"Eiko, say aah"

"Aah"

Lux watched as Iris fed Eiko some rice porridge that Vera had prepared.

The red-headed teenager wanted to eat something light, and since Vera spoiled him silly, she cooked some rice porridge just for him.

However, since Eiko liked to eat what her Papa liked to eat, she went to him and asked to be fed.

When Iris saw this, she immediately took a bowl of rice porridge and started to spoon feed the baby Slime who had a big smile on her face.

As the family of four ate together, Vera updated Lux about the things that had happened in Wildgarde Stronghold while he was away. According to her, Lux's childhood friends were now close to becoming Grade A Apostles.

Grade A Apostle was the rank before the Initiate Rank. Although it would take a few years for the children to reach the next rank, they were still greatly praised by their faction because they were the seeds that would strengthen their foundations.

"Who is the one that is the closest to reaching the final stages of a Grade A Apostle?" Lux asked out of curiosity.

Vera eyed Lux for a short while before answering his question.

"Nero," Vera replied. "Among the members of the young generation, he is the closest to reaching the peak stage of a Grade A Apostle."

Lux frowned after hearing the name of the boy who had a bad history with him.

Nero was not one of the children that lived in the Wildgarde Stronghold. He was one of the children with high potential that was discovered among the villages that were under the Stronghold's protection. Because of this, he was allowed to use the Stronghold's Gate that connected to Elysium, without paying any fees whatsoever.

Perhaps due to his background, Nero disdained the children of Wildgarde Stronghold who took things for granted. For him, they weren't like the children in the villages who had to do their best in order to impress the Stronghold's Elders, so that they could get sponsored and allowed passage to Elysium.

Among other things, Nero hated Lux with a loathing.

The brown-haired teenager hated Lux's good luck of being adopted by Vera, in addition to being cared for by the people inside the Stronghold despite his weak constitution. There had been more than one occasion when Nero openly ridiculed Lux for being useless, and they were usually whenever he returned to the Stronghold in order to report on the progress of the younger generation that belonged to their faction in Elysium.

Iris arched an eyebrow after hearing Nero's name as well. Nero had treated her nicely and even mentioned in passing that he would like to serve as one of Iris' personal guards in Elysium.

Barbatos Academy's Faction belonged to the empire that bordered the kingdom where the Faction of Wildegarde Stronghold was located. Both rulers had good ties with each other and were allies.

Because of this, collaboration between the elites of Barbatos Academy and those of Wildgarde Stronghold in Elysium were very common. This was how Nero met Iris.

Although he tried hard to hide it, he liked the young prodigy very much. Nero liked Iris not only for her beauty, but because of her background. She was Vera's granddaughter, and the Headmaster of Barbatos Academy's only daughter.

With such a solid backing behind her, it was impossible for someone with great ambition like Nero to ignore the beautiful girl, who was being treated like a princess by the countless students of Barbatos Academy.

Unfortunately, Iris was a brocon who only had eyes for Lux.

This made Nero hate Lux even more and, at some point, explicitly told the latter that aside from his handsome face, the Half-Elf had nothing to offer to the girl that Nero wanted as his lover.

"I met him in Elysium the other day and that bastard even had the audacity to tell me that he would win the tournament in order to become my fiance," Iris gnashed her teeth in anger. "I hate to admit it, but among the young generation, his chances of succeeding are very high. But, don't worry, Big Brother. Even if he wins, I will not marry him! Grandma, help me elope with Big Brother when that time comes, okay?"

"Rest assured, I'll tie him up really well, so that he can't escape even if he becomes a High-Ranker," Vera replied with a smile.

The two ladies shared a knowing glance at each other and smiled.

'Peak Stage of the Apostle Grade,' Lux thought with a serious expression on his face. 'Looks like I need to work harder when I get back.'

Right now, aside from Iris and Vera, no one else knew that Lux could now go to Elysium. They kept this a secret from everyone, especially to Iris' father, Alexander, who didn't think much of Lux.

In truth, Alexander had a higher chance of choosing Nero as Iris' fiance than Lux, whom he deemed to be a weakling in his eyes.

Vera and Iris wanted to give the stubborn man a surprise during the tournament that would be held in Barbatos Academy, where they would force Lux to participate.

"Don't worry about him, Iris," Lux said with a smile. "I will not let him marry you."

The blue-haired beauty's hand froze mid-air as she was about to feed Eiko.

The baby Slime, who already had her mouth wide open, looked at her mama in confusion. Since Iris wasn't moving, Eiko thought that they were playing a game, so she decided to jump and eat the porridge that was hanging a few inches above her head.

As the baby slime happily chewed the porridge in her mouth, Iris looked at Lux with sparkling eyes.

"Un!" Iris nodded. "My brother is the strongest! Only he has the right to marry me!"

Vera nodded her head in agreement. This was her long-cherished wish, so she was giving Iris her full support. She was already looking forward to the grandchildren that she would hold a few years from now.

Lux could only scratch his head due to Iris' and Vera's reaction. Although he knew that both ladies were just teasing him, he vowed to himself that he would not allow anyone to force his step sister into marrying someone she didn't like.