“W-WIFE!? What are you talking about!?”

  “Weren’t you proposing to me!? I even asked if you knew what you were saying!”

  “P-propose! Are you right in the head!?”

  “It’s a ring! Why else would you give a ring to someone else!?”

  “Ah...”

  Oh, it seems she gets it, and here I was blushing for nothing! Now if she wants the ring she’s marrying me! I know the ring was meant for Heather but I’m rather angry right now for some reason.

  “N-no, Marisa, I didn’t meant it like that, I-“

  “Ah! You’re dumping me now! How dare you py with my feelings like that!”

  “No, Marisa, I don’t-“

  “Ugh! H-how dare you! My poor heart!”

  I said in a teasing manner, a part of me knew she didn’t register this as the outcome, but it’s still a very funny development if you ask me.

  “I-I’m sorry!”

  What? She’s apologizing with a rather serious face now, does she think she actually broke my feelings?

  “I didn’t mean to trick you like that, I didn’t think you thought of me like that!”

  “You’re the one who started it! Besides, you’re quite pretty! It’s a shame you don’t show your face more often”

  “E-Eh!? I...”

  Pff, It’s not really visible since she’s so ghostly pale but, I can see her blushing, or at least I assume she’s blushing at least, I don’t think there’s blood flowing through her face.

  “I can’t show my face in town! people look at me like a monster, plus I loathe the sunlight!”

  “Welcome to the club? It’s ok I understand, this was all a big misunderstanding, let’s take a step back”

  “Y-yeah, let’s!”

  “Ok, then if you don’t mind, can I have the ring back?”

  “Eh!?”

  “Oh, so do you still want it?”

  “I! Wait, didn’t you say you already pnned on giving that ring to someone else?”

  “Yep”

  “And you’re offering it to me too!? Wouldn’t that mean you’re cheating on someone!?”

  “Not really, it’s rather complicated, but they don’t mind, or at least I don’t think so, I need to hold a proper talk, but know you wouldn’t have been the first to join~”

  “I-I see, that’s a rather umm, interesting interaction!”

  “Oh, I just swing like that, besides, there’s still another 9 rings out there, are you sure you don’t want to consider my offer?”

  “No, I really can’t take this ring knowing that someone else it’s expecting to receive it”

  “That sense of responsibility it’s great, I love that part about you”

  “I! T-thanks...”

  “Well, maybe not today but, if I find another ring, would you be willing to accept it then? Alongside my feelings?”

  And by feelings I mean, I feel ‘the horny’ when I see her pretty face, I guess that’s love of some sort. In reality besides that, she’s fun to have around, and she’s no pushover. I'm sure she would be of great help to have around.

  “M-Marisa! I... let me think about it”

  “Great, take all the time you need! Oh! And let’s keep this between us for now! It’ll be our little secret”

  I said, gently pcing my finger in my lips, our little dungeon escapade.

  “Fine by me, I’d rather prefer that the guild does not know about this!”

  “Oh that too, although I wonder who put the request for this pce in the first pce”

  “Yeah, it’s odd, it doesn’t appear in the maps or there’s any register of it, it had to be someone who specifically knew of its existence”

  “Well, who cares at this point, we got what we came for, plus with the entrance colpsed I doubt anyone will get in anymore”

  “You really wrecked the pce”

  “It was meant to fall anyways, besides, this way we can keep those cave monkeys safe in their little haven!”

  “Yeah, you’re right, all’s well that ends well!”

  “Let’s go back home then”

  “Yeah, ah! but Marisa”

  “Yes?”

  “I might not be able to answer your feelings yet but, if it’s ok with you of course, do you want to form an adventurer party with me?”

  “Oh! But I thought you were always doing things solo”

  “That’s because having teammates would be difficult, for what I am and some of the things I do but, with you I don’t have to hide such things anymore!”

  “I see, well I would be delighted to form a party with you, but I must warn you I don’t take jobs that often, if at all”

  “Oh right! I barely see you at the guild”

  “Yeah, I have things to do after all”

  “I thought you worked as an adventurer, didn’t you say you were broke? Maybe we could take higher paying jobs as a team?”

  “Yeah, still no, I’m an adventurer for a hobby after all”

  “Really? Then what do you do for a living then?”

  “I’m the new town lord, did I not mention that before?”

  “Wha!? No you didn’t!”

  “Well, surprise?”

  “Tell me these things beforehand!!”

