed in shock when once of his men reported to him about the outcome of the war between Merkruz and Silvaria.

"How? How did the Merkruz army of 200 thousand lose to Silvaria who probably only has 50 thousand soldiers?!"

"...I hear that a monster had suddenly come and decimated the battlefield."

"A monster? So you're saying that a monster had suddenly attacked and destroyed the Merkruz and Silvaria armies?"

"I'm not sure about the Silvaria army, but the scouts reported that a monster had indeed laid waste to the Merkruz Army. Only a few couple of thousands of soldiers was able to escape while the King of Merkruz's wellbeing isn't known as of yet."

"...if the Merkruz army was pushed into near destruction that means the monster must have been a SS or SSS ranked monster... Are there any reports on the Silvaria army's condition?"

"No, Your Highness, but we think that their army is in a condition no better than the Merkruz army. A monster doesn't distinguish between enemies or allies after all."

Albert nodded at the deduction. He smiled cynically and laughed, "Hah! Since the Merkruz Army wasn't competent enough to finish Silvaria off, I guess we should go ahead and finish the job, right?"

Albert said as he eyed the rest of the people inside the hall. The army's generals, his military advisors, the court magician, and the upstanding n.o.bles of the Kingdom were pondering deeply at his words.

A n.o.ble stepped forward and voiced a concern, "Your Highness, I don't mean to go against your suggestion, but the state of the Silvaria army is still unknown. Those were merely deductions and speculations. We should rethink our plans and thoroughly scout out the actual state the Silvaria army is in."

Albert disdainfully eyed this cowardly n.o.ble and replied, "That kind of mindset is what caused us to lose in our battles against Merkruz! Also, if we take too long to scout out the Silvaria kingdom, we'd be giving them enough time to recuperate! Our window of opportunity is short! For all we know, those Silvarians had been devastated by the monster and are now trying their best to recuperate their numbers! This is the best time for us to attack! They wouldn't expect a subsequent attack after the Merkruz army's siege and the monster's attack!"

His words held merit and many in the room were beginning to become convinced at his words, however, another person immediately stood up and directly opposed Albert's plans.

"What are you saying brother?! We're to attack a kingdom that's our ally?!"

"...Karen, what are you saying here?"

"What I'm saying? Are you even listening to yourself brother?! How could we attack an ally kingdom? Big brother Rowan and big sister Fatima are currently in that kingdom! They requested for support last time, but I can't understand why you declined to respond?!"

Albert scoffed and stood up, "Allies? Don't make me laugh! That woman seduced your brother and turned him traitor! They, alongside a few others, conspired to kill a member of the royal family! Why do you think Armano is bedridden right now?! That's because he was nearly killed by the woman!"

"What?!"

"Dear sister, you didn't know about the treachery that woman committed!"

"What treachery? I bet that stupid h.o.r.n.y brother of mine tried to pull something on sis Fatima again and this time, she only retaliated! Do you think I'm stupid to believe that they committed a crime against Armano without reason? I bet they only beat him up! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d got what he deserves! Don't think that I don't know about him trying to **** Serilla!"

"What are you talking about? That Serilla woman seduced your brother and framed him for committing ****!"

"Hah! You think I'm stupid?!"

"Well, in my eyes, you are being stupid right now! A member of the royal family was nearly killed and here you are defending those culprits! Guards, take her away! She has no right to be present in this meeting! Lock her up in her room!"

"W-what—stop! Unhand me!" Karen screamed as she was being roughly taken out of the room by the guards.

Albert coldly eyed his sister and turned his attention back to the meeting.

"Are there any other opinions? What we are doing is only just and right! We're there to bring justice to my brother who was wrongfully framed! Now is the best time to attack!"

After some careful considerations and more planning, it was decided that the Regulus Army would sortie first thing tomorrow. They were going to attack the Silvaria Kingdom and bring in the culprits who tried to murder Second Prince Armano.

