After firmly closing the door behind her, Lux gently put Iris on his bed and kissed her forehead.
"Don't worry, he can't get inside this room," Lux said as he sat beside her and held her hand.
"Un," Iris nodded as she lightly squeezed Lux's hand. "Actually, I planned on sleeping in your room tonight, Big Brother. I just didn't expect that you would also return from Elysium today. It seems that the Gods have blessed me with the opportunity to see you, before I am taken back to the academy."
Eiko slid down from Lux's head and crawled towards her Mama who was feeling depressed.
The baby slime kissed Iris' cheek before resting her head on her Mama's neck, as if to assure her that everything was going to be fine.
"Then stay here for the night," Lux replied. "Grandma Vera will accompany you back to the academy tomorrow. I'm sure that she's already negotiating with Alicia right now."
"You won't come with us, Big Brother?" Iris inquired.
Lux shook his head. "No. I plan to return to Elysium when morning comes."
Iris became teary-eyed as she looked up at her stepbrother who had taken good care of her while growing up.
"The reason why I can't go with you is not because I don't want to," Lux explained himself because he felt that Iris misunderstood him. "The reason why I want to go back to Elysium is because I don't want you to get married to someone you don't like. Iris, I promise you this, I will win that tournament for sure, and protect your happiness."
"Big Brother, have you decided?"
"Mmm."
Lux smiled as he squeezed Iris' hand back. The red-headed teenager and the blue-haired beauty stared at each other for a long time and smiled. There was no need to say anything, because the warmth that was spreading in their intertwined hands was enough to tell Iris what she wanted to know.
The Half-Elf laid beside Iris and held her in a protective embrace.
"Sleep," Lux said as he kissed her forehead for the second time. "You'll be safe here."
"Un." Iris closed her eyes and hugged Lux back.
Eiko, who was sandwiched comfortably between her Papa and Mama, closed her eyes to sleep. The beating of Lux's and Iris' hearts were like a lullaby to her, making her feel safe and loved.
A few minutes later, Iris' and Eiko's soft breathing echoed inside the room as Lux stared at their peaceful sleeping faces.
'Nero…,' Lux thought as the image of the teenager that always looked for trouble for him flashed inside his head. 'The pain and suffering I endured back then… I will make sure to repay it in full!'
After silently vowing to himself, Lux closed his eyes to rest. Although he would be returning to Elysium a little earlier than scheduled, he decided to use that extra time as an opportunity to head inside the Bronze Crypt so he could get a better understanding of what its Hell Mode looked like.
Dungeons inside Elysium usually had two levels of difficulty.
Normal and Nightmare.
However, there were dungeons who had three, which were Normal, Nightmare, and Hell Mode.
The Bronze Crypt only had two difficulties and they were Normal and Hell Mode.
An hour later, the door of the room creaked open as Vera peeked at her two grandchildren who were sleeping in each other's arms.
A smile appeared on her face as she closed the door quietly to return to her room to rest. Just as Lux had anticipated, Vera successfully convinced Alicia to let her personally escort her granddaughter back to Elysium the next day.
However, in order to not make things difficult for her son's secretary, she proposed that she accompany them on the return trip.
Nero was planning to say that he also wanted to escort Iris back to Barbatos Academy, but Vera's stare made him shut up.
He felt like he was a little mouse staring at a viper who was looking down on it with its predatory eyes. In the end, he made the right decision and stepped down, telling Alicia that he would return to Elysium first and wait for Iris to rendezvous with their guild at the Dungeon's entrance.
In truth, Vera didn't dislike Nero. She could tell that the boy truly wished to reach greater heights by relying on his ability, resources, as well as the connections he had built over the years. The Elders of Wildgarde Stronghold were not stupid.
Since they knew Nero's desire to claw his way up to the top, they would support him because they needed people like him to usher in a new era and bring the members of their young generation to greatness.