  “It’s fine, don’t worry about it, but as I said, taking jobs regurly would be difficult, there’s other work to be done after all”

  “You say that, yet you still came here to this ruins”

  “This is important, ok! If I didn’t find out about the guild request I wouldn’t have rushed it!”

  “Right, that makes sense, still, you say you’re broke? But you’re the town lord, how can you be broke?”

  “That’s uh...”

  “Umm... Marisa, it’s the economy of our town doing ok?”

  “I uh... yeah! Totally, like, don’t worry about it at all!”

  “You’re a terrible liar...”

  “Shh! I said it’s fine! Besides there’s no war to take care of anymore so, all that money wasted in those pesky affairs is getting reallocated slowly but surely”

  “Oh yeah! It’s so nice being in times of peace after all”

  “Yep! That way I can start dismantling the army and-”

  “Wait! You’re dismantling the army!?”

  Oh crap, I shouldn’t have said that...

  “Uh... keep this between us, there’s no war so there’s no need for as many soldiers”

  “You’re sending them home?”

  “Well, some of them, with me as the town lord, we don’t need any more firepower”

  “True enough, I saw you fight at the border”

  “Exactly, and yes, I pn to reduce the military and guards to as little as needed to keep peace in our nd, nothing more, you probably think I’m insane but-”

  “No! I support you wholeheartedly! The less people fighting the better”

  “Wait you do!?”

  “Yes! I’m personally against wars, I’d rather we live in peace”

  “Wow! You’re the first one that agrees with me besides Celestial! Heather and Rushka always look at me like I’m crazy”

  “Truth be told, I... my father died in a war, we were simple farmers and he was forcefully conscripted as a soldier, I’ve never seen him again, st I knew of him was the conjecture that he might have passed away on the frontlines...”

  “That’s awful... don’t worry, as long as I breath I’ll do my best so that our country is at peace, I promise”

  And hopefully, keep casualties to a minimum next time, it really wasn’t my intention that so many people died in that desert.

  “Thanks...”

  And like that, I feel like I got closer to Adele, I might not manage to convince her to become my third wife, uh second? But I’m getting close! For now I agreed to do some odd adventuring job with her from time to time, as this was quite a pleasant experience, and just try to get closer to her slowly, I teleported us to our town, and we walked towards the guild while chatting away.

  “Oh! Speaking of, you’re great with ruins or so I was told”

  “Un! Dungeon crawling it’s kind of my hobby!”

  “That sounds great, anthropological discovery it’s part of culture I suppose, even if I personally find it boring and dull”

  “You didn’t have fun on this little expedition with me?”

  “Oh I did! But it’s not the pce I believe, personally I think any pce would be fun with you around”

  “M-Marisa!”

  She’s covering herself fully since we’re in broad daylight but I just know she’s blushing under her hood!

  “Besides, it's fun arguing with you!”

  “What!?”

  “Let’s destroy some ruins together again next time”

  “Marisa! Let’s try to NOT destroy them next time please”

  “Buh, if we didn’t destroy it we wouldn’t have found the ring”

  “Ugh... fine! But let’s try to preserve them as much as possible”

  “I can work with that as middle ground, oh! And if you find leads of any of the remaining 9 rings! Do tell me please”

  “Will do, I actually wish to see all 12 rings together again”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll try to find them all as well, plus if I stumble upon another ring, will you accept it? I’ll do it properly this time”

  “Ugh... Gee! We’ll see when you find one”

  And like that I dropped her off in the guild, or so was my pn but as soon as we entered Delia called us both, or rather she called Adele, I just tagged along because I like to inconvenience Delia. Anyways, we got brought to the guild master room.

  “Sigh... what are you doing here Marisa?”

  “Nothing, I just like to be a bother~”

  “Well... might as well since you’re here too and guilty of the same crime, so I’ll scold you two at the same time”

  “Oh~ try to scold me if you dare”

  “I uh... please don’t disregards quests like that please, the information of the ruins were a secret, and you just took the information and ran with it”

  I simply crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow, it’s true I have to look for who asked for the quest! It’s a good pn to interrogate him about it and-

  “Uh... please...”

  Oh, was I intimidating the guild master? I sometimes forget how frightful my angry aura can be.

  “It’s fine, but I want you to tell me who made that request”

  “I can’t do that”

  “Oh~ defying me again? I’ll beat you senseless old man”

  “I really can’t, on my pride as a guild master I won’t give this information even if it costs me my life”

  Oh shit, he’s not lying...

  “What about you Delia?”

  “I don’t know anything I swear! The client requested it directly to the guild master!”