******

A few days had pa.s.sed back at the Silvaria Kingdom. Cecil had grown a little restless from only staying inside his room and since he was banned from training or anything, he started roaming around the house and would sometimes go out on a stroll in the garden with his wives.

During the day, his family members were mostly busy with their duties so he mostly met them during the afternoon and in the evenings. His father and mother were busy with meetings regarding the management of the kingdom and the managing of the postwar duties.

Many soldiers fell in battle during Merkruz's attack and they had to compensate the families and hold funerals.

Matheus and Luca were overseeing the repairs on the walls and weapons while Angelia had to go to school. Angelia had even pulled along Ren to come with her to school since the two were close to each other in age. As for Gabriel, well, no one ever knew what he was doing. He was the laziest in the family, but you would never see him just loitering around.

While his family members were going on with their daily lives, Cecil felt a little alienated. He had already finished healing himself, but his promise with Angelia was postponed because of her schooling.

He had already met up with Quinn and found that the butler was learning from Charles about the inner workings of the Silvaria family while Yuna and Silver were always clinging together and doing whatever.

On the days where he didn't have anything to do, Cecil would meditate inside his room or Serilla would sometimes pull him into a long session of lovemaking until Lucia called for them to eat or something.

His idle days pa.s.sed by like this and it wasn't until his father and mother came home one day and delivered some unpleasant news.

"W-what?! M-my kingdom's army was seen inside the mountain pa.s.s?!" Rowan exclaimed in shock. For the past days, this Prince of Regulus was busy managing the troops he had brought into the Silvaria Kingdom.

He had received consent from Kaiser to allow the families of his men to move into the Silvaria Kingdom and become permanent residents of the kingdom. His men had helped greatly in the war and other than a monetary reward that Kaiser had given, he promised to shelter the families of Rowan's men.

So for the past days he was busy moving in the families of his soldiers into the kingdom and settling them in. Now, he heard some appalling news from his yet-to-be father-in-law.

"Albert... that b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Rowan slammed his arm on the armrest of his chair. Fatima placed a hand on his and tried to calm him down.

Rowan looked up apologetically at Fatima and Kaiser. He bowed and immediately apologized, "I'm very sorry..."

Kaiser only waved his hand dismissively, "It's not your fault boy. They already failed to respond to our request for support so I had expected them to come knocking on our door. Too bad for them that our walls have already gone through thorough reparations and none of our cannons were destroyed. We lost some men, but not many. Cecil's involvement had greatly reduced the expected casualties and quickly put an end to the battle. They may have over 100 thousand, but they don't have an M-Jammer! Do they believe that we'll be helpless to retaliate after our previous victory? This brother of yours hasn't even properly investigated the state our army is in and he dares to bare his fangs at us, how utterly foolis.h.!.+"

"..."

"I believe that all your men's families have been successfully transported into my kingdom?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, then that means you have no other things to take care of. Dine with us tonight and properly introduce yourself to our son." Kaiser said.

"Yes, you must introduce yourself to our Cel~" Anastasia quipped in.

"Y-Yes...of course..." Rowan said with a strained smile. Inwardly, he was freaking out. Unlike most people, he had been on the mountainside when Cecil had suddenly arrived and initiated his attack.

Rowan bore witness to Cecil's power and the brutal ma.s.sacre that he had conducted. It was great that the man was their ally, but now that Rowan had to go introduce himself as the husband-candidate to this frightening man's sister...

"I-Ima...he's not...that scary...is he?"

Fatima only giggled when she saw the cold sweat on Rowan's forehead. She wiped them away for him and said in rea.s.surance. "My brother is not a monster. He's kind and friendly, lighten up and just act normally. If he sees you putting on airs or act weak, it'll deteriorate his first impression of you."

"Phew...alright, let's go then! I'll convince him to let me marry you!"

"Alright, let's go~" Fatima said cheerfully as she walked into the dining room arm-in-arm with Rowan.

