*
Clink!
When I followed Nex into the ballroom, I was greeted by a bizarre sight.
Women in luxurious dresses surrounded Shar.
“Who are those…?”
They were the members of Nex’s harem I knew from the game.
Why were they all eyeing Shar like she was their next snack?
With her arms crossed, Asha silently observed the situation, her gaze simmering with anger.
“That reckless fool is marrying that… just because of this girl… I…”
“Isn’t it hilarious? The second Saintess getting engaged?”
I could see several women mocking Shar.
The atmosphere in the social club was chaotic; you could cut the tension with a knife.
Crap, did things go sideways while Nex was away?
“I have to stop this…”
“Let me handle this, Junior,” Nex interrupted, blocking my path with his arm, signaling that it was his mess to deal with.
“What the heck is going on? Lady Aqua?”
A woman who looked like a twin to Shar hurled a glass towards Asha and Shar.
“Nex, you broke our engagement just for a vampire like her?!”
Long black hair—she looked so much like Shar it was almost believable they were sisters.
“So you want to have your cake and eat it too with the title of Saintess?! A Saintess like this needs to be excommunicated!”
Her personality couldn’t be more opposite.
Despite being freed from the Head’s ignorance, Aqua still acted the same way Nex remembered.
Splash! Another aristocrat, rejected by Nex, threw wine on Shar.
“…Nex!”
He jumped in front of her, catching the splash. His purple hair dyed red, like blood dripping from a wound.
“Sorry, Shar.”
Nex stayed calm, maintaining his composure, acting like a gentleman despite it all.
“If I had met you sooner, I wouldn’t have had to pretend to be a fool.”
Even when surrounded by disdainful aristocrats, he kept his reassuring smile.
“…Mother.”
“Why do you call me that? You usually just say ‘head of the family’?”
He threw a sly grin back at Asha, speaking as if he were a fox.
“Frey Aureus is my father.”
“…How do you know that?”
Asha’s eyes widened at the revelation.
“Isn’t it obvious? Who do you think this charming smile takes after?”
Right, I told him. Parents should talk to their kids, after all.
“Mother, I know a vampire can’t live under sunlight.”
Kneeling before Asha, he voiced his thoughts.
“Surely, if I lived under such a blazing sun, she would turn to ash.”
Even with the other ladies hurling insults, he kept talking.
“That’s the life of nobility, Nex.”
Asha fixed him with a frosty gaze. I could feel the air turning icier.
“…But, a phoenix rises from the ashes.”
Snap! He flicked his fingers, using the power of the phoenix to mute the gossiping women around him.
“If Shar being a vampire is the issue, I can simply give up my name as Aureus.”
He ripped the golden phoenix insignia off his clothes.
“So, please formally bless my engagement to Shar, Mother.”
Adjusting his wine-splattered outfit, he stood tall in his black tuxedo, revealing the empty sections where the insignia used to be.
“….”
A moment of stunned silence followed.
I didn’t think it would go down like this. Shouldn’t there be a silence spell or something?
Saying he’d give up his noble title just because a vampire Saintess wanted to marry him was shocking.
It sounded like something Frey would say. The last line of the DLC epilogue.
“The phoenix is reborn through love…”
Asha had once comforted me with similar words when she was wary of marrying outside her status.
“…You’re just like your father, Nex.”
Asha sighed long and deep, her expression softening after hearing him.
“Very well, I grant my permission for your marriage.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
Nex intended to leave after receiving Asha’s blessing, feeling he no longer belonged in the social club.
“However, this is an acknowledgment of your position as the lady of Aureus.”
The words that stopped him were unexpected.
“You don’t just casually use the name of a phoenix. Nex Aureus.”
It was the parent’s delayed affirmation reflected in their child.
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