But, there were things that Vera wouldn't allow no matter what. Lux and Iris were her reverse scales. She didn't care if she was up against a Saint or not. Anyone who dared to harm them, would be ripped apart by her hands, even if she had to sell her soul to the devil to make it happen.
"Alex," Vera muttered her son's nickname with a sad expression on her face. "You should know better than to get in the way of your daughter's happiness."
—---
Iris slowly opened her eyes and gazed sleepily at the handsome face that was right in front of her.
As the cogs in her brain started to turn, the memory of what happened a few hours ago flashed inside her head.
Soon, the beautiful young lady was fully awake and looking at her Big Brother's sleeping face with an infatuated look on her face.
She didn't know when exactly she had started to feel a strong attraction to her step brother who had been with her almost all her life. The only thing she knew was that her world seemed to be more colorful whenever Lux was around.
Her heart would beat wildly inside her chest and she would feel like she was walking on clouds. That was how intense her feelings for Lux were, and even when they were separated by a great distance, her feelings for him didn't wane.
In fact, they even grew stronger. The saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," fit her feelings perfectly. This was why she wasn't able to stop herself from kissing Lux when he appeared in Barbatos Academy to visit her after a long time.
Iris gulped as she gathered all of her courage in her heart.
'Now is the perfect time to do this while Brother is asleep,' Iris thought. 'If I miss this opportunity, who knows how long it will be till I see him again.'
Iris then moved closer to Lux and kissed his lips.
The kiss only lasted for a brief moment because she was afraid that he was going to wake up.
Iris' heart was beating wildly inside her chest as her breaths grew ragged. She was painfully waiting to see if Lux would wake up after she had kissed him, but after a minute had passed, her raging emotions finally calmed down.
As if emboldened by her first success. Iris once again raised her lips and kissed the sleeping Lux for the second time. This time, the kiss lasted longer, as she pressed her soft lips over his.
In the middle of kissing her Big Brother, she felt his lips move to kiss her back. It was an unconscious move on Lux's part, because he was still truly asleep. The Half-Elf didn't know that what he did almost turned Iris' mind to mush as her mind turned blank, after getting kissed by him.
When the kiss ended, Iris felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her chest from its rapid beating. Although the kiss didn't last long, it was long enough for Iris to ingrain it in her heart.
'I really like you, Lux,' Iris said in her heart as a tear fell down at the corner of her eyes. 'I like you so much that it hurts.'
Eiko, opened her eyes because she felt something warm and wet fall on top of her head. When she saw Iris crying, the baby slime moved to wipe her tears away, which made the young beauty cry more.
"Eiko, your Papa is bullying me," Iris said as she lightly pinched the baby slime's cheeks. "How can my step brother be this handsome?"
"Ma?"
Eiko tilted her head in confusion. She didn't know why her Mama was unreasonably pinching her cheeks, while crying with a smile on her face.
"Just look at your papa, doesn't he look amazing," Iris whispered in Eiko's ears as she turned the baby Slime to look at the sleeping Half-Elf beside them.
"Pa," Eiko replied in agreement. Her Papa was indeed amazing.
"Eiko, if you find any girl who is pestering your Papa, make sure to report it to me at once, okay?"
"Ma!"
"You're such a good girl, Eiko. I love you."
"Ma!"
Eiko giggled after Iris kissed her cheeks. The two then spent half an hour more looking at Lux's sleeping face, before the Half-Elf opened his eyes to look at them in a daze.
"Good morning, Brother!"
"Pa!"
Lux smiled as he greeted the two girls who were looking at him with smiles on their faces.
"Good morning, Eiko, Iris," Lux replied as he yawned and propped himself up on the bed. "Let's go, Iris. I'm sure Grandma is awake by now."
Lux reached out to offer his hand to the young lady who was looking up at him with a reddened face.
"Un." Iris nodded as she offered her hand to Lux, which the latter held firmly.
Eiko moved on top of her Mama's head as the three of them left Lux's room. Although the two of them would part ways after breakfast, the promise that was sealed by a kiss, would bind them for the rest of their lives.