Everyone in the family was present. Kaiser was sitting at the head of the table with Anastasia sitting on the right while Cecil's grandparents sat on the left side. The siblings all rearranged themselves randomly on either side of the table.

Cecil was sitting in between Lucia and Serilla. Ren was also there and he was sitting next to Angelia. The boy had already introduced himself to the family as Cecil's apprentice so he was given the right to join in the family's dinner.

Quinn was also there and he served as the exclusive waiter for Cecil and his wives. When Fatima walked in with Rowan, Cecil raised a brow in surprise as he looked at the unfamiliar man walking arm-in-arm with his sister.

"Now that everyone is here, let's eat, Charles," Kaiser called out. The food was quickly brought in and served. While they were eating, Cecil kept on eyeing the man next to his sister with a strange, but understanding glint in his eyes.

"Cecil? Aren't you going to ask?" Fatima quipped up when she saw that her little brother had been eyeing Rowan for a while now.

"...Fine. Who is he, sis?"

"He's my fiancé!" Fatima happily introduced.

Rowan immediately stood up and bowed, "N-Nice to meet you! I'm Rowan Regulus and I'm your elder sister's betrothed!"

"I see... so I'm guessing that you've gained everyone's approval?"

"Y-yes...ah, I mean no! I-I haven't gotten everyone's...yet..."

"Heeehhh...is that so...?" Cecil said as he stuffed a meatball into his mouth.

"I-I haven't gotten Angelia's or your approval yet..." Rowan said as he sat himself down.

"Hmmm... yeah, I guess that's true...but how come you haven't gotten Angelia's?"

"Angelia said she would approve of me if I could get your approval..."

Cecil nodded in understanding and continued eating. Lucia and Serilla would sometimes put in a few things onto his plate and he'd immediately eat them up.

The family was interested to see how Cecil would react when he saw that his elder sister was being taken away from him, but his lack of response caused them to frown because this wasn't what they expected.

Rowan looked at him nervously. He was expecting for Cecil to lash out at him, but contrary to his expectations, Cecil was just smiling slightly while eating the food his wives were giving him.

"I-Is there anything I can do to get your approval?"

Cecil looked up at him and smiled, "If you want to marry my sister, get her consent. If you already have that, then I have no right to intervene."

"Oh?"

"What?"

"B-Big brother?! Y-You're going to let him take away big sis Ima?!" Angelia cried in shock.

Everyone else was also shocked at his words. Their son, grandson, and brother had matured so much in the time they were separated.

"Th-Thank you, but as you can see, Angelia probably wants me to prove to you that I'm worthy. I don't think she'll give me her consent... is there anything that I can do?"

"Hey, it's you and my sister's decision. Just make her happy and you'll have my blessing," Cecil replied, but when he eyed the aggrieved Angelia, he gave a rueful smile before continuing, "Angelia, just give them your blessing. We shouldn't get in the way of their decision."

"Y-yes brother..." Angelia grumbled out her answer.

Rowan was immensely grateful to Cecil. He didn't even need to do anything and got his approval. Rowan could only attribute this to the fact that Cecil himself was already married and he respected his sister's decision.

Cecil looked at the grumbling and pouting Angelia and he sighed.

"However, I do would like to see what kind of man my sister has fallen for so I'm sure you wouldn't mind having a few matches with me, would you?" Cecil asked.

Angelia looked up at her brother and her eyes brightened. If they could communicate telepathically Angelia would probably be relaying her thoughts to him right now.

'That's right brother, force him into a spar and beat him up so much that he'd be too scared to marry big sis Ima!"

Rowan pondered for only a brief moment. He looked at Angelia who was looking at him expectantly and replied, "Sure! Let's do it!"

"Alright then, how about we head to the dojo after dinner? The exercise would surely help with digestion!"

"Of course!"

Cecil smiled ruefully while Angelia was already radiating her happiness. She couldn't wait for the moment her big brother would smack Rowan around and beat him up to a pulp.