  She is lying, however not entirely, I should go straight to the source that is the guild master then.

  “Tch, even if I threaten to destroy the whole guild it’s still a no?”

  “Still no, besides you’ll regret it ter if you destroy the guild”

  “Threatening me I see?”

  “I wouldn’t dare, I’m warning you, if you make a tantrum over this, you’ll regret your own actions in the near future”

  “I don’t know why but you’re not lying old man, you truly believe that for some reason, so for once, I’ll listen to you, I’ll leave you guys but on one condition”

  “What is it?”

  “Adele, she was gonna get scolded as well right? Maybe even demoted?”

  “Yes, that was the pn”

  “Well, don’t, let her walk free from this, as for what the guild it’s involved in, only I went to the ruins, Adele only knew of the quest but respectfully declined it, are we clear!”

  “Sigh... fine, I’ll twist the truth like that for now, we have a deal”

  “Cool, now if you excuse me, even if you don’t tell me who it was, I have to investigate who did it, and properly punish them”

  And ask them how they knew, and if they know of any other ring to collect more importantly.

  “I’d recommend you start in the pace, that’s all I’ll tell you”

  “The pace? Oh! I think I get it! Thanks old man, that’s all I needed to know”

  It was the stupid piggy and his people! Even though he’s been in a cell all this time, I’m sure there’s still some rats to take care of then. For now I headed back home, ready to confront the piggy once again! Not before giving my farewell to Adele.

  “Marisa!”

  “Ellie!”

  Or so was my pn but Ellie jumped on top of me as soon as I arrived, followed by Heather behind her. How did Ellie know I just arrived? It makes me think that she’s slowly getting my weird senses, I still have no clue what implications of turning Ellie into a demon has on her.

  “Hi Ellie, Heather, I’m back~”

  “Welcome back”

  Something about having people waiting for you to come back it’s quite heartwarming, speaking of people waiting for me.

  “How were things around in my absence?”

  “You were gone for only one day, I’m impressed seeing that it’s on the other side of the kingdom, as for work, everything was just the same, mostly paperwork”

  “I see, sorry for disappearing”

  “It’s fine, did you find whatever you were looking for?”

  “That I did!”

  “And what were you looking for to begin with?”

  “Secret~ Don’t worry, you’ll know soon enough”

  “I- ok?”

  “Don’t worry about it, where’s Celestial and Rushka?”

  “Celestial is on the basement, as always, and Rushka it’s working on her workshop”

  “Ok, let me pay them a visit, tell them I’m back and-”

  “I’m bored!”

  Said Ellie, I saw her fidgeting the whole conversation, I was just expecting her to interrupt at any second, it is quite endearing seeing her act her age for one, she has changed quite a bit since living with us to be honest.

  “Ellie! Don’t act spoiled!”

  Of course Heather would scold her, this does give me an idea however, let’s use Ellie for a minute here.

  “It’s fine Heather, let me just properly greet people and then we can py ok?”

  “Marisa, please don’t spoil her that much...”

  “Ellie it’s still a child, let her act like one, she’s never had a chance to do so before”

  Heather looked taken aback for a moment, but really, Ellie lived stuck in bed, has no friends that I know of, and we’re all busy working all day as well, so now that everything's retively peaceful, it’s obvious she would get bored easily, I’m sure Heather agrees with me.

  “Maybe you’re right but still, discipline it’s a must!”

  “I feel like the knight life ruined your sense of discipline I think”

  For Now I headed towards Celestial first, the reason was to ask a favor to be honest.

  “Hey Marisa, welcome back”

  “Heyo~”

  “Did you find the ring?”

  “That I did”

  I said showing it in my hand, the rings are rather pretty now that I take a closer look at it.

  “That’s great, are you giving it to miss knight already?”

  “Yes! But mood it’s important, which reminds me, could I hit up your mountain for a second?”

  “Un? Sure I don’t mind, want me to accompany you?”

  “Oh that’s up to you, I know you’re busy”

  It is also your home, so I can’t really tell you to not go, I am trying however to get her AND Rushka to accompany us, the pn is simple, I can just pretend to have an outing like a picnic to entertain Ellie, and that’s a discrete way to get Heather to a more romantic pce, the more people join the merrier since it would raise less of an eyebrow, and then I can just ask Rushka or Celestial to entertain Ellie for a minute to have a private moment with her.

  I’ll cut the story short, Celestial agreed to come, as did Rushka, it is around midday as well and everyone deserves a rest as well, so we prepared a quick picnic of sorts, food, the carpet, a ball and a couple of books, everything we thought would be nice to have, for a quick but fun little breather, here at the foot of the mountain.

  “Marisa! Let’s py catch! Or with the ball”

  “Sure thing!”

  Rushka and Celestial mostly chilled around with them reading mostly, I pyed with Ellie and Heather for a while, it’s funny because she really can’t keep up with us, much less missing limbs, so she had to sit down to rest every now and then, maybe it’s a bit awkward to have a picnic past midday, it was more of dinner than lunch, but it was fun nonetheless, thank you pace chefs!

  The mood is comfy and everyone it’s very rexed, so I think the time is just about right!

  “It was fun, but it’s getting te we should probably head back home”

  Or so was my pn but Heather interrupted my train of thought!

  “That may be so, but let’s stay a bit longer! Heather, there’s something important I need to tell you, can we go somewhere private?”

  “Eh? Of course I-“

  “Oh where are we going?”

  Asked Ellie, it seems she hasn’t had her fill, now I need to gently tell her that this should be just between us and-

  “Hey Ellie, why don’t we py together this time? What do you say?”

  Oh! Nice save Rushka, does she already know of my intentions? It was a good idea to invite her to be honest.

  “But-”

  “Ellie, Marisa asked to talk in private, can you stay here with Rushka and Celestial for a moment?”

  Oh! Heather is helping as well! I didn't expect her to, she’s probably thinking I have either work in mind, or an indecent proposition.

  “Oh, ok!”

  “Thank you for understanding Ellie~”

  I said, rubbing her head, the horns make it a bit awkward but i’m probably the same, at least I don’t like headpats that much to be honest.

  I then took Heather’s hand, and proceeded to teleport to the top of the mountain the sun has already set and we find ourselves in the middle of the mountain, tall above the sky, there’s no clouds tonight and the forest is in full dispy below us, as well as the starry sky shining brightly above us.

  “Wow, I sometimes forget how beautiful the view is here”

  Said Heather, with a face filled with wonder, I can’t help but feel infatuated by seeing her in such a precious environment.

  “It almost feel like we can reach our hands up and touch the stars~”

  “Yes, it’s amazing”

  Oh boy, the time has come finally! I can feel my heart pumping like crazy, truth be told I’m kinda nervous, Heather it’s basically my employee if I think rationally, I don’t think she sees me in that light like Rushka, what if she says no, things would just get awkward and...

  Ugh!! Don’t overthink things! We arrived here and I took it this far to chicken out at the end!

  “Heather I...”

  “Yes? What is it, Marisa?”

  “Look, this is difficult for me to say but, we’ve been together for a while and, well, I...”

  “What is this about Marisa?”

  “I, it’s something important ok, just listen, I know that there’s probably a million reasons to hate me, and I know I pushed you around from time to time but, ah screw this I’m bad with sappy talk! Heather!”

  I just looked her dead in the eyes and steeled myself like the bold person I’ve become.

  “Yes?”

  “I love you! Will you marry me?”

  I said, offering her the ring I pulled from my pocket and getting on my knee, maybe I should’ve bought a case, that would’ve been a good idea, too te now!

  “...”

  Uh... say something please! Don’t just look at me in shock! I’m getting nervous too!!

  Still, I didn’t stopped the eye contact, even if I want to look away, I’ll face her properly and-

  ...she got red as a beet and turned her sight away...

  “Marisa, I... if you’re ok with someone like me-”

  “What are you talking about! I do this precisely because it’s you! You’re very important to me, I! I wouldn't know what I would do without you!”

  “Marisa...”

  Now Heather has ready eyes! Did I fucked this up!? Maybe-

  “I accept Marisa, nothing would make me happier”

  Oh! She said yes! I couldn’t help but jump in excitement, I felt really embarrassed afterwards, I don’t know why I did that!

  For now I took Heather’s hand gently, and pced the ring in her ring finger, not gonna lie, I feel hel happy right now for some reason.

  Anyways, words were unnecessary at this point, we both looked at each other, under the gentle moonlight shining down on us, I head towards Heather to give her a passionate kiss, I know it was rather lengthy in time but it felt like it was just a moment, a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life.

  We headed back down the mountain by teleport, holding her hand as always, we packed up and headed home not long after that.

  That night I had a burning passionate night with Heather, even if I was too excited and made her pass out quite quickly, still, I put her down and after covering her in the bedsheets, we slept cuddling together, it was really pleasant, more so than the other times we’ve done the same.

  Joanne_carper